Raging Barons MC – Book Two – Axel

Once Mia has left the office, I turn to Buzz and Drag, ‘Well, nothing much to show anyone would want to get to Mia. It’s frustrating, but we can’t afford to drop our guard.’

‘I still think it’s internal, don’t know why, just my gut saying so, and my gut has saved my life many times over.’ Buzz states, stands, and walks out.

Drag stands, slaps me on the back, ‘Pres, I’m going to get Specs to dig into the women in prison, see if I can find out more about Shar and anyone that may have had a real beef with Mia. We’ll stay alert, watch her back, but I agree with Buzz. There is a real possibility it is internal. We may have a mole among us.’

Stepping out of the office, I walk over to see if Specs is around, but his office is empty, so I don’t waste time. I look around the common room and kitchen but don’t see Mia, so she must have gone upstairs.

Gently knocking on Mia’s door, I wait for her to respond. When nothing happens, I knock again and test to see if it’s unlocked. When it clicks open, I pop my head inside and see she is asleep. I quietly close the door and go downstairs.

Looking around the common room, I see Brad, one of the prospects propping up the bar talking to Beer. I walk over and slap his shoulder, ‘Brad, go into town and see if the diner is open. Grab two meals for Mia and me, then get back here.’ I hand him some cash and walk back to the offices to catch Specs before doing anything else.

Specs is sitting at his desk, as usual, glued to the screen in front of him. ‘Specs, do you have a minute?’

‘Yeah, what’s up, Pres?’

‘I’ve been thinking about what’s been happening at the club and here. Do you think we could install cameras here? Without making a big thing of it because if we have someone messing here, we want to catch them.’

‘Actually, Pres, I’ve been working on a plan to show you. If we put cameras in these places I’ve marked in red, we can cover the clubhouse. Here in red shows where we could place extra at the club.’ Specs hands me a printout of a plan he’s made, and I study the allocation of cameras this would provide. Nodding at him, ‘Do it, tell TwoCents to keep it under his hat, make the purchase, but keep it quiet even in church for the moment.’

‘Will do Pres.’

Leaving the office, I jog back upstairs to make sure Mia is waking as tonight is her first night working at the club. Before I can knock, the door opens, and Mia steps out.

‘Hi babe, I was just coming to make sure you were awake. Brad will be back soon with our meal. You need to eat before you go to the club.’

‘Oh, okay, I’m ready to eat. I didn’t realize I was so tired. I’m looking forward to working tonight. Do you know who’s behind the bar with me?’ Mia asks as we go back down to the kitchen.

‘Silver and Fox will be working. They want to make sure you’re okay and understand everything and watch the reaction to the other staff to your presence.’

After we’ve eaten, Mia dashes back upstairs to get ready for work, and I go back to my office as I want to ring Sharp, President of Rogue Legion MC, to see if all is still okay at his end.

Sitting behind my desk, I make the call, ‘Sharp, any news for me at all?’

‘Axel, everything is good here. Gunner is spending time with Zara; they are picking up the relationship. It’s still very strained as Zara feels like she lost her mother in Mia, and she’s struggling to forgive her dad for his part in all of this,’ Sharp states.

‘Well, he only has himself to blame, but it was a hard lesson. She is a good woman, solid, works hard, and never causes problems.’

Sharp murmurs to someone at his end that he’s busy and they need to fuck off, which has me grinning, ‘Sorry about that, fucking whores, I wish we could get rid of them, but last time I brought it up, I was voted down.’

‘Do you know anything about the woman that shared the cell with Mia? She was called Sharon. We are looking into it, but I wonder if you heard anything?’

‘No, nothing, but I’ll speak to Crack as he’s done a lot of looking into what happened, and he’ll vote nay anytime Gunner is put forward for an officer position. He has no thoughts of Mia apart from knowing what happened was wrong, and he’s disgusted that as a club, we let her down.’ Sharp again tells someone to get out of his office, ‘Sorry Axel, I’m gonna have to go. We have an issue I need to deal with, but if I hear anything, I’ll get back to you.’

I walk out of the office and notice Silver is standing at the bar, so I stroll over. ‘You ready for the night?’

‘Yeah, I had to come to the clubhouse, but wondered if you want me to take Mia with me? Do you want her to be seen as your woman at the club? It may stop what we want if people don’t want to talk to her.’

‘Hm, okay, but make sure you bring her back, too. I don’t want her out of your sight. You and Fox handle her, and if anything happens, you collect the next bullet I fire.’

