I cupped her tearstained cheeks in my hands “Do you remember the names of the other men?”
“No,” she whispered.
“You are so brave, Marie. Tell me what the fourth man looked like.”
“He was not as big as the others. He didn’t want to do it to me, but the others beat him up and pushed him on top of me.”
I held her, rocking back and forth to calm her. “They are not men. They are monsters. And they will do it again to another woman. I want to see them all dead.”
“I want them to bleed like I did. Then I want them dead.”
“Stryker cares about us. He will find them, and Rubik will help. And they will kill them.”
Marie placed her hands on her swollen belly. “But what about my baby? I don’t know who her daddy is.”
“How do you know it’s a girl?”
She smiled. “I just know, Sis. I have nightmares about what happened sometimes. But sometimes, I have dreams about her.”
I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. “She will be a happy baby because we will give her so much love and raise her together.”
I laid next to Marie listening to her steady breathing. I felt as if my guts were ripped out of me as Marie recounted the night she was beaten and raped. I blamed myself, too. If only I had left her at home that night. It should have been me they took.
I finally fell asleep beside her, dreaming of Rubik and his colored cubes. And a little girl with dark brown hair clapping, as he twisted and turned the cube in his big hands to make all the sides match with the same colors.
I opened my eyes as the sun was rising just above the trees near the cabin. Stryker called me every morning, as he promised, from Durango’s. I needed to tell him all that Marie had remembered about the rape. I climbed out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Then I felt it—a sudden feeling of dread as the hair on the back of my neck rose. There were voices and heavy booted steps on wood, coming from the front of the cabin.
A loud explosion. Glass shattering. A large piece of firewood crashed through the kitchen window. I screamed and stumbled toward my bedroom to get the gun hid in the top drawer of the nightstand. A loud gunshot exploded through the door. Splinters of wood. The door swung open and banged against the wall.
Syko sauntered in. He smirked and winked at me. “Hello, cunt. Did you miss me?”
19
Stryker
It ripped my insides apart to leave Izzy and Marie alone at the cabin, but it was the best place to keep them safe and away from the bloody warpath we waged on Sinister Creed. The only thing that felt good and right was having Rubik ride alongside me again.
Our Berzerkers brothers were glad to see him come back home to the mother chapter—except Ajax. He liked wearing the VP patch and taking on the duties of acting VP. He was one of our best pit fighters and soldier. Some men were hungry for power, more so in diamond clubs. Ajax was chomping at the bit to rise up through the officer’s ranks and become President one day.
I gathered every member at the Berzerker bunker, and we rode together in a tight pack to Durango’s that night. We threw a party for Rubik, opening up the fight pit and placing bets on anyone who wanted to let off some steam and throw a few punches at each other. The other two clubs that were still in good standing with the Berzerkers—the Mob Rules MC and Riot MC—joined in on the party and fights in the pit.
Rubik stood next to me, along with two dozen other greasy, foul-mouthed men shouting and cussing as we watched Ajax in the fight pit match up with his challenger, Brewer.
Rubik bumped my shoulder, shouting over the noise. “Don’t think Ajax wants to be acting VP for much longer.”
“Don’t worry about Ajax. I’ll reign him in. Who knows; there may come a time he needs to go form his own chapter.”
Ajax dominated the fight, lifting Brewer off his feet and throwing him down on the dirty cement floor. He ended the fight with a ground and pound, climbing on Brewer and pounding his fists into his face and chest.
It was a wild night of debauchery, full of club whores dancing naked on pool tables, lines of coke snorted off tits and asses. One chick was blowing dicks in the men’s bathroom, and Tug had to go in and break that gig up.
By the end of the night, the men who bet on the losing fighter paid up. I walked in on Squatch fucking some redhead up against the wall in the back room. His pants were bunched up around his boots as he pounded into her.
“Bust your nut and get the fuck out of here, Squatch” I barked at him.
“Yeah, Prez. Not much longer!” he howled as I shut the door, shaking my head.
