CHAPTER ONE
ZERO
“Head’s up,” Brewer murmured, nudging my shoulder. “Pretty sure I just heard Rooster talking about the breaker box. He’s planning something.”
Whipping my head around, I took in Rooster’s grin as he tiptoed toward the back of the clubhouse, where the breaker box was. I was going to kill him if he touched it again. Last time the clubhouse was without power for over twenty-four hours, because I needed parts I didn’t have.
“Rooster, I swear to god, if you mess with the wiring for one of your stupid pranks, I’m not fixing it this time!” I bellowed.
He froze midstep, turning to look at me with a wide-eyed innocent expression we all knew was complete bullshit. “I’m not pulling a prank.”
I pointed a finger at him, giving him a glare that would make any normal man think twice about messing with me. Because this was Rooster I was dealing with, he only grinned sheepishly.
“Don’t touch the breaker.”
The grin dropped and he pouted like a little kid. “But I need to turn it off! I can’t change the fixtures if it's on, and the haunted house will look stupid with normal lighting!”
My brows snapped together. “What the hell are you talking about?”
It wasn’t only me that was confused on this tangent he’d gone on. Then again, most of us were smart enough not to get sucked into Rooster’s bullshit. Only a select few went along with his ideas.
Circus came jogging down the banister, a frown on his face as he asked, “Dude, what’s taking so long?”
I rolled my eyes. Of course Circus was involved. No doubt, Nova or Buzz was somewhere upstairs too, waiting for whatever they’d had planned to happen so they could pull this stupid ass stunt.
“Did either of you get approval from Prez or any of the other officers for whatever dumbass idea you’ve been planning?” Brewer asked, raising an eyebrow at them.
They exchanged looks, the answer clear before they even spoke.
“Well, no, but–”
“We were going to–”
They talked over each other, trying to explain their reasoning for keeping our club president and the officers out of a plan that included messing with the fixtures in the house. I felt a headache already brewing and pinched the bridge of my nose to ease it a little.
A knock on the door broke through their babbling explanations. I didn’t miss the fact that neither of them were actually saying anything coherent. They were hoping to talk in circles long enough for us to dismiss them. Normally, I would, because I wasn’t getting caught up in Rooster’s shit. But as theclub electrician, anything having to do with the wiring was my business.
Making an irritated noise, Killer, who had been playing pool with Axel, stomped over to answer the door since neither of the idiots closest to it were paying any attention. He yanked it open, glaring over his shoulder at Rooster and Circus, then came up short when he turned around again.
“Uh… What can we do for you?”
A soft female voice replied, “I’m looking for Elias Fletcher.”
It’d been so long since I heard my legal name that I nearly didn’t recognize it. Even my business cards had the name ‘Zero’ on it. It wasn’t until Brewer looked at me with a frown that it clicked. I frowned back, heading for the front door as I tried to think back to the last few hookups I’d had. I seriously hoped this wasn’t another Vegas or Butch situation. I was careful with my hookups. Always used protection. I did not want any surprise kids showing up on my doorstep.
The woman who stood outside wasn’t familiar to me, which was a relief, but it did beg to question who the hell she was. “Yeah?”
Her smile was polite, and she offered her credentials as she said, “My name is Rachel Clark. I’m a social worker with Child Protective Services.”
Rooster, who’d finally stopped talking to come see what was happening, leaned over my shoulder to look at the woman. “You got kids we didn’t know about, Zero?”
“No,” I croaked, then shot her an incredulous look. “Right?”
Her smile was patient as she shook her head. “Not exactly. Is there somewhere we can talk?”
I just stared at her blankly. What the hell would a social worker want with me? Unless this had something to do with the kids visiting the house. Was she hoping to interview me about that? I wouldn’t have much to give her. I saw the kids duringgroup events, but I wasn’t as present as Rooster or some of the other guys were. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with kids. I spent more time at Axel’s bar than I did at the clubhouse most days.
Axel stepped in, nudging me out of the way and taking the woman’s credentials out of my hand to give back to her. “Come on in. We’ll set you up somewhere quiet. Do you mind waiting just a minute? Prez will want to be present for this.”
