"I often find the direct approach is the best! Walk in, be confident, start asking questions! You never know what you'll discover!"
"People who want to kill you?" said Abby. "We don't know if they were just there for the Sphere or wanted you too."
"Always the pessimist, Abby, as far as I know, nobody is after me!"
"Dane Monday!" shouted a deep voice from one of the decks. "Dane Monday!" The voice was gruff, booming across the space.
"You were saying?" said Abby.
From one of the decks came a very large man. While he was only six feet tall, he had a massive muscled bulk that was bulging out of his motorcycle leathers. His head was shaved, which only made him look more fearsome. He marched directly toward Dane. Abby couldn't shake the fact that the man looked vaguely familiar.
"It's you! Dane Monday!" said the man simply.
"Yes?" said Dane warily, his head cocked and his mind racing.
"I have something for you," said the man, almost ominously.
"What is -" said Dane before he was interrupted.
The big man grabbed at Dane, who initially struggled before realizing it was completely futile against his opponent's ogre-like strength. The man gathered up Dane and pulled him close with his massive arms. It took a moment before both Dane and Abby realized that this was no threat, but the man was giving Dane a gigantic bear hug.
"Thank you," said the man, not yet releasing Dane.
Looking up at his very close face, inspiration flashed through Dane's mind. He finally recognized this massive man. "M-Mr. Douglas?"
Douglas was a body guard that had been employed by the Friends of the Terminus Hotel. When Dane was working the case, he encountered Mr. Douglas guarding an invisible doorway in an abandoned building. Dane had convinced Douglas to take the rest of the day off so that Dane could get through the door.
Douglas smiled and nodded. Not releasing Dane, he carried the smaller man back to the table where he and his friends were. Abby reluctantly followed after, suddenly remembering when her film class showed Of Mice and Men.
Douglas put Dane down by the table and rested his hand on Dane's shoulder. He beamed proudly to his friends. "This is the guy! Dane Monday!"
"Which guy?" asked one of his friends, a woman in her forties with teased blonde hair. Despite her age, the body under that motorcycle gear was of a woman half her age.
"The one that saved my life, Dane Monday!" said Douglas.
"Oh!" Then the woman nodded knowingly. "Now I remember."
"I don't remember saving your life," said Dane with a hesitant shrug.
Douglas tapped his finger in the air, trying to decide something in his head. "Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. I like to think you did! See, after talking to you, I really wondered if that was the job for me. You brought up a lot of good points about it that I wasn't seeing. I never got along with Kripp and I really didn't like what those guys were doing. Yeah, I have the body for security, but my heart wasn't in it. Not for those jerks. And I really don't like hurting people, but they do. So after talking to you, I made a decision. I quit that same day."
"Before the Terminus Hotel destruction," said Abby. While she knew the truth of how the hotel was really destroyed and tried to get that out on her website, most people, even New Avalon residents, didn't believe the truth. It was too fantastic. So when she mentioned it just as "destruction", she was trying to be diplomatic.
"Exactly!" said Douglas. "If Dane hadn't convinced me to quit, I might have been in the Terminus with the rest of Kripp's men when it was destroyed!"
"Unlike us, who were actually in it," said Abby under her breath.
"So as far as I'm concerned, you inspiring me to make the decision to quit saved my life!" said Douglas, slapping Dane on the back. Dane stumbled forward a step but tried to return the grin. "Let me buy you a beer," offered Douglas.
"It's kind of early for beer, isn't it?" said Dane.
"It's never too early!" said Douglas, who got a cheer from his friends, who all already had beers.
"Let's just cut off the conversation you're about to have now and jump to the conclusion," said Abby. "Just order him an Irish Coffee."
"Is that a breakfast coffee?" said Dane hesitantly.
"Wow! I can't believe you don't know what that is!" said Abby with surprise.
"What is it?" said Dane.
"Prepare to be amazed," said Abby with a smile.
They sat down with Mr. Douglas, known to his friends as "Les". All of them had a patch on their Jackets labeling their motorcycle club as the New Avalon Knights. The names of the others were Shelley, Grib, and Nachos.
