Chapter 11
ELEVEN
Rebel
I looked down at the bodies in front of me. Their patches laying on top of their bodies ripped apart, hacked was probably a better descriptor, and their bloodied faces.
“They were gunned down,” Bear said, standing from his kneeling position. “Nomads.”
“They were found here this morning?” I asked, looking down at the two Nomad members who I recognised. I didn’t know them well enough to know their real names, but I knew they were good members and were always up for a drink.
“Yeah,” Bear said. “Brogan’s on his way back. Don’t touch anything. Someone was on our compound who took them out without so much as anyone hearing or witnessing it.”
“Jesus.”
This wasn’t good.
We had gotten rid of every rival MC in Ireland.
The Reapers, the Wolves and the Destructive Sons.
Now, some unknown enemy was after us again and they were targeting the Nomads.
The Nomads were our offshoot club, the ones who never wanted to settle.
Most of them would drop whatever they were doing to help us in a pinch and a lot of them lost their lives in the process.
This was personal.
“What do you want to do?” I asked him.
“Go with Fury, scout the fence line. See if there’s anything you can find. I’ll have Brogan assess the CCTV footage.”
I nodded.
He turned to Savage. “You and Viper, I need you to talk to the Nomads.”
He nodded and I headed inside to gather Fury and give him the rundown. I was thankful that Darby slept in last night. I didn’t want her to see this and realise that she didn’t want this in her life. I couldn’t let her walk away…I couldn’t lose her.
Fury was all too happy to sneak out of the clubhouse before Ryleigh got up. We headed down the fence line of the clubhouse property. I already knew there wouldn’t be anything down this way but if there was something in the off chance we could figure out what happened, then we had to try.
We hopped on our bikes and tore down the fence line that led all the way up to the woods that I knew Bear’s house was nestled in between.
We’d expanded a lot over the years we’d settled here and this land was all Ghost Rebel territory now.
We barely knew what to do with it but it was good to have somewhere to go when we needed to blow off steam.
It did make for a harder territory to protect though.
“There’s nothing here,” Fury’s voice bounded over the engines as we came to a stop at the top of the fence line. “It had to be someone in the clubhouse last night.”
“How didn’t we hear anything?”
“Silencer, maybe,” Fury surmised. “Maybe we were all passed out drunk. Brogan will probably rush the results so we can find out how they were killed and at what time.”
I nodded, remembering back to last night when Darby told me what Tierney had said about him not being protected.
“Maybe one of us needs to go and help him,” I said. “He does a fucking lot for this club and no one has his back.”
“Coz he’s a cop, Reb.”
“And what would happen if he got himself in shit and we didn’t know about it?”
Fury sighed. “You’re right. We should run it by Ace.”
I nodded, and we headed back to the clubhouse. Brogan had already been and gone, the bodies were gone but by the look on the women's faces on the porch, they all knew.
Darby especially looked spooked.
I put my bike over by the gatehouse with the others and made my way over to her. She hadn’t moved a muscle, waiting for me.
“You okay?”
“How could this happen and no one heard it?”
“Silencer,” Viper held it up. “Tossed by the side of the road leading out of the compound. Whoever it was didn’t care about leaving evidence.”
“Who the fuck would dare kill on our home soil?” Ace asked, his lips pulled tight. He was furious. Our compound was our sanctuary. A place where we kept our families safe while under attack. This was personal.
I took Darby inside and into the room we’d stayed in last night. She sat on the edge of the bed. “Tell me what’s wrong. Your reaction isn’t what I would expect.”
“It reminded me of something.”
“What do you mean?”
“My father would do that to men who betrayed him or who got in the way. He had different ways to maim for a different offence. That way that I just saw now with the Nomads, was how he would deal with someone in the way.”
“He’s gone, princess. I promise you, he’s gone, so is the entire club. No one is going to hurt you.”
“Then how did someone know to do that?” she asked, tears falling down her cheeks. I sat on the bed beside her and pulled her into my arms, needing her to feel safe. “It felt like a message…to me.”
“It’s not a message to you. I promise you, everyone is dead that would know that. It’s a coincidence. There’s no one left to hurt you.”
