CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
Vee / Nessa / Van
Earlier
I stood beside Kid and watched as my man drove off to meet with the enemy to negotiate the return of our boy.
Who was I kidding?
This wasn’t a negotiation, it was blackmail and intimidation. Plain and simple.
Shortly after a motley group of bikes had left the compound. It had been decided to use all different makes of bikes to confuse the enemy. The bikers had full face helmets on and wore nothing that would identify them as Iron Dogz.
“Where are they going?” I asked softly.
“They’re back up, they will be close enough should they be needed.” Kid explained.
I felt better knowing some of my man’s brothers would be close when he faced the bitch.
We went back inside and Kid sent brothers to clear the duplexes of women and children. I headed to the kitchen to start coffee because we were going to need it.
It was still early and most of them were half asleep as they gathered in the common room before being escorted to their underground accommodations.
The women were complaining about having to leave their homes. They maintained they were safe at the duplexes and that Kid was over reacting. I noted that those who were complaining were older and their children were in their teens. Most of the younger women had responded to the earlier call for a soft lockdown and were already settled in their rooms in the bunker. It had me wondering why the older women were being asshats.
Was it that they would be living in close proximity to the sluts? Or was it something else?
Maybe they had more reason to avoid the sluts than the younger women.
Who knew? I certainly didn’t.
Spider had helped me prepare a go-bag for the lockdown and had personally seen to it that I had my weapon and extra clips packed.
I was happy to find we had the rooms next to Noe and Kid’s. It meant I was near a friend should lockdown last longer than expected.
I had scarcely unpacked my bag when the red light above the door started flashing and a loud buzz filled the room. When I had been shown to our room I had left the door open when the brother left. I wanted to hear what was going on down here and now I could hear Calvin shouting in the corridor.
“Everyone stay in your rooms and lock the doors. The light will go green when it’s safe to come out.”
Pulling my weapon case from the top shelf of the cupboard I quickly extracted my gun. I loaded it and slipped the extra clips into the pockets of my cargo pants. I was damned glad I had decided to wear them today.
Peeking out into the corridor I slipped out, closed the door behind me and knocked on Noe’s.
It was opened almost immediately, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside. One look at her face let me know she was once again the scary women who had broken the club slut’s arms in the common room. I had no problem being around her.
“I’m arranging for one of the girls I trust to come sit with Laney. Give me a minute.” She said as she checked on her sleeping little girl.
The woman was ready for war with weapons strapped to her hips and torso.
“Are we going out there?” I asked softly.
“No. The brothers are fighting the incursion out in the compound, we’ll take care of the clubhouse. No fucker is going to come into my home and cause kak (shit).” She bit out in a low voice.
“Do you think it’s the same assholes who took Rush?”
“It might be, we won’t know until the brothers round them up once it’s over.” She threw me a dark look and I wondered what that was all about.
I soon found out.
“Before we go any further you need to be made aware of who I really am so you can make an informed decision. You either run into danger with me or stay locked in your room, those are your options. Most of the time when I’m here I’m Noe, Kid’s old lady, and happy with it.” She threw a hand out, pointing at the door and I glanced at it reflexively.
“Outside of these walls though, I’m someone completely different. I’m an ex-con known as Face and I have a crew of ex-con operators and a secure compound of my own. I’m not afraid to use violence to get what I want. I learned at a young age that most people are not to be trusted. I trust my old man and his officers implicitly. Outside of the club I trust my crew and Dom’s crew, that’s about it. Be very sure you want to step out that door with me because if you do your life will change. Taking my back means a lot in my world and I won’t forget it. My crew won’t forget it either, they already like you, and you doing this with me will mean a lot to them. They will draw you into our world.”
She fell silent and looked at me, obviously waiting for my answer.
There was only one answer.
“Let’s get out there and kick some ass. It’s been a while since I busted some balls.” I said with a wink and a grin.
Noe, or rather, Face, winked and opened the door when there came a soft knock.
“Ah, she’s here.” Face said and opened the door then pulled the young woman inside and closed it again.
“Did the bitches give you grief when you left?”
The girl grinned. “No, they were too busy freaking out to notice.”
Face’s eyes narrowed. “Why would they be freaking out, Ria?”
“I think one or two of them have been fucking outside of the club and talked about the brothers. They are now scared they fucked the enemy.” Ria explained with a wicked grin.
“I’ll have Cuba and Star look into it.” She pointed at her sleeping baby girl. “She shouldn’t wake up but if she does you stay in here. Use the security locks once we leave and open for no one. No one. You stay here until Kid or I say it’s safe to come out. Understood?”
Ria, nodded, her expression serious. “I understand.”
“Van, let’s get going.” She said, and suddenly I had a new nickname.
I didn’t mind, it was cool, I knew from today onwards it was going to be my nickname with Face and her crew.
We stood outside the door for a second or two as the locks clicked into place. Gun held in hand Face silently ran down the passage to the stairway. I followed, my gun, like hers, held against my thigh, pointing at the floor. We silently climbed the stairs and at the top Face enabled the monitor on the wall next to the steel door to check if it was safe to open.
