I made it back under two hours and stormed into the clubhouse. It was morning, but inside Fifth Gear it could have been midnight. All the lights were switched on, windows and shutters pulled shut. They didn’t know if we were being spied on. Everyone was in chaos.
All the festivities and celebrations that ensued since our successful raid of Teasers were stopped. When I walked in, Sophie, our resident barmaid, came running up to me.
“Ghost, do you know where Mercy is?” she asked, looking worried. I knew she had gotten to know the strippers from Teasers since they were brought here after the raid. Maybe Sophie would be my only ally in this.
“No, but I’m going to fuckin’ find her,” I snarled as I made my way toward the common room. Sophie was fast on my heels.
“Ghost! Wait!” she called out and I stopped to turn to her.
“The others…these guys seem to think it was her.”
“Yes, I get the picture.”
“They think she killed Roddick, that she’s been working with Eagle this whole time.”
I glared at her. I knew this already, didn’t need to hear it from her. Sophie was shaking her head now.
“It couldn’t have been her. I mean, it’s not like she’s my best friend or anything, but I got to know her a little and she just seemed so sad and distressed and wanting to help, and confused. Not like a girl who had an ulterior motive for being here.”
I clenched my jaws. The more Sophie talked about Mercy, the angrier I got that I’d put her in danger. I shouldn’t have left her alone in my cabin with a prospect to protect her. She wasn’t safe there. I should have anticipated that Eagle could strike at any time.
Sophie came closer to me. “You believe me, don’t you? You’ve gotten to know her too.”
“I’m going to find her,” was all I said. It was all I was going to say. But it was enough for Sophie to understand how I felt about Mercy. Sophie had known me a long time. She knew I’d never felt this protective about another chick before.
“That poor thing, I really hope she’s alright,” she said.
I whipped away from her, heading directly for Drax’s office. I didn’t have the time to stand there and chat about Mercy. I needed to find her and bring her back and show the rest of the MC that she was worth our protection.
* * *
Drax’s office was packed. Flash, Bolt, Spike, and some others from the MC were all there and when I entered the room, it seemed they were busy talking over each other. Drax was shouting too about something, although he did seem exhausted. His gunshot wound was yet to recover and he wasn’t getting the rest the doc recommended. I was surprised Mary-Beth was even letting him attend to business. But then, we were in the middle of another crisis and we needed him.
One of our prospects had been murdered. At my cabin!
I got snippets of what the guys were shouting to each other about. Shipments. Equipment. Weapons. Plans. Attack. Eagle. Crash. Silver Knights. It was all garbled because nobody seemed to be listening to each other.
“We need to plan a fuckin’ memorial!” I shouted, loud enough that everyone heard and they turned to me in surprise.
“What?” Spike asked, looking confused.
“He’s talking about Roddick. A memorial for Roddick. Yes, Ghost is right, we can’t forget about him just because we’re in the middle of a war,” Drax spoke up, looking directly at me now.
“Where is Mercy?” Bolt asked, directly at me too, like I should have known exactly where she was.
“I don’t know but I’m going to find out. Eagle has her.”
“She’s with Eagle alright. It’s obvious they’ve been planning something together,” Bolt added. I glared at him, eyes narrowed threateningly.
“We don’t know that. It isn’t obvious.”
“You shouldn’t have trusted her and left her alone in your cabin.”
“She didn’t fuckin’ do this and I’ll prove it to you when I find her,” I snarled. We were like two wolves coming head to head over territory.
“You don’t know this chick. She’s a stripper!” Bolt continued, snarling too.
“Neither do you. You don’t fuckin’ know her at all.”
“You’re going to choose some whore you just met over your brothers?”
I was about to lunge at him. I saw red.
But then Mary-Beth spoke up behind us. She’d come into the room without any of us noticing.
“The door was kicked in,” she said. We turned to her in unison. I was confused. She met my eyes and seemed calm.
“The door at your cabin was kicked in. It has to be a sign of struggle, right? I believe you, Ghost. She didn’t do it. She didn’t kill Roddick and she isn’t working with Eagle. I saw the way she cared for Crash. Her life is in danger right now.”
Then Mary-Beth turned to Drax. I could see him staring at her with pride.
“We need to help Ghost find her,” she said.
He drew in a deep breath and looked around the room till his eyes fell on me. I had my jaws and fists clenched. I was ready to pounce on any idiot who said another word against Mercy.
“Find Eagle, and my guess is he will lead you to Mercy, and then we can all find out the truth,” he said.
* * *
A group of prospects had gathered around me and I was dishing out instructions. I knew I needed to come up with a plan, especially now when all eyes were on me and Drax was still in recovery from his injury. But how was I supposed to come up with a plan
