Chapter Seventeen
Jinx
H EARING THAT SOMEONE set the clubhouse on fire doesn’t sit well with me. Especially when it makes my girl upset and start crying because she knows every member of her family is in Pine View while we’re hiding out in a cabin so Becker and the hitman can’t get to her. Hope has never been one to back down from a fight and I don’t see this being any different. Yes, she wanted to leave Pine View because she was scared about Becker and the hitman getting her, but at the end of the day, her family is in danger now and she won’t let that shit stand for any reason at all. Leaving her alone in the bedroom is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. I wanted to keep her in my arms and hold her close as she cried until she had no more tears left in her. Instead, I go out to gather the guys so we can figure out what we can do to help or lend any kind of support to the guys back home.
“King, get in the kitchen and make sure anyone else inside is there when I get back inside. Some shit went down and we need to talk,” I tell him as he goes to leave his room for the first time since breakfast.
I’ve already called and talked to Vault. He filled me in on the details of what took place today and how things are going now. It’s not good. The preliminary reports indicate that the fire was started deliberately. Someone set our home on fire with the women and kids inside. If the guys hadn’t just gotten back from their search for Becker and the hitman, I don’t know if things would have been taken care of as fast as they were. Yeah, the ol’ ladies know what the hell to do, but they would be worried about the kids as they should be instead of putting out fires.
“Everythin’ okay?” he returns as I head for the front door to go gather the rest of the guys who are watching the perimeter of the house.
“No, it’s not. Hope is gonna need us all right now and we have some decisions to make. When she gets up, I want to know what she wants to do so we can take that shit into account,” I tell him, not stopping my foreword movement as I fling open the door and head outside to the end of the porch.
Bronx and Ghost are talking as they pass one another and continue on their way walking the edge of the property before the forest takes over.
“Bronx! Ghost!” I call out, grabbing both men’s attention as they stop and turn to face me. “Meetin’ inside now. Get the rest of the guys and make your way in there.”
“On it, VP,” Ghost says, his voice serious as he pulls his phone out and calls the guys to get them in the cabin so we can talk.
I head back inside to find King and Raptor already sitting at the table. Taking the seat at the head of the table, I wait for the others to join me. The three of us don’t talk as they wait to hear what’s going on. I want to explode with the rage filling me, but I keep forcing it down and try to figure out what the best solution is for this situation. Personally, I want to fucking go home so we’re with our family and helping them instead of being here. On the other hand, I don’t want to be anywhere that Hope isn’t. She felt the need to be here when she first left the hospital and that was perfectly okay because it’s what she needed to work on therapy and getting stronger. Now, she’s strong enough to only use a cane and there’s no way she won’t want to go back home if we allow her to make that choice.
It doesn’t take long for the rest of the guys to show up and gather around the table. I make sure the door of the bedroom is closed so we don’t wake Hope up. What I see has me wishing I could go in to her and hold her as she tries to sleep. She’s thrashing and rolling all over the bed from whatever nightmare has her in its hold. Closing the door as quietly as I can, I take a deep breath while leaning my head against the door. I don’t let myself stay there for long because the sooner I get this talk with the guys over with, the sooner I can get back to Hope. Pushing off the door, I make my way back to the kitchen and take my seat once more.
“Hope called Killer a little while ago. When they were on the phone, he told her that the clubhouse had been on fire. They managed to put it out between the sprinkler system Vault installed and the fire extinguishers stashed all over the clubhouse. The fire department showed up after the fire was out and made sure it wasn’t gonna reignite. They’ve already started the investigation into the matter as well. Vault was just informed that it’s lookin’ as if the fire was deliberately started by someone and Fox is searchin’ through the camera footage to see if he can find anythin’. They’re goin’ through the entire clubhouse to make sure nothin’ else has been set up to go off at a later time,” I inform the guys as they all stare at me with varying degrees of rage and shock.
“How’s Hope?” King questions me as he looks toward the hallway our bedroom’s in.
