GUNNER: Lords of Carnage MC

by Daphne Loveling

  Reluctantly, I watch Gunner pull away on his bike and go up the sidewalk to join Lucy. She practically pulls me into the house, and inside of five minutes, I’m sitting at her kitchen table with a sweetened iced tea in front of me. Her dog, a black and white pit bull named Zappa, is sitting expectantly at my feet, like he’s waiting for a treat.

  “So, honey, how ya holdin’ up?” Lucy asks, leaning back in her chair with a look of sympathy in her eyes. “Gunner told me about your sister. You must be pretty worried.”

  “I am,” I admit. Tears sting my eyes, but I force them back down. Beside me, Zappa whimpers in sympathy. I reach down absently and pat him on the head.

  “Gunner and the Lords will bring her back,” Lucy says with certainty. “You can bank on that. They don’t stop until they get what they came for. You’ll see.”

  “I know.” I give her a tremulous smile. “Thank you for taking me into your home. Gunner’s right — it would have been hard to wait for them to come back all by myself.”

  “No problem at all, honey.” Lucy reaches over and pats my hand. “It’ll give me a chance to get to know the woman he’s playing hero for.”

  “He’s been really kind to me.” Even though I’m not crying, my nose is threatening to run. I sniff once, and Lucy immediately gets up and comes back with a box of Kleenex for me, which I accept gratefully. “I don’t know why he’s doing all this, but I’m so thankful. I never would have found Eden if it wasn’t for him.”

  “How’d you meet my son?” Lucy asks.

  I tell her about going to the Smiling Skull that first night hoping to find Lucy. When I tell her about being drugged by Gonzalo, and Gunner saving me from whatever horrible plans Gonzalo had for me, she starts to smirk. I keep going, explaining how Gunner stayed overnight at the hotel to make sure I was okay, and then how he eventually invited me to come back to his place and use his guest room until I could figure out how to locate my sister. By the time I get done telling her everything, Lucy is shaking her head and actually laughing.

  “What?” I ask in confusion.

  “Good lord,” she crows. “Honey, I should have known it the second he called to tell me he needed me to watch over some woman while he went on a run.”

  “Should have known what?” I can’t figure out whether to be angry or not. It feels almost like she’s making fun of me, but that’s not quite it.

  “Should have known you’d gone and roped my boy.” When she stops laughing, she takes a deep breath and lets it out with a smile and a sigh. “He’s in love with you. That’s why he’s playing superman.”

  “No, he’s not,” I protest, even as my heart leaps. “He just… I don’t know. I think he just felt sorry for me.”

  “That’s horse shit,” she snorts. “You mean to tell me the two of you have been sleeping in separate bedrooms this whole time like a nun and a priest?”

  “Well…” I stare down fixedly at my glass, frozen. Of course Lucy is right about that, but how do I admit it to Gunner’s mother — even if she already knows? Mortified, I risk a glance back up at her face, and see that she’s cocking her head at me, a triumphant look on her face.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “But I mean…” I swallow, and decide to just say it. “Sex isn’t love, after all.”

  “Of course not,” she agrees. “But do you honestly think Gunner did all of this just so he could get you in the sack?”

  No. I know better than that. It’s obvious to me that Gunner can get sex whenever he wants. My mind involuntarily turns to Heather, and I resist the urge to grimace in disgust… and jealousy.

  “Exactly,” Lucy nods, like she can read my mind. “So, what, do you need me to paint a picture for you? My boy’s fallen for you. You think he’d do this for any of the bimbos he normally sleeps with?”

  I don’t know whether to be horrified by Lucy’s bluntness, or to be relieved by it. But one thing is certain: she’s not about to let me just change the subject. “I don’t know,” I shrug, my face contorting into a frustrated frown. “I don’t know what’s going on at all, really. I mean…” I shake my head helplessly. “I was trying to find out from Gonzalo where my sister was, and then all of a sudden this biker was punching him, and then he was telling me I was roofied, and then…” I spread my hands wide. “Here I am. In the middle of all this. Sitting in his mom’s kitchen. Waiting for him to save my sister.”

  “And when he does — when he comes back with her — what then?”

  “I don’t know. Help Eden. Get her off drugs, if she’s on them.”

