Chapter Five.
Sapphire
I looked up as Vengeance banged on my door. “Are you ready for the ride?” she asked, opening it.
“Yeah. I was going over the applicants for prospects. There’s absolutely nothing. Even worse, two were undercover cops. I could sense it,” I replied with a roll of my eyes.
“They don’t learn.” Vengeance’s eye roll matched mine.
“Nope. Come on, let’s ride. Twilight planned a good route, and with this weather, it’ll be beautiful,” I said. I got to my feet and headed out.
While I never policed my sisters about what they wore, on a ride, I did.
Because we rode for several hours, I always made sure they were wearing full riding leathers.
I didn’t care what the weather was. They also wore helmets and eye protectors.
In town, they could ride however they wished—shorts, skirts, heels, whatever made them happy.
But there was more risk on a long ride, and I wanted them protected. Road rash was no joke.
Once I was happy they were all covered, we headed out of the clubhouse towards Bristol, an hour and a half away, where we’d stop at a diner.
From there, Twilight had planned for us to journey to Wolfeboro, and we’d check the resort before heading back home.
It was a long ride, and I was aching to get on my Lowrider.
There was nothing that could replace the feeling of being on the back of a bike.
The sense of freedom, of being one with the road, was addictive, and I was an addict.
With a grin, I swung onto my bike and revved.
My sisters did the same, and they put up their hands to say they were ready.
With a roar, I pulled out in front, as the president should.
I knew we were a sight to be seen, an all-female club on large shiny bikes, and people always stopped and stared.
Let them.
I smiled as several of the townspeople raised their hands to us, and we waved back.
Smiles crossed their faces, and I inwardly gloated that we weren’t the outcasts the police made us out to be.
For a moment, I saw Maid’s Hog flash into view, with Rose as her passenger, riding bitch.
Rose had been released but couldn’t ride, and none of us thought she should miss out.
The patch still covered her eye, and we’d had no further updates yet.
Not that it mattered because Stitch had every intention of healing Rose. No way would she allow Rose to be blind. She was slowly healing Rose so as not to alert anyone that something other than natural healing was happening. We didn’t want the government looking into us. And we wanted a conviction.
Gradually, my worries and concerns fell away as I became one with the road and my club.
We were nearing Wolfeboro, ten minutes out from the resort, when I felt the first pang of pain.
I wobbled as agony shot through my skull, and I began to pull over.
Shit, I had a minute, maybe two, before the premonition hit.
I barely made it before the second shot of pain hit me.
I was about to have an episode, and it was going to be a doozy as a third agonising strike knocked me on my ass.
Vengeance was there within seconds as the others parked and crowded around me.
They weren’t crowding me to listen in, but to protect me from prying eyes. My eyes unfocused as I stared at the images starting to flash through my mind.
“A fire burning out of control. It’s on Market Square, and a restaurant has gone up.
Not ours; I think it’s the Mexican Hat. I see four, no, five men laughing as it burns.
There are people trapped inside who’ll die.
The fire exits are blocked from the outside.
Someone wants them dead, and this is a warning to everyone else.
There’s the smell of burned flesh, and I can see gasoline, which will explode. It’s going to happen soon.”
The images were so vivid that they were draining my strength. Each was sharp and in bright colour, which hurt to witness.
They changed, and I flinched. “I see the lighthouse burning too. Someone is trying to get out. Shit, it’s one of us, but I can’t see her face.
She’s wearing a full cut, not a prospect, and she’s trapped and being forced higher as the flames grow.
There’s nowhere to go but up, and the flames are chasing her.
She’ll collapse at the top. The lighthouse floors will collapse under her, and she falls into the flames.
She’s screaming. I can’t see her face.” I gasped for air as my hands clenched on my leathers.
“I see a funeral. It’s a cop. It was unnecessary, could have been avoided.
Blast, I don’t know who died. There’s a lot of anger and grief, and it feels personal.
A container ship burns in the harbour. I can’t see its name, but there’s going to be multiple deaths.
It’s painted blue and white with rust on the bow.
I get the sense this is all linked,” I cried as Detective Wylde’s face flashed in front of me, and then the visions ended.
The world went black, and I passed out.
◆◆◆
“Come on, Prez, open your eyes,” Vengeance murmured as she slapped my face.
“Enough, bitch,” I muttered, trying to shove her hand away. I opened my eyes with a wince.
