Hell on Wheels (Four Horsemen MC Book 6) (16 page)

“Oh, uh, okay.” She swallowed thickly. “So what
do
you want?”

Beauregard gestured to his blood-stained clothing. “Like I said. Asking questions or telling tales would be a good way to get your employment here…terminated.”

“I didn’t see a damn thing,” Charlie said.

 “Good decision. Take those with you,” he said, pointing at the hamper.

Shivering, Charlie hauled his blood-stained clothes from the room.

Chapter Eleven

A week later, Charlie was awakened by a knock on the door.

She ignored it and hunkered down in her bed.

This time, the knock was louder.

With a growl, Charlie sat up and grabbed her phone from the counter. She pressed the green button so the screen lit up, wincing at the sudden flood of light in the room before she could see it was just shy of two in the morning. She laid back down and pulled the covers up over her head. Whoever it was could wait. She had to report to her fake job in a few hours, and she’d gotten in bed at midnight.

Charlie had a long, exhausting day cleaning up after a rich murderer. This was no time for company. She hadn’t even been able to get anywhere near the vault in days. Instead, she’d been spending her days scrubbing. To top it off, Axel had been avoiding her.

Then came the pounding with two fists.

“Go away,,” Charlie snarled.

“Get up, Char,” Dani called from the other side of the door. “It’s time for an adventure.”

With a groan, Charlie sat up and rubbed at her eyes. She slid out of bed and padded to the door before throwing it open. “What could you possibly want at this godawful hour?”

Dani grinned. She wore a pair of baggy jeans and a black t-shirt that read
Trouble Maker
beneath a black hoodie. “Come on. Let’s have some fun.”

“It’s either too early or too late for fun. Pick one.” Charlie slammed the door in Dani’s face and trudged back to bed.

“That’s rude.”

 Charlie fell on the mattress with a sigh, not even bothering to crawl beneath the covers again. Right now, she felt like marrying this bed. It was so soft and fluffy. All she wanted was a few peaceful hours of oblivion.

And then she heard a scraping noise, plastic against metal. Charlie rolled over and listened carefully. Yeah, Dani was picking the lock.

A second or two later, Dani walked in. “Tada…” She waved a plastic card like a magician after pulling a rabbit out of a hat, before tucking it into her pocket.

“I knew you were a thief!” Charlie pointed a finger at her accusingly.

“No, you
guessed
I was a thief.” She shoved her hands in her pockets. “Now, get dressed. It’s robbery time.”

Charlie groaned. She had a feeling Dani wouldn’t be deterred. “I don’t suppose you and I could commit a felony at a decent hour instead. Say, around six tomorrow evening?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Harder to steal things during the daylight, but then again…you already know that. And you might as well give in, because I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“Fine.” Charlie grabbed some clothes from a drawer. She found a pair of dark denim jeans and a black sweater on her first try. “So, what are we stealing?” she asked as she hiked into the bathroom and shut the door so she could change.

“A car.”

Charlie slid her shirt over her head then glanced at herself in the mirror. She could feel the familiar thrum of excitement pulsing through her veins.

Grand theft auto, here we come…

Twenty minutes later, Charlie was seated next to Dani in her 1986 black Firebird. They rolled around the streets of Hell together, passing rows of parked cars. Charlie watched them with appraising eyes. She’d never stolen a car. Didn’t need to, since she had Betty. “What are we looking for? Escalade? Silverado?” She didn’t know much about the street value of cars, but those were expensive vehicles.  

“A Jeep,” Dani said.

A Jeep? Didn’t car thieves look for muscle cars like the one Dani drove? Or big, expensive trucks and SUVs? “Come again?”

“Well, not just any Jeep, a particular one. But the problem is I’m not sure where it’ll be parked tonight. Now and then, Etta takes the night shift at a group home.” Dani made a tsking sound. “Can you believe that? The woman works twenty-four hours a day sometimes.”

“Wow.” Charlie was impressed. After a few days at having a real job with a real schedule, she was lost. She couldn’t imagine the kind of dedication it took to work around the clock. “And we’re stealing this woman’s car…why? Shouldn’t we be stealing things
for
her?”

