Warlords MC: Book 1 – Ace (Truman) : Chapter 15

Charli tucked a strand of hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear then she spoke, “His brother grew up here but no one knew him very well. He was the entire opposite of Oliver. Not social like Oliver, but brooding, quiet. Scary really. He would come to visit when they were all grown later on, but he didn’t come often. There were three Chapman brothers. One brother always held back and watched everything around him. I think his name was Oscar. He was a cold man, and cruel. He always had a look in his eyes that told everyone to stay away from him. When they would come to the diner, he always sat in the end booth and he always had his back to the wall so he could watch the front door.”

“That doesn’t make him cruel or cold,” Jack pointed out.

Charli began rubbing her wrist as if remembering something that happened in the past. The skin wasn’t as smooth as it should have been there but the scar was an old one. “Seven years ago, I made a mistake when I filled his cup with coffee. I wasn’t paying attention like I should have and I overfilled the cup. I spilled coffee on the table and when I went to clean up the spill, he grabbed the pot and held my hand down on the table. He then poured the rest of the pot over my wrist burning me badly in the process. Then he got up and walked out of the diner.”

“He burned you and got up and walked out? Just like that? Over a little spilt coffee on the table?” Ace looked thunderous.

Charli nodded.

He walked over to her and lifted her arm. He searched her skin and found the scar of her burn. Rage immediately lit his eyes. Lifting his gaze to her, he raised her arm to his mouth and kissed her flesh.

Charli closed her eyes and shivered as his lips touched her skin.

“So his real name is Oscar Chapman huh?” King stated. “Well, that is interesting.”

“How so?” Joker asked.

“Well, if we go head to head with him, we risk his going underground until this all goes away. Right?” King looked at his brothers and saw them all nod. “So instead of that, we have to force him out into the open, now how can we do that? What does the man care enough about to come to us?”

Charli shook her head. “I don’t know if he will come for any reason. I’ve never seen him react to anything.”

“Maybe we need to look over the papers we found and then decide,” Ace told them. He turned and looked outside. “It will be dawn in a few hours, so let’s get some rest. Oliver won’t be aware of anything until he gets back to his office anyway.”

“The fire chief might let him know about the fire at the mill though,” Charli pointed out. “If I’m not mistaken, they are good friends and the chief might know what Andy is using the mill for. He would have to know in case something like this happened.”

“OK, but either way, we need to get some rest and we can look at this in a few hours when the sun comes up,” Ace replied firmly.

Charli nodded. Suddenly, she was tired and couldn’t think about anything.

She found a spot deeper in the mine. She was away from the others and that suited her just fine. She lowered her tired achy body to the rough floor of the chamber and curled up into a ball. Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out the noise the others were making.

Then she felt someone lay down behind her. At first, she didn’t know who it was and stiffened a bit, but then the faint smoky scent hit her and she knew it was Ace. “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

“Where else would I be?” he asked her. “This is where you are.”

“I’m not sure if I can take much more,” she whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to his chest. “Lean on me. At least for tonight. Let me take the load for tonight.”

Charli nodded and relaxed against him. His scent even with the smoke relaxed her and soon her mind was on other things. Things she hadn’t let herself think about since the other morning. She moaned slightly and tried to shift her body away but Ace wouldn’t let her go.

He nibbled on the back of her neck. The moment his lips touched her skin, she felt the zing and she groaned. She arched her back and ground her hips against him.

Now, it was Truman who groaned. “You need to stop or I’ll forget everything my mother ever taught me about being a gentleman,” he whispered in her ear.

“You told me to lean on you tonight…So, give me what I need.”

Truman paused at this for a second, damn she was a woman after his own heart. Demanding what she needed from him like this. He reached down and tore at her jeans getting them open all the while nibbling on the back of her neck.

When his hand disappeared into her panties, she moaned and opened her legs to give him better access to her core.

He raised his lips to her ear and whispered, “Are you sure, this is what you want, Charli?”

“God yes, please. Please, Ace…”

Truman didn’t wait instead he worked at getting her jeans open and pulled them down to her knees. Then he undid his own pants, freeing his cock and before he could think about anything, he sank himself inside her. He growled as he plunged himself balls deep into her.