“Not great. She’s havin’ nightmares while tryin’ to take her nap and she was cryin’ when she got off the phone with her dad. I know she’s gonna tell me she wants to go home. Her bein’ gone is puttin’ everyone she loves and cares about in danger. King, you know how she is. Hope doesn’t back down for any reason. Yeah, I admit gettin’ out of Pine View for the last few weeks is what she needed. Now, she’s gonna be ready to go home so she can be with her family. Anyone have any objections?” I ask the men surrounding me as Raptor slumps down in his chair and stares at the table.
“I don’t know if goin’ home is the best decision, Jinx. We all know she’s your girl, but Hope means somethin’ to all of us. Are you sure goin’ home is the best thing to do in this situation?” Raptor asks me, fear filling his voice as he finally looks up at me.
“No, I don’t know that it’s the best thing to do. Hope is gettin’ stronger every single day and you know her as well as I do. She’s not gonna want to hide out when others are in danger. She was taught to fight and defend the ones she loves every day of her life. All the girls were. Did she get taken out? Yeah. By a fuckin’ hitman. I don’t give a fuck how prepared someone is, a hitman is a completely different ball game. So, I’m gonna suggest we leave it up to Hope as to what she wants to do. Can we all agree to that?” I ask the guys around me as I hear Hope scream out.
“Go be with her. We’ll start packin’ everythin’ up. Who do you want outside while the rest of us take care of things in here?” King asks me, his eyes locked on the hallway where his cousin is still screaming as I jump out of my chair and head for the hallway.
“Court, Red, and Deegan go back outside. The rest of you get everythin’ packed up and ready to take off,” I state, not stopping as I head for my girl.
Entering the bedroom, I find Hope tangled up in the blankets and covered in sweat. I slide in next to her, not liking the way she’s arching her back after her injury. Wrapping my arms around her, I hold her close and try to get her to calm down. When she turns to face me, I take in the tears rolling down her cheeks. It shatters my heart into a million pieces to know Becker and all this shit is getting to her this bad.
“Sweet Girl, I’m here. I’ve got you, baby. Nothin’ is gonna get to you when I’m here. Please come back to me,” I say just above a whisper so I don’t scare her in the middle of a nightmare.
I run my fingers through her hair and try to get her to settle down. After what feels like hours pass, Hope finally starts to settle in my arms and snuggle into me. Wrapping my arms tighter around her body, I don’t let go of her as her tears fall on my chest. For the longest time, I hold Hope in my arms and she still doesn’t sleep peacefully. The entire time, she’s tossing and turning, only going completely still when I start whispering to her and running my fingers through her long hair. This is the worst fucking feeling in the damn world because I can’t take that shit from her.
W hen Hope finally woke up, we talked about things and there is no way in hell she’s willing to stay here in the cabin when her family members have the possibility of getting hurt back home. It’s not just the members of the club who are in harm’s way in Pine View. Our entire family is there and they will do whatever it takes to protect those around them. Even if it means giving up their lives to do so. We’ve heard about it being done before in the past and that was by one of the best ol’ ladies any of the club’s we’re associated with have ever seen. Now her children, husband, and grandchildren do what they can to keep her memory alive and strong no matter what it takes. Including giving the ol’ ladies who are expecting an outfit to bring their little one home in.
The guys packed the entire cabin up while I was in with my girl and King made us lunch so we’re not leaving here on an empty stomach. He used the rest of the lunch meat to make these massive subs with chips he made from the potatoes we got yesterday. I don’t know what the fuck he does when he makes chips like this, but they’re the best things I’ve ever had to eat in my life. Hope stole from all of us because it’s not often King makes them and she’s going to take as many as she can when he does. None of the guys got pissed at her, they simply laughed their asses off and watched as she tried to be slick while stealing the chips from our plates.
I’m driving one of the SUVs back this time while Hope sits in back between Raptor and King. Bronx is with us while the other guys fill the SUV behind us. We’ve been on the road for a few hours and are now less than an hour from home now. Hope has thankfully slept most of the way on King’s shoulder and Raptor covered her with a blanket I brought with us from the cabin. I’ve got the music playing softly because it sometimes helps her sleep when she’s having nightmares. I don’t know what the fuck we’re listening to, but she heard a song and begged me to leave the channel where it was. I’m not about to deny my girl anything so I stopped flipping through the stations and let her have the song she wanted on.