She flipped through several cameras, checking the rooms one by one. Satisfied that there was no one near she entered the required code. I heard a soft hum and then a click. Turning the handle on the door she silently pulled it open and tipped her head towards the doorway. I slipped out, gun up and finger on the trigger guard I stood to the side, keeping my eyes on the entry to the short passage we were in.
Behind me the same hum and click sounded as the door locked.
Face silently ran past me, heading out the passage towards the door into the common room. What we had seen on the cameras made it the first stop. Calvin sat with his back against the wall, bleeding from a wound high up on his chest, his gun aimed towards the kitchen. He jerked in shock when we appeared next to him.
“Not a word, little bro. We need cloths to stop the bleeding. Van, check for clean cloths behind the bar.” Face ordered.
Running behind the bar I saw clean cloths stacked in a neat pile and grabbed the whole lot. Returning to them I knelt next to Calvin and lifted his tee. There was a lot of blood but I ignored it. My job was to pack the wound and I did.
“Can you lean forward a bit for me, Cal?” I asked softly. “I need to check if there’s an exit wound.”
With a groan he complied. No exit wound. Shit.
“We’re going to help you behind the bar then…”
“No, I’m staying right here. My job is to stop anyone from getting to the women and children.” His voice was hard but filled with pain.
“How the hell did you get shot?” Face asked.
“One of them got into the kitchen. I shot him and as he fell he got of a shot that ricocheted off the damn freezer and hit me. I made sure he was dead then came out here to keep watch in case more of them got past the brothers.” He gritted out.
“Fine, you stay here, on your ass, and keep pressure on that hole you got in you.” Face patted his shoulder then stood. “Let’s check out the kitchen and find where the fucker got in.”
With one last look at Cal we left.
I followed her into the kitchen, we were silent as we slipped past the dead guy on the floor. Judging from where he was lying he had to have come in through the scullery or the laundry room. We checked the laundry first. The door to the small courtyard stood open, the lock broken.
How did the bastard know about this entry point? Or was it a lucky find?
Checking the courtyard was easy. The only things inside the enclosed space were the washing lines. The fucker must have come in over the wall.
The sounds of fighting was close, too damned close.
“We need the door closed, but the lock is totally fucked, we’ll have to prop something heavy against it. See anything that will do the job?” Face asked quietly.
“The machines are heavy but it looks like they’re all plumbed into the wall, we won’t be able to move them without makin’ a racket.”
I checked them one by one, hoping to find one that wasn’t in use. No such luck.
“There will be something in the kitchen or scullery. Let’s check.”
We propped the door closed and was about to run out when I noticed the clothes folding table/rack. It looked heavy and it was freestanding.
“This. We can use this.” I said.
As quietly as possible we pushed the heavy rack over to the door and wedged it against it. Then we balanced bottles of softener, stain remover and anything else we could find on the edge of the table.
“If anyone tries to open the door it will make enough noise to alert us.” Face said.
Once done it was back to ensuring the clubhouse hadn’t been breached anywhere else. We had just moved away from the kitchen when the back door shattered with a crackling boom. There wasn’t time to plan all we could do was react. Taking cover we started firing at the men pushing through the broken door. They were forced to do it one after the other as the doorway was too narrow to allow them through all at once. It made it easier for us but we took heavy fire. The bastards were determined to get inside.
The dead and wounded were piling up in the doorway, making it difficult for those outside trying to get in. Unfortunately some of the wounded were able to crawl inside and one or two of them got to cover and were firing at us.
Face glanced at me. We were on either side of the doorway, protected by the solid walls.
“I’ll take the ones who got inside, you take the door. Shoot to kill, Van. No fucking mercy.” She ordered through gritted teeth.
“I got it.” I said and went back to shooting the bastards.
Not long after a voice called out.
“Stop firing! We’re friendlies.”
Face was about to shout back when Cal was suddenly there and tapped her shoulder, shaking his head. She gave a nod.
“Identify yourselves!” He shouted.
There was a beat of silence before the answer came.
“It’s Buzz and Wolf!”
Cal snorted as he sank down next to me.
“Try again, motherfuckers. I know for a fact those brothers aren’t here!” He shouted.
He looked over at Face. “They’re trying to fake us out. Don’t know where they got their names from but it’s not those two brothers out there. They rode out with Bulldog to take Spider’s back.”
Face nodded once then turned and shot one of the assholes that had been crawling closer. He jerked and lay still.
There was a sudden burst of gunfire and we pulled back behind the walls. Until we realised they weren’t shooting at us. While the bastards had been trying to talk us into letting them in the brothers must have used the distraction to get closer. The gun fight didn’t last long.
“Prospect! You okay in there?” Kid’s voice broke the silence after the sound of gunfire faded.
“I’m good, Prez. Had some help to keep the fuckers out of the clubhouse.” He called out.
“Good, we’ll take care of the shit in the kitchen. You get back in to position.” Kid ordered.
Neither Face nor I moved. We had the best view of the bastards on the kitchen floor, some of whom were still alive.