"Why Nachos?" asked Abby after he was introduced.
Nachos, a portly man who was balding, giving the impression of a banker rather than a biker, smiled sheepishly. "I just really like nachos."
"Nicknaming is a big part of club culture," said Douglas.
"It's not like everyone gets a codename," said Shelley, whose name actually was Shelley. "It's just off the cuff. And many are trying to escape their lives or get a new identity, so a new name, even if just a quick nickname on the weekends, helps with that. Sometimes it's a food you eat, something you did once, or just saving us a mouthful," she said, gesturing at Grib.
"My last name is Gribinowski," he said with a grin.
The Irish coffee arrived. Dane took a sip casually, then stopped and his eyes widened. "This is fantastic! I should drink this all the time!"
"So you'd be caffeinated and drunk all the time?" said Abby.
"That does sound fantastic," said Grib.
"Do you want brisket? I love their brisket," said Douglas to Dane, his new best friend.
"What brings you two here?" said Shelley, taking a sip of her beer. "It was clear you weren't looking for Les and you aren't part of a club."
"We're here to get information," said Dane.
Shelley looked them over for a moment. "You're not cops, are you?"
"I'm a journalist," said Abby. "And Dane... umm... well, he's more of a meddler."
"And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling kids!" chortled Nachos.
"We're not really fans of journalists either," said Shelley, trying to be friendly, though her nose still wrinkled a little.
"She's not a real journalist," said Dane, taking a sip of his coffee.
"What?" said Abby in shock and rage, her head whipping around to glare at Dane.
Dane threw up his hands in surrender. "I mean, I mean - what do I mean? I mean that you're not working for a news network! You're solo, self employed, indie, freelance! I mean that! That's what I meant!"
"That Irish coffee hit you pretty quick, didn't it?" said Nachos.
Abby's glare turned to just vaguely narrowed eyes, then she turned back to Shelley. "It is correct that I do not work for a network. But I am an actual journalist. A real journalist," she said with a quick look to Dane. "I run a website about news in Avalon that gets missed or misreported by the networks."
"Abby..." said Grib in thought. Then he snapped his fingers. "Whoa, wait, are you Abby Connors?"
Abby smiled somewhat embarrassedly and nodded.
"That's awesome!" said Grib. "She's the one who does all those videos I keep trying to get you guys to watch!"
"You mean the demon attacking the city?" said Shelley incredulously. "Or the club mysteriously burning down in Midtown? I'm still not convinced the fire was anything other than the Rebels partying too hard. Bunch of animals."
"Abby, can you put me on film?" said Grib. "I can do like an eye witness account of something. Like about the will 'o wisps in the Husks."
"Those were flashlight reflections, Grib," said Shelley.
"I also got some orbs on film," said Grib.
Abby had a hesitant smile. She had dealt with submissions like this before. "I'm sure you did see something. But for my reporting, I really don't consider orbs anything of note. Could be dust too easily."
"Even she doesn't believe you,"
said Shelley.
"I'm not saying that!" said Abby. "I'd just need more to run with it. You've seen my show. I need more than orbs and an eyewitness report."
Grib nodded sadly. "I understand."
"But if you do get more, you let me know," said Abby.
"Wait, let's back up for a minute. The Rebels?" said Dane. "The Howling Rebels?"
Shelley furrowed her brow and nodded. "How do you know the Rebels?"
"They're exactly why we came here!" said Dane. "We want to know all about them!"
Dane's excitement didn't dwindle as he looked around to all the bikers' faces, frowns appearing on each.
"What do you want to know about them for?" asked Douglas.
"Pay dirt!" said Dane. "Abby take a note: when people suddenly don't want to answer, you've probably found the interesting topic!"
"Or you're just a jerk," said Abby.
"Sometimes both!" said Dane ebulliently.
"We don't like the Rebels," said Shelley. "They're everything we don't want to be."
"What do you mean?" asked Abby.
