STEEL TEMPTATION (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (22 page)

twenty-three.

The chief walked back and forth,
thumbs hooked through his belt. He had a lot of questions that had no real
answers. The more he talked, the more questions he asked, the worse it got
between him and the MC.

Miller finally made the call for
everyone but Gaige and Nate to go inside.

The move surprised Nate because he
never dealt with Chief Jerry before. He never dealt with the personal club
shit. It was always Miller and Gaige. Then they
’
d
come inside, call a meeting, and the club would decide on a plan.

But Nate stood there, next to
Gaige.

Chief Jerry faced them. He didn
’
t even bother to take his
sunglasses off.

“
How
’
s the family?
”
Miller asked.

“
Wouldn
’
t you like to know?
”
Chief Jerry asked with a cocky
grin.

Nate watched the anger crawl across
Miller
’
s face like a storm
climbing over the horizon of a mountain, ready to attack.

“
Why
are you here?
”
Gaige asked.
“
I mean, there
’
s obviously something going on
here.
”

“
You
’
re right. What
’
s going on here is that bodies
were found. In an abandoned warehouse. Not all that far from here. The room
looked trashed. Coast Road members. You
’
re
friends, right?
”

“
Friends,
”
Miller said.
“
Yeah.
”

“
What
else was in the room?
”
Gaige asked.

“
I
bet you know that answer already,
”
Chief Jerry said. Then he turned his sights to Nate.
“
And I bet that memory of yours is serving you quite
well.
”

“
What
if it is?
”
Nate asked.

“
What
do you remember, Nate?
”

“
What
are you trying to prove with all this? I thought the relationship
…”

Chief Jerry waved a hand.
“
No. That
’
s not what we
’
re
talking about, is it?
”

“
He
’
s got a point,
”
Miller said.
“
We
’
ve
always been good. Why the sudden change? Lost trust? Interest? How do you plan
on taking care of your wife and son
…”

“
You
leave them out of this,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
They
’
re my problem.
”

“
Problem?
”
Miller asked.

Gaige then shot a hand out and kept
Miller from stepping forward.

“
Let
me talk to Nate,
”
Chief
Jerry said.
“
Or else I
’
ll make one phone call and this
place will be swarming
…”

“
What
did you do with that van?
”
Nate asked.
“
The one we
called you about.
”

“
I
don
’
t follow.
”

“
Yes
you do. You treated those Coast Road guys like you treated us. You played the
scene to get us out of there. Then what? There were drugs in there.
”

“
Drugs,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
You
’
ve seen them before?
”

“
Yeah,
I have. Right before I was attacked. Threatened. Left to bleed out and die.
”

Chief Jerry curled his lip.
“
I was there to help you, Nate.
”

“
You
were there in on the fucking deal,
”
Nate growled.
“
I saw the
entire damn thing, Chief. Sorry. You should have had someone actually kill me.
”

“
Boy,
those are some intense accusations,
”
Chief Jerry said.

He reached into his pocket and
everyone jumped. Nate knew this was it. The chief was going to start killing
them. And he
’
d get away
with it too. He had the judge in his corner, the badges of the town, and power
that went far beyond Frelen.

Gaige lunged forward and grabbed
Chief Jerry
’
s arm. Miller
was right there, too. Nate stepped forward, unafraid to die. Of course, if his
stomach was going to swallow a bullet, his last thought would be about Mia.

“
Ease
up,
”
Chief Jerry yelled.
“
I
’
m
not pulling out a gun. If I wanted you dead, you
’
d
be dead by now.
”

“
What
the fuck is this?
”
Miller
asked.
“
I mean
…
years of this
…
together
…
what happened? I kept my end of the deal, Jerry.
Just like you wanted me to do.
”

My end of the deal?

Nate watched as the chief took a
piece of paper out of his pocket.
“
This
is what I wanted to show you three. So back away before I arrest you.
”

They backed away. Chief Jerry
looked at Nate.
“
I can
’
t speak to what you think you
saw. The MC had reported drugs before and I was just investigating.
”

“
They
were moving drugs then,
”
Nate spat.

“
And
maybe we
’
re building a
case,
”
Chief Jerry said. He
looked to all three of them.
“
You
ever think that? That we have our own thing going on?
”

“
Then
you should tell us,
”
Miller
said.
“
So we can act
accordingly. Right now Coast Road MC is driving through Frelen like they own
the town. Moving drugs. Lots of drugs. The kind of drugs that can make very
easy money, very fast.
”

“
A
ton of it,
”
Nate said.
“
Looking to leave, Chief?
”

“
Fuck
every one of you,
”
Chief
Jerry said.
“
You don
’
t understand what it
’
s like on my end. I
’
m pulling double duty. Keeping
deals alive and keeping honor for the badge. I watch you pieces of shit ride
all over Frelen without a care. Each time there
’
s
a fight, I have to clean it up. Each time there
’
s
a murder, I have to take care of it. You all should be rotting in a cell
…”

“
And
you shouldn
’
t be the chief,
”
Miller growled.
“
You know that. We
’
re all in this together.
”

“
Not
anymore,
”
Chief Jerry said.