“You’ll see.” Dani stared at the rearview mirror for a moment. “But for now, we’ve gotta lose the tail.”

“Who the hell’s tailing you?” Charlie slipped further down in her seat and took a peek at the mirror.

“Never you mind. I got it covered.”

Charlie seriously doubted it. “Let’s get the hell out of here before we end up in jail.”

“He ain’t gonna spoil our fun tonight.” And then, Dani took the car on a wild goose chase. Up and down streets, whipping around left and then right. Eventually, the car behind them ended up slamming into a tree.

And they took off, cackling.

 Charlie sat up and glanced over her shoulder. She could make out the silhouette of a man, but he’d gotten out of the vehicle and seemed fine. “Why are you being tailed?”

Dani smirked. “I got a theory, but I ain’t at liberty to discuss it at the moment.”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “You’re as bad as Axel when it comes to secrets.”

“I know. Now, let’s get the car.” Ten minutes later, Charlie sat behind the wheel of the Firebird as Dani unzipped the soft top of the Jeep. The vehicle was muddy, a bit rusty, and had seen better days. It took Dani a couple of seconds to get in and then the engine started. Charlie figured she must’ve hotwired it.

It looked easy as hell, and Charlie was intrigued. Maybe she’d been missing out. She could add cars to her repertoire. They’d always seemed like a big hassle to her, with their GPS systems and onboard computers. Not to mention having to make an arrangement with a chop shop to fence the parts. In her experience, the more people who knew about a theft, the easier it was to get caught. But, if it was so simple…maybe she’d give the easy money a try. The people she stole from would get money from their insurance companies. No harm, no foul.

Dani pulled away from the curb and Charlie followed her to Seventh Circle Motors. They both drove inside and Dani closed the garage doors behind them. As Charlie got out of the Firebird, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Hold up. You and Axel are running some sort of chop shop, aren’t you?” She stamped her foot. “And he’s been giving me all this crap about stealing.”

“Of course we aren’t,” Dani said, hopping out of the Jeep. “And
you
aren’t going to tell him a damn thing, are you?”

Charlie shook her head. “Uh, no. So…what? You’re gonna strip the parts yourself? You’re using the shop to steal cars?”

Dani pressed a button on the wall and the Jeep was pushed into the air by a metal contraption beneath it. “I steal for the greater good. So, I’m gonna fix the car and put it back before Etta ever knows it was gone.”

Charlie stared at her, blinking. “You’re stealing from her and then gonna make her car worth more….so you can give it back to her? What the hell kind of theft is that?”

“The greater good kind, like I said. I’m doing a good deed. You should try it sometime, you might like it.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“Trust me, it’ll be fun, once you see Etta drivin’ around in her fixed-up Jeep. Now, get over here, you’re gonna help me out. Social workers don’t make that much, so Etta doesn’t have the money for proper car maintenance. We have a lot of work to get done before morning.”

Charlie rolled up her sleeves and went to work. Not that she did much, mostly just handed Dani things and held stuff for her. And while they worked, Dani told her all about Etta and all the hard work she did in the town. Charlie wondered if her life might have been different if she’d had someone like Etta in it. Maybe avoiding the foster care system had been a bad idea after all.

A few hours later, Dani had changed the oil and given the car a tune-up, as well as a set of new tires. Dani said she wanted to do more, but didn’t have the time. With the way Dani felt about cars, she wondered if the girl had done it more for the car or Etta. Maybe it was an even split.

“Did you have fun, Char?” Dani asked as she wiped the grease from her hands with a rag.

Charlie smiled as she surveyed the repaired car. Doing something good felt kinda nice. She wasn’t a bad person, exactly, but she always put herself first. She stole to live, and she tried not to think about the damage she inflicted on other people. Maybe she should revaluate how she did business. Or find a way to balance the scales sometimes. What if she could steal for a good cause now and then?

She glanced up sharply and caught Dani staring at her, her expression
knowing.

Charlie got the feeling Dani had managed to fit in another good deed that night.

***

Axel got to work on time, for once. He arrived at 5:00, before Dani arrived at the shop.

