Predators MC: Stand Off Part 24

"I could help," he offered.

"Not going to take money from my son again. If she doesn't take it back, I'm leaving. Ice said I could stay at the clubhouse."

"You talked to Ice and not me?"

"You've had a lot on your mind lately. Didn't want to trouble you with my problems with Renee. She'll take the ring back." Max heard the doubt in his father's words.

"If you change your mind, I have a few bucks I could let you have," Max offered again, seeing the stubborn pride that would keep his father from accepting any help from him.

"No, thanks. Don't worry, Max. Either she takes the ring back, or I'm leaving." Mugg gave him a wry smile. "I'm too old to let a woman destroy me. Sometimes, you have to know when to walk away."

"Are you talking about yourself or me?"

"Both of us, son, both of us."

Max rode back to the clubhouse, finding the Predators sitting around. Many of them still watched him warily, keeping their distance.

"Where have you been? I've called you three times," Ice questioned.

"Been busy." Max went behind the counter, getting himself a beer. "What did you need?"

"We have a buy in a couple of hours. I need you and Jackal to make sure everything goes down okay. You up for it?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Max drank his beer, staring coldly at Lizard, who came into the room with crutches under his arms. The cast on his leg didn't make Max feel better. He wished he had broken his other leg so the son of a b.i.t.c.h had to get around in a wheelchair.

"Leave him alone. I don't want any more trouble between you two. He's going to give you his cut for the next two months to make it up to you."

"He shouldn't have touched her like that. We don't force women." Max raised his voice enough that Lizard and the other brothers could hear him.

Buzzard stopped before crossing the floor, hobbling toward him.

"You're right. I was stoned and drunk. It's not an excuse, never done a woman that way in my life. I want to tell her I'm sorry. I feel like s.h.i.t for-"

"She's gone. I don't know where she is." Max slammed his beer down onto the counter.

"Gone?" Ice asked sharply.

"Disappeared, asked someone from work to clean her apartment out and sell her s.h.i.t. Didn't want the money, either. Told her to give it to Renee."

"Doesn't sound like she's coming back to Queen City," Ice said.

"No, it doesn't." Max ran his hand through his s.h.a.ggy hair.

"Want me to get Jackal to find her?"

"Yeah." Max knew he was opening himself up to ridicule from the brothers, but he needed to straighten things out between him and Casey. Then he could move on and close the door between them.

"What are you going to do when you find her?" Ice questioned.

"h.e.l.l if I know," Max confessed both to himself and Ice. Casey wouldn't forgive him easily, and he was still unsure how much of himself he was willing to give to Casey.

It took two months before Jackal admitted he was unable to find Casey. Max was sitting on the couch when Jackal told him. His father had been just as unsuccessful finding out any information on her.

"She's closed all her accounts, hasn't asked for any references. I couldn't find her brother Cole, either. I started searching for him when Casey tried to snitch us out. Seems like neither of them want to be found."

Mason quit playing pool, listening to their conversation. Max studied the man who used to be married to Renee.

"Any ideas?"

"No. Sounds like she doesn't want to be found. How long you going to keep acting like a p.u.s.s.y? I like Casey, but even I can see she doesn't want anything to do with you." Mason bent over, making his shot.

"I think he's right. She gave the bank her resignation a month before she disappeared. Casey was planning on leaving before the brothers told her you were trying to f.u.c.k her over." Jackal grabbed Crush as she pa.s.sed. "Maybe it's time you moved on, brother."

Max reached up, taking Crush's hand and tugging her down onto his lap. Her arms circled his shoulders. It didn't feel the same as when Casey had touched him, but Jackal was right: it was time he moved on and forgot about Casey.

"Want me to keep looking?"

"No. Leave it alone. The best thing about p.u.s.s.y is that they're all alike." He had always been able to replace a woman. Casey would be no different. h.e.l.l, he had only wanted to tell her goodbye, anyway.

After not f.u.c.king a woman for two months, he consoled himself with the feel of Crush under his hands. Some goodbyes weren't said with words but actions, and Casey had said goodbye two months ago. Now it was time to say his.

Chapter 24.

"Hey, trouble," Max greeted Vida, Colton's wife, as he placed a hand on Maxie's back, pushing her farther into the tattoo shop. He had picked her up at the dance studio next to the tattoo shop Colton owned.

"Hi, Max." Vida smiled up at him from behind the desk. "What brings you in today? Another tattoo?"

"No." He laughed good-naturedly. "I wanted to stop by and pick up the book of sketches Colton made for me. He said you finally decided which headboard you want me to make."

"I'm so excited! I really like the ones in the furniture store, but Colton wanted one out of a different wood. He drew up a beautiful design."

"It will be when Max gets finished with it," Colton said, coming into the room from the back of the store. "Come on out back and I'll show you. Maxie can hang out with Vida."

Max followed Colton to the back to study the drawings.

"I like it. It's going to take me a few weeks to make it, though." The brother had an eye for detail that was going to take longer to complete.

"No problem. It will be worth it when it's done. Go on back out front with Vida, and I'll make some copies for you."

"Okay." Max left.

As he approached the doorway, he heard Maxie and Vida talking. Maxie had gotten to know Vida when she attended picnics or birthday parties.

"I really miss her. I could talk to her."

Max stopped, listening to the conversation. He knew Maxie was talking about Casey. Every time his daughter had mentioned her, he had changed the subject, telling her Casey had moved away.

"I can see how you would miss her. I'm sure Casey misses you, too. I didn't know her very well, but she was a nice person," Vida told her.

"You met Casey?" Max's curiosity had him stepping into the room.

Vida glanced toward him. "I saw you two together at the concert, and Colton told me you were seeing each other." Max guessed that wasn't all Colton had discussed about them.

