Until July (Until Her 1)

“You think someone there is connected?” Harlen asks, straddling his bike.

“Not sure, but it’s doing no good just standing around here,” I mutter then look at Nico. “You call Asher?”

“Yeah, he and November are going to your house to wait and see if she showed up there.”

“Thanks, man. Call me if you find anything, and I’ll do the same,” I tell him, and he lifts his chin. I straddle my bike, start it up, lift my chin, and take off. It takes fifteen minutes to get to Mamma’s Country, and the parking lot is empty except for a few cars I’m sure are regulars at the bar during the week. I park close to the entrance, Mic on my left, Harlen on my right, and we get off our bikes and head inside. Tommy is behind the bar, and his eyes come to us.

“Where’s Ronnie?”

“Office,” he says, and I head back behind the bar and knock once, opening the door without waiting for an okay. As soon as the door opens, Ronnie is standing behind his desk with a nine-millimeter aimed at us.

“Jesus,” Ronnie says, putting away his gun. “What are you doing here?”

“You know anything about my woman being taken today?” I ask him, and he sits back in his chair and his face goes pale. Knowing what happened to his daughter I’m sure he gets how fucked up this situation is.

“No, son.”

“Where’s your boy?” I ask, and he looks at the three of us. I’m sure we look imposing as fuck standing in front of his desk.

“I’m here,” Landon says, coming into the office and walking around to stand next to his dad. “What’s going on?”

“July was taken from outside the grocery store on 5th. You know anything about that?”

“No,” he says, looking at each of us then his dad. “Since Snake got locked up, things have been quiet.”

“You know a guy with a tattoo of a spider on his skull?”

He swallows and then looks at his dad again then back at me. “Snake’s brother, River, has a spider tattoo.”

How the fuck did I not know he had a brother? “You know where he hangs?”

“No, he used to work at the tattoo shop on Westend, but since that place got new management and they didn’t much like the fact he had a history of being inappropriate to the women who came into have work done, they let him go. “If you go over there, they might be able to tell you some info,” he suggests, and I know exactly who he’s talking about.

Blaze and his boy Jinx just opened a tattoo shop in town and bought out the people who owned Daniel’s Bar, where July, her sisters, and her cousins had gone to drink. Jinx was a recruit, and Blaze came to talk to us a week ago about wanting into our club. We were still talking about it. Our crew has always been small, but since moving to town, there has been an influx of new recruits, guys who have ridden solo, or who have crews that are into drugs or other shit we’re not into, and they want to ride clean.

“I’ll call Jinx and have him bring Blaze with him to the compound, and then we can go from there,” Harlen says, walking out of the room.

“You want us to do anything?” Landon asks, and I know July’s right; he’s a good kid. He was just in a situation that was out of his hands, and he was doing the right thing the only way he could, by bringing in those dogs.

“Call around and see if anyone knows where he is, or if anyone knows who he’s hanging out with.”

“Sure, man, and sorry about your woman. She seemed cool,” he says, and I lift my chin and head out the bar, meeting Harlen, who’s standing near his bike.

“They’re meeting us at the compound.”

“Let’s roll out,” I mutter, getting back on my bike.

When we get to the compound, the street is littered with bikes and cars. I look at Harlen, and he shakes his head as we park our bikes and move towards the gate. The second we get inside, we see all the guys are there, not just the few we called to meet us.

“We know you guys don’t know if you’re recruiting anymore members, but we wanted to come and show our support and help anyway we can,” Maxen says, patting my shoulder, and I look around the open area of the compound. There must be at least thirty guys standing around, some whom I know, and others I have never seen before.

“’Preciate that, brother,” I tell him then move to where I see Z talking to Blaze and Jinx.

“Where’s Kayan?” I ask Z as soon as I reach his side.

“She’s with July’s mom and dad,” he says, and I nod then put my attention on Blaze.

“You know anything about a guy named River? He has a snake tattoo on his skull.”

“Yeah, he was at Zero’s before we bought it. Management was afraid of him, so even though he had a history of stepping over the line with female clients, they never fired him. Unfortunately for him, me and Blaze didn’t hold that same fear, so as soon as we closed on the shop, we gave him his walking papers.”

“Do you know where he went?” Mic asks, and Jinx shakes his head.

Blaze looks at me. “One of his clients came into the shop and said he moved to Chapel Hill. Said he bought an old church and was going to open a tattoo shop in it.”

“Thanks,” I tell him, walking towards my room with the phone to my ear.

“You got anything?” Jax asks as soon as he answers, and I unlock the door, go in, lift my mattress, and grab my gun, putting it in the back of my jeans, pulling my shirt out and over it.

“Not sure. Seems Snake has a brother, and I think he’s the same guy who threatened the girls before. I’m gonna take a few of the guys to Chapel Hill to see if I can find anything out.”

“Meet you at the gas station off the highway in ten and I’ll follow you.”

“See you then.” I hang up, lock up my room, head straight towards my bike, and swing my leg over.

“Anything you want us to do here?” Blaze and Jinx ask, and I hadn’t even realized they were following me.

“Ask around and see if anyone heard anything, if anyone knows anything. Right now, we’re taking any lead we can get.”

“Got it.,” Blaze says, stepping back from my bike.

“Jax is meeting us off the highway and will follow us down,” I tell Harlen, Everett, Z, and Mic.

“Let’s roll,” Mic says, and it takes just a few minutes to get to the gas station, and when we do, I don’t even stop; I just circle the parking lot and let Jax follow me in his SUV. On the highway, I lead with my boys to my sides and July’s cousins to my back. It takes less then twenty minutes to get to Chapel Hill, and when we pull into town, I stop at the first mom and pop shop I see.