Wrath
This morning was a surprise. Coming into the clubhouse to check on Jalisa, I never expected to find her making breakfast for the whole club.
It had filled the entire common area with a mouthwatering aroma.
The way she interacted and bossed us around hadn’t offended or angered me.
I thought it was hilarious. We could sometimes act like animals.
Having someone call us on it was necessary.
Betty had done it before, but not the way Jalisa had.
The way my guys automatically followed her commands amused me.
Goddamn, she’d make a helluva president if women could be in our club.
A few MCs allowed them, and I know several women-only MCs had cropped up all over the States due to most clubs’ exclusion clauses.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about women mixing with men.
There were things we got into that they probably wouldn’t like, such as the Dutton situation and the Outlaws.
But if they were like Jalisa, I might be worrying for nothing.
She didn’t seem adversely affected by what occurred or was possibly coming.
However, how likely was it that they would be the same as her?
The ride into Eatonton was swift. We got to Dylan’s complex without issue. After we parked our bikes, Dad began to talk as we made our way through the maze of units to the one we wanted. We were both scanning around us.
“That Jalisa is sure a firecracker, isn’t she? She’s amazing. Beautiful, has a backbone, is sassy, is unafraid to get her hands bloody, and can cook. She’s gonna make some man an excellent old lady.”
I heard the hint in his tone. What could I say? If I told him I was thinking along those lines after last night and my talk with Agony, Rage would have us claimed and then married in a heartbeat. He’d taken a real shine to her. In response, I grunted and didn’t say a word. He frowned.
We were at Dylan’s door. I had the key that he slipped me as I was leaving.
He told me which room was hers. It would be a quick in and out.
It should take no more than two minutes.
I unlocked it and pushed the door open. I got one foot inside, then froze.
The tiny entry had a small table in it. I remembered it from the other night.
It was lying on the floor, broken into pieces, with the stuff on top of it scattered and broken.
Just to be safe, I slipped my gun from my waist. Rage did the same.
I signaled him, and he nodded. We went further in and split up.
He went toward the small combo kitchen and living room while I went down the short hallway to the two bedrooms and bathroom.
It didn’t take us long to clear the place. We met in the hall.
“Someone sure tore this place to hell. It wasn’t like this the other night, and I doubt the cops or Dylan did it yesterday. Let me call him to be sure,” I told Rage.
As I made the call, Dad remained on alert.
“Hi, Pres. What can I do for you? Did you find it?” Dylan answered.
“We’re here, but I haven’t looked for the laptop yet. Something tells me I won’t find it. This place has been tossed, Dylan. Did the cops do that yesterday?” He hadn’t mentioned it, nor had Forge.
“Fuck, sorry, no, they did not. Shit, just what I need. I can get it straightened up later. Damn it,” he muttered.
“I think you should come and do it sooner rather than later. See what you can salvage. Once you do, we’ll haul the rest away. I think you should move to the compound full-time, prospect. I’m not sure why you got this place, but they know where it is now.”
“I got it in the beginning because I wasn’t sure how things would work out with the club.
I wanted to have a place to go if shit went south.
I love my family, but I want to stay in Eatonton.
But you’re right. I need to let it go. I hope they didn’t tear up the inside too much.
The landlord will shit if it’s damaged. He wasn’t thrilled renting to a biker. ”
“Whatever they tore up, we’ll make sure it’s good as new.
I don’t want to leave Betty and Jalisa there alone.
Hang there until I get some people to relieve you, and then you and Keno will come here.
Rage and I’ll stay until you do. I’ll look for Jalisa’s laptop, but I have a feeling it’s either gone or in pieces. ”
He groaned. “She’ll be pissed. Okay, we’ll wait, but I won’t tell her anything. It’ll only make her stew longer, and that’s never good.”
“Agreed. See you when you get here,” I told him before disconnecting.
“I’ve sent out a message to the others. I asked for two of them to head back to the compound. I’m waiting on replies. I figured I could do that while you talked to him,” Rage informed me.
“Thanks. Well, it looks like we’ll be scavenging. I doubt her laptop is where she left it, if it’s even here,” I grumbled.
We took time to lock the door. We didn’t want to chance letting someone sneak in behind us.
As soon as it was, I went to her bedroom.
As I entered and began to search the immediate area by the door, an odor I didn’t smell on my cursory inspection hit my nose.
I sniffed, then wrinkled my nose in disgust. I glanced over at Rage.
He was in the hall, headed for the bathroom.
“Do you smell that?” I asked.
“Yep, and it’s what you think it is, I’ll bet money. Sick bastards,” he snarled.
Moving closer to the bed, which had the mattress tossed over on its side and the bed rails and slats torn up, I looked for the laptop.
It wasn’t there. Next, I flipped the mattress over onto what was left of the bed so I could see underneath it.
That’s when I found the source of the stink.
Someone had jizzed all over the mattress.
We could see the stains, and then, in black marker, they had written, Jalisa + Killer = forever .
It was something a teenager would write in their school notebook about a crush, not a grown man.
“Jesus Christ, do you think he was here and did it? Or had one of his brothers do it for him?” Rage asked.
“I don’t know, but either way, it’s disgusting. Watch where you touch and step. There could be more or other crap,” I warned him.
We cautiously riffled through the entire room.
There was no sign of her laptop. Exiting it, we went to Dylan’s bedroom.
It was as bad, but no one had jizzed all over his mattress or left messages.
I wasn’t confident he’d be able to salvage much.
Our next stop was the bathroom. The mirror was shattered all over the floor and in the sink.
There was stuff broken and piled in the tub.
I sifted through it and found what was left of her laptop at the bottom.
I picked up the pieces. I knew nothing about them, but I’d take them in case Crusher could at least work some magic and get whatever was on her hard drive off it for her. I’d get her a new laptop to work on.
I heard what sounded like bikes in the distance.
Not knowing who it was, we both went to the front door and stood guard.
We were peeking out the small window beside the door.
I was relieved when I saw Keno and Dylan coming toward us.
We’d gotten a response as we checked the rooms that Fury and Forge had gone home.
Dylan wore a weary expression. I felt for the kid.
Dad opened the door and let them in. Dylan’s face grew thunderous when he saw the state of his apartment.
“I should’ve known they’d do this. Why didn’t I take this shit yesterday? Or better yet, not had it here to begin with,” he berated himself.
“Hey, you had no idea, and I don’t blame you for having a place just in case. I don’t think you’ll be able to save much, but we’ll see. The laptop is toast, but I have it to take back to Crusher.” I held up the box I’d found and put the pieces in.
“Jesus, Jalisa is gonna shit herself. I hope she kept all her work on another drive or something. She’ll lose her mind if she loses all her designs and projects.”
“Let’s hope she didn’t,” I agreed.
“Pres, thanks for letting me know and for telling me. You and Rage don’t need to stay here. I’ll do a quick walk-through, and then when I have downtime, I’ll get this place cleared out and repaired,” Dylan said.
“You’re not doing it alone. We’ll get a crew together so we can knock it out in a couple of days. Grab anything you can save now, and we’ll take it home. I’ll warn you. If you go into her room, someone jerked off all over the mattress and left her a message.”
“What the fuck?” he said before stomping away.
His increased swearing told us he’d found it.
When he came back, he was madder. He said nothing when Rage and I insisted we’d stay and help.
The four of us made short work of shifting things around and picking up anything not destroyed.
There wasn’t a lot. It took an hour. When we were done, we bagged it up to go in our various saddlebags since we were on our bikes.
Dylan slammed the door and locked it as we left.
I prepared myself for Jalisa’s reaction to what had been done. My gut told me she’d blow.