Two little words that shook the
ground.

“
So
that
’
s it,
”
Nate said.
“
You get in bed with that judge
that fucked with Jace. You get in bed with Coast Road MC. The dumbest group of people
I
’
ve ever met.
”

“
So
dumb that they
’
re raking in
cash,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
Doing what you refuse to do.
”

“
There
will never be drugs in Frelen,
”
Gaige said.

Chief Jerry smirked.
“
Watch yourself. You never know
when that clubhouse will end up in different hands.
”

“
You
threatening us?
”
Miller
asked.

“
Maybe
I am. What are you going to do? Kill me? Like you killed those Coast Road guys?
Rocked that poker game, huh? Didn
’
t
get what you wanted, huh, Miller?
”

Nate gritted his teeth. Chief Jerry
was really trying to get to him. He really wanted Miller to attack. Either that
or he just wanted to fuck with his head bad. Make it so that Miller would be
off his game a little.

All part of a greater setup.

Nate began to think of Mia. His
phone hadn
’
t gone off just yet.
The prospects were following her. If they let anything happen to her, Nate was
going to chain them from the ceiling and gut them.

“
And
you support illegal poker games in town?
”
Gaige asked.
“
After all we
’
ve done to keep things clean
around here.
”

“
They
don
’
t hurt anyone,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
What you did really hurt.
”

“
Fuck
you,
”
Miller said. He then
turned and started to walk away.

Chief Jerry stiffened. He slowly
unfolded the piece of paper. It was a picture of a person.
“
I came by to check on things. I
’
m warning you right now - any
unusual MC activity and I
’
m
busting this place up. My advice is to hang back and wait. Okay?
”

“
So
you don
’
t give a damn about
my memory, huh?
”
Nate
asked.
“
My injuries. The
attack.
”

“
I
looked into it.
”

“
You
were part of it.
”

Chief Jerry turned the piece of
paper around.
“
See this
boy? He
’
s missing.
”

Nate looked at the picture. Young
looking kid. Round face. Dirty blonde hair. Blue eyes. Looking like any other
kid in the world.

“
What
the hell do we care about that?
”
Gaige asked.
“
We have
nothing to do with kids. Christ, Chief
…”

“
It
’
s the judge
’
s son,
”
Chief Jerry said.

It instantly made Nate
’
s blood run cold.

“
That
’
s Jacob?
”
Nate asked.

“
You
know his name.
”

“
I
remember what Jace told me
…”

“
That
’
s right,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
Jace
taught the kid how to try and murder other people.
”

“
Bullies.
”

“
People,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
And now with his father trying
to help him clean that up, the kid goes missing. Leaves a note. Saying he
’
s running away. The boy
’
s had a tough go. His mother left
and Jake is trying his best to be a good father to Jacob.
”

“
I
’
m sure,
”
Nate said.

“
You
look like you know something,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
Should I
get a warrant and search the clubhouse?
”

“
You
look like you know something,
”
Nate replied.

“
The
boy. He
’
s missing.
”

“
You
said he ran away,
”
Nate
said.

“
Doesn
’
t matter. He
’
s not where he
’
s supposed to be. My eyes are on
you.
”

That
’
s
when Nate
’
s phone beeped.
He turned and hurried away, leaving Chief Jerry behind. Disrespectful move?
Yeah. But oh well.

It was one of the prospects.

Mia was at the judge
’
s house. There was a police
cruiser circling the street. They were waiting for her to do something. Nate
wrote back to tell the prospect to stay on her and if something goes down to
step in. To put his ass on the line for Mia.

Nate then started to run toward his
ride.

“
Nate!
”
Miller yelled.

“
I
wasn
’
t done!
”
Chief Jerry said.

Nate got on his motorcycle and
walked it toward the chief. He stared at him.
“
What?
”

“
The
van,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
Since you seem to care so much
about it.
”
Chief Jerry
folded up the picture of Jacob and handed it to Nate. There was information
written on the paper.
“
That's
where the van is. You want to check on it? You want to be some kind of hero,
Nate? You want to get the full message? Go find it, Nate. Just be careful what
you wish for
…”