by KJ Dahlen
“Fuck yourself,” Talon spat. “You’re not spinning this thing on me, Prez. What the fuck happened?”
Eagle leaned forward. “Look, it was a last second decision. Okay? I figured those Dogs would be sniffing once Hammer was gone. Why not? It’s a good chance to cement their position in pushing us away. They want this town. We’re the only thing keeping them from a straight line all the way to Nevada.”
“We have charters everywhere. They wouldn’t get anywhere even if they had this town.”
“No, Talon. You’re wrong.” Eagle stood up. “I rode with Slasher in an old life. He’s not what the surface shows. Or the Dogs themselves. They look unorganized and new, because in a way, they are. But they’re hungry. They’ve done it all. They’ve run guns, drugs, women, everything. Shit, I even heard there’s a formation charter in Ireland.”
“What does that have to do with us?”
“Two big MC’s... one small town...”
“Another war,” Talon said. “Why not just rack it all up, Prez? Huh? Bring in the fucking Bratva. Bring in the Dogs. Who else can we call up?”
“How about your woman friend?” Eagle asked. “I’m sure she didn’t show up just say hello.” Eagle rubbed his jaw. “Last I remember, you were a little heartbroken over that number out there, right? And if I remember correctly, I was the one who took you out to cure that broken heart. A couple bottle of whiskey and a few of the finest dancers cash can pay for.”
“What’s your point?”
“We don’t need any more bullshit in this clubhouse, Talon.”
“There is no bullshit. I’m doing a favor. Keeping a promise. Club honor, right?”
“Oh, don’t give me that line of shit. Not over pussy.”
“This isn’t just pussy, Eagle,” Talon said. He skipped over saying Prez to make sure his point was driven home. “This is Fiona. And she has a kid.”
“Look me in the eyes and tell me she ain’t fucked six ways from Sunday and that’s why she’s outside sipping a drink, cutting up a hot dog for that little guy...”
Talon glared hard at him. “What the fuck were you doing with the Dogs, Prez?”
Eagle laughed as he slapped the table. “This is why I need you as my VP, Talon. You’re hard to figure out. You want to keep the pussy around? Have at it. We’re not saving her ass, got it?”
“I didn’t ask anyone a thing. This is personal. And it’s a favor.”
Eagle nodded. “Fair enough. Cobra got the intel on where Ripper was headed. Turns out he was riding alone. A very dangerous thing to do. Especially, when you hand over a forged document, right?”
“Jesus Christ,” Talon exclaimed.
“So we took a ride ourselves. Me. Cobra. Condor. You know, I felt foolish for a second there, Talon. There were so many things I could have said to the Dogs and I didn’t. So I figured I’d catch up with Ripper. After all, he’s the contact point, right?”
Talon shook his head. “Did you kill him?”
“No,” Eagle said. “We shut him up. By now, he’s probably getting his jaw wired. He’ll be sipping through a straw for a while too.”
“What was the point of that?”
“To send a goddamn message,” Eagle growled. He pointed his cigarette right at Talon. “A clear goddamn message. You don’t show up to this clubhouse demanding a fucking thing. Those Dogs can go to hell, but they can’t, cause I’m not done with them yet. But for now... they know.”
“They know you ambushed one of their own,” Talon warned. “They’ll retaliate.”
“I’m not worried about it,” Eagle said. “Go have a drink with your woman and her kid.”
Talon again ignored the jibe. “I know this entire thing is fucked, Prez, but running wild is a bad thing for all of us.”
“You want me to call everyone in here and tell them what I did?” Eagle asked. “Huh? Take a vote? I promise you, VP, not a single soul out there would say nah to what I did. Hammer fucked this club pretty bad. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder over it. We all do. But those Dogs showing up trying to stake a claim in our town? Our club?”
“Fine.” Talon sighed. “I get it. I’d vote yay for it. A hundred times over.”
“There you have it.”
“We need everything at the table, Prez. Everything. There’s too much at once. Hammer left us with a three mil tab to pay. Buck fifty payments on interest. The Dogs wanting to hit us because they think we’re weak. Bratva going to be knocking down that door any day now.”
