by Jamie Begley
Hammer’s jaw clenched. “In and out, just like we planned.”
“Yes.” Killyama gave one curt nod. “Jonas?”
He nodded reluctantly. “Fine,” he growled. “But I’m checking your equipment myself.”
“Good.” She briefly squeezed their arms before she took the cell phone from Hammer. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
“You want to play a game of pool?” Rider asked Train as he passed through the club room after dinner.
“No thanks. I’m just going to go to my room and watch the news.” Train started to pass Rider, but then felt one of the women jump on his back.
“That’s all you ever do anymore. Come on; stay down here for a while.” A pair of breasts rubbed against his back. “I want to play spin the bottle. Moon and Crash said they’ll play.”
“You don’t need me, Stori. Some other time.” Like when Killyama is here, Train thought to himself.
He was helping Stori off his back when he felt his cell phone vibrating. Looking down, he felt the sting of disappointment that it wasn’t Killyama. Every day of the last two weeks he had hoped she would call to return the numerous messages he had left her.
“Hey, Stud, what’s up?”
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“I just finished your bike. I wanted to see if you wanted to take it out and break it in.” Stud’s enthusiastic voice sounded like he expected Train to be just as excited.
“I’ll come pick it up tomorrow. It’s been a long day.” The enjoyment of looking forward to the bike was gone.
“Come on; give a brother a break. I’ve been cooped up with four kids, and a wife who is mad at me because I forgot to start dinner. I rode it to the clubhouse. The brothers are sick with envy.”
“Is Killyama going to be there?” Train asked. The tracker he had placed on her phone showed she was home.
“No. I think she’s at home tonight.”
“All right. Give me thirty minutes.” Maybe he could use his new bike as an excuse for stopping by her apartment to show it to her, something to break the ice. He had already promised himself another week of waiting, then he had planned to take matters into his own hands.
“Ask Shade if he wants to come with you. He’s been wanting me to make one for him, too. I’ve already sketched it out for him.”
“If you rode my new bike to the Destructors’ clubhouse, how are you going to get home?”
“I keep a spare bike behind the club. Don’t forget your trailer, or you could let Shade ride bitch,” Stud joked.
“I’m not even going to tell him you said that. The brother has no sense of humor. Give me an extra five to hook up the trailer, and we’ll be on our way.”
Train disconnected Stud’s call then dialed Shade’s number. He went to the hall closet, pulling out his jacket as members began moving the furniture so they could play their game.
“Stud just called,” he said when Shade answered. “My bike is ready for pick up. He wants us to come over to Jamestown to break it in. You in?”
“No, I’m giving John his bath.”
“That’s fine. I’ll tell Stud. He said he has the sketch of the bike you decided to buy—”
“Wait.” Train could hear Shade turning off the water. “Stud said I wanted to buy one of his bikes?”
“Yes. Did he get it wrong?”
“No. It’s just been a while since I asked him. When are you leaving?”
“I’m getting ready to hook the trailer up now. Five minutes give you enough time?”
“Give me ten. I need to get John dried off and dressed for bed.”
“Sounds good.” Train hung up, seeing that Moon had spun the bottle and it had landed on Sasha.
“You sure you don’t want to play?” Sasha had already lost her top and bra. “Moon dared me to give him a blowjob.”
“How’s that a dare?”
“He dared me to do it hanging off the bar.”
Moon was already helping her onto the bar.
Shaking his head at their antics, he told them, “I’ll see you guys later. I’m going to ride my new bike.”
The men didn’t pay any attention to his leaving, too intent on Sasha.
Stori had Crash lift her up onto the bar, too, so she could see if she could do it.
Either he was going to have to get Killyama back soon, or he was going to have to stop watching the brothers play until he could.
He had finished hooking the trailer up when Shade appeared out of the darkness.
“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me!” Train grasped his chest. “Where the hell did you come from? I didn’t see you come out of the club or down the pathway.”
“I needed to get my bag out of the factory.” Shade tossed his special ops bag in the back seat of the truck. “Help me get my bike on the trailer. I’ll ride in the truck with you.” From the warning glint in Shade’s eyes, Train didn’t ask any questions, just helped him roll his bike onto the trailer.
When they were inside and driving out of the parking lot, Train was about to ask Shade what he needed his bag for, when Shade stopped him, shaking his head.
Train gripped the steering wheel tighter, becoming worried about what they were heading into.
Shade turned up the radio and took a pen out of the glovebox. Train couldn’t see what he was writing in the dark, and Shade didn’t attempt to give him the note until they had stopped at a red light in town.
Train took the note from him, reading it.
I didn’t ask Stud about buying a bike.
He crumpled it in his hand, giving it back to Shade.
When the light turned red, he floored the gas pedal, the note sending a sense of urgency through his bloodstream. He didn’t know why Shade didn’t want to talk, but he never questioned what he was thinking. It was obvious Stud was sending a private warning, needing Shade to come.
