by Avelyn Paige
“Michael, you can’t keep putting the world on your shoulders. You need to let someone in that can help distribute the weight. I’m not saying that’s me, but someone needs to be able to help you.”
He winces and moves closer to me. “What if I want it to be you?”
“I can’t be that person for you anymore, and as much as I want to forgive you, I just can’t. Too much has happened in the short time we’ve been together to make me want to fight any harder than I have to fix this,” I whisper as I walk away and head back into the trailer, leaving him behind holding my bleeding heart.
“I can’t promise you that I won’t end up like Brent, but what I can promise you is that even if I end up six feet under the ground I will love you until we meet again,” he calls out before I put too much distance between us.
I know I lied to him, but I can’t let him in again until I know he wants to change and that he’ll fight for us. It’s too risky to just fall to my knees and beg him to come back to me. He needs to feel the weight of the decisions he’s made and decide to change for the better without my influence. It has to come from him and him alone.
The rest of the afternoon, the men from the other chapters ride into the trailer park that apparently had been rented by Voodoo as we drove down here. Each club has a cluster of mobile homes to bunk in as they bring everyone up to speed. I was ordered by Michael in passing to stay in the trailer while they had a combined Church meeting in one of the larger buildings on the property.
After opening the refrigerator in the trailer out of habit, the foulest stench I’ve ever smelled seeps into everything. I bolt from the trailer to avoid throwing up until the concentrated stench dissipates only to run right into Trax. His sickening smile and hot breath boring into my neck unnerves me as he holds onto my body before I tear away from his grasp. If there was someplace for me to take a scalding hot shower, I would sit in there for hours to wash away his touch from my skin. To say he gives me the creeps is a fucking understatement.
“Surprised to see you here, doll. I figured Raze would keep his little pet locked down back at home.”
“The same could be said for you. I figured a man like you would be as far away from the fight as possible.”
“Well, doll. As you said, a man such as I has to protect his business interests. If this club bursts into flames. Well, that’s bad for business. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“What’s your interest in the club business? You don’t have a majority stake or claim to anything this club does. You’re just a bitch player that does what Michael says to do,” I state curiously. I may not be an expert in all things motorcycle club, but in the hierarchy of the Heaven’s Rejects, Trax isn’t exactly a huge player in the organization besides being Michael’s form of leadership in that chapter. Michael holds all the cards to the club, and he plays them close to his chest. The only men who are exceptions to that are the men who sit around his own Church table. Trax doesn’t exactly fit any of the criteria for being in Michael’s inner circle.
“Oh, doll. I have more of a role than you think,” he chides. “Why don’t you go back to your little room and play with your peashooter I see tucked into your jeans and let the men handle the business at hand?”
“This little peashooter,” I say tracing my finger along the butt of the gun hanging at my hip, “would be more than enough to put you out of your misery.”
Trax just laughs and walks away shaking his head. His mannerisms are troubling, and his words even more so. The sheer fact that he’s out roaming the property when Church is still in session is unsettling. Why isn’t he in there with the other men hashing out the plan?
A short time later, the men begin filing out of their makeshift meeting place and disperse to their various trailers. One of the men from another chapter that goes by the name of Hazzard stops by with supplies a few hours after our arrival. He looks me up and down as he stands at the doorway of the trailer before just walking away. Is he sizing me up or looking over the woman who singlehandedly forced a man three times my size to take me along on this adventure with threats and promises of more threats?
As I put things away, I hear a truck start up and disappear in a cloud of smoke down the drive. Ratchet shuffles around the trailer organizing the gear. I peek out the window and see many of the men cleaning their weapons under the shade trees. Hours pass, and Michael never resurfaces from the meeting. Something feels off about his absence, but I chalk it up to nerves and how I will play into this fight. I fully intend on participating in some way, yet I know he’ll try to keep me away from it. That’s far from what I want, but I get why he would try it. Safety seems to be his mantra when it comes to me, and sadly for him, I’m not a watch and see kind of girl.
“You see Raze?” asks Hero as he pops his head into the trailer while I am trying to make some sort of a meal from the meager rations delivered earlier.
“Nope,” I say, popping a piece a fruit into my mouth. “The last time I saw him was before he whisked y’all off to Church. Why?”
“No one has seen him for hours and Voodoo is calling my phone like crazy trying to get ahold of him. You sure you don’t have him tied down somewhere in the back?” he asks with worry clearly defined on his face.
“No, Hero,” I bite back. “Like I said, I haven’t seen him.”
Just when I start to repeat my unanswered question, my phone begins to ring as a huge cloud of dust flies into the park. I slip my hand into my pocket and see that Voodoo is now calling me. Swiping to answer the call, Voodoo’s words mush together in an incoherent sentence.
“Woah, slow down, Voodoo. I can’t understand a word you are saying.”
“I need to talk to Raze. This is fucking important, and no one seems to know where he is. I figured if he was holed up with anyone, it would be you,” he semi-yells into the phone.
“Like I just told Hero, I have no clue where’s he holed up.”
