Chapter Five #2
Rattler shrugged. “Joker’s in-house for the next couple of days so we can see what works for him. It won’t take that long. I can stay with you for it if you’re nervous.”
“Thanks. That would be good.” I was glad he understood.
“Next issue. Where’s the gun?”
I blinked. “Why?”
“Clubhouse rules. You’re a guest here. Guests don’t have weapons on them.”
I hesitated for a second. It’s not like I wanted to keep the damn thing anyway. I’d only taken it so Tim wouldn’t have it if he came after me. I wasn’t sure I could even pull the trigger and shoot at a person if I had to.
“It’s in the bathroom under that stack of towels.”
He gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll give it to Beast. That’s the twins’ dad, in case you didn’t memorize the introductions at the cupcake party. He’s Riptide’s enforcer. He’ll put it in the arms locker for safekeeping.”
“The twins said something about a shooting range out back?”
“Yes. If you want to practice, just let me know and I can get it for you. Or the twins can, they know where the keys are. You need someone with you to use the range. Buddy system. Only patched members are allowed to use it alone.”
I smiled wryly. “For a gang of outlaw bikers, you have a lot of rules.”
Rattler shook his head. “You’re confusing us with the one-percenters. We’re bikers, but we mostly stay within the law. Hell, we’re more of a high-end security force than what you think of when you say biker.”
That made sense. I’d never understood why my brother Jack was so enthusiastic about joining a biker gang, but I’d based that on movies and books where the bikers were basically mafia on wheels. These guys were different.
“So you’ll take care of the gun?” I was actually relieved I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.
He nodded. “No problem.”
Just then, a loud noise erupted from somewhere below us. It sounded like a bomb going off. Rattler jumped to his feet.
“What the fuck!”
* * *
Rattler
Lily looked pissed, and the kitten made a dive for the safety of the backpack. “If that’s Tim, I’m going to kill him myself. I’m done with being scared!” She made a move toward the bathroom where the gun was hidden.
I put my arm out to stop her. She looked adorable, all five foot two of her glaring up at me. I had to fight the urge to grin.
“Get the gun if it makes you feel better, but keep the safety on. Stay here while I go check it out and lock the door. Don’t let anyone in until I come back.”
I checked my own gun in the shoulder holster and raced to the door. Throwing it open. I pivoted to reinforce my last order. “I mean it. Do not open this door until I tell you it’s safe.”
I had the feeling she was done taking orders from a man, any man, but I fucking hoped her sense of self-preservation would have her locking the damn door behind me.
Beast and Shadow were already racing toward the stairwell, guns drawn.
“Not so fast,” I snarled.
Both men paused to look at me, brows drawn down in mute question.
“If this is a fucking attack, they’re going to be watching the stairs, just waiting for someone stupid enough to come running so they can pick you off before you see them.” I looked around. “Anyone else up here?”
“Just my girls, and they know to stay put.” Beast’s gaze darted around the narrow hallway, searching for threats. “They have guns if they need to defend themselves. Your woman safe?”
It felt good that he called Lily my woman. “Told her to keep the door locked, and she has a gun too. Just in case.”
He nodded. I’d explain the gun later. I picked up a boot someone had left outside a doorway and tossed it down the staircase. It bounced its way to the bottom, thumping loudly on each step it hit. We all stood rigid, expecting to hear a rain of gunfire.
Nothing.
Dead silence.
I didn’t smell smoke or anything to indicate explosives had been used.
Picking up the other boot. I tossed it after the first.
Same result. Nothing.
I nodded at Beast. “One at a time. I go first. Then Shadow. You bring up the rear.”
They both nodded. We’d done this hundreds of times before on active duty with the SEALs. It wasn’t something you forgot. We all knew the routine, the risks, how to cover each other’s butts.
Just as I started down the stairs, I heard someone coughing loudly, stumbling footsteps coming in our direction. I stopped, holding up my hand to warn the others. Sliding my gun out of the holster, I eased the safety off and pointed it in the direction of the sound.
Jake stumbled into view, leaning heavily on the wall for support. His eyes widened as he looked up and saw us. Understanding crossed his face, and he shook his head. “No. Not an attack. Ceiling fan. Fell and landed on my foot.” He broke down into spasms of coughing again.
None of that made sense, but I eased the safety back on and holstered the gun.