He wanted to let her acclimate to his size, but he couldn’t wait. He began pumping in and out of her. With each stroke, she moaned and he echoed her sounds of pleasure. He gripped her hips and as he tightened his fingers, they bit deep into her skin. He knew he wouldn’t last very long so he loosened one hand and brought it to her folds where he thumbed her clit. He didn’t want to be the one to come first, so he drove her closer. He felt her body tighten in release and he wanted her crazy with need. His teeth nibbled on her neck and she whimpered sweetly. He could feel she was almost there and sinking his teeth a little deeper into her neck, she arched her back and climaxed. Ace buried himself into her and felt his cock jerk inside her. He filled her up and couldn’t seem to stop. By the time he did stop, he was drained. Neither of them could move for a long moment. Then Truman groaned as he pulled out of her.

He stretched his hand out and felt around in the dark, then unzipped a pocket and grabbed a small pack of towlettes from his backpack. He reached down and gently cleaned between her thighs as she still panted from her orgasm.

She laid there for a moment then finally spoke, “Thank you…” Then she pulled her panties and jeans up fastening them.

“Sleep now, dawn will be here soon enough,” he whispered to her ear.

Charli closed her eyes and sleep claimed her.

Truman watched over her but eventually, he did close his eyes and relaxed enough to get some rest.

A little while later, his sleep was disturbed when Charli began thrashing around in her sleep. He pulled her tight into his embrace and listened to her sobs. Then he listened as she cried out in her sleep. Her dreams were disturbed by Andy’s cruelty.

When he couldn’t take listening anymore, he brushed her hair out of her eyes and hushed her with tiny kisses along her face and neck.

When he finally broke through her dreams, she opened her eyes and stared at him. She didn’t bother wiping her tears away so he brushed them away with his thumbs. “You’re breaking my heart, little girl,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry. With everything that’s happened, I guess I couldn’t keep it in anymore.”

“Babygirl, I’m here with you now, there’s no reason for you to do that.”

A few moments of silence fell between them.

“So now what happens?” she finally asked.

“Now we bring Oliver’s worst nightmares to life,” he told her. “We bring his secrets out in the open and show the people exactly who and what he is.”

“Won’t that drive your mission man underground?”

Truman shrugged. “Not if we can find a way to bring him to us. That’s what we need here. If we can keep him from going underground, we can stop him once and for all.”

Charli closed her eyes and bit her lip. She knew something about Oscar Chapman that they might never find out from any other source. Even though it wasn’t her secret to share and she’d seen it by accident, it was something she never should have found out but she had. Before she could really think of the consequences she said, “There might be one way.”

Ace stilled his movement of stroking her cheek. “What are you talking about?”

“Oscar has been coming here for a number of years. He never bothered to stay with his brother but he did stay with a woman here. Her name is Gloria Hayden. She lives on the other side of Grandpa’s farm. I was out hunting one day when I came across them sitting on a blanket beside the creek. It seemed so weird to see him sitting there smiling and laughing with her. He almost looked relaxed then I realized there might be a reason for that. I saw Gloria’s little boy join them. A little boy that looks just like Oscar. A little boy that she keeps out of town and no one really knows all that well.”

Ace froze as he realized what she was saying. “And what am I supposed to do with this information? I’m not into kidnapping babies.”

“I’m not suggesting that you would,” she grumbled back. “What I am saying is that he might come to get his family out of here when the shit hits the fan. If he’s going underground, he would probably take them with him. It might be one way to track him down.”

Ace thought about what she said and it made sense to him. “That might be one way to do it. Does anyone around here know about the boy?”

Charli shrugged. “Living in a small town everyone usually thinks they know everyone else’s business but that’s rarely the real case. They just don’t want to know. Oliver went out of his way to make everyone around here wary of him. He’s bullied the people so badly they honestly don’t want to know.”

Ace nodded. “I can see him doing that and we’ll take him down but he’s not the real one we’re after. We’re after his brother, Oscar.”

They both could hear his brothers moving around in the main area,

Ace patted her hip. “Come on let’s find out what King got for us last night. We may not have that much time to decide our next step.”

Charli and Ace joined the rest of the group.

King handed him a large stack of papers. Ace paused to read them and handed them to Charli.

Charli then read through them and gave them back. She went to the mine entrance and looked outside. The sky was lit with pre-dawn light and she felt hopeless. One of the pages she read was a list of people Oliver was either paying off or blackmailing. Everything finally made sense to her now.

