Behind, in the still air, I hear the sound of motorcycle engines. I try to count them, more than a couple, definitely. Four, five?
My gun is loaded. Extra ammunition carried in my cut. My knife is in my belt. I strain my ears for the sound of the Devils Prez promised to send, but the sudden silence of the engines means the Jokers have arrived at the cabin, and, for now, as I’d been warned, we’re alone.
At last we come to a clearing. My eyes scan, settling on something. Telling Stevie I’m putting her down, I crouch so she can slide off. “Stay here.”
As I thought, camouflaged and almost hidden from sight is what looks like an old deer blind, presumably used by hunters in hunting season.
I lead her over to it and settle her inside. “I want you to stay here, Stevie, you and Max.”
“Don’t leave me, Beef.”
“Stevie, if they’re out searching then I can lead them away from you.”
“What if they catch you?”
“I’ll make them think I’m out here on my own.”
“They might shoot you, then come for me.” She sounds so understandably terrified it breaks my heart.
While I yearn to stay and hold her, I know that’s not the best way to keep her out of their hands. All I’ve got to do is hold them off until the cavalry arrives.
Shamelessly I play on her love for her dog. “Max is limping,” I tell her, exaggerating his condition. Actually, Max looks like he’s thoroughly enjoying his forest walk. “You stay in the blind and get him to rest awhile. All this clambering over rough ground isn’t doing him much good.”
She’s scared at the idea of being left alone and I can’t blame her. But she gives me a resolute nod and reluctantly agrees as I’ve convinced her it’s best. For Max.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I didn’t want to leave Stevie scared and alone. But I didn’t think I had a choice. I’ve never been one to run away from a fight, and if we carried on, it’s possible the Warped Jokers might be able to follow whatever track we’d left and find us. At least by leaving her in a safe place I can go back and see what they’re up to, maybe take out one or two with my knife.
I wouldn’t have the least repulsion in killing them up close, certain if they caught up with us, they’d take Stevie out. The stakes for them are far too high. If the RICO indictment goes ahead, every member of that club is looking at twenty years behind bars.
Even if those on the outside don’t get rounded up and convicted, they’ll still be giving their all for their members currently inside. I’d do whatever it takes to free Drummer, Wraith or any of my brothers. But would I kill a woman to keep her silenced? No, I couldn’t do that. Find some other way to persuade her not to talk, perhaps, but not take her life. The Warped Jokers, though? With their reputation, if Stevie is kept alive, she’ll spend the rest of her days working on her back wishing she was dead.
There is no way in hell I’m letting them get to her. I can’t take the risk of them finding and ambushing us.
I’m a big man, but I can be quiet if necessary. It’s only Stevie with her heightened sense of hearing who can catch me out. I descend the route we’d taken carefully, keeping to the shadows of the trees and the scrub, my eyes now on the ground checking for twigs which would snap and betray me.
I’ve been walking for a good few minutes when I hear a voice calling out.
“Looks like someone’s come this way.”
Fuck. I strain my ears as another voice shouts back.
“How the fuck can a blind bitch find her way in the forest?”
“Got the biker with her. Found some tracks, bike boots. I’m following them.”
Not for long you’re not. I take my knife out of its sheath, running my finger over the edge, reminding myself how sharp it is. Even Blade, the Tucson enforcer, would be impressed.
Jeez. I’d hoped they’d have no one with them with tracking skills, but again I’m reminded how big I am, and carrying Stevie’s weight, must have left a trail in the damp earth. Soon I hear footsteps, I shrink back behind a massive tree trunk and almost stop breathing.
I analyse the sound. Only one set of footsteps. He passes me without a look in my direction, it’s easy to put my arm around his neck, crushing his windpipe, and slicing my knife across his jugular. As expected, he slumps in my arms, dead.
One down. How many to go? I feel no remorse as I pull the body into the undergrowth and out of sight.
In the distance I hear more motorcycle engines. Demon is on his way. Until then, they’ll have to go through me to get to Stevie.
