Chapter 16
Bear
I slipped Carl’s money into Rose’s jacket and zipped her up tight.
“ Keep that safe.” Tits was right behind Wolf and guided Rose through the bar to the waiting van where Kate and the other women huddled.
Rescue mission complete, the group took off with little fanfare.
Their escort included Tits on her rat bike and the few members we could afford to delegate.
I noted the patches present. The clubs were mostly the weekend types, with a few exceptions. Those I counted and weighed their loyalties toward our meager crew.
We were outnumbered.
As the Demons hung on the perimeter, a second group arrived.
The colors on their back were from one of their feeder chapters.
The bar’s mood shifted quickly. The rattle of conversation died, and people cleared out, paying tabs, and making themselves scarce.
Even the civilians knew we were outnumbered.
None of the newcomers left. That was good. Our women were safely gone.
I tipped my head to the road and back to Wolf . “ Well ? Shall we?”
He frowned, his eyes lingering a few moments too long on the highway Tits was on.
“ She’ll be fine.”
“ We’re in our territory. They crossed without permission.”
I shrugged. “ Maybe they heard about that crew in Allentown ?”
His face broadcasted his disgust. “ Life would be a lot fucking easier if…”
He didn’t finish his thought.
I could think of a dozen ways to do that for him. I wanted to be balls-deep in Rose right now; so I felt his frustration keenly. I matched his gait as we approached the mounted club.
Wolf held his hands loose by his hips, palms exposed as he addressed their leader. “ Hey , Fry .”
The man dipped his head. His eyes trailed to me. Unlike Wolf , I didn’t pretend to be unarmed. I shifted until my vest hung open, exposing the gun I had strapped to my chest under it.
“ I see there’s been a regime change.” Fry squinted at my patches, searching for a clue to give him the information he’d just hinted at.
Wolf stepped forward. “ You didn’t get the memo? Jackson’s Regional President now.”
Fry snorted. “ Here I thought his fucking around finally killed him. Damn .” His tone was sarcastic enough to be an insult.
I held onto my temper by calculating how fast I could pop fifteen shots off to take him, his VP , his SoA , and any other motherfucker close enough to drill into with a bullet before the rest drowned me in a hailstorm of lead. We would not go down quietly.
“ No such luck.” Wolf laughed. “ Got a present for you.”
“ I like presents.” Fry licked his lips and searched the thin crowd behind us.
It was only our brothers. I glanced to the left in time to see KC’s buddy, Fish , work his way along our flank.
He was positioning for a shot. I recognized the maneuver because it would be what I’d do if I wasn’t standing in the middle of a parking lot with my ass waving in the breeze like a big red flag.
“ We cut loose those bastards from Allentown . You’re free to recruit ’em or shoot ’em. ‘ Don’t give a fuck either way.”
Fry smiled at Wolf . His eyes scanned our numbers. “ Did you stop recruiting?” His tone hid a smirk as if he was a front row witness to our demise.
He had at least twenty men at his back. And the feeder chapter held another dozen or more.
Numbers we would never be able to match.
Not unless we wanted to give away the fortune Sprout stuck a ring on fair and square.
This was what Jackson had worried most about.
We might all be dangerous, but we also were far too few.
Wolf let him stew a moment before replying. “ Tell me, if you were sitting on four hundred and fifty million, would you want to share it with a bunch of fucking idiots who can’t even piss straight?”
Fry’s quiet laugh didn’t make a sound. His eyes drifted to Wolf’s prosthetic leg. “ I suppose if I was in your position, I’d be a little paranoid.”
That was a threat. One I shouldn’t let him get away with. If I were still the SoA for the chapter, I’d pull my gun, odds be damned.
Instead , I strolled forward, almost stopping within arm’s reach of Fry’s bike.
I smiled and tipped my head to the guy on his left who had his hand jammed down his vest so hard it was going to get stuck that way.
“ Did you ever find out who shot your men up north?” As far as rumors went, Demons were supposedly very easy to kill.
One half-out-of-it Destroyer and an old man wasted almost seven of Fry’s crew.
Hell , one woman killed four right under their own roof.
Which would be a good thing to remind him about.
“ And Killer’s getting better with a gun.
” I let my smile go wide and leaked a little crazy out.
The kind that one day would get me killed.
But Fry loved crazy. He ate it up like candy.
“ I like you, Bear . Wanna ride with the big boys?” He motioned to his crew.
