Wheels of Fire
Hollywood Demons #3
Autumn Jones Lake
Copyright
Wheels of Fire
Hollywood Demons #3
Copyright ©2020 Autumn Jones Lake
Cover Model: Megan Napolitan and Zack Bradford
Cover Designer: Lori Jackson Design
Photographer: Wander Aguiar Photography
Edited by Angela James
Digital ISBN #: 978-1-943950-54-6
Paperback ISBN #: 978-1-943950-58-4
Large Print Paperback ISBN #: 978-1-943950-59-1
Audio ISBN #: 978-1-943950-60-7
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. This copy is intended for the purchaser only. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
The Lost Kings MC is a registered trademark of Ahead of the Pack, LLC.
Contents
Also By Autumn Jones Lake
NEWSLETTER
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
EPILOGUE
Author Notes
Also by Autumn Jones Lake
Social Media
Join us!
About the Author
Also By Autumn Jones Lake
THE LOST KINGS MC SERIES
Slow Burn (Lost Kings MC #1)– Free at all retailers!
Corrupting Cinderella (Lost Kings MC #2)
Three Kings, One Night (Lost Kings MC #2.5)
Strength From Loyalty (Lost Kings MC #3)
Tattered on My Sleeve (Lost Kings MC #4)
White Heat (Lost Kings MC #5)
Between Embers (Lost Kings MC #5.5)
More Than Miles (Lost Kings MC #6)
White Knuckles (Lost Kings MC #7)
Beyond Reckless (Lost Kings MC #8)
Beyond Reason (Lost Kings MC #9)
One Empire Night (Lost Kings MC #9.5)
After Burn (Lost Kings MC #10)
After Glow (Lost Kings MC #11)
Zero Hour (Lost Kings MC #11.5) - Free at all retailers!
Zero Tolerance (Lost Kings MC #12)
Zero Regret (Lost Kings MC #13)
Zero Apologies (Lost Kings MC #14)
White Lies (Lost Kings MC #15)
Swagger and Sass (A Lost Kings MC Novella)
Rhythm of the Road (Lost Kings MC #16)
Standalones in the Lost Kings MC World
Bullets & Bonfires
Warnings & Wildfires
Cards of Love: Knight of Swords
The Kickstart Trilogy
Kickstart My Heart
Blow My Fuse
Wheels of Fire
Paranormal Romance
Catnip & Cauldrons
Onyx Night
Onyx Shadows
Feral Escape
NEWSLETTER
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Acknowledgments
This trio of books has been such an adventure and a joy to write during such a challenging time. As much as I’ve immersed myself in Mallory and Chaser’s world, their story wouldn’t have come alive without several key people.
Thank you to Angela James for helping me tame this story and for your valuable input.
Lauren McKellar, thank you for the weekly check-ins and keeping me sane during the writing process. I absolutely adore this story, and I wouldn’t have pulled it off without you guiding me along.
Thank you so much to Lori Jackson for creating three beautiful covers and capturing what was so special to me about these books.
Wander and Andrey thank you for being so patient and helping me bring the images in my head to my covers.
Many thanks to LK Shaw for appreciating my snark, making me laugh, and always being willing to listen.
Sue Banner, Sophie Ruthven, Melissa Machado, Tanisha Franzese, Athena Stephenson, Shawna Wood, Jennifer Furr, Laura Knowles, Elizabeth Kelley, Tammy Dalton, Sirenda McNece, Kathryn Linke, Tanya Skaggs, and Brittany Lehnhoff—there really aren’t enough words to thank you for sticking with me through so many books. For being so patient when I drop a book on you last minute or you have to remind me about promo graphics. I’m not sure how I got so lucky and I probably don’t deserve you, but I appreciate you so much.
Jessica Alcazar, thank you for traumatizing—oops, I mean kindly pointing out a few flaws and suggestions on how to polish them. Thank you for your plot twists! and reminding me when I’m running behind.
