Chapter 20
Hound Dog
W hat’s worse than waking up horny with the most angelic woman in your arms when the sun barely has come up? Waking up like that and your phone blaring loudly.
Melody started to stir in my arms when I reached for my phone. I held her close, barely looking at the caller ID.
“This better be fucking good,” I murmured in warning.
She had snuggled closer, like she didn’t want the distance between us. The way her body vibrated with her soft snores. I didn’t want to wake her but something told me when I relooked at the caller ID it wasn’t going to be good.
“We need to talk. Meet me near the old Mud Island entrance.” Greene spoke through the phone.
He clicked off before I could retort or tell him to fuck off for a while. I had just gotten my girl, I didn’t want her to feel like I left her high and dry.
You could call me a simp now, instant sap because I got her and I wasn’t going to let her go. No matter how much either of us wanted to run in the opposite direction.
With a deep groan, I tried to shimmy out of the bed undetected, but Melody stirred even more in her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open with that morning, blissful haze. She blinked a couple of times, looked at me, and sighed with a deep contentment. A slight smile appeared on her face.
“Thank God,” she whispered, still in her sleepy voice.
“What, honey?”
“It wasn’t a dream.” She chuckled, her eyes fluttering closed again.
“No. More like a dream come true.” I kissed her soft, inviting lips. I dropped my forehead to hers. “I have to go somewhere this morning.”
Her body sank deeper in the bed, she let go of me and I straightened up. “Okay,” she said. “I understand.”
“My sweet songbird, I’m coming back. You know that right?” I caressed her face, hoping for a sign that she was okay with me leaving, only to come back to her.
Her eyes were still closed when she gave me a tiny nod. With a yawn, she spoke. “Yeah, I know. You got to do your job.”
She was truly going to be the death of me, because I expected more of a fight. But not from her, not when most people left her or used her. Fuck the bleeding heart that started beating again.
“But I have someone worth making sure I come home.” The sweet sentiment came quicker than expected. “Hey.” I shook her a little bit. Her eyes opened up. “Kiss me, woman.”
With a soft, yet stern look she scooted up, and met me face to face. Her warm lips planted softly on mine, giving me the guiltiest feeling that I had to leave. I pushed into the kiss with a little more demand, enough for her to crave more, to know that I would come back to finish what I started.
With a hushed sigh, she sank into it.
That’s my girl.
With the small ache in my chest, I got dressed quickly, finding my cut and my keys. I sent a message to my board, keeping them on alert.
You could hear the birds echo their songs early that morning. Choosing the truck meant that I had more protection though I wished I had the freedom of the open road. Greene didn’t leave much to know what would happen next.
My head was spinning with the endless thoughts of what was to come next. It didn't seem like the world was in balance let alone my world. There was someone out there framing the club for something we didn't do.
At some point I felt like I was letting the club down, but I was letting the mother chapter down too. When I got voted in as president I knew that it was meant to be. Some say all the tough roads lead to the smoother ones. I had done my time, I had proved my loyalty and more, and when they voted me in I knew that I was right for it.
But ever since the bodies had been dropping on Main Street, I had second guessed myself.
In the past couple weeks I had done nothing but think of how to turn things around, how to prove to the club that I was still the right person for this job. And now I had to add to the fact that I wanted to keep Melody safe from prying eyes that would do anything to see me torn apart.
That's why I had stayed away from all the sweetbutts and all the parties with the clubhouse. Because if I did get attached or someone thought I got attached it wouldn't have been long before even more trouble would come my way or the club's way.
If I was going to find answers I was going to put my nose to the ground.
And yet, as I drove through the backrest to Mud Island my thoughts reverted back to Melody and how I was a jackass in the very beginning, keeping my distance from her thinking that I could do such a thing.
And now that I had her I was never going to let go of her. But I wasn't ready to share her with the rest of the world just yet. She may not like it when I would have to tell her when I got back. The thought of her being my old lady sent straight pleasure down to my cock, the one she milked that night.
It wasn’t long until I pulled up near one of the neighborhoods of Mud Island, a place where you could let go and hear music for days like echoes in a cave. What was once a treasured place was now just a ghost of the past.
But it served as a place to do business away from business. My boots hit the concrete gliding up to see Greene standing there in plain clothes, a lot better than a uniform but nonetheless. Greene had shoved his hands in his pocket looking at the coastline being able to see across the way about the Mississippi.
“This better have been good for getting me up so damn early in the morning,” I rumbled out.