Looking in my rearview mirror, I know Court is the one driving the SUV behind us with Red sitting right next to him. He’s one of the best defensive drivers from what I’ve been told and I’m seeing those skills put to the test right now as he starts to weave all over the road behind us. King pulls out his phone after looking over his shoulder and seeing what’s going on.
“Court, what the fuck is goin’ on back there?” I hear King ask the man behind us while trying to make sure his cousin isn’t woken up.
I wait as Court talks to King.
“Fuck! Alright, I’ll make sure we get ahead of you guys,” King says, hanging up his phone and putting it back in his pocket. “Got some stupid fuck tryin’ to ram their SUV. Court wants you to speed the fuck up and get the hell away from here as fast as you can.”
Without a word, I press my foot down on the gas pedal and take off from where Court is still trying to hold off the asshole behind him. My eyes dart back and forth between the road in front of me and the mirror so I can try to keep track of what’s going on with Court. One second I look back and see Court’s SUV suddenly veer off and hit a ditch head on. The ass end of the SUV raises off the road and every instinct in me is saying to pull the fuck over and go help our friends. Instead, I have to keep racing forward as a huge black truck races to catch up to us.
“King, wake Hope up and make sure her seatbelt is fastened. You two protect her at all costs while I try to get the fuck away from this asshole,” I order my best friend he tries to wake his cousin up.
King wakes my girl up and she’s instantly alert. Hope tries to look over her shoulder to find out what’s going on behind us, but King and Raptor won’t allow her to give the truck any of her attention. She doesn’t need to see anything going on back there.
It doesn’t take long for the truck to catch up to us. I’m pushing the SUV to its fucking limits and I’m not going to push it much more because Hope is with us. I won’t risk her life in a car accident because we’re trying to get away from this fucker. I’d rather pull over and face him head on over risking her life. King and the other guys with us feel the same way.
“Gonna have to make some decisions here, Jinx,” King finally says just before the truck hits us from behind and it takes every ounce of strength I have to keep control of the SUV. “Hold the fuck on!”
“You two get Hope down so if the glass shatters she doesn’t get fuckin’ cut up by it. Cover her with the blanket to give her more protection,” I demand my voice hard and cold as the truck hits us once again and the SUV swerves all over the road.
Pressing a few buttons on the steering wheel to make a call, I make the call to Vault. I’m not gonna be able to hold this fucker off for long and we need some help.
“Jinx, where the fuck are you?” Vault answers his phone because I made the call earlier that we were leaving the cabin and heading home.
“Less than an hour from the city. Need some help, Vault. We got a truck on our ass. He’s hit us twice and taken out Court’s SUV. They’re in a ditch and I know they’ll call in as soon as they can. We couldn’t stop with this truck flyin’ up on our ass. King and Raptor got Hope buried on the floor in the back. Got her covered with a blanket in case the glass shatters somehow. We need guys to show up and help us get back home, Vault. Not gonna let this fucker hurt my girl so I can’t take any chances and risks like we normally would,” I tell our President as I listen to the sounds of movement on his end of the call.
“Got a group almost to you, Jinx. Killer’s with them. You protect his daughter. I want your exact location so they can get to you. I’ll tell you right now that Killer won’t take it easy on the truck rammin’ you. He’ll be out for blood and you have to let him take care of this shit,” Vault warns me as if I don’t know this about Hope’s dad.
“I know, Vault. Sendin’ you our location now. Message is comin’ from Bronx,” I inform him as Bronx sends the message to Vault.
“Killer’s about ten minutes from there,” he informs me once the message has come through. “Stay on that path you’re on and don’t deter for any reason. Let the truck hit you again if you have to. Killer’s speedin’ up as we speak to get to his daughter. He’s in a black truck and you’ll find two more trucks with him. Don’t let this fucker go, but be careful, Jinx.”
“We’ll do what we can,” I tell him, hanging up the phone and keeping my eyes on the road in front of us.