Stud didn’t know that Shade was in the same special forces unit as Train, but Hammer and Jonas did. Anytime there was a mission, silence was mandatory. They each had a special phone they carried all the time. Neither him or Shade had heard from their unit commander, which was Hammer until the next round of recruitment when he was done for good. It could only mean one thing: a special mission that Hammer had instigated himself. That was the only thing that made sense.
He turned into the Destructors’ parking lot, maneuvering the truck and trailer past the rows of bikes. At the back of the club, he saw Stud waiting on his bike.
As soon as Shade and Train got out, Stud tossed Train the keys to his new bike.
“Let’s get Shade’s bike off the trailer. Hammer is waiting.”
With three of them helping unload Shade’s bike, it only took minutes. Then Shade pulled out his black duffle bag, sliding the strap through his arms.
When Shade would have gotten on his bike, Stud stopped him.
“Take mine. I’m going to ride yours.”
Shade wasn’t happy, but he switched bikes without arguing.
As they got to the end of the parking lot, Stud motioned for them to stop.
“Give me your phones. All of them.” Stud held his hand out.
Shade and Train looked at each other. They were putting their lives in Stud’s hands, willing to follow where he led them, yet now he wanted them to give him their only way of communicating to The Last Riders?
“Hurry! We’ve got to go, or they’ll leave without you,” Stud warned.
Train had gotten to know Stud since he had started seeing Killyama, and he had started to respect the man almost as much as Viper. Therefore, both of them handed Stud their four phones, watching as he put them in his jacket pockets.
“When we get there, I’ll point out the building, but I’m not stopping. The door will be open. May God be with you, brothers.” Stud revved his engine, peeling out.
Train and Shade followed him closely, wondering what the hell they were going into.
They were a couple of m
iles from the club when Stud pointed toward a large building as he kept going, while Train and Shade slowed down, turning into the parking lot.
Train’s adrenaline started pumping when he recognized a few of the cars. Hammer’s, Tracker’s, and O’Neil’s, all members of their elite team, showed it was a high-level mission.
Shade met his eyes before he went through the door. Then Train really knew how bad it was when he saw the number of men getting into their gear.
“Train and Shade are here.” Hammer’s yell had all the men stopping.
“Did someone die and we don’t know?” Train muttered to Shade, feeling a chill travel the length of his spine at the look the men were giving them.
Shade shrugged off his duffel bag. “I have a bad feeling about this one. I have since you told me what Stud said.”
They went to a large table where plans were laid out.
“I’ve scheduled ten minutes to explain what’s going on. You being late has taken three of them, so let’s get started. Gather around!” Hammer shouted out.
Train watched as the men left what they had been doing to gather around them. When a woman stood up that he hadn’t seen sitting at the back of the building, his control slipped, his anger coming out.
“Why in the fuck is Killyama here?”
Train had to put up with her chasing felons across two states, he damn sure wasn’t going to put up with her going on a mission when they were loaded up with enough artillery to take out a small country.
Killyama felt Train’s dark eyes drilling holes into her as she walked over to the command table. She loved him, so she would bear his hatred for her until this mission was over. Then she would get out of his life. Because … what he was about to hear was going to hurt him enough.
She could tell that both Shade and Train expected her to give him a jab at what he had said. Instead, she went to stand quietly next to Hammer.
“Killyama is here because she is part of this team. She’s been given a job to do, just like I’m going to give you, yours. Jonas, cue up the video.” He met both Shade’s and Train’s eyes. “The other members have already seen this video. Shade, Train, I’m sorry, but this is going to be hard for you to watch. I expect you to get your shit together once we leave this building. We have a job to get done, regardless of how it personally involves us. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Train and Shade responded in unison.
“Good.” He nodded once then continued, “Months ago, Killyama, Jonas, and I arrested a felon. It was a simple take down. Jonas and I kept the computer with every intention of turning it over to the police, but we long ago figured out some of the best ways of catching other felons is to find what they have on their computer. Is it legal? No, but we did it, anyway. We’ve never done it this way before, but when Jack Carter said he had friends who would come looking for us, we were concerned about Killyama’s safety.
“I know some of you have already said that it jeopardized getting the jumper convicted legally for the crime shown on this tape, but personally, Jonas and I don’t give a fuck. And if anyone else who watches this tape still feels that way, you’re more than welcome to leave.”
None of the men moved.
“Since no one is hitting the door, I’ll go on. When Jonas managed to log on to the laptop, we found some sick shit. Jack Carter was involved with the dark web. He had a couple of tapes that turned my stomach, and there isn’t much I haven’t seen. Jonas was the one who recognized the man we’re going to rescue tonight. This brother has been held in a nightmare, and one way or another, it’s going to end tonight.”
Hammer nodded at Jonas, who hit the play button.
Killyama couldn’t watch the tape again. She hadn’t even been able to watch through to the end the first time, vomiting in a bag in the backseat of Hammer’s car. She kept her eyes on Train’s reaction instead, trying desperately to control her own. When his face filled with unbearable agony, he grabbed Shade, who was consumed with his own grief.
“Oh, God, it’s Gavin. Tell me that’s not Gavin!”
“I can’t, brother. It’s him.”