He had turned his head looking down at the ground. Something was on his mind and it wasn't going to be good. “I appreciate you coming out here, Hound Dog, I know...” he started to say.
I threw up my hand to stop him because all I wanted to hear was more updates and telling me that all was going to be well and that he had cleaned up whatever was messed up in the first place.
“Save the appreciation until after all this blows over.” I pushed past the thought of just walking away. I didn’t know if I was in the right mindset or not.
“Say whatever you need to say.”
“There have been some things that have come, things that I’ve been hiding from the chief on this because it could involve another party of authorities.” He started off. He piqued my interest, knowing that there was some kind of development.
“Keep going,” I ordered him. I didn’t like people wasting my time.
“There was additional DNA that was left over on the recent body. Either someone got sloppy or it was intentional. But I had my guy run it under the table, and it confirms one thing,” he continued, “It wasn’t the Saints.”
I wanted to roll my fucking eyes because of course I knew it wasn’t us. The amount of probing my own brothers and then second-guessing the people we had with us. I went down the rabbit hole when I asked Dolly, our manager with the burlesque, if there was something she was hiding. Other than a slap to my face, I deserved it, there wasn’t anything.
“Get to the part that shows me that you’re not wasting my time. I knew I had my club under control, so I turned over every rock.” I was flushed with anger, teetering past the point of exploding.
He threw his hands up to show surrender, “While the DNA wasn’t any of you, it was someone else that you may be of interest.”
“Does the name Emerson McNealy mean anything to you?” Greene asked.
I shook my head. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to or not. “Means nothing to me.”
“Well it should,” he said, reaching into his back pocket to pull out his phone to show me a picture, “as it’s the name of a certain road captain of a club that you are very familiar with. I believe you know him as Indigo.”
Greene handed me his phone to show me a mugshot of a man that some of us knew a little too well.
Indigo belonged to Arkansas’s very own Razor Hogs MC, an MC that never wanted to expand but always wanted our territory. They had been around even when Pops was in his own club. They had been causing problems. But they were more like a failed cartoon villain. Whatever plot or scheme they had, it was rarely successful.
They weren’t much of a threat until they came over to the various districts we were in and attempted to start fights. It didn’t end well for them, but they were more of a nuisance. I stared at the picture a little too hard. I didn't know whether I truly needed to feel threatened or confused.
Why?
What had transpired to give them the inspiration to come after us.
“What do you think their reasoning has been?” I asked Greene, handing him his phone back before I let my anger get another chance to bubble up.
He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, man. Unless you and Slickback got into it recently or it’s something to do with your shipping, I have no other idea. Shit I don’t even think they’ve occupied the cells down there at Station 28 for a long while now that I think about it.”
When he mentioned it, I knew he was right, we hadn’t seen any activity from the Hogs in a while. While it was a blessing, it was definitely suspicious. But it would explain why Weston was hesitant to give up information. Maybe he knew who he was working for or but it didn’t add up.
I was ready to burn their whole MC if it would solve anything but there were too many damn strings attached to this. They got to Weston; who knew if they had gotten to anyone else? Maybe it was time to set a trap or something, the thought was there, or maybe we set off a warning for them to stop.
Drop something or someone back off to them.
I thought it was time for Weston to return to sender. With a small grimace on my face, I looked back at Greene, extended my hand out. He reached for it, and I shook his hand and clapped him on the back. “You did good. Knew you would come through.”
Greene tightened his hand, his eyes narrowed. “No you didn’t. You’re still trying to test me and see if I screw up. And it wasn’t me that thought to check additional DNA.”
I shot him a look, then it dawned on me as I withdrew my hand, “Little Officer Daniels.” I sneered. I didn’t like outsiders. The club didn’t like outsiders in our business. No matter how much street credit the boy got.
Greene didn’t let up on his expression. “I told you that I’d never pull one on the Saints. As much as I can't stand what you do, the amount you all have done, I look the other way.”
“And the little bonuses you get helps too, right.”
“Hound, you scratch mine, I scratch yours. But I’ve done everything to prove myself,” he started to say before I cut him off.
“And what does that tell me,” I warned him.
“That you can fucking trust me. I would have thought over the years and the past few you’ve been president that you let up.” Greene squared up, challenging me.
As much as I hated it, he was right. The man never let us down, helping us when we needed it the most. I nodded my head.
“Yeah, I know. Jesus fuck.” I rubbed my neck.
He cocked his eyebrows. “Anything else I should know?”
