Chapter 15
It was showtime. Tension had increased steadily as the time to meet the Carters and witness one of their fights grew near.
While my parents and sister were with us, it helped to control Aubrielle’s anxiety.
Once they left, early this morning, she grew quieter and more introverted.
I tried my best to make her relax. There were moments when she did, but then the tension would return.
We included her in the preparations as much as made sense. It was to ensure she knew how to react, what might happen, and what to do if something went wrong, even though we were doing everything possible to prevent it.
As before, we wore Kevlar and had earpieces.
And a reserve, hidden contingency of Punishers was to be set up outside of Big Stone Gap.
The fact that we had no idea where we would be taken wasn’t a concern.
Even if the Carters made us leave our phones behind and scanned us for wires, the earpieces were military-grade and wouldn’t be detected at the frequency they ran on.
That meant Spawn had a way to track us. That news had made Aubrielle feel better.
We went dressed as what we were—bikers. Aubrielle, in her boots, jeans, and property cut, clearly announced she was mine and therefore protected by the entire Iron Punishers MC.
There was one question about whether we’d be searched for weapons.
It would be logical that we would, and therefore, we’d be disarmed.
It wasn’t a huge concern. All of us knew how to fight.
What we were gambling on was whether her family would think to search Aubrielle.
She told us that she had learned to shoot and started carrying a gun after moving away from home.
She doubted they’d ever think she would do it, or that she knew how to shoot or fight.
Fighting was another skill set she developed secretly. When we asked about it, my woman admitted she wanted to be prepared in case she ever had to escape her family physically. I was proud of the things my old lady did to protect herself.
Like last time, we rode our bikes. If it became necessary and possible, bikes could go faster and corner better than vehicles.
It was sixty-miles, an hour-and-fifteen-minute drive from us to them.
To make sure we had enough time, we left the compound at a quarter after five.
The ride itself was nice. The sun was still out and the weather warm and muggy, a typical July day in Virginia.
Aubrielle had given us her home address, so we had it mapped out in our heads. We pulled up to their house at six forty p.m. My woman’s body was stiff. I hugged her after we got off the bike.
“Breath. We’ve got this,” I assured her before placing a kiss on her lips. The sound of voices drew us apart.
Turning around, out onto the porch came Oliver, Rome, Jock, and Jace, with Truce bringing up the rear.
Oliver sported a fake smile. Rome tried to mimic it.
Jace and Jock seemed uncomfortable. As for Truce, he was glaring as he had last time.
We played our part by shaking hands and wearing pleased expressions.
Unlike last time, Oliver insisted on hugging his daughter.
We’d banked on this, so Aubrielle went into his arms, then she tolerated the same things from her uncle and brothers.
The only one she didn’t touch was Truce.
I detested her own family touching her without allowing another man to do it.
She returned to slip under my shoulder when they were finished.
“Glad you came. We’ll be going in those two vehicles,” Oliver stated, pointing to a panel truck without windows in the cargo area and his SUV.
“Jock and Jace will drive you in the truck. I’m sorry for the secrecy, but you understand. The rest of us will go in my SUV. First, we need to ensure you’re not armed. We can’t allow unknowns with weapons into one of our venues. Again, just a precaution,” her dad explained.
We’d already removed our weapons and stored them in the secure panniers on our bikes.
We spread our arms and legs. Aubrielle stood to the side, watching as her brothers and uncle patted us down.
They didn’t linger, nor were they thorough.
That would be their problem, not ours. As they finished, no one paid attention to Aubrielle, as expected.
From there, we allowed ourselves to be scanned with a device that detects radio frequencies to indicate whether we were wired.
Nothing registered. When they were sure of that, they led us to the truck.
We climbed into the rear. There was a panel window between the cab and the rear that could be opened from the other side.
It was closed. There was no place to sit other than on the floor, so we started to do so.
As Aubrielle went to get in, her dad spoke.
“Elle, you can ride with me.”
Immediately, I turned and shot down the idea. “Aubrielle rides with me. I’m her old man.”
“And I’m her father. She’ll be safe with me,” Oliver argued back.
