Chapter Four
Pope crossed his arms over his chest and asked Daisy, “Just how far away is your dad’s MC?”
“They’re over in Many, Louisiana,” Daisy told them as she shrugged.
“It’s a hole in the wall actually but Dad runs the place.
He pays the whole town to ignore what they are doing.
Then some people just look the other way out of fear.
Then if you cross him, he gets right up in your face and warns you, that you either better do what he says or you won’t be doing anything anymore.
Except taking up space six feet under. He’s a monster and he raised his sons to be the same way.
They are all rotten.” She struggled to try and sit up.
Patch and Torin both held her flat down on the bed.
Patch cleared his throat and advised her, “I need to stitch up your side. You’ve probably already lost a lot of blood. Then you need rest and some food to start healing.”
Torin growled and said, “I told you, you were safe here. If you try to leave here you’ll bleed to death and I’ll be damned if I let that happen.”
The Pope glanced at his son and just shook his head. Then he looked at Daisy again. “Let the boys do their thing. You need rest and food, at least let us give you that much.”
Daisy looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
“I can’t stay here. My brothers know where I am and they’ll come hunting for me.
I won’t stay and let you and your men take a bullet meant for me.
I never meant to drag anyone into this when I hid in the bar.
I really don’t want anyone hurt. I know what those animals are like. They just don’t know when to quit.”
The Pope nodded. “Well darlin, there’s something you don’t seem to understand here.
This is our home advantage. We know this area from front to back.
North and south, east and west. We’ve been here thirty years or so.
Your brothers haven’t been here long if at all.
That gives us an advantage.” He reached out and patted her hand.
“My boys know where to hide if they get too close. You just leave that to us. We can get your brothers to follow us anywhere and who knows what we’ll find along the way.
” He tipped his head back and chuckled. “Yes indeed, we know the art of hide and seek real well.” Pope looked over at Torin and instructed, “You stay here with her and I’ll get the others to guard the Clubhouse.
Might even let Archer and Ghost have a little fun with her brothers.
” Shaking his head, he grinned. “On the other hand they might like it too much and then where would we be?” He turned around and left the room while snickering under his breath the whole time.
Daisy looked mystified as she just stared at Torin and asked, “What does that mean? And why is he smiling about this?”
Torin smirked at her and said, “Your brothers might be in more trouble than they can handle. That’s what it means.
My dad loves to cut big-mouthed-rotten bikers down to their knees.
Then if he calls those two into play. It will be on.
Archer got his name because he’s a crack shot with any kind of bow and arrow.
Then Ghost got his name because you never see him coming until it's just a minute too late. He’s good with knives and guns.
I love to fight. They both play dirty. So if Dad gives them the word that they can play to protect the club... then your family will be sorry.”
Daisy sat still on the bed. “And you think he’ll give them the word?”
Torin and Patch both nodded.
“Oh yeah, he’ll give them both the word. If they find their way here, they are gonna be in real trouble.”
Daisy shrugged. “I can live with that.”
Torin raised an eyebrow at this, though he knew how she felt about them.
Patch snorted. “Yeah, I just bet you could.”
Daisy sighed heavily as she stared at the ceiling.
“I’m just hoping I will finally be free of them.
They've been bullies to me all my life. Dad never once tried to stop them. Never told them to leave me alone. Most days, he just watched with a certain gleam in his eyes. I couldn’t dare to fight back.
If I did, he would take off his belt and they would hold me down while he would beat me until I couldn’t scream anymore.
Danny broke my arm once and Colt almost broke my leg.
I still walk with a limp because of him.
I thought when I turned 18, I could finally leave that damn house but even then they stopped me cold.
Dad said I wasn’t going anywhere and they practically locked me in my room to stop me from walking out.
Every day when they left for the clubhouse, they made sure I couldn’t get away.
They only unlocked the door when they remembered I was in my room.
Sometimes it would just be for the day but once in a while, it would be days. ”
Torin shook his head. “That's inhuman.”
Daisy shrugged. “That’s my so-called family.
I think I was seventeen when I first started listening to what they were talking about.
I wasn’t surprised by what I heard, but I knew that one day I would need to leave there and I wasn’t going to leave empty handed.
That’s when I really began paying attention.
But I also had to be careful, I knew if they figured out what I was doing, I might just become gator bait just like my mom.
So I began gathering information and I finally got a break.
The only thing was Colt came back early.
He might not know what I got but he knew I was in dad’s office and that’s the one place I wasn’t supposed to ever be. ”
Torin nodded. “But he made a mistake when he came into our bar, you were under our protection and that’s one thing we don’t fuck around with. You were safe from them from the moment I found you hiding in the basement.”
Patch looked puzzled as he asked, “How did you get down there anyway?”
