Page 4 of Torrent’s Treasure

His President was a smart one. Torrent had to admit he’d been a little surprised to find a dead man in the car when they arrived.

“He talked with his brother, the Police Chief. Said he knew his brother would be out of town at a conference this week in Texas and then on a charter for three weeks, but he’d rethought the plan. He wasn’t going to just scare me. He was going to make some money from my sister and me,” she said, swaying a little.

Bravo had joined them. “While we’re waiting, why don’t you and I go to the porch. You can sit down and sip some water. You can also tell me if there are any injuries that I can’t see that need to be checked out immediately.”

Cecilia didn’t say much so his brother led her to the porch. Torrent wanted to follow them but did his duty and went with his President to check out the car with Horse’s Ass in it. Maverick and Fury joined them.

“She fucked him up,” Fury observed, leaning down to peer in the car.

She definitely had. From the stab marks, it looked like she’d stabbed him in the side of the neck, then grabbed his head and pulled it back before slicing his throat. Torrent wondered where the younger sister had been sitting. Cecilia’s hands had been coated with dried blood. Most people would have tried to clean up but Cecilia hadn’t.

“This could bring us a world of problems heading our way,” Dragon said.

“What the fuck, Pres? Are you insinuating we aren’t helping them?” Torrent yelled.

“Lower your voice. That woman doesn’t need any more men making her feel threatened. I’m not saying we don’t help them. I’m saying it opens us up to a lot. We’ll need to take precautions,” Dragon ordered.

“Precautions that if we help her do this, she can’t come back and turn us in,” Maverick reasoned.

“Agreed,” Fury said.

Torrent agreed with their code—the Club was above everything in his life—but that woman was making him overthink what was normally second nature to him. Torrent wasn’t sure if it was because she’d taken someone out that Torrent had wanted to kill for years, or maybe he was overtired after the long trip and not thinking clearly.

Even with the bruises and covered in blood, she’d been beautiful with her brown hair and blue eyes.

“Torrent?” Dragon asked.

“Keep the club safe. Take precautions, and if the Chief fucks around with us, he’ll find out what I’ve been wanting to do for years,” Torrent stated firmly.

“Aww, look at Torrent using full sentences and all,” Maverick teased.

“Mav, shut it. When your mom gets here, we’ll start moving stuff. Until then, let’s check on the girls,” Dragon instructed, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting up.

“Okay, but Mom’s going to know you were smoking,” Mav muttered.

Torrent followed behind, listening to father and son bicker.

“Torrent, tell Flappy Lips to shut up, or I’ll take care of it,” Dragon said, walking close to where Bravo had Cecilia and Calliope sitting on the steps of the cabin, sipping water. Torrent watched Maverick stomp toward the porch after hearing Dragon adopt Torrent’s name for Mav when he talked too much.

Cecilia’s hands had been cleaned of the blood as best as they could be out here.

“Hey, not you too. I do not have flappy lips,” Maverick grumbled as they got close to Bravo.

“Flappy lips sink ships,” Bravo quipped, grinning when Calliope giggled.

“And we don’t need that, do we?” Dragon asked, winking at Calliope.

Dragon took a long drag on his cigarette, crouching down in front of Calliope.

“I’m sorry we’re having to stay here a little while, but Sally will be here soon,” Dragon soothed.

“Are you her dragon?” Calliope asked.

“What do you mean, darlin’?” Dragon questioned.

“Sally, who works at the mortuary, visited my mom sometimes. They’d let me have snacks with them, and my mom would tease Sally about her protective dragon,” Calliope said.

Dragon chuckled, nodding. “Yes, I am. I’d do anything for that woman, and darlin’, I’ll be your protective dragon too.”