Page 44 of Acceptance
Venom wasn’t the only Drifter Cinder’s been with. She and Shep once had a thing, and he never shared this with Heidi. To say his wife was angry upon learning about it would be a vastunderstatement. He ended up sleeping in the clubhouse for a couple of weeks before she finally let him back into the house.
“Oh, I still have to work for it, but I don’t mind. Burying my face between her legs isn’t half the punishment she thinks it is.”
Everyone chuckles as Colt hits the gavel on the table. A new one after he broke the last one while listening to his father-in-law talk out of his ass. “Okay, we all love sex, but I have something to bring to the table before we can all find our way between our women’s legs.” He pauses and looks at a few of the single men. “Or club bunnies’ legs.”
There’s a collective chuckle, but Undertaker can only say a silent prayer this goes quickly. He’s damn near ready to burst.
“Travis Hall stopped by a week ago and gave me a case file. The asshole out there murdering and disfiguring women can’t be found, and he wants us to help,” Diesel says, setting the folder on the table. “He gave me the most recent victim’s file.”
“Okay, I need a little help here. Who’s Travis Hall?” Undertaker asks, suddenly intrigued at the potential to kill a murderous bastard.
Unless there’s a good reason not to help this guy, Undertaker would be more than a little happy to take out a man who tortures women. This guy needs to be stopped, and he’s willing to be part of the gang of men who puts an end to him.
Colt gives him a quick rundown of Travis and Julian even though he’s more than a little familiar with Julian. His comments on the news has him walking around like he’s a movie star even though they’re tearing him a new one.Can’t fix stupid.
“What does he think we can do that they can’t?” Ky asks. “Does he think we know who this asshole is and choose to just sit back, letting him carry on with his crimes? That trash knows trash, as Julian would say?”
“He thinks we can figure out who he is,” his father says. “He threw out Brock’s name, so I think he believes there’s somethingto be found that they’re too backed up or lacking in competency to do themselves. Went as far as offering Grayson his job back to try to entice us to get involved.”
Colt’s eyebrows lift. “Did he accept?”
“You know Tate better than most of us. He’s always been on the straight and narrow, but he luckily came to talk to me first. Travis left out a few details, and he went and told them to go fuck themselves to their faces.”
“Wish I could’ve been there to see that,” Brock says with a smirk.
“Lex says he’s having a difficult time living in the gray. Everything was always black and white with him, especially when he wore the uniform. When we had that issue with Donald Ramsey a few months ago, he actually suggested killing the man. That had to have been difficult,” Colt says.
“His whole world perspective has shifted,” Tyson Reeves says. “When he helped me save Tara from her ex a couple years ago, he realized why we kill. I don’t think he liked that, but he can’t deny it anymore.”
Undertaker heard a little bit about how Tara’s abusive ex kidnapped her after getting out of prison for almost killing her. When they found her, she was naked and beaten, but she seems to be doing well now. And the bastard died in prison, thanks to the Drifters calling in a favor.
Venom nods to the folder in front of Diesel. “What’s in the file?”
“Everything on the last victim that they can’t identify. No hair, fingertips, or teeth. And her DNA isn’t on file.”
The photos are passed around, and Beckett, a man Undertaker’s worked with in the service, stops and stares. “Uh, Undertaker?”
“Yeah?”
“Isn’t this the same tattoo you have?”
He slides the picture across the table, and all excitement for what’s to come once he leaves this room washes away. His world comes to a screeching halt, and the picture shakes in his hand as he stares at it.
“What is it?” Colt asks.
“Flames with a cross. There’s a name on there, but it’s cut and not easily readable,” Beckett says.
“Aaron,” Undertaker says. “The name on the banner is Aaron.”
His heart races, and he sets it down on the table as he tries to regain his composure. The last thing he ever expected to see was someone he knew in Griffin’s Beach, let alone in a file from the De-Identifier’s victims.
“Undertaker?” Colt asks. “What’s going on?”
“I know her.”
“You do?”
Pulling up his shirt, he stands and holds the picture next to his own tattoo. The A and N are the only letters that can be made out, but he knows it’s the same as his.