I really need to thank Samara, Rob, Lance, and Samantha for bringing Mallory and Chaser to life in the audiobooks. Deciding to produce my own audiobooks for this series was scary and I can’t thank you enough for making it such a smooth process.
Last, and never least, thank you to Mr. Lake who is my rock. You never hesitate to kick my ass into gear or reassure me that I’m awesome when I’m in a spiral of self-doubt. Thank you for keeping me fed, caffeinated, rolling out my yoga mat every morning and doing…well everything else around here while I’m in deep writing mode. In a year full of so much uncertainty and distress, you continue to be my anchor.
Dedication
“Love does no
t consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Chapter One
Chaser
Sometimes the path to harmony isn’t in the doing of stuff, it’s in the undoing of the things that leave you unbalanced. The releasing of the people hanging around your neck. The albatrosses who drag you under. It’s a lesson I should’ve learned a long time ago.
Instead, thanks to my druggie bandmates, I’m sitting in an austere six by eight cell. With no idea whether Andrew is alive or not.
Fear digs the deepest graves. That's why I'm keeping mine in check.
I’m innocent.
This is all a big mistake.
I’ll be out soon.
“Adams!” an officer shouts.
Please let that be someone coming to their damn senses and letting me out of here.
I stand and wait by the cell door. The officer approaches, almost apologetically. “I gotta cuff you.”
I hold my wrists out as he slides the gate open. “Do what you gotta do.”
“Lot of us are fans,” he says in a low voice as he walks me through the corridors.
“Thanks.” What the hell else do I say? You’d think growing up in an MC, I’d have a healthy hatred of law enforcement. And I do, to a certain extent. But my father always impressed upon me the importance of showing respect until it’s no longer an option. Law enforcement’s just doing their job.
The grim vibe of the building doesn’t improve as I’m led away from the cells, down a corridor with painted cinderblock walls. All windowless and free of decoration. We stop outside a small room. Inside, a square metal table is bolted to the floor. A crabby-faced detective waits to interrogate me on the other side.
He scowls as the other officer walks me to a chair.
The guy is most definitely not a fan.
Once we’re alone, he sits forward. “Let’s go over your story again, Mr. Adams.”
“This is ridiculous.” I spread my hands on the table in front of me. “Test me for gunshot residue.”
“You seem to know an awful lot about the process.”
I roll my eyes. “While you’re wasting time busting my balls, the person who actually shot my friend is running around free.”
“You and Andrew Lane are friends?”
“Yes.” Most of the time I want to kill the guy but I haven’t made a serious attempt, yet.
It’s probably better to keep those sentiments to myself.
“A number of witnesses say you had an argument yesterday. Over your girlfriend.”
“She and Andrew had a mild disagreement. We resolved it. Hell, I played on stage with Andrew last night.”
“Another witness says you threatened to shoot Mr. Lane a few nights ago.”
“Bullshit.” One of the only “witnesses” was Alvin and there’s no way he’d rat me out to anyone. Jacob and Garrett technically didn’t see anything. I can’t imagine the girl Andrew brought on the bus spilling the story so fast. And Mallory would never talk to the cops. That leaves someone who wants to feel important spreading second or third-hand information.
“So you didn’t threaten to shoot him?”
“We get into disagreements all the time. We’re a bunch of guys on the road cooped up on tour buses.”
Unimpressed, he flips through his notebook. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
I shrug.
“Does Andrew Lane have a drug problem?”
Does he ever.
“No idea.”
“What about Jacob Whitfield?”
He’s the whole reason we’re in this mess.
“You’ll have to talk to Jacob.”
“We will once we locate him.” He leans forward. “But come on, he’s your singer. You don’t know his habits?”
“I’m not his babysitter.” Big, fat lie there.
“He’s the one who called you and asked you to meet him and Andrew?”
“Yeah.”
“Any idea what they were doing in that part of town?”
“I assumed they’d gotten lost.” While trying to score heroin.
“Then what?”
