Axle's Brand (Death Chasers MC 3)

“Guess I wasn’t in a mood to be touched.”

“Have that problem with Maya?” she chirps.

I glare at her for a second before returning my attention to the road.

“Touchy. Touchy,” she says around an amused drawl.

“Drop it,” I warn.

“Or you know, you could just go get her. You’re going to be at war no matter what. She’s going to be in danger no matter what. You can be at war and in danger together.”

“Not until we have Herrin handled,” I say while bristling.

“Herrin is of no consequence. Even with his best sources, he’d never figure out who Maya is. And the Families would obliterate him before he even found Phillip to strike up a deal. He’d know that. If anything, Herrin would fear you more if he found out Blackbird was teamed up with you.”

I say nothing as we drive, because I refuse to let her twist this and make me feel as though sending Maya away was pointless.

“This is it,” I say when we’re parked a safe distance away. “We walk from here.”

She follows me out of the car, and because we need to be stealthy, she says nothing as we hike through the patch of desert that spans for almost a mile, and finally come out behind a few sheds that offer us coverage.

We both peer around, and I mentally curse. There are twice as many men here today. If not three times as many.

I jerk my head back, avoiding being seen. I half wonder if they saw us come through the desert, even though it’s night. It’s doubtful I can spot all of them.

“Lot of security,” Sarah whispers.

“Possibly triple the amount here last night,” I say just as quietly.

I peer around the edge again as a guy walks out of the warehouse with a cigarette lit and hanging out his mouth, an AK-47 hanging off him like it’s just any other day.

Sarah backs back up, shaking her head.

“Why would they triple security?” she asks in a hushed tone.

I shrug, because I’m not a fucking mind reader or psychic. I don’t just know these things.

I glance around, noting the spotlights seem to be trained toward the sky, weirdly enough. Not the desert.

Sarah and I both silently start trekking back, waiting for guns to fire at any moment. That side was clear last night. Seemed to be a blind spot. Tonight, not so much.

Fortunately, they never detect us, and we make it all the way back to her car that I crank immediately.

“Something had to have happened for him to amp up security since yesterday,” she says in a normal tone as I drive us back toward Halo.

“Regardless, it’s going to be twice as hard to get in there now and make this plan work,” I growl.

“And you told no one outside your circle that you were doing this, right?”

“That’s why we called you in. We don’t know who else we can trust right now, so only the circle and you know about this.”

She heaves out a frustrated breath. “Then obviously something else is going on. We need to find out what. I’m going back later tonight, because I’m like a ghost when it’s just me.”

“Too dangerous, and if—”

“Axle, I’ve taken on jobs that were ten times more complicated than this one. I can handle scouting solo. I need to see if I can’t get a closer look at what’s going on inside that place and what has them armed to the gills, shining spotlights on the sky instead of the desert.”

When we make it back to the warehouse, Sarah is the first to exit, ending our argument prematurely.

She bursts through the doors, and we find a few of the girls from the strip club lingering near the bar for some weird reason. Tiffany, Simone, and Darla.

Sarah walks right up to them, and Simone and Darla throw their arms around her, hugging her tightly.

“What’re you girls doing here?” she asks as she pulls back.

Darla wipes a tear out of her eye. “Herrin’s guys shot at the club when we were in there. We didn’t know where else to go. But the guys were killed. A bunch of Grim Angels were there. They drove us here to meet up with Drex.”

“Always something,” I groan.

But then a smile graces my lips. Herrin just fucked the hell up.

The Grim Angels on our side just killed any chance he had of beating us.

About damn time he fucked up. I was starting to get tired of him winning.

“By the way, who is Tiffany?” I hear Sarah asking as I walk away.

“I am.”

I’m not sure what else is said—nor do I give a fuck. I jog down the stairs that used to be restricted to anyone outside the circle, but given it’s the only place not in need of some construction right now, it’s obviously where we’re conducting business.