“Something’s up. We just got here and there aren’t any other trucks in sight,” Dad mutters.
“What? What do you mean?” I know I haven’t heard him wrong, but I have to know more. “Is it possible they aren’t here yet?”
“I don’t think they are here, but something is off. Newspaper is plastered across every window in the barn and house. All the lights are off around the property. Shit doesn’t feel right.”
“It looks like your great spirit is right,” I say to Machk, pressing on the gas. I shift gears and tear down the lane being as careful as I can with the speed I need. We arrive, and I can see Dad isn’t bullshitting me. It’s pitch black out here besides where the snow is illuminated.
“Listen up, everyone needs to be fuckin’ careful! This shit doesn’t feel right,” Dad shouts out to all of us.
We heed his warning and split up, but I see my uncle Cracker has already made it up to the steps on the house. He opens the door and turns back quickly, screaming from across the yard. “Gas, get down!”
Before any of us can react, we’re flying back from a massive force. I watch as the house before my eyes explodes in slow motion. The windows and doors blow out at the same time. The siding flies from where it was nailed in. With it comes a loud sound, much like a raging inferno. I could describe it as a boom, but that wouldn’t be accurate. My body flies back into the snow behind me and blood orange flames fill the early morning sky.
It doesn’t hit me at first, not until I see my father on his hands and knee’s screaming my uncle’s birth name. “George!”
21
“May the radiance and beauty of their lives never be defined by their death.”
~Unknown
Kade
As if a grenade went off, a loud ringing fills my ears. I can make out names being called, and orders being given but I can’t process what just happened. Because it didn’t just happen. This has to be some fucked up dream.
“George!” My father sobs from the ground. Machk is next to him, placing his hand on my father’s shoulder as the reality of what isn’t a nightmare sinks in. I know this isn’t a dream, but fuck if I want it to be. Fuck me for wanting this to be fake.
I shake my head back and forth looking out to what was a house and is now a massive pile of wood blowing up in smoke. “Kade!” I don’t notice my brother standing beside me until I feel my body being shaken. His hands are on my shoulders, rattling me from the state of shock I’m in.
“The fucker set us up,” I hiss, looking at Zane with nothing but pure fury.
I’m not sure how angry I look, but if Zane isn’t matching it, he’s sure as hell close. “No shit. We need to call Roy.”
“Roy?” I question. Why would we call Roy? He’s the Sheriff for Yellowstone County.
“Did you hit your head or some shit? We bought Roy.” Ah, fuck. I forgot. We haven’t spoken to Roy in quite a while or needed him for that matter. I figured we all parted ways and didn’t need him anymore.
Roy is a sour cop, one of the very few who don’t have the blue blood running through his veins. He’ll do anything for a quick buck, and I mean anything. He’s roughed up a couple people, planted evidence and has even snuck shit out of the evidence locker. Only thing is when that happened, he somehow had the blowback hit a rookie. I don’t even know how he managed it, but it showed all of us that the old fool wasn’t so useless after all, or stupid, for that matter.
Zane takes his phone from his coat and presses away fearlessly, putting it up to his ear. I see Blackjack lookin’ around with his gun pulled out, ready to fire at whatever Bear is around. Grizzly always has someone watching. We’ve learned that lesson a few times over the years.
“We need to find Austin,” I say to Zane. “He’s the reason we came out here.”
Zane glances at me while he mutters into his phone and looks back at where the house was. I’m sure he’s thinkin’ Austin is as good as dead, but we won’t know until we have proof. Grizzly could be holding him somewhere else for all we know. “When can you be out here?” Zane asks into the phone, just loud enough so I can hear their conversation.
I put my hands below me into the freezing cold snow and push myself up, standing, taking in everything that’s transpired before my eyes.
“What the fuck do you mean you’re not getting out here?” There’s a short pause before Zane raises his voice and starts to scream into the receiver, “If you don’t get here in ten minutes, I’ll be sending those lovely videos we have of you fuckin’ Becky to your wife. How much you wanna bet she’ll enjoy seeing those? It would be a shame if your wife took you for everything you have and left with the kids, wouldn’t it?”
