Page 125 of Praying for Thunder

Men laughing hysterically, I heard Dad say to a club girl, “Honey, please feed Roam since he’s temporarily locked out of his room so my son can blow a much-needed load.”

In my room, Tabi was sitting up at the head of our bed, holding the girl, whispering in her ear like her life depended on it.

It did.

For my betrayal, Onus would have killed us all.

The little girl was huddled to Tabi, her eyes slammed shut. She was so small, with dark hair and very tan skin.

After I picked up a remote and turned on music, causing more laughter in the Mess Hall, Chubs waved for me to follow him into the bathroom. I did, but I didn’t dare shut the door. I wasn’t leaving Tabi unprotected in case a Titan dared to challenge me.

Chubs’ pale skin had me wondering if he was okay. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” He spoke under the music. “Tabi wants to get this girl help.”

I nodded. “Hell, yeah, brother. We will—”

“She saw me…” He swallowed. “The girl saw me kill the three men.”

My stomach dropped. Witnesses were Achilles heels for bikers.

Faced with another challenge of the morning, I ran my fingers through my darkening hair. “Chubs—”

He looked to me, desperation eating him alive. “I can’t go to prison.”

The Voice had told him to bring her to me. There was something I had to do, to know, but what?

I told him, “Let me talk to Tabs. Maybe we can make some sort of deal. No charges in return for your help with this case.”

He leaned in and whispered, “Ain’t got no trust with them. The system was never no good to me.”

My brows bunched. I had no time to ask for details, but I was very concerned with what he was implying. Chest tightening with worry for my friend, I vowed, “I’ll figure something out. I won’t let you go down for this. Feel me?”

Chubs tilted his head at the expression, then nodded. “Yeah, I actually do.” He took a deep breath that was laced with an ounce of hope.

Sometimes an ounce is all you need to see…

I watched him leave the bathroom in our small bedroom, then watched a little girl scramble from Tabi and leap into the air.

It was like slow motion, as she soared… right into Chubs’ arms.

It was like slow motion, as he turned to me, comforting the child, disbelief all over his face.

It was like slow motion, when, from over her shoulder, the girl looked at me with the most beautiful golden eyes…

Eyes I knew well.

Rya.

The Voice directed Chubs to me for good reason. It appeared he had saved Rya’s sister.

⚡⚡⚡

At the beach, down the road from the clubhouse, my biker boots felt sluggish in the white sand. Maybe it was my nerves that had me so heavy. It was early, so no sunbathers were present.

Alone, I took a deep breath and made a call.

A man answered, “Who the fuck is this?”