Judge

by KJ Dahlen

  “Actually he did, ” Kyle told them unhappily. “I have a good idea where she might be.”

  “Where?” Harry all but shouted.

  “The Sin’s Bastards compound,” Kyle informed them.

  Harry gasped then began to choke on his saliva. “Tell me you’re joking?”

  Kyle sighed in disgust. “Have you ever known me to joke about something like this? Fucking hell... this just went from bad to worse!”

  “What did your cousin see this morning anyway?” Milo asked.

  “Tommy was just leaving for work when he saw three bikers pull up on their bikes then he saw another one arrive in a truck. All four went into Sage’s house and few minutes later, they came out again. The biggest one of them was carrying her all wrapped up in a blanket. He drove away in the truck and the other three rode away on the bikes. He didn’t think anything about it until I called him. He said Mike has been in and out of the house all day, cops too stopped by a time or two, just looking around.”

  Harry got to his feet and groaned. “The Sin’s aren’t any MC we want to mess with man. They have taken kicking ass to a whole new level in this town. You don’t cross them either. I don’t want to even go up against that group.”

  Kyle nodded his head as he more than agreed. “I know and things just got too real for me with this news. Man, between the Lords and the Sin’s?” He did feel fear at the thought. “We’d better wake him the hell up and find out what he wants to do. He’s running out of time.” He walked into Luke’s kitchen. Opening a cupboard, he reached for a large pitcher and filled it with water, cold water. Then he walked into the living room and stood over Luke.

  Pouring the water on him suddenly brought the other man out of his unconsciousness in a hurry. The shock of the cold water had Luke gasping for air.

  “Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty,” Kyle called out.

  Luke glared up at the other man. “Fuck you!”

  “No thanks, you aren’t my type,” Kyle retorted.

  Fuck off.” Luke growled and wiped the excess water off his face and neck. He turned to Kyle. “What else did the bastard have to say after I was out for the count?”

  “He wants you to find and bring Sage to the south side gym and she better be a live and well or he’s gonna hunt us down and make us dead too.”

  “Great, that’s just fucking great!” Luke grumbled. “Do we have any idea where the fuck she even is?”

  “Well, we might have an idea on that.” Harry nodded.

  “We do?” Luke snapped his head around. “Where the fuck is she?”

  “The Sin’s Bastards compound!” Milo blurted out.

  “What the hell?” Luke swore. “How did she get over there?”

  “No clue but Kyle’s cousin saw them carry her out of the house this morning.” Harry nodded.

  Luke thought about this for a moment then grinned. “This might just work to our advantage boys.”

  Harry and Milo gaped at him.

  Kyle shook his head. Advantage? They had no advantage unless it was a ticket out of this sinking hole they were in. He watched as Luke got an evil look in his eyes. He didn’t trust that look and he realized he no longer trusted Luke at all. He knew Luke was cold at times but what he’d done to Sage over the years was criminal. He knew deep down in his heart Luke couldn’t be trusted.

  What happened with his father lent a reason for Kyle to want to hurt her but the more he thought about it the more he had a feeling Luke had something more to do with that than Sage ever did. In fact, it had been Sage’s mother that turned his father over to the Lords but as she was already dead, Luke had been the one to point out the fact that Kyle should transfer that hatred over to Sage.

  Maybe she should stay with the Sins. Maybe Luke should lose this time around. Kyle might not make it either with this kind of war brewing but suddenly, he just didn’t care.

  Kyle took a deep breath and exhaled. When this was over, he had a lot to think about. He sighed... When this was over, he could be dead. He couldn’t stop what was going to happen anymore than he could stop time but he could and would try to give Sage a break. He wasn’t going to touch her ever again.

  ~*~

  Luke, Kyle, Harry and Milo were waiting in the shadows, watching the compound.

  Jason Miller hadn’t been with them earlier when Simon showed up but he arrived shortly after Luke called him.

