Chapter Eight

Morgue

I hadn't left Dorothy alone for more than a very few minutes since she'd come here three weeks before. I'd promised her I wouldn't, and I hadn't. But the discussion I was getting ready to have was something I needed to do without her around to hear the conversation. Thankfully, Dorothy still had Sparkle on loan, and Blossom and Iris brought all the old ladies by to visit with her. I'd told her where I'd be and I had my phone so she could call or text if she needed me, then gone to Wylde's office. I'd called Stitches to meet us.

"Tell me you found those bitches," I started the second I walked into Wylde's office. Needless to say, the other man was less than impressed.

"Nice to see you too, Morgue. Welcome to my office. Where I shoot pushy bastards on sight."

"Wylde, just give it to him. Don't go pissing off the man in the club with the most confirmed kills. M'k?" Sting sounded amused but resigned. I knew the feeling. Most days, I wanted to pinch off Wylde's head. The man was a pain in the ass. He was also brilliant with a computer.

Wylde sighed, like Sting had just taken his favorite toy. "Fine. But if you ask me, Morgue needs to lighten up a bit. All that aggression will give you gas."

"Do you have something or not? I left Dorothy to be here."

"Pussy whipped already, are you?"

I glared at the other man. "Don't make me go to Danica. If anyone's pussy whipped, it's you."

"Right. But Dani and me have been an item for a couple years now. I have a right to be pussy whipped. You've only been with your woman a couple of weeks. That's way too soon to be pussy whipped."

"Christ," I bit out. "Imma kill the sumbitch."

"Wylde, now really ain't the time. Do you have something or not?" Stitches gave me a worried look. Yeah, he knew I was only mostly kidding. Sort of.

"Bottom line, your girl's roommates sold her out. It was a carefully planned and premeditated event intending to sell her into sexual slavery." He shook his head slightly and frowned. "OK, so they didn't really know what would happen to her, just that she had admitted to being a virgin and they were selling her to someone who would pay top dollar for virgin women."

There was silence in the room before I turned and punched a hole in the wall with a war bellow. Someone was going to die. And I absolutely would not feel the least bit of remorse, no matter who I had to kill.

"Yo, man! Calm ya tits!" Wylde stood, moving to stand between me and the wall. "Got wires running through there, and I don't want to have to fix shit you broke."

"Wylde, what do you have linking Dorothy's roommates to her disappearance?" Sting was trying to bring the focus back to the business at hand to redirect me, but it was damned hard. All I could think about was getting vengeance when I needed to be cold and calculating. It was a position I hadn't found myself in for a very long time.

Wylde snorted. "I got all the things. Texts and phone calls from the burner phones they used, emails from dummy accounts, I even managed to find some footage of them at the rave they took her to. That wasn't easy, by the way. I had to piece together video footage from cell phones of people who were there in the same time frame. It's the main reason it took me this long to have anything." He shrugged. "Might have broken a few international treaties or some shit, but I got it. I also happened to find some really good blackmail footage on four or five prominent people in the US and abroad. You know. If you're interested. Might come in useful." Then he continued. "Here's the really diabolical part. No one knows Dorothy's missing. Well. Except her roommates."

Sting cocked his head. "Come again?"

"Yeah. They got Dorothy set up with online classes the rest of the year and through the summer. Been loggin' into her account regularly to make them think she's still present and accounted for. Doin' a couple things in her classes so no one gets suspicious. Spoiler alert -- she's now failing everything now when she was an honor student before."

"So, you're telling me, there is no one looking for this girl?" Stitches traded a look with Sting. "No one. No family. No friends."

Wylde shook his head. "Nope. Kid's mother died from an apparent accidental overdose when Dorothy was sixteen. There's no biological father listed on her birth certificate. No other living family that I could find. Any friends she had were at school, and they all think she's taking a mental health break from in-person classes. Text came from her phone and every Goddamned thing."

"So, by the time anyone realizes she's missing, her roommates can swear they saw her last week," Stitches commented dryly. "No one will be able to say for sure she disappeared during Spring Break and those bitches will be in the clear."

"Uh, correction," Wylde said with a raised finger in the air and a cocky grin on his face. "Those bitches think they'll be in the clear." He plopped back down in his chair and pointed to the bank of computer monitors on his desk. And the wall. And the couple on the ceiling. For when he leaned back in his chair? Crazy fucker. "I got videographic evidence as well as all the supporting shit to back it up. If you choose to take them to court, once I set up a realistic chain of discovery, they'll be goin' away for a long fuckin' time."

"Ain't goin' to fuckin' court," I growled. "You point me in the right direction and I'm going to disappear them."

"Agreed," Sting said without hesitation. "But we're takin' it a step further. I want the people she was sold to and everyone in between."

"I'll bring her roommates to the barn," I said. "I'll get everything out of 'em they know."

"Not sure you're the right one for the job this time, Morgue," Roman said as he entered the office, phone in hand. I glanced at Sting who shook his phone at me with a raised eyebrow. Wasn't long until every officer in the club was crowding in Wylde's office.