Every few seconds I glance back at the truck and see it getting ready to hit us once again. In seconds, the truck is ramming into the ass end of the SUV even harder than before. Hope screams out in fear and it makes my blood boil because I can’t do much of anything to protect her right this second as I try to focus on keeping us on the road and out of as much danger as possible. My hands grip the wheel as tight as possible and I press down just a little bit harder on the gas pedal so we can get the fuck outta here with as little damage as possible.
With my eyes on the road in front of us once more, I see a black truck that’s jacked up racing toward us. My gut tells me this is Killer coming to save us and I let out the breath I’ve been holding while trying to deal with this fucker just as my phone rings through the speakers of the truck.
“Killer, good to fuckin’ see ya,” I answer the phone as he flies by us as if he doesn’t know his daughter is in the SUV he just passed.
“My daughter okay?” he questions me without saying another word.
“Got her on the floor in the back between King and Raptor. She’s covered with a blanket so she doesn’t get cut with anythin’ that might fly through the truck. Or if the windows shatter somehow. Not gonna let my girl get hurt, Killer. I told you I’d protect her and that’s what I fuckin’ meant,” I promise the man who is going to fucking explode in a matter of seconds based on the tone of his voice.
“We’re gonna get behind the truck and ram it from behind. Once we have it stopped, I want you to go back to get Court and the guys with him. Don’t leave them the fuck out there alone. You know this. Right now, you’re doin’ the right thing, but we always go back for our men,” Killer orders me as I hear the tires squeal and know he’s turning around to get behind the truck so he can take him the fuck out.
“Got it, Killer. I want to be with you if you fuckin’ take him alive. Don’t deny me this, Killer,” I beg him knowing he’s going to unleash the second he gets the chance.
“Not gonna take that away from you, Jinx. Told you that before. Just keep Hope safe while we take out this fucker. Got your dad with me and you know how crazy he can be when it’s needed,” Killer informs me and I smile for the first time since this all started.
“I wanna see this asshole once you get him pulled over,” Hope suddenly says, popping out from under the blanket.
“Baby Girl, I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Killer says, his voice hesitant as he tries to figure out how to reason with his daughter.
“Dad, I deserve to see who is trying to hurt us all right now. What if it’s the hitman? None of you have seen him or heard his voice. I’m the only one who has. I know King and Fox haven’t been able to get any kind of audio from the day I was attacked. You need me as much as you want to keep me away from this, you can’t. Don’t be mad, Dad. I need this,” Hope states and we all know she’s telling the truth of the situation because she is the only one who’s heard the hitman.
“Baby Girl, you’re gonna give me a thousand more gray hairs and send me to the hospital before I’m much older. You can see him, but you don’t get fuckin’ close,” Killer relents and I know it’s taking everything in him to give Hope what she wants and needs right now.
“Love you, Dad. Be safe and don’t get hurt or Mom will hurt you even more,” she says before ducking back under the blankets and hiding once again.
We hear Killer swearing in the background as someone hangs up the phone. I want to laugh my ass off because I know my dad is the one who more than likely hung the phone up on Killer. If the situation wasn’t so serious, I could see my dad teasing the hell out of Killer about giving in to his daughter so easily. Even if Hope is using common sense, Killer wouldn’t have given in because the situation is going to be extremely dangerous if this is the hitman trying to take us out.
Looking back, I watch as the truck suddenly flips to the side and slides across the pavement before going down into the ditch. I slow down and prepare to turn around to get Court and the guys with him. King lets Hope get up from the floor and she turns to see what’s going on behind us. In the rearview mirror, I see Killer and my dad getting out of the truck with Devil and Valor to rush to the truck that was trying to take us out. I bypass them after turning around and head straight for where Court’s SUV is in the ditch.
We come up on a few vehicles there with them and the guys from the club all sitting on the side of the road. I don’t see any injuries so far, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t hurt. Parking on the side of the road, I get out followed by everyone but Hope and Bronx. She remains in the SUV in case Becker is close by. King, Raptor, and I race up to where the guys are sitting.
“Are you guys okay?” I ask, kneeling down in front of Court.