She sobbed for a few moments before she looked up into my eyes. I saw something there. A secret, or something she was holding back.
“There’s someone that wasn’t in the club that night, someone who disappeared years ago.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”
“Why would she target us?” I asked her.
“Honestly, I don’t know. She took off and left me with those animals knowing what they would do to me.
They did it to her, drove her to drugs to feel numb.
Keefe told me a lot about her that I didn’t know because I was so young but I remember the day she left.
She told me to be a big girl, that big girls didn’t cry and they did what they had to. ”
White hot rage fell over me as I realised what that meant. That bitch had offered her up to those monsters because she didn’t want to do it anymore. Her own fucking daughter.
“Do you know where she is or where she went?”
She shook her head. “Only Keefe knew.”
“Would Shona?”
Her head popped up and her brows furrowed. “Maybe.”
“Stay here,” I told her, kissing her quickly. “I’ll be right back.”
She didn’t try to stop me. I could see how much this was destroying her, so much so that I knew I desperately needed to make this right for her. We’d taken care of the threats to her, so if it was her mother, I would mow that bitch down in a heartbeat to protect my woman.
“Shona,” I called over to her. She was talking with Kayleigh and Orla by the porch. She came over to me instantly. “Do you know where Darby’s mother is at?”
If she’d been surprised by the sudden question, she didn’t show it. “You think she’s connected to this?”
“Darby does, and if she’s worried, then it’s my job to make sure she’s not a threat.”
Shona nodded. “Take Savage with you.”
“What do I need to know, Shona?” I asked her, realising Darby may not be losing her mind at all.
“Clara disappeared for fear of her life, sure, but she didn’t take Darby.
She’d never really cared about her, and I’m sure the drugs they pumped into her had a lot to do with that.
I think the main reason Clara would want revenge on this club was because of what happened to her when she visited here…
it was just after I had left the Destructive Sons but Keefe told me what took place. ”
Savage had joined us, his arm wrapping around Shona instinctually.
“Alasdair and Donald were coming to some sort of agreement together from what I was told. It was Butch who explained that Alasdair offered Clara up to Donald for a few days, where he could do whatever he wanted with her. We all know what that means. She begged my father not to do it, but he refused to listen and went to party with the boys, leaving her with Donald. She was never the same again. It was all for nothing anyway, the deal didn’t go through and the clubs became enemies. ”
It was hard to believe Ace came from such a sick fuck like Donald. He’d been into some nasty shit back then.
“She knows Donald is dead though,” Savage offered. “Why would she attack us here and now?”
“I don’t know, and it may be a wild goose chase…”
“But if it puts Darby’s mind to rest, I will hunt her down,” I told them. Savage nodded. “I’ll go talk to Darby…then she doesn’t leave your sight, Shona, yeah?”
She nodded in agreement and I headed down the hall.
I hated to leave her, but I couldn’t be at my best if I was worried about her.
Darby had the uncanny ability to get into trouble everywhere she went.
I opened the door and saw her sitting in the same space she had been when I left.
Kneeling down so I could look into her eyes, I placed my hands on her thighs and squeezed slightly.
“I need you to stay here,” I told her. “Stay with Shona. I’ll be back soon.”
She nodded and I kissed her, slow and hard, a kiss to show her just how fucking much I loved her.
“Will you kill her?” she asked me. I wasn’t sure if it was fear in her voice or if it was something else.
“Not unless she forces me to. You good with that?”
Resolve. That’s what I saw when I looked at her expression. “Yeah, I’m good with that. She’s no mother to me.”
I kissed her again and left the room before I changed my mind and chucked her on the back of my bike to come with us. It was amazing how much I wanted to be with her, how much I would sacrifice to protect her…and after only knowing her for a short amount of time.
I felt blinded by her. Everything was about her, and although I loved that, it scared me a little. The thought of losing her was heavy on my mind and it frightened me more than my own life ending.
Shona nodded at me as she saw us off after telling Savage how to find the bitch.
As soon as she was out of Darby’s life, she’d be better off.
A fresh start with me. I was her family now.
The club sure, but mostly me, and I would do everything in my power to make sure she was happy all the damn time.
Darby
It was getting dark.