Chapter Twenty-Four

Compass

“Oh, this is nice.” Fallon took off her helmet and shook out her hair as she surveyed the strip mall in front of us. Each was a different shade of blue, but they had that certain charm that came with places that had seen better days but still had potential. The middle of the strip had a vacant store that stood out—almost twice the size of the other shops.

Yarder pulled up on his bike, still clearly pissed at me. I’d expected that. He hadn’t said much since last night, but the tension was obvious. He wasn’t happy with the way things had been handled with Russ, and I didn’t blame him. He thought we were keeping things from him, and part of me worried he might decide to take the bakery away from Fallon because of it.

Adalee pulled up on the back of Fade’s bike, and her eyes lit up when she saw the spot. She was all smiles as she hopped off. “Oh my gosh!” she called, excited like she’d just found treasure.

Smoke was the last one to arrive. He parked next to Yarder.

Fallon had been so worried that Yarder would take the bakery away from her because she hadn’t told him about Russ, and I couldn’t lie. I was a little worried, too. But I knew Yarder. Deep down, I knew he would do what was best for the club. And The Cakery was definitely going to be good for the club. There was no denying it.

“Hello,” Kate called and pulled me from my thoughts. “I’ve got some sheets with all the stats on this place,” she said, smiling brightly. “One thing about this place was it used to be a pizza joint,” Kate added, clearly excited.

Fade snorted. “We’re making cake, not pizza.”

“Yeah, but that means this place will already be set up how we’ll need it,” Adalee explained, ignoring Fade’s comment. “They’ve got coolers and freezers. It’s already got what we need. It’ll save time.” She smiled wide. “This is great.”

“Exactly,” Kate added and met Fallon’s eyes as she handed out the papers. “I’ve already unlocked the door. Just go ahead and take a look around.”

Fallon froze next to me, her hand suddenly gripping my arm so tight I almost couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were wide, locked on something on the piece of paper she was holding. She held it out for me to see. “Wait!” she screamed, her voice filled with a mix of confusion and alarm.

Something was wrong.

“What the fuck is wrong?” Yarder barked.

Fallon’s gaze was still fixed on the paper, her face pale. She held it up and pointed at the top. “Kate O’Hara,” she said, her voice trembling. “That’s the name... it’s the name Russ told us to look out for.”

The words hit me like a freight train. Russ had told us to watch out for O’Hara. The realization made my stomach drop.

Kate O’Hara.

Every guy in the group seemed to freeze for a second as if the name hit them all at once. I glanced at Yarder, his face darkening as he processed the information.

“What the—”

Before Yarder could finish his sentence, the building exploded.

The deafening roar of the blast tore through the air and sent us all crashing to the ground. I was thrown backward; my body slammed into the pavement as debris rained down. The sound of shattering glass and twisting metal filled the air.

I couldn’t see anything for a second. Everything was covered in smoke and dust. My ears were ringing, and the heat from the explosion was in the air as the building burned brightly.

I blinked through the haze and looked around. Fallon was next to me, her face pale but her eyes wide with concern. She was clinging to me, and I could tell she was checking to make sure I was okay.

“Compass?” Yarder’s voice cut through the dust, sharp and demanding. His voice sounded far away, like he was shouting through a tunnel.

“We’re good!” I shouted back and pushed myself up from the ground. I tried to shake off the disorientation. My head was spinning, and the dust from the explosion made my throat burn. “We’re okay!” I called again, my voice rough.

Fallon cried out, her voice full of panic. She clung to me harder, looking around as the dust and debris started to settle. “Adalee? Fade?”

“We’re here!” Fade called, his voice strained as he emerged from the rubble, his eyes scanning the area. “What the fuck happened?”

I looked around quickly. Everyone else seemed to be okay, but Kate was lying unconscious by a parked car, blood pooling under her. She didn’t appear to be moving, but for the moment, I couldn’t worry about her.

Yarder stood up, his fists clenched as he surveyed the wreckage.

I scanned the area. “Smoke!” I shouted, my heart pounding. The explosion had thrown us all off balance, and Smoke had been closer to the strip mall when it had exploded.

“Where the fuck is he?” Yarder snarled and turned in a circle as he looked for him.

I didn’t see him anywhere. My stomach twisted. There was no sign of him.

“Smoke!”