Before dawn, I rode to the trailer remembering the first time I saw Izzy at Durango’s, my little dark-haired brat with the smart-ass mouth. With her chin held high as she told me that the bar and money belonged to the club, but not her—and how her sweet ass looked in those cut-off shorts. I laid in her bed, smelling her scent all over the room and on the sheets, and closed my eyes and fell asleep.
The phone next to the bed rang, and I was still asleep reaching out and grabbing it. “Yeah.”
“Wake up, Stryker. It’s Cullen. You should go clear out Durango’s. I have a package for you.”
I opened my eyes. “What kind of package?”
“It’s wearing Sinister Creed colors.”
“Bring it over in one hour.”
When I rode back to Durango’s, it was littered with bodies everywhere, sleeping on the bar, in chairs, on pool tables. Rubik was passed out on one, his arm wrapped around two naked chicks.
I cleared everyone out, except my officers. Cullen, as always, came through by hand delivering the package an hour later. The name on his patch read Frogger. We dragged him down into the basement, and Squatch pulled his rags off him and tossed it in a metal trash barrel, dowsed it with butane and set it on fire. Frogger was then tied to a chair with electrical wire.
The soon-to-be dead maggot cried like a fucking baby. “They made me fuck the retarded bitch!”
I pounded my fists into his face, leaving my knuckles bloody and a bit raw, but it felt good. Then Rubik took his turn, his knuckles just as bloody and raw as mine. He pounded into his face, and finished off by gouging one of his eyes out. Frogger let out a high-pitched scream, then pissed and shit himself.
Rubik followed me up the stairs, leaving the bloody pulp with Bandit and Squatch. I shut the door, which helped muffle the screams as Bandit used a pair of plyers to yank out all his teeth. Squatch made the screaming come to an end when he put three bullets in Frogger’s head.
Moments later, Squatch appeared from the doorway of the basement with blood spatter caked in his scruffy beard. Bandit’s hands were covered, too, and he rubbed his fingers down his face, leaving bloody streak marks.
Tug stood behind the bar and set out some glasses, pouring us all shots of piss-whiskey, the cheapest we had. Sometimes, the cheapest whiskey went down better after killing a man.
I downed my shot and looked at Squatch. “Who did you give the job of cleaning up and burying the mess?”
Squatch downed his shot. “The prospect. Told him to get his fuckin’ ass back here in a few hours.”
We only had one prospect up for a vote soon, the same prospect I jacked up after he tried to fuck with Izzy when he caught her stealing the club’s money. “Said he was going to bang that blonde club whore at the Pink Cabana Motel. The one your ol’ lady decked out that night.” Squatch chuckled shaking his head. “Man, I love fuckin’ catfights. Gives me a hard-on.”
I rolled my neck and shoulders, feeling the rage building. I clenched the shot glass so hard it shattered into pieces in my fist.
Rubik took the whiskey bottle from Tug and poured himself and Bandit a shot. “That prospect won’t make it. We’re gonna have to recruit and start all over again.”
“I’ll go fetch him, Prez.” Squatch slid his empty shot glass across to the bar.
But a blur of blonde hair stumbled in and collided right into me. It was Venus. Her perfectly
teased-out hair looked more like a tangled mess, and black mascara streaked down her cheeks
She sobbed, blubbering. “They took him! They’re going to kill him!”
I grabbed her by the arms shaking her. “Who?”
Her eyes went wide, her pupils dilated with shock. “Tac! Your prospect! I talked him into meeting me at the Pink Cabana! I thought they were just going to rough him up!”
Syko. A sudden sharp pain stabbed my chest, and a chill ran down my spine. The prospect was already dead and buried in a shallow grave somewhere, and Syko was on his way to the cabin.
Venus’s mouth dropped open when my hand shot out, wrapping around her throat and squeezed. She clawed at my forearm gasping for breath. Rubik was there and snapped his fingers in front of my eyes. “You can break her neck later, brother. We’ll get to the cabin before Syko does.”
