BEAST (A Coyotes of Mayhem MC Novel) (Motorcycle Club Bad Boy Romance) (9 page)

“Was it him?” Paige asked with a shakiness in her voice.

“Yeah, that was him. That’s the dead guy that I killed.”

“You’re sure? Like entirely sure?”

“Completely. He had the Aces tattoo on the side of his neck and the scar right under his ear. There’s no way that could have been anyone else.”

“Damn,” she said. “Shit just got real!”

“Yeah, the game just fucking changed big time.”

§

“So it looks like the idea of getting a lawyer to look into the fucking evidence is out the window,” I said, trying to figure out exactly what the hell was going on.

“Is it, though? Maybe this is a good thing.”

“In what way could any of this be good?”

“Because you didn’t kill anyone. The fact that the person you supposedly killed is alive proves that.” The tone of her voice was excited. She was much too naive to what was going on.

“The fact that he’s alive makes the whole thing worse than we thought it was. If there’s no body, how can the cops be looking for me on a murder rap? I told you that there’s crooked motherfuckers out there. I’m being set up.”

“That’s messed up. There’s got to be someone we can go to for help with this. Do you have any ideas?”

“The only people who can help me now are my brothers. I need to get in touch with them and let them know what we saw. Stone is gonna be fucking pissed when he finds out I’m not out of the country.”

“Okay, do you want me to take you there?”

“What? Are you fucking crazy? No, I don’t want you to take me anywhere near there. I guarantee the clubhouse has eyes on it around the clock right now. What I need you to do is get me a burner.”

“A burner?”

“Yeah, a burner. A cell phone. One of those fucking pre-paid things that you don’t have to register. Jesus Christ, I forget that you’re a civilian and you’re not a part of any of this shit. A burner is a phone that can be used and tossed if need be. They’re impossible to trace if you use them the right way.”

“And I’m sure you always use them the right way,” she huffed.

“You’re goddamn right I do.”

Paige drove to a Wal-Mart right outside of Scottsdale to pick up a phone. She parked in the back of the building, right next to where they do oil changes. There’s very little traffic in and out of the building, which was important in case that Aces fuck called someone and told them what kind of vehicle I was in.

It was too risky for me to go inside the store so Paige went in for me. I stayed in the back of the SUV, crouched down so I couldn’t be seen through the front window but in a position so I could see around the vehicle in all directions. It felt like she was in the store for ages and I was starting to get worried that something had gone wrong.
Fuck, did they see her park back here and grab her before she went in?
I let out a sigh of relief when she came walking out the door with my phone in her hand.

CHAPTER 10

PAIGE

Anxiety is something that I’ve never had to deal with before. Even when I was going through my divorce, anxiety was never an issue. I’ve had friends who have dealt with anxiety and depression so I’ve heard all about the symptoms and how it made them feel. Whenever they told me about it, I always assumed they were crazy and looking for attention. I’m sure some of them were. Now, though, I understood what people who truly suffer from anxiety go through. I felt like there was an enormous weight on top of my chest and I couldn’t breathe. It was like I was hyperventilating or drowning and I couldn’t escape the feeling.

During the last couple days of the cruise, I was confident that we were going to be able to find a lawyer that would be able to help Beast beat this thing. I thought it would be as easy as pulling the evidence at the police station and proving that it couldn’t have been him. Sure, I was worried about the fact that there had been a physical altercation with the victim but Beast said he only gave him a good beat-down, nothing that would leave him clinging to life.
What the hell is going on?
None of this was making any sense.

I just couldn’t believe what was unfolding right in front of me. How did this cruise to celebrate the start of a new life turn into all of this? I know all of my friends have had things for bad boys but I’ve never been one of them. I’ve seen their relationships and they’ve always ended badly. So how did I get caught up in this? Better yet, why was I so determined to stand by this man that I barely knew? I didn’t know the answer to that. I just knew that he needed me and for some reason, I needed him as well.

If there was one thing I could feel good about was the fact that I was pretty sure he was telling me the truth. On the cruise ship, he said he hadn’t killed anyone. He said that he was innocent, and now I had proof of that. At least, I was pretty sure I did. I didn’t have a clue who the guy was that we had just seen but he was pretty adamant that he was the alleged victim. The look on the guys face when he saw Beast told a story all of its own as well. I’d never seen such a bad ass-looking dude turn as white as a ghost. It looked like he was going to shit his pants when they looked at each other. If that’s not who it was, there was definitely something happening. I wanted to believe him, though. He had really given me no reason not to.

“Are you okay up there?” Beast asked me in his loud, booming voice. “You’ve gotten really quiet.”

“Yeah, sorry. I’m a little freaked out by the way everything’s taken a turn. I wasn’t expecting it and I’m just trying to process it. I had plans, but now, I don’t know” I replied.

“It’s not too late to back out you know. I can figure something else out. You could check me into a hotel or something and I can go on my own from there.”

“No, I promised you I was going to help you in any way I could and I don’t break promises.”

I had no idea what I was going to be able to do in order to help him any more. This was way out of my comfort zone. All I could do for sure is get him back to my house. We’d have to figure out everything else after that.

“I understand if you wanna back out. This shit’s way over your head. I can handle myself,” he said.

