Page 64 of Jagger
King acknowledged that with a nod, then turned back to the group. “All right, everyone has their assignments. I want you to grab some food and be ready to head out in thirty minutes. And don’t even fucking think about drinking any booze with dinner. You all need clear heads to ride out, got it?”
I heard a couple of grumbles, and caught Ace rolling his eyes, but nobody had the balls to outright object to King’s command. I took a deep breath while listening to the sound of chairs pushing back from the table, and boots stomping out of the room, thankful again to have the brotherhood at my back. I glanced up to find my dad standing next to the head of the table, studying me carefully.
“You OK, Jag?”
I nodded and pushed my own chair back, standing to look him in the eye. “Thank you for doing this. Molly is – “ my voice broke slightly, and I swallowed hard. “Molly is everything to me, and I can’t fucking stand the thought of her getting hurt.”
King rounded the end of the table and clasped my shoulder, giving me a small shake. “I know, and I gotta tell you, I’m so damned happy for you. You’ve got a good one, there. Hang on to her, son. Now, let’s get a bite to eat and hit the road. We’ve got a lousy motherfucker to hunt down.” With a final clap of my shoulder, he turned, and I followed him as he strode out of the room.
My eyes immediately scanned the club room, and when they landed on Molly, the tight band of tension around my chest eased just a little. She was sitting at one of the tables near the bar, with Sinner sitting on one side of her, and Viking sitting on the other. I watched as Linc approached the table with a pizza box in one hand, and a stack of paper plates in the other. Molly looked up and smiled as she caught sight of me.
I dropped a kiss on top of her head as I passed by her to take the seat on the other side of Sinner. He placed two pieces of pizza on a plate and handed it to Molly, who protested that she wasn’t that hungry.
“Eat, darlin’. You need to keep up your strength to deal with all this bullshit,” he told her gruffly, ignoring her objections.
Linc came back around carrying a case of bottled water and gave one to each of us as I piled four slices of pizza on my own plate and started eating. I was anxious to get out there and hunt down that sonofabitch.
Twenty minutes later, Trick was waiting for me by the door as I kissed Molly goodbye. Rome was standing next to him with his phone pressed to his ear, presumably talking to Abby.
“Be careful tonight, Cole. I don’t want anyone to get into trouble, and I especially don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she whispered against my lips as I held her body flush against mine.
I gave her one last quick kiss before taking a step back. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” She gave me her patented “teacher look” with the raised eyebrow, and I chuckled under my breath. “I promise, Angel. We’ll be fine. It will probably be pretty late before we’re back, so here’s the key to my room in case you get tired.”
I fished the key off my keyring and slid it into the back pocket of her jeans, copping a feel of her rounded ass as I did. She bit her lip and gave me a look that made me curse fucking Chad Laskey all over again. I should be taking my woman upstairs and diving between her thighs right about now, not getting ready to chase down his lousy ass. I groaned and leaned forward for another quick kiss.
“OK, we gotta head out now. Sinner, Viking, and the prospects are all staying here, so you’ll be safe. Bull will be around, too, trying to dig up more info on Laskey. He may get with you if he has any questions about anything he finds.
She nodded, and I turned to head out the door on Trick’s heels.
“Gotta go, baby girl. I’ll be home late, so I’ll try not to wake you.” Rome nodded his head toward the door, letting me know he’d be right out as I heard him say, “No, don’t wait up, you need your sleep. Love you. Tell E goodnight for me.”
Rome followed me out the door, and the three of us headed to our bikes. Trick swung his leg over his Harley Super Glide – the one he’d bought over eight years ago to replace the bike he’d wrecked as a prospect – and gave me a wary look.
“Jag, you need to keep an eye on Paisley. I walked in on her talking shit in the clubroom earlier, and your girl overheard every word.”
“Fuck.What the hell did she say?”
“She was running her mouth about the clubhouse being shut down tonight, and that Molly was dragging the club into her shit. Called Molly a bitch, too.”
“That goddamned cunt!” My fists clenched as I turned on my heel, ready to storm the bunny quarters and tear Paisly a new ass. I was stopped by Rome, who grabbed my arm and swung me back around.
“Not now, brother, we don’t have time. Finding Laskey is more important than dealing with Paisley’s bullshit right now.”
“I handled it, Jag,” Trick assured me. “Told them to be respectful to Molly, and to quit running their fuckin’ mouths about club business. Kicked them to their rooms for the night, so they won’t be bothering Molly while we’re gone, either.”
I was still pissed about it, but Rome was right. There wasn’t time to deal with it right now.
We all mounted our bikes and headed out, only to spend the next five hours trying – and failing – to turn up any sign of Chad Laskey. There was no sign of him or his truck at his place, the bar he usually hung out at, or his cousin’s house. The cousin wasn’t home, but his girlfriend was, and she was most definitely not a fan of good ol’ Chad.
“I ain’t seen that fuckin’ low life since last Friday, when he was s’posed to pay my ol’ man for a paint job they did together. Claimed he didn’t get paid for it yet, but he was high off his ass so I’m guessing he used it to score. We need to pay the damned rent, and he’s busy shootin’ our money up his veins.” The woman eyed us sourly, looking ready to slam the door on us any second.
I pulled out my wallet and grabbed a hundred-dollar bill, holding it up between two fingers. “Where’s your old man?” She hesitated for a second, then grudgingly held out her hand for the money.
“Prob’ly holdin’ down a bar stool over at Frisky Business.”
My mouth twisted in disgust at the mention of the rundown titty joint a few blocks away. The place had been around since before I was born, and I was fairly sure some of their strippers had been around that long, too.
We jumped back on our bikes, and headed in that direction, circling the lot without seeing the van registered to the cousin. We parked near the front door, and Trick volunteered to go in to see if the guy was inside.
