Chapter Forty-Seven
Chasm
We split into two groups. Venom was with me, while Krypto went with Zombie. If this was a trap, we had a better chance of one of us surviving if we weren’t together. The prospects stayed behind to keep an eye on the Highway Sinners. That and Vincent and Colson were in no position to fight.
Colson had been shot in the leg out by the gate when the Satan’s Angels stormed the clubhouse. And Vincent had taken one in the shoulder. They, along with Brian and Peter, were the only men I could spare to be my eyes and ears in the clubhouse.
I hated leaving Morgan and Sully with men I didn’t know, but more than one brother vouched for Bandit. Crater admitted his uncle was an asshole, but he was an old-school biker who ran his club the same way and was a firm believer in not fucking with family.
Zombie and his team were heading north to Conway, while my team headed south to Benton. When Omen had given us the names of the towns that held the two diners Nathan had visited often, B remembered a phone call Nathan had with someone he said was his grandfather.
We were all feeling the jab of realizing a prospect had pulled one over on us.
That he had slipped in under the radar. I had been distracted trying to win Morgan back, but Omen took it the hardest. It was his job to run backgrounds on the prospects.
His job was to find whatever dirt they were trying to hide.
And everyone had shit they wanted to hide.
Halfway to Benton, Omen got a text with coordinates to meet at a different location outside Benton, Arkansas. He looked up the area, and it was an abandoned factory on the edge of town. The perfect place to kidnap a woman.
We stopped about three-quarters of a mile away from the meeting point and walked in. There were twelve of us, and we fanned out through the tree line to surround the building.
The old, abandoned factory sat on the edge of town. Once a booming alloy business, it now sat empty, falling apart from years of neglect.
“What now?” Venom asked.
“We need a distraction to draw out whoever is in there,” Ambush offered.
From across the lot, I saw smoke, and I shook my head. “The old bastard hasn’t changed,” I growled as I pointed to the back of the building where a pile of old pallets had been lit on fire.
There was a reason he was called Smokey and it wasn’t the three packs of cigarettes he smoked a day. Men started piling out of the building to see where the smoke was coming from.
“Move. Now!”
Everyone moved toward the building, some going around the front, others dropping behind the piles of junk and broken-down vehicles littered around the place.
I had just made it to the front door when I heard the gunshots. Venom was at my back, and we both crouched below a window just as the glass shattered and rained down on us.
Venom kicked open the door that hung on its hinges and went inside firing. A gun in each hand, as though he was walking into the fucking Alamo.
I entered behind him and moved to the edge of the room. I didn’t see Zephyr, not yet anyway, but the building had three floors. He had to be here somewhere.
I aimed my gun and crept up the stairway as silently as I could. The wooden steps creaked under my feet, the sound muffled by the gunfire below. I moved along the hallway, checking rooms on my left as I went. On my right was open space that looked down on my men as they fought the Satan’s Angels.
I didn’t look over the railing. I couldn’t worry about them; I had to find the man I had come here to kill. I had to end his life before he ended mine.
Still no sign of Zephyr.
Spider and Scorpion were behind me. The two of them covered my back, but would they protect me? Would they choose to let me die? Spider and I had history. Now Scorpion and I did too.
Not the same history.
One was a brother for years; someone I trusted to have my back. One was a kid I barely remembered. A kid who threatened my life to protect my old lady.
As we moved steadily down the hall, I tried to keep my thoughts on the task at hand, but the doubts swirled through my head. What would happen if they were given the choice to save my life or let me die and allow someone else to take over what they’d begged me to lead?
A noise at the end of the hall caught my attention, but I was distracted. Everything changed in a second. Zephyr stepped into the hall, his gun aimed at me.
Everything slowed as I took in his haggled face, the sinister smile he flashed in my direction. He thought he’d won. He believed he would take us out. Take my sister. My old lady.
Morgan’s face appeared before me. The life we wanted to live. The children we wanted to have. The baby she carried now. My men would protect her. They loved her.
“Where’s my son?” he snarled.
“Dead.”
“Pity,” was his only response. He didn’t care that his son had been found out. He didn’t care that his legacy had ended at the hands of my club. He’d sent him into the lion’s den knowing he wouldn’t make it out.
I saw his finger twitch on the trigger, and my own hand gripped the butt of the gun I held. My finger squeezed the trigger, but the shot went wide when Spider slammed into me from the side, knocking me to the floor.
Scorpion yelled as he emptied his gun into Zephyr’s body. His steps methodical until he stood before him. Dropping his gun to the floor, he grabbed Zephyr’s cut and tossed him over the railing.
He landed with a thud. A few more seconds and the gunfire ceased.
“Venom, make sure he’s dead,” Scorpion called over the railing.
A gunshot echoed through the room. “He ain’t coming back from that shit,” Venom called back.
I reached up and placed a hand on the back of my head, glaring at Spider. “What the fuck?!”
He snarled back at me and yelled, “Falcon, get your ass up here now. Prez is hurt.”
I looked down at Spider’s hands where they pressed against my leg. Blood seeped between his fingers.
