Chapter 15
Winter
The clubhouse always felt different when the brothers were out. The prospects were still milling about, doing their various security assignments, so it wasn’t a matter of feeling unsafe so much as it just being quieter.
The club girls were all sitting around bored out of their minds.
They tended to drink too much when left to their own devices, which led to them getting catty with each other.
I wasn’t bothered because I was still feeling the warm glow of the fine whiskey Fuse shared with me.
And then there were the things he said to me, about supporting whatever decision I made with my life, even leaving him.
Thankfully, Rosie stayed at the clubhouse so she could welcome Thunder home after missions.
More of the old ladies always came to meet their men as the night wore on.
I’d gotten to know a few of them. They seemed like good people.
I still couldn’t believe Storm was married to the lady who runs the blog that talks about local crime and corruption.
She was famous locally for her hard-hitting news stories.
And she’s downright personable. So far, the brothers and their old ladies have all been nice.
Since things were duller than dull, I pulled out my journal and started writing, mostly about what Fuse said earlier.
I couldn’t keep the smile off my face for anything.
When I was finished with that, I slid my journal into the cash register under the cash tray.
It was my secret hidey hole to keep it safe from prying eyes.
Then I just leaned on the bar between pours, watching the door and praying that Fuse would come through it safe and sound.
Rosie caught me and climbed onto the barstool in front of me. “They’re grown men on motorcycles,” she said. “You don’t have anything to worry about. They’ve been doing this for years.”
“I know,” I told her, feeling embarrassed.
“Then stop staring at the door like it will make them come home sooner. It won’t. Ask me how I know.”
The twinkle in her eye told me she knew how I felt. “You used to stare at the door when you first got with Thunder?”
“Yes, I did it for a long time. Then one day, I realized that he always comes back to me whether I stare at the door or not.”
“I guess you’re right,” I said with a laugh.
Even in the quiet absence of the brothers, this clubhouse felt like home.
The space behind the bar felt like it belonged to me.
So I finished washing the glasses, restocked the alcohol, and then checked on the kittens.
As Fuse was away, I didn’t want to leave them in our room, so they were in the walk-in closet we used to store the cases of beer.
They were having the best fun ever, jumping on the boxes and playing with the cat toys we got them.
Well, they were actually fighting over them.
I shut the door and left them to it and headed out to wipe down some tables.
That’s when the front gate alarm went off.
It was a shrill tone that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.
I froze in place as it sunk in that that was the signal the prospects used to let us know there were incoming riders.
Maybe the brothers were back, I thought excitedly.
The alarm was just a heads up that the gate was about to open.
One of the club girls perked up. “Is that them? Are they back already?”
“Maybe,” Rosie said, reaching for the radio to check with the gate prospect. She didn’t get an answer, which was strange because they always answer. Then we heard three shots. Two of them close together, and then a third.
The prospect nearest the front window moved forward and looked out before jerking back. “That ain’t the Slayers,” he shouted, already moving towards the weapons cabinet. “Get away from the windows. Now.”
Rosie had the radio in her hand. “What’s happening at the gate?”
Static. Then a voice, strained and short, came over the radio.
It was Rigs’ son, Evan. Savage Legion had brought a couple of their prospects with them—sons of two of the members—and they’d volunteered to stay behind and man the gates while the Slayers and Legion went to confront Viper.
“Gate’s been breached. It’s Viper and his men.
Levi’s down and I’ve been hit. I can’t reach him… ”
When the radio dissolved into static again the women began to panic.
Suddenly, we could see single headlights flashing all around the front of the building through the thin curtains. And the roar of motorcycles filled the air.
One of the prospects ran over and locked the double deadbolts on the front door.
He glanced quickly out the window, then immediately jerked a handgun out of the back of his waistband.
He looked sick as he announced, “Shit! They ran a fucking semi through the front gate. Tore it right off the hinges. We gotta go and help the Savage Legion prospects.”
Another prospect shook his head. “We can’t abandon the women. We’ve got two old ladies here to protect.”
One of the club girls let out a disgruntled growl. “You’re supposed to be protecting all of us, Jimmy, not just the old ladies.”
Engines hammered in the yard. Someone outside shouted something I couldn’t make out over the noise.
Then glass exploded inward from the window above the bar and a brick slid across the floor.
One of the club girls screamed. It was a startled sound that cut off when she realized she hadn’t been hit by the brick.
A warning that they intended to breach the building.
I didn’t know how I knew that but I did.
“They’re here for me. If I go out, maybe they’ll leave the rest of you alone.”
Jimmy growled, “Absofuckinglutely not. I’m not giving up an old lady to save myself. Fuck that noise.”
Rosie leapt into action. “You don’t have to protect us. We’ll lock ourselves in the safe room. You go check on Evan and Levi.”
The look on her face and her bold words were enough to cut through the club girls’ panic.
“Get to the damn basement,” she shouted. “Right now. All of you, move, move, move.”
Most of them started a stampede for the basement steps. Two of the club girls were so busy crying they didn’t seem to be registering what she said. One had her phone clutched in her hand, and stammered, “My bag. I need to get my bag.”
“Leave it,” Rosie said sternly. Putting her hands on the woman’s shoulders, she shoved her towards the stairs. “Goddamnit, if you if you have an ounce of survival instinct move your fucking ass!” She stumbled along in a daze.
After a few steps, the stragglers started running on their own. The basement door was at the end of the hallway. Rosie ran there and held it open and pushed the girls through one at a time, counting heads as they went. She was good at taking charge.
