5 – Ciara
“ S o some of the people there knew Cheyenne?”
“A couple of the girls who used to go to that school, but they work now. They recognized me and said we looked the same. I forgot she tried to study. Of course, when it didn’t work out, my parents just let her go. Always how it went with her.”
“Speaking of your parents, did you visit them?” Addi asks, taking a sip of wine as we sit around the fire at the club later that night.
I’m not drinking—I still don’t have it in me.
“Not this time. I mean, things are better these days, but it just never feels completely right, you know?”
Serenity nods. She understands. They all do. Hell, out of all of us, I’m the one with the best parents. That’s sad, really. Well, except Janine, her mom is awesome.
“What’s it like being around all those young people?” Janine asks. “I don’t think I could handle it. Looking back, we were all so damned immature at that age.”
“Hey.” Addison waves a hand. “That age was only a couple of years ago.”
“I know, and yet now we have kids, it feels like an eternity ago.”
“Ugh, poo,” Serenity huffs. “I feel so old.”
Addi grins. “That’s because you’re a grandma now.”
Serenity shoots her a look.
I chuckle. “Calm down, you two.”
“So,” Janine says with a grin, changing the subject. “What’s Spike been up to lately? I heard a bit of commotion coming out of the shed today. I think he and Jackson were going at it.”
Serenity nods. “Oh, yes, those two can throw down. I heard it, too.”
I exhale. “Spike is being a stubborn ass and wanting the club to go back to the way it was. He thinks Jackson is too soft. At least, that’s the impression I’ve got.”
Addison purses her lips. “I mean, I kind of get it. Sure, we want it to be a safer place for our kids but at the same time, it’s a club and we’ve had more problems since we softened up. I remember meeting Spike for the first time, that man gave me chills. He led with an iron fist, and he was good at it. Nobody messed around with his club.”
She’s right, and I know it.
“Jacks is trying to keep the peace.” Serenity sighs. “He’s trying to make it a safe place, but I have to admit, things of late have been a lot worse. There is more crime and more fights, people messing around with shipments. This is all just what I’ve overheard. I know someone has to put their foot down; I guess Spike made that decision for himself.”
“The problem with Spike is he doesn’t do things in halves,” I mutter. “He will go out there and cause chaos just to make a point.”
“Join a biker club they said, it’ll be fun they said ...”Addi sings.
We all laugh.
Shouting at the entrance has us all spinning and glancing into the darkness. It’s male voices, two or three maybe, but we can’t see them. They are shouting incoherently, saying a man’s name, and then they throw something by the gate and speed off. For a moment, the world goes quiet, and then I see a shadowy figure on the ground. My eyes widen as my heart skips a beat.
Before I can do anything, Spike and Muff are moving toward the gate while Jackson pulls out a gun and orders us to get the fuck inside and lock down. My feet plant to the ground; I find it hard to move as I watch in horror. The man on the ground is one of our own, an older biker by the name of Bear. We call him Bear because he’s massive, and hairy, and kind.
He's covered in blood, and amongst the shouting and chaos, I can see Spike tearing his shirt off to wrap his hands. My heart feels as though it lodges in my chest as I realize what they’re shouting. His fingers. They cut off his fingers. Vomit rises in my throat as they try to keep Bear on his feet. It feels as though I’m glued to the ground, unable to move.
A hand on my arm, tugging me, has me snapping out of my horror.
“Come on, we better move,” Addison yells into the darkness.
I do as she asks, turning and rushing behind her into the main house and through the halls to the back rooms as more bikers go running out to back up everyone outside. The kids are all sleeping in a big room in the back, where they sleep if we spend the night here. It locks and is safe, so we all pile in before shutting and locking the door. I glance out the window, but I can’t see a great deal. All I can hear is pure commotion.
“It’s Bear,” I whisper, pressing my hand to the glass.
“I heard. I swear, I’ll never get used to this shit,” Serenity murmurs, glancing down at the crib Ava is sleeping in.
“It’s part of this world, unfortunately,” Janine murmurs, her voice low and scared.
She’s right.
It is part of this world.
You choose to accept it when you get together with a biker, even if sometimes it scares the life out of you. It’s part of how they work and sometimes, deep in the depths of my soul, part of me wishes I could get my kids out of this life, but I know that isn’t fair or right. I know Spike will never let anything happen to them, and I know what I’ve gotten myself into.
Shouting voices have me peering out the window again.
I catch a glimpse of Spike dragging a man through the dirt by his hair. He looks wild with anger and the man is squirming and roaring for release, but he doesn’t let him go. I don’t know where he got him from, or how, but within minutes he has managed to find someone to torture. That thought alone is utterly horrifying. There is a look on his face that is terrifying, stone cold, and like he’s about had enough of playing nice. I step away and look to Addi. “I think we should get comfortable.”
She exhales. “I figured.”
“I hope Bear is okay,” Serenity murmurs, stepping up beside me and glancing out the window. “I hate when this happens. Someone gets hurt. It’s the worst revenge, and I know it’ll push the club into action. So much for our peace.”
“Peace is for the weak.” Addison sighs, sitting down onto the sofa in the corner of the room. “We’re biker bitches now. There is no turning back.”
