Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Shark Bait

Psycho

My jaw ticked as I stared at Trigger. I didn't like being questioned, but I also respected his ideas.

"Don't you think we should notify the Nighthawks?" he asked again.

"I want to check out this club without having to be escorted by the leeches," I ground out. "If we spot that fucker, we snag him and then we'll drop him on Viper's doorstep. After we… have our way with him," I finished.

Trigger shoved his hand in his pocket and thinned his lips before asking, "And if we don't find him there?"

"Then it's surveillance, nothing more. You, Menace, Chaos, Wizard, and I will go. I'll make sure Cutter and Strife stay here with Nera. It'll only be a few hours. We might glean some serious info," I finished.

"Did you just use glean in a sentence?" he asked, biting back a smile.

"Go fuck yourself," I growled. "Now, go set it up. We ride at sunset. How's that for cliché?"

Now, he full-on laughed, and I couldn't help but chuckle with him. "You got it, cuz."

After he left my office, I sighed and looked around. The mail from the other day sat on my desk, the mysterious envelope with my legal name on the front and no return address still untouched. I quickly found my envelope opener and sliced it open.

My eyes scanned the words:

You can run but you cannot hide.

Come back, no questions asked.

You don't belong in Louisiana.

What the actual fuck?

I picked up my phone and opened the text app.

Me: Get back to my office.

Trigger: OMW

I slammed the letter down and paced, running my fingertips over my beard. I needed to stop that telltale sign of stress, but that was a problem to address another day.

Within minutes, Trigger was at my door. "What's up?"

I threw the letter at him.

He quickly scanned it. "What the fuck?"

"My sentiments exactly."

"You think it's my dad?" He shook his head, his dark blond hair unmoving with the amount of shit he put in it.

His dad was Scar, leader of the Hellcats. We'd been gone over two years. Why would he even want us back—or care where we were?

"My bets are on Scar." I refused to call him Uncle Jimmy like I did as a kid. I'd been calling him Scar since my early teens when they recruited—forced—me into the Hellcats.

Trigger nodded. "Yeah, mean old bastard. Probably can't deal with the fact we left. We were the strongest wolves in that pack."

"Let's not kid ourselves, Jake," I said, using his real name. "It wasn't a pack or a club." I used air quotes. "It was a fucking gang. We're all lucky we didn't end up in prison or dead."

"Jim and Shawn almost did." Trigger shook his head, remembering how his eldest brother, named after his dad, along with my brother, almost caught a case for murder but we'd paid a vampire to hypnotize the authorities, throwing out the case. "I guess the vampires are good for something."

Yes, they were. Viper and his crew were cool. We'd never had any problems with them. That didn't mean we wouldn't in the future, though.

"What do we do about that?" He jutted his chin at the letter.

"Burn it. I don't take lightly to threats, but I'm also not scared of them. They can fuck right off with this shit." I picked up the letter and flicked it into the trash can. If the receptacle hadn't been made of plastic, I would have pulled out my lighter and tossed it into the trash with it.

Trigger stared hard at me. "Something tells me this isn't the end of this."

I blew out a breath. "You're right, but at this point, we have bigger fish to fry. Or should I say—bigger vampires. We ride at sunset to Biloxi to check out that shark club Nera mentioned. Wizard's working up a sketch as we speak. The fucker shouldn't be too hard to spot."

"Nice." He grinned. "Hey, I just had an idea. Should we bring Charlie along? As bait?"

That was a great idea. Charlie was gorgeous, but she was human. If he did something to her, she couldn't defend herself. Then, I got an idea.

"Actually, yes. Have Wizard put a tracker on her. We'll be watching, but… just in case."

A smile lit up his face, his dark blond scruff glinting in the light from the window in this attic office. With his light-blue eyes dancing in amusement, he said, "On it!"

I had no doubt that after he passed the info onto Wizard, that he was going to go to his personal armory and pick out a few weapons to take with him.

I glanced down at the letter in the trash can. Who the hell did Scar think he was, threatening me like that? After this business in Biloxi, I was going to handle that shit.

Fuck you, Uncle Jimmy.

My fist clenched opened and closed as I stared at the Shark Bait sign gleaming in blue and white outside an old wooden building hosting the nightclub. I saw the appeal for the military who frequented the place. It looked rustic, nautical, and comfortable, but they could do with some serious upgrades.

I tried to picture Nera walking in here, dressed in those tight blue jeans and the sparkly silver top we'd found her in, ready to party and have fun. Wizard had easily located information on this Amanda person she was supposedly here from Tampa to help celebrate with, and came up with nothing exciting. Born and raised in Tampa, joined the Navy right out of high school, moved around, then landed in Biloxi for a promotion—the one Nera had been celebrating with her that fateful night.

