Chaos Bound (Sinner's Tribe Motorcycle Club #4)(104)
Shaggy fisted his hands by his sides and shouted curses, throwing himself forward. Viper frowned and one of his bodyguards slammed the butt of the gun into Shaggy’s head. Shaggy stumbled and went down on one knee.
“No. Stop.” Naiya took a step toward him, and Viper pulled her back.
“He’s nothing. He’s gonna be yet another body for me to bury tonight after our wedding.”
Naiya stared at him aghast. “Our what?”
Viper laughed. “We’re getting married today, love. Then I’m keeping my bride chained to my bed for the next three months until she turns twenty-three, her trust vests, and she transfers all her assets to me as a wedding gift. After all, you’ve been mine since you were fifteen, and I claimed you to protect you and keep all the vultures at bay.”
“You f*cking bastard,” Naiya screamed, her body heating with anger. “I’ll never marry you. I’ll never say yes. Never give my consent.”
“Lucky for you I know the mayor of Sandy Lake, and he owes me a favor. He doesn’t need to hear the word yes to solemnize a marriage. He’s the one who helped me trace the source of the money. Did you know your great, great granddaddy invested in the railroads? The stock was handed down through the generations, but your grandmother wanted nothing to do with it. She put it in a trust for your mother, but when she found out your mom had got herself a taste for bikers, she changed the terms of the trust and all the money went to you.”
“I would rather die than give you that money,” Naiya spat out.
“You will die as soon as I have all the funds.” Viper stroked her cheek with a thick finger. “But in the meantime, we’ll have three months to enjoy married life together. Although I suspect, I’ll be the one enjoying it, and you’ll be the one suffering. Just like T-Rex.”
*
“So what’s the plan?” Holt asked Michael. “You gonna shoot us in cold blood?” He looked over at Tank who had his gaze fixed on Ella. She was definitely a weak link as Tank had silently hinted, but Holt had also picked up on Michael’s hesitation. Michael was a lawman at heart and threatening to kill two innocent men clearly didn’t sit well with him. Maybe he truly was a dirty cop, with only a big payout in mind, but Holt had a feeling there had to be something else that would turn a man of Michael’s character into Viper’s puppet.
“Yup. That’s the plan.” Michael shot a quick glance over his shoulder at Ella. Her eyes widened, and she took a step back.
“Are you serious?” Her voice rose in pitch. “You’re going to kill them? I thought we were supposed to hold them until Viper got here.”
“Change of plans,” Michael said, his voice tight. “Viper’s not coming. He’s got the girl. He texted to say he wants them dead by the time he’s done the wedding ceremony.”
He’s got the girl. Viper had Naiya. Red sheeted Holt’s vision, and only the risk to Tank kept him from rushing Michael and grabbing the gun.
“You got all those forensic details accounted for?” Holt struggled to remember all the things Naiya had made him do to clean the crime scene at the lake, all the things she’d told him she would be doing in her job. “Like the blood splatter on the floor? You got a silencer for your gun? How are you gonna get our bodies out during the day? And if you don’t, how are you gonna keep the maids out until you do? Don’t bodies decay? If you leave us too long, are we gonna smell? Is Ella gonna clean up the blood on her hands and knees in that pretty white dress. She’ll have some explaining to do if this room is registered in her name. But then, you know all this ‘cause it’s your job. You catch the bad guys, protect citizens, and enforce the law.”
Michael’s gun wavered. “Shut the f*ck up.”
“I don’t want to be a part of this,” Ella snapped. “Viper didn’t say anything about killing them or being an accessory to murder. I was supposed to bring James and his friend here. End of story. I’m not going to watch you shoot them. And I’m certainly not going to clean up when you’re done. This is crazy. You’re crazy. You’re a federal agent, Michael. Yes, we both got in a bad situation with Viper, but we’re not killers.”
With their attention focused on each other, neither Michael nor Ella noticed Holt take a small step forward. But Tank did, and he goaded them on.
“He is a killer,” Tank said, bitterly. “Naiya’s gonna die because of him. Once Viper gets what he wants, he’ll have no use for her. What does he want anyway?”
“He wants the twenty million dollar trust that’s in her name,” Michael said. “He’s going to use it to take over the Jacks nationwide. His ambition knows no end.”
Holt dropped one hand behind his back and wrapped his hand around the handle of the knife tucked into the sheath at his belt.
“Now that’s a story,” Tank said, keeping their attention. “Maybe if Ella had been offered a story like that she wouldn’t have made a deal with Viper. What story did he give you?”
“I got an insider look at the club. I got to see inside the clubhouse, interview some of the bikers about their day-to-day activities. No names. No identifying the club. His men talked behind a screen. But he let me in deep and he gave me the scoop on something so big it’s going to rock the White House. It’s Pulitzer Prize–winning stuff.”