I shook my head, not his demons, but mine. His eyes softened when he saw something, call it wisdom with age, but he sighed. “You know it’s okay to lean on everyone else.”
I nodded, then he said, “I’ll wrap up the investigation this week, don’t worry about it.”
He grasped my shoulder with a firm squeeze and walked in the opposite direction.
The weight of the club and being in this role could take a toll.
I just shook away any thought of self-doubt and shoved it where it couldn’t be brought back up. By the time I had formed a plan in my head, I had made it to the clubhouse to wake up the men and decided that it’s time to get off our asses.
I busted through the door, ready to give out commands. Call it revenge, or call it a warning, whatever it was, I was going to end it and we were going to get back to a normal life. Maybe a warning to the Hogs would shut them up and make them think twice before coming into our territory.
“Who ever is not fucking awake, someone better go wake them up, we have a rat to return,” I bellowed out, a few members were scattered around, looking dazed and confused. “I’m sorry, did I fucking stutter, wake up the rest of the fuckers, now.”
They scrambled out of their seats and went into the hallways to the rooms, pounding on every door, waking up the club. Because this was going to end and it was going to end how I wanted it to.
B.B approached me as he rubbed his eyes, the man didn’t put on a shirt, but grabbed his cut. “What happened? You get dressed in the dark?” I held back my laugh as B.B ran his fingers through his hair. I continued, “I’m sorry, were you getting laid or something?”
He shot me with a stern look, and I just laughed. “You’re in a good fucking mood.”
More like I shook off doubting myself and my capability to do this job.
“For the first time, I think I am.” I grinned, waiting for the other brothers to come. I wasn’t calling church, we needed to move now.
B.B saw the look in my eye and knew that it was more than just a spark of happiness.
“Mm, did little Hound Dog get to howl last night?” he asked. He tried to cozy up like a damn cat, laughing at his own pun.
“Who howled last night?” Otis emerged from the hallway, wiping away the sleep from his eyes.
“Why was someone howling? I mean that’s some kinky shit,” Shooter said from behind with a twisted smile.
Some people were in a playful mood. The more people became awake, the more anxious I was to get this over.
When the prospects finally arrived, more like staggered in, it was time.
“Greene called me this morning and let me in on some news. Apparently the Hogs want to slither their way back over here. DNA from their own came back. So, I think it’s time for our little rat to return to sender.” I clapped the shoulder of B.B as he muttered something.
Otis leaned over to Hank, I could hear him, “I think boss man lost it.”
“Maybe he’s still hungover from whatever happened after yesterday.” Stray murmured as well.
“Well, brothers, if being hungover from the feeling of ending this once in for all, you better believe it.” I couldn’t help but smile.
They all looked at me with confusion but Shooter stepped forward. “When and where Prez?”
“I’m glad you asked. The way I see it, the perfect opportunity is to stage our little friend in one of their businesses,” I said as I walked through all the bed heads and early morning confusion. I brushed past Reverend who was by the bar, fiddling with the cross that was tattooed on his palm.
Reverend wasn’t around much when it came to the turf wars or businesses. He was needed for other reasons but nevertheless the man always had an opinion, like the devil’s advocate. But he simply nodded his head as I approached.
“Work with Blaze, figure out the timing of when they are least around.” I snapped out my command.
“Got it all figured out?” B.B called out from the back. “Didn’t want a second opinion?”
I shook my head, I had this under control, I wasn’t going to let up on it.
“I’ll tag along, I feel I need to rectify this,” Fender ponied up.
He was a good man, a good heart, dedicated to the club, I had no qualms about this. I nodded, giving him approval.
Stray cleared his throat, “And what does that mean for the rest of us, oh Mr. President.” he joked, bowing his head in sarcasm.
I banged my fists on the bartop, “It means we’re back to business, boys.”
I eyed the bushy blonde who walked and leaned up against the bar. “Figured it out on your own.”
“I gotta do what I gotta do for the club.”
B.B shook his head. “Five minutes, you could have talked with me for five minutes.”
“I had it handled.”
“Like always.” He scoffed.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I pushed back.
He shook his head, “Nothing, brother. What do you need from me?”
B.B was holding back, but he wasn’t ready to tell me or maybe I wasn’t ready for what he wanted to say.
“Might want to give Dolly a heads up, business may be busier now that we’re back in action.” B.B was protective over his bars and his burlesque, something that Dolly and him cooked up. Lately, he had been more at The Feathers, but it wasn’t my business to know every detail of the man’s life.
All was going to be okay, I had to believe it.