Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Pink Elephant Passenger
L inc took his bucket helmet off and looked at the dilapidated house ahead.
“You can smell it coming off that house,” Darrow said.
“What the fuck is this place doing standing?” Cyrus asked.
“It’s not exactly in town, Prez ,” Linc said.
“Honestly, it’s better to keep places like this contained here,” Slade said.
“I’ll take the front door,” Fitz said. “I’ll take off my leather cut and act like I’m there for drugs. Or guns. Or whatever the fuck this is. You guy flank the sides.”
“No fucking shooting,” Linc said. “Not until I see Nick and get him out of there.”
“Hey,” Priest growled. “You know the deal, Linc…”
Linc curled his lip at Priest. “Of course I know the fucking deal.”
“No offense, Linc, but we could light this place up,” Cyrus said. “But we owe this to Nova. We’ll stand by our word.”
“Fuck this,” Linc said. “I’ve got a better idea.”
Linc put his helmet back on and fired up his motorcycle. He heard Slade and Cyrus screaming at him. Darrow was the only one who seemed to understand He scrambled to get on his motorcycle to follow Linc.
“Fuck!” Cyrus growled as Linc started to ride.
Linc wanted this over with. He wanted to find Nick and beat the shit out of him for scaring Nova and Gail, then hug the guy and beat the shit out of him again.
His motorcycle tore along the gravel driveway up toward the shitty house. Somewhere in Linc’s heart and mind, he knew there was a good chance for the other side of this thing. The side where Nick was involved. Dealing. Running. Using. The kind of stuff that warranted a bullet to the back of his head and a burial somewhere in the woods.
That meant riding back to the clubhouse, walking through the doors, looking into Nova’s sweet, beautiful eyes and telling her it was over. Her brother was gone. Not knowing if Nova could still love him, knowing her brother died at the hands of the man she once loved.
All of this swirled inside Linc as he crazily sped toward the house. He heard the rumbling behind him, knowing the club had his back. At the last second, he turned and stopped, inches from the crooked front porch steps.
Darrow and Slade were right there with him. Priest and Cyrus went to the left to go around the house. Fitz went to the right.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Slade roared at Linc.
“Yeah, I am!” Linc yelled at Slade.
Linc then walked up to the door and kicked it. His foot went right through the door. The old wood standing no chance against Linc’s passion and anger. Linc kicked again, at the doorknob this time. The door swung open and Linc charged into the house.
For a moment it had an almost normal vibe to it. The living room had couches and a TV and a coffee table. The dining room though… totally different. A fucking arsenal of weapons on the table. Hundreds of weapons.
As Linc closed in, his heart jumping inside his chest, he realized that the weapons were all shit. They were all beat up, used, broken. A collection of fucking junk.
He heard an explosion of a door being kicked open, followed by some yelling. Priest’s voice boomed from the kitchen. Linc ran through the dining room and that’s where he found Nick. Nova’s brother. On his knees in front of someone. A guy.
“Priest, hold up,” Linc called out.
There were three guys in the kitchen with Nick. All three had their hands up. Not an ounce of fight in them.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Cyrus asked.
“Nick,” Linc said.
Nick turned his head. “Linc? Is that you?”
The guy in front of Nick held a tattoo gun in his left hand.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Linc asked.
“I’m part of something, man. I finally found something that matters.”
“Jesus,” Slade growled.
The guy with the tattoo gun turned his head. “Nah. He ain’t here.”
The guy had black lines tattooed on his face. From the outside corners of his eyes down his face. It almost looked like the start of some scary clown makeup or something.
“This is a fucking cult,” Darrow said. “I know these guys. They think they’re protectors. All they do is take ‘shrooms and steal shit. They wander around the back woods, thinking they’re going to find their version of God.”
“Yeah, he ain’t here ,” Linc said.
He walked up to the guy with the tattoo gun and pressed his gun to the guy’s head.
“Fuck off,” Linc said.
“I don’t see the need for this,” the guy said. “Nicholas has chosen us. We’ve been guiding him. He’s embraced our lifestyle.”
