“There are two bedrooms and a bath on each side of the house,” Ghost explained, pointing toward both doorways. “So pick a room, guys.”
Skylar walked over to one side and checked out one of the bedrooms. It faced the Gulf with its own wall of windows. A large queen bed, with a nightstand on either side, faced the gorgeous view.
Shades walked in behind her and tossed their bags on the bed. Then he approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her as she stood at the window admiring the view. The sand was sugar white, and the ocean was deep blue.
“It’s so beautiful.”
“We can open a window tonight and listen to the surf roll in with the tide all night.”
“I love this place.”
“You’ve been here two minutes.”
“I don’t care. I love it. I never want to leave.”
Shades kissed her neck. “Come on, babe.”
He took her hand and led her back to the main living area. The door to the deck stood open, and the ocean breeze beckoned them outside. They joined the others out on the deck.
“My God, I could throw a rock and hit the surf, the water is so close,” Skylar exclaimed.
Shades smiled at her.
Ghost pulled a cooler out and loaded it with beer. Then he broke a bag of ice open and dumped it over it.
“You guys hit the quick-rip?” Shades asked, watching Ghost.
“Nah, I wanted to get a few pounds of shrimp to boil so we stopped at the grocery store.”
“The three of you in a grocery store? I can only imagine.” Shades chuckled.
“It was all going fine till Blood almost got us kicked out of there,” Ghost replied with a grin aimed at Blood.
Blood gave his best ‘what are you looking at me for’ look and replied, “What, her kid was running all over the store like a little terror and I’m the bad guy for tripping him?”
Sandman snorted.
Ghost hit him with a look. “You were no better. ‘Lady, can’t you count to ten?’”
Sandman grinned. “Hey, we were in the express lane, and she had thirty-seven items. It was a fair question.”
Shades shook his head with a smile and moved behind Skylar, wrapping his arms around her. He whispered in her ear, “Go get that bikini on.”
She twisted her head to look up at him. “Are you going in with me?”
He winked at her. “Gotta talk to the guys a minute.”
She moved off to do as he’d asked.
Shades watched her go as Ghost handed him a cold one.
“Did I hear she’s puttin’ a bikini on? Is that what that detour was about?” Ghost asked with a grin.
Shades twisted the bottle top off and leaned back against the railing as Ghost did the same. “Hell, yeah. I’m not gonna pass up a chance to see her in a bikini, am I? Do I look like a stupid man to you?”
Ghost grinned. “Guess not.”
Shades looked over at the men seated at the glass patio table. They looked out of place at a beach house, sitting on the deck in their boots and leather, kicked back smoking cigarettes and drinking beer.
“I made a call earlier. Boys from the Gulf Chapter are gonna meet up with us later tonight.”
“Where?” Blood asked.
“Place on the Florida-Alabama state line.”
Blood nodded and looked down at his smoke. “Heard you’ve had some trouble down here.”
Shades stared at him until Blood’s eyes lifted to meet his, then he nodded. “That’s what I’m here to find out.”
“What exactly are you lookin’ for?”
Shades shrugged. “Whatever seems off. Shit’s not right with this chapter. I’m gonna get to the bottom of it. Tonight.”
“You leavin’ Skylar here at the house?”
“Yeah.”
“What time’s this meet?”
“Ten.”
Just then Skylar appeared in the doorway and caught Shades’ eye. His gaze moved over her. Hot damn, but she was gorgeous. She was in a hot-pink string bikini, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders to fall at her waist.
The guys turned to look.
“Come here, gorgeous.” Shades held his hand out to her, and she moved toward him. His hand went to the bare curve of her waist and he pulled her close. His head dipped in for a kiss. He looked down at her and grinned, his hand sliding to her hip, his thumb brushing up and down along her skin. Then he pulled her into his arms and glanced up at his brothers.
“She’s fuckin’ mine, boys. All mine.”
“Show off!” Ghost said.
Shades grinned.
“You coming?” she asked, looking up at him.
He looked over her head at his brothers, who were all smart enough to keep silent at her double entendre, even though he knew there were a lot of catcalls on the tip of their tongues. He noticed their eyes moving over her bare back, down over her ass and long legs.
“Eyes on your own paper.”
“What? You’re the one that paraded her out here in that,” Ghost replied.
He looked down at her smiling face. “You go on in. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She looked toward the water. “You think there are any sharks around?”
“Baby, the only sharks you need to worry about are up on this deck.”
She smiled and slugged him in the gut.
“Just stay close to shore.” He kissed her, and she skipped down the stairs and into the sand. He turned to watch her walk across the beach toward the surf. There were beach houses to the right and left as far as the eye could see, but the beach was uncrowded, almost deserted.
