Shade Read online

  “Now, where are the fucking papers? This is the last time I am going to ask before I leave. If I search your room and someone comes in, I will shoot. Do you want to be responsible for someone being hurt?” Sam screamed at a dazed Beth.

  A rough hand in Beth’s hair jerked her toward Vincent Bedford. “Tell me where you put the papers. I will put a bullet through your brain if you don’t.” Bedford placed the barrel of the gun he was holding against her temple.

  “I put them in a brown shoe box in the closet.” Shade had to admire her bravery when she lied again.

  Bedford slammed the gun into her head, and that was when Viper used his booted foot to kick in the door as Bedford threw Beth to the kitchen floor.

  Shade saw his father coming around the corner of the house as Viper, Razer, and Cash went inside.

  “Back off; let them handle it.” Shade placed a hand on his father, preventing him from interfering with what was happening.

  His father nodded, and then both of them turned to watch the fight taking place.

  While Cash restrained Samantha, who fought like a wildcat trying to get away from him, Viper pulled two knives, one in each hand, and started cutting Bedford to shreds. The older man was covered in blood and trying to defend himself against a man whose skill with those knives was unmatched.

  When he turned to flee, Viper kicked him in the back, forcing him to fall forward onto the floor. The man attempted to crawl away from the revenge-driven biker, but Viper stepped on his hand, stopping his forward momentum.

  Razer was bent over Beth as she attempted to stop Viper.

  “Loker, stop.”

  Viper ignored her, bringing his boot back, about to plant it in the screaming Bedford’s face.

  “Please, Loker, stop. I have all the proof you need to convict him back at the clubhouse.”

  That time, Viper stopped and looked at her.

  “Cover him,” Razer said to Shade.

  Shade lifted his gun, pointing it at Bedford’s face, wanting to pull the trigger as Razer tried to comfort Beth.

  “How did you find me?”

  “Loker was watching Bedford, and when he saw Sam come in with you, he called us.”

  It was up to Viper when he would drop his alternate identity. Until then, they would keep his secret.

  “I had to. He threatened to kill my baby. He gave me no choice.” Sam hung pitifully in Cash’s arms, all the fight drained out of her. “He paid someone to take my baby. I don’t even know if it was a boy or girl. He took the baby while I was unconscious after the delivery. He won’t tell me where my child is or even with whom.” The whole room went quiet, listening to Sam’s heart-rending cries. “It was Gavin’s child.”

  “You lying bitch!” Viper yelled. He went to Sam, his hands circling her throat. “Lie again, and I’ll kill you.”

  “I’m not lying. I swear.”

  The sound of the sirens came from outside.

  “Loker, let me deal with her. The deputies are here, and I’ll find out the truth.”

  Viper thrust Sam away from him and into the sheriff’s custody.

  “You better, or I swear I will tear this mother-fucking town apart until I find the answers I want.”

  Chapter 9

  Shade listened to Razer tell Beth it was over in less than gentle terms while he strummed his fingers on the bank statements Razer had found in his nightstand.

  When Sam had told them what Bedford was searching for, she had cut herself a sweet deal for the information, leaving her father to fend for himself.

  Razer walked into the room with Bliss in his arms, dropping her onto the bed.

  “That seemed unnecessarily harsh. Did you really have to humiliate Beth in front of the whole club?” Shade set aside the documents.

  Razer shut the bedroom door. “I had to make it seem like I was finished with her until we find out who Bedford’s accomplice is. Your dad get any more information out of Sam?”

  Shade shook his head. “He said he would call.”

  He swiveled his chair and saw Bliss strumming her fingers over her clit to ease the fire Razer had started.

  “You going to take care of that?” Shade nodded toward Bliss.

  “No,” Razer said sharply before opening the bedroom door and leaving.

  “You like having Razer’s fingers on your pussy?”

  Bliss moaned, “Yes.”

  “Spread your thighs wider. If you’re going to play with yourself, do it right.”

