Page 113 of More Tricks

I’d spotted Demitri passed the hell out on the couch and hadn’t even flinched at Eagle yelling. That’s what made me feel like it would be safe enough to talk about things while he was here.

Today I was sitting between Sprocket and Cognac. They’d come up with this silly rule that every dinner, I had to rotate around the table so I wasn’t sitting next to the same person all the time. If it’s what made them feel better, then so be it. Things around the house had been relatively friendly, for which I was thanking whatever being was looking down on us.

“Dax, why don’t you start us off with what you found out,” Eagle suggested. “I feel like that will ease quite a few minds.”

Shrugging, I shared my discovery. “I would bet just about anything that those ears aren’t Elena’s, and if I’m being honest, I don’t think the finger was either. She is far too valuable as a hostage and cutting her up that bad doesn’t serve the greater purpose. What they hope for is exactly what happened. The loved one is far too shocked and doesn’t even look twice.”

It was almost as if a hidden tension in the room broke at my words. Everyone around the table seemed to relax ever so slightly.

“Fuck, I’m glad to hear you say that,” Cognac blurted. “I know the little girl, and she doesn’t deserve that kind of torture. She’s a good kid.”

“About that,” Wes interjected. That had everyone’s attention. “I talked to a bunch of her teachers, and while she was still at school, she wasn’t attending classes, not the ones she signed up for, at least. They remember her being there for the first few months, then she dropped off. One or two of them commented that they saw her on campus, but she wasn’t in those classes for months.”

I could feel my brow knitting as I considered this information. “Is there any way to find out if she switched classes? Or started sitting in on a different lecture or something?”

“I’m pulling security footage for around the time they remember her no longer showing up. There’s also some cameras around her dorm room, so I’ll see what I can find there too. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t an article for her class that had her in the city during that break,” Wes reasoned.

Looking at Eagle and Picasso, I could tell they were heartbroken to hear about this. What made it even harder for me was that I knew the signs, and something in my gut told me that Diego had got his claws into her. He knew damn well who the Phantom Saints were and how he could use someone like them to get to me. I’d hated MCs forever because they turned their backs on each other but not this group of men. They were just the opposite. What had my stomach churning was if Demitri had given them far more information than he realized.

Just how much could Diego De León really know about me? If they wanted the power to manipulate Two Tricks, then all Diego had to do was use the guys. No. I couldn't think like that. There had to be a different reason as to what caused Elena to drop out of her classes.

Chapter twelve

Sprocket

While having the information that Elena wasn’t missing her ears, finding out she wasn’t taking her classes seemed to dim that revelation. Dax seemed to vibrate with hidden anxiety as I’m sure she was trying to process what that meant as much as we were. My little rebel was skilled at covering her emotions but not from me. She’d never been able to. Since the day I met this woman, I’d been able to read her like a book because we were so much alike.

“What else do we know?” I asked, hoping someone would have another piece of this puzzle.

“Dax and I solidified the terms for the fight,” Void shared. “They will have us doing cage fights with knives or brass knuckles against whoever they choose to pin against us. Then, after we win those, we’ll be paired together against however many people they want to put against us.”

Carefully, I glanced at the others around the table, gauging how they were taking the news. While this was a smart plan that met the needs to keep us alive in the city, part of me wondered if we needed to go to such great lengths. What if Elena chose them? One of their men could have gotten to her and now they were using her as leverage against her brother and us to get information. Every step of the way since Marco made Dax his mission to destroy, we’d been one step behind.

“Are we sure this is the best move?” I questioned. “I know none of us want to think this, but what if Elena isn’t a hostage? We need to consider that she might have given her loyalty to them and they’ve been using her to get what they want. Marco’s whole purpose is to destroy Dax, and she’s survived everything he’s thrown at her, but he is a man who plays the long game.”

She shifted in her seat to look at me with an expression that told me she’d been thinking the same thing.

Eagle nodded. “You’re right.”

“What?” Picasso demanded.

If there was anyone blind to the reality that family could turn on you, it was Picasso. His brother complex didn’t just apply to Eagle, but anyone in his family, even though he knows they’ve both been betrayed by that very same family before.

“Let’s face it, Picasso. Elena isn’t a little girl anymore, and she’s been in New York almost a year. We haven’t seen her since her high school graduation. Lots can change. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know Elena or what choices she would make in life,” Eagle stated as he scooped food onto his plate and passed it around. “If we want to survive going to New York, we need to have our eyes wide the fuck open.”

The table fell into silence as we dished up food and started eating. Dax was the one to break the quiet first.

“It could be as simple as love,” she said. “When a woman believes she is in love with someone, it can be all-consuming. Let’s say someone from the cartel ran into her at school, they hit it off, started to go out, and she shares her upbringing. They find out about the Phantom Saints, they know you’re trying to make a deal with me, and they see the perfect in. When you’re that young, love makes you stupid,” Dax added, her tone harsh as if she was talking more to herself than to us.

My gaze flicked to Cam, who looked at her with a flash of sorrow and regret. It was clear something deeper than we know happened between them, but I was a firm believer people will tell you their story when they're ready or they won’t.

“Son of a bitch,” Wes swore as he pushed away from the table and grabbed his computer.

Taking his seat, we waited as he searched for whatever he was looking for, and when he found it, he stabbed his knife into the table. “How the fuck did I miss that? Goddamn son of a bitch, I’m an idiot.”

Cam leaned forward on one arm and grinned. “Tell us something we don’t know.”

The knife that had been in the table went flying across the table and left a nick on Cam’s cheek when he didn’t move out of the way. “Shut the fuck up, or next time, I won’t just scratch you.” Wes threatened.