“Shit!” Falcon cursed, pulling his belt from his waist. Spider helped him lift my leg and he tightened the belt around my thigh.
“FUCK!” I bellowed, narrowing my eyes at Falcon. “That fucking hurts.”
“Good, it’s means you aren’t fucking dead,” Falcon snapped back.
“How do we get him home?” Scorpion asked as the sound of stomping boots roared inside my skull.
“I can ride.” I winced as Falcon dug into my leg to fish out the bullet.
“You can’t ride like this,” Ambush hissed.
“I’ve ridden with worse. Just get me on the bike.”
“Get him outside,” Falcon said. “I’ve got a med kit in my bike.”
“Are you a fucking doctor?” I asked, hesitant to let him touch me after the pain he’d just put me through.
“You don’t serve in the military without learning how to patch up bullet holes.”
Venom and Cobra grabbed me by my arms to help me stand. Then Venom threw me over his shoulder like a goddamn firefighter and carried me down the stairs and outside with Cobra right behind him.
They laid me on the ground, and I looked up at the dark sky. The sun set early in December. Benton wasn’t as populated as Little Rock, and I could see the stars beginning to twinkle in the sky. It wasn’t the same as Nebraska, but it would do.
“Take his pants off,” Falcon ordered, and Venom reached for my belt.
I slapped his hands away and growled, “What the fuck?!”
Falcon blew out a breath, trying to hold back his temper.
“I need to be able to wrap it up after I stitch it. Either take the fucking jeans off, or I’ll tear them all the way down the side and the fabric will be blowing in the wind on the ride home.
It’ll get caught up in the chain and you’ll end up dead on the highway.
Then I’ll be fucking pissed for doing all this work for nothing. ”
I stared back at Falcon, knowing he was right, but it didn’t mean I’d tell him that. I undid my belt and pants, while Venom and Cobra pulled off my boots. Then they helped me pull my jeans down. I could barely move without wincing, but it was still nothing compared to the burns.
“Fuck,” Ambush cursed when the guys got a look at my left leg. None of them had seen the scars that covered half my body.
“Jesus Christ, Prez. How the fuck did you survive that?” Dutch asked, his hands on the top of his head as he looked down at me.
“It wasn’t easy,” I muttered, not wanting to talk about it.
Falcon glanced at the scars and then looked into my eyes and nodded. Silently, he cleaned the wound and stitched me up. Wrapping my leg in gauze.
Venom and Cobra helped me dress and put my boots back on. Then they helped me onto my bike without argument, and I started her up.
“Prez, it’s an hour ride back,” Falcon whined.
“I said I can fucking ride.”
“Asshole.” Falcon stormed off and mounted his bike.
“What do we do with the mess?”
“Keno and LA, stay behind. Burn the bodies and as much of the building as you can,” I ordered as I hit the throttle and roared off, not waiting for my brothers to follow.
It wasn’t long before Ambush pulled up on my left side and Smokey pulled up on my right. Venom, Falcon, Spider, and Scorpion shot past us and took up the front, while the rest covered my back.
The ride home was long and slow. Falcon made us stop multiple times to check my leg. When blood started seeping through the bandage, he insisted we stop so he could redress it.
I told him no.
I wanted to get home to Morgan. I needed to get home to Morgan.
We pulled into the clubhouse at the same time as Zombie and the rest of the club. When he noticed the tear in my jeans, he asked, “You get him?”
“Yeah,” I said as I tried to swing my leg over my bike. He caught me as I fell, and Venom moved to my side and once again threw me over his shoulder.
“Fucking put me down.”
“Nope, you’ve done enough,” the bastard argued.
“If you carry me into the fucking clubhouse, Morgan will lose her shit, Venom. I have to walk.”
Venom stopped at the bottom of the stairs and carefully set me on my feet. Krypto came up on my other side, nodded at Venom, and then they each bent down and grabbed an arm, swinging it over their shoulders.
“This isn’t any better,” I hissed.
“It’s either this or I fucking carry you,” Venom argued. “Take your pick.”
I glared at my enforcer and something lit inside my chest. Something that felt a little like respect. Maybe gratitude.
I nodded, and when they stood up, my feet left the ground.
“Son of a bitch,” I growled.
My men snickered behind me, and B rushed forward to open the door. Just as I knew she would, Morgan lost her shit the moment she saw my enforcers carrying me into the clubhouse.
“Baby, I’m fine.” Her pale face broke something inside me, and I got a glimpse of what she went through seven years ago.
“He’s okay, Morgan. I need to redress the wound and probably clean it again. But the bullet didn’t hit any major arteries,” Falcon explained.
Morgan stood at the bar with her hand over her mouth. Tears slipped down over her cheeks and beside her was my little sister. She clung to Morgan’s arm.
“Put me down,” I ordered, and Venom and Krypto gently set me on my feet but didn’t let go until they were sure I was solid.
I walked carefully over to Morgan and pulled her against my chest, bringing Sully with her.
“I’m okay,” I promised and kissed them both on the top of their head.