“When I got there, Andrew was already on the ground bleeding out.” I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, drowning in the helpless feeling of possibly watching a friend die.
“And?” he prompts.
I take a deep breath. “I put pressure on the wound and slapped Jacob to snap him out of his shock and told him to call 911.” Furious over the whole situation, I may have punched Jacob a little harder than necessary. But I’ll happily take the blame for the crime I actually did commit if Jacob has the urge to press charges.
“Who else was there?”
I close my eyes again, trying to remember details lost in the chaos. I’m pretty sure Vinnie and Garrett took off as soon as I arrived. It’s not in my nature to snitch or volunteer information to cops, though. “I’m not sure. Everything was crazy. I focused on getting Andrew help and didn’t pay attention to who was around us.”
He rolls his eyes at what I’m sure sounded like a self-serving statement. “Where was your girlfriend during all this commotion?”
Unease prickles down my spine. Mallory doesn’t need to be brought into this. “Asleep in our hotel room.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.”
He stands and knocks on the door. “All right.”
“Are you letting me go?”
“I’ll attempt to verify your version of events.” He jerks his chin up. “Someone will come in and test your hands.”
“Good.”
Raised voices in the hallway, draw our attention to the door a few seconds before it’s flung open. The detective barely has time to jump out of the way.
“If you’re done violating my client’s rights, I’d like to have a word with him,” the intruder says.
I drop my head, suppressing my laughter. Knew my girl would come through. After her initial confusion, when I called to explain what was happening, she bucked up and promised she’d track down my father. And fuck knows, Dad wouldn’t waste time finding me a lawyer the second he found out I was in jail.
After the detective leaves, the man extends his hand to me. “Sloan Paxton, your father hired me to represent you.” He drops into the seat across from me. “I’ll need a little time to get caught up on your case. Speak to the detectives. See what I can find out. The victim is in critical condition—”
“Andrew’s alive?”
He pins me with a stare. “Yes.”
“Thank God,” I breathe out.
“These are still serious charges.”
“I know that,” I spit out. “I was worried my friend was dead. No one’s told me anything.”
“I’m not going to ask if you did it—”
“I didn’t.”
He holds up one hand and shakes his head. “Don’t.” He glances down at the papers in his hands. “Who’s Peter Carson?”
“The band’s tour manager.”
“Andrew’s band, or yours?”
My brows draw down. Why the fuck’s he so interested in Pete? “Mine. Why?”
“He’s the one who told the cops you tried to shoot Andrew the night before.”
“Are you shitting me?” I jump up, stabbing my fingers through my hair. “Why the fuck would he do that?”
“You tell me.” He studies a legal pad covered in chicken scratch that must only be legible to him. “Your girlfriend states Peter told her he had no idea where you were.”
“That piece of shit.”
“Easy. Let’s get you out of this jam.” He consults his notes again. “Do you own a gun?”
“Yes,” I answer carefully.
A slight downward twitch at the corner of his mouth says that’s not the answer he hoped for. “Where is it now?”
“Locked up on the tour bus.”
I swear he breathes a sigh of relief. “You never made it
back to the bus last night?”
“I see where you’re going with this. No. The cops arrested me at the hospital.”
“Good. Okay.”
“Is Mallory okay? Have you talked to her?”
Paxton shifts and won’t meet my eyes for a second. “She’s worried about you. She came down here with me but they won’t let her see you yet.”
“She’s here? Get her back to the hotel. I need her to stay clear of this as much as possible.” Damn, knowing she’s so close kills me.
“Is she involved?”
“No and I want to keep it that way. She doesn’t need the bad press.” When will my shitty life decisions stop putting Mallory’s career in jeopardy?
“Let’s continue. What is your relationship with Andrew Lane?”
“We’re friends. We’ve collaborated on some songs. Our bands are touring together.” I shrug. That tour might be over. Hell, Kickstart’s entire career might be blown if the whole world thinks I tried to kill the legendary Andrew Lane.