“Buck? Where are you, man?” a hoarse whisper carries in the air. “I think I’m following you but give me a sign to show me where you are.” Silence, then, “Buck? Where the fuck are you?”
Sounds of rustling and twigs snapping warn someone is getting close. “Buck?”
I haven’t heard anyone else. I take a chance. As soon as he’s close enough, I karate chop his arm making his gun drop to the ground, the strength of my blow having a paralysing effect. Almost in the same movement I have my arm around his neck, crushing his windpipe so he stays silent. The blade hovering close to his jugular makes him show the whites of his eyes.
“You’re going to answer my questions,” I tell him in a conversational tone. Then hiss, “If you want to play hero, this blade is going to make a pretty mess of your throat.” I don’t add I’ve already dispatched his brother to meet Satan. “Uh uh, I wouldn’t try to nod if I were you. When I take my arm away, don’t scream or call out. Don’t think there’s anyone close enough to save you before I slice into your neck.”
His face is going red because of the pressure I’m applying to his neck. I ease my arm away a fraction, and he takes a deep breath.
“How many of you are there?”
“Four.”
“Who are you working with?”
“No one,” he lies.
One thing Blade had taught me was to always be prepared. Using just one arm to crush his windpipe again, I reach into my back pocket with my free hand and extract a zip tie. None too gently I then use my legs to sweep his out from under him. Whatever little air he’d managed to take into his lungs is knocked out of him as he falls to the ground. I come down hard on his back, and yanking his hands behind him, zip tie them together.
I then pull him up.
“I’ve got my knife and gun at your back. One wrong step and you’re dead. One shout of warning and you’ll wish you’d never been born. Now walk.”
I hear motorcycles, lots of them. They seem to be close. Then the engines cut out. Help has arrived.
Then I hear shots, screams come then are suddenly cut off. An automatic rifle firing followed by silence. All I can do is walk my captive down in the direction of the cabin, hoping the right side has won.
I walk into the clearing behind the old building, sidle along the walls, then pause and peer around the front, my gun held at the ready. I inhale a lungful of relieved air at the sight meeting my eyes. Demon is standing, his arms folded, staring at a man writhing on the ground.
As I step into sight, he grins in my direction and calls out, “One dead, one wounded. What you got, Beef?”
“One dead, one alive.” I grin. Stevie’s safe. We’ve come out on top.
“Buck,” my captive breathes out, his shoulders slumping. I ignore his reaction. A man wanting to kill an innocent woman deserves no sympathy.
“What we going to do with them?” Ink asks.
“Torture the truth out of them, then kill them,” Pyro suggests as he walks up and relieves me of my burden.
“Got the prospects coming with a truck,” Demon tells me. “Want to talk to them yourself?”
“Stevie?” I’m not leaving her alone in the cabin.
“This place is compromised, Beef. Fuck knows how they knew she was here, but they did. Best bring her back to the club.” He raises an eyebrow. “She is safe, I take it?”
“Yeah, got her stashed away in an old hunting blind.” My li
ps press together. She’ll have heard the shots and will be worried sick. “If you’ve got it under control here, I’ll go back and get her. Then I’ll bring her and the dog back in the truck. I’ll get my bike later.”
“Christ. A fuckin’ dog on the compound. Not sure how Bitch is going to take to that.”
“Twenty bucks says the cat wins,” Rusty calls out to Ink.
“My money’s on the dog,” Thunder joins in.
Demon throws them a look of disgust. His own tone is serious as he gets back to business. “Don’t know how the fuck they knew you were here, Beef. Been no leak from our end. Unless,” his face goes dark, “Beaver or Karl said something.”
I want to know how the Devils knew the Jokers were coming. But I’ll ask later, the fact is, they did, and quite possibly saved our lives with the information. Now, it’s time to come clean.