This remark made my brothers halt. Those already in the truck turned and jumped out. They stared at the Carters, arms crossed.
“Either she rides and stays with us, or this is over. We don’t care if she is your daughter. She’s a Punisher now. We don’t separate,” Reaper told Oliver. The steel in his voice told them he meant it. We’d walk away and never return.
Oliver and his crew stared at us, saying nothing. We let several seconds lapse before, as one, we walked toward our bikes. There was furious whispering behind us. We made it to the bikes before Oliver spoke.
“Okay, Elle rides with you. But I don’t like that you’re interfering between my daughter and me.”
“She’s your daughter second, mine first now. That’s what happens when your child leaves home and is claimed,” I told him.
Rome scowled at us. Jace appeared somewhat afraid, while Jock looked uncertain.
Truce’s expression hadn’t changed, maybe gotten darker.
All I got in return was a jerk of her dad's chin. It signaled us to return to the truck and get inside. Once we were seated, the rear door was closed. Thankfully, it wasn’t pitch dark, thanks to illumination along the top edges of the sides. It made our faces into ghostly masks.
“That clearly didn’t make them happy,” said Spawn’s voice in our ears.
We’d briefed Aubrielle not to say anything while we were anywhere near her family that would give away that we were in contact with the club, not even in the back of this truck.
“Mmm hmm,” Reaper hummed, acknowledging that we heard.
“I see they didn’t confiscate your phones or check your boots and cuts. Fucking amateurs,” Spawn chuckled.
Our laughter told our guys we agreed. If the Carters somehow had this truck bugged, they’d have no idea why we were laughing for no reason.
I fingered the collar of my cut. Sewn into it was a thin, imperceptible wire, a garrote.
In the thick soles of our boots was a secret compartment where each of us hid a knife.
In preparation for this, Spawn had modified Aubrielle’s riding boots to have the same compartment.
She’d been stunned when we showed it to her.
In addition, tucked into the pocket of her cut was her handgun.
It wasn’t a massive one, but it held enough power to be lethal.
An extra magazine was in the other boot sole. It was some old-school spy shit.
The drive was forty-five minutes. Of course, we couldn’t tell if it was in circles or not, though we seemed to make a lot of left-hand turns, with a few right-hand turns mixed in.
We were standing when the door opened, and we were allowed to exit.
Jumping down to the ground first, I reached up, grasped my woman’s waist, and swung her down.
Once she was on her feet, I took in our surroundings.
The roar of noise was deafening. A short distance away, the babble of numerous voices was audible: some talking, others shouting, others laughing.
The voices belonged to close to a hundred people, maybe more, gathered around a hastily erected enclosure and a table.
There was no seating, so unless you brought your own chair, which some did, you stood.
The crowd was predominantly male, but women were scattered throughout.
Back near us were several kennels, with barking dogs inside. Men stood or crouched around them. Off to one side was a table where people paid to enter and placed bets on the various fights.
We were escorted to the queue, paying for the privilege of watching poor, innocent animals savage each other, all in the name of sport.
My blood ran cold at the thought of how many dogs had been permanently scarred, hurt, or killed to make this a business.
It was hard to hide revulsion, but we did.
Aubrielle, on the other hand, couldn’t fully hide her disgust.
Oliver commented on his daughter’s reaction as we walked from the betting table to the fight arena.
“Most women are soft like my daughter. They only see poor animals, rather than acknowledging what has been a fact for centuries. Dogs are animals. They’re meant to work for us, in whatever capacity we require.
Only fools made them into pets. They have to pay for their upkeep just like everyone else. ”
None of us remarked on it, other than to give him a chin lift. In my ear, I heard Ink mutter, “It’ll be a pleasure when we bring these sick fucks to their knees.”
I saw the twitch of Aubrielle’s lips as she held back a smile.
Her body almost vibrated with her disgust and rage.
There were no dogs in the arena at the moment.
Rome explained they were waiting for all their guests to place their bets and settle before they started.
When we were at the table, we saw that six fights were scheduled for tonight.
The amount of money already placed was incredible.