The three of us headed for the Tingle in Nina’s car. Alicia had called Cassandra, the manager of the nightclub and confirmed that Mindy was there rehearsing. On the drive over, I explained my Catch suspicions to Nina and Alicia.
“You see, Mindy did all this to get back at Boner for being with me.”
“Using my old man to do it,” Alicia said. “And colluding with another club to steal from us at the same time. That goes above and beyond.”
“Above and so fucking beyond,” I agreed. “And so very fucking low.”
“And Catch is not taking Becca away from you, Jill. You told Boner about him threatening you, right?” Alicia asked.
“No, I haven’t told him yet.”
“Why the hell not?” Her throaty voice got louder.
I bit my lip. “I didn’t want to make things worse between the clubs. And now this happened.”
“Things are already worse, and he needs to know, Jill. You don’t keep secrets like that from your old man. That’s not protecting anybody. You’re not in this alone anymore, hon.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“It’s the truth,” Alicia replied.
We swerved into the Tingle parking lot.
Alicia turned to me. “You stay back. You and the baby are more important than this bullshit.”
“Yeah, but this bullshit has to be dealt with,” I replied.
“Damn straight,” she replied. “And it will be.”
Suddenly, the back door of the night club swung open, and a movement blurred before us.
“That’s her. Somebody tipped her off!” shouted Alicia.
She and Nina ran toward Mindy, who was opening the door of her car.
I charged after them. Nina got Mindy facedown against her car, her arms twisted behind her.
“Get the fuck off me!” Mindy yelled.
“Shelley Anne told us all about it,” Alicia said.
“All about me fucking your old man?” Mindy wrestled with Nina’s steady grip. “He was as horny as a teenager. You don’t feed the beast, do you? He even found me again later on, hungry for more, and I fed him good and plenty. Don’t you worry.”
Alicia viciously dug her hands into Mindy’s long brown hair, yanking it to the side. Mindy screeched.
“Boner didn’t want you for his old lady? Tough fucking shit, little girl,” Alicia said.
Mindy glared at me, her breath ragged.
“Anyone force you to do this?” I asked.
“No!” Mindy struggled for air, her neck craning.
“I think you’d better apologize to our president’s old lady,” I said.
“Fuck you! I will not—”
Nina twisted her arms further and kicked a leg between Mindy’s.
I rested my hands on my hips. “The men know that it was you. Jump and Boner know. Twist a guy’s dick. He’s going to twist back. They’re coming for you next. Did you take the gun from the case?”
Mindy’s hands tightened into fists.
“Did you give it to someone else?” I pushed.
No answer.
I stepped closer to her, my voice softening. “Catch has a nice circle of hellfire on the front and back of his leather jacket, doesn’t he?”
A choked noise escaped Mindy’s mouth, her eyes flaring, her body jerking in Nina’s hold.
“Ding, ding, we have a winner,” I said.
“Fuck you,” Mindy spit out.
“Really? Well, I tried this the nice way. Now, we’re going to have to do this the Alicia way.”
Long icy-blonde hair flew in my vision. With a grunt, Alicia punched Mindy in the face, knocking her out. Blood spattered on the hood of Mindy’s silver car.
“Well, since heavy lifting is out for me,” I said, taking Nina’s car keys from the back pocket of her jeans. “How about I do the driving?”
BUTLER AND I HAD ARRIVED at the Flames of Hell property about two hours south of Meager, in the vicinity of Elk, Nebraska, south of Chadron. All around the property, the high chain-link fence was trimmed with barbed wire and dotted with cameras. Butler did all the talking and got us in through the heavily guarded gate. I didn’t trust myself to speak just yet.
Catch rolled into the yard as we swung off our bikes, and I knew. I knew he was responsible by the slant of his head and the crooked grin splitting his face as we followed him inside their clubhouse.
He started out by denying it. I let him run his mouth, but then I cut him off and got to the point.
“I get that Jill was your piece of good for a while there, and she gave you the miracle that is your daughter. But you didn’t take care of all that amazing when you had it, and now, Jill is my woman. And nothing about her, except for the kid you share, comes under your jurisdiction. You need to accept that and move on. I didn’t take away anything that was yours. I only claimed what was mine.”
“Fuck Jill.”
My pulse flared. “Say again?”
Catch pulled the Python from his back. “This gun? I like this gun.”
“Do you now?” murmured Butler.
“Oh, yeah. I appreciate a good firearm, especially one with history.”
“Then, you’ll appreciate that you wouldn’t have Becca if it wasn’t for that gun, the man who owned it, and his perfect aim,” I spit out.
“So I’ve heard.”