As we watched Kid stepped through the shattered kitchen door, Blaze right behind him. They checked the dead and wounded. The wounded joined the dead, there was no mercy given.
Face rose and stepped into the doorway when it became clear the situation had been taken care of. I stood behind her, gun by my side but ready to react if needed.
Kid tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling, muttering something that had Blaze laughing softly. Then he looked at his old lady.
“I thought I told you to stay downstairs with our baby girl where it’s safe.” He said with narrowed eyes.
She shrugged. “We were checking on the clubhouse after the alarm sounded, saw Cal was hit and came up to lend a hand. Good thing we did.” She explained tipping her head towards the bodies.
“Calvin was hit? How bad?” Kid asked with a frown.
“Chest. He’s going to need surgery, the bullet is still in there.” Face reported.
Kid turned to Blaze. “Get Coal to have a look at him. If necessary we take him to hospital because Glass won’t be available until later. The pigs will come to check out the reports of gunfire. They can’t find all these dead motherfuckers on our property so we need to move fast.” He turned to his old lady. “Baby, take care of the clubhouse for me, please. I need things to look as normal as possible before the pigs get here. Get the sluts in the common room with some of the brothers and a prospect behind the bar.”
Everything moved fast from then on. The kitchen was cleared and two prospects cleaned and bleached the floors. The broken doors were removed and replaced. And every single square inch of the space checked for bullet casings.
I followed Face down to the rooms and watched as she morphed back into Noe. The president’s old lady. No one disagreed with her when she issued Kid’s orders. The old ladies and children were told to stay put, the sluts ordered up to the common room. Some of the old ladies weren’t happy with the orders but they kept their mouths shut. I suppose those were women whose men stuck their dicks in the whores. With all the adrenalin running through the brothers after the gunfight it was almost inevitable that some of them were going to fuck the sluts instead of going downstairs to fuck their old ladies. Sad but true.
To me it seemed that some men were easier to tempt than others.
It was none of my business so I got on with my job, which was to help Noe set up the common room.
As the men who weren’t on patrol streamed into the room it became clear some of them were going to go against Kid’s orders to play it off as a normal day.
I sat my ass down at the bar and kept my back turned to where the sluts were slinking through the gathered men.
It was way too early to be drinking but the beer was flowing and some were even hitting the hard stuff.
The pigs arrived around 9am. Kid and Blaze who were outside with the patrols walked down to the gates to talk to them. When it became clear they wouldn’t leave without checking the premises they allowed them entry, but only to the compound grounds.
Noe and I had walked out onto the veranda and sat down on the top step, drinking our coffee as we watched them searching the grounds for whatever it was they needed to get a warrant to check the buildings.
They found nothing.
And the gunfire?
Explained away as two of the boys playing a trick on their mothers by setting off fireworks. The boys were brought forward and after a warning about the danger of fireworks the pigs left.
The music was blaring from the clubhouse and Kid and Blaze stomped past us and inside. Noe and I stayed on the step, soaking up the early morning fresh air.
Suddenly the music cut off and so did the laughter and buzz of voices. Kid’s thundering voice filled the sudden silence.
“We have fucking shit going down, a brother who is out there right now trying to rescue his kidnapped son, and this is how you handle it? You run in here to drink and fuck. You’re fucking useless to me if you’re drunk. You think this is a fucking holiday camp? I gave very specific orders. I said, come inside, and do as you do every fucking morning. Did I say start drinking and fucking? No, I fucking did not. Orca warned you fuckers, he put up the new rules and you ignored them, ignored my orders. Those of you who were fucking and drinking will appear before the brothers and take your punishment. Don’t think I won’t know who you are, I’ll have video evidence on each and every one of you. And you, the whores who were fucking and drinking with the brothers, you were told to prepare breakfast and serve coffee. My old lady gave very specific orders, you ignored them, wiped your dirty fucking asses on MY FUCKING ORDERS!! I’m done with this shit. Those of you who ignored my orders are done, you will be off my compound within the hour. You are banned from ever returning.” There was a stunned silence and then very loud complaints from the bitches.
Kid shut them up instantly.
“QUIET!” He shouted and deathly silence followed.
“Blaze, get a team together and get the bitches who ignored orders off my property. I want it done within the next hour. The rest of you, seeing that you think this is a fucking holiday camp, let me give you shit to do so you know it’s not. Get back out there and start cleaning the compound, I want it fucking sparkling. Prospects, you don’t touch the clean-up, these fuckers will take care of it.”
Kid came storming back out and stalked off to the gates.
“You going to go talk to your man?” I asked.
“No, he’s too worked up right now. I’ll give him time to cool down before I approach.”
We stayed sitting on the step drinking coffee in silence, watching senior patches swarming over the grounds, cleaning up.
I left her sitting there when it became obvious the threat against the club was over. Going downstairs I fetched my bag and went home.
I found it was too damned quiet, so, left and went back to the clubhouse. I wanted to be near should any news come in.
I sat at the bar drinking coffee, way too much coffee.
And waited.