Savage Sacrifice: Savage Angels MC #5 (12 page)

“The Tourmaline Chapter doesn’t, but not all of the MC are as progressive as we are.” Kat’s frown deepens. “You sure you want to know all this?” She nods. “It’s easy money, but it’s also really easy to get caught, all you need is a member to be using and selling and if he gets caught he could roll on you, to get out of doing the time. Drug addicts do not make good soldiers.”

“Is that the only reason you don’t sell drugs?”

“No, darlin’. When I became President, it was one of the first things I got rid of. Started investing in businesses, that way the boys can have legitimate jobs and a source of income. I lost a lot of members when I first started to take us in this direction. Not everyone agreed. If Dirt hadn’t backed me I think I would have ended up dead, or worse, an outcast.”

“Being an outcast is worse than dead?”

“Yeah, the tattoo on my back would have been removed, and I would have been forced out of Tourmaline.”

“You were willing to leave the MC for me. Dane, how could you do that if you love it so much?”

“The sacrifice would have been worth it, for you,” I confess as I stare into her eyes.

“What are you going to do about Juan Cortez?”

“I have no fucking idea, except to tell him to stay away from you.”

A smile spreads across her features. “You know he was a gentleman, well, apart from offering me a bag of drugs, he was very nice.”

I roll off her and stand. “He offered you drugs?” I say aggressively.

Kat moves her hands to my chest. “Dane, calm down. I didn’t take it.”

“Darlin’ not the fucking point.” I’m angry that fucking Juan Cortez would offer my woman drugs. I roll off her, reach down for my clothes and start tugging them on. “I need you to stay here, so I know you’re safe, can you do that for me?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to have a chat with Juan,” I say calmly.

“Dane, I–“

“Everything will be all right, so long as you stay here and I know you’re safe. Tell me you’re going to stay here,” I demand.

“Okay honey, I’ll stay here, but I need you to come back to me as soon as you can.”

I lean over her on the bed and kiss her lips. “This won’t take long, an hour tops.”

“Good. If you’re not back in an hour I’ll send out a search party,” Kat teases but I know she’s serious.

“Ring Dirt, he’ll know where I am.” I kiss her lips again and head for the door, over my shoulder I say, “One hour, I’ll be back, be naked and ready for round three.”

I
’m headed back to Juan Cortez’s, but this time, I have Dirt and Judge with me. I’ve phoned Cortez and told him to expect us. The doors to the warehouse are open and we ride through them, they close as soon as we do. There are more men in here this time, but now I have Dirt and Judge with me, I’m not as worried. Both would lay down their lives for me so I know I’m safe. Not that it will come to that, I’m only here to warn Cortez to stay away from my woman.

We climb off our bikes, and I look up to see Cortez waiting at the top of the stairs. “Come up! I have whiskey,” he yells.

Dirt raises an eyebrow at me while Judge grins. “At least he has whiskey, figured these guys would be more into tequila,” smirks Judge.

“Hey
puta
, was that a racial fucking slur?” asks one of the young men in the warehouse.

Judge gives him a shit-eating grin and replies, “Yeah
, amigo
it was. Don’t get me wrong I like tequila, but whiskey is a better drink.”

“You think it’s a smart fucking move to be a racist son of a bitch when you are outnumbered five to one?”

“Only five to one? Hardly seems fair to you,” counters Judge.

“Enough! We are here to see your boss, not trade insults with you.” I shake my head at Judge, who shrugs, and we all head upstairs. “Do you have to be an asshole?” I ask quietly.

“Yeah, but now we know how many are here,” says Judge cockily.

Dirt shakes his head. “That fucking mouth is going to get you in trouble one of these fucking days.”

“Let's hope it’s not today, Brother,” says Judge.

When we get to the office upstairs, it’s full of men and like last time Juan is sitting behind his desk, waiting for me.

“Dane, you bring friends with you?” Juan calls out.

I nod, and when I am in front of his desk, I say,  “This is my Sergeant at Arms, Dirt and this is Judge. They are my men from Tourmaline.”

Juan nods at them. “Gentlemen.” Neither Judge nor Dirt say anything, but both nod at him. “What can I do for you?”

In an authoritative voice, I say, “You’ll keep the fuck away from my woman, and you will
not
offer her drugs, or even a fucking headache tablet,
ever
again.”

