GHOST: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Evil Dead MC Series Book 5) (9 page)

She watched as Ghost yanked his cut off to fling it on the counter, then ripped his tee over his head. Her eyes slid over his exposed chest.
Good God
, but he was beautiful. That was definitely not the body of a boy anymore. He was all thickly muscled
man
. Before she could regain her tongue to ask what he was doing, he tossed his tee shirt to her.

“Here, use that,” he growled.

She grabbed it up and looked down at it. “Are you serious?”

“Hey, this ain’t the
Hilton
. There’s no towel service out here. It’s that or nothing.”

She rolled her eyes and retreated back around the divider to dry off as best she could. When she was done, she peeked back out, holding his damp shirt in front of her.

“I need my clothes.”

Ghost was leaning against the counter, his booted ankles crossed and arms folded, his eyes on his boots. When she spoke, he lifted them to her, and then the corner of his mouth pulled up, and he challenged, “Then come get ‘em.”

“Ghost!”

“Yeah?”

“Can you
hand
them to me?”

His brows went up. “That how you ask?”

She rolled her eyes and gritted out, “Please.”

He grinned, his arms coming unfolded as he rose to his feet. “Yes, ma’am.”

He scooped up her clothes minus the chaps and strolled over to her. But instead of handing them over when she reached for them, he held them just out of her grasp.

She glared at him as she tried to grab them.

“Uh, uh, uh. Say thank you.”

She huffed out a breath. “Fine. Thank you.”

“
Nicely.
”

She rolled her eyes, and then batted her lashes up at him with a sugary sweet smile, turning on the southern charm. “Why thank you, sugar. Aren’t you just sweet as pie.”

He smirked down at her. “Darlin’, sweet is the last thing I am. And don’t try that game you were just playin’ with me again, understand?”

“What game?” she played dumb, frowning.

He lifted his chin toward the stall.

“You know exactly what I’m talkin’ about,
sugar
.” Then he gave her a cocky grin, kissed her on the nose and handed over her clothes. “And you’re welcome, you little smartass.”

***

After getting Jess set up with a bunk and his sleeping bag from the gear he’d stashed in the shed earlier in the week, Ghost headed out to talk to his brothers.

As he approached, Shades held out a beer toward him. “You get her fed, bathed and all tucked in?”

Ghost glared at his VP’s smiling face. He knew the man was teasing him, so he let it slide.

“Were those your chores when she was a little squirt?” Hammer added.

Now, Hammer, on the other hand got a punch in the arm, which probably hurt Ghost more than it did Hammer, since the man was built like a brick-house with tattoo covered biceps as thick around as a Christmas ham. That wasn’t how he got his name though. No, he got the name Hammer because he nailed everything in sight. ‘Everything’, meaning any woman with tits and ass.

“Oww. What, too close to home?” Hammer grinned.

“Can we quit the juvenile fucking jokes now?” Ghost asked with a scowl.

“Probably not,” Griz added with a grin. The man was six four, forty-eight years old and with his wavy blonde hair and beard, he looked like the lead character in the seventies TV show,
Grizzly Adams
. Which was how
he
got his nickname.

“Okay, boys, cut the shit,” Shades admonished, taking a hit off his beer. Then his eyes swung to Ghost. “You want to fill us in on what information
little sister
could possibly have that’s of use to us?”

Ghost nodded across the fire to where his chapter President, Butcher stood in what looked like deep conversations with the VP of the San Jose Chapter, a brother named, Cole Austin.

“You sure you don’t want to wait until Butcher is free, so I only gotta tell this story once?”

Shades growled, “Butcher’s got his hands full right now. Shit went down with one of Cole’s men while you were gone. In fact, I was worried it was somehow connected with you being MIA.”

Ghost frowned. “What shit? With who?”

“Wolf.”

“Wolf? What happened with him?”

“He was sliced up pretty bad. He’s in the ICU in Sturgis.”

“You’re fucking kidding me. What happened?”

“Got jumped by a sick motherfucker. A DK by the name of Taz.”

“No shit? We get the motherfucker?”

“Yeah. That’s been taken care of, and that is hush-hush.”

Griz grinned. “You missed it, bro. We all went and pissed on his grave.”

Hammer pointed to a tree on the other side of the campsite with a chuckle. “Using his cut for target practice.”

Ghost glanced over. Sure enough, there was a Devil Kings’ cut with a bowie knife nailing it to a tree. He whistled and asked, “Do the DKs know Taz was killed? And by us?”

“No, and we’re keeping it that way. As far as they know, he took off. He’s always been nomad, and those guys don’t live by anybody’s rules, so it’ll take a while before Big Ed realizes he’s missing. And that’ll be San Jose’s headache.”

“So the Devil Kings aren’t starting shit with us?”

Shades shook his head. “No. Cole claims it was a personal grudge between him and Taz. The fucker’s club wasn’t involved. Had no clue what he was up to.”

“You sure?”

“Well, I was worried when
you
turned up missing, but Cole assures me the grudge went back to some shit that went down between him and Taz years ago. Wolf just got in the way. Guess he was supposed to be some kind of sick message to Cole.”

Ghost stared. “That’s messed up shit. How’s Wolf doing? Hell, I can’t fucking believe this. We were just with him at the tattoo shop.”

Shades nodded. “I know. We’ve all been watching our backs ever since. But Cole says Wolf’s gonna pull through. I guess it was touch and go there for a while. He lost a lot of blood. But he’s conscious now and stable.”

Ghost lifted his chin to all the club chapters that were still there at the campground when most clubs would have pulled out on Sunday. “That why everyone’s still here?”

