Axel Summer Shifters Season 2 Page 14

  “Thanks, Timone. For your time and your honesty.”

  “If you find the kid, let me know.” Timone came around the bar and followed them out of the building.

  “Can you text me if you think of anything else?” Axel asked. “Anything about Tyler’s time here or anything that happened with the Hell Fire MC around that time.”

  “Sure.” Timone watched them walk to the bike. “There’s a guy you could talk to over there. I’ll text you his number. He might help or he might tell you to go to hell.”

  “Thanks. Anything that sheds light on what Tyler stole is going to help.” Axel slipped his leg over the body of the bike and put his helmet on. The bike dipped and the feel of Jenessa’s hands around his waist heightened his senses. This wasn’t the place to talk about what they’d found out. Not that they’d found out much, as Axel saw it, they had ruled out a lot of stuff, though, and that helped.

  “Hopefully this guy Timone knows will talk to us and we might finally figure out what Tyler stole and where he went.”

  “I think we know where he went,” Axel said. “That place Timone talked about. I think that’s where they would have headed.”

  Before Jenessa had a chance to answer, he switched on the engine and revved it. With a wave, he saluted Timone and then rode off, the day wasn’t over yet and they had other people to talk to. Frustration gripped him. They were no closer to finding Tyler. No closer to bringing this to a close.

  You don’t think Tyler is at the campsite in the mountains? He might go to familiar territory, his cougar asked.

  No, it’s too obvious. Although it wouldn’t do any harm for these guys to think that’s where he is, I’m sure he’d have been listening to our conversation as we left. A false trail will buy us some time. Axel drove away from Timone, hoping the guy would text him with the number of someone who might shed light on what happened. If not, he wasn’t sure what their next move would be. Unless he walked right up to Hogg and asked him if Tyler had stolen his daughter.

  Which might not end well.

  Chapter Twenty – Jenessa

  “Do you think Tyler went to the camping ground the Orion MC uses? I mean there’s a chance Tyler might be found if they go and check it out.” They’d found a hotel where they planned to stay for the night. A comfortable bed and maybe a soak in the bath beckoned. Her back ached from being on the bike for so long. All she wanted to do was stretch out on the bed with Axel by her side, but the day wasn’t over, they still had the lead Timone promised, if he ever texted the number. They had left Timone over two hours ago and they were both beginning to think he’d decided against it.

  “I don’t but since Timone could probably still hear us talking, I thought it might be a good idea to throw them off the scent. A little excursion will get a few of them out of the way for a couple of days while we try to figure out exactly what happened.” Axel stared at his phone, willing it to receive a text from Timone. They needed to do something soon and if Timone didn’t come through, Axel planned to walk right into the wolf’s den. Which Jenessa found totally unacceptable.

  “I was thinking...” She paused, this was such a long shot it seemed stupid to even mention it.

  “I am listening.” He looked up from his phone as they rode the elevator up to their room.

  “When we were young, before my mom died, we went camping in this secluded spot.” Her forehead creased as she tried to remember the name of it. “It was so peaceful, and we loved it. It was the last time we went on a vacation before my mom was diagnosed. After that, my dad would never risk taking my mom too far from the hospital.”

  “And you think Tyler might have gone there?” He glanced back down at his silent phone.

  “Maybe. It’s as good a place as any to look for him.” She rubbed her temples. Wearing the helmet for so long had given her the start of a headache but she hoped to fend it off. She needed to keep focused and not get distracted.

  “Maybe it is,” Axel murmured as his phone finally beeped. “This is it.”

  “Are you going to arrange to meet him tonight?” Jenessa asked.

  “Yes.” He tapped the screen. “I was thinking of going alone.”

  “Oh, no. I don’t think so, we’re in this together, right?”

  “Yes, except I could arrange to meet him somewhere secluded so that if he tries to set me up, I can shift and run. I’m faster than a wolf.” He looked up at her after sending a message.