  “And what about you and Gunner?” Lucy prompts.

  I think back to what Gunner said to me just before he brought me here to Lucy’s. Just before he left to go find my sister.

  “We’ll deal with it once we get Eden out. We’ll deal with it. Okay? Promise me.”

  We.

  Maybe Lucy is right. Maybe she sees something I’ve been afraid to look for.

  “I guess,” I say slowly, “We’ll find out if we’re a ‘we’ or not.”

  As non-maternal as Lucy seems, after lunch she surprises the hell out of me by suggesting we bake cookies while we wait for Gunner to come back.

  “I make a hell of an oatmeal chocolate chip,” she tells me as she reaches into a cupboard for the sugar. “Besides, it’s too early to start drinking.”

  She puts me to work sifting the dry ingredients while she mixes the wet. While we do, she talks more about Gunner, at first answering questions I haven’t dared to ask.

  “It’s always just been the two of us,” she says as she folds in the oatmeal. “Gunner’s dad” — she shrugs — “he’s around, somewhere. But the two of us were never together. So it’s always just been Gunner and me. And the club, eventually. They became his other family, of course. They made a man out of him.”

  “How did he get involved with the club?”

  “Smiley.” Lucy stirs the batter and motions me toward a low cupboard, where she keeps the cookie sheets. “He’s kinda Gunner’s stepdad, even though we never got married.”

  I remember Gunner mentioning Smiley’s name at some point, but not exactly why. “Does Smiley live here, too?” I ask.

  Lucy gives a short bark of laughter. “No. Smiley and me, we realized we’re better off keeping our own separate residences. The two of us are too pigheaded to live together. But if I was gonna live with a man, it would be him.” Lucy cuts a glance at me. “Gunner’s not much like his father, but he’s got a lot of Smiley’s best qualities. He’s been a good influence on my boy.”

  Lucy asks me about my family back in Lynchburg. I tell her about my mom, and that Eden’s my only immediate family. Her eyes fill with sympathy, and for a moment, neither one of us speaks.

  “Well,” she says abruptly, and grabs the cookie sheets from me. “We’ll get her back, and sorted out. Don’t you worry.”

  We.

  It’s funny how much I’ve heard that word in the last few hours. After not hearing or using it for what seems like forever.

  The cookies are out of the oven and cooling when there’s a rap on the front door. Zappa, who’s been snoozing under the kitchen table, jumps up and begins barking and spinning around wildly in a circle.

  “Zappa, goddamnit!” Lucy shakes her head good-naturedly at the dog and wipes her hands on a dish towel before going to answer the door, Zappa following close on her heels. From the kitchen, I hear the rumble of a deep male voice, and Lucy’s reply. A few seconds later, she comes back in, followed by a solidly built older looking man, with a broad chest, thinning silver hair and a gray beard.

  “Alix, honey, this is Smiley,” Lucy says.

  He nods once at me, a twinkle in his eye. “Hello there, little lady. Gunner asked me to come over here to keep you two company for a while.”

  Lucy snorts. “Bullshit. He sent you over here to make sure we stayed put.”

  “That, too,” Smiley grins.

  I’m about to say hello to him when I suddenly reme
mber what Gunner told me about Smiley. “You’re the one who fixed Gunner’s leg when he got shot,” I blurt out without thinking. Then I realize there’s only one way I could have seen a wound that far up on Gunner’s thigh. And that Smiley will know that, too.

  He chuckles deep in his throat. “Yeah, that was me. Gunner told you about that, did he?” He gives me a broad wink. “How’s that scar healing up, anyway?”

  “Um.” I start to blush, but then realize that Lucy already knows I’m sleeping with her son. “Good,” I admit. “It’s not that noticeable, anymore.”

  “Well, you may as well settle in, Smiley,” Lucy tells him, affecting an eye roll but capping it off with an affectionate grin at him. “You want an oatmeal cookie?”

  Smiley gives her an eye roll of his own, and snorts as he wanders toward the living room. “Fuck a bunch of cookies. Give mine to the dog. How about a beer instead? It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

  27

  Gunner

  As a courtesy and also a heads up, Rock calls Oz and lets him know that eight Lords of Carnage are on their way into Death Devils territory. There’s likely to be some bloodshed on Oz’s turf, and he needs to be told what’s about to happen, and why.

