Stolen (Motorcycle Romance): Trista and Blaze 2 (Fallen Idols Motorcycle Club Book 4) Read online

  Stolen

  Fallen Idols MC 4

  Trista and Blaze Book 2

  Savannah Rylan

  Stolen

  Published By Savannah Rylan Books

  Copyright © 2015 Savannah Rylan

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places or events are entirely the work of the author. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, or places is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in piracy of copyrighted materials.

  Cover art by Cover Up Designs

  ONE

  I took a swipe at my bedside table, thinking it felt awfully early for it to be my seven AM alarm. When I opened my eyes, I realized that it was still dark outside, and it wasn’t my alarm going off. I looked over to see Ryder’s name on my screen, and I tapped the screen to accept the call.

  “This better be important. I need my beauty sleep.”

  “I need you to get up. And come to Sawyer’s house.”

  I started to sit up, attempting to run my hands through my mangled mess that I called hair. That bedhead look was lost on me. “Like hell! I’m not getting up in the middle of the night to see her of all people.”

  “It’s not her you need to be worried about. It’s Cruz. He got into some trouble. You’re better at this stuff than me, and Sawyer needs a friend right now. Her mom’s in the hospital, and we just got Cruz, and he’s a mess. I need you to come.”

  I scanned the practically empty bedroom in my apartment. I wasn’t much of a decorator. I also had the tendency to move pretty often. We always had when I was a kid, so I just kept doing it as an adult.

  What I wouldn’t give to have Blaze laying next to me right now. But we’d been laying low since Larry had practically caught us, and that was right before we found out that Axel had gotten thrown in jail. There was definitely heavy flirting, but we hadn’t acted on our feelings since. Right now, though, I’d kill to have a boyfriend here to tell me not to go. Or maybe even to come with me.

  “I’m not going to see her by myself. You leave me alone with her right now, and I’ll kick her ass.”

  “Call Blaze. I’m sure he’ll come with you.” There wasn’t even sarcasm in his voice; something really was wrong.

  I pushed the blanket off, and swung my feet over the side of the bed. “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  I hung up, and sent a text to Blaze. I hoped he wasn’t asleep, and that he’d answer me quickly.

  Come to my apartment. I assume you remember how to get here.

  He responded within a minute. On my way. Another late-night meet up?

  This isn’t a booty call. MC business.

  Be there in 10.

  I stood up, and pulled on my pair of jeans from yesterday, before tossing my hair up in a messy bun, and sliding on a tank top and my leather jacket. After I washed my face and put on some light makeup, I sat on the edge of my bed, and was lacing my motorcycle boots when Blaze knocked on the door.

  I walked over and let him in. “Thanks for coming.”

  He didn’t look nearly as disheveled as I did. “I was just working out.”

  Of course he was. He looked as good as ever, in a dark gray T-shirt under his cut. Black jeans, that highlighted his luscious ass, and boots complemented the outfit nicely. Everything about him turned me on, but I didn’t have any time to act on those feelings now. Ryder said he needed me, so I had to go. It was just as much of a family obligation as it was part of the MC.

  “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but Ryder said we have to go to Sawyer’s house. Something happened to Cruz, and with her mom in the hospital, and all the other shit that’s been going on, if he says he needs us, then he does.”

  Blaze simply nodded. “We ride together? I brought my truck.”

  “Sure.”

  We drove in silence through the night. It only took about twenty minutes to get to Sawyer’s house, I still remembered how to get there from years ago. I knew that Ryder had been helping Maria since Sawyer had left, but I stayed away from the place. It felt cold there, dark, like someone had died.

  Ryder was sitting outside on the stoop, smoking a cigarette, as we pulled up. He quickly shook Blaze’s hand, before ushering me inside.

  “He’s in bad shape, Tris. I was hoping you could help.”

  “Me? Why didn’t you call Bones?”

  He sighed heavily. “He wouldn’t let us. He doesn’t want the MC to know what happened.”

  Blaze stood behind me. “Well, what did happen?”

  Ryder shrugged. “I’m not even really sure. He’s in the back bedroom.”

  I walked down the narrow hallway to the one room that appeared to have a light on. Cruz lay in the bed, holding his side. There was blood everywhere. He had a serious gash on his face, and the way he moved, holding his left side, it was clear that he had some ribs broken. His eye was also swollen and bruised, and he had a split lip. Sawyer sat on the bed next to him, trying to administer some type of first aid.

  “What the hell happened to him?”

  Sawyer’s eyes grew wide at my voice, but the shock quickly dissolved when I met her gaze. “I don’t know everything.”

  Cruz didn’t even open his eyes to look at me. “Well, you have to know something. Your brother’s lying half-dead on his bed. What the fuck happened?”

  She just shook her head slowly back and forth, tears rolling down her cheeks. Maybe I’d been a little too rough on her, especially with Maria still in the hospital. But, if someone hurt Cruz, then they were going after the MC. And I would die protecting my family.