  “I can’t argue with that logic.” Although she was disappointed at being left behind, she didn’t want to put them in danger with her stubbornness.

  “There’s something you could do while I’m gone.” Axel stepped out of the elevator and they walked along the corridor to their room, which Jenessa had insisted on paying for.

  “Aside from soaking in the bathtub?” She opened the door to their room and groaned when she saw the large comfortable bed.

  “Well, you might be able to do this from the comfort of the bathtub.” He carried the bags inside and dumped them next to the bed. The room was sparsely furnished but there was a small sitting area with tea and coffee-making facilities, along with a large bed and a small bathroom leading off the main room. Jenessa had stayed in better hotels, she’d also stayed in a lot worse.

  “You do social media. I’ve seen you on Facebook and stuff on your phone.”

  “Busted.” She kicked off her boots and flopped down on the bed with her arms outstretched.

  “Could you try to find Hogg’s daughter on social media?”

  She rolled over and rested her chin on her hands. “That is a good idea. I can give it a try.”

  “I was thinking that even if it isn’t his daughter then she might be friends with whoever it is that Tyler went off with.” He nodded his head and added, “If he went off with anyone.” Axel suddenly slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. “It drives me crazy that we don’t know what he stole and why he left.”

  “It drives you crazy. He’s my brother.” She groaned and got off the bed. “I need coffee. Do you want some?” She glanced at the menu next to the phone. “How about room service? Shall we order food? I’m starving.”

  “Isn’t that expensive?” Axel asked warily.

  “I think we deserve it.” She picked up the menu and showed it to Axel. “You could order a steak. I like the sound of the chicken and for dessert, I might have the chocolate sundae. I think I’ve earned it.” She placed her hands on the back of her thighs. “I ache in places I never knew I could ache.”

  He chuckled and came toward her, his arm sneaking around her waist as she went back to making the coffee. “I could give you a massage.”

  “Oh, yes, please.” She turned around to face him and ran her hand through his thick hair. “But first I need to eat. Although, I might have time for a kiss before we order food.”

  “I see where I am on your list of priorities.” He leaned in and kissed her lips and she clung to him as her aching knees went weak.

  “Up here,” she said when their kiss finally broke. Jenessa held her hand up high. “All the way up here.”

  “I guess we should order room service. We need to keep our strength up.” He whispered in her ear, “When I get back from this meeting, I plan to make love to you. More than once.”

  “Now that is a promise I am going to hold you to.”

  They ordered room service, well, Jenessa ordered room service. She suspected Axel might be okay with eating the food she ordered but to order it himself made him feel as if he was spending her money. Something she suspected was a step too far. A step Axel’s pride would not allow him to take. Not yet, but there was time for her to work on him. They had their whole lives ahead of them and if Axel wanted his mate to be happy then he needed to live in the twenty-first century where women were equal to men.

  “Where are you meeting Rogue?” Jenessa hid her amusement at a grown man calling himself Rogue. Axel had been given his name by his parents, but he’d explained that many of the guys who joined ga
ngs picked a new name, one that they felt described them better than your run-of-the-mill Daves or Franks.

  “I’m not sure I should tell you in case you try to follow me.” Axel tilted his head to one side as he speared the last chunk of his steak and ate it.

  “Oh, I’m not going to put myself or you in danger by following you. I know you have a better chance at escaping without me there and honestly, I’d be a distraction and more likely to put you in danger than to be of any help. I know you find me irresistible and that most of the time at least half of your attention is on me.” She took a sip of her wine and hid a smile.

  “I’d say more like seventy percent of my attention is on you.” He winked as he swallowed his steak. “But you are right. I’m so worried something bad is going to happen to you that I’ll be distracted. And trying to figure out who Tyler ran off with from social media is more important.”

  “Or a complete waste of time.” She finished her chicken and placed the knife and fork on her plate. “That was good and just what I needed.”