  Bliss followed his commands, showing Shade a view of her glistening pussy.

  Standing up, he unzipped his jeans before taking a condom out of his back pocket.

  “Why should I put out a fire another man started?” Shade questioned. This was what he loved about sex the most—tormenting the women with desire until he decided to give them the relief they needed.

  “Please, Shade. I’ll do anything you want.”

  “You’re a naughty bitch, aren’t you?”

  Bliss frantically nodded against the bed.

  “Suck on your fingers,” Shade ordered, shifting her body until her thighs hung over the side of the bed. Taking her hips in his hands, he lifted her until his cock was nestled against her opening. He watched as she sucked her wet fingers into her mouth, her tiny tongue laving her juices off her fingers. “What do you want?”

  “Your cock,” Bliss begged.

  Shade nudged his cock slowly into her greedy cunt, feeling her silky flesh glide over his hard dick. He loved the feeling of first entering a tight pussy, gradually loosening it until they could take the force of his thrusts.

  Bliss tried to arch her hips to make him go faster and Shade pulled his cock away, stepping back from the bed.

  “Shade,” Bliss whimpered in frustration.

  “Did I tell you to move?”

  “No.”

  “You know that’s against the rules?”

  “Yes,” Bliss admitted.

  “Then I guess you don’t want my dick, do you?”

  “I want it so… bad.”

  “Do bad girls get my cock in their pussies?”

  “No,” Bliss’s tear-filled voice answered as she sat up on the side of the bed.

  “No, they don’t, do they? Not until they’re punished for being bad. Go downstairs and get my paddle.”

  “Okay.” Bliss stood up, going to the doorway.

  Shade turned the clock on the desk to face her then used his finger to tap it. “Every minute it takes you will be one stroke.”

  Shade easily read the heightened desire in Bliss’s expression when she slowed her pace as she walked toward the door. Bliss enjoyed their games as much as he did.

  Turning back to the paperwork Bedford had tried to murder Beth over, his eyes narrowed over a certain account number. Shade had almost perfect retention—that was how he had proved so successful as a sniper—and he was familiar with the account number.

  Picking up his cell phone, he called his father.

  “Hello.”

  Shade didn’t take the time to repeat the greeting. “Ask Sam about Memphis. Call me back when she admits he’s the accomplice. I’m going to be busy, though, so you may have to let it ring a while.”

  “You sure it’s Memphis?”

  The bank account number of the brother who had betrayed them was staring back at him.

  “Yeah, I’m sure.” He disconnected.

  “Did I take a long time?” Bliss came back into the room, setting the paddle down on the desk in front of him.

  “You took just long enough,” Shade said, picking it up.

  Chapter 10

  Shade stood hidden in the shadows, waiting as a lone figure came down the staircase. The previous night’s party had been a large one with the brothers from Ohio in town, which Viper had sent for. With all The Last Riders in one place, it would provide the perfect opportunity for their betrayer to make a move. The trap had been set, and like the rat he was, he had fallen for it and was scurrying for the bait.
/>   The brothers had bedded down for the night on any available furniture sturdy enough to hold their weight. Several had even thought ahead, bringing a sleeping bag and finding an open piece of floor to crash on.

  The figure methodically came down the steps, careful not to make a sound to alert anyone they were all about to be killed in their sleep. Shade, who had a keen sense of sight in the darkness, saw he held something in his hand as he headed for the door.

  Shade flipped the switch, the sudden burst of light blinding the brother he was staring at coldly.

  Memphis paused for a second, their gazes meeting. Shade let him see the death in his lethal eyes. Startled, Memphis spun around to see Viper, Razer, and Cash standing by the door.

  “Hey, man, you’re going to wake everyone. Douse the lights.” Shade’s lips twitched at Memphis’s attempt to squash any suspicions.

  “Everyone is already awake. What are you doing awake? Last I saw, you were upstairs with Evie.” Viper’s harsh voice belied his casual stance.