He turned back and moved to go inside to change.
“You are one lucky son-of-a-bitch,” Blood said, tilting his beer up.
Shades grinned at him. “Luck had nothing to do with it.”
****
Hours later they sat around the table out on the deck eating shrimp that Ghost had boiled. Peeling the shells off and tossing them onto a platter in the center of the table, the pile rising higher and higher.
“We need more cocktail sauce,” Blood announced.
“I’ll get it,” Skylar replied, standing up. She was still in her bikini, but she had the matching pareo she’d bought tied around her hips.
“Shake what your momma gave ya, sugar,” Sandman teased.
She did a little shimmy and giggled. Then she moved into the house and found Ghost in the kitchen draining another pot of boiled shrimp. He looked up and smiled at her.
“Another batch coming right up.”
Skylar smiled back at him. “Good thing. They’re almost through the last bowl you carried out.”
“Well, this is the last of them. You need something, Hotrod?”
“More cocktail sauce.”
Ghost nodded toward the refrigerator. “I think there’s another bottle in the door.”
She opened it and found one. As she pulled it out, she noticed some bottles on one of the shelves. “Corona!”
Ghost looked over. “Those are my aunt’s. I’m sure she won’t mind. Go ahead and have one. There are probably limes in there somewhere, too.”
“Awesome.” She set the sauce and beer down and dug out a lime. Ghost slid her a small cutting board and knife. She sliced up the lime and put a wedge in her beer.
“Make me one, too, will you?” Ghost asked.
She smiled at him. “Sure.”
They carried out the shrimp and sauce and their beers and sat down with the others.
Skylar took a sip of her beer, and it caught the eye of Sandman.
“Beer with fruit. I never got that,” he commented.
“You ever tried it?” Ghost asked.
“Nope.”
Ghost passed him his beer, and he took a slug.
“Damn, that’s good.”
“Beats the hell out of that Clydesdale piss you drink,” Ghost advised with a smirk.
Sandman looked down at the bottle in his hand. “Beer with fruit, who knew.”
They all chuckled.
“Get your own.” Ghost grabbed his beer back.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
At nine o’clock they headed toward the state-line. They pulled into the crushed-seashell and gravel lot of the bar that had stood on the beachfront location for more than fifty years. They parked their bikes in a line near the side of the building.
A cool breeze was blowing in off the Gulf, and the sound of the surf crashing on the beach carried to them as they headed inside. Shades led them to the far end of the bar where they all took a barstool.
The brothers they were to meet up with had yet to arrive, but they were half an hour early, as was Shades’ plan.
The bartender headed over and dropped coasters in front of each of them as he eyed their vests, then their faces. The colors they wore may look familiar, but Shades knew their faces were all new to him.
“What’ll you boys have?” he asked.
As Ghost, Blood and Sandman surveyed the room, Shades ordered for all of them. The bartender began pulling bottles of beer from a tub of ice and popping the tops off them as he set them down in front of each man.
“We don’t want any trouble in here,” he said.
Shades looked at him. “We don’t want any trouble either.”
The bartender gave him a nod and walked away.
Ghost leaned into Sandman and nodded toward a skanky blonde. “There’s one for ya. She’s not the best lookin’ girl here, but beauty’s only a light switch away, Bro.”
Blood almost choked on a mouthful of beer.
At ten to ten, they heard the roar of pipes and could see through a window as a pack of bikes rolled in, their chrome gleaming in the moonlight. A few moments later, in trooped seven of their brothers.
Shades straightened from leaning against the bar and moved forward to greet them.
He embraced one after another, as did Ghost, Blood and Sandman.
Shades knew Case, Coop and Deez, but he’d had to be introduced to the other five. There was Moon, the Chapter President. Rocker, their VP, and Brick and Pipe.
He could see by looking at Moon and Rocker that they were both hopped up on something. Coke, maybe. Methamphetamines, more likely.
They moved off to a table, and Shades’ eyes connected with Case. Case joined the five of them at the bar.
“How ya been you furry bastard?” Ghost asked him.
Case stroked his three-inch long beard. “It’s purty, ain’t it?”
“A thing of beauty. What have you been up to?”
“Got my Dyna up and running finally.”
Ghost grinned. “It’s about time you put that moped back together. Come the fuck home for a weekend. We need a night out.”
Case chuckled. “Hey maybe we can grab Griz and drive 50 miles to the nearest Thai spot that’s closed.”
Ghost started laughing. “That was some night. I wanted to kill him.”