Just as I was about to step through the door, I stopped dead in my tracks. “Wait!” I said.
Rosie stood in the doorway, anxious to close and lock it. “No. Whatever it is you’re thinking, no. Get in here. Now.”
I took a step back. “The kittens are in the walk-in. I need to grab them. If Viper can’t get me, he might hurt them.”
The expression on her face didn’t change. “He doesn’t even know they’re yours.”
I turned and started running towards the bar, yelling over my shoulder, “I can’t abandon them.”
Rosie screamed, “They’re cats. They’ll hide.”
My babies were four months old, and they didn’t have the same instincts as fully grown cats.
I yelled from the end of the hall, “Pull the door. I promise, I’ll only be thirty seconds.”
When I got to the bar area there was smoke everywhere, men running around, fighting, and throwing things at each other. And it was clear that our prospects were getting overrun.
The door to the walk-in was open, and I couldn’t see the kittens anywhere. I scrambled around on my knees looking high and low for them. Normally, I could hear their little meows but not among all this ruckus. I was getting desperate.
A shadow fell over me, and somehow, I knew it was Viper.
I spun around and found him standing there with the same smirk he wore when things were going his way.
My panic surged higher as I realized how calm he was compared to the chaos going on behind him.
Someone flipped a table sending glasses crashing to the floor.
And then one of his men squatted down behind it and popped off a shot.
I could hear Jimmy scream, “Fall back and regroup.”
Meanwhile, Viper just stood there with his hands on his hips, seemingly without a care in the world for his personal safety.
He glanced over at the brother with the gun. “I found her,” he said. “Grab her and let’s get the hell out of this dump.”
I backed all the way up, as far from the two of them as I could get.
“Don’t,” his sidekick said, daring me to try and get away.
Viper lifted one hand slightly for the man to stand down. Then he took a step closer and asked, “You wanna tell me where everyone went? Where are the women hiding? Reo here has had his eye on that pretty redhead.”
“Redhead? I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s just me and the prospects. You’ve already seen them, right?”
He smiled. “Yeah, mixing it up with them was fun.” Then his eyes narrowed on me. “We came for you, not them.”
“Well, it looks like you found me,” I stammered, scared out of my mind.
His eyes trailed up and down my body. “You’re looking like a woman almost worth keeping. You took to club life pretty damn fast. Fuse even made you his old lady. I didn’t think you had it in you to survive in a one percent club.”
Something about the way he was looking at me set me off. I grabbed a bottle of vodka, slammed it against the counter and threw the jagged bottle right at his head. I don’t even know where that came from, probably the mere thought of him putting his hands on me.
He batted it away with one arm with an annoyed look on his face. “When we get to the clubhouse, I’m gonna have to tag you back for that.”
I thought about the basement and the women down there. Rosie’s hand was probably still on the latch, waiting to welcome me back. I guess hiding out with them wasn’t going to happen after all. I kept my eyes on Viper.
“The Dark Slayers are going to come back and find their clubhouse torn apart,” I told him, snatching up the last of my courage. “You understand what’s going to happen after that, right? They are going to track you down and put you six feet under.”
“That’s what I’m counting on,” he shot back. “So far, I’ve been a couple of steps in front of them every step of the way.”
“You are reaching too far, Viper. Playing a risky game with dangerous men.”
He reached out and grabbed my arm. “Time to go,” he said to Reo. “Grab her and shut her up if you have to.”
Desperate to get away, I lifted my hand and tried to hit Viper in the face. Unfortunately, he was faster and caught my wrist in a firm grip, stopping the blow from landing.
“You might want to save your energy, sweetheart. We’ve got a bumpy ride ahead of us.”
He tossed me to Reo and stalked towards the door. He was a big man, and I was no match for him. We followed Viper outside, him mostly dragging me.
The carnage I saw along the way would stay with me for a long time. Seeing prospects laid out in the lot bleeding while Viper’s men kicked them mercilessly was hard to take.
Viper jumped onto his bike.
I grabbed the handlebar to keep Reo from wrestling me onto the back of his bike. “Why are you doing this? I thought you had a deal.”
Dark glee lit up his face. “You know why, or at least you should. The Dark Slayers decided to get cute. I’m not about to let a bunch of Boy Scouts double cross me. Those assholes don’t have a working brain between them.”
“You’re underestimating them.”
He jerked his chin at Reo. “Put her on the back.”
Reo picked me up and slammed me into place behind Viper, all while grinning like a crazy man. They forced my arms around Viper’s waist, and he tied my wrists with a red bandana. I kept flexing my hands hoping to get a loose fit so I could wiggle free at some point.
Viper said gruffly, “If you do anything to make me crash, I’ll break every fuckin’ bone in your body. Understood?”
Yes,” I replied, my voice trembling. Under his bold threat, all my former bravado evaporated.
As we rode out, the broken gate, shattered windows of the clubhouse, and the condition of the yard gave the whole area a very dystopian feel.
There was an explosion and when I turned one last time, I could see that they’d thrown something against the front of the clubhouse, setting the porch area on fire.
The prospects started trying to get to their feet and run towards the clubhouse.
I closed my eyes, praying they got it put out before it spread to the women who’d locked themselves down below.
I couldn’t believe Viper had managed to outsmart the Dark Slayers. That didn’t even make rational sense. Storm and his crew covered all their bases, everyone said I was safe at the Slayers’ clubhouse. And then Viper had burst right in there like he knew all their weaknesses. But how could he?