I was almost certain this was mostly a human bar for military folk to unwind. Trigger took the lead. I followed after him, and Wizard, Menace, and Chaos followed behind. We'd left our cuts in the cager and were dressed in plain tees and jeans, trying to fit in. It killed me to look so mundane, but I had an agenda.

Wizard had left his precious iPad in the car and was relying on his cell phone for the composite sketch of this bastard who'd assaulted Nera. He'd texted us a picture earlier, but I'd already memorized his face.

We ordered drinks at the bar, acting casual. It definitely wasn't a vamp hangout. Pool tables, dart boards, and a small bar were pretty much it. It was mostly young military men and a few women hanging around.

I plucked my phone from my pocket.

Me: Go ahead and come inside.

Charlie: You got it.

Seconds later, Charlie emerged in a black miniskirt, sparkly black tank top, and some silver ankle boots. Her black and purple hair looked wild and she walked in with her head held high.

"Close your mouth," I told my cousin.

Trigger chuckled. "Fucking hell, man. She cleans up nice."

"Don't watch her. Wizard's on it," I reminded him.

We glanced at Wizard, who had his phone up in front of his face and was muttering mumbo-jumbo into the phone as if he was filming a video. Or going "live" or whatever the fuck these cyber idiots did these days.

In reality, he had the camera on selfie mode and was watching every move Charlie made.

We ordered beers at the bar and then made our way to an empty pool table. I put some money into the table and it released the balls.

Chaos racked up the balls into the triangle and we half pretended to play pool while trying to keep an eye on Charlie. She sat alone at a table nursing some fruity pink drink.

"Hi."

I turned slowly to see a blonde female smiling up at me. Her tits were spilling out of her shiny red top and she reminded me of the club whores who sometimes frequented Rumble. I had that compound on lockdown, but shamelessly, I allowed hot women access. It had never been a problem, but I should be more selective.

"Hi," I grunted, then turned back toward the table. I didn't need slut distractions right now.

"I bet I can beat you," she continued even after being dismissed.

I ignored her, but Chaos took over. "Oh yeah? I doubt that." He raked his fingers through his too-long hair. How any grown-ass man handled that Fabio hair of his I would never understand. The guy was lucky he was super handy with literally everything and only turned one night a month like me so he would be available for dark missions like this.

"I'm Eve," she said, putting out a hand for him to shake.

Chaos reached for it, then lifted it to his mouth, placing a chaste kiss on the top. "Nice to meet you, Eve."

I reluctantly let her play pool with us, but my focus was on Charlie. Then, my attention was drawn to the door where a man matching the description Nera gave us walked in, flanked by three other men.

I went over to Wizard, my back to the door, and said, "Look who just walked in."

He furrowed his brow, looked at his phone, then turned it around to show me the drawing. Which was futile since I'd already memorized this fucker's face. "Looks pretty damn close."

"I agree."

Handsome bastard. No wonder they used him to bait women.

I turned around and pretended to chalk the tip of my cue stick. The guys went to the bar and ordered more beers, but I watched as the suspect in question zeroed in on Charlie.

"I think we got him," I murmured low enough for Wizard and the rest to hear. We were wolves, no need to raise our voices.

After snagging a beer, our dark suspect sauntered over to her and struck up a conversation. We'd told her if he asked her to join him out back for a smoke, that was the indicator.

It was a tortuous thirty minutes of them dancing, talking, and flirting before I saw him hold up a pack of cigarettes and jut his head toward the back door. She nodded and smiled, and as he hooked his arm with hers, she flicked a glance at us, panic and a little excitement coloring her gaze.

We set our pool sticks down and followed them out back. We hovered in the doorway, out of sight, and watched as he lit up a cigarette and blew smoke out the side of his mouth.

Charlie kept yapping on about nothing at all, and once I saw him reach into his back pocket, I noticed a syringe there.

Game fucking on.

We raced outside. Trigger pulled out a small .22 pistol loaded with UV bullets and raced over to the vampire.

"What the fuck!" he screeched.

Chaos pulled Charlie to safety and I got in the vamp's face. "Where are you keeping the rest of the girls?"

He scowled down at me. I was a good six-two but this guy had to be pushing six-five. "Fuck off, filthy wolf."

Trigger pressed the gun to the side of his head. "Try again, leech."

The guy smiled, his green eyes lit up with mischief. "I have no idea what you're talkin' about. I'm just here to meet girls."

"To traffic?" I sneered.

He shrugged as if he didn't have a care in the world. He repeated, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Then, in a move too quick for me to track, he turned, snapped Trigger's neck, and took off at preternatural speed out of the back alley, leaving me stunned speechless. I pulled out my pistol and aimed in his direction but it was no use—he moved too fast.

Charlie screamed, and when reality caught up with me, I hollered too, my wolf crying out in grief at the sight of my cousin lying dead on the dirty ground outside the stupid fucking club.

"Fuck!" I yelled, falling to my knees.