I close the door behind us and sit down on the couch, motioning for Aaron to do the same. He sits in a chair opposite me and clasps his hands together, waiting for me to say something.
“I know you haven’t been around very long, but you’re getting thrown in headfirst. We’re in the middle of a war with the Moccasins, because rest assured, that isn’t over. And now, we’re going to be having to split up and send some of us up to Oklahoma to show support there when it’s needed. Call Snapper and fill him in. He’ll put it out to our guys. I’m going to reach out to Micah with the Highway Sinners and see if he can spare some guys to help cover the absence of some of ours when they head to Oklahoma. If he doesn’t have anyone, I’ll be calling Sebastian with the Tattered Saints. They’ve been supportive of our cause. None of these things come for free. We will have to return the favor, or a favor, when asked.”
Aaron nods, taking in everything I’ve said. He opens his phone and does as instructed. He tells Snapper what’s happened while I scour the internet for the article. It doesn’t take long for me to locate it. There are even photos and a video of the pond caution-taped with a reporter out front and a backhoe in the foreground near the submersible pumps.
Who knows what they are going to find in there? Clayton does. And I’ve never asked him questions about this, only heard stories here and there. But today? Today I’m asking fucking questions. He isn’t going to like it, but the time for liking this is over. I need to know what we are going to be dealing with.
Is he going to need to run? Is this going to draw the attention of the authorities to our charter? To all Lucifer’s Hounds charters across the country? Does this put us all under the microscope? Does anything there tie him to the murders? These are all pieces of information that are relevant. And there’s no time for secrets anymore. Those got dredged up the second that car got dredged up. It’s time for him to let his skeletons out of the closet. Or the pond. Wherever it is he’s hiding them.
Chapter Four
Lilly
The first thing I notice is when I wake up on the couch is, I’m alone, when I know I fell asleep snuggled into Cass’s side. I frown, knowing he wouldn’t have left me out here to go to bed. Sitting up, I wipe my eyes, looking around the living room. There’s no one around, just me and the low noise coming from the television. Focusing intently to see if I can hear any sound, voices, or anything else, but I don’t hear anything.
Pushing up off of the couch, I stand up and walk upstairs. The door to Cass’s mancave is shut but the light shines from beneath the door. That must be where he is. I approach the door and as I’m about to turn the knob, Cass’s raised voice makes me jump. He’s speaking loudly. Not yelling, but not a normal tone either. He’s using that voice that he uses when he’s serious about getting his point across. That means something’s going on with the club.
I listen closely to see if I can hear what they’re saying but for fear of getting caught eavesdropping, I opt to head downstairs and crawl in bed. I’m not in the mood for an adrenaline rushtonight, no matter how exciting it can be to get under Cass’s skin sometimes.
I curl up beneath our comforter and close my eyes. It doesn’t take long for sleep to take me. At some point in the middle of the night, I wake up to Cass crawling in bed beside me. He snuggles into me and wraps his arm around my waist. I nestle into him and am out again in the comfort of his arms.
The morning sun beams right into my face, and I decide as soon as my brain is awake that today, I’m going to purchase floor to ceiling curtains for this godforsaken room. I love it, but the lack of an entire wall makes for early wake-ups with the fucking chickens. Cass is still in bed, surprisingly. He’s snoring softly on the other side of the bed. I get up and head to the bathroom, turning on the shower to let it heat up while I brush my teeth.
Stepping beneath the hot stream of water, I sigh in relief as it washes away the grime of yesterday. My mind wanders to what happened last night, and what could be going on with the club, but I know getting Cass to tell me will be like pulling teeth. He only tells me what Ineedto know and sometimes not even then.
I scrub my hair with a roughness that comes off as irritation. I don’t know why I feel the need to know. Maybe because everything affects me in someway. Maybe because he’s made it this huge taboo secret that now I feel like I will die if I do not learn this new information. I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my hair first, then my body, shivering in the chilly air of the bathroom.
Drying off quickly, I walk to my closet quietly so as not to disturb my sleeping fiancé. I slip into a pair of black sweatpants and pull on a long-sleeve Hounds support shirt from the Oklahoma charter. They don’t make long-sleeve gear for us, considering the only winter we generally get lasts a total of twenty days, and not consecutively.
There’s something serene about the day after Christmas. Thedaysafter Christmas, really. That time in between Christmas and New Years that gets lost in the void. Most people are off work, stores are sporadically open or closed, you forget what day it is. But I’ve got a feeling this week will be nothing like that in my world.
Cass is still snoring as I tiptoe through our bedroom and into the living room. The house is quiet. Clayton is asleep on the couch, snoring just as loudly as Cass. I presume that Aaron is no longer here, or if he is, he’s asleep in one of the spare rooms upstairs. I walk to the kitchen and open the refrigerator doors, staring at the contents inside.
Feeling uninspired by eggs and bacon today, I walk into the pantry. I spot the Bisquick on the shelf and decide on biscuits and gravy. I make the easiest 411 biscuits and white sausage gravy from scratch. The house smells divine and it doesn’t take long before the scent of delicious breakfast has drug the sleepy scavengers out of their beds and into the kitchen. Cass is the first one out, followed shortly by Clayton and then Aaron.
“Good morning, my love,” I greet Cass, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
His arms snake around my waist, pulling me close into him. He rests his head face down in my shoulder. I run my hand over the back of his head a few times in a comforting manner.
“I made breakfast,” I beam.
He lifts his head slowly, looking around with sleepy eyes. “Is that biscuits and gravy?”
I nod, smiling a cheesy grin.
He grabs a spoon and scoops some gravy with a piece of sausage from the pan and into his mouth. The instant moan of approval has me patting myself on the back.
Clayton and Aaron waste no time fixing their own plates and sitting at the table to scarf them down. Neither say anything,and the tension in this room is so thick I fear I may choke. I’ve somehow lost my appetite and only manage to eat half of my biscuit.
Cass doesn’t seem bothered by any of it and has no problem devouring his entire plate and going back for seconds. While he’s eating his second plate, he opens his cellphone and the other phones at the table chime. Group text.
He looks over at me from the table to where I stand at the island. “I won’t be home this afternoon. We’re having church.”
“Okay,” I say, not questioning him in front of the other two.
There isn’t much for me to do around here today, so I decide that I’ll head to Creeks to do inventory and get back in the habit of being there. We live a little further away now than I used to, so it’s a little bit of a drive, but I don’t mind. I like the time I’ll have to think and disassociate behind the wheel.
After we’re finished with breakfast, I clean the kitchen and find Cass in our bedroom, fresh out of the shower.
