Chapter 15
Widow
My brief visit with Frankie and the boys gave me a much-needed reprieve—something I hadn’t realized I’d needed until I had it.
I might’ve stayed longer if I had known how the next few days were going to play out—maybe then, I would’ve been better prepared for what laid ahead.
Unfortunately, there was no way any of us could’ve known what was coming.
By the next morning, the families had been brought in and had made themselves at home in their quarters at the clubhouse.
I needed a break from all the chaos, so I followed Hawk out to the garage.
He wanted to check out the damage to Badger and Danny’s bikes, hoping it might give us some indication to what had happened on the morning they disappeared.
We were all three going over every inch of both bikes, studying every smudge or scratch when there was an explosion of gunfire several yards away.
Hawk shot up, taking his gun from his holster as he shouted, “What the hell was that?”
“Sounded like it came from out front.”
The gunfire continued as I drew my weapon and followed Hawk towards the main gate.
When we made it around the corner of the clubhouse, we found Lynch and Bear firing at the back end of a black van—the same black van that had tailed us just a few days prior.
They continued to fire until it was well out of range.
Pissed that they’d gotten away, Lynch shouted, “Goddammit! I hit ‘em! I know I did!”
We’d just made our way over to them when Viper stormed out of the clubhouse with Glock in hand and roared, “What the fuck is going on?”
“That black van just drove by...same one that tailed us on the way back from the run.” Lynch pointed out to the side of the road as he continued, “They were just a few feet from the gate when they opened the back doors and tossed something out the back. As soon as it fell to the ground, they took off.”
“What the fuck did they toss out?”
“Got no idea. It’s over there by the ditch.”
Lynch opened the gate, and we all rushed over to the ditch to see what had been tossed out. As Viper got closer, I heard him mutter, “No...no...no.”
Hawk’s voice was filled with anguish as he muttered, “Oh, dear God.”
I stepped between them, and my blood ran cold when I saw what had been tossed out was the body of Badger.
His face had been beaten to the point he was almost unrecognizable, both his wrists looked to be broken, and his throat had been slit from ear to ear.
They’d taken his prospect leather jacket and torched it with him in it, and there was no way of knowing if he was alive when they’d done it.
The sight of him in such a state brought bile to the back of my throat.
As we stood there looking down at Badger’s broken body, my mind wandered to all the different ways I’d like to kill the sonofabitches who’d done this, and I had no doubt that my brothers were thinking the same.
Panic filled Hawk’s voice as he asked, “Where’s Danny? What the fuck did they do with Danny?”
“No idea, brother, but we’ll find him.”
“Dammit.”
I turned to Viper as I said, “We’re gonna find ‘em and make them pay for fucking with the Sinners. And when I say make them pay, I mean make them burn. Every last fucking one of them.”
“Oh, there’s no doubt about that. These motherfuckers just bought themselves a fucking war like they’ve never seen.”
“I should’ve better prepared him for shit like this.” Lynch was Badger’s sponsor, and he took his role seriously. Knowing him like I did, I had no doubt that he was holding himself responsible for what had happened. “Poor kid didn’t stand a chance.”
“Don’t.” Viper turned to face him, looking him dead in the eye. “None of us would’ve been prepared for something like this.”
“Maybe, but I can’t help but feel partly responsible.” His voice was riddled with anguish as he asked, “What are we going to do with him?”
“The kid doesn’t have any family to contact, so we’ll take him in and clean him up.
Once we get him ready, I’ll give Gary a call down at the funeral home to set up the cremation.
” Sadly, this wasn’t the first time we’d found ourselves in this kind of situation, so we’d already established a protocol.
Whenever a brother was killed and had no family or burial request, we called Gary.
He owned the local funeral home. We’d made it worth his while to tend to our deceased.
Once he’d cremated the body, we’d have a ceremony on the grounds and a last ride to spread the ashes.
It was our way of paying tribute to those who rode alongside us, celebrating the life they’d dedicated to the club.
Viper glanced down at Badger and shook his head.
“Under the circumstances, we can’t do a last ride until we’ve dealt with the assholes who did this. ”
“Understood.”
We carried Badger’s body into the infirmary and laid him down on one of the beds. Doc came over and emotion filled his eyes as he looked down at our young prospect. “Damn shame. The kid was gonna make a hell of a brother.”