Daisy shrugged. “Actually, I climbed in through the ladies room window and I thought I could just hide for a few hours then I heard them out in the bar. They were starting to cause a fuss then I heard Dad’s voice telling them to settle down and just pay the damn bill so they could get out of there. ”
Torin froze. He remembered the table just before closing that caused Callum to step up. Frowning, he stared at her and asked, “Those were your brothers?”
Daisy nodded sadly. “Yeah, if Dad hadn’t told them to settle down they would have caused a riot.
You see they usually don’t have to pay for their drinks when they go out, not around home anyway.
The bartenders always know not to charge them or my brothers will tear up the place.
It's cheaper to let them have a few rounds than it is to replace the tables and bottles of booze they break. Besides, they were all in town to strike a deal with an outlaw MC to distribute drugs. This town is half way between home and that MC’s compound. ”
“Do you know who the other MC is?” Patch asked.
Daisy laid back on her pillow. “The Devil’s Spawn,” she said softly. “And from what I hear, they are one vicious MC. Almost worse than Demon’s.”
Patch scoffed. “You got that right. Those bastards are the worst of the worst. I don’t know if your dad is stupid for doing business with them or if he’s got balls of steel.”
Daisy snorted. “Oh, he’s just that stupid.
He thinks they are just going to roll over and play nice, but I don’t think they are the kind that play anything but viciously.
Some of Dad’s guys are afraid of the Devil’s and from what I hear, they should be afraid of them.
There's rumors of murders committed by them and missing people from their ranks that refused nasty orders. Never to be seen again. And they peddle in more than just drugs. Dad’s got to be the biggest damn fool in Louisiana if he thinks to take them on. ”
Torin just shook his head. “I think it's safe to say your father might have just gotten into more than he's prepared for. If the Devils get involved they might just take over the whole operation and leave your dad and his crew out to dry.”
Daisy smiled for the first time since she came into the clubhouse. “I’d love to see that happen. Somebody standing up to my father. I’m not sure ole Demon is ready for that to happen. He’s one of those men that think he is walking royalty and that he’s entitled to everything."
“Oh yeah?” Torin grinned. “Well by the time the Devils get through with him, they are gonna leave your dad’s bones in the desert to bleach. I think ole Satan will just ride away and never think about your dad at all.”
Daisy shivered. “That’s the leader’s name? Satan?”
Torin nodded. “Yeah he’s in charge of the Spawns and he doesn't take shit from anybody. That’s how he got his name.
He’s a man without a moral direction and he doesn't feel any pain either. Got some medical condition that doesn’t let him feel anything.
Hell, I heard once that some dickhead shot him and he never felt a thing, he just charged the guy and killed him.
He practically died of blood loss before his men told him he’d been shot. ”
Patch snorted. “Yeah, that was when he shot his own man for not saying anything before he lost two liters of blood. The human body only holds four liters. That just goes to show you how clueless the man is about pain.”
Daisy just shook her head then she bit her lip.
She worried why she didn’t feel anything about the man they were speaking of.
Not remorse at any rate, not even fear. This might be the ending she was afraid of hoping for.
If this Satan guy was as bad as they said, maybe he would end her suffering by just ending her family.
One part of her did feel bad, her dad and brothers were human after all, even from her perspective, but after living with them for 20 years, they had nearly beaten the part of her that cared about their rights, right out of her.
And while her bruises faded, she wouldn’t ever forget the pain from their hands, fists and Dad’s belt.
Just because she had learned not to scream with every hit, didn’t mean she didn’t feel them.
But the fact they wanted to hear her screams only caused her to put up more resistance.
When they couldn’t get her to scream anymore they slowed down on the beatings.
She had taken all the fun out of it for them.
She held all her emotions in and exhibited nothing if possible.
But because of that they thought of other ways to torment her.
Daisy shut down her thoughts on this. Shoved it away..
She didn’t want to remember what form of torture they had gone to.
But for the rest of her life, she would carry those scars.
Inside and out. Most were emotional scars no one would ever see.
She laid back on her pillow with a long sigh.
She’d decided right then and there that she hoped her dad and her brothers made that fatal mistake.
“Maybe pissing Satan off wouldn't be such a bad thing. I know it sounds bad but to finally be free from all that pain and misery...I could finally live.” She glanced up at the two men.
“You know. To be able to do what I want. To not live in fear anymore. I mean I could actually get my own place? Have a job. Get a car.” She nodded as she felt hopeful for the first time... ever. “I never believed I could do it.”
Torin and Patch were silent as they looked a bit angry.
Torin looked stunned as he watched her carefully. “Could do what?” he asked.
Raising her gaze up, she replied, “Get away from that misery. You know...Be free to live a life. Or just be free... period.”
Both men couldn’t seem to speak.
Torin allowed a low growl to slip out as he clenched his fists at his sides.
Patch told her, “So let me stitch this up, ok? It’s gonna hurt. So I’ll make it quick.”
Daisy scoffed. “I endure pain on a daily basis. Just go ahead.”
The two men looked like they didn't even comprehend what she was telling them.