Sensing he wasn't happy with Colton, Vida explained, "I asked him about Casey. It had been a long time since I had seen her."

"How did you know her?" Max casually leaned across the desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Sawyer and I both know Casey."

Max was surprised they knew each other. Queen City was large.

"She stayed for a while in an apartment building that we lived in. Well, Casey and her brother, Cole."

"You knew Cole, too?"

"Not very well. She and Cole kept to themselves. When we were out on the playground, Sawyer, Callie, and I would try to play with them, but they usually just stuck together. She lived down the hall from us. My mother and I could hear the arguments coming from there. Usually, they would go outside and play until the fighting stopped." Vida stood, going to the coffee pot in the corner to pour herself a cup before facing him again. She brushed her long dark hair from her face with a trembling hand.

"I remember one day they came running outside. I could tell they were both afraid. Later that night, everyone on the floor heard what the fight was about. Cole had told one of the teachers at school about Callie, and they had sent a social worker to Brenda's apartment. After they left, she had threatened Renee and her husband. I think his name was..." Vida paused for a second. "I can't remember. It was so long ago." Vida returned to her chair as Max and Maxie avidly listened about Casey's past.

"They moved away after the fire, and I didn't see her again for years until she changed high schools soph.o.m.ore year. I believe her mother married a man named Mason, and that was why she switched schools. Sawyer and I tried to become friendly with her, but other than saying hi in the hall, we never talked much. It was always her and Cole. Even when he had girlfriends, Cole would let her tag along. Her brother was a year older than her, but when he graduated, Casey still kept to herself. I don't believe she had any friends.

"One day, a couple of girls were picking on her, so Sawyer and I broke it up. We told her she should go to the princ.i.p.al's office, but she wouldn't. She said that, as soon as Cole found a job, he was coming back for her. He never did. She graduated a year later, and I didn't see her again until the night of the concert. I've always regretted that I didn't make more of an effort to become friends with her."

"She never said why Cole didn't come back?"

"No, but a few months later, she missed a week of school. Casey never missed. When she came back, she was even more withdrawn. I offered her my notebook to copy." Vida shook her head, laughing.

"What?" Max prompted.

"Nothing. I gave her my notebook. I felt stupid offering her the notes. I was an average student, while Casey was smart. She graduated as valedictorian. She flipped through my notes then handed them back to me. It hurt my feelings because I thought they weren't good enough for her. I started apologizing, but she stopped me. She didn't need to make notes-Casey had a photographic memory. At first, I didn't believe her, but I think she saw I was hurt, so she opened the notebook and repeated everything on the first page, word for word. It was amazing. I wish I could do that."

"Me, too. That would be awesome." Maxie swung her legs back and forth. "Casey was awesome." Maxie lowered her head, looking up at him from under her lashes. "She talked to me about Fisher, told me I needed to be careful about my first kiss." Maxie turned bright red. "She told me that it should be special, not to be pressured. She said her first time wasn't perfect, and she had done it for the wrong reasons, but she would never forget it because he was special. She made me feel as if I could tell her anything."

Max had a terrible feeling that he had misjudged Casey.

"We better go. Your mom will be waiting for you."

"Here's the drawing." Colton handed Max the design for the bed.

Max stood, unaware he had come into the room and had been listening, too.

"I'll get it done as soon as possible," Max promised.

"No hurry. You going to try to find her again?" Colton asked.

"Yes, and this time I'm going to find her," Max stated with determination.

Casey could have easily reproduced the files she had stolen from the clubhouse and the information she had stored at the bank, but she hadn't. She had been going to betray them, but something had stopped her, even after they had kidnapped her. Max thought he knew the reason, the same one that, despite her being gone for four months, he could no longer deny to himself.

"Good luck. Want a piece of advice?"

"At this point, I'll take any help I can get," he said truthfully.

"I would start with Roni. She's been around the clubhouse a long time, and Roni and Renee used to be friends until Roni caught Renee in bed with her boyfriend. She might know something."

"Thanks, Colton."

"I don't know if it will do any good," Colton cautioned him.

"It's a place to start. This time, I'm not giving up until I find Casey and bring her back where she belongs."

"She may not want to come back. There's nothing in Queen City she's going to miss."

"I'm here, and that's all she's ever going to need."

Chapter 25.

Casey cut the sandwiches into pieces, removing the crusts. Cole hated to eat the crust. He would leave the sandwich untouched if he saw a brown speck on his bread.

She hummed as she went to the refrigerator to make them some gla.s.ses of iced tea. Her brother could drink the whole pitcher himself. As she poured their drinks, Casey noticed her arms were getting darker. She would have to use more sunscreen in the future.

When she had first moved to the sunny area, she had burned from being in the sun. Now she had developed a tan that the women at the bank would be envious of.

Her smile slipped at remembering Queen City. She didn't miss the bank, the city, or her mother, but one person in particular never left her mind, despite all her efforts to keep herself busy. The beach house was meticulously organized and clean, despite the sandy beach just outside her door.

She looked out the front window to see what Cole was doing as she replaced the pitcher in the refrigerator. Casey took off running as fast as she could, her bare feet running across the cool tile floor, both hands slamming the screen door open before she ran across the porch. Leaping over the two steps, she landed on the hot sand.

"Leave him alone!" Her terrified gaze landed on the large group of men standing near Cole, who was sitting on a blanket.

Casey hastily bent to grab a piece of driftwood then raced forward, stopping in front of Cole, blocking them from getting any closer.

"Stay away from him!" she screamed, glaring at Max, Ice, Jackal... All the Predators stared back at her, calmly stepping back.

"What's wrong, Casey?"