“Straight to the point, I like that.” He motions at the chairs in front of his desk. “Please sit.”

Juan looks around the room at his men. I take a seat, but Judge and Dirt do not. Judge moves to the side of the room and leans against a wall. Dirt turns his back on Cortez so he can face the room. Both are packing guns, and even though we are outnumbered, in these positions the can defend me and take out as many of Cortez’s men as possible.

“Normally I would stay away, but the Savage Angels have cut into my profits and Rockplay owe me two hundred and fifty k. Under normal circumstances, I’ll let that roll for another month or two but as profits are down, I can’t. I need my money. The offer to your woman was simply a business transaction, I will not offer my...services again.”

“Two hundred and fifty k? Fuck! How long have they owed that?” I ask incredulously, that’s a serious amount of dope.

“They are overdue. Hector is there right now, hopefully, to get payment.” Cortez looks calm as though we’re talking about a laundry bill or something of little consequence.

What if he doesn’t pay? What if Kat is in the crossfire? Or one of her band members?

“Hector is at the hotel, right now?” I ask carefully.

“Yes, I just rang him. He’s waiting for them to finish an interview and then he’s going to have a private chat with Will.”

“Why Will and not management?” I ask as I stand up.

“Management has no idea how much they use. They would find a way to prevent me from selling to them, so we circumvent them.”

I nod, and glance at Dirt then look back at Juan. “I need your word that you will keep away from Kat and The Grinders.”

“She has made it clear that she’s not interested, and in light of our current burgeoning friendship, I will do as you ask.” Juan stands as well and holds his hand out to me, I grasp it. “Have you spoken to Milo?”

Dirt turns around. “We’re working on it. It’s not going to be easy, we need time on that front,” says Dirt.

A look of distaste goes across Juan’s face, and he lets my hand go. “I see.” From the tone of his voice, he doesn't sound happy.

“I give you my word, we
will
come to some form of agreement. We just need time,” I interject.

“All right, Dane, you shall have
some
time. But my patience will not last forever.”

I nod at him and head for the door, no one blocks my path, and I’m relieved when I get downstairs to my Harley. The smart fucker from before that Judge was sparring with verbally, stares at us but doesn’t say anything. We start our bikes and the doors of the warehouse open. It’s not until we get outside that I realize I was holding my breath.

Juan reminds me of a good guard dog, they let you enter the premises but don’t let you leave. I have a feeling he could turn on me if things don’t go the way he wants. We head back to the hotel and I hope Kat has stayed in her room.

***

“W
hat’s the plan?” asks Dirt.

“Judge, need you to go and check on Kat, make sure she stays in her room. Tie her to a chair if you have to. Dirt, you and I are going to see Van Ryken.” Judge smiles and nods.

We head for the elevators. Dirt and I get out on Van Ryken’s floor, and Judge stays in the elevator, going to Kat’s level.

I stride down the hall and am about to knock on the door when it’s opened and Will runs into me, rocking me back on one foot.

“What the fuck?” I say.

Will is grabbed by Hector, who pulls him back into the room, we follow and shut the door.

“Thank you,” says Hector.

“For what?” I ask.

“Dane, man, you have to help me! This fucker is going to kill me, man! You have to save me!” pleads Will.

I cock an eyebrow at Hector, who shakes his head. He twists Wills' arm and kicks out his knee, causing him to fall into a kneeling position. Hector has his arm twisted and pulled up and from the look on Will’s face, it must be painful.

“Hector, what gives?” I ask.

“This fucker owes us, and he doesn’t have the money to pay. He knew I was coming and he tried to tell me he was
good for it
. Which is what I’ve been told the last three times I’ve come for payment.”

“I didn’t know the others hadn’t paid!” yells Will.

Hector pulls Will’s head back. “Shut the fuck up,” he says calmly.

I glance at Dirt, who gives a slight shake of his head indicating he is disgusted at the whole scene. “How much have you got here in your room?” I ask Will.

“He tried to give me one thousand dollars as a sign of goodwill,” responds Hector.

“How much would it take for you to be appeased, right now?” asks Dirt.

“At least half.”

“I don’t have that kind of money on me!” whines Will.