“Don’t forget your lady and her kid,” Eagle added.
Talon curled his lip again. He had a hard time not grabbing the man up and breaking his teeth.
Eagle cackled like a fool and swung the gavel just to be a prick.
The door opened and Toll Man stood there, six-four, three hundred pounds of pissed off muscle.
The look in eyes wasn’t a good thing at all. “Prez. VP. We’ve got company.”
Eagle grunted.
Talon glared at him. “All at once. We need to keep it straight.”
Eagle glared at him as they headed out front.
The black limo was parked sideways without a care in the world. The backdoor opened and out stepped a man just about Talon’s height. Built like stone, a crooked clean cut jaw and narrow eyes that had seen plenty of murder in their lifetime. Short black hair that was done up nice, matching the suit the man wore as he walked into the hornet’s nest of patches, MC members and prospects.
“Guy must be out of his fucking mind,” Falcon said to Talon.
“No,” Talon replied in a low voice. “We’re the ones out of our fucking minds.” Talon moved forward when Eagle did as they approached the man.
The man stopped walking and pulled at his suit jacket. He slowly opened the jacket to make it known he was carrying a weapon. “Just in case,” he said, a Russian accent floating in the air.
“Dmitri,” Talon said, taking a guess.
“Look at you, all grown up.” Dmitri smiled a cold smile.. “Even promotion looks good on you.”
“How do you know Talon?” Eagle asked.
“And you,” Dmitri said. “President...” The ‘s’ sounded like a long ‘z’.
“This is private property,” Eagle stated.
“That I plan on owning soon,” Dmitri quipped. “And I plan on blowing the fucking the building up while you all ride away. Then... who knows? I take over the town. The whole thing. Maybe I burn it all down. Just for fun.”
Eagle stepped forward
Talon threw a hand out. “Prez, he’s rubbing salt in the wound.”
“No wound,” Dmitri said, showing his hands.
“You know, coming out here alone takes balls,” Eagle growled.
“No fear of you,” Dmitri said.
“That’s your second mistake,” Talon said.
“And the first?” Dmitri asked.
“Thinking whatever Hammer owed you would roll over after his death.”
Dmitri started to laugh.
Talon turned his head and saw Fiona sitting at a table with Bret on her lap. Hugging him tight, covering his eyes and ears. It pained Talon in his heart at the sight.
“We can discuss this as needed,” Eagle said. “Showing up does nothing.”
“Money,” Dmitri stated. “You know why I’m here. Maybe Hammer was stupid. Maybe he did wrong. That’s okay. What’s not okay is dying and owing money to the Bratva. I’m on your side, Talon.”
“I bet you are,” Talon scoffed.
“We have what Hammer left behind,” Eagle said. “I’ll be happy to hand that over. You know the Bratva and the Princes of Hell have had a good run here. No need to sour it.”
“I guess what they say is right... cash is kind.” Dmitri grinned.
Hammer looked back at Toll Man and gave a nod.
Talon didn’t like the vibe of the entire situation.
The door to the car opened again and out climbed a monster of a man. Tall and wide, lumbering toward them.
“Just in case,” Dmitri said.
“Looks like you can hold yourself,” Talon noted.
“I take care of things,” Dmitri said. “Who’s the kid?”
Talon realized Dmitri had dialed in on Fiona and Bret. He side stepped and blocked Dmitri’s view. “Don’t fuck around here. I’m trying to be on your side.”
“Just a question,” Dmitri shrugged and it didn’t even wrinkle his Armani suit.
“And you’re not getting a fucking answer from me.” Talon stepped forward and went nose to nose with Dmitri.
A second later, the gorilla guy was there, shoving Talon back.
Talon’s first instinct was to swing.
So he did.
He clocked the big guy in the jaw, sending him back.
It took all of two seconds before everyone had a gun drawn, ready to fire.
“My guys, stand down a little here,” Eagle said with a cool voice. He was the first to put his weapon away. “We’re just talking.”