This had to stop. She couldn’t allow it to go on. She wanted to plaster the evidence on every tree and light post in town. She wanted to shout it from the rooftops. To see this man fall so hard he wouldn’t ever be able to get up again.

Ace came up behind her kissing her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Baby, what are you thinking?”

Charli moaned from his kisses and felt warm as he hugged her close “I want to paper the town with the evidence we found,” she told him. “I want to shout from the rooftops what this asshole’s name has been doing to this town for years. I want the whole world to know that he and his son are peddling drugs and ruining lives with their poison.”

She turned in his arms to look at him. “I want the man behind bars right along with his son. If I weren’t so cold blooded, I would wish them both dead but Grandpa would never wish for me to become so cold hearted.’

“We can make that happen,” he assured her.

“How? How can you make that happen?” she cried out. “If anyone sees us doing this, Oliver will have us jailed as soon as he sees us. The chief of police is on his payroll.”

“Then we have to do it when he can’t see us,” he reasoned. “But first, we get this information to someone who can expose the crimes going on in Big Timber. We take this to the papers. Then tonight, after it gets dark, we paper the town both here and in Big Timber.”

She looked up at him. “Is this going to affect your mission?”

Ace shrugged. “I don’t know but I’m not leaving here until this is over.”

She shook her head. “I can’t ask you to stay. I know you and your brothers have another job to do and this is only a temporary stop.”

Ace shook his head. “But this is where we need to be right now. We didn’t know this place existed until now but this is in fact, related to our mission and we can’t leave until we make this right. Whether we want this or not, this is a part of our mission.”

“Ok then, I guess I can’t complain about that.” Charli nodded.

“So where can we get some copies made?” King spoke up as he joined them.

“Well, we can’t go to Big Timber or Braaken’s Ridge.” Charli shrugged. “So that means we have to go to Livingston or further away like an hour’s drive into Billings.” She told him.

“We heard what you want to do and we think that might just work,” King told her. “What we also should do is give this info to the papers. Not here but Billings is big enough. You want the world to know about this and that might be first strike.”

Ace nodded. “She also gave me an idea of a way to bring Oscar Chapman down that I think might work.”

“Oh, how’s that?”

“Oscar has a woman and a kid here. If he thinks he might get caught, he might want to collect them before he goes underground. If we keep an eye on his woman, we’ll be able to watch for him. If we can’t catch him before he gets here, we might be able to follow him and catch him when he gets to where he is going.”

“Might be worth the effort.” King nodded, “I’ll get three of our guys on watch and give it a day or so. Charli can tell us where this place is.’

Ace sighed. “If all this is coming down, then we might want Charli out of the way before people can connect her to him.

“Yeah, which means we might have to leave here in a hurry if he does come,” King reminded him.

Charli’s heart shuddered at the thought of Ace leaving. She didn’t say anything but she did turn away and look out into the shadows.

King looked over at her for a long moment then turned to his brother.

“Storm and I will go get some copies and drop one copy off at the newspaper in Billings then get back to keep an eye on what’s going on in town. What do you plan to do with the pages anyway?”

“Plaster them all over town,” Ace replied. “Charli wants the people of Braaken Ridge and Timber to see everything. To expose everyone on his payroll to the people he is supposed to represent.”

King smiled slowly. “Damn, this could be fun.”

Ace slapped his brother upside his head. “It could also be dangerous as hell. What’s wrong with you? Every single name on that list could figure they have nothing left to lose and come hunting us down.”

“Oww,” King glared at his brother rubbing the back of his head. “And how the hell would they even know where to start looking?”

“Eventually, they’ll put two and two together, then come after Charli,” Ace argued. “She’s the only one Andy’s has managed to single out lately.”

King looked from Ace to Charli then back to Ace. “She’s got you to watch her back though doesn’t she?”

Ace stared at his brother for a moment then nodded. “Yeah, she does. Is that going to be a problem for you?”

“Nope, not me.” King began to grin. “Its about fuckin time old man.”

Ace smiled. “Yeah, it is.”

“Then I think I should go get some copies made and alert the press. Let’s get this show on the road.” King looked over at Charli and asked, “Where is the family of Oscar’s? We need eyes on them from right now onward. That way, we’ll know if and when they connect.”