  “In answer to your question, I am meeting Rogue down by the waterfront. I’ve checked it out on Google maps and figured out an escape route if I need to run.” His expression grew serious. “But I don’t intend to run unless I really have to. We need to know what Tyler stole and Rogue is our best chance of getting that information. Whatever it takes.”

  Jenessa’s stomach flipped. “No violence, I don’t want you or anyone else getting hurt over my brother.” She stood up and went to her purse. Opening it up, she pulled out a wad of notes. “I want you to take this.” She handed it to Axel.

  “You want me to pay for information?” Axel kept his hands on the table as she held it out to him.

  “Yes.” She dropped the folded notes next to his hand.

  “This is a slippery slope. Once they know they can ask for money then we might never get the information we need. They’ll just keep milking us for more.”

  “I know it’s a risk but it’s a calculated risk I’m willing to take.” She placed her hand down on top of the notes. “Take it. I’m not asking you to offer the money right away. I’d rather you didn’t offer it at all. Think of it as a backup plan.”

  “Okay.” He sighed and picked the money up off the table. “But I still don’t like it.”

  “Duly noted.” Jenessa leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. “Thank you.”

  “I should go.” He got up from his seat, his expression unreadable as he fetched his jacket and pulled on his boots.

  “Are we okay?” she asked, and his expression softened.

  “We’re always okay.” He went to her and pulled her into his arms. “It’s the rest of the world that is not okay and that is what I am trying to protect us from.”

  “I want to protect us, too.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I don’t want you to be in danger. If the money might help, then use it. I trust you and I trust your judgment. And at least I know you won’t run off with it since you hate the idea of taking money from me in any form.”

  “That’s not true.” His mouth twitched at the corners. “Okay, maybe a little true.”

  “A lot true and if you really want to make me happy then you are going to have to get over it. I am not going to give up who I am for you in the same way I don’t expect you to give up who you are.” She arched an eyebrow at him. “Deal?”

  “You drive a hard bargain.” He kissed her lips and then backed away toward the door. “Maybe it should be you going to meet Rogue.”

  Jenessa rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t think I could take the man seriously.”

  “I’ll see you later. Hopefully by the time I get back, one of us will have some new information.” He opened the door and left the hotel room. As he closed the door behind him, she felt alone. Being on her own had never bothered her before but now it did. She missed him.

  Keeping busy had always been Jenessa’s way of coping and so she took out her smartphone and went onto Facebook. She searched for any connection to the Hell Fire MC and got a couple of hits. People had tagged their posts with the hashtag #HellFireMCrules.

  Jenessa clicked on the photos and studied them closely before she scanned the comments for any connection to Hogg. “Got you.” Hogg’s wife, Janine, was a big social media user. There were images of bikes, many with gang members wearing their Hell Fire MC jackets. Family photos. Those were the ones Jenessa focused on as she skimmed through posts and comments. Finally, she found what looked like a family photo. Mr. and Mrs. Hogg along with their two daughters. Colleen, their oldest daughter, looked mutinous as she stood between her parents while the younger child smiled broadly.

  As she stared at Colleen, Jenessa tried to figure out if this was the woman who had stolen her brother’s heart. She was a pretty young woman, possibly in her early twenties. Jenessa clicked on her Facebook profile but it was private. A dead-end aside from a few profile picture updates.

  Jenessa skimmed the comments on these photos, one name kept cropping up. Margo Taylor, she’d commented on every image, telling Colleen she was beautiful or amazing or stunning, the usual thing a best friend puts.

  The trail wasn’t quite dead yet.

  Jenessa clicked on Margo’s profile feeling like a stalker as she skimmed through the young woman’s posts. They were filled with inspirational quotes and photos of a cat. One that caught her eyes from a couple of weeks ago was simply, I miss you. Before the post, there were several of Colleen and Margo together. At the beach, in a mall, at a bar. Jenessa looked closely, the two women wore T-shirts with Teasers on them. Jenessa searched Google for Teasers. It was a local bar, about a ten-minute taxi drive away.

