Torch (Great Wolves MC) - Jayne Blue Page 0,43

We’d hired a few new trainers, and everyone seemed to be working out okay. There was just one issue with one of the equipment suppliers trying to jack up prices against our contract. I assured Paul, the gym manager, that I’d follow up on that.

It took a little longer than I intended. When I finally left the gym, I had three missed calls, one from Sydney. She sent a text too, telling me not to worry about her. She clocked in early and was going to work the lunch crowd at the Den. She was grateful for the hours.

I was glad of it but had kind of hoped to get her alone again before the bar opened. But work was good for both of us. I wanted to have a conversation with her later tonight. The Den was fine, but maybe it was time for me to look for my own place. I wanted to ask her to come with me.

The moment the thought entered my mind, new excitement grew in my heart. Yes. That’s exactly what I wanted. It was soon. It was intense. But it felt right.

I was so keyed up thinking about it, I almost didn’t see the problem as I pulled into the Den parking lot. But the problem saw me.

“Stay right there!” a voice reached me from a bullhorn. The club was surrounded by cop cars. The locals. The feds. The DEA.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Torch!” Sydney’s strained voice reached me. She was up against the side of the building in a huddle with Amy, Mallory, Shannon, and Lori.

Fire raced through my veins. The front door to the bar opened. I watched as Colt, Kellan, Brax, and Joker were led out in handcuffs and muscled into the back of the DEA van.

Chapter Twenty-One

Sydney

“You got her?” Torch asked. He locked eyes with Amy. He had a hand on the small of my back.

“We know what to do,” Amy assured him. “Do you know what to do?”

Torch gave her a sharp nod. He turned to me. “You go with Amy. You do what she tells you.”

“Torch,” I said. “Where are you going?”

Two DEA officers headed toward us.

“We’re gonna need you to come with us,” one of them said.

“You got a warrant?” Torch asked. I held my breath waiting for the answer too.

“We just want to talk.”

“Come on,” Amy said to me under her breath. “We need to get you home.”

Home. I didn’t have one anymore. That didn’t seem to slow Amy down. She pulled on my sleeve, forcing me away from Torch’s side.

His eyes were cold and hard as he looked at me. It was an unspoken directive, underscoring what he’d already said.

Then Torch went with the officers and disappeared behind the back of one of the vans. The paddy wagon containing all the remaining senior leadership of the club pulled out. I’d watched seven men chained together and loaded up. Torch’s family. Was he next?

“We need to go!” Amy said. I don’t know how she stayed so calm and in control. One of the men in chains was her husband and father of her children.

“The kids?” I asked.

“That’s Mallory’s job,” Amy said. At that point, Nicole, Brax’s wife, pulled up in her minivan.

Amy moved quickly, pulling me along with her. I slid into the back while she got in the passenger side. Nicole barely waited for her to close the door before she peeled out of the parking lot.

No one said anything for the twenty-minute drive away from the Den. At first, I thought we were heading for Colt and Amy’s place. But Nicole drove out of town. She finally pulled into a small neighborhood with new construction, stopping at a two-story house that was walled in, and had a roof.

We got out. Amy had the keys to the place. It smelled of fresh pine. There wasn’t even drywall up on all the walls.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Someplace safe,” Amy said. “For now, anyway. This is Joker’s new place. Or, it will be once it’s finished.”

Nicole busied herself, checking all of the other rooms. She went upstairs and shouted down an all clear. Then Amy led me into the kitchen. While there was no traditional furniture, obviously, a stack of folding chairs leaned against the wall. Amy grabbed two; I grabbed a third.

“I don’t have a lot of time,” she said to me. She and Nicole had been acting like they were linked telepathically with each other. Just a look or a gesture spurred the other into action.

“What