His scrawny addict-infested bunch was no match for five well-armed Destroyers . “ Wanna see how fast your house goes boom with some C4 ?” I winked.
His face dropped into a scowling pit of hatred. “ Go fuck yourself.”
He circled his hand once, and the bikes fired up. They roared around us three times before they took off in the opposite direction that Tits took.
Wolf let a silent sigh of relief leak out as soon as the thunder from their motors dimmed in the distance. “ They still didn’t ask for permission.”
“ I noticed that. They’re going to be a problem in a couple of years.” I muttered.
“ They’re a problem now.” Wolf answered.
The Demons weren’t technically our enemy. That was reserved for another group. The Wicked Legion had always been our enemy. And their biggest tactical mistake was making the Demons one, too. Which put us and the Demons on the same side.
That only worked if there was an even balance between our crews. But numbers didn’t lie. Speaking of…
“ Fish . Get your ass over here.”
KC’s tweaker friend crawled out of the shadows he’d taken residence in. I patted him down and pulled his nine-mil before introducing him to Wolf . “ Meet KC’s buddy, our eyes and ears on Carl . His name’s Fish .”
Wolf scanned him. Then motioned for me to hand over the gun I’d confiscated. He looked at it for barely a second. “ Are you always armed?”
Fish almost lied. It was right there on his face. But he had at least one brain cell left. “ No .”
Wolf handed the gun back to him. “ From now on, you will be. Understand ?”
Despite whatever he was on, his nod was sober.
But Wolf wasn’t done. “ And whatever shit you’re on? Get off it. I will not recruit anyone so fucked up they put my brothers’ lives on the line like you just fucking did.” He grabbed Fish’s gun hand by the wrist and clamped down hard. “ They saw you, you fucking idiot.”
Sprout nonchalantly re-holstered his gun. He’d seen it, too, and kept his coverage hidden from even me.
Apparently , Wolf knew because he dipped his head at our very own class clown.
“ Sprout can hit dead center of a moving target at 80 meters. You may want to come to the lake house with KC and get some practice at being a little more…discreet.” He let go abruptly.
The marks from his grip turned white and then flushed into an angry red.
Wolf was not a weak man. Too many people underestimated his abilities just because of a missing leg.
Hopefully , Fish would get the hint and begin taking advantage of our hospitality. It would be at least a year before anyone stepped forward to sponsor him, and double that long before we’d even think about patching him in.
Fry was right. We were down in numbers. Our feeder chapter down south had its own charter now, and we hadn’t found anyone who could fill their shoes.
West of us, Pittsburg was disintegrating.
Maybe we could poach members from that implosion, but losing that chapter would leave a huge hole that someone needed to fill.
And if we weren’t careful, that someone would be the Demons or the Wicked Legion . Then we’d be screwed.
Jackson was right to swap me out for others. And we were damn stupid letting his wife and kid tag along on a border ride.
Even if it technically wasn’t on our border. The Demons coming this far into our territory worried me. Truce or not, it had been a test. One we failed.
Wolf nudged my arm. “ What’s got you quiet?”
“ You know what.”
He snorted. “ You need to get laid.”
I let out a deep sigh. “ I was this close, man.” I held my fingers up, barely a millimeter of space between them.
He slapped my back. “ You know what we need to do, right?”
I sent him a side-eye. “ Lemme guess. Ride home and fix that?”
His grin spread wide. “ Called it.” He glanced at the sun.
It hung over the trees. Not quite an urgent signal, but it would be close to dark before we all landed at the junkyard to patch KC in.
I signaled for Sprout to gather the wagons.
Wolf walked over and straddled his bike, walking it closer to mine.
He reached over and put two fingers on my gas tank.
“ You know, Tits insisted I get a flush-mount. Best money I ever spent.”
With that, he revved up his machine and took lead next to Sprout .
I hung back, letting Hickey and Smoke fill in the next set.
I pulled alongside Sketch and sat firmly in the center of the pack.
We tore out as one unit. Not nearly as impressive as the thunder of thirty-plus bikes, but it didn’t suck.
The chaser van was parked inside the lot, close to the club’s main building.
Kate’s car hadn’t moved since early afternoon.
Tits parked her bike where Wolf’s should be.
He idled in front of it, staring. “ One of these days…” He shook his head and parked alongside it.
Sprout was first off his bike, using his long legs to his advantage to beat us all inside.