“I don’t know. Thought I’d ask the person in charge of this job. Maybe some of them creative Callaghan brain cells of yours kick in.”
Destiny’s mind ran wild for a few moments as she paced back and forth. She glanced out the window and saw an old blue Cavalier that had long since seen its last miles parked behind the house.
“You think that runs?” Destiny asked.
“Only one way to find out,” Fabio replied.
****
Three hours later, Destiny, Fabio, Charlie, and Jay, who had been called in to help with clean up, walked back into the clubhouse to give their report and grab a drink and some grub.
“Well?” Alec asked Destiny as she sat down across from him at a small table.
“It’s taken care of.”
“Details please?”
“Things went a little overboard with Hesser. He’s alive but will need some recovery time. We had Jay pick him up in the truck and drop him off at his pop’s old lady’s doorstep—I’m sure he got the picture. Speaking of pictures, memory card has been destroyed. He didn’t appear to have anything to back it up on and no prints. There was a drugged-up couple present but I don’t think they’re going to be a problem,” Destiny told him.
“Anything else?”
“He had a girl in his bed. A year or so older than me. Dead. Looked like a fresh overdose. There was an old crappy car out back. We managed to get it running and parked it off of the highway with her at the wheel. Someone should find her in a few hours. We left enough needles and heroin in the car so that the cops don’t have to work too hard to find their killer.”
“You took care of things today,” Alec said with a slight nod that Destiny recognized as approval.
“Things got messy with Hesser. I told you that,” Destiny admitted once more.
“So you went a little overboard. He’s alive; that’s what matters. You’ve been working so hard trying to prove you’re a big enough badass for this club, it’s about time you snapped. Just glad it wasn’t at one of us,” her uncle said, then nodded to the bar. “The boys called in for Chinese and prospect’s learning to make Stella’s fruity mixed drinks. You can drink the rejects.”
Destiny stood and leaned forward, kissing the man on top of his head. “Love ya, Alec,” she said.
“Love you too, kid.”
8
Destiny pulled out on the main road as she left the store. Kristy and Stella had trusted its running to the prospects for the next few hours as everyone else headed to the clubhouse to welcome in the riders who would be in the area the next few days for the ride.
Officially the ride was Saturday but with everyone coming in from all across the country, most would ride in today and stay till Sunday when they would head home. Destiny was late to meet the first arrivals. Time management was one of her faults.
She met a cop car on the highway and checked her speed. It was in check. Yet the car still made a U-turn and flipped on its lights and sirens.
Shit.
She pulled to the side of the road and killed the engine on her bike. She put down the kickstand and unclipped her helmet. This could only be one person.
“Well, Dallas, in a hurry?”
“I wasn’t speeding, Trent. You really have no reason to pull me over.”
“License and insurance card.”
Destiny pulled a billfold from her cut and pulled out her papers and ID, passing them to Trent wordlessly.
“You know Jonathan Hesser was brought into the ER last night. Someone beat the hell out of him with a pair of brass knuckles, it looked like. Several cracked ribs, wounds to the head area, concussion, broken nose. The works. You know anything about that?”
“Why would I?”
Trent raised an eyebrow and ran his hand over the Bastards symbol she had painted on the gas tank of her bike.
“Isn’t that profiling, Trent? We’re a civil MC. Made up of some rough and tumble boys perhaps, but we are just bike enthusiasts.”
“Save your breath, Dallas.”
“You have no proof,” Destiny shot back. “I’d suggest you talk to Hesser. Maybe he knows who did it.”
“Hesser isn’t going to talk. We both know that. But I’d say those brass knuckles in your saddle bags have long since been cleaned. No traces of blood whatsoever.” He caught her hand. She had on fingerless black leather gloves that covered her knuckles.
“It’s been a long time, Trent. Don’t go thinking you know things because of how they used to be,” Destiny said as she yanked her hand back.
“I know how some things still are. This club still comes first for you. You still prefer Fabio to any other man’s company. And if you were a strong enough fighter to do that kind of damage years ago, I have no doubt you could have torn up Hesser now.” Trent handed her back her papers. “Have a good day, Ms. Callaghan.”
Destiny tucked them into her pocket. “Oh and I suggest the next time you come into Marissa’s store, you buy something.”
Trent climbed into the Jeep and started the motor and pulled away from the curb first. Destiny let him go a few blocks before she followed suit.
“You’re late,” Fabio said as she parked her bike outside the clubhouse. “The first of the charters will be rolling in any minute now.”
“I got sidetracked.”
“How sidetracked?”
“Trent thought it necessary to inform me Hesser was in the hospital.”
“No mention of the girl?”
“None.”
“Don’t worry about Trent. He’s blowing smoke and trying to use you as leverage for his career,” Fabio said as she climbed off her bike and headed toward where the rest of the club had congregated.
“I’m not worried about him. I just don’t want his presence to make the club think I’m sleeping with the enemy…” She trailed off, remembering Trent’s comment about Fabio. Apparently Trent still held a grudge. They had broken up the weekend of the Austin bike show. Although Destiny never told Trent she had been with anyone, it was clear two months later when he thought they were experiencing their first time together.
