Twenty-Six
T he clubhouse was sombre when we reached the main bar area, with a lot of brothers sitting staring morosely at their drinks, an uncomfortable silence making the place seem bigger and more intimidating. I use that word, because Grace seemed to press more tightly against me as we walked through it, and I could sense her discomfort.
“Is it true, man?” Rocket asked, standing up as we passed him. He’d been good friends with Micro too, so I could see how he’d be feeling pretty much like I was. Lost and fucking confused. Betrayed .
“Looks that way. Are they in the basement?”
He nodded, looking edgy and uncomfortable.
“Is he gonna die?”
That’s the fucking question, right? I lifted my shoulders, feeling Grace squeeze me tighter against her.
“Reacher down there?”
He nodded. “Literally just arrived before you. Uh… keep us posted, yeah? We need to know that this isn’t some mistaken identity shit going on. He’s a brother, right up until he isn’t, right?” Ain’t that the truth. I slapped his back as I nodded.
“I’ll get down there.”
Grace kept walking with me, and it suddenly occurred to me that this wasn’t happening. Fuck no.
“Babe, you can’t.”
She lifted her eyebrows at me, sassy doc mode engaging right before my eyes.
“I have every right to support my man, Mr North. What if you need me? What if someone gets injured down there? I bet Ice is down there, and he needs to be careful of his face. It’s only butterfly stitches, but if he re-injures it, it could need more.” Fuck. Finally I agreed to let her come with, as long as she stayed outside the door unless she was needed.
As it turned out, she wasn’t the only old lady hovering out there when we arrived. I nodded at the group of ladies, as I squeezed past and reached for the door handle. Whatever the fuck was about to happen, I needed to be there for it.
Lissa grabbed Grace’s hand and offered me a grim smile, but I got her point. She didn’t necessarily want to be there, but she knew others might need her.
I opened the door and went inside.
“Finally. You think we’ve got nothing better to do than stand around waiting for you?” Stitch hissed at me, as I joined them, and fixed my eyes immediately on the large form of my good friend, who was already looking a little beaten and bloody, but remained defiant.
“He was probably throat-fucking his lady. They like doing that stuff. He calls her a filthy whore and stuff. It’s really hot,” Micro said with a chuckle, laughing louder when Has punched him for it.
“What have I missed so far?” I asked, not addressing his words, or him at all. I had to focus on the facts here, and on what we’d find out. I might be the only one rooting for him in the end, and I still had a big issue with the fact that one of my closest friends buried a knife in my back, and left me for dead.
“Well, he was just about to tell us why the FUCK he came after our women.”
Ryder glanced at me as I took up position beside him, resting against the cool concrete wall.
“They all still out there?” He whispered, and I nodded grimly.
“Guess they’re all kind of invested too. This isn’t fucking real, right?”
Ryder patted my shoulder.
“I wish, man.”
“Okay, so let’s start at the beginning, asshole. Why . Why the fuck are you messing with the club, and our old ladies?”
Micro snorted, looking around at us like he wasn’t in the dangerous situation he was in. Like he wasn’t in the last room he might ever see. Like he had some form of control over this entire situation.
“This fucking club is an abomination, but you already know that.”
The fuck? I glanced at Ryder and saw him looking just as confused as I felt. Abomination? This club?
“What’s up, man, not enough crime for you? You wanted some sick, lawless shit like the old club?”
Micro practically growled at Ice, pulling at the bonds on his arms. He was tied really firmly to that chair, his legs bound to the front legs, and his arms tied to the arms, but it was only a wooden chair, and it wouldn’t necessarily hold if he went nuts.
“The old club was worth a million of this fucking joke of an MC. You think this is better? You’re dumber than I thought, but maybe that’s because the drugs have eaten that tiny fucking brain of yours.”
Silence fell in the wake of his words. The old club? The lawless, twisted, violent club that Reacher and Stitch had been forced to shut down and rebuild? Was he serious? He’d only been with this club two years, only patched for one of those, so how the fuck did he even know anything about the old club?
Reacher scratched at his jaw, glancing at Stitch, where they seemed to have some kind of silent conversation.
“What do you know about the old club? It was run by a sadistic asshole, who took pleasure in brutalising women, and killing anyone who disagreed with him.”
“FUCK YOU!” Micro was practically spitting with fury now, and that made no sense, unless somehow he was attached to the old club in some way. He was too young to have been a member, but what if someone he knew was in it?
“Pres,” I stepped forward, and Reacher shot me a frustrated glare.
“Kinda in the middle of something here, Torch.”
I nodded, because don’t we all fucking know it?
“Ask him about his connection to the old club. I have a suspicion he’s avenging someone or something.” Reacher’s eyes widened and he groaned.
“Fuck me. Of course that’s what it is. If I wasn’t running on fumes, I’d have figured that one out for myself.”
He turned to Micro, who had a sneer back on his face.
“Tell me about your father, Micro.”
Grace
T hey were talking too quietly at first for us to hear, so Tori had carefully edged the door open a crack, and we were all crowded around it. When the question about Micro’s father was raised, it seemed to be the tipping point, because Micro barked out a laugh.
