Chapter 2

2

Maddie

P acing back and forth in front of the auto shop office windows, I keep searching the parking lot, the trees beyond, waiting for some sign of him .

For several days now, I've had this tingling feeling on the back of my neck that made me think I was being watched. It was like the first few weeks when I got to Rockland and was so paranoid my father would immediately find me that I couldn't relax. And then I did, eventually.

So, I stupidly thought the suspicion was in my head last week whenever I was out in public with Jordan and felt it again. When we were sitting on the beach the other night until it got dark, then again one night when we left the bar, and another when we left the apartment one morning...

If I'm right and not just imagining things, then my stalker knows everything there is to know about me. He knows about Jordan, where I work, where we live, what I sell online. Nowhere in this town is safe anymore.

"I should leave," I blurt out.

"Leave?" Celeste repeats as she leans against the office wall in her pajamas while Thane and Ruger, RJ as everyone calls him, keep watch outside, one of them circling the building on foot every few minutes.

"If I don't leave, the next dead man could be Jordan or Greer or one of the other Savage Kings. I-I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to them because of me."

"You're that certain that whoever did this did it because of you?" she asks, and I nod my head.

"Then you can't leave," she replies. "I understand the urge to want to bail, to flee in order to protect everyone, but you're safer here with the Savage Kings protecting you than you would be without them."

"Even if I'm safe, even if I won't end up dead, but they might?"

"You're saying whoever did this won't hurt you?"

"I don't think so. I don't know. God, I hate this!" I exclaim, shoving my fingers through the sides of my hair to tug it in frustration. "This morning, everything was fine and perfect. Now...now I feel like all the good things in my life are slipping through my fingers like sand as my past tries to drag me back."

"We'll figure this out. Between the Kings and the cops, the killer doesn't stand a chance."

I shake my head in disagreement. "There won't be any evidence connecting him to the murder. He won't ever let himself get caught."

"Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, even killers."

"He is by no means perfect, but he's the perfect serial killer. And thinking about Jordan becoming one of his victims...he doesn't just kill, he tortures his captives, breaks them for days or weeks before he kills them."

"Then tell the Kings so they can stay alert, watch each other's backs," Celeste says softly. Her bright green eyes turn more concerned for her husband's safety despite her reassuring words. "You know that Colt and RJ won't let anything happen to Jordan, which means Remy, Bear, and the others won't let anyone lay a hand on him, either."

While that is some comfort, it's not enough. Yes, the Savage Kings can be vicious when they need to be. They're bad asses who don't take any shit from anyone. But they have never met a monster like this before. I'm certain of that. Nobody is as bad as him, not even my father, who has managed to keep him on a short leash.

God, my father.

Does he already know where I am?

No, because if he did, Dante Salvato wouldn't kill a man to send me a message. He would stroll right into town, guns blazing, to drag me back home.

"Whoever killed that man is an evil monster, Maddie. It's not your fault he was murdered," Celeste says. "It won't be your fault if he goes after anyone else, either. The best thing to do is to let the Savage Kings find him and make sure he can't kill or hurt anyone else ever again."

There's a punch of guilt to my gut stealing my breath at the thought. I try to rub it away with my palm. Despite how bad he is, I don't actually want him dead. Even if he is an evil monster.

I hate myself for feeling that way. Especially when Jordan could get hurt.

If I had to make a choice between the two, it would be an easy one, though.

I would die before letting anyone hurt Jordan.

Jordan

Once all the Savage Kings are gathered at the meeting table later that afternoon in the back of RJ's shop, Greer and Remy fill the others in on what's happened.

"My surveillance cameras were ripped out without showing a face," Greer grumbles. "I'll have to go through hours, fucking days , of footage from the days before to see if anyone unfamiliar was in the bar or parking lot."

"The victim has been identified as Earnest Ingram, forty-nine-years-old and a Clayton resident," Remy, our club president, informs us. "Isaac, do you or any of the Devil Hounds know him?"

The oldest member of our club leans back in his chair, stroking his salt and pepper beard. "Yeah, I've heard of him," Isaac, the president of our Clayton chapter says. His other members nod their heads as well. "All I know about Earnest is that he's a long-haul truck driver. Word around town is that he works for some drug lord up in New York or New Jersey. He doesn't have any family or many friends that I know of, so I doubt anyone will even grieve him."

"Could that be why someone killed him?" Hugo asks. "Because nobody would look too hard for his killer?"

"Maybe," Remy agrees. "But why go to all the trouble of dumping the body in Greer's bar?" Shaking his head, he adds, "Reece is looking into things as well, doing his hacker magic. Torin or Chase Fury will let us know if they find out anything. The same goes for Rick Little, our contact at the Sanderson County Sheriff's office. Until then, everyone needs to be vigilant, especially with our wives and those with little ones."

"Should we get our families out of town until this shit is resolved?" Colt, one of the four pretty blond Fulton brothers and my current stepfather, asks.

"Let's hope it was a fucked-up fluke we got pulled into and sit tight for now, see how it unfolds," Remy remarks. "Unless anyone thinks we should go ahead and take extra precautions?" He eyes me steadily. "Do we need to send our families down to Emerald Isle for a vacation now?"

"I don't know," I tell him honestly. "Whatever you think is best."

"Then we keep an eye out. Anyone who wants to send their wives or kids can let me know. I won't make that decision for everyone. Avery has firearm training," he says, referring to his former federal agent wife. Grinning, he adds, "Even if I asked her to leave town, she probably wouldn't."

"I doubt Josie would either," Colt replies. "Not while me and Jordan are here."

"Well, I'm sure as shit not taking any chances," Isaac says. "My wife, my toddler, my daughters and my mother are leaving before the sun goes down and not coming back until the fucker responsible is caught."

"I don't blame you," Bear says to his father-in-law. "But if I were you, I would pose it as a question to Lyla rather than an order. Maybe mention that Holly could use her and your mom's help with baby Ethan."

"Fine," Isaac mutters. "But she is leaving town, even if I have to haul her out over my shoulder."

"I'll carry her if it comes to that, old man," Bear teases him.

And I'm glad that someone can find humor in the situation because I sure as shit cannot.

Remy adjourns the meeting a moment later but calls me over before I can leave the meeting room with the others. Not that I'm surprised.

"Has Maddie said anything more to you?"

"No. Not yet."

"You need to get her talking," he says, echoing Greer's earlier words. "The Las Vegas tourist shirt and ruining her supplies makes it pretty damn obvious that it was a message for her, that she's being targeted."

"I know," I agree.

"Watch your back and hers and get her talking so we know what we're up against. Make sure she knows that we're not blaming her, we just need to prepare ourselves."

"I will," I tell him. "Sorry this is affecting everyone..."

"Every man at the table knew when they joined the Savage Kings to anticipate that we would have to have each other's back and there may be bloodshed. Let's just make sure it's not any of us who bleeds."