  Memphis shrugged. “She’s asleep. I thought I’d go for a ride.”

  “Sounds good; care if we join you?” Viper asked.

  “I was wanting some alone time, if you don’t mind?” Memphis started to move forward, but the three men blocked his path.

  “We do mind.”

  Memphis turned to leave through the backdoor yet found his way blocked by the members he had thought were sleeping. Outnumbered, he tried to brazen his way out.

  “What’s up, Viper? Since when does me going for a ride become club business?”

  “It becomes our business when you’re planning on blowing us to smithereens on your lone ride.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Memphis’s eyes darted back and forth between the brothers, making sure he didn’t meet Shade’s again. The fucker knew he wouldn’t find any sympathy from him.

  “Search him, Razer,” Viper ordered.

  When Razer stepped forward, Memphis bolted, attempting to force his way through the men blocking the door. However, his face was quickly shoved into the wall and his arms held high behind his back. When he tried to fight free, Viper smashed his face into the wall using his hair.

  “Stay the fuck still.”

  Cash searched Memphis clothes. “Well, look what I found.” He pulled the detonator out of Memphis’s pocket, lifting it where all the members could see.

  Razer flung Memphis across the room, and Knox grabbed him then threw him down on the couch.

  “It took three fucking years of my life to figure out who betrayed my brother. You sorry piece of shit, you killed him for fifty grand. I would have given you the fucking money if you had asked, you motherfucker.”

  “I would have done it for free.” Memphis shrugged, showing his obvious death wish.

  Viper lunged at him, but Razer and Cash held him back while Shade merely shook his head at the prick’s stupidity.

  “He’s just trying to piss you off so you’ll kill him quick. Find out your answers first,” Razer reasoned.

  “First, answer my question then I’ll answer yours. How did you finally figure it out?” Memphis questioned, now trying to delay the inevitable.

  “Sam. We promised protection and no jail time if she told us who her father paid to kill my brother,” Viper answered.

  “She didn’t know. Bedford swore he wouldn’t tell. He was scared enough of me to keep his mouth shut.”

  “Sam followed her father to one of your meetings. She recognized you when she started hanging around the house.”

  “Damn slut,” Memphis muttered.

  “I answered your question, now answer ours," Viper demanded.

  “I killed Gavin because he was a pain in my ass. I was dealing drugs on the side, and he was going to tell you at the next meeting. I would have been out. I couldn’t have that going down. I had a plan and was going to stick to it no matter what happened. Him being dead distracted everyone enough that I was able to move a lot of the patents to my name, and with the money I made off them, as well as the insurance policy on everyone, I would have been a rich man.”

  The insurance policy had been taken out between the eight friends when they had started their survival business. That way, if anyone was killed, the business would not be affected because the insurance was made out to the surviving group members. The bomb he had planted and planned to detonate would have killed a large number of them, including those carrying the larger chunks of stock.

  “What did you do with my brother’s body?” Viper braced himself for Memphis’s answer.

  “I buried him behind the Road Demon’s clubhouse.”

  Viper struck out at Memphis, no one trying to stop him that time. He pulled back and landed a final jab to his jaw which sent Memphis down to the floor, groaning and curling into a ball.

  “Tomorrow, I’ll ask for a meet with the Road Demons to try and get Gavin’s body. If it’s not there—”

  “I’m telling the truth. What are you going to do with me?”

  “Keep you alive long enough to bring Gavin home. After that, the club will deal with you one by one.”

  All the brothers knew what that meant. Each of the original members would stand in a circle with Memphis positioned in the middle. The members would then each have the opportunity to give him a killing blow. It wouldn’t matter if he were dead after the one chosen to go first. In that case, because it was Viper’s brother, he would be allowed the first strike. After each had their turn, he would be disposed of just as he had with Gavin. The only difference was Gavin would finally be coming home to a proper burial.

  “We’re going to show you the same mercy that you showed my brother.” Viper’s promise was deadly accurate.

