Tank’s Redemption
By Michelle Woods
Copyright©2014, Michelle Woods
This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. All Rights Reserved
Cover Photo
Copyright©2014, Shutterstock/ 65160559/ Donskaya Olga
All Rights Reserved
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Other books
The Aurora
Prologue
In the year 2075, the world was well on its way to being disease free, with the portents of also being a technologically advanced society. Only, Mother Nature had another plan, when the government discovered that the world would lose more than half its land mass to the ocean, they built the wall to keep it out.
Built to protect the rich and the privileged from the fallout of the catastrophic natural disaster that was likely destroying half the world, the city behind the wall was to be an elite society. The world outside the wall on the other hand, was left to the lawless. As the years passed, the city behind the wall created a class system that was only fair to those born in the upper districts. The Hillies, an elite class according to them, ruled the lower Slum class with fear of the being forced into the lawless world outside of the wall. Only the world outside had reset itself. It was no longer lawless, those who lived outside the city had created their own set of rules, ones that were made and enforced by outlaw bikers, who weren’t about to let anyone change the world they now ruled.
Chapter 1
Annie Calder kicked the tire, yelping in pain. “Ow, ow, ow…Shit.”
That had been a stupid thing to do, she thought. Now, she wasn’t just stranded. She was stranded, with a broken foot. She hopped up and down for a few minutes till the pain subsided, then walked it off. She was so pissed right now, at herself and at that stupid van. Why, why, why had she allowed her mother to talk her into this?
“Just one more job.” She’d said “It will be easy.” She’d said. Yeah right, that was just a crock of shit. And she’d bought it hook, line and sinker.
She could not believe that this piece of crap, she thought, glaring at the van, had broken down on her. Could it do it in the town she had passed through about two hours ago? Nooo, it had waited until she was in the middle of nowhere.
Stupid freaking van! Why had she let her mother talk her into this, she’d had a plan. She continued her inner tirade, glaring at the van, which smoked.
Why the hell hadn’t she stuck to the plan? Walk in, tell her mother she quit, walk out. Simple right? Nope, instead she’d allowed her mother to guilt her into doing this one last job. Everything had seem easy and straight forward, until yesterday. She’d been on the road three days with no trouble, then yesterday her cell phone broke, and today the van decided to die on her nearly two hundred miles from her destination.
She growled curses at the van, pissed that she had allowed her mother to convince her to do this job. Annie had even left six days early just to get this job over with because then she was free. Only now she was on the side of the road, stranded in the middle of nowhere, without a freaking cell phone. Her life never got any easier, it was one bad day after another. Deciding that she needed to walk to the nearest town, she sighed.
She’d seen a sign not even two miles ago that had said it was the turn off leading to a town called Devils Falls. Her friend, Katie from the raceway in Millrun, lived in Devils Falls. Katie was actually one of the few people who knew about her mother’s business. Annie was sure that her friend would help her if she didn’t pass out in this heat trying to get to her.
Katie had found out by accident four years ago about her mother’s business. She’d taken it well and hadn’t seemed to care who Annie’s mother was. Katie had been sixteen when she’d started racing at Millrun. Annie had been eighteen, and she’d already been addicted to racing by then. She’d met Katie, who’d won the race against her, which had never happened before. They’d talked and somehow become friends.
Annie had even been invited to her wedding in a few weeks, and had made plans to go. It was part of the reason she’d left early to get this job out of the way, and find somewhere to live before she attended the wedding. She knew that Katie would help her, if she managed to get there without dying from how out of shape she was.
She reached inside the driver’s side of the van getting her purse. She looked down at her too wide hips and her giant thighs encased in black slacks with dismay. This was going to be hell, she thought. She really needed to stop saying she was going to lose weight and actually do it. Moving around the van she opened the back door climbing inside to seal the vault. The van looked like any other on the surface, but it had secrets, like Annie did. She reached the panel beside the back doors and placed her thumb on the thumb scanner hidden under the counter. It beeped letting her know that it was secured. Now, only her thumb print could open it.
Getting out, Annie secured the lock on the doors after grabbing the two water bottles she’d grabbed at the store two hours ago. It was a damned good thing she’d bought them too, otherwise she’d likely have never made it anywhere in this heat.
Damn, it’s freaking hot out here, she thought, looking up at the sun. Almost blinding herself, she was the queen of good ideas today wasn’t she, she asked herself. Then she began walking back towards the road sign she’d passed that had said it led to the turn off to Devils Falls. Hoping it wasn’t twenty miles, or some other crazy amount down that road too.
She was twenty five, and she should really not still be doing shit like this job. What the heck had she been thinking? She hadn’t been, that was the only explanation. Next time, she was sticking to the plan.
Having walked for what seemed like forever in the hot sun, she looked back to find that she’d only gone about two hundred yards. Groaning in dismay, she took out the water. She drank a large swig, then wiped her sweaty brow. This was such a horrid day. Not as bad as that one two years ago when she’d been kidnapped by the biker gang though. Nope, now that had really been a shitty day. She wasn’t completely sure that her mother would have even bothered to pay her ransom if it hadn’t been for the codes to the warehouse that she’d memorized. Not that her mother was a bad mother, she wasn’t.