  She looked at the time, it was barely nine.

  Jenessa sat still for a moment, going over everything she’d seen. Colleen was not in any photos since Tyler went missing with his stolen item. However, even before that time, Colleen didn’t have loads of photos plastered over the internet. It might be a coincidence, or she might have fallen out with her mom and refused to have her picture taken.

  Margo’s I miss you could be meant for a boyfriend. Perhaps she’d just broken up with a guy and had her heart broken.

  Or perhaps Colleen had disappeared, gone off with Tyler. There was only one way to find out. Jenessa grabbed her bag and headed for the door. She had her own investigation to perform. If she was lucky, she might get back before Axel missed her.

  She only hoped she wasn’t making a big mistake.

  Chapter Twenty-One – Axel

  Axel cruised along the waterfront toward the meeting place he’d arranged with Rogue. As he rode the borrowed bike, he pushed his senses out, trying to pinpoint any signs of danger.

  I can sense a group of people, but they are about half a mile away. His cougar stiffened. There is a smaller group up ahead.

  I sense them all, I can also smell wolf. This is the Hell Fire MC territory, and we are riding right into the middle of it.

  We could keep going and not stop or even turn around and leave. But what if this isn’t an ambush, what if Rogue is taking a risk meeting us here because he wants to help? Axel had never been one for backing down or taking the easy way out. Today was not going to be the day he became a coward.

  When you have a mate, being a coward and taking the easy way out is sensible, his cougar told him.

  We need answers. And I intend to get them. Axel eased back on the throttle and slowed the bike to a crawl as he waited for someone to make a move. If this was an ambush, he would expect the people in the surrounding area to close in on him. They didn’t.

  I can sense a person alone up ahead. This might be Rogue. His cougar kept his attention fixed on the lone guy and prepared to spring forth if Axel needed to fight. Although, against wolves, especially a pack of wolves, his only real option would be flight.

  As he neared the rendezvous point, the streetlights reflected off polished chrome. Rogue, if it was Rogue, was half-hidden in shadows as Axel approached. The man got off his bike and
moved into the light for a moment so Axel could see him and then he stepped back into shadow.

  Axel stopped his bike and switched off the engine. The waterfront seemed eerily quiet without the steady thrum of the engine and Axel shuddered as he got off his bike and removed his helmet. This was the perfect place for an ambush. Feeling vulnerable, he crossed the street and joined Rogue in the shadows. “Thanks for meeting me.”

  “We want to know what happened to the thief as much as you do.” Rogue’s hostility was evident in the tone of his voice, but he didn’t seem immediately threatening.

  “Do you have any leads on him?” Axel asked. “It’s like he vanished into thin air.”

  “Tell me about it. My boss is putting pressure on me to find him.” Rogue rubbed a hand over his chin and studied Axel. “Why are you looking for him?”

  “My mate is his sister.” Axel presumed Rogue already knew that detail and this was perhaps a test.

  “Ahh, so that explains it. I had heard you had put this life behind you.” Rogue’s eyes flashed as the streetlight reflected off them. His disapproval was evident. To him, life in a gang was the only life.

  “Sometimes life takes you in a different direction.” Axel wasn’t here to discuss his past or his future, he was here for news on Tyler. “So Tyler took something from you?”

  “He did.” Rogue sighed. “There was a time when if this stolen item was returned, we would have let the boy go free for a price. But now the price is much higher.”

  “What did he steal?” Axel asked.

  “It no longer matters. When we find him, there will be a high price to pay. And we will find him.”

  “Really? Because no one seems to have a clue where he is. Even you.” Axel took a chance and pushed further. “If you knew where he was then you would not have met me here tonight.”

  “Maybe I met you here to get rid of you, so you don’t get in our way,” Rogue asked smoothly.

  “No, I don’t think that’s it at all. I think you have no idea where he is and people higher up the food chain want answers.”