She’s right about that.
Swallowing, I turn to face them. “Well, I guess our night is over. I’ll go get the spare mattresses so we can sleep.”
It’s going to be a long night—I can feel it.
SOMEHOW, I MANAGE TO fall asleep, but it takes hours.
Everything has gone quiet outside, but I know somewhere in this lot a man is being tortured for information.
By the time I wake, the sun is just cracking through the window. Pushing up, I glance around at the other girls, all sleeping soundly along with the babies. Mercy woke up once last night for a feed, so I had to tiptoe out and get her a bottle. Then, all was quiet. Getting off the bed, I stretch and inwardly moan at my sore back before tiptoeing out of the room and down the hall.
I’m hoping to get some answers, to see how Bear is, to find out what the hell went on last night.
I don’t need to search far, because as I step out into the garage, I see all the guys sitting silently, staring into nothing, like they’ve had the worst night of their lives. That can’t be a good sign. What’s even worse is that Spike is covered in blood, I don’t dare ask if it’s his own or someone else’s, because I already know the answer.
The murderous look on his face is enough to tell me what I need to know.
Jackson looks up at me first, his knuckles bloodied and his hair bunched messily on his head. “Everyone good in there?”
I nod, my eyes never leaving Spike.
Walking over to him, I squat down and wait for his eyes to meet mine. I can see pain in the depths, a deep pain, one I know all too well.
“We lost him.”
My heart breaks.
I didn’t know Bear that well, but I do know he was quiet and had a laugh that could boom through an entire room. He was a good soul, rough around the edges, but kind when it mattered.
My throat burns and my nostrils sting as the reality of what he’s saying washes over me.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” I whisper, reaching up to cup his jaw.
“Someone has to pay for what happened to him.”
Swallowing, I glance at Jackson whose jaw tightens.
“Let’s get you showered, yeah?” I say, tugging on Spike’s hand.
Cade glances at me as Spike pushes to his feet, and he gives me a weary expression. There is something else going on between these guys, something they’re not telling me. Whatever happened last night, it was bad, and the unspoken tension between them could be cut with a knife.
What the fuck went down?
I follow Spike to the shower and stand silently as he strips his clothes off. I do the same, stepping in behind him once he has the water right. The water is quickly tainted with red as the blood washes from his body. There is more than I thought, and it makes my stomach turn with both fear and concern. I have no doubt in my mind he killed that man he dragged in, but the question is, why?
I take the soap in my hands and foam them up before running them over his muscled back, washing away any traces of the previous evening. When he turns toward me, I can see a deep sadness in his eyes, but mostly, I see a coldness that frightens me. Spike is no stranger to revenge, and if he thinks it’s deserved, he will dish it out and ensure it’s painful.
“You did right by him,” I whisper, running my hands down his chest and foaming up his skin.
“If we did right by him, he’d still be fuckin’ alive.”
His voice is low and gravelly.
“Sometimes bad shit happens, Danny. You know that. It’s the world you live in. You can’t prevent every single death.”
“No, but I can fuckin’ avenge it.”
“Spike ...”
He knows where I’m going with this, and he cuts me off before I can say anything more. His eyes are sharp, his tone clipped, leaving me no room for arguments as the words pour from his lips. “Don’t. You know the way I feel about this shit, and I’m done sittin’ around and fuckin’ waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
With that, he turns and gets out of the shower.
Exhaling, I finish up and follow him.
By the time I get out there, he’s already left the room.
Right now isn’t a good time to lecture him, they just lost a friend.
Thinking of Bear has my heart sinking.
What did they do to him?
Walking back out the garage, I can’t see Spike anywhere, but I do catch Jackson’s gaze as he stares over at me. I can see concern etched into his features, and I know he’s thinking exactly what I am. Serenity sits beside him, her hand curled in his, her face streaked with tears. Walking over, I stop in front of them and reach out a hand, squeezing her shoulder.
“He was just telling me yesterday he was going to visit his grandkids,” Serenity whispers. “The world is cruel.”
“I’m sorry about Bear,” I say, mostly to Jackson, but Serenity, too. “I know he has been with you a long time.”
“Appreciate it,” Jackson murmurs. “Where’s Spike?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, he took off when I tried to bring up the glaringly obvious situation at hand.”
Jackson’s jaw tightens. “He’s gettin’ out of control; we need to pull him up before somethin’ bad happens.”
“You mean like losing a club member?” I mutter.
Jackson’s eyes flash. “Yeah.”
“I’ll try and talk to him again, but I can’t promise he’ll listen.”
“Worth a shot.”
“Who ... who did that to Bear?” I ask, shifting from one foot to the other, the uncomfortable feeling of grief gripping my chest as I think about the fact that he had no fingers.
Tears sting my eyes.
“A local drug gang. They had stabbed him and cut off his fingers. Bled out before we could get him to the hospital.”
My heart plummets.
I feel sick to my stomach as a tear rolls down my cheek. “I’m ... so sorry.”
Jackson simply nods.
I turn, needing some fresh air as a wave of new tears roll down my cheeks.
Maybe I shouldn’t be going to school right now. Maybe they need me here.
Dammit.
I don’t know what to do.