It’s moments like this that affirm Zane is the one who should lead when Dad is ready to step down and hand over the gavel. I’m not meant for that. I never have been. I’m sure as fuck not the type to be the VP either and I know my dad, which means I know he’s gonna try to push it on me. We haven’t gone too in depth about Ivy and I still choosing to go to Vegas, but I know he’ll bring up the fact that Damon is the Prez and Amara is the VP.
Ever since I was adopted, I’ve been a Monroe, and if there’s one thing Monroes don’t do very well, it’s taking orders. I’d much rather be the one takin’ them than the one givin’ them. It’s way too much pressure if you ask me. The entire livelihood of the club falls on the Prez’s shoulders and that’s a fuck load of responsibility.
My brother shoves his phone back into his pocket. “I’m betting he’s gonna come now.”
“He’d better, or else I’ll fuck up his world in ways he can’t even imagine.” Zane has always been a fearless fuck. When we were in high school, all the girls thought I was the freak when in reality, he was the one to be afraid of.
“Fist. We need to get out of here,” Blackjack calls, seeing trucks speeding down over the hill.
Four of them are heading our way and my gut is telling me that we’re about to be massively outnumbered. “Fuck that. We’re not leaving at all. We’re going to stay and fight, avenge George,” Dad says in a monotone voice, showing us all just how furious he is.
The unmistakable sound of tires treading through the snow fills our ears. Gas pedals are being pressed and engines get louder with every approaching moment. “It’s open huntin’ season, boys,” Dad calls out to the rest of us, rising. He unzips his coat and pulls out two Glocks, pulling the slide back to chamber a round. He starts with the gun in his right hand and then goes to the left. “I hope you fuckers brought extra clips. I’m not sharin’.”
Those of us who don’t have our guns out make sure to show the enemy what’s headed their way. “After this, we must find Austin, Fist,” Machk tells him.
I can only imagine how he’s feeling right now. I just hope Austin wasn’t in the house when it blew up, but the barns are all covered up as well. There’s no way to tell where he is or if he’s even here. We were told to meet Grizzly in the farmhouse though, and having experienced this fucker over the years . . . I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. I’m betting he figured that he could ax us all off in one fell swoop by telling us to meet him inside the house.
The sounds of rounds firing alert me that shit’s getting real. The trucks are headed straight for us and like we’re some action fuckers in a Tom Cruise movie, we aim straight for the glass. They get closer while one of them swerves off to the left, hitting a small type of barn building.
“Watch out!” Blackjack calls over to me, and I run as fast as I can to the left, falling straight into the snow. I just missed getting run over by some piece of shit Chevy. All of us split up, firing wherever we can to get these Bears down. No one has even exited the vehicle.
The scene unfolds before my eyes, bullet after bullet being fired in the direction of our enemies. Dad fires shots from both guns, looking like full-on Rambo, and the truck in front of him just keeps heading his way. He stands there like a fuckin’ lunatic, lookin’ like he’s about to let this truck drive straight into him
when Blackjack runs into him and shoves him out of the way. The truck flies by and runs straight into a silo about three hundred or so feet away.
Two trucks down and only two more to go. I fire away until I’m out, but thankfully, I did pack extra clips. I unload, releasing my clips into the ground and grab two from my jacket, popping one in the gun I already have out and slide my chamber. I pull another glock free from my holster and insert the other clip, doing the same that I just did a moment before.
The trucks come to a stop, the doors fly open and out pours two men from each vehicle. Now we’re evened up and there’s no way these fucks are going to get out of here alive. “Shoot to kill!” Zane roars, firing away, getting a nasty look from my father.
In a matter of moments, the four of them are down, but what surprises me the most is how Zane gets a fist to the jaw. “You stupid boy! Have you lost your damn mind? We needed one of them alive to get any useful information.” Dad spits on Zane, looking at him with nothing but disappointment. “Quick, go around and see if anyone’s alive. Get whatever information you can on Grizzly and the rest of them!”
