Banger's Ride: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 5) (74 page)

Fuck, it’s cold out here
. Viper breathed into his ice-cold hands, trying to give them some warmth. The more he stood there waiting, the madder he got. The slut kept causing him trouble, and he couldn’t wait to fuck every one of her holes. He planned to ram his cock so hard in each one that she would beg him to kill her. His cock strained against his jeans as he thought of the fun he’d have with Cara.
Fuckin’ slut, she’s gonna get everything she deserves.
He mashed his cigarette out on the pristine snow.

His phone vibrated, and as he looked at the text message, an evil sneer spread across his face. By the end of the night, he’d have the bitch fucked, trussed, and on the back of his bike. He’d show her how to behave, and if she gave him lip, well, he’d just have to punish her.

*     *     *

The day dragged
on, and Cara was so nervous she practically jumped out of her skin. She noticed every place she went, Ruben followed and, convinced Hawk made him her bodyguard, she worked on devising a plan to ditch the biker. Knowing Hawk meant well didn’t take away her indignation—sometimes he treated her like a child.

The heat from her ire rose from her neck to her forehead. She was a grown woman who could take care of herself. Cara knew he fancied himself her protector, but even though she liked the way he made her feel safe, sometimes he was too much. Whenever she was with Hawk and men looked at her, he’d throw them one of his menacing scowls, making them turn away. Of course they didn’t want a confrontation with the tall, muscular man wearing his leather jacket with the Insurgents colors. She liked that; she felt protected and cared for. She enjoyed having someone other than herself taking care of things, and that surprised the hell out of her. That day, however, she wished Hawk would have left his he-man attitude in the bedroom, since she needed to get out of the compound without Ruben following her.
Damn
.

Kylie came into the kitchen and waved at Cara. Waving back, Cara approached the young woman, figuring it would pass the time if she taught Kylie how to make spaghetti sauce. Also, Kylie could be instrumental in her plan to ditch Ruben.

Kylie was a quick learner with a wry sense of humor, and Cara enjoyed the afternoon with her. At the end of her cooking lesson, Kylie had two large pots of simmering spaghetti sauce, one of which she would take home to her dad, and the other one she’d leave for the members’ dinner. While the women cooked, the enticing aroma of garlic, onions, and basil brought the members into the kitchen, beckoning them to dip freshly baked Italian bread into the simmering sauce. The rave reviews pleased Cara, and she was glad her old family recipe found new people to appreciate it.

The sun set over the mountain peaks as the moon rose in the darkened eastern sky. Cara glanced at the clock in the kitchen and noticed it was six-fifteen. She had to get a move on, so she motioned Kylie over.

“What’s up?” Kylie asked.

“I need to go out for a bit, but I don’t want Ruben tagging me. Do you think you can distract him for about fifteen minutes or so?”

“Why would Ruben follow you?”

“Hawk isn’t here, and he wanted to make sure I’m doing okay. You know how these men are.”

“God, I love these guys. They’re my family, but they can be so infuriating with their possessiveness,” Kylie said, rolling her eyes.

“Tell me about it. I need a little time to myself, you know?”

“Oh, yeah, I get it. I’ll distract Ruben for a bit.”

“Thanks. I owe you one,” Cara smiled at the girl and headed toward the stairs. As Ruben followed her, Cara said to Kylie, “I think I’ll read in my room for a while. Let me know when dinner is ready.”

Kylie came up to Ruben and asked, “Do you know if my dad’s here?”

Cara pretended to climb the stairs, but the minute Ruben turned his head toward Kylie, she tiptoed down the hallway into the mud room. Looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was behind her, she opened the back door. The bitter cold slapped her in the face and she pulled her sweater tighter around her chest. Inside her car, she switched on the ignition and killed her headlights. She drove to the chain-link fence and jumped out to open it. Her fingers, numb from the cold, fumbled with the lock as she checked behind her shoulder.

“Where’re you going?” a gruff voice asked.