20
Izzy
“Rook, go find the retarded bitch,” Syko barked at the man who followed him inside the cabin—the man with no teeth that raped Marie.
I charged at the toothless man, clawing my nails down the side of his face. “Don’t you touch her, you piece of shit!”
Rook bellowed and backhanded me across the face. I fell back, landing hard on the wood floor as he stepped over me and walked to Marie’s bedroom.
Syko snickered, twisting his fist into my hair and pulling me up off the floor. “Bitch, I’m going to love shoving my dick up your ass before I cut your fucking throat!”
“You’re a dead man!” I shouted, spitting in his face.
He snarled and shoved me against the wall, gripping my throat, cutting off air to my lungs. I clawed at his hands and his face as he snarled, baring his teeth like a rabid animal.
Rook pushed Marie’s bedroom door open. Then there was the loud bang of a gun going off. The bullet struck Rook in the chest. He staggered back and collapsed on the floor, his eyes staring up at nothing.
My head was swimming, but as Syko was distracted, I raised my leg, kneeing hard in the balls.
His hands left my throat as he bent over, grabbing his crotch. Marie appeared from the doorway of her bedroom, holding the gun with both hands and aimed it at Syko. “How did Stryker tell us, Sis? Squeeze the trigger?”
Syko charged at her and Marie squeezed, the bullet piercing his crotch. He screamed as he went down, his knees buckling and landing on the floor. She pulled the trigger again, and his forehead exploded open, gushing blood, brain, and pieces of skull.
Marie lowered the gun and dropped it. She wrapped her arms around her pregnant belly. I saw blood on the front of her nightgown. “My baby!”
I screamed as Marie collapsed into my arms.
The loud thunder of motorcycle pipes was followed by Stryker and Rubik in the doorway. Rubik lifted Marie into his arms and carried her out of the cabin. Stryker pulled me into his chest and held me tight. I clung to him as I screamed and sobbed.
“Shh. It’s okay, Izzy. I got you,” he whispered into my hair—then everything went black.
“Wake up, doll.”
I opened my eyes. Everything around me was in a fog. An older man, a stranger, with long straggly brown hair mixed with gray. Blue eyes. He smiled.
We were in the cabin. I was cradled on Stryker’s lap on the couch. He looked down at me as he smiled, but his eyes were sad. “There’s my little ass kicker.” He nodded to the older man. “This is my brother, Grunt. He’s good at mending cuts and bruises.”
I looked around to see Bandit and Ajax were there too. The dead bodies of Syko and Rook were gone, only pools of blood remained on the wood floor.
Then I remembered Marie—the blood on her nightgown. “Marie! Where is she?”
“Rubik is driving her to the hospital in town right now.”
There was no possible way Rubik could have ridden Marie on his bike to the hospital. “But how?”
“Syko and Rook stole a van. It was parked out front when we showed up. Rubik drove Marie there. Looks like she’s in labor.”
I climbed off Stryker’s lap and staggered feeling nauseous and dizzy. “I need to be there!”
I handed the car keys to Stryker, and he drove me to the hospital. We found Rubik alone, looking so out of place in the waiting room, like a giant lion in a cage, pacing back and forth. He had pulled right up front of the hospital in the stolen van and carried Marie into the emergency room.
Dr. Grant was the doctor delivering Marie’s baby, and he came to the waiting room to tell me about her progress. He seemed a bit intimidated by the big, scary-looking bikers as his eyes darted between Rubik and Stryker towering over him. The baby was early and in a breached position, and Dr. Grant was going to perform a cesarean to deliver the baby.
I choked back tears. “Can I go see her?”
He smiled, touching my shoulder. “Not yet. She’s sedated. Don’t worry, Ms. Hawkins. We’ll take good care of her and the baby.”
Stryker lit a cigarette with his Zippo lighter as I stood beside him, swaying side to side, my nerves frazzled with worry.
“Can you light me one too?” I asked him.
He lit another cigarette and handed it to me. I inhaled, and he chuckled when I coughed and gagged as I blew out my first drag.