  Kyle’s cousin Tommy was there as well. He was nervous and shaking as they all looked over the compound. Luke thought Tommy could point out which bike belonged to the one who carried Sage out.

  They all knew Luke was just crazy enough to snatch her from the biker’s own house.

  The other men all looked nervous, they sure as hell didn’t want to be here.

  Luke figured he had nothing left to lose. Either way things went, he knew it would never go back to the way things were before. The Lords knew about the Russians now they would face the Lords or the Russians and Luke felt neither side would be happy. He knew his father hadn’t told the Russians about the Lords yet. He wanted a deal in place first. Well, he wouldn’t get that now.

  Luke watched the compound with the others but his mind was elsewhere. He turned to Tommy. “Well, which bike was the one you saw this morning? We need to find this bitch and grab her before Simon comes looking for me.”

  Tommy looked around the yard and finally spotted the bike from this morning. He pointed it out. “That’s the one. But the guy who rides it is huge and he looks like he don’t take shit from anybody. The others with him this morning looked pissed when they came out of the house. I wouldn’t mess with these guys, Luke.”

  “I don’t give a shit.” Luke growled. “We go in, snatch her up and get out again. Two of you guys cause a distraction and I’ll go and grab her. We’ll all meet up at the parking lot and then we go to the gym.”

  “Why are we all going to the gym again?” Jason asked.

  “Because Simon told us if we didn’t all show up tonight, he’d hunt us all down and give us something to remember,” Kyle told him.

  “Well, as I wasn’t there earlier that might not apply to me,” Jason offered desperately.

  “No chance in hell buddy,” Luke said. “He knows we run together, so he’d be after you too. Right along with the rest of us. If he doesn’t find you, one of the Lords will and they won’t hesitate to cut your throat.”

  “At least he doesn’t know about the Russians yet,” Jason commented.

  “Wanna bet?” Luke growled. He turned to glare at Harry and Kyle. “He knows now and he’s not happy.”

  “Oh fuck!” Jason exclaimed. “Your dad is not gonna be happy about that.”

  “That’s his problem not mine.” Luke shrugged. “I got other fish to fry.”

  They were all quiet for a moment.

  “Well hell,” Luke swore. “Brandi has been dead for six years. How are we supposed to find that fucking key from a dead woman?”

  “The location of this key may be gone forever now that she’s gone,” Harry commented. “If the key exists in the first place.”

  “It did. We’ll have to be sure and ask Sage when we get her won’t we?” Luke remarked.

  “You mean if we get her,” Kyle muttered under his breath. Turning his head, he glared at Luke. “Are you absolutely sure you want to take her from this compound? I mean that could be suicide. These guys don’t like to have anything taken from them, especially a woman. I heard the stories man, and a few men have ended up dead for doing that very thing.”

  Luke scoffed, not taking his warnings seriously. “Maybe we can set the two MC’s against each other and when the smoke clears, we’ll back the one that’s left standing.”

  “Yeah and maybe the Russians will kick both their asses,” Harry suggested.

  “Huh,” Luke snorted. “That’s what my dad is hoping for anyway. The Lords are getting too demanding and the Sin’s Bastards are standing in his way. He wants to run this whole county and they have enough pull that he can�
�t expand the way he wants too.”

  “Isn’t your dad rich enough already?” Jason asked wryly.

  “You’d think so wouldn’t you?” Luke scoffed. “At least he’s not paying his whore anymore. We took care of that six years ago.”

  “Yeah, but that’s only part of what’s going on isn’t it?” Harry suggested. “I mean Brandi and your dad haven’t been together in years. When things didn’t work out the way she wanted, she moved on from your dad pretty fast. She was Aiden’s whore too for a while before she became the Lords’ property. After that, she slept with just about anybody who wanted her. I don’t know why you get so hot and bothered about Sage.”