Everyone splits up and I run over to the barn the first truck drove into. It went into the barn by maybe about fifty feet, almost sitting smack dab in the middle, but a stall kept it from going any further. Before I check on them, I make sure nothing’s in the stall, and much to my relief, it’s empty. The horse on the end looks a little shaken up though.
I walk around to the driver's side and see blood coming from the center of his head, so I look over to the passenger side and see his eyes on me. “If you think you’re going to get anything out of me, you’re mistaken,” he says, breathing heavily. It sounds like he’s in a bit of pain, a whisle coming through his tone with each word.
“Oh, I’m going to get what I want, because if I don’t, I’ll only make it harder for you.” I spot the blood coming from his chest, seeing he must’ve been shot right above his heart. I’m no doctor, but his prognosis isn’t very good if you ask me. The truck isn’t too big, so I stick my arm in and press right on his wound, causing him to scream out. I keep the pressure on for a few seconds before removing my hand.
“You see, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I’d much rather it be easy, but if you wanna make it harder on yourself, well, that’s your own damn fault. Where’s Austin?”
He narrows his eyes, lookin’ all confused. “Who the fuck is Austin?”
“The guy that lives here,” I scream. “You know, the one whose parents you killed?”
“I didn’t kill anyone!” he tells me, lookin’ confused.
Jesus. Is this dude as dumb as a doornail? “The young man who lives here, whose parents were killed by someone else.”
He nods his head. “Yeah, yeah. I know who you mean.”
I smack his chest again, urging him to start speaking.
“Why should I tell you where he is? Even if you let me leave with my life, I’m as good as dead. Grizzly will fuckin’ find me and make me pay!” I glance a little lower to see if I can figure out this guy’s road name when I see he’s a prospect. The Bears, for as long as anyone can remember, have never allowed their prospects to have road names. They simply refer to them as what they are and being at the lowest end of the totem pole, they don’t get to put up any sort of fight when it comes to that.
I hear boots crunching the snow and look over to see my brother coming over. He comes right up next to me and notices we have a live one here with us. “He say anything yet?”
“No, I’m workin’ on it. He was just about to tell me where Austin is, and maybe Grizzly too,” I say, lookin’ at the prospect. He knows there’s only one way out of this because he can’t be dumb enough to think anything else.
“Yeah, I was just about to tell him!” The man in the truck says with enthusiasm, but I can still hear that whistling sound with every word that spills from his lips. “He planted him out in a shed on your property, by the clubhouse.”
“What?” I respond, shocked beyond belief. “When? When did Grizzly do that?!”
“This mornin’. He told us to come out here and said he’d be putting Austin right under your nose, that it wouldn’t matter when you were all blown to bits.”
“Motherfucker!” Zane roars out, raising his gun. It happens so quickly but much like the explosion, I see it happen in slow motion. The prospect’s eyes go wide realizing the gun is coming toward him, knowing he can’t do a damn thing. He’s been shot and is already fucked. Based on the wheezing that was coming through him, I know he would’ve slowly lost his life. At least this way, Zane gave him the easy way out. My brother won’t view it that way, though. Instead, he’ll see this as the start of vengeance.
I take my phone out and call Bull, waiting as it rings and continues to ring until there’s no answer. “He didn’t fuckin’ answer,” I tell Zane as our eyes meet and both of us run out of that barn like we’re on fire. There’s only one place we need to be right now— home.
22
“I’ve seen beauty in the people who were called ugly, and I’ve seen the devil in the most angelic faces.”
~Conny Cernik
Ivy
“Ivy, get your ass up!” Bull roars, opening the door up to my bedroom. The faint smell of sulfur hits my nostrils and I know something is very wrong.
I hop to my feet and slide on socks. “Is the club on fire?!” I scream out, trying to breathe.
