Dark Temptation (Dark Saints MC Book 2)(23)

Benz helped me off the bike. It was funny really. Why would he help me if he were about to kill me? Don’t trip so I can strangle you, I thought sardonically.

We walked around the back of a building and into a side hall.

I tried to orient myself. Maybe I could run for it? Any little detail could help me, maybe? But who was I kidding? The Dark Saints were off the highway, hidden. There was nothing really around if I ran. In what direction could I run? How long before there was a bullet in my back?

They led me into a kind of meeting room. There was a wood table in the middle of the room with some sort of symbol carved into it. I’d seen that symbol inked into Benz’s flesh.

At the head of the table was Bear. No question about it. This was the President of The Dark Saints. This was the mastermind of the MC. He had gray hair pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes were hard. As scared as I was of Benz, Kade, and Bo, this was worse. This man had seen more than I wanted to know about. And I’d messed up his plans.

“Sit.” Benz pulled out a chair for me.

Bear’s jaw was clenched, and he seemed to be grinding his teeth to keep from gnawing off one of my limbs.

He lifted his cell phone and put it on speaker.

“Detective Janning.”

So Janning was in on it. The very man I’d complained to was in on this drug deal. My prospects were getting worse.

“Bear, what the hell is going on? This is not what we were prepared for. I’ve got these two low lives and we’re no better off.”

“Yeah. And you didn’t think it was important to let me know that some gash was talking all about it at the station today?” Gash. Nice. That was me. I winced and felt a hand on my shoulder. Benz’s. Was he trying to scare me or comfort me?

“I had it handled.” Detective Janning said on the phone. I was now “it”: quite the step up.

“Let’s just go with, we both had some loose ends that unraveled this deal. We’ll handle our end.” Bear looked at Benz.

“Yeah, I’ve got a little mess here, too. Officer Peck can i.d. one of your guys. The one that ran and tripped? I’m guessing, by what he’s said, it was Bo. Bo needs to disappear for a while until Peck stops jizzing in his pants over this. He’ll need a little time to get with the program.”

“Thanks for the heads up. We’ll let you know when we decide what’s next.”

Bear ended the call and looked over at me, then down at his hand. He began picking at a callous on his palm. The tension increased every second as the room stayed silent, waiting to hear what Bear wanted to be done.

“Looks like we can lay this at your feet, Benz?” Bear’s exasperation turned to something stone cold.

“I didn’t know she was a cop. I thought she worked at the fucking library.” Benz said. Bo and Kade squirmed in their seats.

“It’s your mess. You handle it. Now. Bo, get going.”

“Yep.”

“No vote on this? Don’t we need to put it to a vote?”

What had just happened? How was Benz supposed to clean up the mess?

“Uh, excuse me?” Bear raised his voice. “You’ve fucked up enough here, Benz. Take care of her. Kade. Make sure he does.”

“Oh, now I need a babysitter?” Benz spat back at Bear.

“Apparently you do,” Bear gave it right back to him.

I didn’t know what was happening. Benz said the club was his family. This looked like the meanest fucking family on Earth. He’d said that Bear was like a father to him, but right now, it felt like the two of them could rip each other apart.

“Let’s go, Benz, come on.” Kade took me by the arm. I stood up.

“I got it. I understand. Let’s go.” Benz brushed Kade out of the way and led me out of the room, back the way we came. Kade followed.

I was terrified. The Prez of The Dark Saints had ordered me killed!

Was it going to happen here? Were they going to shoot me? Should I start screaming? I knew in my heart that screaming wouldn’t do a damn thing. If I was going to die, I’d die with some dignity. That was all I could think. Don’t do anything that would shame my Daddy right now.

We walked a few feet away from the building. Maybe they wouldn’t do it here, where they lived and worked? Maybe there was a place they dumped bodies? Would anyone realize I was missing? Paula Laraby wasn’t expecting me for another week. Shit. No one would realize I was even gone for days.

“Kade?” Benz said. He had a firm grip on my arm.

“I know. He’s wrong. We’re not,” Kade said to Benz. The two exchanged some unspoken communication.

“We’re not killing a cop. Especially one that just this morning waltzed right into the police station pointing the fingers at The Saints.” Benz still had a hard grip on me.

“What are you going to do?” Kade asked.

Benz looked at me and pointed to the back of his bike.

“Get on.” He let go of me. I could run or get on his bike.

Both seemed like death.

I chose to climb onto his bike. Any moment that I wasn’t being murdered was a moment in my favor, I decided.

“What are you going to do?”

“Sorry, Kade.” With that, Benz unleashed a punch to Kade’s face. He staggered backward.

Benz got on his bike in one quick motion and then gunned it. I looked behind me to see Kade waving. Like he’d expected to get hit. Like it was no big deal. It was a punch that would have sent anyone else to dreamland. These men were all fierce and I’d basically chosen to go in against them naked. My stupidity was horrifying.