She turned around and expected to see Ruben, but instead, she looked into Johnnie’s eyes. “I’m running to do an errand of the female type,” she said.

Embarrassed, he looked down, and said, “Do you need help with the lock?”

“Yes, please. My fingers are so cold I can’t move them right.”

He came over, and with his gloved hand, opened the lock. Relief flooded over her. She knew Ruben would climb the stairs to make sure she was in Hawk’s room, and she had wasted precious time with the damn lock. Smiling at Johnnie, she said, “Thanks.” She plopped in her car, turned on her headlights, and drove into the murky night.

E
ric looked at
his watch. It was almost seven o’clock, and Cara still wasn’t there.
Maybe something held her up.
He decided to give her five more minutes, then he’d leave. It was damn freezing in the shack near the abandoned mine. Thinking back to his high school years, he remembered coming to the mine with his buddies to drink beer, and sometimes they’d bring a few girls to make-out with. The girls were afraid the shack and mine were haunted. Those were the carefree days, when he didn’t have much to worry about and his life was in order.

Those days seemed so long ago, and he was weary of everything. He didn’t want to marry Nancy because she was a demanding bitch, but her father had a lot of money and political clout, so she was a necessary component in his plan to run for mayor. How he wished he could stop the tedious wheel his life was on.

Where is Cara?
He needed to talk to her to find out what she thought was so urgent. Why couldn’t she keep her nose out of this mess like he had asked her to? She’d always been a curious girl. Back when they were kids, she’d questioned everything, and whenever they’d watch police shows together, she’d tell him how she would’ve done things differently. He smiled to himself; he and Cara had been so close growing up. Over the last few years, they had drifted apart, and he knew it was more his fault than hers because he was the one who’d distanced himself. He felt vulnerable, like his world was closing in around him, and he didn’t want Cara to see his weakness.

I’m so stressed. All Cara cares about is her lowlife, outlaw biker.
The thought of her with Hawk revolted him.
How can Cara even think of going out with a man like Hawk? Why does she find him attractive, he’s—

Tires crunching on the snow in front of the mine interrupted Eric’s thoughts. He peered out the doorway and saw Cara park her sports car.

“It’s about time. You’re late. I was ready to leave,” Eric said when she entered the shack.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be late. How are you? You look tired,” she commented.

“Work is a pain in the ass, and Nancy is driving me nuts with all the wedding plans. I’ll be glad when that’s all over. You look great, rested and happy,” he said, his eyes scanning her face.

She laughed. “A few days off works wonders.”

“What’s this emergency that made you drag us out in the freezing cold?”

She took a deep breath then opened her purse and removed several folded sheets of paper. Handing them to Eric, she said, “A friend of mine sent this to me. He works with law enforcement, so he’s going to share this with the detectives.”

“Share what?” Eric said, taking the papers from her. “What the hell is this?”

“Your court schedules, your sentencings, your convictions, and your mistrials.”

Eric looked at her, puzzled. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Why are you protecting the Deadly Demons Nomads? Look at your record—most of your mistrials had the Nomads as defendants. When they
have
been convicted, you gave them community service or deferred sentences. Eric, you haven’t sent a Nomad to prison in the last two years, and yet, you’re all over the Insurgents for crimes they haven’t committed or ones that aren’t a big deal. Why?”

“Is this what this goddamn rendezvous is all about? You want to protect your boyfriend’s dirt bag gang?”

“No,” she said in a soft voice. “I want to understand the disparity in justice, that’s all.”

“What are you trying to say? What are you accusing me of?” Eric’s face turned red as he screamed at her.

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m trying to understand what your connection to the Deadly Demons Nomads is.”

“We’re his supplier, fuckin’ cunt.” Viper’s icy snarl cooled down the tension between the cousins. Both Cara and Eric whirled around at the sound, Viper’s narrow eyes shining like sleet in the darkness.

“What are you doing here?” Eric yelled.