Charli gave him directions.

Storm, Tracker, Fireman and King left the mine. Ace set a roving patrol out in the woods but the rest of them were waiting for King to get back so they could plan tonight’s activities. Ace sent two of his men into town to watch over and see if Oliver was doing anything that could come back to bite them in the ass.

A few hours later, King and Storm returned and gave them a thumbs up. He’d been successful in alerting the press. Now all they had to do was wait for nightfall.

By midafternoon, King got a phone call from the brother they sent to town. Midway through the call, King began grinning. He gave his brother a thumbs up sign and when he hung up, he was smiling widely. “Your plan is working. That was Bullseye. He says Oliver is in panic mode right now and he’s having a fit because he can’t find his son. He’s got everyone on his payroll looking for the boy.”

Ace snorted. “Too bad, he won’t find the little bastard.”

“Yeah, ain’t that a shame?” King laughed out loud.

They passed the afternoon as they made plans for the hours after darkness. Braaken Ridge was a small town with three streets. Big Timbers was a little bigger but Charli wanted most of the town papered as well.

She knew exactly when they should leave, as they had to be careful not to get caught.

Joker had gone to check on their prisoners and found them angry but still where they should be. He gave them food and water but wouldn’t untie them. He told the others what had transpired as he chuckled.

When Joker had entered the silo, Andy had screamed at him demanding to be let loose. Joker looked down at him and shook his head. “I’m not that dumb my friend.”

Andy frowned and looked at him. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

“I don’t know, do you?” Joker asked as he smirked at the other man.

Banger searched Joker’s face and stated quietly. “He looks like the guy you stabbed in the diner a few weeks ago.”

Andy nodded. “Now I remember you. You’re the ass that got in between me and Charli.” He had scooted himself into a sitting position as they all had laid there then asked, “How is the little bitch doing? Are you banging her now? I hear the girl is a slut.”

Joker leaned back against the wall and grinned at the man. “She’s more of a woman than you will ever be a man buddy. Oh and just so you know, your little building blew up and your inventory is gone. Oh, and I should also tell you that your little factory at the old Mill burned up last night. There isn’t anything left. So sad, that the location was so far out of town that the local fire department couldn’t get there before it all turned to ash.”

Andy stared at Joker for a long minute then shook his head. “You are a fucking liar. At least, you better be. My father will toss your biker ass in jail and throw away the key.”

Joker shook his head. “There you go again, hiding behind your daddy. Charli said you do that but well, I had to see it myself. But don’t you worry, you and daddy can share a jail cell when you both get to the joint.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Andy growled. “I ain’t going to jail.”

“Oh, but you are, both you and your old man and everyone on his payroll,” Joker assured him.

Andy’s eyes narrowed to slits. “That’s not possible.”

Joker laughed. “Oh, my cowardly little friend… it is possible.” Nodding he said, “I’ll leave you to it then. We’ll be in touch.”

“How are we supposed to eat this garbage if our hands are tied?” Andy called out.

“Well, if you’re hungry enough, you’ll find a way.” Joker climbed back up slammed the trap door behind him. He paused to listen for a moment as Andy began yelling and screaming like a toddler throwing a fit.

The group all laughed at Joker’s tale of supposed woe for poor Andy and his pals.

Fireman then came back into the mine. “Your girl was right about the lady Gloria and her kid. Oscar arrived a little while ago. I’m not sure how long he’s staying but there’s activity going on at her place.”

King looked over at Ace and shook his head. “We have to be ready to move out at any time.”

Ace shook his head. “That doesn’t require all of us to go. It would be better if only two or three followed him. That way you could report back and we can make plans to take him down.”

King studied his brother for a moment. “You’re losing sight of the mission here brother.”

“Not bloody likely brother.” Ace growled. “I know what I’m doing here.”

King shook his head then glanced at Charli. He looked back at Ace and shook his head. “Whatever. I’ll keep Storm, Tracker, and Fireman and we’ll stake out this Gloria’s house. We’ll call as soon as we know anything. Hopefully by the time we call, you’ll be ready to move on the mission.” King glared at him.

They all got ready to go.

Charli dug the keys to her truck out of her pocket. “You can’t follow him on your bikes, he’s more likely to notice you. Take my truck. It might help.”

