Chapter 23 Bush
The engine beneath me roars like a living thing, vibrating up through my boots and into my bones as we tear through Chicago traffic. Twelve Demon Dawgs. The others peel off to search. A solid wall of chrome and steel. We own the streets, but will that be enough?
Chrome rides point, his taillight a red beacon I refuse to lose sight of. The wind cuts cold across my face, carrying the scent of exhaust and lake air. I barely feel it. My mind’s too busy spinning worst-case scenarios.
Zara.
My grip tightens on the handlebars as we blow past a line of cars, engines snarling in unison. I picture the loft venue swarmed. Bushrangers’ kuttes. Adelaide bottom rockers. Menace’s ugly grin. Vandal barking orders.
I see them storming backstage, and Zara fighting.
I see one of them throwing her over his shoulder as he pushes Tony away.
Tony will defend Zara, but he’s not strong enough to face the bikers.
Rattler and Hunter will fight along Chill and Viper, but will they be able to hold the line?
Bianca and Izzy will try to defend Zara, but it only takes one mistake.
My stomach twists so hard I taste bile. I can’t lose her, not now that I’ve found her. She’s mine, dammit!
If they hurt her…
I can’t finish the thought. If I do, I’ll crumble.
Chrome raises a fist, and we shift lanes as one, engines screaming while we take the last turn. The venue comes into view—brick facade lit up, soft golden light spilling from tall windows. Music thumps faintly even from the street.
I scan the street. I’m expecting to see six bikes. But there are only cars.
No cluster of men in kuttes with Adelaide rockers.
Chrome slows first. The rest of us fan out, forming a perimeter as we roll up hard to the curb. I kill the engine, and the sudden silence rings in my ears.
Nothing. Just the normal bustle of the city streets. Even though there are no Bushrangers, the knot in my chest doesn’t ease. If they’re not here… then where the hell are they?
“Chill says it's all clear inside,” Smoke says, his phone still in his hand. “They didn’t come here.”
“Call Mode,” Chrome orders. “See if he can track them. If they weren’t coming here, where the fuck did they go?”
Smoke steps away to make the call, while I stare at the building. Zara is up there. I want to go to her, but we need to find the Bushrangers first.
“We’re going to need to deal with Crystal when we get back,” Chrome says, interrupting my thoughts. “Mode put her in the Shed with Pipes on guard duty. Why do you think she betrayed us like that?”
I turn my attention to Chrome and snort. “Why do you think? She’s a jealous bitch who thought I would make her my Old Lady. She knows Zara is a threat to what she wants, so she’s trying to eliminate her.”
“How did she know about the Bushrangers? How did she know to call them? Did you tell her about them?”
I shake my head. “No, but she’s always been observant. She could have heard any of us talking about them; it isn’t like we notice the Kutte Bunnies most of the time. They’re nothing more than furniture until we’re looking for a fuck.”
“What are you talking about?” Piston asks, joining us.
“Crystal,” I reply, then pause. “Well, all of the Kutte Bunnies. We don’t notice them. I didn’t think about how dangerous that is for our club.”
“Most of them don’t care what we do,” Piston protests.
“This is my fault,” I say. “After what happened with Scorch, Trigger, and Mouse, you think their betrayal would have opened my eyes to other ways we’re vulnerable.
The Kutte Bunnies are our biggest weakness.
They go everywhere. They have access to everything except Church.
But it isn’t like we don’t discuss matters in the common room in front of them. ”
Chrome slaps me on the shoulder. “This isn’t all on you.
I didn’t think about it either. None of us did.
We don’t share club secrets with them, but we do discuss club business openly.
This is another reason why I want to see changes in our club.
We shouldn’t be trusting our secrets to the Bunnies.
The only women we should be trusting are our Old Ladies.