"Right one or not, it's a job I'm takin'. She's my woman. It's my right to do what I do best."

"You sure about that?" Brick asked calmly. "What if she never sees you the same way again? You willin' to risk that when there are men here perfectly capable of takin' this on?"

"I am." I didn't hesitate with my answer.

"Morgue." Stitches put a hand on my shoulder. "You're her safe place right now. Are you sure, really sure about this?"

Damned bastard knew exactly what to say to make me hesitate. "I'll talk to her."

"She know she's your woman?" Brick exchanged a look with Sting. I knew what they were thinking.

"She does. But she doesn't know all the details yet. I'll discuss this with her, but I will be going after the people who hurt her, and Dorothy will be good with it."

Wylde grinned. "You're so cute, Morgue." He glanced at Sting. "Ain't he? Gonna just lay down the law to the little woman, are you?"

"For Christ's sake, Wylde." Brick smacked the back of his head. "Stop pokin' the fuckin' bear."

"Hey, I'm just sayin'. Morgue ain't around women all that much. I doubt he realizes that, sometimes, you end up doin' what they want you to do whether it's what you intended to do or not."

Roman grinned. "Hmm… I got nothin', Brick. Wylde ain't wrong there."

Stitches gave me a long, hard look. Then shook his head. "You know, I'm gonna agree with Morgue on this one. Dorothy will be fine. Only thing she'll have a problem with is the separation."

"Which won't be more than twenty-four hours at most," I said.

"You seem pretty sure, Stitches." Wylde narrowed his eyes. "You got eyes on Morgue's girl?"

I couldn't help it. Everything inside me rebelled at the very thought my brother might want my woman. I never claimed anyone or anything, other than my bike and my guns, as my own. Even my bike was negotiable. But if Stitches had eyes on Dorothy, I'd kill the motherfucker.

"No one's killin' no one," Stitches said, raising his hands. "I don't have eyes for your girl, Morgue." Had I said that out loud? "Yeah, man. You did."

I took a breath, trying to calm myself. "Sorry." I shook my head to clear it. "Not really."

Wylde chuckled. "Yeah, I think we all know where you stand with Dorothy. Now. What I'm interested in is why Stitches thinks I'm wrong. When it comes to women, I'm the man." He tapped his temple. "I know how they think."

"Don't listen to him, boys." The feminine voice came from outside the office. She didn't enter but kept talking. "He knows jack about women. Which is why he has me."

"Dani," Wylde groaned. "You're gonna ruin my reputation." The damned man just grinned.

"No, I won't. Everyone knows better. Besides, you only said that 'cause you saw me pass by."

"You ain't wrong, darlin'."

"Look," Stitches continued. "Dorothy trusts Morgue. She trusts him to keep her safe and it all started with her knowing he was a straight up killer. I have no doubt that she'll be OK with anything he has to do here. Her only hang-up will be him leaving her for an extended period of time."

"Told you. Less than twenty-four hours. If the women stay with her and Blossom lets her keep Sparkle for a while longer, she'll make it." I wasn't budging on this. While we all would do what was necessary, most of the men here would hesitate to hurt women, even if they needed it. "I'll do what needs doin', and I won't let them off easy."

"They won't be," Sting said, straightening where he'd been leaning against the wall. "Are they still at school for the summer, Wylde?"

"Yep. Think they had to be, so it looks like Dorothy is logging in from school. That's the agreement I found admissions has for her. She's at school but taking the classes online. The reason is that until she graduates, campus housing is her home. Before that, she had an apartment in Liberty, which is two and a half hours from the University of Kansas. Wasn't a practical commute and she couldn't afford an apartment in a college town when she had grants and scholarships to pay for her housing. So all her roomies took some summer classes to keep the ruse going."

"Good. You've got two weeks to move. That gives you time to plan and time to reevaluate if you don't have a viable plan in place before then."

"Won't need that long."

"I know." Sting gave me a steady look. "But you're gonna plan this to the letter with Wylde, then submit it to me. Once I'm satisfied it's a sound plan, I'll give you the go ahead. Also, I'll want to talk with Dorothy before you leave."

I lifted my chin. "You think I won't tell her the truth?" It was a challenge -- one I knew better than to issue to Sting.

Instantly, Sting's mien hardened. "No, as a matter of fact, I don't. I think you'll do anything you have to for this kill, even lie to your woman. Which I will not allow," he snapped. "Tzars is for life, Morgue. She has to be good with this." He stabbed a finger in my direction. "So you will tell her everything and give her a choice. One she's gonna have to go over with me and Iris."

I grumbled but didn't argue. Mainly because I knew it wouldn't do any good. "Fine. I'll go talk with her now. I'll get Wylde my plan by tonight. I'd like to leave tomorrow."

"For the love of God," Brick muttered. "Good luck, Sting. Let me know if you need someone to knock his big ass out." Brick left with a wave and a shake of his head. "Stubborn bastard," he muttered on the way out.