Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Titan

THE RIDE BACK to Clinton City and the clubhouse was long as fuck. I wanted to be out on my bike with the rest of the guys, protecting my ol' lady. However, the doctor told me I'd need to wait until I could breathe without pain and shit before he wanted me back on a bike. Knowing how upset Dallas got when I told her I forced Dr. Long to discharge me, I wasn't about to upset her even more knowing that I was on my bike instead of in a car with her. For some reason, we got the smoke inhalation worse than anyone else in the house. The only reason Tripp can think of is because our room was at the back of the house and that's where the fire was started so we had longer to inhale the smoke until Danger woke me up. All the guys got checked out when we pulled up to the hospital. The only two who didn't show up were Cash and Kidd. But, they had Doc check them out once they got back to the clubhouse with the Prospect's body. There was no way Cash could remain with us having the kid in the back of the van, and Kidd wasn't about to let him ride alone with all the bullshit going on.

Dallas slept for a good portion of the trip and I was happy for her to do that. Dr. Long stressed the importance of her getting rest and as much sleep as she can to help her body heal. If it gets harder to breathe or anything like that, we're to get her right back to the hospital to make sure something else isn't going on with her. We've also got to find her a baby doctor. I'm sure my girl already knows someone since she grew up in Clinton City, but we need to get her an appointment so she can get a continued script for the vitamins Dr. Long already started her on. He's not concerned as much about the morning sickness, but we're to keep an eye on it in case it gets any worse.

The mayor and I didn't talk on the ride home. He feels fucking horrible that we could've been hurt in the fire at the safehouse and is also wondering how the fucking stalker found us. None of us have the first clue how we were tracked down when we took every precaution possible to prevent anyone from following us or finding out where we were. I'm gonna have to get Hawk to check Dallas, her belongings, and Danger again to see if there's a tracker or something that we've missed somewhere. Danger wasn't checked thoroughly before because we didn't figure he'd let anyone close to him so they could put some kind of tracking device on his body. Now, I'm not sure that's the case any longer. Desperate people are willing to do almost anything to get what they want.

When we finally pull up to the clubhouse, everyone who wasn't at the hospital with us is outside waiting. One of the guys must have let them know we were close. Rebel is among the group waiting as she waits with Cash. They're standing close, but not touching. He's looking down at her while she watches Eagle pull in and park his bike next to Reaper's in front of the clubhouse. No one's gonna believe there's nothing going on between the three of them for too much longer. It's written all over their faces that they've got something going on. Maybe Rebel doesn't want anyone to know because she's turned down every guy who's wanted her before now. I can see where she'd feel that's a concern, but she has nothing to worry about. Not a single one of us would ever force a woman to have sex with us or make her feel bad for choosing one of the other guys instead. It's not how we work as men or a club.

I managed to get Dallas up to our room without having to wait for everyone to stop and talk to her. It helps that she didn't wake up once the car came to a stop and I lifted her from the seat next to her dad. Tripp went ahead of me with Danger so he could unlock my door and let us in. I didn't want to jostle her around too much. After letting me know they'd get us something to eat and the rest of her babies, Tripp left us alone in the room so I could tuck my girl into bed and climb in next to her. Technically, I still need my rest so it's not a big deal to take a nap with Dallas and hold her in my arms.

"Adam, your phone keeps going off," Dallas says, waking me up as she pushes her body off of mine and I listen to her raspy voice.

Opening my eyes, I pull Dallas back over my body and grab my phone from the stand where I put it before climbing into bed with her. Tripp is calling me and I know it's gotta be important so I answer it.

"Yeah," I ask, my voice even deeper and raspier than normal with my throat dry as hell and sore.

"Reaper's callin' church, Titan. Gonna need you down here for the meetin'. Hawk found somethin' and you're not gonna be happy about it," my best friend informs me as I growl and sit up in bed with Dallas in my arms.

"Give me a minute to wake up and I'll be down," I tell him, hanging up the phone and looking down at my Sweet Girl.

"Gotta go?" she asks me, her eyes slowly sliding closed once again.

"Yeah, Sweet Girl. Reaper called church. Hawk found somethin'. The sooner I learn what it is, the quicker we can get this shit dealt with," I tell her, leaning over her body to press a soft kiss against her lips.

"I'm gonna sleep for a while longer. Danger can take your spot and be my pillow. He's used to that from me," she murmurs almost back asleep once again.