“Yeah. Banged up, but nothin’ we need a hospital for. Why the fuck are you back here instead of gettin’ her home?” Court responds, confusion and anger in his voice as he looks over my shoulder at the SUV.
“The situation has been resolved. Killer, Playboy, Valor, and Devil showed up. They’re takin’ care of business right now. We gotta get back there though because Hope needs to see the person,” I say without going into too much detail with all the people around the area.
“Let’s fuckin’ go,” Court says, standing as Deegan appears with everything he could salvage from the SUV. “Got a truck on the way to pick the SUV up. Do we need to leave anyone behind with it?”
“No. If you already got someone on the way here, it won’t be long before they show up. I want to get Hope back to the clubhouse though and we need to make that stop first,” I say as we all head for the SUV I’m driving.
Handing the keys over to Court, I let him drive as I climb in the back with Hope. Red is up with Court and the rest of us cram in where we can. Deegan and Bronx are in the very back of the SUV with all the bags and shit we took to the cabin with the rest of us filling the seats. Court takes off in the direction we were heading and stops when he comes up to the truck on the side of the road. King gets out of the passenger side and steps back so Hope can follow him. I open my door and get out to follow my girl.
Killer walks straight up to Hope and pulls her into his arms. Her shoulders are shaking and I know she’s crying about the last several weeks and what happened today. Right now, she needs her dad just as much as he needs her. I stand back and let them have the time they need with King as we make sure no one comes for them at a vulnerable moment.
“Alright,” Hope says, holding her head high and straightening her back as she looks at all of us standing around. “Let me see this fucker.”
“Baby Girl, are you sure you wanna do this shit?” Killer asks her one more time as he wipes the tears from her face.
“I don’t want to do this, Dad. I need to do this. I’m the only one who can identify the hitman and you need me. As much as you hate that I have to do this shit, you need it from me. So, let me see the fucker because I know he’ll talk,” she states, her voice wavering with emotion as her hands shake and she shoves them in the pockets of the sweatpants she’s got on today.
Playboy opens the back door of the truck to reveal the fucker who was trying to take us out. Hope hesitates for just a second before stepping up and looking the asshole over. King, Killer, and I are right at her back as we watch the scene unfold in front of us.
“Surprise, motherfucker! You didn’t fucking get the job done,” she says, even though the guy hasn’t said a word to her.
I don’t miss the shock and rage filling his face and know this is the hitman.
“You fucking bitch!” he screams out, trying to get to Hope where she stands outside the truck.
“You’re not gonna touch me, fucker. You tried your best to kill me and it wasn’t good enough. Now, I hope my family members make you fucking suffer until you’re begging for death. And then I hope they continue to torture you until your body simply gives out. Then, I want them all to line up and piss on the unmarked grave you end up with,” Hope states, lunging in the door of the truck to land a punch on the fucker.
She blasts him right in the nose and I hear the satisfying crunch as it breaks and blood starts to spray all over the place. Looking at Killer as Hope steps back, he’s got the largest smile on his face because his daughter just confronted her nightmare and didn’t hold back because of the fear coursing through her. I’m proud as fuck of my girl.
“Baby Girl, let’s get you outta here. I don’t want you on your feet until Doc can come check you out. You were bumped around in the SUV and if you have any injuries we need to know about them now,” Killer says, looking Hope over once again as she lets him.
“I’m okay, Dad. But, I am ready for a nap. I didn’t sleep so good after therapy earlier. All I want is something to eat and then a bed,” she says, letting me take her in my arms so I can carry her back to the SUV.
The rest of the drive is made in silence as Hope once again starts to fall asleep in my lap.
I hold her tight as she snuggles into me and King covers her with a blanket.
Killer and Playboy remain behind us in case another attempt is made to get to us while another truck pulls up and gets in front of us.
I’m not sure who’s driving or in that one, but I know it’s from the club.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s my grandpa Slim out here to help and get his hands dirty.
Right now, I don’t even care though.
I’ve got Hope in my arms and we’re almost home.
Soon, I can make things official and we can start to move forward with the rest of our lives.