Beyond the Cut (Sinner's Tribe Motorcycle Club #2)(24)

“Cade.”

“Benson.” He deliberately used the deputy’s last name, not his first name or his title, letting him know with that one small gesture where Benson stood in the hierarchy of things. But just to make sure, Cade lifted his arm and placed it over the back of Dawn’s chair, his hand dangling with deliberate casualness over her shoulder, fingers brushing her bare skin.

Benson’s jaw clenched, and they locked gazes, trying to stare each other down.

“Enough,” Dawn snapped. “Both of you.”

Didn’t see that one coming. His girl had backbone. No doubt about that.

Benson’s eyes glittered, and then his gaze dropped. Cade puffed out his chest and gave a satisfied grunt. Challenge met. Dominance established. Woman claimed.

“What are you doing here, Cade?” Dawn looked up at him and his fingers took advantage of her exposed neck, tickling their way to her ear.

“You invited me the other morning. In the restaurant.”

Dawn’s eyes widened. “It was a joke. I would never, in a million years, have expected you to show up.”

“Shows how little you know me.” He rubbed his knuckles over her cheek, the gesture at once intimate and possessive. “You want me to go, just say the word. But I don’t trust the cops, and Benson here is gonna be able to do dick-all about Mad Dog. I can.”

Benson bristled. “Actually…”

“Am I wrong?” Cade leaned forward and tilted his head to the side. “You suddenly got the balls to take on the Devil’s Brethren?”

“Yes, you are wrong,” Benson said, his expression smug. “The town recently installed CCTV cameras in high-traffic areas. Dawn says she was assaulted in a public place. We may be able to pull some footage and get enough evidence to charge Jimmy … Mad Dog with assault.”

Cade chuckled and leaned back in his seat. “That kind of evidence will disappear so fast you’ll wonder if you even had it in the first place. Evidence rooms aren’t as secure as you think. And even if the evidence doesn’t disappear, strings will be pulled and he’ll be walking out the other door as soon as you hand in the paperwork.”

“Doesn’t mean we stop trying. Justice needs to be served. And I promised Dawn I’d do my best to get her justice.”

Cade toyed with Dawn’s curls, his fingers brushing over the back of her neck. Damn she was soft—soft skin, soft hair, and a soft heart. But he was learning she had a core of steel inside.

“There’s the big difference between us,” Cade said. “I serve justice hot. You serve it cold.”

Benson tipped his chin, a tacit acknowledgment of the truth of Cade’s words. There was no due process in biker culture. No rules or laws or procedures that had to be followed. Biker justice was swift, and often brutal, but it was always effective. Just as it had been the other night.

One down. Five to go.

“Dawn, you want to give that statement now, or after your friend leaves?” Benson picked up his legal pad, but Cade didn’t heed his dismissive tone. He wanted to hear the details of the assault as much as Benson did, but unlike Benson he would do something about it.

Dawn studied Cade intently, her eyes boring into him as if she could see into his soul. Well, there wasn’t much to see except a black hole that he’d spent a lifetime trying to fill with countless women in countless beds, and enough whiskey to ensure his remains would be well preserved when he finally passed.

“You can stay.”

Score! He caught Benson’s gaze and made no effort to hide his triumphant grin. Take that, bastard. She wants me.

Benson’s hand tightened around his pen, but to his credit he remained professional. “That’s fine. You can give me the details, and after you’re done, you can talk to someone in our Victim Services—”

“I’m not a victim,” she said abruptly. “I’m a fighter. That’s why I’m here.”

“Damn right,” Cade said. “Of course, coming here is the equivalent of trying to fight Mad Dog with a feather, but as a civilian you’re doing the best with what you’ve got.”

Benson put down his pad. “I take offense at that statement.”

“Good. It was meant to be offensive.” Cade stared at the scowling deputy. “Admit it, Benson. This is a biker town, and in a biker town the police have no power. You get Dawn’s girls back yet? You got Mad Dog jail? And Victim Services? How’s that gonna stop him?”

“I didn’t choose the name and the unit is there to help people who have suffered as the result of a crime.” Benson shifted in his seat. “Looking at Dawn’s face, I would say she suffered. And as for being a feather…”

“You’re not going to win that one, Benson.” Cade gave him a grin. “Don’t even try. Plus, I got a plan to keep Dawn safe.”

“What plan?” Dawn turned to him and frowned.

“Later. Benson already looks pale. Don’t want to give him a heart attack by revealing too much about our evil biker ways.”

Dawn tipped her head down, hiding a smile. “I kinda like your evil biker ways,” she murmured.

His groin tightened and he leaned over to whisper, “Next time I get you in bed, I’m gonna show you just how evil my biker ways can be.”