Mom appeared behind him and looked up at me.
“That big ceiling fan in the kitchen. You know, the one over the table? It just came crashing down. No warning. Nothing. One minute it was spinning away, and the next it hit the table, pieces of glass and stuff everywhere. That’s what made all the racket.
Part of it broke off and hit Jake, which is why he’s limping. ”
I pivoted to Shadow and Beast. “All clear.” Turning back to Mom, I asked, “Anyone hurt besides Jake?”
She shook her head. “No, but I don’t want to be the one to tell Janet the kitchen is going to need major repairs less than a month before her wedding. I’ll leave that up to Thor.”
I descended the remaining stairs. “Let’s take a look. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think.” That was a fairly new fan, replacing the one that had been up there for decades. The old one had been much smaller and hadn’t done a decent job of moving the air around.
Beast and Shadow were right behind me as we entered the kitchen.
Not surprisingly, the place was a mess. Pieces of the fan were everywhere, and the table was most likely a write-off with bits of shattered glass embedded in the wooden top.
I looked up and saw open wires dangling from the electrical box.
I turned to Mom. “Is the power turned off to that?”
She nodded at the switch on the wall. “Yeah. It was sparking so I turned the switch off.”
I looked at Beast. “Can you go pull the breaker at the power box? It should be labeled.”
“On it.” Beast headed down the corridor to the utility room that housed the main breaker panels.
Ace and Deuce appeared in the doorway, followed by Joker. Ace took in the carnage and turned to me. “What the hell happened?”
I shrugged. “Ceiling fan came down. Not sure why. Beast just went to cut the power, but we’ll need an electrician and possibly a restoration crew to fix this.”
He frowned. “That thing’s only been up there since spring.”
Beast came back. “Breaker’s off. Should be safe enough now.” He pulled out his phone. “Just letting the girls know everything’s okay.”
Deuce shook his head. “Not really okay, but they’re in no danger.” He pivoted and addressed me. “Get a couple of the prospects in here to clean up this mess.”
I nodded and pulled out my own phone.
Ace crossed the room and wrapped an arm around Mom. “Don’t worry. We’ll get this cleaned up. Meantime, go take care of Jake. It looks like a pizza party night for the club.”
I texted a couple of the prospects, then realized Lily didn’t have a phone. “Prospects are on the way. Okay if I run up and let Lily know everything’s okay? She doesn’t have a phone so I can’t just text her.”
Shadow paced over to my side. “I should have thought of that. Even if she had one, it would be traceable, so she’d need to ditch it. I’ll get her set up ASAP. What’s her preference? Android? iPhone?”
I shrugged. “No fucking idea. I’ll ask and get back to you.”
I turned to Joker, who was looking after Jake. “By the way, do you have time today to check Lily out and document the bruises on her?”
“No problem. Give me an hour or so to take care of some shit. You want to do it in your room? She might feel more comfortable there.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.”
Lily was probably going crazy wondering what the hell was going on. I needed to get back to her.
Ace gave me a sympathetic look. “We can handle this here. Go. Take care of your woman.” He turned to Mom.
“And you go take care of Jake. Shadow, order pizza and let the guys at the gate know it’s coming.
Beast, make sure everyone knows we’re eating out back tonight and make sure there’s enough beer and drinks in the fridge out there. ”
“Thanks, bro.” I pivoted on my heel and headed back up to my room to let Lily know things were okay, and that Joker would be up shortly.
I knocked on the door and yelled, “It’s me. Don’t shoot.”
The sound of the lock being turned made me feel good. When it mattered, Lily had taken my orders seriously. She opened the door, looking at me questioningly. “Everything okay now?”
I entered, taking her hand in mine as I closed the door behind me. “False alarm. At least, it wasn’t an attack, despite all the noise.”
She sat and pulled me down beside her. “So, what happened?”
I explained the fucking mess to her, ending with the fact that supper was going to be pizza and beer outside. “So not all bad.”
“Ceiling fans don’t usually just fall down, do they?”
I shook my head. “No. It’s a fairly new fan so not like something finally snapped.
It’s a lot bigger than the one that was there before so chances are the guy who put it up should have put in a stronger box for it and didn’t.
It didn’t have a safety wire anchoring it up either.
The mounting box looks like it’s the original. ”
“Can you get the guy who put it up to pay for a new one?”