Train started to reach for the computer. Killyama thought it was because he still couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Memphis killed Gavin. He admitted it!” Train yelled. “We tortured the son of a bitch. Why would he admit to something he didn’t do?”
“Because he knew he was already a dead man,” Hammer stated.
“I’d say that, once Memphis told you what they had done to Gavin when they held him captive, any torture you used on him would have looked like child’s play to what you would have done after seeing this.” Jonas pulled up another video that was just as sick as the first.
Killyama had been worried that after Train had admitted to the group of men that he and Shade had taken part in torturing Memphis that they would use it against them. However, her worry fell away when she saw the men’s faces. If Memphis had still been alive, every man in the building would have killed him.
“You said they?” Shade’s cold voice brought her attention to him.
“Yes, I knew Memphis had help when Killyama told me that the body dug up behind the Road Demons’ clubhouse was identified by DNA. Killyama has lunch with Lily and Beth once a month. When they last went to lunch, she brought up the subject of Gavin, asking them if they knew where the DNA results came from that were used to identify Gavin—”
“Crash sent the DNA sample from the body to the military to cross check it with the records they have on file,” Shade answered, cutting Hammer off.
“Yes, Crash used his computer skills to fix the results to make everyone believe the body was Gavin’s.”
“Turn that tape off before I fucking break it,” Shade threatened, teeth clenched.
Jonas shut the computer with a snap.
“Where is he?” Train asked.
“Still with the Road Demons. Crash must have given them a heads up before Viper contacted them, asking permission to search for Gavin’s body there. As far as I can tell from Crash’s emails, they brought him back to the clubhouse about six months later. Stupid bastard was so cocky that he didn’t protect his own shit because, he knew if any of The Last Riders wanted to know anything, they would come to him.”
When Train went pale, Killyama looked away, unable to see the look of guilt on both of the men’s faces.
“We need to contact Viper. He’ll want to be here,” Shade spoke up before Hammer could continue.
Jonas tucked the laptop under his arm. “Do you think Gavin is going to want his brother to see him in that shape? They made him a junkie. I think the only reason he’s still alive is because the Road Demons are using him as their toy. You think, if Viper goes in there and see what’s been done to his brother, there’ll be a man left standing? Ohio isn’t Treepoint where you have control of the sheriff. Forty or fifty men found dead in a bikers’ club will make the news.
“Get Gavin back, and then take your revenge. I’m sure you can come up with something when you’re ready. Killyama made it easy for you to keep track of Crash until you want him to know. She put a tracker on his motorcycle. One of mine, not that cheap shit he’s been putting on your bikes so he knows every piss The Last Riders take.”
“That’s why you took Rider’s key?” Train asked, though he already knew the answer.
“Yes, and put the port sniffer on his computer when he went to the restroom.” She unrepentantly admitted the deception he hadn’t caught when she had been by that unforgettable afternoon.
Her nightmares from Kane trying to rape and strangle her had disappeared within days, replaced by nightmare of her relationship with Train ending. They still filled her nights with dread, waking her in the middle of the night to see his accusing eyes staring at her in the darkness.
“As soon as we were able to hack into his computer and found where Gavin is, I called the men in to see the tape. You all will be putting your life and careers on the line. This is not a sanctioned rescue. That�
��s why, when Jonas realized it was him, we didn’t turn it over to the authorities. Gavin would have been dead before the police could act. And if we hadn’t taken our time, Crash would have had him killed. Jonas and I didn’t even tell Killyama until we were sure it was Crash who was posting the videos, and we needed access to his computer to know that for sure.
“We could still go to the cops in Ohio and take the chance that he will still be there, or that one of Road Demons won’t put a bullet in Gavin’s head to keep him from testifying that he wasn’t there willingly. Train, Shade, if this is the way you want to handle it, we’ll step down.”
“No, I’m in.” Train started taking his jacket off to get geared up.
“I was ready to leave five minutes ago. Show us the plan,” Shade added.
As the men gathered closer around the table, Killyama held back. She didn’t need to listen to Hammer and Jonas go over the plan again. They had gone over it so many times over the last three days that she had every room and doorway in the Road Demons’ clubhouse committed to memory.
It was going to take four hours to get there. They had timed it so they would make it to the club in the middle of the night when most of the Road Demons would hopefully be asleep.
Jonas gave the men their wireless headset, reminding them to keep their night vision goggles at the ready.
“Finish suiting up. We’re out of here in three minutes. Train, you’re taking the lead. Shade, when you take out the Road Demons’ lookout, try to get a clean shot. They’re going to have a big enough mess to clean up inside the club without having to do the outside.”
“Like I give a fuck.” Shade’s piercing blue eyes had Killyama taking a step back.
She was used to seeing him with Lily. The man she was looking at now was not that man. The man she was staring at now wasn’t afraid of death. He wasn’t afraid of anything.
“Load up,” Hammer ordered.
She let the men go out the door first. Then, as she moved out, she saw that Train was waiting for her.
Speeding up, she tried to squeeze between two men so she could avoid the confrontation. She should have known better.