I lay her back on the bed and climb out before motioning for Danger to take my spot. Honestly, it doesn't bother me if he gets in our bed. As long as we're not in the middle of anything, Danger can sleep with Dallas every fucking night if that's what she wants. But, I know he's got his own large bed and that's where he sleeps for the most part. It's only when Dallas doesn't feel good or want to be alone that she has him get in bed with her. I know Emmie is more than ready to come spend time with my girl, but Dallas really needs her sleep. So, unfortunately, she's gonna need to wait a little longer before they can spend time together. Emmie will understand because she wants her best friend to get better and heal as fast as she can.

After changing quickly and putting on my cut, I leave the room and lock the door behind me. Tripp and Kidd meet me in the hallway as we head down to church. Jay is standing at the door and he takes all of our stuff before we leave him behind. Regardless of what Hawk has found, Jay getting patched in needs to be voted on today. It's past time and he deserves it more than anyone else we've had in a long time. With the exception of Rubber. Those two are the best Prospects we've had in a long time and it's going to take a lot for our newest Prospects to live up to Jay and Rubber. Hell, I don't even know the new Prospects' names. I'll have to fix that and start paying more attention to them.

Taking my seat, Tripp sits next to me and we wait for Reaper to get the meeting started. It doesn't take him long considering we were the last ones in the room.

"As you all know, the fucker found everyone at the safehouse and burned it to the fuckin' ground. I've been in touch with the fire department there. The chief has told me that the fire was deliberately started at the back of the house and an accelerant was used. He's gonna keep lookin' into the fire and will stay in constant contact with me. While it's concernin' that he was able to find them and get close to Dallas, it's not as concernin' as what Hawk found when we all returned once Dallas was released from the hospital. Titan, how is she doin'?" Reaper asks, giving everyone a brief run-down of what's happened.

"She's sleepin' right now. Dr. Long told us she needs plenty of rest and sleep. That's only gonna aid in helpin' her heal and that's definitely needed right now," I tell him, being careful of what I say because I don't want to let it slip about the baby.

"Okay. If you guys need anythin', let us know. We'll help in any way we can. Alex and the girls are gonna make sure they make food that is easy for you two to eat. I think they're plannin' on some kind of soup and bread tonight for the two of you," Reaper informs me before turning the meeting over to Hawk.

"When Dallas first got to the clubhouse and agreed to stay here for protection, I checked everythin' she brought with her. I didn't find a single trackin' device on her at all. There were no hidden apps installed on her phone or other electronic devices, and I even checked the animals. Danger wouldn't let me get close enough at that point to give him a thorough check, but that's not the case now. I checked him again the second he was brought back in the clubhouse and found a trackin' device on his collar. I don't know how long it's been there, but I'm gonna trace the IP address I found on it. Hopefully that will tell me exactly where this stupid fuck is hidin' out," Hawk states as everyone at the table explodes because Danger is never on his own for any reason.

"Who the fuck could've gotten close enough to him to plant a fuckin' trackin' device?" I growl out the question and slam my hand on the table in front of me as Tripp places a hand on my shoulder.

"We don't know. I'm gonna go back through all the security footage to see if I can discover anyone fuckin' with him. I've already talked to Tripp and he hasn't noticed anyone close to Danger for the time it would've taken to place the trackin' device," Hawk answers me as he drops a bag on the table near me.

Inside the clear bag is the smallest tracking device I've ever seen. Hawk is fucking amazing when it comes to all of this technological bullshit and has brought in a ton of different devices and things for us to use over the years. No one would've ever found it if they weren't expressly looking for it. I don't bother picking the bag up as Tripp reaches for it and takes a long look at the device. I'm so filled with rage right now that I wouldn't truly know what the fuck I'm looking at and determine if I see something Hawk might have missed on this tracker.

"This is how he found us?" I question, my voice vibrating with the anger filling me.

"I'm pretty sure that's exactly how he found you. I'll know more once I run the IP address on it and find out everythin' I can. I mean, we all know this fucker is smart and has some trainin' from his time in the military. I know he wasn't in long enough to get trained in this shit. So, either he's continued trainin' on his own or someone's helpin' him. That's another question we need answered. How long are the other guys stayin' here?" Hawk answers before turnin' his attention to Reaper at the head of the table.

"Grim, Gage, Playboy, Kingston, Cage, and Joker will be here until this shit is done. They've sent the rest of their men back home. Hawk, you've got Kingston here so fuckin' use him. Fox and Tech will continue workin' from their clubhouses to help the two of you out. Renegade and his guys will get here immediately if we need them. They had some shit go down and were needed at home," Reaper informs us as I look around the table for the men who are staying here. "They're not here, Titan. While we're havin' church, they got a head start on goin' on and continuin' the search for this twatwaffle."

"Good. How are we gonna finish this shit, Reaper? Dallas can't remain in hidin' forever. She's got a clinic to open and the longer she has to stay hidden and not livin' her life, the more insane it's drivin' her," I ask, needing to finish this for my girl because it's weighing heavy on her and we've never had a problem like this before. We've always known our targets in the past.