“Don’t mind Adrik here,” Dmitri said, nodding to the big guy. “He just likes to fight.”
“So do I,” Talon stated.
Toll Man returned with the envelope and gave it to Eagle to give to Dmitri.
“There’s a hundred there.” Eagle nodded.
Dmitri frowned. “Payment is one fifty.”
“We know,” Talon said. “Hammer dropped dead and left this on our table.”
“It’s going to be my table if you don’t come up with the fifty thousand owed,” Dmitri threatened. “I just say the word and...” He snapped his fingers. “Boom. Clubhouse no more.”
“Don’t threaten us on our soil.” Eagle glared at him. “We’ll take you out back, cut you open and watch your organs flop to the ground.”
“Just words,” Dmitri said. “Where’s the rest of my money?”
“This just fell into our lap,” Talon countered. “Give us time.”
“Time... nobody has time. Hammer had time to pay and didn’t. And now you gave me less than I came for. That’s a slap across my face.”
“We’ll get you your money, Dmitri,” Eagle urged. “But we need to have a sit down and work this out. Hammer is gone. Hammer had nothing but a small apartment and debt.”
“Always looking for pot of gold at the rainbow,” Dmitri quipped with a grin.
“Yeah, well now his old ass is in the ground,” Talon said. “How long has he been paying this debt for?”
“I give no answers until I get the money,” Dmitri snapped.
“Fair enough.” Eagle nodded. “Time for you to leave. We can communicate over the phone going forward. If you show up like this again, I will order my men to attack.”
Dmitri nodded. “Okay. That’s fair to me.”
Talon watched as Adrik wrote down a phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Eagle. He hated this had to happen with Fiona and Bret right behind him. But as Dmitri walked back toward the car, Talon was relieved to see it end. At least for now.
Adrik got into the car, but Dmitri froze and turned to face them. “One more thing.”
“What’s that?” Talon asked.
Dmitri turned, a gun in his hand.
Talon ran toward the weapon, his mind only thinking about Fiona and the kid.
“Just a reminder what happens when you don’t on time and in full.” Dmitri pulled the trigger with Talon in his sights.
CHAPTER NINE
The gunshot was like an explosion of thunder.
Fiona pulled Bret to her body as tight as she could as she stood and hurried around the table. A motherly instinct kicked in as she crouched, put Bret on the ground, and flipped the table to its side to use as a shield.
It wasn’t the first time she had to deal with gunfire, especially around the Princes of Hell MC. But for Bret... “It’s okay,” she said, smiling at Bret.
“Mommy...”
“Shhh, sweet bear,” she cooed to him. “We’re safe here now.” Fiona slowly lifted herself up to see over the table. She saw the black car speeding away with a bunch of bikers chasing after it. Then she saw Eagle as he shouted orders at someone to get towels. That’s when she spotted Talon on the ground.
He’d been shot...
Her heart sank and she thought she was going to throw up. To her left she saw a woman standing there in shock. “Hey, you,” she called out.
The woman looked over at her. “Me?”
“Get over here,” Fiona ordered. She couldn’t let fear creep into her voice. Not now.
The woman walked over to Fiona.
“What’s your name?”
“Beth.”
“Okay. Beth. Sit with my son. His name is Bret. Anything happens to him...”
Beth was in what looked like black panties with fishnet stockings. Her top was barely a top at all. A loose fitting black shirt with the Princes of Hell MC logo on it, all ripped up. And it was pretty obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra either. “What’s happening?” Beth asked.
“Nothing.” Fiona looked over at Bret. “Sit with Miss Beth, okay? Be good for her.”
“Hey, little guy,” Beth said to Bret.
Fiona stood, her stomach sick that she all but left her son with a stripper. Then again, Beth was just trying to survive. Trying to get protection. Which was what everyone wanted, including Fiona herself.
She ran right into the heart of the action to find Talon on the ground, holding his arm.
He looked right up at her, curling his lip. “I’m fucking fine.”
“Get some fucking towels,” Eagle ordered again.
Fiona turned and pointed to Raptor. “Give me your shirt.”
