I smiled, but it felt strained. "The bike feels good. Good to be back in the club, too."
"Want to talk?" Blaze asked, but I didn't get a chance to answer before Dani came walking out the doorway, a messenger bag slung over her shoulder.
"Blaze," she started. "I'm going to head home - " She stopped short when she saw me. "Crunch, how are you?"
I smiled as she wrapped her arms around me, then pushed me back at arm’s length, looking me over. "Are you back?" She looked at from Blaze to me and then back again. "Why didn't you tell me Crunch was back?"
"I'm riding with the Vegas chapter now," I said.
"Oh, you're still in Vegas?" she asked. "How is it going?" She stopped, apparently reading the look on my face. "Oh shit, I said something wrong. Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing," I said quickly. Too quickly, by the look on her face. She didn't believe me. "How's law school?"
"It's going great. Lots of work to do," she said, patting her bag. "I've got a summer internship, so I'm getting to do real work instead of the school stuff."
"Good for the club," Blaze said, grinning, as he slipped a hand around Dani's waist.
"Hmm," she said. "I don't seem to recall the club making me a job offer yet, do you?"
"Let's just say, you've got an in with someone who has a lot of influence over those kinds of decisions," Blaze said. He patted her ass. "Now, get on home already, would you?"
Dani laughed and kissed him on the cheek, then punched him playfully on the arm as she stepped away from him. "All the power of being club president is going to his head now. He's getting so bossy."
"It's good to see you, Dani," I said.
"You too, Crunch," she said, kissing me on the cheek. "Don't stay away so long next time."
Blaze took another drag on his cigar, then turned to me. "Now. You didn't come out here to fucking socialize. What's going on?"
Blaze didn't say anything for a few minutes, but I could see the wheels in his mind turning even after I stopped talking.
"You had this discussion with Geezer?" Blaze asked, wanting to know if I’d told this story to the president of the Vegas chapter.
I shook my head. "Aston's well-connected. After what happened with Mad Dog..." My voice trailed off, the implication clear. I didn't trust the Vegas chapter. They had given me no reason not to trust them, but I'd been burned once before and I wouldn’t let it happen again.
Blaze shook his head. "The club isn't going to have ties to someone like him."
"Benicio smuggles," I said. "We sure he doesn't smuggle people?"
"No way," Blaze said. "He has a personal issue with it. He spent twenty years in prison in Panama, and from what I understand, it wasn't a fucking picnic. Doesn't like the idea of imprisoning anyone else. Dani's father, Guillermo, now that was another fucking story."
"You sure about that?" I asked, still wary. "We're talking about a lot of money. Big fucking money. Meia's only hinted at things, but everything I've pulled on Aston says he's connected to politicians, millionaires, people with real cash."
"Fuck," Blaze said. "I'm certain of it. Guillermo was involved in that kind of shit. Benicio wouldn't do it, on principle. Made a thing of it after Dani killed Guillermo."
"I'm not asking for club resources," I said. "Just a meet with Benicio. I've hacked Aston, and I've hit a wall. I've narrowed down places he could have taken her. My gut says it's Bangkok, though, back to where she was when she was a kid. The finishing school she talked about. Benicio's got an ear to the ground. I just need some more intel, and I need a contact for a weapon when I get there."
"Christ, Hammer," Blaze said. "You're not going over there by yourself. It's fucking suicide."
"You need to stay at the club -" I started.
"That's why I have a fucking Veep I trust," Blaze said. "I was out of the country when the shit with April happened. I was absent from the club, and if I'd have been around more, I might have seen what was going on with Mad Dog. What happened with Mad Dog-with April-it's my responsibility. You're not following this guy to fucking Thailand to get slaughtered by yourself."
I nodded. "Okay."
"I'll call Benicio. And for fuck's sake, call Axe. He's a better shot than either of us are."
I blinked, but my eyelids felt heavy and swollen. I saw everything through a haze, cloudy and blurred. I tried to move, rolled onto my side, and immediately felt nauseous. Bending over, I heaved the contents of my stomach into a bowl beside the bed, this ornate heavy thing with gilded edges I almost felt bad about defiling. Almost.
I didn't even hear him behind me. It was like he materialized out of nowhere, from behind me, his hand on the back of my neck, holding my hair away from my face. His touch was gentle, like a lover's.
Except he was no lover.
When I was finally finished, my body weak, depleted of everything, I turned to look at him, the man who held me, the man who had taken everything from me.