She just wasn’t as maternal as most normal mothers were. Her mother loved her sure, but she also loved the business she’d built from nothing so much more. Her mother wasn’t really around much when Annie had been growing up, and her father had been nothing more than a one night stand. Her mother had met him in a bar, and pow she was pregnant with Annie. Annie had been raised by the men her mother trusted. Her ‘boys’. They were her older brothers, she supposed.
Annie knew that her mother wasn’t the stay at home and nurture kind nope, she was the shoot you and ask questions later type. She didn’t need a man to complete her, she just needed her wild life and she was happy. Not Annie though, Annie wanted to find a stable life, somewhere she could put down roots. She was tired of living from a suit case moving from town to town in a modified sle
eper van. She just wanted a little cabin in the woods, and a garden. She’d always wanted a garden, she thought wiping her brow again. Dang, she was going to smell ripe by the time she got to Devils Falls, she thought in dismay. She was sweating like a pig. Ha, she was as big as one. She was a size sixteen most of the time, eighteen sometimes if she was bloated.
She just wished that she’d gone on that diet she’d said she was going to. Of course, if she kept walking in this heat she may melt anyway. Sighing, she wondered if she’d pass out before she made it to Devils Falls. That sign in the distance seemed to be moving further away not closer.
Jake “Tank” Hadley had been having a shitty day. It had started with Duck smacking his head, again. That rat bastard was always doing that shit, and if he wasn’t sure that the man was crazy he would have decked him by now. It had only gotten worse since Bone had become so distracted with Molly. Not that he could blame the man, Molly was hot. Although, he was starting to think that Bone was getting a sick pleasure from watching the show.
Hoping to repair the bad start to his day, he’d gone out to meet with one of his contacts. Only the man he was meeting had never shown. This was normally Tiny’s bag of tricks, but lately the man had been opting to stay home. Tank couldn’t blame the man for that with a woman like Racheal in his bed. Not that Tiny wouldn’t put the club first if it was important, but this was just a bit of Intel they were kinda interested in. Not Intel that the needed.
Tank had tried calling his contact an hour ago and gotten no answer. He’d waited at the bar now for an extra two hours, hoping the man would show. He was pretty sure that the man was likely dead. Not that he really cared, the man was an asshole, but he’d was good at getting the information the club needed. Tank was just pissed that he’d sat in this damned bar all fucking day. He had a million things to do, and sitting here wasn’t getting any of it done. It was frustrating to know that today was wasted because some dumb ass couldn’t stay alive.
“Hey, Tank, want ‘nother beer?” Zeke, the bar keep, asked.
“Nah, I’m out of here.” Tank barked, getting up and heading outside.
He knew why he was in a bad mood, Doc had convinced him last week to stop smoking. It was not going well. On days like today it was making him fucking nuts. He felt like he was crawling out of his own skin. Fuck. Why the hell had he let the man talk him into this dumb idea again?
Wait, oh yeah. It was because Doc didn’t have the drugs to treat lung cancer. Shit, maybe he should just ride to the damned city and get some, it would be easier than quitting he was sure. As he climbed onto the Harley, he decided, he was hungry. He wanted something besides the peanuts he’d been eating at the bar, so he headed over to the diner that was a little over a mile away.
He was so fucking tired, and he missed having Bone with him on runs like this one. Bone was more likely to stick around Devils Falls now that he had Molly. Again, not that Tank blamed him. If he had Molly, he’d stick around too. It was hard for Tank, though. He’d been searching for the right woman for too many years to count, and those two buffoons hadn’t even been looking. Now, he was pretty sure that she wasn’t even out there. He was thirty four, and he still hadn’t found her. He loved being a part of the MC, but they didn’t keep him warm at night.
Well, the sweet butts did, but he didn’t want long term with any of those girls. Shared pussy had never been his thing. He was definitely not into that, he had a problem with sharing. When a woman was his, he wanted to keep her to himself.
He was not sure how the hell Torch did it with Ida. Of course, Ida hadn’t been with many men in the club, but Tank wasn’t sure he could have handled his old lady having been with any man in the club before him. They were his brothers and that should make any woman they’d slept with off limits, unless she was a sweetbutt. Sweetbutt’s weren’t for relationships. Although, most of them knew this, a few sometimes got ideas. Tiny had that problem with that bitch, Tessa. She’d caused a bit of trouble with Racheal, Tiny’s old lady about two years ago. He was damned glad he’d only fucked the girl once, she was a crazy bitch.
He entered the diner, sitting down near the window to keep an eye on his bike. He didn’t fucking trust the people in this town. It was on the edge of their territory, and sometimes people here got stupid.