Linc looked down at Nick. “Are you inked up anywhere, man?”
“No,” Nick said. “I was just about to get my paint. My war paint.”
“He’s fried,” Fitz said.
“I’m sober,” Nick said. “I’ve been sober.”
“Can we get the fuck out of here?” Slade asked. “This place is bothering me.”
“Leave in peace, if you must,” the guy with the tattoo gun said. “But know this will haunt you later in life.”
Linc brought his gun back and then smashed it against the side of the guy’s head. The guy fell to his right, hit the counter, and then crumbled to floor. The other two in the kitchen did not make a single sound. They stood there, frozen, unnerved.
“Something is way off here, brother,” Slade said to Linc. “We need to go.”
“There’s a vibe here,” Darrow said. “There’s something here. Something bad.”
“It’s all the made up shit in their heads,” Cyrus said. He pointed to the two guys. “You know who we are. We know where you are. You stay the fuck away from our town. Eat your shit covered mushrooms and chase pink elephants into the woods.”
Linc reached down and grabbed Nick by the front of his shirt and picked him up. Nick’s eyes were clear and sober. Full of pain though. A hard life growing up with an alcoholic mother who was obsessed with you.
Maybe in some ways Nick never stood a chance in life. Used to making up for all the loneliness and loss that his mother felt. At the same time though, Linc remember Nick. A pain in the ass. Lazy. Useless. Never gave a fuck to apply to himself. Assumed the world would turn at his pace. And if it didn’t, he just simply quit.
Linc dragged Nick by his shirt out of the house. He gave Nick his helmet.
“Linc, we need to move right now,” Darrow said.
He held his phone in his hand and looked around.
“What’s wrong?” Slade asked.
“This house was listed as something else when I did my recon. It’s an old drug house. Even used for whores. This is… something is way off out here. I feel like I’m being watched right now. I’m picking up some signals on my phone too. We have to ride. Now.”
Motorcycles fired up in the near distance. Cyrus, Priest, and Fitz rode from the back of the house.
Cyrus pointed at Linc. “No stupid shit!”
They all rode as hard and fast as they could off the property.
As soon as Nick climbed off Linc’s motorcycle, Linc grabbed him by the shirt.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Linc growled.
“It just all happened at once,” Nick said. “I was all fucked up. Thought I was going to die. I overdosed and they saved me. I woke up in the woods and…”
Linc punched Nick in the face. Not at full force, but enough to shut him up and knock him down to one knee. Nick rubbed his face.
“Nick!”
Linc decided to put a pause on beating the hell out of Nick. He looked back and saw Nova running through the lot. Tears in her eyes. Happiness on her face.
“Stand the fuck up,” Linc ordered Nick. He helped Nick back up and then pulled him close. “Your sister has been the one looking for you. Putting her life on the line. She didn’t want to call the cops in case you were in trouble.”
“So she called her old outlaw boyfriend,” Nick said. “Smart.”
“Nick! You’re okay!”
Nova’s voice screeched as she pushed by Linc and threw her arms around her brother’s neck.
Nick hugged her back with one arm. “Hey, I’m here. I’m fine, Nova.”
“You scared us all half to death! Where the hell were you?”
“Just taking a break from life,” Nick said.
Nova stepped back from her brother. Then she slapped him across the face. It was such a loud slap that everyone nearby stopped what they were doing and looked.
“Drugs!” Nova yelled. “You can’t get away from that shit! That’s what you were doing! I saw the pictures! Drugs and guns and dealers and all that. Where were you even? Huh? Where did they find you?”
“Nova,” Linc said. “Give him a second to breathe.”
“It’s fine,” Nick said. “I’m the family fuck up. This is what I do.”
Nova tried to say something but lost her voice as she started to cry. Linc lunged forward punched Nick in the stomach. He looked Nova and she nodded. Nova hated herself for nodding, but it needed to be done.
Nick was cocky, spoiled, and thought everyone should cater to him. With one whistle, Linc had the attention of Darrow, Fitz, and Priest. It was a proper punishment, all things considered.
Nick definitely earned and deserved the beating he received.