  “I’ve got my reasons and that’s all you need to know about me and Sage,” Luke grumbled. He turned to study the layout of the compound. It was quiet at the moment and he felt now was as good a time as any to strike. He turned to his guys, “Harry and Jason you go to create a distraction. Draw everyone away from this area if you can. Kyle and I will go in after her and we’ll all meet in the parking lot of that Chinese place on Elm street in an hour. Make sure you get away before they catch you.”

  The men all looked at each other, feeling like if they even could get away, big angry bikers would be tracking them down in a damn heartbeat.

  “What do you suggest we use as a distraction?” Harry asked with fear in his voice.

  Jason looked over the compound and noticed a small playhouse at the edge of the playground next to the clubhouse. He got a wicked look on his face. “How about a small fire?” He pointed toward the playhouse. “That would draw everyone to that end of the compound and Sage will be left alone in the house. It should be easy peasy to get in and out again, without drawing attention to ourselves.”

  Kyle rolled his eyes. None of this would be easy and Jason must be dumber that he thought.

  Milo and Harry were looking scared now.

  “Sounds good to me,” Luke agreed.

  “What do you want me to do?” Milo asked nervously.

  “You stay with the car. As soon as we grab her, we need to get the fuck out of Dodge, so you might have to drive while Kyle and I hang on to her. She won’t go quietly we know that much and I don’t want her to get anyone’s attention.”

  “Ok, I can do that,” Milo assured them with relief on his face.

  “Then let’s get over through this fucking fence and get this done,” Luke ordered.

  Kyle shook his head as he took some wire cutters and began cutting through the chain link. When they had an opening big enough to get through, they quietly slipped through, one man at a time.

  Harry and Jason slipped away in the darkness while Luke and Kyle went toward the house. They circled around back to try and find a way inside.

  ~*~

  They came around to the bedrooms in the back and Luke caught sight of his prey.

  Sage was laying in the arms of the biggest bike he’d ever seen. The moonlight cast its shadows but lent enough light to see her clearly. He could see the bruises on her face and he felt the rage inside him growing again.

  He glared at her and wondered why she’d ever been born. She was more than just his father’s bastard and her very existence shouldn’t be possible but there she was in all her glory. He’d seen her of course in school but hadn’t been aware of their connection yet. While they were growing up, he hadn’t known about her until he was twelve. That’s when his perfect world had fallen apart. He hadn’t known his father was unhappy in his marriage or that his mother was looking for more than his father was willing to give her. But his mother ended up with breast cancer and while she battled that, he found his father began pulling away from his wife and son. Then he heard his mother mention Sage and he couldn’t believe it when his father admitted she was his daughter. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t known about her before but he overheard his parents arguing about her that night. He was supposed to be asleep but their voices had woken him up.

  His mother had begun to change after that night and what he considered a normal childhood disappeared. His mother became a bitter, hateful woman and it was all because her husband had a child that wasn’t hers. Two years later after the cancer had taken her looks and was about to take her life she called him into her room and told him flat out about his sister. She knew she was dying and she wanted him to take care of her once and for all. She didn’t care how he did it and even though she’d never met Sage, she wanted everything her husband had to go to her son, his legitimate heir not a girl who never carried his name. Then she told him she had some money saved and as soon as she was gone that money would be his.

  Then two years after his mother died, he found something out about Sage’s mother. He found out about her blackmail scheme involving his father. Little things about his father began to make sense then. The fact the his father had distanced himself from Luke’s life, the business trips he always took with left his mother so angry before she died, the forgotten birthdays and holidays. He thought it was all because of her and Luke began to hate Sage. When he confronted his father about it, his dad had told him to leave it alone but Luke hadn’t been able to do that.

  Instead of confronting Sage herself, he went round about and got to know her mother. The woman who took Nelson away from his proper family. He could see that she was nothing but a whore right off the bat, his mother had been right about that score, but over time he realized something else about the woman. She had no love for Sage either and that made her an ally of sorts with him didn’t it?

  He also learned something about his father he didn’t know before either. His father really didn’t love anybody except himself. He also hadn’t been faithful to his wife from day one of their marriage. Brandi hadn’t been his first lover nor had she been his last.