“Darcy, listen. I need you to find him and call me back. He needs to hear what I found,” he says as I hear a commotion coming from outside. Men gather around the pick-up truck parked in the middle of the road. Shit, something’s happened.
“Voodoo, something is going on here. Can you just tell me and I will relay the message for him?”
“Shit, I shouldn’t, but it’ll take me longer to explain it yet again,” he says with a hesitation. “There’s someone at the compound he knows. Maj is fucking alive.”
The phone falls from my hand and bounces on the floor as I can hear Voodoo saying my name. Shock hits me and twists my stomach into knots. I thought he said she was dead and by his own hand. Why in the fuck would he lie to me again about her still being alive? It doesn’t serve him any good to lie about something like that. What if … What if he wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger and he has been in the dark this entire time? Jesus, he probably doesn’t know, either, judging from Voodoo’s insistence to talk to him.
I start to bolt for the door to try to find him when I am met with Hero standing in my way. His eyes are filled with fearful anger, and I know in an instant that something has happened. He shakes his head as he tries to form words, but I cut him off.
“What’s happened?” I question as the pain in my stomach increases to the point I nearly want to double over and scream.
“It’s Raze. The fucking cartel has him.”
In one split second, Trax and I were cutting up about some stupid ass joke he told me and then it went black. A chill surrounds my body as I try to force my eyes to open. I struggle against the bonds keeping my consciousness from waking. It takes eons for my eyes to open, and the moment they do, my head is pounding like a freight train ran over my skull and came back for round two. Every muscle in my body screams in pain. Everything is silent around me making me aware that I’m not on the road with Trax anymore.
“What the fuck is going on?” I rasp. “Trax, did we go off road or something? Trax? Where the fuck are you, man?” I try to shake the haze s
urrounding my brain away, but it continues to linger in the peripheral of my vision making everything blurry.
“You’re awake,” calls a voice out from the darkness. “Good evening, sleeping beauty.”
“Who’s there?” I call out, trying to reach my hands out in front of me, but they won’t budge. “Where the fuck am I?”
Shit, why are my hands bound? What the fuck is going on?
“Aw, babe, I’m hurt that you don’t recognize my voice,” the voice says with an edge of evil to its tone. “It’s only been a year, but I thought you’d at least remember what your wife’s voice sounds like.”
“Maj?” I ask in disbelief.
A shadowed form steps into my line of sight. My eyes try to adjust, but it isn’t until the person comes a few inches away from my face do their features become more defined and clear. Maj’s former beauty has been replaced by sunken-in eyes and cheeks. I can smell the stench of the drugs she’s apparently been heavily using again in her pungent breath. I knew she had a problem when we met at the Sturgis bike rally. She was dabbling in cocaine back then, but with as raggedy as she looks now, I’m betting she’s moved on to something a little harder like meth. Her ribs are clearly visible under her dirty t-shirt showing just how far she’s fallen since she left.
“That’s right, babe. Mama’s home.”
“You should be dead.”
“That’s the thing about death. You really should verify your kills before leaving the scene of the crime,” she states before licking the side of my face. “Your blood is delicious on my tongue, my dear husband.”
I struggle against my bonds trying to break free, but her cold hands slam onto mine as she digs her nails into my flesh, drawing blood.
“He’s in on it, isn’t he?”
“Finally getting the full picture, aren’t you? He was never going to kill me. Unlike you, the bastard is in love with me, and you don’t put a bullet into someone you love.”
“You don’t know how to love,” I spit back in her face.
“Of course I know how to love, baby. I just didn’t love you,” she declares before sliding onto my lap. Her bony ass digs into my lap as she grinds roughly against me. “I used you to fulfill my uncle’s wishes while playing the part of your loyal and dutiful wife. Well, maybe not the loyal part,” she says with a laugh. She bounces on my lap harder with a moan slipping from her chapped lips. A heavy door creaks open and weighted steps enter the room. Maj arches her body back and cranes her neck to see who interrupted her fun.
“I see our prisoner is awake,” says a heavily accented voice. Ricardo Manuel steps into the light and walks toward me. Maj kisses my lips before she dismounts and joins her uncle by his side.
“Buenas Dias, my nephew-in-law. How do you like your new accommodations?”
“The chair could use some padding, and the turn down service is a bit trashy. I’d like to speak to your manager,” I choke out.
Ricardo charges toward me and wraps his hands around my throat, effectively cutting off my air supply. I gasp for air as he chokes me with a smile on his face. He squeezes my throat harder until the pops and cracks of my trachea straining against the force of his grip can be audibly heard before he releases me. I inhale a large breath trying to push oxygen back into my lungs.
“Such a smartass, you are. I can see why my niece took an interest in you,” he says as he turns his back to me and grabs a rag from a steel table that I have just noticed in the middle of the room. Reflections of light shine back at me from the tools littering the table.
“What do you want from me?” I rasp out.
“I want your club and its network,” he plainly states. “My reach is being shortened every single day by the federales and border patrol agents. I can’t sell my product if I can’t move it. That’s where you and your club come in.”
“I won’t be a fucking carrier pigeon for your drugs.”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t need you, and once I kill you, I already have someone in place to take over the club and put my plan into action.”