King snatched the keys out of her hands. “We’ll leave mine and Fireman’s bikes at the house.” Then he and the brothers he chose to go with him left the mine.

No one said a word for a few minutes. Then Ace swore, kicking the dirt in his anger.

Charli didn’t say a word just got up and walked out of the mine. She went for a walk in the woods to clear her mind. She ended up climbing up into the tree stand and sat down. She looked off into the distance not really wanting to think about anything.

The afternoon was beginning to wane and finally, she was aware of someone climbing up to her position.

It was Joker and once he popped over the edge of the platform, he grinned at her. “Mind if I join you?”

She smiled but didn’t say anything. She didn’t watch him as he lowered himself to the platform.

“King didn’t mean anything by what he said, you know that right?”

“Of course he did,” she insisted. “He doesn’t come across as the type of man to say useless stuff.”

“Well, even if he did mean any of it, just know that Ace wouldn’t just leave you on your own. This has become part of the mission too, just like Ace said.”

She was about to say something when Joker put his hand over her mouth and shook his head. Charli pulled his hand away and carefully peeked over the edge of the platform. It took her a moment to see who it was but her eyes went wide when she recognized who was far below them, walking through her woods.

She looked back at Joker and pointed over the edge of the platform.

He peeked over the edge and whispered, “Who is it?”

“It’ the sheriff and he’s got a gun. He’s probably looking for Andy,” she whispered back.

“We’d better get back to the mine.”

She nodded. “Follow me. We’ll have to go the back way.”

They shimmied down the tree because they couldn’t swing down like they did before and took off in the opposite direction of the man they’d seen in the woods. Going around the long way, they finally made it to the mine.

When they rushed inside, Joker went over to the lights and turned them off.

Ace reached Charli and asked, “What the fuck is going on?”

“The sheriff is roaming the woods with a gun and I believe he is looking for Andy or me,’ Charli said.

“Do you know if he has others with him?”

Charli shook her head. “I couldn’t tell. We were up too high.”

Ace looked over at the boys. He pointed to two of them and together, all three men disappeared into the woods.

They were gone for about half an hour when everyone in the mine heard shots fired.

Charli would have run out toward the sounds but Joker grabbed her and hung on to her.

A few minutes later, they heard steps coming toward the opening.

Then Ace pushed someone into the mine.

It was Sheriff Brandson. He looked over at Charli and snarled. “What the hell did you do girl?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Like hell you didn’t.” He snarled. “The whole fucking town is blowing up in our faces. You can’t tell me you didn’t do this. You are the only one that could have done it. The only one that loved bucking the system. This is all your fault.”

“No Sheriff, this isn’t my fault!” Charli yelled back at him then she shook her head. “This is the fault of everyone who bent over for a man like Oliver Chapman. Did you know he’s dealing drugs in three different states?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He frowned. “That’s Andy doing that not Oliver.”

She shook her head. “No, we got proof. Oliver is up to his neck, right along with Andy.”

“She’s telling you the truth.” Ace nodded.

“And why the hell would I believe either of you?” he asked.

“Because in a few hours, the whole town will know exactly what Oliver and Andy have been doing,” Ace informed him. “Did you know Andy is a killer? He killed Ben when he shot up the cabin a day or so ago. Not only that but he stabbed my brother a few weeks ago and could have killed him the same way he stabbed a friend of ours a few months back.”

Sheriff Brandson paused and thought about what he had just been told. Then he shook his head. “That boy was bound to get in trouble that his dad couldn’t get him out of.”

“You are going down as well, Sheriff.” Ace stared coldly at him. “The story is going over the news tomorrow morning. They are coming for you and everyone else on Chapman’s list.”

He must have believed him because he finally nodded. “Well, I think I always knew this couldn’t last.” He looked around. “So now what?”

“Now, you sit tight until the real cops come to collect you,” Ace told him while one of the brothers reached to pull his hands behind his back. He ziptied them and led him further into the mine.

By this time, it was getting dark but it wasn’t quite dark enough yet for what they wanted to do.

Charli went over to sit by herself for a while. She was thinking about what had just happened. She had to face up to the fact that she couldn’t let Ace and his brothers get caught up in her mess. She might risk her own life but she’d be damned is she’d let them get hurt on her behalf. It was haunting her and had been for a couple of days.