  Cruz cracked his eyes open slightly, and began to speak, but it wasn’t much more than a whisper. “Trista, you can’t tell nobody.”

  “Tell them what?”

  “You can’t tell them I got hurt. Ryder said you might be able to stitch up my face. That’s all I need you to do, but then you have to go.”

  I didn’t like being told what to do by a prospect, especially a kid. Cruz was just a baby. But, whatever he had gotten himself into, it was clear he wasn’t going to talk to me about it.

  I took a deep breath. “Do you have any medical tape? And some butterfly stitches?”

  Sawyer quietly got up and left the room. She came back moments later, holding the supplies I requested. “Thank you,” she whispered. It was the only words she spoke to me the rest of the night, not that you could hear much else over Cruz’s whimpers, and the occasional scream of agony when I pressed on his broken ribs.

  I didn’t know how long I’d have to cover up whatever the hell had happened to him, but I made a promise that I wouldn’t tell anyone until he was ready. He didn’t show up to the MC for four more days. Ryder told everyone he was sick, and helping out with Maria. Luckily, no one went over to check.

  Blaze had been watching me extra closely, trying to figure out why I’d covered for Cruz. The truth was, I didn’t know. Lying to the MC was a serious offense, but Cruz was just a kid. Whatever he had gotten himself into was probably something stupid, and he just didn’t want the other guys to know because he was afraid they wouldn’t let him prospect anymore. I knew that Cruz
needed the MC; with his dad in jail, his mom sick, and his sister being MIA for so long, we were the only family he had. I wouldn’t take that away from him.

  I didn’t have too much time to worry about Cruz, not with everything else happening in the MC. I made myself more available to go to the warehouse on a regular basis, yet somehow parts were still walking away. After hearing that Cruz had finally showed up to work at the Raven’s Nest, I went down to the warehouse to check in with Ryder. One problem solved, another to deal with.

  TWO

  I dismounted my bike, squinting in the bright morning light, and saw that only Ryder’s bike was there. It must’ve been quiet for him without Axel. As I pushed open the door, I called out to him, so he would know who was there. Otherwise, he might pull a gun on me, thinking I was the thief.

  “Ryder! Are you in here?”

  He yelled from the back. “Yeah, I’m here. Taking inventory on the sweet ass new Escalade we got in.”

  I rounded the corner past some shipping containers back to where he stood next to the table and chairs in front of a beautiful black Escalade. It was brand-new, upgraded leather interior, and a perfect surround sound system. Someone had spent some serious money on this baby.

  “This is gorgeous. Can we take it for a test drive?”

  “Now that’s something Axel and I would’ve done. But no, I know your driving record. The Escalade stays in the warehouse.”

  I fake pouted as I walked over to one of the chairs. “You get lonely down here? Since Axel’s been gone?”

  He shrugged, looking at me with this blank look to pretend he didn’t care. “No, it’s fine.”

  I sat down on a folding chair, and picked at my nails. The red paint had been chipping away anyway. But, really, I wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on with Ryder. Sawyer was back, and Axel was in jail; yet, he seemed to be unfazed by all of it. I didn’t buy his bullshit, not even for a second.

  “So, how do you feel about Sawyer being back?”

  That stopped him in his tracks. He set down the clipboard he was working on, and leaned against the Escalade that was set to be shipped out that night. I hadn’t noticed, but it wasn’t truly black; it had dark green accents. It really was something.

  He scratched the back of his neck, and let out a loud breath. “I honestly don’t know. I mean it’s all just so fucking intense. She was never supposed to come back, you know? Yet here she is. And she walks back into my life like nothing ever happened. Five years! Five Goddamn years of me sitting here wondering what the hell she was doing. Five years of me taking care of her mom, and watching out for her little brother like he was my own. And she didn’t even reach out, not once.”

  I knew what that felt like. Sawyer and I had been tight for years. And then she just left in the middle of the night after her dad got thrown in the slammer. Like that was supposed to be a good enough reason for leaving. That’s when you stay; that’s when you need your family the most. That’s what we were to her, but, apparently, that didn’t matter. “Screw her. And I don’t mean literally.” I gave him a look.

  He put his hands up in surrender. “I can’t promise anything,” he said with a sly smile on his face.

  “You don’t have to. You were there that night. Late. I know exactly what, I mean who, you’re doing in your spare time. But, maybe, if you spend a little less time chasing ass, and a little more time focusing on this business, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  He ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t understand how any of it happened. For someone to hack into our surveillance, they had to know those cars were coming. And you know that we keep those shipments tight. We don’t tell anybody outside the club. Now, the engine I was working on has gone missing, too. I don’t know, Tris. Rogue is going to kill me.”

  “When did that happen?”

  “Just last night. I haven’t even told anyone else yet.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah no kidding.”

  “I have to be honest,” I said guiltily, still picking at my nails. “I kind of thought Axel may be involved, but now that more shit has gone missing since he’s been inside, I know it’s not him.”

  Ryder looked at me incredulously. “You honestly thought it was Axel? Why the hell would he do something like that?”