“Yes, he was.”
Doc started cutting away at his charred leather cut and blood-soaked clothes, and when he pulled it back, my stomach sank at the sight of all the cuts and stab wounds that covered his burnt chest. From the looks of it, they’d been torturing the poor kid for days.
Like the rest of us, Viper was distraught by the sight and grabbed a container from the counter, slamming it against the wall. “Damn it!”
“We’ll get ‘em, Prez,” Lynch assured.
“You’re damn straight we will.” Looking more eager than ever, Viper looked to me as he said, “We need to see if Shotgun’s made any progress with Grant.”
I nodded, then followed him out the door and down to the holding room.
When we walked up to the window, Shotgun was towering over Grant as he sat in a chair with his hands bound behind his back.
With his bruised and swollen face, he looked like he was on his last leg.
Shotgun’s voice was low and threatening as he warned, “You’re not gonna be able to hold out forever.
You might as well save yourself the trouble and tell us what we need to know. ”
“I can’t...Casey...Sadie....I just can’t.”
Viper was looking straight ahead as he asked, “Who’s Casey and Sadie?”
“Got no idea.”
“It’s time to find out.”
Viper opened the door, and I followed him inside.
I stood back as Viper went over to Shotgun.
They spoke for a moment, and Shotgun filled him in on the fact that Casey and Sadie were Grant’s daughters.
As soon as he had all the information, Viper went over and grabbed a blowtorch off the counter.
He took it over and lit it in front of Grant.
“Your buddies did a real number on one of my prospects, and they still have another. Got no idea what they’re doing to him, but I got a feeling it’s more of the same. So, my patience is running thin.”
Viper took the torch and lowered it to Grant’s knee causing him to bellow out in agony. “Please, for the love of God, stop!”
“You want me to stop, then tell me what I want to know!”
“I can’t!”
“You can and you will!” Viper growled, still holding the flame against Grant’s leg.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the room, making it difficult to breathe, but Viper wasn’t letting up.
“You want your daughters to make it out of all this alive, then you better get to talking cause we’re the only chance they’ve got. ”
“He’ll kill them just like he killed Donavan’s kids...burned them alive when he tried to walk away.”
“He won’t get the chance.” Viper turned off the torch as he told him, “Not if we get to him first.”
“Don’t you see, you won’t win...not against him. He won’t let you.” Grant seemed completely sincere as he cried, “He’s crazy, and he’s set on vengeance!”
“Vengeance for what?”
“Said you forced him to take the fall for something that wasn’t his fault, and it ruined his life.”
“Take the fall for what?”
“Never really got the full story, but he was always talking about how you guys thought you ruled the world, and he couldn’t wait to be the one who brought you to your knees.” Grant’s eyes were wide with worry as he said, “This guy’s not right in the head. He won’t quit until this thing is done.”
“And neither will I.” Viper pulled a chair over and sat down in front of Grant. He kept his voice low and steady as he said, “You tell me where he is, and I’ll kill him. I’ll kill all of them. They’ll never have a chance to get to your girls.”
“But...”
“I’m gonna get him, one way or another,” Viper pressed. “So, just make this thing easier on yourself and tell me how to do it.”
“You swear it?”
“You tell us what we need to know, and yes, I’ll end him. You have my word on that.”
“Okay. I’ll tell you everything. Where do you want me to start?”
Viper stood, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his pocketknife.
After he cut Grant’s restraints, he offered him a bottle of water and sat back down in front of him.
After he took a long drink, Grant let out a deep breath, then said, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
I never wanted any of it. Just wanted to get back at the guy who’d been screwing around with my wife, but once you’re in, there’s no gettin’ out.
Skitz won’t let you. I don’t care what he does to my wife, but my girls… they’re all I got. I can’t lose them.”
“Who the fuck is Skitz?”
“He’s the one running the show. Says Skitz is his road name, but he’s the only one who has one. We all go by our last names.”
“Road name? So, you’re an MC?”
“No.”
“Then, are you a gang or what?”
“I don’t even know how to answer that. It started with some guys who wanted to get back at assholes who’d wronged them. It was just bullshit talk at first, but eventually it turned into something more.” Grant lowered his head as he admitted, “It got out of hand.”
“How so?”