“That and you being missing, asshole.”

Ghost grinned. “Sorry about that, man. Couldn’t be helped.”

“You lose your fuckin’ phone?” Griz snapped.

“Battery died.”

“You couldn’t borrow one to make a fuckin’ call into your club?” Shades asked.

Ghost shook his head. “We were holed up in a shed in the middle of nowhere.”

Shades gave him a look. “And why was that?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Then why don’t you fuckin’ start at the beginning?”

“Like I said, Jessie’s got some info that the club’s gonna find useful. Butcher’s gonna want to hear it.”

“Why don’t you run it by me first. Then we’ll decide whether to bring it to Butcher. I’ve got my doubts that little girl could possibly have any information that would be significant.”

“This is.”

Shades brows shot up. “Then fuckin’ tell me.”

Ghost twisted the bottle-cap off his beer and pitched it into the fire. Then he took a long swig, turning the bottle up. Then he dropped the bomb.

“Death Heads planted a man inside the DKs Atlanta Chapter.”

That got a ‘brows raised’ stunned expression from his VP. “You’re shittin’ me?”

“Nope. They’re plannin’ to take Georgia. Gonna take the DKs down from the inside out. And get this, supposedly
we’re
next.”

“Hell, it’s no secret they’ve been trying to push across the state line. Thought we had that handled.”

“Yeah, we did. So I guess they decided to change tactics. Swung their focus to Georgia first, but we’re next on the agenda. Guaranteed.”

“And this all comes from her?” Shades gave a chin lift toward the shed.

“Yup.”

“You wanna fill me in on how she obtained this info?” Shades asked.

“She overheard it.”

“She
overheard
it?” Shades asked with an incredulous tone.

“Straight from Florida’s mouth.”

“Florida? Who the hell is Florida?” Hammer asked.

“President of the Death Head’s Jacksonville Chapter,” Butcher filled him in as he walked up overhearing the talk.

Ghost’s eyes swung to his President. The man had grey hair, a beard and wire rimmed glasses. He had always reminded Ghost of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Right now the man’s eyes were boring into his.

“How in the hell was this girl in any position to
overhear
anything, son?”

“Wrong place at the right time.”

Butcher gave him a long look and raised one brow. “Or wrong place at the
wrong
time for
her.”

“Yeah,” Ghost agreed with him.

“They know she knows?” Butcher asked.

Ghost nodded. “Yup.”

“They know she’s with you?”

“They saw me, and they’ll remember my face. But I don’t think they got a look at my cut.”

“You don’t
think?
”

Ghost lifted his hands, shrugging. It was the best answer he could give. “They ain’t showed up here yet, have they?”

Butcher let out an aggravated breath. “Why don’t you start at the beginning.”

“Picked up a nail in my tire—”

“Yeah, yeah. I know all that part. Get to the part where you hooked up with this chick I heard tell about. The one with all the information and the Death Heads on her ass,” Butcher snapped.

Boot and Slick, the chapter’s Treasurer and Sargent At Arms walked up. They were two of the older members in the chapter, and two of Butcher’s most trusted brothers. Butcher nodded for Ghost to continue.

He explained the whole story from the moment he first saw Jessie until they rolled into the Evil Dead camp.

Butcher shook his head. “What a cluster-fuck.”

Ghost watched him turn away, run his hand over his beard, and then turn back to snap, his eyes on Ghost, “You believe it?”

“Which fuckin’ part?” Shades asked Butcher with a huff that showed his exasperation with the whole mess.

Butcher’s eyes swung to Shades. “Any of it. All of it.”

“She wouldn’t lie. Not to me,” Ghost bit out.

Butcher’s head came up, his brows raised. “Oh. Is that so? You sure about that?”

Ghost nodded once. “Yeah. I’m sure.”

“You trust her?” Shades asked.

Ghost nodded. “Yeah. I do.”

“With your life? With the lives of your brothers?” Butcher added, piercing him with a look.

“I do,” Ghost replied tersely, his jaw tight. The air was thick with tension until finally Shades broke it. He looked over at Butcher.

“How do you want to handle this?”

Butcher didn’t hesitate, his eyes drilling into Ghost’s, he replied, “We use her and what she knows to make a deal with the DKs.”

Ghost knew what that look meant. His loyalties were with the club, and if he had a problem with this, he’d better get ‘right’ with it, because he had no choice.

Shades cut his eyes to Ghost, and Ghost could read what
that
look meant. He was wondering if his brother was going to be okay with it. He wasn’t. Not really. But he would have to be. Because when it all came down to it, he and his club were the only thing standing between her and the Death Heads. That deal could be the only way to keep her safe from them. And to get his club behind helping her, she had to be of some use to them. Making that deal would do it.

“We roll out tomorrow, first light. San Jose Chapter is going to wait for their guy to get released. Now that the crowds have left, they’re gonna hole up in a motel until he’s fit to travel.”

“How long’s that gonna be?” Griz asked.

Butcher’s gaze swung to him. “Couple more days.” Then his eyes returned to Shades. “Make sure the boys are ready to roll out in the morning.”

Shades nodded. “Will do.”

Butcher stalked off with Boot and Slick at his back.

Shades looked to Griz and Hammer. “Give us a minute, boys.” After they walked off, his gaze swung to Ghost. “You gonna be good with this?”

“Gonna have to be, won’t I?”

Shades nodded, gazing out over the landscape. “She tell you everything? You got a good feeling about that?”

Ghost stared at his VP. But Shades was much more than just his VP, more than just a brother, he was also a close friend. They’d joined up about the same time and come up through the ranks together. He was closer to Shades than to any of the others.