  Shade and Cash took Memphis to the basement and chained him against the wall in Shade’s bedroom where they would guard him until they found Gavin.

  * * *

  Shade stood in the junk-heaped backyard with its broken-down motorcycles, glad they had waited to kill Memphis. Shade hoped there was a piece of him still alive when it was his turn.

  A large black Suburban rolled to a stop and a tall, muscular man climbed out, going to the back and raising the hatch to let a massive German Shepherd jump out.

  Shade saw the looks the Road Demon brothers gave each other.

  “The dog’s being given Gavin’s scent. We’re not here to get in your business,” Shade assured the brothers who were worried about their own dark secrets being exposed.

  Their postures relaxed as Cash greeted his friend. The two men shook hands before Colt pointed to the backyard.

  As the nose of the dog was rubbed with Gavin’s colors, Shade recalled the day all the original Last Riders had gone to the leather shop to pick up their individual vests.

  “Seek!” The dog took off, going to several parts of the backyard.

  Shade had worked with cadaver dogs before and recognized the signal each time the dog smelled a body, but it didn’t bark to show this was the one they wanted. It took twenty minutes for the dog to find Gavin and sit down on top of an old couch cushion.

  Viper nodded toward Train and Rider, who moved forward to dig. Even Shade, despite the numerous lives he had taken, felt a momentary twinge when they pulled Gavin from the hole that had been dug.

  As Viper walked over to his brother’s body, more than one brother had to blink back tears when they heard his words before the medical examiner team came in to transfer the body to the morgue.

  “It’s time to come home, brother.”

  Chapter 11

  “She still there?” Shade questioned Razer as they sat on their bikes at a red light in town.

  The club had already buried Gavin, but The Last Riders had gone to Ohio to declare Gavin dead and take care of the legal bullshit needed with his part in their survival business.

  Finally, they were back, and Razer had called Lucky to ask him to get Beth to the diner, figuring it would be easier to talk to her without her being able to slam a
door in his face.

  It was just getting dark when they rode their bikes into the diner’s lot. They watched as Beth didn’t hesitate in her footsteps as she crossed the parking lot, walking with her head down until she almost ran into Razer’s bike.

  Shade blocked her retreat, pulling in behind her and pinning her between the two bikes. Shade and Evie each gave her a nod as he and Razer cut their motors. The sudden silence was a relief.

  “Beth.”

  “Razer.”

  “How have you been?”

  “Good.”

  “You don’t look so good.”

  Beth shrugged. “Appearances can be deceiving.”

  Razer nodded while Beth stared at her car parked behind him. When he cleared his throat, Beth’s head snapped back to him.

  “Yes¸ they can. That’s why I want to talk to you. Can we go somewhere to talk? I would like to explain some things to you.”

  “No explanations are necessary. You got your message across clearly the last time I saw you.” Beth took a step to the right, trying to get to her car.

  “Beth, let him explain. I want to tell you how sorry I am for the way things went down. If you would listen…” Evie trailed off as Beth stopped and turned, meeting her eyes. Shade felt Evie flinch at his back.

  “I don’t need explanations, Evie. I provided employment for you until the factory opened. It’s not your fault that I misinterpreted it and thought we had become friends.”

  “We were friends … No, we are friends. Beth, listen to me—”

  With a sad smile, Beth shook her head as she spoke over Evie once again. “No, Evie, you are no friend of mine. You left me in that hospital to wake up alone, scared and not knowing what had happened. I kept thinking you would come by and bring me a few magazines or a couple of things I could have used. You never did, though. Then, when I came to the club and was humiliated in front of everyone by a man I cared about, did my friend stand by me? No. She ignored me and cut me deep by quitting when I needed her the most. Did my friend come by and see me to let me cry on her shoulder? No, you didn’t. A friend would have been there for me. I would have been there for you.” When Beth finished in a soft voice, Shade squeezed Evie’s hand, knowing she would be hurt by Beth’s justified outburst.