Trent never asked who had taken his girlfriend’s virginity and Destiny never offered a name. But Trent seemed to have had a pretty good idea who it was. Seemed he still held a bitter feeling at the thought.
The sound of thunder started to close in.
“They’re here,” Fabio said excitedly as he clamped his hands down on her shoulders.
Fort Worth and Santa Fe pulled in within moments of each other. Patch members and prospects at the handle bars and old ladies on the back. Hugs were used to say hello and laughter filled the air.
Destiny went first to her own chapter. Although it had only been a week since she last sat at church, it seemed like much longer. No sooner than everyone began to settle in did four more bikes appear through the gate.
“Nomads,” someone yelled and Destiny’s heart hung mid beat in hopefulness.
She pushed through the crowd to see who had shown up but was heartbroken. Her brother’s deep red bike wasn’t among those that had shown up. A Nomad she hardly knew, along with two others formerly from California and one big burly man.
“Scottie!” Destiny said and broke into a dead run for him. No sooner than he was off his bike had she thrown herself in his arms.
“Easy there, sweetie. Always good to get a welcome like this from such a pretty little lady.” The man towered above her and his accent was the same softness it had been all her life. Scottie wasn’t his real name but he was their Scott and had been a Sweetwater who had followed her father to the Nomads after her mother died.
“I’ve missed you,” Destiny said as she peeled herself off of him.
“Same here, darling.”
“Is this all the Nomads? Or…” Destiny didn’t want to ask it. Damn Houston if he didn’t come.
“I’m afraid this was all that intended on coming,” Scottie delivered the bad news. “Houston’s fine though. Just tied up over in Louisiana. Pretty Cajun
girl, I think.”
“I don’t give a damn what pussy he’s getting. He should be here. Home,” Destiny said, angry and hurt that her brother had no intention of coming to the run. He still had yet to answer his phone.
“I know, sweets. But he’s fine. I saw him just two weeks ago at church. He has his VP with him. He will be fine. Just being a stubborn ass Callaghan is all,” Scottie assured her as he turned to lead her back toward the rest of the club.
Destiny allowed herself to pout for just a moment longer before letting excitement fill her once more.
****
Four hours later their group had doubled, including two more Bastard chapters and a chapter of Hellions, a brother club to the Bastards. Most of the out of town boys were staying in a motel two blocks from the clubhouse and others would sleep where they fell. Unless Destiny went home to Kristy’s, there was little chance of her getting much sleep tonight. The party would go on into the wee hours of the morning and the ride started at eleven. Registration at the park at ten.
Vat, Charlie, and Jay took a group over the Devil’s Stomping Ground to admire their hard working employees. Among those that went was a Hellion that Destiny was more than happy to see leave. Very rarely in her line of work and in the group she called family did she find a guy who truly made her uncomfortable. But she could feel his eyes watching her. He stared her down and Destiny had half a mind to ask him what the hell his problem was but she wasn’t going to ruin their night.
By three o’clock in the morning, the party was starting to wind down and Destiny was starting to feel the effects of the Jim Beam shots and the Jack and cola she had been mixing all night. She should have stuck to beer but hell, when was the last time she did something really smart?
“I’m calling it a night,” she told Fabio, who was sitting next to her bullshitting with the current VP of Santa Fe.
“Alright,” Fabio said with slurred speech. He had taken a few shots more than she had and she held her liquor better than he could ever dream.
She grinned. “You better not ride tonight,” she said, kissing him on the forehead and shaking the VP’s hand.
She stepped over a few sleeping bodies and made her way to her apartment and unlocked the door. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the members of her club, although they sometimes had some suspicious looking women tag along, but she wanted to make sure she had an empty bed tonight.
She kicked off her boots and removed her guns and knives. She carefully placed her cut across the back of an awaiting chair and peeled off her clothes till she stood in nothing but her panties. She pulled an old T-shirt on and crawled into bed.
No sooner had she lain down than someone was knocking on her door.
“What?” she asked.
“Unlock your door,” Fabio replied from the other side.
She crawled back out of bed with a grumble and threw the lock on the door and opened it.
“What?”
“Can I crash with you?”
“You know how bad this will look?” she asked him. Fabio shrugged. He was drunk and he didn’t care.
“You said I shouldn’t ride and I don’t fit on that couch.”
“You hog the covers and I’m going to kill you in your sleep,” she warned him seriously.
****
Morning dawned way too soon for Destiny. She woke up to the beep of her alarm and turned it off with one hand and snuggled back down with the warm body lying next to her.
Two arms pulled her close and she slowly opened her eyes.
“Good mornin’ darlin’,” a thick with sleep Texas accent whispered.
“Pretend you’re not Fabio for five more minutes and just lie here like a big comfy body pillow,” Destiny said as she closed her eyes and enjoyed being close to someone. Even if that someone was sorta like family, and sorta an ex, sorta.
“Your wish is my command,” Fabio obliged, pulling her closer. Noise of people up and about came from the other side of the apartment walls. “Ever wish we had nice normal lives where we could wake up like this every morning?”
“With forty bikers in our place?” Destiny mumbled.
