Chapter 5

Kendric

5

That girl is trouble with a capital T.

I didn't imagine my body would betray me the way it consistently does when I'm around her, and I know I'm not the only one. Raylan, Sky, and I argue whenever we take turns to go upstairs to check on Ariana. Each of us dreads having to be in the same room with her.

She presents a dangerous magnetism underneath those delicious curves, a magnetism that she's not even aware of. It's actually a good thing that she's not aware of how fucking hot she is. Otherwise, we'd be in deep shit. Helpless before her. It's enough of a struggle already.

The rusty flames of her red hair haunt me. The way the sunlight plays across her pale oval face in the morning, bringing out the bright blue of her eyes, about does me in. Those Cupid's-bow lips drive me mad. I'd lose control if I were to touch her. I know that. Every atom in my body knows that.

And that hourglass figure … fucking hell, she was made for loving. For all kinds of loving. My fingertips itch every time I'm near her. It's become torturous just to bring her food and water. What startles me even more is that despite our impression of her, she isn't indifferent to any of us. Raylan has sensed it. Sky, too. I catch her eyes on me whenever she thinks I'm not looking. I hear her hitched breath whenever I come close. I see those subtle goosebumps along the line of her neck.

But today, it all hits differently.

Today, we're expecting an unpleasant visit. We have good lawyers on retainer, we know our rights, and we know the law. Everything we've done has led us to this point. There's no room for mistakes.

The guys and I are downstairs in the clubhouse. Henry David got the message, and now, the whole Everton City Police Department has mobilized to find out who sent it. The kid told them what he was instructed to tell them, leaving the cops running around, chasing their tails, and raiding every known drug den in the city.

The mayor's daughter has been kidnapped.

In the meantime, Ariana is upstairs in her room, hidden from sight. Spike pulled a bookcase against the wall to cover the door, just in case. He also slipped a light sedative into her soda earlier, so she'll probably be sleeping like a baby until midnight, at least. We don't want her agitated when the cops inevitably show up on our doorstep.

"It's crowded enough," Sky says, looking around.

It's Monday, and we don't usually get that many people, but our prospects did their duty and let slip on social media that we're doing some freebies at the bar just to get a good week rolling. Locals and club members alike have gathered as the sun begins to set, eager to get the deals. We'll take a small hit on profits tonight, but it's worth it.

"I think we've got about fifty, sixty people," Raylan replies.

We hang by the bar, beer in hand, casually glancing around. Once in a while, one of our brothers pops by to give us an update. Word is out on the streets that the mayor is retaliating over his daughter's abduction. It's good for us to know about the criminals' and cops' movements.

"How is she?" I ask Raylan. "You're the one who saw her last."

"She was good. She was getting drowsy, actually."

"It kicked in, then," Sky sighs deeply.

He didn't like the idea of keeping her mellow like that, but it was a light sedative that would wear off after a few hours. We hacked into her medical records before resorting to this particular method. Whether she believes it or not, we want her to get safely back home untouched and unscathed.

"What about our lawyers?" I ask Sky.

"They're ready," he says. "Got them on speed dial. The minute these fuckers come through the door, they've got injunctions for everybody. With our history, the judge will have no choice but to grant them. I think David knows that, too."

"His daughter was taken. He won't be cool and calculated about it," I reply.

"But the Black Hand will," he says, and I'm inclined to agree.

The tension becomes unbearable once darkness falls over the city and the surrounding valley. From where I'm sitting, I can see the hills with their glimmering lights in the distance. This whole area was thriving until a few decades ago.

It was a safe district with a cluster of idyllic towns, including Everton City. There were jobs and opportunities for everybody until one favor led to another, and one man was in another's pocket. Reputations had to be protected for political clout until the will of the people no longer mattered, only the interests of a few.

"Here they come," Raylan mutters as he glances outside.

I check my watch. It's not even nine o'clock. It took them half a day to get to us, which means the red herrings worked.

The clubhouse doors burst open. Six uniformed police officers come in, the red and blue lights of their squad cars swirling behind them in the middle of the parking lot. The room goes quiet. Even the music sounds dim as the cops suspiciously look around, yet they seem equally surprised to find so many people here on a Monday evening.

"Hello, gentlemen," Raylan says, getting up and walking over with a friendly smile. He handles our PR and always has. Nobody can resist his boyish charm or soft-spoken tone. It plays well. "How can we help you?"

"Cut the crap, Raylan," one of the lieutenants replies. We know him—Dan Snyder. We've had our run-ins over the years, though he could never pin anything on any of us. "Where are you keeping her?"

Raylan's eyebrows pop up. "Where are we keeping whom?"

"You know exactly who," Snyder snaps back.

"You can't possibly be talking about the mayor's daughter," I chime in.

"You've got to be joking," Raylan adds.