We need to deal with Crystal and bring it up in our next meeting. ”
“Mode’s discovered something,” Smoke says, ending the call and joining us. We’re all gathered on the sidewalk waiting for directions. “He says they broke into groups of three and headed in different directions. Maestro is helping to track them. We can split up into three groups and follow them.”
“Let’s do it,” Chrome says.
He assigns the groups, leaving a few to stand guard.
Smoke, Arson, Piston, and I take off south.
Maestro provides directions to Smoke until we roll up in front of a familiar restaurant.
Vita Gustosa. Vita Gustosa is a popular Italian restaurant with multiple locations throughout Chicago.
The mob owns it. The youngest son of the Don, Marco, manages all of the locations, but he’s most often at the location nearest the hospital where Chrome’s Old Lady, Cicely, works as an ICU nurse.
“They split up to go to a restaurant?” Smoke asks as we park across the street. We can see the two motorcycles parked out front.
“A restaurant owned by the mob,” Arson tells him.
“The mob? As in the Godfather?” Smoke asks in surprise.
I nod. “The mob. We need to see what they’re doing in there.”
“I’ll go,” Smoke says, stripping off his kutte. “They haven’t seen me before. No way they’ll recognize me. I’ll go in and pretend like I’m checking the place out for a date. I’ll try to get photos.”
“Good idea,” I say.
We watch Smoke jog across the street and enter the restaurant.
He comes back out less than ten minutes later.
When he crosses the street, he has his phone out and hands it to me.
“They’re sitting with three men wearing suits.
They look like the mob, but that could be my imagination. Do you recognize them?”
I study the image and frown. “Yeah, the older guy is Anthony Beraldi III. He’s the Don; we call him the Third. The two with him are his sons, Anthony Beraldi IV and Marcus. Marcus owns the restaurant.”
“What would the Bushrangers want with the mob?” Smoke asks.
“They could be shopping for guns—the Beraldis deal in firearms. Maybe the Bushrangers are looking to arm themselves,” Piston suggests.
“Yeah, that’s possible,” I say. “They could also be shopping around for backup. I know Vandal and Menace. They may be looking to build up their forces by joining up with other groups who might want to see the end of the Demon Dawgs in their territory.”
“Would they be interested? I mean, do you have a beef with the mob?” Smoke asks with concern.
I shake my head. “No, we’re on pretty good terms with them, especially since Chrome hooked up with Cicely.
Cicely’s best friend is Lily Beraldi. She’s the Don’s only daughter.
We should tell Chrome what’s going on. Maybe he can talk to Anthony about what’s going on between them and the Bushrangers.
Let’s head back to the event venue, and I’ll call Chrome from there.
I don’t want the Bushrangers to come out and see us. ”
As soon as we arrive at the venue, I want to go upstairs and check on Zara, but I pull out my phone instead. I need to update Chrome first.
Chrome answers after several rings.
“What have you got?”
“We followed them to Vita Gustosa. Smoke went inside and saw them meeting with Third and Fourth.”
Chrome’s silent for several seconds before he cusses. “Why the fuck are they meeting with the mob?”
“Don’t know. Smoke couldn’t get close enough to hear them speaking. Do you think Cicely can find out what they want? We figure they’re either shopping for guns or looking for allies.”
“I’ll call Third,” Chrome says.
“What about Vandal? Did you locate him?”
“Yeah. He met with what remains of the Asian gang that had been working with Fenhua. They didn’t meet for long. The Asians took off, leaving Vandal fuming.” Chrome chuckles. “Whatever they said, he wasn’t happy.”
“They’re looking for allies,” I state, convinced that Vandal wants to build an army to take us on.
“Still could be guns. The mob isn’t the only group that deals in firearms,” Chromse says, then pauses. “Hold on, Third is calling me. He puts me on hold so I can bring the others up to speed. When Chrome comes back on the line, I’m ready.
“Third is coming over at ten tonight. He said he needs to talk to us. I told him about the Bushrangers and that we think they’re here for Zara. Third said we have more problems than we know.”