“We’ll figure something out,” my voice was shaky.
I hope that sounded convincing because right now, I’m still trying to convince myself.

§

Pulling into my driveway was an incredible relief. Not only did it put an end to an unbelievably long trip but it allowed me to get Beast off the streets and into the privacy of my home. Nobody knows who I am so none of those bikers would ever suspect to come looking around my place for him.

Inside, I handed him the box that the phone came in and gave him the prepaid cell phone card that I bought to go along with it.

“You didn’t buy these with a credit or debit card did you?” he asked, realizing he probably should have told me so before sending me into the store.

“No, I used cash. I figured if you needed an untraceable phone, you’d probably want it bought with an untraceable payment method.”

“Good girl. Is there somewhere I can go to make this call in private? Can’t discuss official club business in front of someone not in the club.”

“Yeah, sure, I understand. You can just go in the bedroom back there and close the door. I’ll stay out here and hang out until you get done.”

He grabbed me by the cheeks and kissed me on the forehead.

“Thanks babe.”

I’m not sure what surprised me more: him thanking me or him calling me babe. Maybe I was reading too much into it. Maybe he called everyone babe. Of course, it could be something else. He could actually like me and was feeling more comfortable showing it. I wasn’t going to get my hopes up though. Like I said, I’ve seen how relationships with these bad boys turn out.

I couldn’t imagine that his phone call was going to be short so I sat down on the couch to watch some television. I had a huge backlog of shows on the DVR to catch up on, but first I decided to check out the news. As soon as I turned on the TV, I was greeted with a full-screen picture of Beast and a story discussing the manhunt. I had no idea the story would be so big, let alone getting so much air time. My mind wandered to my nosy neighbors. They love nothing more than to jump up and go to their windows whenever they hear a car door. The odds that at least one of them saw a strange man coming into the house with me was pretty high. If any of them saw the news story and were able to put two and two together, he may be at risk of being found out. It was more likely that I was just being paranoid, but I wanted to cover my bases. I’m not close to many people, but I have one friend that I would trust with my life. Her name is Ashley and she’s been my best friend since grade school. I knew that Beast wanted me to keep quiet about everything, but I had to make sure there was a backup plan. I called up my friend.

“Hey girl, I was hoping you’d call me. How was your trip?” she asked excitedly.

“It was very eventful actually. Listen, I don’t have a lot of time to talk. I wanted to call and see if I could ask for a favor.”

“Um, sure. Is everything okay?”

“Not really. I’m actually in quite a bit a bit of trouble.”

“What’s going on?”

“Have you watched the news lately?”

“Every night. Why?”

“Well, there’s a biker from a motorcycle club that’s wanted for the murder of a biker from a rival club. Have you seen that?”

“Yeah, it’s been the lead story all week.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. Well, it’s a really long story but the guy they’re looking for is innocent and he’s here with me.”

“What? Are you serious? Are you okay? Do you need me to call someone?”

“No Ashley, I’m serious. The guy that they’re saying he killed isn’t even dead. He’s being set up and I’m hiding him out until we can find someone to prove that he hasn’t done anything. I’m just scared that someone saw me bring him into my house and I need an escape plan. I just want to know that if push comes to shove, can I hide him out at your place for a few days?”

“Paige, I don’t know about that. I don’t really like that idea. I don’t know the guy. How well do you really know him?”

“I just met him on the boat but that doesn’t matter. You know I don’t trust anyone but I trust him. He needs my help and I can’t turn my back on him.”

“I have kids Paige and he’s wanted for murder. I don’t know if I can put my family in harm’s way like that.”

“I would never put your family in danger. It would simply be somewhere to lay low that nobody knows about. It would be safe and it would only be a last resort. I promise.”

“I’ll do it for you but I don’t like it. At the first sign of bullshit, he’ll have to figure something else out. He also can’t be around my kids. I won’t budge on that. He’d have to stay down in the basement or something.”

“Thank you so much! If I need to bring him by, I’ll call you and give you a heads up. I appreciate it more than you know.”

“Uh-huh. What are friends for, right?”

“Love ya girl. I’ll call you later and let you know how everything’s going.”

CHAPTER 11

BEAST

Setting up a burner phone is a pain in the ass when all you want to do is make your fucking phone call. That’s one value that the club sluts bring to the table. They always made sure you had a cold beer, an active burner phone whenever you needed one and a place to drain your balls. After what felt like a fucking hour, the service was finally activated and I was able to make a call to Stone.
Fuck, he’s going to be so pissed that I’m back in Arizona. He might just kill me himself.

“Hey Stone, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that I didn’t make it to Honduras. Some shit came up and it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering how long it was going to take before you called. Where are you anyway?”

“I’m hiding out in Scottsdale.”

“Motherfucker. I was hoping it wasn’t true.”

“What do you mean? What the fuck’s going on Stone?”

“Somebody knows you’re back in Arizona. Our contact down at the station said that a confidential informant spotted you and some broad at a gas station and called it in. Gave them the tag number and everything. Apparently it’s a rental but it’s only a matter of time before they get a warrant approved and figure out right where you are. I was hoping it was bullshit and you weren’t really around.”