Chapter 25 BEAR
BEAR
The next evening, we made our move on the Diablos. Our bikes were parked at the edge of the tree line by the roadside. I turned to my brothers.
“There’s a short driveway, then a fence. When I was here last, it was manned by one dumb prospect. Guy didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. He won’t be an issue.”
“Cannon fodder,” Mav said disgustedly, lighting a cigarette.
“Probably.” I nodded. “One good knock to the head and he’ll be out.” I took out my gun and checked the chamber. “The rest of the crew either have Jordan hostage, or they’ve been using Jordan as a spy. Either way, they need the message that you don’t fuck with the Exiled Reapers.”
“Hear, hear!” Blade cheered, balancing his throwing knives through his fingertips. Death and violence didn’t usually faze me, but that brother could be one sick mother fucker when the haze hit.
Mav stepped up. “If we see Jordan, don’t kill him. We’ll take him back to the shed for”—he paused, taking another drag from his cigarette and exhaling the smoke from his mouth—“conversating.” He winked at me. “Everyone else, play it by ear.”
The guys muttered in agreement to take out this band of assholes who’d tried not only to take our territory but also my old lady. It wasn’t official yet, but it would be, and they knew it.
“Dan, you wait here with the truck. If anyone is injured, or if we do find Jordan, they’ll ride back with you.”
“Got it, Mav. I’ll keep the engine running, just in case.” Dan climbed back into the truck.
I nodded. “Okay, brothers, let’s do this.”
We mounted our bikes and rode the short distance to the gate. If we’d been wanting stealth, we would have walked in, sticking close to the trees to make our approach a secret. But we didn’t give a fuck about stealth. These assholes knew we were coming the moment they involved Lexie.
The same loser was manning the gate.
“Uh, prez? What are you doing back? And who are all those guys?”
I grinned. “I’m not your prez. And we’re coming in to blow this joint the fuck up. You can try to stop us, but you won’t get far. Or you can head on home to your mama.”
He looked at me and the bikers behind me.
“Yeah, fuck this shit.” He pulled off his cut and threw it on the ground. “I just wanted easy pussy,” he said as he pushed the gate open. “All I got was smelly pussy, and that ain’t worth getting killed over.” He hopped on his bike. “Good luck!” he shouted as he rode off.
“Dude’s smarter than he looks.” Baller eased his bike next to mine. “Smelly pussy ain’t worth getting killed over. I might put that on a t-shirt.”
“Shut up.” I chuckled. “Come on, guys, they ought to know we’re here by now. Let’s get this over with.”
We rode to the front of the clubhouse, parking our bikes quickly. Four women in various states of undress tumbled out the front door.
“Hey fellas. You come here for a good time?” One woman stepped forward. I guessed she was the leader because she spoke first and her hair was teased the highest.
“More cannon fodder?” I asked. “What kind of chicken shits are these guys to use a bunch of women for protection?”
Mav cocked his gun and aimed it at the group of women, stopping them in their tracks. “You’ve got five seconds to get the hell off the property.”
The leader looked at Mav, then back at the clubhouse. “Let’s go, girls. It’s half-price Tuesday at Rick’s.”
The ladies squealed and ran to their cars. As they went through the gates, shots rang from the window. Dust and gravel kicked up as bullets landed aimlessly in the gravel lot.
“Now we’re talking!” Mav grinned. “Let’s take them out!”
***
As far as annihilating clubs went, that was pretty easy.
I guess that’s the risk you take when you sample your own products.
Your club ends up high as a kite and unable to defend themselves properly.
Only two guys were even awake, one that had been shooting at us and another one who was too busy cooking his next fix to bother.
We took care of the shooter, but it didn’t feel right to take out guys while they were asleep.
Or passed out. Or maybe already dead? Who the fuck knew?
We searched for Jordan, and when we couldn’t find him, we grabbed the guy that had held Lexie and left the rest. Baller made an anonymous tip to the local sheriff’s office.
There was enough shit lying around to get all of them locked up for a long time.
Jordan’s absence didn’t sit well with any of us. He was a part of this; I knew it in my gut. There was no way he brought Lexie to another MC without realizing the implications. No MC member stepped into another MC without coordinating with the officers, and even a prospect knew that.
It wasn’t a stretch to assume he was the one that stabbed Tracker.
I’d interviewed everyone that night about their whereabouts.
He said he was in the kitchen washing dishes, but no one could corroborate.
But there were several brothers who’d been alone at that moment, so my hands had been tied.
Plus, I guess I’d hoped it hadn’t been an inside job.
As much as it would have sucked to know our perimeter was unsecured and allowed a possible murderer in, it was better than knowing one of our brothers tried to kill another brother.
The gurgling sound interrupted my thoughts. “Oh sorry, I got distracted for a moment.” I wiped the blood from my knife. The bleary-eyed president of the fake Diablos was stubborn, I’d give him that. He refused to give up anything about their true purpose.
We’d been “conversating” for a few hours, and at this rate, I didn’t think we’d get anything out of him. In my experience, guys who were going to spill, spilled early. And based on this guy’s blood loss, he didn’t have much time.
Stitch cleared his throat. “He’s probably got a half hour, maybe less.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You hear that, Cyclops? Half an hour to live. It’s confession time. Tell us your sins, and we’ll make sure your passing is nice and easy.”
I wasn’t lying. If he’d give us something, I’d slit his throat before letting Blade chop him up for old Larry’s pigs. I was so over this shit and ready to get home to my woman. And Michael too, if I was being honest.
I’d moved them into my house this morning, and it was nothing less than pure chaos. I thought I’d enjoyed the quiet solitude of my house, but I’d been wrong. I’d forgotten how much better family sounded.
The man in the chair laughed, his blood-stained teeth reminding me of a character from a horror movie. “We’re the first wave. He’s got so much planned, just you wait.” He laughed again, and I stepped back to avoid getting splattered by his blood.
“And who might he be?” Mav asked from where he stood against the wall.
Cyclops laughed and coughed up more blood.
“Fuck, this is gross,” Mav said, shaking his head. The coughs grew softer until finally, there was no sound at all. “Uh, Stitch?”
Our medic walked over and checked the prisoner’s vitals, then shook his head. “Guess it was less. He’s gone.”
Mav threw his hands up. “Oh well. Not like he had much to tell us, anyway. Any thoughts on who this mystery man is? And don’t fucking tell me it was Jordan. That kid couldn’t have planned something like this.”
I snorted. “No, not him. I think he took advantage of the situation. He had a shiny new truck. I’d wondered where he’d gotten the money.”
Mav nodded. “True. Church tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. sharp. We need to update Sinner. Now that we know someone else was pulling the strings, he might have some ideas. Until then, clean this up and get some rest.”
Blade grinned. “I got it. Send me the prospect and we’ll take care of it.”
I patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks, brother.” I needed a few minutes to take a quick shower and wash away all this blood, then I could be with my woman.