"What do you know about motorcycle clubs?" countered Shelley.
"Well..." said Abby.
"Just from TV and movies, right?" said Shelley.
Abby nodded in embarrassment.
"That's common and something we fight against," said Shelley. "We all love motorcycles and we love the culture, but not all clubs are the same, nor are all bikers. Some are outlaw, some are not. Some are the so-called one percenters."
"They're super rich?" said Abby with confusion.
"That's a new definition for a term that's been around for quite a while," said Nachos. "It's not what we mean. Trust me, we know well how it's confusing."
"There was a quote from the American Motorcyclist Association that 99% of bikers were law abiding citizens," said Grib. "In reaction to that, you see some that started wearing a patch that said '1%er'."
"So they're criminals?" said Abby. "I'm assuming that's why they balked at being called law abiding."
Grib shrugged. "Sometimes. For some it was a reaction against authority. But some are definitely criminals. They put the outlaw in Outlaw Motorcycle Gang."
"The Rebels are a bunch of thugs that give us all a bad name," said Shelley. "I feel like we have to work doubly hard to offset the bad reputation they're giving Avalon clubs."
"Work harder?" said Dane.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" said Abby.
"It's important for us to give back to the community," said Douglas. "Important to us."
"If you're in a club, you probably have more than just a love of the bike and gear," said Grib. "You love the culture too. We like the feeling of being free of restrictions, the feeling of the open road, of being a band apart from everyone else. But that doesn't mean we have to be bad people."
Shelley nodded. "There's a lot of good we can do. Both as individuals and as an organization. Oh, we love to party and we love to ride, but we're not selfish. This world is far bigger than us. We live in Avalon too, and we don't think it should be a horrible place. So we feel like we should do our part. We do charity work. We set up watches and guard victims of child abuse who are going to trial, to make sure nobody bullies them or hurts them. People find us intimidating... might as well use that intimidation for a good cause."
"In the Avalon Knights, I don't have to be two people," said Nachos. "The things I do on the weekends with the club don't have to be another person, there doesn't need to be a conflict between the two parts of my life. I can belong to a club and be a good person. That means a lot to me." Grib and Douglas nodded.
"The Rebels, on the other hand, are scum," said Shelley. "They are the evil men you see in movies. They'd be organized crime if there was anything organized in what they do. If they didn't spend so much time drunk, they could be a real dangerous threat. I'm pretty sure they're killers, but I can't say for sure. But anyone who's had a scuffle with them has come out worse for it. We stay out of their way - as do most of the clubs here. Avalon's not in any national outlaw gang's territory, which most clubs like. However, it feels like the Rebels want to make this theirs. Which is particularly rage-worthy, since they're not even from here."
"Where are they from?" asked Dane.
"They'll very loudly tell you they're out of Ravenfall," said Grib. "And that supposedly makes them tough. I just think it shows they had one smart thought in their collective lives - getting out of that town. That city is cesspool. A crappier and more corrupt Vegas."
"Why'd they pick Avalon?" said Abby.
"Who knows?" said Shelley. "They showed up here about a year ago and have acted like worthless thugs since they got here. Fights, vandalism, crime. None of the clubs who hang around here," she said, indicating Phil's, "want to deal with them. If they show up, we tolerate them begrudgingly. But the Rebels have gotten the message that we don't want to hang out with them. That dampens their fun, so they only show up if they want to push their weight around."
"Because they're feeling insecure, in my opinion," said Grib.
"I once overhead them say they were running from something," said Nachos. When even his friends looked at him with surprise, he elaborated. "Y'know, people seem to forget I'm around sometimes. You guys even joke that I sometimes blend into the background. So I hear stuff. In this case, I heard two of the Rebels talk in the men's room. Something made them leave Ravenfall in a damn hurry, and they don't want to go back there."
"Are they running from the law?" asked Grib.
Nachos shook his head. "The way they talked made it sound like someone they were scared of. Like an even worse gang in Ravenfall. I dunno."
"A worse gang? Damn," said Grib.