  Nelson Nichols was little more than a thief and a liar but he knew he would never be caught. He had schemed for power and through threats and intimidation he got exactly what he wanted. He used fear and blackmail to lock people’s votes in and then rose through the ranks to get to the top of whatever cesspool he desired.

  He’d been mayor of Troy now for fifteen years and he was beginning to lose the control he needed to make it big. When he first started out, he had used the Lords of Devils to establish himself, then he lost them to the Sins Bastards when the Sin’s ran them out of town for running drugs and guns through Troy. Nelson took an easy out and began rerouting their shipments but still demanding his cut of the action.

  Never satisfied, he was looking to expand his bank account so he reached out and was bringing new money with the Russians. He was secretly hoping the Russians would break the last tie with the Lords and neutralize the Sin’s Bastards as well.

  Then Sage had to go and ruin his plans by taking up with one of the Sins Bastards. Luke had been so close to getting rid of her forever. So close to honoring his mother’s last wish and now this. He really did hate her.

  Kyle came up behind him and startled Luke for a moment. “I wish those two idiots would hurry up and get this party started. I really hate being here. If these guys catch us we are so dead.”

  “Stop being such a baby.” Luke growled low. He looked through the window again and noted a movement in the shadows. “Holy shit,” he swore under his breath.

  “What?” Kyle gritted.

  “This biker has a dog and he’s huge.” Luke growled.

  “What the everloving fuck are we going to do now?” Kyle swore. “I ain’t getting bit by no damn dog. I am out of here.”

  Luke grabbed Kyle and pulled him in closer. “You ain’t going nowhere. We stick to the plan. The fire will distract the bikers, we just have to distract the dog and grab Sage.”

  “And how the fuck do we distract the dog?” Kyle asked snidely. “You got a steak on you?” He rolled his eyes.

  “Yeah, very funny.” Luke slipped a knife into the other man’s hands. “Use this if you have to, but as soon as the biker goes to help put out the fire, I’m going in to grab Sage.”

  Suddenly
, the silence around them was shattered by a loud noise and the shadows were disturbed by the crackling of a fire. The reds and orange colors blinding in its intensity. The dog inside the biker’s house began to bark.

  Luke stepped back and watched as the biker got half dressed before he rushed to the door.

  They watched and waited as chaos erupted around and the bikers rushed to the distance to fight the fire. Luke broke the window and slipped inside the bedroom. Sage was already dressed as he snuck up behind her and put her in a choke hold. One arm around her neck covering her mouth and the other he used to lift her off the floor and drag her back through the window.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sage struggled against his hold and tried to scream but his hand over her mouth wouldn’t allow any sound through. She knew who held her from the scent of his aftershave. Luke had grabbed her and was dragging her off.

  She heard a deep growl and she knew Runt had found them. She could only pray Runt would bite him but that wasn’t the case. She could see a second shadow moving around closer by and she knew Luke had at least one of his minions with him.

  About the time Runt would have lunged and taken whoever was with Luke, she heard the dog yelp and she knew he’d been hurt. She didn’t hear a gunshot so Sage knew the dog had been sliced open with a knife. Tears rolled down her cheeks and for a moment, she didn’t fight back. This was Jude’s dog and she may have just cost the animal his life.

  Luke dragged her over to the fence and it wasn’t until he almost reached it, that Sage came back and began struggling against his hold. The arm around her throat tightened and she couldn’t breathe with his hand over her mouth and nose.

  Someone picked up her feet and they got her through the fence. Sage’s last thoughts were of Judge and how he made her feel for at least a little while. She discovered she really did love him. At least she had that much before she died.

  One look into Luke’s eyes before she passed out told her that he was going to kill her this time. She closed her eyes and felt a tear roll down her cheek as she gave in. Judge and the others were too far away and too busy to notice she was being carted off. They wouldn’t get to her in time. They couldn’t stop what was going to happen any more than she could. She tried to tell them all this and they didn’t listen.