Slapping my shoulder, ‘Yeah, hear you, Pres.’ standing from the barstool and stepping away, he turns to me, ‘Fox is already at the club. I’ll wait outside as I grabbed the keys for the SUV. Can you tell Mia I’m ready when she is?’

MIA

Entering the club with Silver, I quickly note they scattered the tables around the edge of the room. There are three booths near a stage furthest from the bar area. There are a few people sitting drinking and talking, but it is pretty early yet.

The bar is along nearly the entire length of one wall, a hallway through the doorway on the far end, a mirror runs three-quarters along the length of the bar, and below it are a couple of shelves lined with bottles. Spirit dispensers are here and there throughout, and it looks like there is every available alcohol you can imagine.

Silver places his hand on my lower back and guides me from behind the bar and down the hall to an office.

Fox is sitting behind one of two desks in here, and as we enter, he looks up and smiles, ‘Hi Mia, are you all ready to start?’

‘Yes, I’m all set. I’m looking forward to working, if I’m honest. What do you want me to look for in particular?’

‘While you’re working, watch the staff, see if you see anything shady at all. We know something’s been happening, but as yet, we don’t know which of the staff is suspect, so we’re watching them all.’ Fox replies.

‘Okay, I’ll tell you if I see anything. You or Silver, do you want me to tell you right away or wait until the end of the evening?’

Silver throws his arm around my shoulders. ‘We’ll be around all the time. If you see anything you think is urgent, then tell us; otherwise, you can tell me when I take you back to the clubhouse.’

Nodding, we go back into the club, and Silver shows me how to use the register, all the protocol behind the bar, and introduces me to the other staff as they arrive.

The evening progresses without an incident, but I note the waitresses are keeping one eye on me, and I am watching them.

As they come to the bar for orders, I keep my attitude friendly, but not in a way that would invite personal conversation.

Knuckles arrives to be the doorman for the night, providing muscle is right up his street, but he winks and gives me a hug when he arrived, which has one waitress giving me the evil eye, Sue I think she’s called, I’ll keep my eye on her.

Twig, Carol, and Jewel all keep to themselves, but I see Jewel keeps looking my way. She will be one for me to watch out for in the next few weeks.

Target enters, but I ignore him until he comes to the bar. He has Chaos with him, one hell of a handsome man, he has to be six feet three, collar-length dark brown hair, eyes that are like melted chocolate, clean-shaven and fit, you can tell he visits a gym, but he’s not overly muscled like the men that do competitions, not a Schwarzenegger.

Serving them a shot and beer, they sit on the right side of the room, close to the main door. Target gives me a wink when everyone is busy, and I struggle to hold back the smirk that I can feel wanting to break free.

I note Carol seems to be trying to get Target’s attention, but he’s not playing that game. Chaos, however, is flirting with her unashamedly. He’s going for it with his cover for sure, I think to myself, and I have to admit it’s amusing watching him.

Fox walks out of the office and over to me, ‘How are you doing, Mia?’

‘Okay, Fox, no issues at all,’ giving him the look that I hope he realizes says nothing to report as yet.

‘I’m going to make a coffee. Do you want one?’ Fox asks me as he turns to go down the hallway to the kitchen at the end.

‘Oh, yes, please. Just black, nothing in it.’ I say and grin as he gives me the usual grimace most people give when I tell them that.

Ten minutes later, I’m sipping my drink behind the bar while waiting for a customer. Still, my eyes are scanning the room. I have noticed three men had come in about half an hour previously. They are keeping their heads together, but Jewel keeps hovering around them.

I look over at Target, and he gives me a slight nod of his head to let me know he’s noticed and watching them.

Twig comes over to the bar and leans on it, looking pretty tired. ‘Are you okay, Twig?’

‘I’m good. Just ready for the night to end. I got some new shoes, and shit, my feet are killing me,’ she giggles as she tells me, then throws a leg up to show me her new shoes.

Whistles break out as Twig does that, but she turns and gives a curtsey, having people laughing at her antics. She seems pretty laid back and talks about everything and nothing while waiting for a customer needing a new order. I like her. She is quick to smile and joke around with the customers.

Twig is about five foot three, has long blond hair, blue eyes, and is thin as a twig, hence her name. She has a lot of stamina as she quickly moves around the club, gives out drinks, and cleans tables.

The evening passes, and nothing shady happens, but I have my eye on the three men and Jewel. They are the only ones that seem to stand out as not quite normal behavior-wise.

Nothing to report from this first night, but I’m sure something will come up given a bit of time.