The Biker's Fate Chapter 446

Finch

I walked into the meeting room and sat beside Dash who gave me a chin lift. "How long are you here?"

"Couple of weeks," I said. "Gotta get Remington sorted, then get back to Portland."

"We should go out. The four of us."

"I'm in," I said, just as Doc walked in.

"Thanks for getting here so quickly," Doc said, and took his place at the head of the table.

Today we were meeting in the room utilized for church. The large mahogany table had a glass top with the Dogs of Fire flag between it, along with the patches of dead club members.

I knew I'd been invited in only because Remington was one of the ones threatened, and I didn't take that for granted, but I also wasn't gonna sit back and stay quiet if it meant Remington was exposed.

"We've got a lot of shit to cover, so I'll get right to it," Doc continued. "I got a call from Dalton Moore, who let me know the F.B.I. have arrested a suspect in the Gentleman Strangler case."

The room began to celebrate, but Doc quickly cut us off.

"Shut the fuck up, all of you. There's more news, none of it's good, and it involves everyone in this room. More importantly, it involves our women."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked. "Is there more going on than verbal threats?"

"Verbal threats with some serious money behind them," Doc clarified. "The guy the F.B.I.'s picked up is Seth Backstrom."

"Backstrom. Why does that name sound familiar?" Doom asked. Doom was the road captain for the club and had some serious anger issues. No one crossed him. Ever.

"Because the Backstrom family is related to the Ellis family, and they're about as rich and powerful as it gets," Alamo said. "In fact, Seth Backstrom is Thomas Ellis's cousin."

"What the fuck?" I snapped.

"That's right," Doc said. "They share a grandmother. Seth lives in North Carolina now, but he and Thomas grew up together, about as close as brothers could be, and would spend every summer at their grandparents' property in Savannah. The F.B.I. are currently working off the theory that Thomas and Seth have been in this together all along, and that Thomas's death has triggered these recent killings."

"What's Seth saying?" I asked.

"Not much, considering." Doc and Alamo shared a look.

I frowned. "Considering what?"

"Local PD pulled Seth over for a busted taillight and the officer noticed he was acting strange. He was evasive and didn't want to answer even simple questions. The officer asked him to step out of the car and that's when he went from quiet to stone silent. The officer said Seth was like a robot, and someone had thrown his standby switch. Seth refused to acknowledge the officer's commands or comply with his requests, so he took him to county figuring he was high on drugs. He was searched and placed in a private holding cell, but the guard who processed him missed the razor blade hidden in the waistband of his underwear. Before he could be questioned, he cut out his own tongue."

"Jesus," I hissed.

"The guard said Seth was sitting perfectly still on his bunk, hands folded, with his tongue in his lap. The only indication he'd butchered himself was the copious amount of blood all over his front. He never made a noise, no cry of pain, nothing. He was rushed to county hospital, and it was then that they started carefully going through his belongings, which is why the F.B.I. was notified."

"What the fuck did they find?" Doom asked.

"Among his belongings was a small notebook full of poetry."

"Poetry?" I asked.

Doc nodded. "Yeah, really dark and twisted shit. It's all violent and it's all about three women. Women he refers to as the Flower, the Tree, and the Gun. The poetry is all about what he's going to do to these women when he gets his hands on them. How he'll dress them and strangle them before taking their photos."

"Sounds familiar," Alamo said.

"Exactly, so the police notified the F.B.I., but before they arrived, Seth decided to plead the fifth permanently."

"So, if the Feds think this guy and Thomas were working together, why the cause for alarm if they've got him? Why the lockdown?"

"The F.B.I. analysts had no idea who the Flower, Tree, and Gun could be, but as soon as Agent Moore saw the poetry, and the connection had been made between Seth and Thomas, he knew who they were."

"Who are they?" I asked.

"Think about it. If he's upset about Thomas's killing, wouldn't it make sense that he'd make the Dogs of Fire pay? And if he kills women, wouldn't it stand to reason that he'd come after ours? Jasmine is the Flower, Willow the Tree, and Remington…"

"The Gun," I said.

"Holy shit," Doom said.

"Exactly, so we're not taking any chances. We're gonna make sure we've got protection for every single one of our women. Just because he only mentioned three, doesn't mean we know what he has planned, and we sure as hell don't know if he and Thomas were the only ones involved." He turned to Doom. "You got Aspen secure?"

Doom nodded.

"This just keeps getting better," Badger ground out.

"In addition to bringing everyone here that we can, I also want Stump to guard Michelle's hospital room and I want soldiers posted at every officer's house. Seth is hiding a big fucking secret and we're not gonna be surprised by it when the time comes."

Everyone in the room nodded, and we discussed the logistics of the protection details for the next half-hour before breaking.

Remington

Soft lips on mine had me smiling as I forced my eyes open. "I thought you said you'd be lucid," Merrick accused.

"I was just resting so I'd be ready for you."

He chuckled, pulling me up off the sofa gently. "Let's head to bed."

"Wait, where's Kennedy?" I asked.

"She's been taken care of."

"Meaning?"

"Let's just say that sometimes the cheese gets the Mouse."

I frowned. "Huh?"

"Don't wor—"

I gasped. "Oh my god, she's bumping uglies with that really young guy? The one you call Mouse?"

"I'm not sure what they're doing, but they headed off toward an empty bunkroom, so I can deduce that, yeah."

"Is he nice?"

"Don't know him, but from what Alamo says, he's a good guy, baby."

"You checked?"

"Yeah."

"To make sure she was safe?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

"God, I love you," I whispered, and kissed him.

"Love you, too." He took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "Let's hit the hay."

"I should get my stuff."

"Already sorted, Rem."

"Maybe I should fall asleep on the sofa more often."

Merrick chuckled and led me upstairs, pushing open his door and stepping back. I walked in, flipping on the light as I passed the switch, then turning to face him.

"How did your meeting go?"

He shook his head.

"Not good?"

"I'm not talking about it."

I wrinkled my nose. "So it was bad."

"Remington, I'm not talking about it."

"Well, are you up to fucking me? Hard?"

"Has there ever been a moment when I wasn't up to fucking you…hard?"

I smiled. "Just want to make sure, honey. If you've had a difficult meeting, I don't want to add stress to you."

"I know what you're doing."

I slid my hands under his shirt. "What am I doing?"

"You're trying to get me to talk about the meeting."

"Fine." I sighed, sliding my hand under his shirt. "If you don't want to talk, then you need to fuck me."

He chuckled. "That I can do."

Sliding off his cut, he pulled his T-shirt off and I felt the need to run my tongue over his Dogs of Fire tattoo. Tugging at the waistband of his jeans, I unbuttoned them and pushed them down his hips, his dick springing free as I knelt in front of him.

He stroked my cheek. "I thought I was fucking you."

"After I blow you."

"Oh, yeah?"

I ran my tongue up his length. "Yeah."