“Nah, you haven’t got a loose mouth in the club. Beaver and Karl didn’t see shit.” I take a breath. “Dog wasn’t wearing his collar, didn’t need it. I didn’t think to check out any of his stuff until we had to move. As he’s a service dog, there was a fuckin’ GPS tracker on his collar. Mystery is how a bunch of fuckin’ bikers knew of it, and how to track it.”
He stares as if estimating my level of culpability in risking the club members’ lives. Then nods. “Would have been useful to know about that earlier, Beef, but can’t blame you for not looking. We know the how, but apart from this sorry foursome, we don’t know who the fuck else knows you’re here. You need to get her out of here as soon as possible. Get her back to the club, and we’ll take it from there.”
“Hold up, Prez.” I raise my hand to stop him walking off. “What about the Wretched Soulz? They want her silenced as much as the Warped Jokers.”
He meets my eyes for a second, then looks away. “Shit.” The twisting of his mouth shows he’s realised giving Stevie our protection openly would be pitting us against the dominant club. “I’ll need to have words with Drummer. For now I want her where we can keep an eye on her. She’s blind, Beef,” he reminds me as if I wasn’t aware of the fact. “A helpless woman. Who in their right fuckin’ minds would turn her away?”
His words ring in the air for a moment.
“I could…”
“Nah. Whatever you’re going to say, Beef, wait until we’ve sorted this shit here out. We need cleanup for a start.”
“I’ll sort that,” Skull offers. “Christ, did it enough when I was prospecting.
“I’ll help.”
“Sure, ‘Ro.” Prez nods at Pyro, then Skull. “When we get back to the clubhouse we’ll see what we can get out of the Warped Jokers, then have church and decide what the fuck to do.”
“I need to get Stevie.” I’m anxious to return and tell her the right side won.
Demon beckons to Thunder, clearly intending on him and his acting VP to accompany me. Not bothering to be quiet, we retrace the steps I’d carried Stevie earlier. Without the weight of my precious burden, we shave minutes off the time. As soon as we draw close, I call out to warn her it’s me and that she’s safe.
I repeat it again as I draw close to the blind. “Stevie, it’s me. Nothing to worry about now. You’re safe. Demon and Thunder are with me, the Jokers have been dealt with.”
Instead of Stevie, a man steps to the front of the rickety construction, a Glock held in his hands, and it’s pointed straight in my direction.
“Stop right there.”
Who the fuck is this man? He’s wearing a chequered button-down shirt tucked into jeans. He certainly doesn’t look like a biker, or someone who’d ride with the Warped Jokers. But from the way he’s holding his gun, steady and unwavering directed at its target which happens to be me, he’s no stranger to violence. I can detect a military bearing in his stance.
Ignoring the personal threat toward me, I call out, anxiously. “Stevie, you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Her voice reaches me from inside the blind.
Relief fills me. There’s trepidation in her voice, but no fear. Whoever this man is, she doesn’t seem to be afraid of him. Who could he be?
“Stay there,” the stranger instructs, presumably to her.
“They’re the good guys.” She’s obviously talking to him not to us. “They’ve been keeping me safe.”
A disgusted snort comes from the man with the gun. His full attention doesn’t waver from us even though he’s having a conversation with the woman still hidden behind him. It’s me he addresses. “I suggest you turn around and go. I’ll be keeping Ms Nichols safe from now on.”
Over my dead body. I don’t move an inch. “And who might you be?”
Impatient, Stevie appears, peering around him. “He’s Marshal Lennox. He’s my contact.”
“Stevie, come here,” I instruct.
“No, don’t…” But Lennox didn’t expect a blind woman to move so fast and assuredly in my direction. He’s clearly flummoxed that she’s now direct in his sights. His momentary confusion allows Demon and Thunder to draw their weapons and step forward.
The marshal’s eyes go from one to the other, then to Stevie who’s now in my arms. Even Max turns traitor, sliding out from the hut and coming toward me. Stevie’s hands trace the contours of my face, and then down my arms and over my chest. “I heard shooting…”
“I’m fine. We’re all fine, Stevie. Don’t worry, babe.”