Charli grabbed the pack of papers she wanted to paper the town with. She had to make a clean break and this was the only way she could do it. She started for the door but before she could escape, Ace stood between her and the opening. “And Just where do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

“I’m going to start spreading the paperwork.” Charli glared at him. “I don’t want you guys to hang around.”

Ace reached out to touch her.

Charli stepped back and shook her head. “And don’t touch me either! I am sick of you and the way you have treated me anyway. I don’t want to see you again. Do you hear me? I don’t want anyone in my life now. I have nothing left to give. So get on your bike and fucking leave!” She suddenly turned and rushed out through the opening, disappearing into the darkness.

Truman stood there stunned.

A few minutes later, Joker came over and asked, “What’s wrong with Charli? Why did she leave like that?”

“She doesn’t want our help anymore,” Truman replied.

“What do you mean she doesn’t want our help anymore?” Joker frowned and looked toward the door.

“She told me to leave. Hated the way I’ve treated her and told me to… step off.”

Joker glared at his brother. “And you fucking believed her? Ace, I swear you are the biggest damn fool alive.” He growled as he walked toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Truman called out.

“I’m going to help the woman who saved my life.” Joker turned to him with absolute certainty in his voice and went on, “Oliver Chapman is worse than his fucking kid and he will shoot her on sight. It won’t matter to him if there are witnesses around or not. He thinks he can’t be touched. But Charli will still be dead. I’ll be damned if I’ll let that happen.”

Joker got onto his bike and left to find Charli.

After he left, Deuce and Jack came over and glared at him as well.

“He’s right and you fucking know it,” Deuce told him.

“She doesn’t want our help,” Truman defended.

“No she doesn’t want us to take a bullet with her name on it, you damn fool.” Jack snarled. He slapped Deuce’s back and they too, disappeared into the darkness.

A moment later, their bikes revved up as well

“Fucking hell,” Truman swore and he stomped his way out of the old mine. “I’m going to wring her damn neck.” Then he yelled at the other men standing and sitting around, ‘Keep an eye on that damn sheriff!’

He swung his leg over his bike and took off after his brothers and Charli.

An hour later, Truman found her stapling the pages to a telephone pole on the east side of Braaken Ridge. He stopped his bike and got off. He stood there watching her for a moment then stomped his way over to her. “Are you looking for a bullet to the brain?”

Charli ignored him and continued with her task. Moving on to the next telephone pole, she began stapling more pages.

He stepped up to her and got in her way. “I asked you a fucking question woman.” He snarled.

“Go away,” she told him as she refused to look at him. “You need to get away from me.”

“I realize now that all that shit you said earlier was lies. You’re just trying to protect me and my brothers, I can see that now.”

Charli kept stapling as she refused to respond.

Truman sighed. “Look… you don’t seem to get it. This my fight because you belong to me. You have since we slept together the first time.”

Halting her stapling, she looked up at his face.

He could see the hurt in her eyes.

“Just because you say it, don’t make it so,” she stated quietly.

“Yes, it does,” he told her softly. “I’ve never said these words to a woman before. Never, in my thirty-seven years but I’m saying them now, to you. You belong to me and I protect what’s mine. Don’t you get that?”

“What if I don’t want to belong to you?” she asked.

“Then you shouldn’t have given me a taste of your sweetness. Now it’s too late.”

Charli sighed and closed her eyes. “What about your mission? That’s the reason you came here isn’t it?”

Truman shrugged. “We can still do the mission. And you’re wrong, we came here to find our brother. You saved his life and we owe you a debt.”

She shook her head. “You don’t owe me a thing. Not for that. Joker stood up for me and Andy almost killed him for it. I helped him because it was the right thing to do and I would do that for anyone. There is no debt.”

“Ok little one, ok.” Truman stepped close and held her face with his hands looking into her eyes. “I get it but you still belong to me. We’re here now because this is part of our mission. You got under my skin the moment I saw you in the diner. I can’t let you go anymore even if I wanted to and believe me when I say that. I can’t imagine life without you now and that’s a fact.”

“Well, well, well, isn’t that sweet.” A jeering voice called out from behind them.

Charli and Ace turned to see an older version of Andy standing behind them holding a gun on them.

Ace tried to push Charli behind him but she wouldn’t go. Instead, she dropped the pages she held in her hands to the ground and kept her hands at her side. “Mayor, you are out late, what can we do for you?” she asked him calmly.