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged. I had actually thought a lot about it. Maybe Axel needed the money. Pops certainly wasn’t in the best health. It wasn’t like the MC offered insurance. I thought maybe he needed the extra cash flow, and was too scared to ask for it. Axel helped run this place; there was a good chance he thought no one would find out. But, since the latest suped up engine had grown legs and walked away, I was sure he wasn’t involved.

  “I think I’m going to go visit him.”

  Ryder scowled. “Axel?”

  “Yeah. See what he thinks about all this shit. I mean he has to know something, right?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know, Trista. You’re walking into some dangerous territory. Asking questions when you know he’s not to blame.”

  I stopped messing with my nails, and looked at Ryder. “You and I both know that we have to find out who’s at the bottom of this, and, if we have a rat, you know what we have to do.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t deny that I find it all a little convenient that the Feds are back onto us. They have no reason to be parked outside. And they keep the weirdest hours.”

  I cocked my head, confused. “What do you mean?”

  “They’ll only be out there a couple hours a day. And it’s never when shipments come through. So, either they have somebody watching the docks at night, or they are dumb as shit.”

  “You think they’re getting information from the inside? Because, if they were, they’d have to be watching the port after midnight.” Wheels began to turn as I ran scenarios through my mind. What the fuck was going on?

  He shook his head again. “I don’t know. Nobody is on our radar at night. So, for getting information from the inside, someone’s feeding them wrong info on purpose. Which, thank God for that.”

  We both knew that, on top of stolen parts, we didn’t need an additional problem of a rat. We took care of rats only one way, and it wasn’t pretty. No MC would keep someone who betrayed the family around to tell tales. They knew too much, and if they were willing to spill their guts, well we help them do that more physically than verbally.

  Ryder picked up the clipboard again, and walked around the Escalade, writing down different observations about the vehicle. I got up from the chair, and followed him. “Doing a lot of working on your own now. With Axel being gone, I mean. Do you need help?”

  It was no question that I knew about cars, but not as much as some of the other guys. And Ryder could teach anybody anything. So, maybe a little muscle would be good around here. I knew exactly who to send down here to keep an eye on things, someone who I was beginning to trust. “You know, we have that new prospect. He could come down here, and keep an eye on things. Stand at the door or whatever.”

  A devilish smile spread across his face. “You know a lot more about the new prospect than you’re willing to admit.”

  My cheeks flushed. “What do you know about it?”

  He stopped and smirked at me. “I know that Larry can’t keep a secret if his life depended on it. So, you want to tell me about how you thanked Blaze after the Las Almas incident?”

  I cringed, dropping my gaze. I was going kick the shit out of Larry. I didn’t care that he was three times my size. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. But you’re right; the guy could stand to learn what we do around here. Send him down with Rocco."

  “Why Rocco?”

  “Well, I would say Rev, but he would break something in a second. Bones has his other job, so he’s never available. And Ace just makes me want to hit him.”

  I nodded. “You and me both. I know Rogue says that he
’s not playing anymore, but he keeps coming in with nice new things. A new watch, an engraved lighter, and I think I heard him talking about getting a new bike.”

  Ryder set his lips into a thin line. “You don’t think…"

  I shook my head. “I don’t know what to think. I mean Ace is an asshole, yeah, but to hurt the club so much as to sell parts from underneath us? I don’t think he has the balls.”

  Ryder didn’t look convinced. “Yeah, but if he has a debt to settle, I think he’d do just about anything to save his life.”

  “He’d go to Rogue first. He would ask for the money before he would steal things from the club. Trust me, as much as the Brit makes me want to pound him, he’s loyal.”

  “I just don’t get it. Who would try to do this to us?”

  I thought about it for a moment. “I’m going to go talk to the Red Dragons. Set up a meet with Chen. If they’re the only other ones who have business being down here, maybe they noticed something, or have some information we don’t. It’s worth looking into.”

  “You’re going to tell them we have a rat?”

  I scrunched up my face. “Hell, no. I don’t share our shit with outsiders. I’ll feed him some story about the Feds or something. Trust me, I have ways of getting Chen to open up to me.” I winked at him. “In the meantime, I’m sending Blaze and Rocco down here. Expect them in a couple hours.”

  Ryder nodded. “Got it. I’ll watch this baby until then. Shipping goes out tonight. I don’t like how long it’s been sitting here. We got it yesterday afternoon. But the payout is huge. Chen needed a place to store it when it came in early so he’s paying us to hold it, and to sell it. But, while I was watching this, that engine went missing, so extra eyes would be helpful.”

  Double dipping on the profit. I liked the sound of that. I didn’t like that we needed other people watching our shit.

  “I’ll see you later.” I walked out of the warehouse, and surveyed the landscape to find the town car. I didn’t see it anywhere. I sighed, sliding on my sunglasses. If Ryder was right, and they were only watching at certain hours of the day, then something was up. Maybe they did have a rat that was giving them wrong information, which meant someone was trying to protect us even though they’d been turned. I just had to figure out who it was.