“There you go, those beautiful baby browns,” Vengeance teased, and I glowered at her.
“Shit, my head is banging,” I whispered with a second flinch.
A cool hand was placed on my forehead, and I felt the agonising headache fade and, at the same time, Stitch gave me an energy boost.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“Like I got hit by a fuckin’ truck,” I replied.
“Not surprised, that was a bad one, multiple warnings?” Sparrow demanded, concerned from my side.
“Yeah. The restaurant is imminent, there was a strong sense of urgency about it,” I said, leaning back against Sparrow. She took my weight without a complaint.
“Do we need to get back now?” Sparrow asked.
“No. It was nighttime. The restaurant was full,” I replied. I frowned, searching the image for anything that might help. “Taco Tuesday. There were tacos on the table, and the buffet was set up. It’s this Tuesday.”
“You said the Mexican Hat? That gives us time to come up with a plan, but I think we should put a watch on it,” Sparrow said.
Stupidly, I nodded and winced as pain shot down my spine. A second surge of energy hit me, and I spoke to Stitch. “Thanks.”
“Let’s get to the resort, get some food into you, and then head home. You need rest, Prez,” Stitch said, and I agreed. I was drained, even with Stitch boosting my energy levels. Damn.
I got back on my feet and managed to get my leg over my Lowrider. I wobbled slightly but pulled out smoothly with the rest of my MC behind me.
◆◆◆
How I got back, I didn’t know. I was barely aware of anything despite Stitch keeping on boosting me.
After I parked and swung off, somebody caught me as I began to go down.
I was slung over someone’s shoulder and carried inside.
Darkness was encroaching as someone laid me down on my bed and began stripping me out of my leathers and boots.
Once done, they flung my duvet over me, turned off the lights, and pulled my blinds.
Sleep took me before I could even say thanks.
Sparrow
“Church,” I called as I headed through the rec room. “Now.”
Heads lifted, but nobody looked surprised. It was unusual for me to call the church, but when Sapphire went down, I stepped up.
I didn’t sit in Saph’s seat but in my usual one as my sisters piled in.
“Okay. We all know what happened, but some of you didn’t hear the details. Vengeance, please play your recording.”
The room went silent as Vengeance replayed Saph’s visions and we listened. Storm wrote down every detail as Vengeance played it twice.
“The concern is the Mexican Hat. Sapphire said that was imminent,” I said.
“I agree,” Fortune replied. “Everything in me is screaming that death is coming. I’ve not had any visions, but yeah, I’m really uneasy about the Mexican Hat.”
I nodded. While Sapphire had clairvoyance, which gave her powerful visions, Fortune had premonitions.
At times, Fortune had visions, but mainly she felt dread and unease, or a sense of foreshadowing.
Fortune’s powers worked strongest around money and our investments.
But she sometimes got other feelings linked to Saph’s visions.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Storm asked.
“Should we interfere?” Vengeance said, and I looked at her. “The Mexican Hat is not on our protection list.”
“True,” Poker agreed. “They have been approached by us twice, as they’ve had trouble in the past. They don’t get a third chance.”
“Agreed. I don’t think we should save the restaurant. That’s a lesson they’ll have to learn. But can we let those inside die?” I replied.
“That does suck,” Dagger said with a shrug.
“What do you suggest?” Rose asked.
“Let’s wait until the fire is burning and then unblock the exits and get people out. I couldn’t give a shit if the building burns down,” I agreed.
“Not a bad idea. We could always say we were heading to Ambrosia after spotting the fire,” Birdie added.
“Yeah. And when we saw they were trapped, we headed around the back to help,” Rose said.
“And naturally, we called the fire department as we did so.”
“Exactly.” Vengeance nodded at me.
“What about the others? The lighthouse is a clear warning that one of us is in danger,” Twilight stated.
“Agreed. None of us is to visit it by ourselves. I don’t know why we’d even be out there, but nobody, and this is an order, goes out there, and certainly not alone,” I ordered.
Nods met me in agreement.
“The dead cop?” Belladonna asked.
“That’s a tough one. How the hell do we warn the cops that one of them is about to die? We can’t watch them all. There’re too damn many of them,” I drawled.
“Isn’t that true?” Dagger sniffed.
“Couldn’t do shit about that vision, but the cargo ship… was there enough to get a track on it?” I asked Cyber.