“I’d applaud you for finally finding a fucking brain cell at last, but I seem to be a bit tied up at the moment. This club was something back then. Before you two pissed all over his fucking legacy. He was a real president. He ran this club with an iron fist, and it was supposed to be mine!”
There was mumbling on the other side of the door, and then Ice suddenly cursed out loud. The door was suddenly wrenched open, and he reached for Lissa, tugging her into the room, but keeping her as far from Micro as he could. Since the door was now open, we loitered in plain view of the bastard in the chair.
“Your father, Micro? You mean that sick fuck, Leif?” Lissa gasped, pressing one hand over her mouth, as she stared at us with wide eyes. What the hell were we missing now?
Micro chuckled quietly. “Yeah. He was the real fucking deal, but you lot are pussies. I was meant to take over, but you fucking murdered him!”
Lissa was shaking her head, and Ice hugged her against his chest, exchanging a look with Reacher, who nodded grimly.
“You’re seriously saying you’re the son of Leif Jacobsen, former president of Godless Warriors?”
Micro sneered again. “Yeah, you’re in the presence of the son of the man you murdered in cold blood, you fucking pathetic piece of shit. You aren’t worthy to run this club, well, maybe this club, since it’s as pathetic as you are!”
Lissa took a deep breath, steeling herself, and Ice pressed his forehead against hers for a moment, before he nodded at her, and she stepped forward then.
“Leif Jacobsen was my father, and I had no idea he had a son too.”
Micro fell silent, staring at Lissa dumbly, blinking sluggishly while he absorbed her words. Finally he cleared his throat, shaking his head decisively.
“You’re lying. I don’t have a fucking sister, so she’s a fucking liar.”
Ice lunged in Micro’s direction, but Lissa pulled him back.
“It’s okay, Ice.”
“Fuck that. Nothing this fucker has done is okay! He’s hurt people we care about. Killed them. What about Jock, man? Old Jock?”
Micro grimaced. “The old guy was on to me. When Reacher stood him up the other day, he called me. Told me he knew who I was, and wanted to talk to me, to see if he could ‘smooth things over’. I met him just long enough to finish him off. Old fucker was half dead anyway. I did him a favour.”
Reacher punched him, and the chair rocked back, and every one of us women jumped and gasped.
“Jesus, why are they all watching this? They’re gonna end up having nightmares,” Has-Been said, reaching for the door. Stitch stopped him, and for a moment they had an intense glaring session.
I’d recollected the names of the guys in the room with help from the other ladies, but I didn’t know their backgrounds, or what their relationships were like. I just knew that a few of them had been close friends with Micro, and they were reeling from this discovery.
“Where’s Tommy, Micro? Help yourself out here. Did you kill the poor boy too?”
Micro barked out a laugh.
“Poor boy? That kid is a sexual predator, trust me. You’re better off without him in your pansy-ass club. He’d have fit in better with the old club. My dad would have loved him.”
Lissa was shaking her head.
“He was a psycho, Micro, and you know it. A monster. I only saw him a few times when I was growing up, but I was terrified of him.”
“Most women were, babe. It’s just because of his alpha energy. The guy was a fucking god.”
“He was a sadistic asshole who brutalised women, Micro, and I thought you were a decent guy,” Ryder said, shaking his head slowly. Everyone was thrown by who had been fighting against them this whole time, and I couldn’t blame them. I didn’t know him, but Elise had confided in me that he made her feel creeped out, but she’d been assured by her boyfriend Has-Been, and several others, that he was a good guy underneath the playboy exterior. It turned out they had all been wrong.
“I never knew Leif had a son. Why weren’t you already patched in when we joined?”
Reacher was rubbing at his forehead, and looked exhausted. In fact, he was even swaying a little on his feet. I took a step in his direction, and Cammy caught my arm, shaking her head at me.
I gestured at Reacher, to try and get her to see what I could see.
“I was undercover with another club. Trying to figure out how to steal their distributors for certain drugs, and when I was coming back out to take my place at dad’s side, I found out what you assholes had done.”
Reacher took a step back and, when I saw him sway again, I gasped. Everyone in the room turned to look at me, and I gestured to Reacher.
“I need to talk to you urgently. Reacher, please, it’s… you need to know this before you continue.”
He groaned and stepped outside the room with me, and I guided him a few steps away from the door.
“You’re exhausted. You’re barely staying upright in there. You need to rest.”
He cursed, rubbing his eyebrow, and gesturing behind him.
“I have business to deal with. You said you had information, doc, so let me have it.”
“I do. If you don’t take a break, you’re going to keel over right in front of him, and that’ll damage your position of power. Please. Take a break. Leave him stewing. He’s not going anywhere, is he?”
Cammy joined me, and then Tori.
“She’s right, Reacher, and she’s a doctor. She can see more than we can, but it’s clear even to us that you’re dead on your feet.”
“Let’s call it for now, brother.” We all turned to see Stitch in the doorway, and he nodded at me, mouthing the words ‘thank you’.