“No. Just quietly in the arms of someone.”
“People do, do it. Alec and Kristy have normal lives most the time, same as your parents and mine.”
“That’s not always the case though. Dad and Alec are gone a lot. Both the MC and the Devil Grounds are time consuming business that don’t leave a lot of room for families.”
“And what? You’re getting all sentimental now and wanting out?” Destiny asked as she attempted to roll away from Fabio but he didn’t let her go and she didn’t find the energy to fight him.
“No, just wondering. I was wondering more how you felt about it.”
“Family life’s not really for me. You know that.”
“I never said it was. But surely you thought about it. Before you left. Then when you thought you’d never ride again or patch Bastard.”
“It crossed my mind. But the good Lord knew better. That’s why I’m on this road and Trent’s on his now. No permanent ties. I didn’t really think about it much when I was home. My brothers don’t have families. Alec and Kristy didn’t have one of their own. You grew up in the threshold of the MC being the only child. Few of us have stable home lives. I’d never make a good mother though.”
“But what about wife?”
“You’re asking a lot of questions this morning, Fabio.”
“But I’m serious.”
“I guess it’s crossed my mind. But hell, the only person I ever had a relationship with was Trent. Everyone else was just passing through. What man is okay with his wife working security detail at the local strip club and riding Harleys, being a patch member to a club that can call her out at any time, day or night…” Destiny trailed off for a moment, thinking back to the incident with Hesser. “Someone who acts too much like a man. Fighting, hurting.”
“Ever think of someone in the club?”
Destiny pulled herself from Fabio’s grip and out from under the covers. “Little bit awkward of a question considering where we are lying, don’t you think?”
“It was just a question, Double D, don’t get all bent out of shape,” Fabio told her, putting his hands up in defeat.
“I have rules. One of those rules is I don’t date anyone inside this club. Relationships like that can go south and a club has to be tightknit. You have to know you can trust the other to have your back completely. You don’t have affairs with someone in your military unit and you don’t hook up with anyone inside your club. It’s just not how it works,” Destiny told him. “Now get up and get cleaned up. We got to be at the park in an hour.”
9
Destiny rode up with a few others from the crew to the park where the bike ride was to take off from. She parked and a few of the Fort Worth members walked up to where she was lighting up a smoke.
“Alec wants us two charters to meet. Over under pavilion one before this thing gets started. Says he has some side business for Fort Worth. Any ideas?” a Mexican brother they called Leto asked her.
“They got some shit going on with the Apache. Security details. I don’t know what they’re protecting on these runs but I know the Warriors have wanted to branch out. Could be some bad shit, could be none of our damn business though too,” Destiny told them.
“You know Ray N.’s gonna want your opinion. You’re between both chapters right now. You might still vote Fort Worth but you got your foot in the door here. Either way you’re involved,” Leto replied.
“Yeah I know.” Destiny took another drag of her cigarette.
“What’s the deal with your patch here anyhow?” Leto asked.
“The Callaghan family seems to have pissed off Drew. Apparently our loyalty and leadership is in question. Besides, I’m a girl, and that seems to be his only two problems with it,” Destiny said, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t really know the brother myself. I know he’s patched Sweetwate
r so he’s at the heart of the club….” Leto trailed off.
“I had my own suspicions over the years. He’s been with the home charter a long time. But he was a cop. I just hope he remembers what he is now,” Destiny told Leto and the other boys. No one had ever found any reason to doubt Drew’s loyalty to this club. His former badge might give pause to other members but he had always seemed faithful and trustworthy as far as Destiny looked at it.
But then again, she also figured he’d let her patch. She’d been wrong once…
But the cops weren’t posing a problem and no one was hovering around waiting for them to screw up just once. It seemed as if Drew was as deeply committed to being a brother as she was. She wanted this patch bad but not enough to try and make it look like he turned.
No, that was for the low-lives. She could make Sweetwater all on her own without marking Drew out for a kill or stirring up problems. The Bastards had plenty of those on good days as it was.
Destiny got registered for the run and no sooner had she finished signing in did Ray N. and Alec call the charters.
Destiny stood within hearing distance and close enough to part of the group but off by herself. Her cut said Fort Worth but her heart said Sweetwater. She was too in-between to even know where to stand.
“Brothers. Alec here has approached us with a business proposition with the Sweetwater chapter and with the Apache Warriors,” Ray N. started and nodded to Alec.
“The leaders of the Warriors have enlisted our aid for a pretty penny. They need help running security details on shipments they have going between their charters all over Texas and her sister states. It could enlist a lot of business for other charters. However, the Fort Worth are the first that will be brought in besides us,” Alec started.
“What are we protecting?” Leto asked.
“That I am not in confidence enough to discuss,” Alec told him with a reassuring smile. Like a politician, he was out looking for votes. Votes he need to expand the Warrior and Bastard relationship. “I have given Ray N. all the information I have available to me for you to help make your decision and vote for how you feel your chapter will most likely benefit. But I just want to remind you that this relationship with the Warriors can be a long term deal. And more than double your current income.”
The Devils Bastards MC: Destiny Dallas Callaghan Page 7