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

His team certainly looks serious. But so do our club members. There are too many of us and too few of them. We have no intention of starting a brawl, but we do tend to intimidate them with our numbers, especially when cops come around. Our clients, however, try to mind their own business, but their eyes can't look away. It's only natural. A circus is about to unfold while Sky and I watch in silence.

"Lieutenant Snyder, we saw it on the news. You can't possibly think we'd be stupid enough to do something like that," Raylan replies. "It's too obvious. Come on."

Snyder shrugs. "Even so, I need to look around."

"You can look around the ground floor, which is public property. The upstairs is off-limits without a warrant, but I will gladly give you access to our security cameras. We have one in every room on the top floor," Raylan replies.

"If you didn't have anything to hide, you'd let us search upstairs, too," one of Snyder's men says with a wry smirk.

"If we were dumb enough, sure. But we have a history, remember?" Raylan shoots back, calmly mirroring his expression. "And we know our rights. For law enforcement officials, you don't sound like you're interested in serving and protecting the people."

"We're looking for Ariana David," Snyder says. "She's people."

"So are we," Raylan retorts. "Come on, let me give you the tour. Hell, I'll even let you check our storage rooms. I promise we're up to date on all of our permits. You've got nothing on us, not even the slightest violation."

"We even had the fire escape signs replaced last week," Spike adds from behind the bar, casually pouring a couple of drafts for his customers. The remark draws laughter from the crowd.

It tells the cops we're not helpless or ignorant. Good. They need to be reminded that we're not to be fucked with, no matter how dire they think the situation may be. Sky and I keep our eyes on the bottom of the stairs while Raylan lets the cops follow him around. I know he's got his side covered, but we also know that there are at least two men on Snyder's team who are usually tasked with wandering around and "getting lost."

"There they go," Sky mutters.

I spot them, too. Newbies, by the looks of them. Green and young, eager to impress their superiors while still in their dark blue patrol uniforms. Smoothly, Sky gets up and moves to stand at the base of the steps, just as the juniors are about to make their way up. "Can I help you, gentlemen?" he asks with a flat smile.

"No, we're good," one of the cops says. "Where are your bathrooms?"

"Not up there," Sky replies, then nods to the other side of the bar. "Just follow the signs."

By the time they're done pretending they need the bathroom, Raylan returns with Snyder and the rest of his crew. Judging by the looks on their faces, they're far from happy. If anything, they've been wasting precious time up to this point, and now they seem eager to get out of here.

"Did you show them our CCTV footage?" I ask Raylan.

"I did, yes. The live feed, as well," he says.

"And?" I ask Snyder. "Are we safe?"

"I'm not sure what ‘safe' is supposed to mean for you people," Snyder tartly replies, "but we will file for a warrant, just in case."

Sky chuckles dryly, having resumed his seat at the bar, while Spike is kind enough to replace our empty beer bottles with double shots of rye whiskey. "Right, we're not the ones to be trusted. Have yourselves a great evening, officers."

"We'll be back," one of the juniors replies, while Snyder gives us a side-eye and leads his team back out the double doors.

"And we'll be waiting," one of our Steel Knights brothers mutters, prompting the others to burst into raucous laughter. I can't help but smile, relief washing over me like a crisp ocean wave at dawn.

"That wasn't as close as I thought it would be," I tell Sky and Raylan.

The tension in the room has lessened as soon as Snyder and his team left. It's as if I can breathe easy again. Oddly enough, I've been under tremendous stress since we first brought Ariana upstairs on Friday night. It's been bothering me ever since, but as soon as the cops left, it's as if that anxiety walked out the door with them.

"We were prepared," Sky reminds me. "And our lawyers were ready to block them at every turn, even if by some mishap they made their way upstairs and found Ariana, the charges never would've stuck. Not in court, anyway."

Raylan shakes his head slowly. "We know damn well that the minute our asses land in jail, we're dead. The Black Hand will not hesitate."

"We avoided that," Sky says, slightly annoyed. "Let's just keep moving forward."

It'll get way worse before we see actual results. I only pray that Henry David won't be stupid enough to try and pull something on us. I'm ready to burn him and his people down to the ground if I have to. They've been running loose for too long. Somebody needs to stop them.

"We'll have to move her," Raylan says. "You heard Snyder. They'll be back with a warrant."

"They can try to get one," I mutter.

"Listen, I'm just saying. We need to be ready to move her at a moment's notice."

Sky nods in agreement. "Not any time soon, though, not without some certainty that they are, in fact, entitled to search upstairs," he says. "They'll have eyes on the clubhouse from now on. They'll have a patrol car somewhere outside or plainclothes cops hanging around in here pretending to be patrons. We'll need to be careful."

"I'll let the bar staff know to be extra vigilant," Spike chimes in.

We'll need all hands on deck for this one. All it takes is one undercover cop to bring the whole operation down. We've come too far to let them catch us. Sooner or later, those we are targeting will pay for what they've done. I just hope Ariana doesn't get caught in the middle.

But she will. Inadvertently, she will suffer through this entire ordeal.

Especially when the truth comes out.