Cara whispered, “You know this guy?”

Eric hung his head, mumbling something inaudible.

Viper smirked. “He knows me well,
sweetheart
. We’ve been doin’ business for a while now, haven’t we, Judge?”

Eric grimaced. “Leave her out of this.”

“Out of what? Eric, tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Go on, Judge. Tell her what the fuck’s goin’ on. And I’m not leavin’ her outta shit. The whore wanted to be involved, and now she’s
very
involved.

“Eric?” Cara stared at him.

Eric covered his face with his hands, then Cara watched as he removed them, a scowl replacing his concerned look. “You couldn’t keep your goddamn nose out of this, could you, Cara? I begged you. I told you to back off. I fucking
warned
you to stay out of this, but you couldn’t do it, could you? Now there’s nothing I can do. Nothing.”

“What are you talking about? Are these guys paying you big money? If you needed money, you could have come to me or my dad. I would’ve helped you. What possessed you to go to
them
of all people?”

“You think this is about
money
? This has
nothing
to do with
money
! If only it did, life would be a lot simpler.” Eric turned away from her.

Cara moved toward him, but Viper put his foot out and tripped her. “Stay where you are, bitch.”

“Why are you involved with these guys? Tell me now, Eric.”

Shaking his head, Eric mouthed the words, “I can’t.”

Viper sneered, “Enough of this bullshit. You wanna know why the judge here came to
us
? He had a craving so bad,
sweetheart
, nothing could satisfy him except young, pretty things. He needed us to feed his hunger.”

“That’s enough, Viper!”

“You don’t fuckin’ tell me shit, sicko.” In one long stride, Viper was in front of Eric, grabbing him by the neck and squeezing. Eric gasped for breath. “You got that, asshole?” Viper’s eyes blazed as he pressed tighter around Eric’s throat.

“Stop it! Leave him alone!” Cara rushed over and pounded on Viper’s back. Viper released Eric only to backhand Cara. Falling backwards, she landed on the plank floor, her lip cut open and bleeding. She wiped her mouth and glared at Viper.

“You’ll be punished for that, and I’m going to enjoy every second of taming you, slut.”

Eric, bent over, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. Viper shoved him against the wall. “You fuckin’ said you’d take care of this slut, and you didn’t. I’ll do the job you weren’t man enough to do.” Facing Cara, Viper said, “Your asshole cousin isn’t a man. He’s nothin’ but a perverted wimp, who gets off on playing with and cutting young pussies. He’s not even man enough to get his own bitches. Yeah, that’s right,
sweetheart
. Your upstanding cousin is the fuckin’ Mountainside Strangler. How’s that for a family tree?” He laughed without mirth.

“What?” Cara folded her arms over her trembling body as she darted her eyes from Eric to Viper. Eric cast his gaze to the floor, unable to look her in the eye.

She wailed, “This isn’t true! Tell me this isn’t true, Eric. Tell me he’s making this up. Tell me it isn’t true. Eric, tell me! Oh, please, tell me this isn’t true.” Her teeth chattered as sobs racked her body. “This can’t be true. I know you, Eric, you’re my blood. We grew up together. We went on double-dates. We shared secrets. We were so close. Why aren’t you denying this? I don’t believe it. I
won’t
believe it. Oh, my God!” Holding her hands over her face, Cara crumpled to the ground as her sobs overtook her body.

Waiting for her wailing to subside, Eric finally spoke, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry, Cara. I am.”

Cara, tears streaming down her face, searched his face to find answers. “How can this be happening?”

“I don’t expect you to understand. I’ve always been two people, good and bad, but the bad won out. The Nomads bring women to me no one wants or will look for, and I help them get their trafficking trucks and meth through this county. I have a hunger I can’t control. I know you don’t understand that—no one does—but to me, it’s real, and it’s with me most of the time. It worked until you started nosing around. I told you to leave it alone. I told you.” Eric buried his face in his hands again.