“Get to the fucking point.”
“I was texting Firestride, and he informed me of another extraordinary piece of the puzzle. Let’s just say it isn’t good, and we’re gonna need for Sypher to make sense of it all,” Nav explained, lifting his head as he looked directly at Karlyn. Turning, I looked at my woman when Nav added, “We need to leave for Lincoln immediately.”
I nodded, unable to take my eyes off her. “Give us a few minutes.”
“Sure thing. We will meet you downstairs,” Nav said as he, Eros, and Indigo quickly left.
Closing the door, Karlyn asked, “We’re not staying?”
“No, baby. You need to get dressed. We need to head to Lincoln, Nebraska.”
The ride from Diamond Creek to Lincoln, Nebraska, took a little over seven hours. Karlyn didn’t complain once, but I knewwith all the riding, running, and roughing it she’d done lately, she was worn out. She needed to rest. To have a solid night’s sleep in a comfortable bed, without any interruptions.
The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the landscape as we pulled up to the locked blacked-out gate only to be greeted by Ghost, a brother in the Silver Shadows, who stood firm, arms crossed over his chest as we pulled to a stop. Next to him stood Grudge, the president of the Alabama Chapter of the Soulless Sinners MC.
Looking at Nav, who shrugged, I turned back to Ghost, who clearly asked, “Were you followed?”
Blinking, I looked at the large man and slowly shook my head, as Eros, Indigo, and Nav all stiffened. Something was going on behind the blacked-out fence line. Something Ghost wanted protected.
“You gonna let us in?” I asked.
Ghost took a deep breath and then clearly said, “My old lady and kid are here along with her other two dads. I don’t give a fuck what King said. I need your word that the shit back home isn’t coming here.”
“I can’t promise you that, Ghost,” I clearly stated, a little pissed that I was being questioned and denied entrance onto Golden Skull territory.
“I want your fucking word,” Ghost demanded.
“Ghost?” Nav finally spoke up, getting off his bike and walking over to his club brother. “What the hell is going on here?”
Ghost just shook his head. “Can’t tell you.”
Nav looked back at me, confusion marring his face, before turning back to his brother. “We only need to speak to Sypher. As soon as we get answers, we will leave.”
“Let them in, Ghost,” a firm voice ordered from behind the gate.
Shaking his head, Ghost stepped to the side, as did Grudge, allowing us to pass.
The second we were through the gate, my eyes widened as I saw brothers from several clubs watching us intently, unsure if we were friends or foes. But what stopped me in my tracks was the large man standing on the steps looking directly at me. A man I knew to be long dead was now alive and breathing.
Unable to take my eyes off him, I parked and absently helped Karlyn off before swinging my leg over my bike. He hadn’t changed one bit. He was still the strong, powerful man I once remembered. Maybe a little more weathered around the edges, but the strength, the familiar firm resolve, still shone disturbingly well in his almost crystal-clear blue eyes.
Walking over to him, I dared not blink, afraid he might disappear, but when he grabbed my arms and pulled me into a powerful hug, I finally took a breath and hugged him back.
As I stepped back, unable to look away, I asked, “Does Reaper know?”
“No, and I’m ordering you not to tell him. I have plans for my boy.”
I narrowed my eyes, then asked the obvious, “Pops, how the fuck are you alive?”
“That’s a story for later, son. Let’s get you all inside.”
The second we stepped inside, a little girl squealed loudly as she ran over to Nav. “Unca Navie!”
Nav happily scooped up the little girl, giving her kisses as she giggled and squirmed in his arms. Following the little girl, a pretty woman walked over, her eyes lovingly watching the interaction as she too greeted Nav, while my eyes widened when an older woman with striking gray eyes and hair as black as the night walked over to me and lightly touched my cheek, her soft voice wrapping around me like a protective blanket.
“Hello, Jackson.”
I couldn’t stop myself as I grabbed the woman and hugged her tightly, my body shaking in disbelief. Her soft, soothing voice calmed my mind as she rubbed my back. “Breathe, baby. Just breathe.”