“I thought I lost you,” she sobs.
“You need to start talking,” Demon addresses Lennox. “If you’re her contact, how the fuck did anyone know where she was? Where’s the leak coming from, Lennox? That you? Mighty suspicious you and those motherfuckers being here at the same time.”
The marshal begins to go red. “There’s no leak from our department. It must have been Ms Nichols who gave herself away.”
Stevie, quick to recover having completed her investigation and seeing for herself I’ve not been injured, turns around to face him, spitting out, “I’m not stupid. I did nothing.”
Lennox shakes his head. “You must have done—”
“Whatever.” Demon’s hand slashes through the air. “You haven’t done a very good job of protecting her so far.”
“Neither have you,” Lennox retorts. “You led the Jokers right to her.”
“That was Max,” Stevie enters the conversation. “It had to be the tracker on his collar.”
“How did you find her?” I ask, suddenly realising what’s wrong with this scenario.
A short laugh. “I found her because unlike the Warped Jokers, I can track someone and be quiet about it.”
Demon looks at me and raises his brow. I shake my head. He takes the lead again. “I suggest we put away our guns. Seems like we need to have a conversation rather than re-enacting the shootout at the OK Corral.”
“You’ve got your gun on them?” Stevie rounds on the lawman. “Beef saved my life. Twice. Where were you then?” She reaches her hand back and takes hold of mine.
“Come over here, Stevie,” Lennox instructs.
“No.” The strength in her voice is impressive. “Just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I’m not a good judge of character. Something’s wrong, Leon. Beef’s done his best to keep me safe. His club came here today to rescue me. I feel safe with them.” She bites her lip. “You told me what would happen while we were waiting in the blind. That you’d give me another new identity. If I go with you, I’ll have to start all over again. Max isn’t fit enough to work yet. He needs a few more weeks of rest before he can go in a harness again.”
She’s trembling in my arms. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why she’s upset. She was assured that a new identity would keep her safe. She moved, left everything and everyone she’d ever known but danger had caught up with her just the same. Now she’s being asked to do it a second time.
Marshal Lennox looks flustered, as if he doesn’t know what to do. He knows as well as I do, if pushed too hard, Stevie could refuse to testify. She’s not a criminal who’s got the thre
at of a prison sentence hanging over her head, she’s one of the few put into the witness protection program because she can help put some bad guys away.
I exchange a look with Demon. Putting the onus for her protection on the club puts the Devils right in the sights of the Wretched Soulz. Will he take the easy out offered and encourage her to put her life in the hands of the US Marshals again? The people who’ve already failed her once.
The prez pinches the bridge of his nose. “Look, I’m not happy staying out here. Fuck knows who’s on their way to the cabin even now. It’s as compromised as shit. Let’s move this conversation back to the compound. Marshal, you’re welcome to come back with us too. Far as I can see we’ve all got one thing in mind, keeping Stevie alive.”
As I let out a sigh of relief that for now, at least, Demon appears to be on my side, Lennox looks completely flustered and I don’t blame him. It’s not often law enforcement is invited into the heart of an outlaw MC.
But as we start walking down the track, Demon pulls me to one side, nodding at Thunder to take my place by Stevie.
He’s brief and to the point. “I want to know why and how the fuck Lennox was here. Want him under my eye until he comes clean.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The five of us make our way slowly back down the mountainside, making allowance for Stevie who’s picking her way carefully along the trail with the aid of my arm, and yet another makeshift stick Thunder had spied and thoughtfully picked up. By the time we get back to the cabin there’s no trace of the Warped Jokers, either dead or alive. The ones still breathing for now, will have been transported back to the clubhouse where they’ll be contained in Demon’s notorious soundproofed basement. The dead, I’m confident, have been buried somewhere they won’t be found. I do see a suspicious shovel with damp mud on it leaning against the wall, but if Lennox notices he doesn’t draw attention to it.
Devil's Due: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #3 Page 22