  Right after I drop Alix off at Ma’s house, I ride back to the clubhouse and set out with Angel, Tank, and Lug Nut. Thorn, Bullet, Hawk, and Beast are already out in Red Hawk, keeping an eye on Gonzalo’s hideout from afar. Thorn phones in with periodic updates as we ride. He tells me he’s seen a couple people come and go from the address on the edge of Red Hawk. It’s a long low building that looks like it might have been a small motel once, that Gonzalo’s crew has taken over as their own. Thorn thinks there could be as many as ten or fifteen people in the building, but he can’t be sure. “Not counting any women,” he adds. “But we need to be prepared to be slightly outnumbered.”

  “No worries,” I growl into my mouthpiece. “We’ll have the element of surprise.”

  The four of us ride in formation until we get to the edge of Red Hawk, and Angel signals to us to pull over off the road at the pre-approved meeting point with Thorn and the others. I text Thorn that we’re here. A few minutes later, we hear the unmistakable sound of motorcycle engines on the approach.

  As we watch, two familiar bikes pull off the road and stop. Hawk and Beast get off and join the cluster of us, determined expressions on their faces. They’re as ready as we are to do this.

  “The destination is about three miles up,” Hawk tells us, his eyes going to each one of us in turn. “Thorn and Bullet are still in position, watching for any signs of movement. There’s a main part of the building that we’re seeing men come and go from. But there’s also eight individual rooms with their own doors that might be occupied. We haven’t seen anyone going in or out of them, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

  Angel nods. “Gunner, Hawk, Beast, and I will take the main area with me. Tank and Lug Nut, you start checking the rooms, together. Thorn and Bullet will remain in position in firing range in case anyone tries to escape. Once we’ve secured the main area, we’ll break off and check the other rooms with you. Everyone good with that?” he asks, turning to me.

  “Yeah.” I look at the others. “We’re looking specifically for this woman,” I say, holding out my phone to show them Eden’s picture. “But I’m guessing there may be others. It sounds like they may be drugged, and they could be acting erratically. So watch for sudden movements, but be careful not to shoot before you’re sure what you’re aiming at.”

  When we’re all clear on what we’re doing, we get back on the bikes and get back into road formation. Hawk leads us the rest of the way, pulling us around to a deserted parking lot less than a block away but hidden from the hideout. The pickup Thorn and Beast drove here is parked at the edge of the lot, and we pull in behind it.

  Hawk and Beast lead us through a deserted alleyway in silence. Around me, I can feel my brothers tensing, mentally preparing for what comes next. About a hundred and fifty feet on, we meet up with Thorn and Bullet, who are crouched silently behind a sagging storage shed. Thorn nods once at us, and then lifts his chin at a building across another parking lot.

  This is it.

  Just before Angel gives the signal, a movement from the buildings makes us freeze and duck back under cover. From one of the rooms, a large, burly man emerges, locking the door behind him. He climbs into an old Chevy pickup and takes off in the opposite direction from where we’re hidden.

  “Check that room first,” I mutter to Tank and Lug Nut.

  All of us look at Angel. He takes one more look toward the building, and nods at us. It’s go time.

  I crouch low and run at a fast clip toward the building. Angel, Hawk, and Beast are close behind. Hawk and Beast position themselves on either side of the front door, guns drawn. I reach down and silently try the handle, which is unlocked. I look up at Angel and he lifts his chin just slightly in understanding.

  In one motion, I wrench down the door handle and fling open the door. “Don’t fuckin’ move!” I yell as loud as I can as I burst through the doorway.

  The five men inside jump up instantly. Three of them reach for their guns. I choose one and take aim, winging his arm as he reaches behind him. He roars in surprise and pain. His pistol clatters to the floor.

  “I FUCKING SAID DON’T FUCKING MOVE!” I shout again. The others raise their hands high in the air as they realize there are four of us training guns on them. I stride over to the first man, who’s clutching at his bleeding arm, and kick his pistol toward Angel. For good measure, I clock him across the face with the butt of my gun. He screams and staggers back, falling against a card table, which collapses under him.