Rage courses through my body as I struggle to break free. My chest heaves as the rope wrapped tightly wound around my wrists tears into my skin. That fucking son-of-a-bitch has been maneuvering himself to take over once Ricardo and Maj take me out. He’s been the one who’s been spreading lies and stirring up shit with the other chapters. It started off as a simple disagreement, but it escalated as soon as Brent was murdered. He is going to die one way or another. I will see to it.
“You putting two and two together, baby?” Maj coos while prancing around where she stands.
“It’s been him all along, hasn’t it?” I spew with hatred. “Where the fuck is he?”
“Well, duh,” she flirts. “He’s been the guy on the inside all along. How do you think Twisted Tribe got onto the property to dump Jagger’s snitch body? He let them in, and as to his location … He’s around. That’s all you need to know.”
“You fucking bitch,” I curse. “Why kill him and not me? I was the one you wanted dead.”
Maj sashays over to me and bends down, putting her face directly in front of mine.
“That’s simple, lover,” she coos. “He was going to blow the lid off on our plans, so he had to die. I couldn’t have him spilling the beans before I had everything in place now, could I?”
“How did Twisted Tribe get involved in this?” I question.
Maj laughs in my face. “Baby, I was fucking the VP on the side, and when I went to him with a sob story about how you had Jagger beat me when you found out about us, he put the order in to kill him. Dani and that little blonde bitch roommate of hers only helped to sweeten the deal. How are they, by the way?”
“Both still alive, no thanks to you,” I throw back in her face.
“Huh, I didn’t see that one coming. That step-brother of Dani’s was a bit on the loony side, but he paid me well.”
She blows me a kiss and walks away from me again before stopping and looking at me over her shoulder.
“How’re my kids?” she sweetly asks. “Do they miss their mommy?”
“They haven’t asked about you once, you fucking whore. Unlike their mother, I know how to take care of my kids.”
Maj throws her head back in a laugh, and a sickening feeling punches me in my gut. She can take my life and try to take my club, but she wouldn’t be that fucking evil to take my kids away from me, would she?
“Oh, baby, I knew you were stupid. The kids aren’t even yours.”
“You fucking bitch,” I scream. “I am going to get out of these ropes and I will strangle the fucking life out of you until your eyeballs pop from their sockets. I don’t give a shit what you say. Those kids are mine even if we don’t share DNA.”
“Ooh, feisty. You might want to keep that spirit alive, lover. You’re going to need it when you watch me kill that new little bitch of yours.”
Fear strikes hard and fast because I know she’s referring to Darcy. If it’s the last thing I do and the last breath I take, I won’t let them hurt her. She doesn’t deserve to be dragged into this.
“I don’t have just one bitch. I have many. They are called club whores, a term that you should be familiar with since it’s what I should be calling you.”
For the first time, I see a different emotion flash through her eyes. That struck a nerve. I need to keep pissing her off so she forgets about Darcy and puts her focus all onto me. That’s the only way she’ll survive this.
“That so?”
“After our sexless marriage, I had to get my dick wet somehow,” I say to distract her. “I’ve gotta say, I’m a lucky man to have rid myself of you, Maj. I’d forgotten what good fucking felt like. You really should look into that pussy tightening surgery, because the last time we fucked I couldn’t feel shit.”
“That’s enough,” Ricardo demands. “You two bicker like fucking school children. It’s time we get down to business.”
He jerks Maj out of his way,
and she slams against the table in the middle of the room. Ricardo is the kind of man that commands attention. His face is unreadable, and I know that kind of skill comes with years of practice and the lack of emotions. Just looking at him, I can tell he’s a stone-cold killer who doesn’t give a flying fuck who he cuts down in the process.
“I want nothing to do with your brand of business.”
“Well, here’s the thing, Michael. You don’t mind if I call you that, do you? I detest the idea of those stupid fucking nicknames you bikers seem to think are cool,” he says as he trails off. “I had a feeling that you wouldn’t agree, but I have a little incentive for you.”
“Nothing you could do would make me agree to be your bitch, Ricardo.”
“You say that so matter-of-factly, Michael, but I’m sure that you will change your mind once you see who I have heading this way to your rescue.”
Panic sets in immediately as I know he’s talking about my brothers. They are walking into a fucking trap and there’s no way to warn them. I rack my brain for something I can use to get them out of this, but only one thing comes to mind: agree to his fucking deal and try to fix it later. It’s all I have left. I can’t let them walk into this and lose their lives over something that I should have stopped years ago.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Ricardo smiles deviously as he nods to Maj. She stalks across the room, and my eyes trail after her every move. She stops on the left side of the room and reaches up to a sheet lying over a large object in the corner. She yanks the material off and exposes a series of TV monitors with live surveillance footage while dust clouds the air of their screens. My eyes try to focus through the dust, but my vision is still distorted from my capture.
“It’s good that you agreed to our little business agreement, Michael, but unfortunately, for your friends, it’s already far too late.”
Figures begin to move on the screen as Maj watches and laughs.