Disgust goes across Hectors face. I can see what he’s going to do, and I’m too far away to stop it. He raises Wills' arm, and twists his arm up higher until he breaks it. It’s the easiest way to give someone a radial fracture. Will screams and Hector leans into his face.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, you make fucking sure you have my money, or I’ll break the other one, too,” threatens Hector.

Will has gone white with shock and is curled into the fetal position on the floor.

“Was that really necessary?” I ask.

“He won’t be late again,” Hector replies as he leaves the room.

I look at Dirt who says, “What the fuck do we do now?”

I pull my cell out of my pocket and dial Kat, she answers on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hey darlin’, do you think you and Judge could come to Will’s room?”

“Is there a problem?” Kat asks worriedly.

“Yeah, you could say that. See you soon,” I answer.

I put my phone back in my pocket and look down at Will. “We need to get him up.”

Dirt grunts and we both reach down and help him to his feet. Will howls out in pain. “Get your fucking hands off me!” screams Will backing away from us.

I hold up my hands and take a step back. “Be calm, Will.”

“I need a fucking ambulance!”

“You’re lucky it’s not a fucking body bag,” mumbles Dirt.

“This is
your
fault! You told them to do this to me didn’t you?” yells Will staring at me accusingly.

“No, this is
your
fault. Pay your fucking drug dealer on time,” I say.

Will stumbles toward the phone in his suite, picking it up.

“Who are you calling?” I ask.

“An ambulance. In case, you haven’t fucking noticed I’ve got a broken fucking arm!”

Will’s voice is verging on hysteria. There’s a knock at the door, Dirt opens it and it’s Kat and Judge. Kat immediately makes her way to me, worry etched into her face.

“What happened?”

“Will didn’t pay his drug dealer on time and they broke his arm,” I explain.

Kat looks at Will and moves closer to him, he’s on the phone and is cradling his arm.

“Will, are you okay?” Kat asks.

He hangs up the phone and looks at her. “Your fucking husband broke my arm,” he says calmly.

“What?” I ask taking a step toward him.

Will backs into a wall and looks at Kat. “Nice fucking love bite on your neck. Can’t believe you let this fucking cock sucker fuck you. It’s clear he has anger issues first he gives me a black eye and now he’s broken my arm for what?
You
? I don’t do sloppy seconds.”

Kat gasps and I have him around the throat, pushing him up the wall within seconds.

“Dane! Let the loser go!” yells Kat.

“Tell her the truth or I’ll break something else,” I growl.

Then all hell breaks loose. The door to the suite flies open and six armed police officers run into the room. Dirt is thrown to the ground while Judge punches one of the officers that tries to do the same to him. Another officer grabs Kat, I let Will go and walk toward her. Kat screams as she is forced to the ground and I get hit with a taser gun. In my mind, I am yelling at the officer to get his fucking hands off Kat but in reality, my whole body has gone rigid as the electricity washes through every nerve ending. The pain is intense and when the officer releases the trigger I go down like a sack of potatoes, twitching on the floor. I hear Kat yelling for me but I am unable to move. An officer handcuffs me and I can hear Will talking to them.

“He broke my fucking arm!”

Two officers help me to my feet and I’m dragged from the room. When we get downstairs, the whole lobby is full of reporters who happily yell out questions and take my photo.
Great
,
Kat’s manager Dave is going to love this.

M
y face is pushed into the carpet as Dane is dragged from the room. The officer keeps telling me to calm down and he’ll let me go. I stop resisting and true to his word he relaxes his hold on me. Before letting me up, he handcuffs me; then he sits me on the bed.

“Holy fuck, you’re Kat Saunders!” exclaims the officer.

“No, I’m Kat
Reynolds
,” I snap angrily at him.

“What?”

“My fucking name is Kat Reynolds, and that was my husband you just took out of here!”

The officer balks at me and looks to the others in the room. One of them shrugs and another laughs.

“Yeah, laugh it up, fellas. Big men, manhandling a five-foot-four woman, such fucking heroes,” I say scathingly.

“Ma’am, we apologize if you think our actions were unwarranted, but we got a phone call off Mr. Van Ryken saying that the Savage Angels had broken his arm, and they were talking about killing him. Our job is to protect, and as far as I can see, that’s what we did.”