  Off in the distance, there’s a muted thud that sounds like someone kicking open one of the room doors. Bullet moves forward and starts searching each of the men one by one for firearms. I look with disgust at the one now lying on the floor, and turn to the others. “Where the fuck’s Gonzalo?” I demand.

  “Who the fuck’s that?” One of them spits back, but I can tell from the look on his miserable face that he’s lying.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I snarl, and fire a round into his foot. He screams in pain.

  “Jesus Christ!” a third one yells. I aim the gun straight at his head. He blanches, and looks like he’s about to shit himself.

  “Where Gonzalo?” I bark again. “You wanna be the first fatality?”

  “He’s in one of the rooms,” he manages to stammer. “He…”

  A shot rings out somewhere else in the building. “Fuck,” I rasp, instantly thinking of Eden.

  Angel glances at me. “We got these guys,” he says. “Take Thorn and Bullet and go find her.”

  I do as he says, bursting through the door and yelling for the two men to follow me. They cross the small parking lot and together we round the side of the building where the doors to the rooms are. By now, three of the rooms are open, their doors standing wide to show that Tank and Lug Nut have cleared them. I try the knob of the first one I come to, but it’s locked, so I kick it open. It’s a shitty, dingy place that reminds me of the motel Alix was staying in that first night, only about a hundred times worse. The room looks empty as far as I can tell.

  “Clear it,” I nod to Beast, and go on to the next room. This time, I don’t bother checking the lock, I just raise the heel of my boot and drive it against the thin wood close to the jamb.

  Inside, on a low-slung bed with a sagging mattress, a single figure lies prone. Her dark, stringy hair is splayed out against a flat, dirty pillow. She’s dressed in a short, revealing skirt and a tiny crop top. The sexy clothes would be almost funny on her if they weren’t so goddamn sad.

  I take a step forward, thinking at first that she’s asleep, but the girl’s eyes are wide open. She’s breathing kind of quickly, her chest rising and falling like a small animal’s.

  Though she looks almost nothing like the photo Alix gave me, I still recognize her.

&nbs
p; “Eden?” I murmur.

  The eyes flick toward me. Her pupils are like pinpoints. When she sees me, an expression of fear mixed with resignation settles across her features. She closes her eyes. Her breathing speeds up a little bit.

  I glance down at her arms, seeing what the telltale marks. “Eden? I’m not gonna hurt you,” I say in a low, reassuring voice. “I’m here to get you out of here.”

  She opens her eyes again. The expression doesn’t change. I don’t think she believes me.

  “Your sister sent me,” I continue. “Alix.”

  She frowns slightly. It looks like it’s taking her a supreme effort to make her facial muscles work. “Alix?” she repeats uncomprehendingly.

  “Yes. Alix.” I pause. “She got your phone call. She sent me to rescue you.”

  A small sigh escapes her lips. Her face muscles relax slightly. “Alix,” she says again.

  “Come on, Eden,” I croon, taking a slow step forward so I won’t scare her. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  As I move to the mattress to scoop up her small, thin form, I hear another gunshot, and then another. I don’t let myself worry about who’s doing the shooting. I have confidence in my brothers. Eden lets me help her up without complaint. She smells slightly sour, like old sweat and vinegar.

  “Where’s Alix?” she mutters, her head lolling to one side.

  “I’m taking her to you,” I promise her. “Don’t worry. Just help me out by putting one foot in front of the other, and we’ll get you there. Okay?”

  “‘Kay,” she slurs.

  I half-carry Eden out into the sunlight. Looking to the left, I see that the last door has been kicked in. Lug Nut is at the far end, and when he sees me he comes jogging toward us.

  “That her?” he asks, giving her a long look.

  I nod. “Yup.”

  “Good deal,” he says simply. “She okay?”

  “No,” I tell him, “but she will be.”

  Lug Nut looks back at the other rooms. “There’s two more girls here. All the rooms lock from the outside. Looks like they were planning to fill them up and keep the girls like slaves.” His face contorts into a mask of disgust. “We found Gonzalo with one of the other girls. He shot Tank in the shoulder, but he’ll be okay. Says he can still ride.”