“Damn, woman, right in front of Talon?” Raptor asked.
“I’ll fucking kill you, brother,” Talon growled from the ground.
“Listen to me,” Fiona snapped. She stood five-six on a good day, mixed in with bikers who were all six-foot-plus but she held her ground. Her entire life had been built on sketchy situations like this, so why not keep it going?
Raptor took off his leather cut and then his shirt. “I expect that back,” he said. “Freshly washed, too.”
Fiona ignored him as she dropped to her knees and quickly wrapped it around Talon’s arm, pulling it tight.
“Hey, babe” Talon smirked.
“Shut up,” she said.
“Oh, she’s pissed,” Falcon said.
“Everyone clear out!” Eagle ordered. “Toll Man and Cobra, get some prospects at the gates. I want everyone on alert. Someone call Werley and let him know what happened. On the side, okay? We don’t need fucking badges coming around here.”
Talon sat up and shook Fiona’s grip away. “I’m good.”
“You were shot.”
“So what? It happens.”
“Not to you, VP,” Falcon added.
Talon looked up. “At least help me up, Rogue.”
Rogue helped Talon to his feet.
Fiona stood too. She rubbed her forehead and sighed.
That’s when Talon turned to her. “Sweetheart, where’s the kid?”
“Behind the table,” Fiona said.
“She damn well flipped it over,” Rogue said with a grin.
“You did what?” Talon asked.
“I heard a gun go off. I needed to protect Bret.”
“Jesus, little thing,” Eagle said to her. “Street smart, huh?”
“Survival smart,” Fiona added.
“You must really be in a pinch if you need the MC to help you out,” Eagle said.
“I don’t need the MC. I need Talon.”
“Enough of this,” Talon said looking uncomfortable with the subject. “Prez, you better get on the line with Dmitri and let him know this won’t stand. And we need to talk about the Bratva. Fast.”
“Christ, brother, you were just shot,” Eagle exclaimed.
“Shot at,” Talon stated. “It grazed me. Look...” Talon pointed to the clubhouse. There was a tiny bullet hole in the gray concrete wall.
“He w
as just trying to scare you,” Eagle surmised.
“No,” Talon said. “He was sending a message. He wants the fifty and the payments to be current.”
Fiona stood there, eyes going left to right, left to right.
“We should save this conversation for later,” Eagle said. “Little thing, you take your man to get cleaned him up, huh?”
“I’m fine,” Talon said again glaring at Eagle’s jibes. “Call a meeting, Prez. Now.” He walked away.
Fiona went with him. “What was that?” she asked.
“Nothing, sweetheart.”
“Don’t give me that, Talon. That man—”
“I said it was nothing,” Talon snapped. “You’re here because of me.”
“Maybe I should just go.”
“Too late for that.”
“Meaning what?”
Talon stopped for a second. “Look. He saw you. Looked right at you and Bret. You two are in trouble now. You’re staying here. You’re going to take some food and go relax in my room. I have to figure this out. Let me see that the kid is okay first though.”
Fiona wasn’t sure how to feel. Pissed off that Talon was being a jerk to her or have her heart melt that he was worried about Bret’s safety.
Behind the table sat Bret with his knees pulled to his chin.
“And then the prince was able to find the magical sword,” Beth was saying. “And he became the king.”
“Hey, kid,” Talon said, crouching down. “You okay?”
“Yes,” Bret replied.
“Okay. I’m sorry about that. That man shouldn’t have done that. You want to go inside?”
Bret nodded fast.
“Let’s get some chow and head in,” Talon said as he glanced at Beth. He gave her a smile and a wink.
Jealousy raged through Fiona, wondering if Talon had been with her. And if so, how many times.
“Thanks for helping,” Talon said to Beth.
“Of course.” She wrestled herself to her feet, her boobs jumping all over her shirt so obviously that even Fiona couldn’t look away.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” Beth said to Fiona.
“We’re good right now.” Fiona put a hand out to help Bret to his feet and then picked him up, hugging him tight.
Talon touched her lower back. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Had no idea it was going to go down like that.”