He’d been working on an old moving van he’d gotten dirt cheap from a friend in the used car business. Axel had paid cash for it, and the guy hadn’t asked any questions. He’d stored the vehicle out back in the spare parts graveyard behind the shop and worked on it after hours, to avoid any questions from Dani. The less she knew about this operation, the better off she’d be.

Using two-by-fours and plywood panels, he’d constructed a false floor. The panels were removable, so they could be stacked with bricks of heroin. Then he’d installed a bench seat for Justice and Steele. Axel also planned on making some shelves on either side of the van and stocking it full of tools, so it looked authentic. He figured a handyman business might be the perfect front and give them a reason to do some business on either side of the border. He’d make it look even more legit by slapping a logo on the side of the truck and have Yo create some company badges for the crew. With some coveralls, the fake IDs, and a shitload of luck, they actually might pull this thing off.

But when he crawled out of the van, he nearly ran into Dani.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“Well, hello to you, too.” She stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the van with a frown. “Whatcha workin’ on, and why isn’t it in the shop?”

“Custom job,” he said then shut the cargo doors.
Nothin’ to see here.

“Liar.” She reached for the door and he smacked her hand away. “Ow. Okay, I get it. Don’t get between a man and his machine. Let me guess, this is club business?”

“Damn straight, which means—”

“I’m in the dark. You know, this whole pick and choose secrecy thing sucks ass.”

“I’m aware.” Axel gathered his tools and headed for the shop.
Dammit
. He should’ve been paying more attention.

Dani trudged after him. “Not even a hint?”

“Nope.”

She sighed. “Well, it’s good to see you here this morning. I’ve missed our early morning chats.” While Dani raised a Buick Skyhawk in the air, he put his tools away.

He smiled. “Me, too. We’ll see how long it lasts before I get pulled away. Thank you, by the way, for steppin’ up and helping me out here. I appreciate it.”

Dani shrugged. “I know you do. And it’s no big. I’m happy to help out.”

 Lord knew she was better at bodywork than he was. All the guys brought their bikes to her for pin-striping. And she ran the shop very well. He’d been thinking of making her his partner for months now.

Axel started working on a Kia Sorrento that needed an oil change. He liked it when the shop was quiet like this and the two of them worked together. It was downright peaceful, almost normal.

“So?” she prompted.

“So what?”

“Since we aren’t gonna talk about the mystery van out back, let’s have a different chat. What’s going on with you and Charlie?” she asked.

Axel shut his eyes. Good God, they all needed to get out of each other’s lives and find a new hobby. Dani had been hanging out with Charlie. He’d seen them at Hades and Perdition together, so he knew where this line of questioning was coming from. “Nothin’. She’s helping out the club.”

She snickered. “Yeah, tell me another one. And don’t you dare try that ‘club business’ line. You spend a lot of time lookin’ at her ass for it to be all about the club.”

His wrench clattered to the ground. “I do not.” He bent down and picked it up, cursing under his breath.

“Maybe you’re just confusing her with a car and you’re looking for her license plates. And seein’ as you date, like,
never
, it’s a possibility. I repeat…what’s the deal?”

Axel pulled the drain plug and let the used oil flow into a bucket. “There’s no deal.”

“Is this because you’re still in love with that Nancy chick?”

Axel was grateful she couldn’t see his face. “Nancy and I were an item when you were a kid. How do you even know about that?”

“You know how this place works, A-man. Everybody talks. Especially my mother. I’ve heard all kinds of stories about the past. Embarrassing things.”

With a sigh, Axel removed the oil filter. “Sailor spilled everythin’ when you took this job, huh?”

She smirked. “Yeah, Mom loves some gossip. Almost as much as your mother. So, come on. Details. You still love Nancy? That’s what everyone says.”

Axel wasn’t about to discuss his love life, or lack thereof, with Dani. “Find a new topic.”

“You’re so touchy.”

While he couldn’t see Dani, he could practically hear the face she must be making. “I know. I’m so rude for not letting you invade my privacy.”

“I’m not letting this go.”

“I’m the president— you know that, right?” Axel griped. While they all might bitch about it, the Horsemen loved strong women and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Well, you aren’t
my
president. And I ain’t anybody’s old lady, so…”