7. Riptide
RIPTIDE
“Church is in session. Sit the fuck down!” Eagle-eye’s distinctive gravel-filled voice silences the angry chatter the moment he speaks up.
Instantly, a room full of fully grown men capable of scaring the fuck out of most sensible people turns into an elementary school assembly, everyone finding a seat and playing nice.
Eagle-eye glowers out at the common room from his perch on the bar, where he’s seated himself to have an overview of the crowd.
His good eye is steely and sharp, while his pale white, blind one feels like it’s staring right into your fucking soul.
Our president might be north of sixty now, but he’s not showing any signs of slowing down, and I can’t think of a better fucker to lead this club than him.
King, our VP, stands next to him, big arms crossed over his chest. He’s usually one of the steadiest guys I know, but right now he looks fucking furious.
If you wanna piss him off, attacking the club is exactly the way to do it.
He’s gonna have big shoes to fill the day Eagle-eye passes the torch, but when the day comes, he’ll be ready.
We all know it. Few clubs can brag about the kind of loyalty and stability we’ve got.
“First off, I’m sure all you fuckers have already heard, but earlier tonight at the rally, Lightning took a bullet.
I talked to Doc not long ago, and he let me know Lightning’s out of surgery, but he’s not out of the woods.
They’re keeping him under for a few days to give him the best shot of coming home.
I’m not a fucking doctor, so don’t ask me the specifics, but the hit was serious and it’s a good thing he got to the hospital when he did. ”
“Do we know who the fuck’s going to pay?” Mad Dog asks, speaking for the whole fucking room.
Church is always serious fucking business, but tonight I can feel the demand for blood in the air.
One of our own was hit in a place where we should’ve been safe.
Violence is always a companion in this life, but there are times and places where even men like us agree to put down our weapons.
Whichever club broke the peace is going to pay a heavy fine, and if Lightning doesn’t pull through… it’s going to get messy.
Every Eagle on premises, or close enough to call in quickly, is packed into the room.
Easily a hundred brothers. The scent of beer, leather and smoke is heavy in the air.
This isn’t a fucking tech conspiracy or political bullshit.
If war is coming, we all wanna be here to make sure we’re part of it, one way or another.
“Not yet. Thunder and Mack got to him right after. They found him and another man down, someone from the Devil’s Brigade.
Don’t know yet if he was responsible, or another victim.
Lightning’s piece was still cold, so there was at least one other person involved.
Five different clubs were there this weekend officially, and who knows how many random fuckers showed up. ”
Angry grumbling is all over the room. We’re not all close in the day-to-day, but in this?
We’re all brothers. It’s one of the reasons why I chose this life.
Growing up on a boat with nothing but my asshole father for company most of the time gave me enough isolation for a lifetime.
I don’t know another way of life that gives you this.
Some of the brothers say the military comes close when it’s good, but when it’s bad? Fuck that.
I follow Eagle-eye because I respect him and know he has our backs. Tonight proves it.
“Thunder and Harper are in the hospital with him. Shadow and Outlaw will be part of the crew looking into what happened. I expect everyone here to keep their ears to the ground and do what they can to support them.” Eagle-eye swipes his hand, indicating everyone in the room.
“And in the meantime, everyone who was at the rally tonight should start going over everything they remember. No matter how fucking pointless it might seem. We’re gonna put the fear of God into the fuckers that did this to him. And more importantly, the fear of us.”
“Fuck yeah!” is shouted from more than one mouth around the room.
Rebel, on my left, holds up a hand. Eagle-eye nods. “I’ve heard of the Devil’s Brigade, but I don’t really know shit about them. They a real threat?”
King straightens up and makes a seesaw motion with his hand.
“One-percenters based close to Nevada. Their president is an old-timer named Rocco who’s been through a few clubs in his day and used to hold a pretty tight rein on his boys, but it’s been a few years since I heard anything.
Never given us any trouble, but they’re big enough to do some damage if they wanted, and they have a reputation for striking hard and playing dirty.