“You can tell me where the hell my son is for one thing!” Oliver Chapman demanded. His fingers tightened on his weapon.

Charli stared at the weapon, afraid the gun would go off before he wanted it to. “What makes you think I know where Andy is?” she asked.

“Because I know he was looking for you earlier today. I’ve been calling his phone all day and he doesn’t answer it.”

Charli shrugged. “I haven’t seen him.”

“I think you’re lying to me you stupid little bitch!” Oliver shouted. Spit flew from his mouth. “My office was broken into and some of my private papers are missing. I found a mess when I got to work this morning.”

“What does that have to do with me?” she asked as she eased away from Truman slightly.

Oliver held up a paper he had in his hand. “I found this stapled to a pole one street over. This is part of what was taken from my office. How did you get your filthy hands on it if it wasn’t you that broke into my office?”

Charli shrugged. “I found it alongside the road on my way to town this afternoon.”

“You are a damn liar!” Oliver screamed at her. “Where is my son? We need to leave town and I can’t leave him behind.”

Doors all along the streets were opening and people were gathering in their front yards watching the drama as it played out.

Oliver didn’t notice them as he continued to rant and rave at Charli.

“We have to get away from here before everyone finds out about what he’s been doing. I can’t leave him behind.”

“Don’t you mean what you both have been doing?” Charli asked.

Oliver paused his tirade and stared at her. A thought just coming to him “How are you still alive? I thought I shot you the other day? No, I know I did. I saw you go down. You should be dead. I never miss a target.”

“You didn’t miss.” All this time she’d blamed the wrong man for shooting her. It had been Oliver not Andy that shot her. “Why would you shoot me?”

“You been trouble for years.” Oliver sneered. “Andy hasn’t been thinking straight since he first laid eyes on you back in high school. I told that boy to leave you alone but he wouldn’t. He never listens to me. But he’ll listen now. After you’re dead, he’ll have no choice but to listen to me. You are nothing but a slut and a whore, everyone knows that. But that all ends tonight. He lifted the hand with the gun and aimed it right at Charli’s head.

Suddenly, a shot rang out and Oliver looked stunned for a moment before he fell to the ground.

Charli and Ace looked around and saw one of the neighbors standing there with the gun still in his hand. He was shaking and dropped the weapon to the ground just as a police car turned the corner.

The car stopped and a State trooper stepped out of the vehicle. “What the Sam hell is going on here?” He looked around at the neighbor and then at Charli. He walked over to the downed man and rolled him over. When he saw the gun still in Oliver’s hand he reached down and pulled it free. Then he took note of the gunshot wound in his forehead. Shaking his head the cop looked over to the neighbor standing there. “We were coming to arrest him but I guess we won’t have to do that anymore.”

Getting to his feet, he asked. “Do you know where his son Andy is?”

Charli nodded.

“Is he still alive?”

“As far as I know, he is.”

The officer saw the paper still in Oliver’s hand and grabbed it. Reading the first few lines he told them, “We received a packet of these papers today and we were on our way to discuss them with Mr. Chapman before we arrested him. He was facing some serious charges for bribery and drug dealing.”

“Are you still going to investigate the charges?” Ace asked.

“Yes sir, we are. This could be the tip of the iceberg and it’s our job to find out what we can.”

“Ok.” Ace nodded. “Well we have Andy and a couple of his friends along with Sheriff Brandson.”

“Ok we know all about him too. He’s one of the people we want to question.”

“We’ll bring them to you at the jail,” Ace told the state trooper.

“You do that,” the officer told him. “And you would be?”

“Major Truman Bridges sir.” Ace nodded.

“I see.” The other man nodded back. “Bring them to me and then come see me tomorrow morning. I believe we need to talk.”

Ace nodded then grabbing Charli, he led her away.

Charli allowed herself to be pulled over to his bike and when he threw his leg over the engine, he pulled her behind him. As he was taking off, she grabbed his waist and held on.

He didn’t stop until he was pulling into her driveway.

She got off the bike and glared at him. “What the hell was that all about?”