Two hours later, Rubik and Stryker stood beside me as we stared through a glass window at the little newborn babies, swaddled in blue or pink, squealing, crying, or sleeping like little angels.
“They’re all so damn small,” Rubik mumbled, looking a bit dumbfounded. “Which one is Marie’s?”
I laughed pointing at the tiny newborn swaddled in pink, sleeping peacefully among the squealing and crying babies. “That’s her right there. Sleeping through all that noise.”
I walked into Marie’s room two hours later. She looked tired but smiled when I hugged her tight. “My little sister is a mother!”
She giggled. “Yes, I am, Izzy. And isn’t she just perfect?”
“Yes, she is, Marie. I knew she would be.”
My brave sister, like Taarna the Taarakian warrior maiden, slew the monsters that ravaged her and delivered a beautiful baby girl named Hope, all in one day.
Epilogue
Stryker
1 Month Later
While Marie was in the hospital giving birth, the cabin was cleaned of any trace of blood. Bandit and Ajax dug shallow graves and buried Syko and Rook’s body deep in the woods, miles away. The front door and broken window were replaced a few days later like nothing had ever happened.
Now, there were only four members left of Sinister Creed MC. They showed up at Durango’s a week later, turned over their rags, and Squatch tossed them into a fire and burned them to ashes. I didn’t see them as a threat since RamRod and Syko along with the other two, who raped Marie, were dead.
They were told to leave the state in the next twenty-four hours, and to never come back or else they’d be taking a dirt nap beside their President and VP. They scattered like dogs with their tails tucked between their legs. The Berzerkers took over their meth trade and their sleazy prostitution ring.
Izzy fixed up the extra room at the cabin as a baby nursery, buying all kinds of things in pink colors. Marie came home with her baby the following week. They belonged here at my cabin, so I sold Izzy’s trailer back to the property owners of the trailer park. My brothers helped Izzy pack their things in a truck and moved it all to the cabin.
I was wide awake before the sun came up. Izzy was sleeping. Her soft, naked body snuggled up beside me. I took my time and made love to her all night long. Afterward, when I closed my eyes, I dreamed of Kage and the last time I saw him alive.
“I found a sweet woman who actually loves a bad guy like me. And now, she’s having my baby. I’ve never been afraid to fight or kill. But I’m scared to fucking death about being a father.”
“You’re vulnerable now, brother. Our enemies will see this as a weakness. They’ll all come for us.”
Women were too much of a liability and even a burden at times. And loving
a woman made a man open and vulnerable to his enemies. But Izzy brought me back to life, and she was more important to me than breathing.
Later that afternoon, I stood beside Rubik at Kage and Sadie’s gravesite. “Izzy did a good job choosing these marble headstones and having them engraved.”
“Yeah, she did. Should have done this a long time ago.” Rubik coughed and cleared his throat. “So, what’s it like having a cabin full of females?”
“It’s good, even though I still have to set Izzy straight when she gets mouthy. Then I fuck her good, and she purrs like a kitten. Marie likes it here too. And her baby is growing like a weed.”
“That’s good.”
My eyes moved from Kage’s headstone to Rubik. “Are you ready to sit to my right at the table again, brother?”
Rubik squeezed his eyes shut. “Still got shit all jumbled up in my head. Maybe it’ll never go away. Not sure if I’m ready yet.”
“Losing Kage and Sadie changed us both. But, I’m not Kage. I’m not stepping down as Prez. I’m a bad man, but for some fucking reason, a lucky one too. I love Izzy. Someday, another club will try and move in on my club’s territory. But I’ll never let that happen as long as I’m still breathing. I will kill any man or woman who tries to take what belongs to me.”
I reached my hand out to him. “Being a Berzerker is our fate, it’s in our blood. Wear the VP patch again, and ride beside me, Rubik.”
He grasped it. “Yes, Stryker. Let’s stay alive and ride hardcore, my Berzerker brother.”
THE END
Struck in the Crossfire (BERZERKERS MC Book 1) Page 8