"Well, let's hope their past doesn't catch up with them, 'cause we don't want anything like that here," said Shelley.
"So where do we find them?" asked Dane.
"The Rebels?" said Shelley.
"Yeah," said Dane.
"Are you crazy?" said Grib. "I mean, seriously. That's crazy!"
"You'd be surprised how often I get asked that!" said Dane with a grin.
"You're better off not bothering with them," said Douglas. "They're bad news. I'd rather you not get killed."
"But what if I wanted to?" said Dane. "Bother them, not get killed, that is."
"But why?" said Shelley. "I think we'll all agree that's monumentally stupid, if you don't mind us saying."
"I'll head this off at the pass," said Abby, since this was most assuredly not her first rodeo. "Just assume that Dane is going to do what's against your - and well, my - better judgment. Let's move onto the how and maybe some tips for not having this work out spectacularly badly for us."
"You did say he seemed a little crazy," said Shelley to Douglas.
"We all have a little bit of crazy in us," said Grib with a grin.
"He's got a lot of it," said Nachos.
"If you must kick that wasp's nest," said Shelley, "you'll need to figure out which Rebels you want to mess with."
"Which Rebels?" repeated Abby in confusion.
"There was a schism. What once was one is now two," said Grib.
"That's poetry, man," said Nachos.
Grib smiled. "There are two groups of Rebels now. That's pretty public." When he saw confusion on Abby's face, he explained. "Whether we like it or not, we have to admit that motorcycle clubs have a bunch of drama. It's a thing that happens, especially in outlaw clubs. Well, that drama gets spread around. Club bars might as well be water coolers. Not only is everybody telling, but everyone wants to listen."
"We're like gossipy high school girls," said Nachos.
"Here are the facts we know: not long after they got to Avalon, the Rebels had a big internal feud," said Shelley. "We know it happened, but not why. Most of them stayed with the original leader of the club, Scar. But a significant group formed around an older member of the group, Skorzeny."
"And in even more drama," said Grib with a smile, "Scar's son Thorn went with Skorzen
y. That's quite a betrayal, even for a club. Loyalty is always a big thing, but family usually stays with family. Your son choosing someone over you has got to hurt."
"You seem to enjoy that conflict," said Abby.
"It's drama involving people we don't like," said Grib. "So I don't mind enjoying the deliciousness of the details. I wouldn't enjoy the train wreck if they were good people, but the Rebels are a problem for everyone. I wouldn't mind if they went all Shakespeare and killed each other in some dramatically poignant way. Then the last one could drink poison, say something pithy, and then we'd be done with them. Good night, sweet prince."
They all stared at Grib.
He sat back and smiled. "I teach high school English."
"Do you have any idea which set of Rebels you need?" said Shelley. "One's going to be easier to find than the others. Maybe if you finally tell us why you need to find them, we'll know which ones... and maybe we'll have a chance to change your minds."
"They stole something from a friend," said Abby.
"And you can't just write that off as a loss?" said Nachos. "Because that's what we're all going to advise."
"One of a kind item, never to be found again! Fate of the world and all that," said Dane with a wave of his hand.
"Fate of the world?" said Nachos.
"Don't ask," said Abby.
"Like she said, consider us going after them non-negotiable," said Dane. "It's something we just have to do. But we would love to get your help in knowing where to go and any other need to know information!"
The others nodded reluctantly. "What else can you tell us?" asked Shelley.
"They burglarized our friend's home," said Abby. "It was in Riverside, if that helps."
"That actually might," said Shelley. "Scar's group hangs out in Riverside. Skorzeny's group kept to Midtown, but we don't have a good idea where they are because the dance club they liked burned down. Probably because of them," she said as she eyed Grib. "So you probably want Scar's group. They hang out at the Poodle Hat Lounge in Riverside."
"The Poodle... Hat... Lounge?" said Abby in confusion.
"Yeah, a real dive of a place," said Grib. "And I've been in some real divey bars. That place is terrible."
"But why is it named that?" said Abby.
Burning Monday: (Dane Monday 2) Page 10