Ace got off the bike slowly and when he did, he stared at her for a moment before he told her, “That was part of our mission. We aren’t the outlaws we claimed to be nor are we vigilantes. We are for all intents and purposes a Special Forces unit, looking for a man who four years ago pulled a home invasion and a double murder in Denver. We’ve been looking for him since then at the bequest of someone we all care about greatly. We are working within the law but that’s as much as I can tell you about our mission.”

“So why are you telling me this now?” she asked staring at him.

“Because you need to know the kind of man I really am sweetheart.” He shrugged. “I’ve been a son, then a Marine, then a special Forces kind of guy. Now I’m a biker on a mission and I belong to you. As much as you belong to me, I belong to you and I don’t share what’s mine. I came here looking for my brother and I found so much more. I found you and I’ll be damned if I throw away the best thing that ever happened to me. Ask me to take a bullet for you and I wouldn’t hesitate. But ask me to let you go, and that just ain’t happening honey.”

Charli looked stunned by his words. She pulled in a breath then looked around the farmyard they were standing in. For the first time since her parents died, she was alone in the world and that scared her. But what scared her even more was facing life without the man in front of her. “What about your mission and your brothers?”

“We can still do our mission. Today, we got one step closer to finding the man behind what happened four years ago. We’re centered in Kaycee, Wyoming but we could move part of the operation up here and have a second base. In fact, this might be a solution in everyone’s best interest. You grew up here, this farm belongs to you now. I can’t ask you to leave it behind but maybe I can ask you to share it with us.”

Charli stared at him with tears in her eyes. “I could do that. Ben taught me to share.”

Ace took one step then another then moved in to cup her face with his hands. “Ask me to stay?” he whispered as he stared down into her eyes.

“Will you stay with me?” she obeyed his command.

Ace smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.” Then he lowered his mouth and covered hers. The kiss shattered the world, as they both knew it, then piece by piece…they built it back up again.

Hours later, just as the sun was coming up Truman and Charli came back and parked in the front of the farm house again. They had delivered the prisoners to the State troopers and given statements. They were finally free of that part of everything. The men on Oliver’s list were being rounded up and jailed.

Truman’s phone rang and when he answered it, the caller was his brother King.

“You’ve been busy tonight haven’t you?” King asked.

“Yeah, it’s been crazy in town, why?”

“Joker filled us in on what happened and apparently someone tipped off Oscar. He, the woman, and the boy just got into his vehicle and left maybe ten minutes ago. Me and the boys are following them now.”

“You need some help?” Truman frowned as he looked toward Charli.

“No, you know what? I’ve been thinking about this all night. I think you should stay right where you are. We’ve been thinking about expanding the base of our operation anyway. Maybe it’s time to build another chapter of the WarLords.”

“Funny, we’ve been discussing the same thing here,” he admitted.

“We can talk about this another time but I’m still following this guy. We need to know where he’s going. We know he’s in this majorly but we have to connect the dots before we move in. Just have someone ready to join us when we need the backup. He’s headed toward Denver I think.”

“You got it brother. Watch your back out there.”

“You got it and Ace…” King paused. “You better keep that girl. Throwing her away would be the biggest damn mistake you ever made.”

Truman chuckled. “Don’t I know it brother.”

“Later then.” King disconnected the call.

Truman looked over at the woman in question. She looked tired and he grinned. Holding out his hand he said, “Come on woman, we need some sleep.”

Charli shook her head. “You may need some sleep but I need something else.” She smiled at him.

The light in her eyes told him exactly what she needed. He dipped down and lifted her over his shoulder and as she wiggled, he slapped his hand down on her butt. “Be still woman.”

Charli reached down his back and slapped his ass. “Take me to bed and make me your kind of crazy. I love that.”

Truman hurried up the front steps and the door banged behind them. They passed a room full of brothers, making and eating breakfast as Truman headed for the stairway.

Joker, Deuce and Jack smiled as they disappeared up the steps. Then they turned their attention back to their breakfast.

Taking a bite of his toast, Deuce remarked, “You know this farmhouse needs some work.”

Jack nodded as he dipped a spoon into his bowl of cereal. “I wonder how big the farm is? We could use either another house or some cabins.”

“You know we could set up the barn and rebuild it as communication center,” Joker commented as he drank some coffee.

Deuce grinned at them both. “I think I’m gonna like living here.”

“Yeah, I think I will too.” Joker smiled at him and Jack.

Their mission continues in King, the next book in the series…