Like Prez said, we don’t know if they’re responsible, or if they’re having this same meeting right now. ”
“Was anyone else hurt tonight?” I ask. It’s bugging me that I didn’t hear from Melody, and she wasn’t where we left her. Chances are she found the asshole she came with, or bummed a ride with someone else. We’re just strangers, so she doesn’t owe us shit, but not knowing is nagging at me.
“Nothing serious that we’ve heard,” King answers. “Doc said they had a few people come in with minor injuries, but it could’ve gone a lot worse. Makes me think that whatever this was, it was personal, not a plot to start a full-scale riot.”
“I’m gonna make it last when I get my hands on whoever’s responsible,” Outlaw growls. “It could’ve been any of us under the knife tonight. It could’ve fucking been Harper.”
The whole room growls angrily. We don’t suffer attacks lightly, and no one fucks with our women.
Chef, his mohawk freshly dyed red to match the dragon tattoo curled around the side of his head, nods. “They’re gonna be strung from the streetlights.”
Shadow’s deep voice is as dark and cold as a crypt.
“I’ve been sharing a home with Lightning for four years now, and been his club brother for longer.
Attacking him is like attacking me, like attacking Outlaw, or attacking Thunder.
If he dies, my vote is that we find the whole damn club and wipe them out.
Ask the Pit Vipers how messing with us turned out for them. ”
Eagle-eye cuts everyone short by sticking his fingers in the corners of his mouth and whistling loud enough for the first few rows to wince.
“Enough! I know it’s easy to get pulled along in the fury, but here’s what we’re gonna do.
Club’s on high alert. Nobody comes in unless they’re with one of us.
And we’re putting the territory on lockdown.
Double up on patrols and put the word out that if we find anyone inside our borders, they better be ready to talk, or they ain’t going home.
No one’s gonna be surprised by that. At the same time, let it be known that we’re willing to pay for useful information.
I wanna know what the fuck people are saying. ”
“How long?” Shadow stands up, gripping the back of the chair in front of him. “How long do we play detective before we start doing something?”
Eagle-eye hops off the bar and walks over to him.
His boots echo in the silent room. He puts his hand on Shadow’s shoulder.
“I know how you fucking feel. I felt it when the Vipers had Faith, and every time we’ve lost someone.
This club is everything to me, and you fucking know that.
And that’s why we start careful, because I want to do this once, and I want to do this right.
I’ll give you this. Two days. If we don’t have a good lead, we start pulling wings off the fly.
I fucking promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to put the person responsible on their knees in front of you and yours. Got it?”
Shadow doesn’t look real happy about it, but he nods.
“Anyone else got anything they wanna say? Floor’s open.”
There’s some grumbling, but I think it’s just people coming to terms with having to wait before they sink their teeth into someone. Eagle-eye’s right and we know it. With the way everyone’s feeling tonight, we’d be likely to lose at least a few men in the process.
King claps his hands. “Alright. Anyone who was there tonight, come find me, Shadow or Outlaw. I want to put together a list, even if you didn’t see shit.”
Church is adjourned, leaving Mad Dog, Rebel and me to walk off together.
“What do you think? Did Melody make it out of there okay?” I ask. “You haven’t heard from her yet, have you?”
Rebel shakes his head. “Nothing.”
“Shit, I hope she’s alright.” Mad Dog opens the door and waves us through, out into the warm August night. It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea that a few hours ago we were fucking in a field, and now we’ve got a brother hovering between life and death.
“She must’ve,” I say, hoping I’m right. “We stuck around as long as we could, and she wasn’t anywhere near where we left her. She probably found the guy who brought her and got the fuck out of Dodge.”
“Fuck, she was something, wasn’t she? Innocent but knows what she likes, just the way I fucking like them,” Mad Dog says with a grin. “Getting pulled outta a pussy that good should be grounds for retribution all on its own.”
I grin. “She was good, boys. Fucking amazing.”
Mad Dog shoves me, laughing. “Fuck off. Next time, you can be the one jerking off while I fuck her.”
I wouldn’t turn it down.