Devils & Daughters (An MC Romance)

Chapter 8: A Sinful Surprise

"I was gone for all those days. But I was not all alone. I made friends with a lot of people in the danger zone." - Alice Cooper, Ballad of Dwight Fry

Jacko

I sped down the interstate as the signs flicked by for the different cities. My untouched dinner sat between Rigs and me, as Sarin softly slumbered with her head across TinTin's lap in the backseat. A sharp dip in the roadway caused TinTin's head to bang against the window, and I smirked to myself as I thought about the payback the universe was giving him for earlier.

"I know you're silently laughing your ass off up there," TinTin grumbled as he rubbed the side of his head.

"No clue what you mean," I lied as I let the corner of my mouth tick up into a grin. Rigs tapped away at his phone, working his magic as he tried to get a line on the police activity at Axel's apartment. "Any word past vague shit?"

He looked over and shook his head. "Not much... Police responded to a welfare check," he frowned, "but that's the odd thing. Usually that's not done in this case."

"This case?" I pressed.

"Cops take those on when there's reports someone hasn't been heard from for a while. Like with the elderly or disabled," Rigs said.

"Axel's younger than my dad and he ain't disabled... And far as I know he's just got the one brother who ain't much older. Who would call in a welfare check on someone with no ties to anywhere?"

"And the mystery continues," Rigs admitted. "I think what we've got here is a case of someone wanting the cops to head over there and check things out without needing pesky things like warrants." He tapped away at his phone with his thumb and index finger as he searched more databases. "It's smart really..."

"How so?"

"Not many civilians are clued into the codes for a welfare check so if one went through on the scanner and you weren't monitoring for your address closely, you probably wouldn't catch it. Surprise! Cops are at your door," he admitted right as he let out a "Ah-ha!" A grin painted his face as he scrolled through something and I tried to keep my eyes on the road. "Got a preliminary report they just uploaded." His smile faded the more he read and my concern started to peak.

"We got a line on the dead body?"

Rigs nodded solemnly. "It's believed to be Axel's brother, Dutch."

I sighed. "I'm really sorry... I know you were close at one point while ridin' Nomad."

He nodded as he kept his composure. "We were. Dutch helped out a lot when Hannah was sick."

"You don't talk about her much," I said, as I reached over and patted his shoulder.

"What's there to say? I was married to the love of my life very briefly and she got sick and died. Shit rolled downhill quickly after and I needed a change of scenery from Florida and everything that had her attached to it."

I frowned. "Seems like that's what we're all good at." I glanced in the rearview mirror at a slumbering Sarin. "We run from shit the first chance we get."

"And the second. And the third..." TinTin piped up in a groggy voice from the backseat as he tried to lighten the dark mood. "So what's the plan? Are we bailing out Killswitch and then getting info or are we waiting till he's released to scoop him up?"

Rigs shrugged. "Either way is a gamble at this point. It's all going to boil down to the state of the body and whether they deem it accidental, natural, or homicide." He sighed as he looked down at the report again. "If he has to bail out it'll be risky to pick him up. I think we should play it by ear and connect with Sinner's guys. Maybe they can grease the wheels a bit more than we can."