"There's one way we can end this shit right now," Reaper begins and I already know I'm not gonna fucking like what he's about to say. Especially when Savage gets up from his seat and makes his way around the table to me. "Norbert is after Dallas. The easiest and quickest way to fuckin' end this shit is to use her as bait. We'll set it up so she's out shoppin' or somethin' and make it look as if she's on her own. That won't ever be the case, but we can make it look that way. Especially if I can get Renegade and his guys to come back to town. No one knows them because they haven't been out as much as everyone else."

"Abso-fuckin'-lutely not," I yell, my voice echoing off the walls as I go to stand from my chair.

Savage and Tripp keep their hands on my shoulders so I can't get up. They know this is gonna push me over the edge. I will fucking destroy this entire clubhouse and every fucking man standing inside before I let my woman be used as fucking bait to lure this asshole out. He's gotten too fucking close to her and now they want to put her directly in his damn path.

"Titan," Reaper starts before I turn on him and force Savage's and Tripp's hands off of me.

"No. You fuckin' listen to me. Not a single one of you fuckers would even think about puttin' your ol' lady up as bait to lure a fuckin' asshole who's been after her. Reaper, you went out of your fuckin' way to get Alex back and that was before you made her your ol' lady. Trax, you willin' to put Reagan in the line of fire to bring someone in if this was her situation? No, if I remember, you did everythin' in your fuckin' power to make sure she stayed as far away from the prick after her. Even made sure that she was surrounded by members and Prospects when she went back to school. Savage, you gonna put Zoey in the position to fuckin' go out in the open with someone after her? I know Hawk isn't gonna do that shit with Kendell because he lost his shit when she did it herself and didn't tell him," I state, my voice rising with every word I speak. "Yet you wanna put my ol' lady out in the open so Norbert can fuckin' take her. She just went through a fuckin' fire and was in the hospital overnight. There's things we found out that you have no fuckin' clue about. Now you wanna spew this shit to me? I don't fuckin' think so."

"Titan, calm down," Tripp says, trying to get me to back down as I finally stand from my chair and lift it in my hands.

Throwing the chair at the wall behind me, Savage barely manages to get out of the way before it takes him out. He glares at me and I don't give a fuck about it. It's clear some of the guys have been talking about this shit and thought it would be a good idea.

"Hawk, you keep doin' your shit on the computer with Kingston. I can guarantee you that Dallas will not be used as bait. I hear that shit from a single fuckin' one of you again and I'll take her and leave here without hesitation. I'm not fuckin' riskin' her life because you want to get this shit done quick and easy. That's not how we fuckin' handle club business and you all fuckin' know it. We've never used a fuckin' woman to do our job for us.," I yell, looking at every man around the table before I turn and leave the room.

I slam the door for church and don't bother grabbing my phone or anything else as I stalk past Jay. Hell, I didn't even bring up patching him in because this shit has me so fucking twisted up inside. My entire body is trembling with the rage flowing through me and I know it's just a matter of time before I snap and lose it the rest of the way. Throwing a chair is nothing for me. I've done much worse in the past and I refuse to get to that point with women and kids in the clubhouse. Bypassing the women in the common room, I slam through the front door and head straight for my bike. I don't even take the time to put on my bandana and helmet as normal because I need to get the fuck out of here. If I see one of my so-called brothers right now, I'm more likely to snap their fucking neck than be able to sit there with them and pretend that shit wasn't said.

Starting my engine, I motion for the Prospect on gate duty to open it before I race from my spot in the line of bikes. The gate is barely open when I move through it, twisting the throttle even more as I leave the clubhouse behind me. I want nothing more than to go up to my room and take Dallas in my arms to ensure she's there and safe from Norbert. Instead, I refuse to go to her when I'm this fucking angry. Dallas doesn't deserve to have my wrath on her when she's done nothing wrong. I will not take out my rage on her because she's been through more than enough over the last few weeks.

The best thing I can do right now is go for a ride on my own and not be around anyone. I highly doubt Tripp knew what Reaper was gonna say in church today because he would've given me a head's up. Tripp would have never allowed me to walk into church and be completely fucking blindsided the way I just was. Riding through town, I don't even bother pretending to stick to the speed limit. There's no traffic for me to worry about contending with as I make my way out of town toward the highway. I can really open up on the highway because the speed limit is faster and I don't have to worry about the stop lights and other bullshit. Eventually I'll go back to the clubhouse and to my room with Dallas. What I won't do is talk to a single fucking member there. None of them deserve to talk to either one of us until I'm ready to move past this shit.