“Yeah, now c’mon. I need to get you the fuck out of here before the whole place burns down. I need to get Saffron and Sydney too. They’re in the back. Hammer,” Bull yells his name and a new face I haven’t seen before greets me. “Ivy this is Hammer, he’s a friend of Kade’s and I’m pretty damn sure that he’s going to be a prospect for the club. Hammer, get Ivy outta here.”
“Wait! Can I get some of my shit?”
He looks at me like I’ve lost my god damned mind. “The club is on fuckin’ fire. Fuck no! Get your ass outta here and up to Fist’s before I fuckin’ lose my shit. Hammer, escort her up there and make sure everyone we send up to the house is safe. We have no fuckin’ idea where they are at this point, but the fuckin’ Bears are here.”
My eyes nearly pop out of my head. “What do you mean?” There’s no way that Bull is right. Kade and the rest of the brothers went to go deal with my almost-daddy and their shit. Why would they be here?
“I don’t have time to fuckin’ explain, Ivy. Hammer, get her ass out of here now and don’t you dare leave her side either. If you do, there will be hell to pay and it won’t be from Kade. I’ll be the one skinning your fuckin’ hide!”
Hammer grabs my arm and leads me out of my bedroom. I didn’t even have time to put on shoes. As we venture through the club the air thickens and smoke fills the room. I can tell the fire must be bad because the heat spans across the floorboards and causes my feet to burn. “Ouch!” I yelp, running faster with Hammer.
He turns back to look at me and much to my surprise, he picks me up, darting to the front door. “I didn’t realize you didn’t have any shoes on.” Luckily, the door is wide open as we venture through, out into the cold. I went from being pretty toasty to freezing my damn tits off. I turn back, looking over his shoulder and from the light out in the parking lot, I can see a basement window is broken. No one stays in the basement area, so no one would break it to get out.
Hammer continues to carry me up the hill and to Fist’s house. I grab the door and he puts me down on my feet. I see a couple of the clubwhores in the living room all sitting in a circle, crying their eyes out. Zorro is standing by them with his hand planted firmly on his gun. “Who are they workin’ on getting out now?” Zorro asks Hammer.
“Saffron and Sydney are still inside. Axel and Grim were checkin’ the rest of the club to make sure no one else is inside while Bull gets those two. Have you called the others?”
“Yeah, Ashley is at home with Dex and Noelle. Blackjack installed that safe room not too long ago so they’re all held up there.
Roxy is in her basement with the girls hiding until they know it’s safe.”
I think this is the perfect time to bring up the basement window, so I do. “Did you see the window was busted?” I ask the two of them. They share a mutual look.
“What do you mean?” Zorro asks.
I elaborate, “When Hammer was bringing me up here, I saw one of the basement windows was busted. How did the fire even start in the first place? I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Zorro takes a couple steps closer to me. “We don’t know yet. I smelt somethin’ burning and told the brothers. We all split up, I went down to where the girls were and brought them all up here. Bull and Hammer were workin’ on gettin’ you out. Meanwhile, Axel and Grim are working on getting Saffron and Sydney out.” Saffron and Sydney share a room at the back part of the club, away from some of the clubwhores. If I was her, I wouldn’t want my daughter hearing the unmistakable moans of pleasure coming from her friends’ mouths. The questions that could be asked by Sydney would be a horror to explain.
“You said the Bears are here. Where are they? I didn’t see anyone,” I say to the entire room. A couple of the clubwhores look up from the ground, glaring at me. One has short blonde hair and stands straight up, giving me the impression that she’s about to stir up some trouble.
“This is all your fault. If you never came here, our home wouldn’t have burned to the ground!” she screams, tears shooting from her eyes. She comes charging toward me and I yank my hand back and slap it across her face, shaking her dumbass out of whatever she was about to do.
Grinding my teeth, I let my emotions flood over me. “Now listen up, bitch. I don’t know who the fuck you think you are coming at me like that, but remember where you are on the totem pole. You’re at the bottom. You’re nothing but a fucking guppy in this ocean. I’m a piranha, and I’ll tear every bit of flesh off you until there’s nothing left but bone. Do you get me?”
Kade Page 13