He really needed to get laid, holding out for ‘the one’ was making him cranky as fuck. Maybe when he got back this afternoon, he would find a cute sweetbutt to ride his pogo stick. He leaned back in the booth waiting for the waitress to come and take his order. Fuck, maybe he needed to ride out of town after that fuck because he was tired and the shit going on was getting deep. He needed a fucking break.
He ordered a burger and a milk shake. It didn’t take him long to eat and as he stood throwing some credits on the table, a woman approached him. She was cute, a red head with nice tits. He watched her come closer, then she whispered as she went by.
“Meet me out back.” Then she rushed by, exiting the diner.
Tank debated, should he take the woman up on her offer, or wait till he got back to Devils Falls. He wasn’t sure that she wasn’t setting him up, but he decided to take a chance. It wouldn’t be the first time some chick had just wanted bragging rights about sleeping with a Red Devil. He might as well chance it. He walked out heading to the alley behind the diner, his hand resting on his gun, just in case. He saw the woman in the corner of the building looking around. Fuck, she must be married or something. He really hated fucking some poor shmucks woman.
As he neared, he was surprised when she demanded, “Were you followed?”
“Um…no. I don’t really like screwing around with married women, so if that’s why you’re acting like a basket case, let’s just forget this.” Tank told the woman who just looked at him. Her brow furrowed, and she looked confused. Great, she was stupid as well. Damn, this day was so far in the shitter there was no saving it. He was about to tell her he wasn’t interested when she growled.
“What! That’s not why I wanted to bring you back here. I don’t want to screw you, you’re a fucking monstrosity.” That was just fucking mean, he thought, watching her red hair coming out of her ponytail when she shook her head vigorously. “I have information.” She gulped.
Great, this should be good, he thought, making a motion for her to spit it out. “Don’t have all day, lady.” He barked, again wanting a cigarette.
“Fine, you’d think you’d be more respectful,” The woman muttered under her breath before saying, “The Jackal’s are planning to raid a shipment of arms coming through here in nine days. They’ve been talking about it for weeks, and they want to use the guns on you and your gang on another raid they’ve got planned.” The red head, licked her lips still looking around like a crazy person. Great, just fucking great.
“Uh-huh…and this shipment is carrying what exactly?” Tank asked, on the off chance that this story had any meat to it. Though, he doubted it.
“I don’t know. I heard them say it’s a shipment from…,”She paused here and then whispered. “Looney Louie, so it’s dangerous shit.”
Just fucking great. She was crazy. Who the fuck was Looney Louie? “Uh-huh, that so. And who’s Looney Louie?” He asked, with a raised brow.
“Shh-hh,” She hissed, looking around again frantically. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who Louie is. I thought you were a Red Devil?”
“I am,” Tank said, wishing that this day was over. It had been a shit storm from the minute he woke up. “Look, I gotta get back to Devils Falls. If that’s all you wanted to tell me then I better go.” He didn’t want to make the crazy bitch mad so he politely nodded. He turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm.
“Wait, I’m telling you that this shipment could be dangerous. Those Jackal’s deserve to get their asses handed to them. They killed my husband in front of me two weeks ago, trying to find out when this shipment was coming through. You have to stop them!” She was clinging like a limpet. Fuck, why did he always find the crazy ones? He th
ought, trying to extract his arm from her tight grip.
“Okay, we’ll look into it. When are they supposed to be raiding it?” He asked, needing to get away from her.
“In a little over a week. It will be on a truck, and they’re wanting to raid it at night, here. They didn’t want you guys don’t find out.” She said, still watching their surroundings. “If you see a short one with a tattoo on his face of a spider. Make his death painful. Wait, ten minutes then leave so nobody thinks we were talking.” She hissed, then ran out of the alley.
Yeah right, Tank thought, walking out of the alley. He got on his bike and headed home. Still pissed off that this had been such a shitty day.
Annie finally reached the sign for the turn off to Devils Falls. Staring up at the evil sign, panting, nearly keeling over from the heat, she wanted to cry. Four freaking miles! Damn, this sucked. It was four miles to Devils Falls. This day really sucked, she thought. She hated that she was so out of shape that a four mile walk made her want to cry. Well, she better get to it, it wasn’t like they were going to bring Devils Falls to her. Sighing, she began walking again.
It wasn’t five minutes later that she heard the loud roar of a motor headed her way. She turned seeing the bike roaring towards her, then past her. She turned watching it, damn that was rude. Asshole, he hadn’t even stopped. But then he swung the bike around, and was headed her way again. He roared to a stop a few feet in front of her.
He got off the bike, shocking her. He was freaking huge. Almost like a mountain. He walked towards her. Damn, he was a hot mountain, she thought, looking at the sexy beast walking towards her. There was a God, and she loved Annie, after all.
Tank had flown by a van about five minutes ago, and then he’d flown by a woman walking towards town. He’d turned around, Mae would be disappointed if he didn’t offer a lady a ride. He really hoped she wasn’t as crazy as the last woman he’d talked to today.
Tank's Redemption: Red Devils M.C. (Red Devils MC Book 4) Page 1