Case pulled a cigarette from his pack and put it in his mouth, then talked around it. “Remember we were so hungry by then that we ended up eating five dollar pizza?”
“It was fucking good, too.”
“By then gas station hotdogs would have tasted good.”
Sandman looked over. “Hey, I like gas station hotdogs.”
Blood swiveled his head toward him. “You would. Don’t you have a blonde to go bother?”
Sandman looked over at her. “I’m lettin’ her ferment a while.”
“Yeah, that’ll help.”
“Your Shovel-head still leaking oil everywhere you park it?” Case asked Ghost.
“It’s not leaking oil. It’s marking its territory.”
Case chuckled. “Right.”
The bartender took his order and brought him a beer. His cell went off, and he looked down at the screen. “Mutha-fucking hell. 12 missed calls. Women. If I don’t answer the fucking phone she immediately thinks I’m cheating. It’s like, Bitch, I’m riding!”
“No shit,” Sandman agreed with a laugh. “Testify.”
“Am I right?” Case asked him.
“You’re right.”
“Thank you.”
“But you do manage to keep her happy and around.”
Case shrugged. “I got a sweet ass.”
Shades looked over his shoulder at the table in the corner where the other Gulf Chapter members had taken up residence, and then back at Case. “This the usual with them?”
“Yup. Been binging for two days now.”
“You?”
“Me? Shit no. I steer clear of that crap. I’m high enough on life, can’t you tell?”
A grin pulled at the corner of Shades’ mouth, but he nodded toward the table. “It becoming a problem?”
“Hey, he’s my Prez. What do you want me to say here?”
“We’re here to help, Case. I’m gonna be straight with you. This is between you and me, understood?” Shades said in a low hushed voice.
Case nodded.
“Future of your whole chapter is on the line.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly. You don’t want the Nomads showin’ up to clean house do you? So come clean with me. How bad is this shit?”
“Bad. And getting worse. The binges are starting to become more frequent and lasting longer every time.”
“That where the profits are going? Cause I know your business isn’t down.”
Case nodded. “Yeah, most likely.”
“So you’ve got a President and VP strung out half the time. How the hell does anything get done down here?”
“The rest of us are all trying to hold it together. It’s been rough.”
“Case, get your ass over here,” Rocker yelled across the room.
Case moved off to join the brothers from his chapter.
Ghost and Shades exchanged a look.
“It’s fucked up worse than Butcher thought,” Ghost observed, leaning his elbows on the bar.
“Yeah, I don’t think he had any idea things were this bad,” Shades replied.
Blood and Sandman kept silent, quietly smoking and staring at a sign above the bar that read, Alabama: where the weak are killed and eaten.
Blood grinned. So prophetic.
Shades nursed his beer, his elbows on the bar, and thought about his options. He couldn’t really give Moon any orders, not that it would help. If this drug problem was as bad as he suspected, nothing short of pulling his patch would fix the problems in this chapter. That wasn’t something he had the authority to do. The state authority fell to Butcher, so that was a call he was going to have to make.
A few minutes later an older grey haired man went behind the bar and to the register. He ran a tally report of the day’s business so far. His eyes strayed to Shades and the rest of his crew, his gaze flicking over all of them, taking note of their colors.
“You Jerry, the owner?” Shades caught his attention. Butcher had filled him in with some information.
“Yeah.” His look said, ‘what of it’. He strolled over to him.
“I was sent down here to take a…shall we say, closer look at our Gulf Chapter. Clean up any problems we may have.”
“And?”
“And I want to know how this relationship is working out for you.”
“It’s not.”
Well, that was abrupt, Shades thought. “Tell me why.”
“Look, most of your boys mind their own business and don’t cause trouble.”
“Most?”
Jerry nodded, his eyes going to the group at the table.
Shades turned his head, following his gaze. Then he turned back. “Let me guess. The two in the corner?”
Jerry nodded again. “Mostly when those two are high on something.”
Shades nodded, taking it in.
“Death Heads are worse.”
Shades frowned. “The Death Heads MC has been coming round?”
“Yeah. Stick around. They’
ll probably be in here tonight. Was a time they wouldn’t dare. Now they’re running off all my business. I was led to believe that being in good with the Evil Dead was going to keep those assholes off my back.”
Shades reached his hand under his cut, pulled out the envelope Butcher had given him and slid it across the bar. “For your troubles.” Then he lifted his chin toward the table. “That will be taken care of. You got my word.”
“Thanks. Appreciate it.” Jerry slid the envelope in his pocket and walked off.
“That was diplomatic,” Blood commented, sipping on his beer.
“We alienate the locals, we become persona non grata around here. That’s not happening.”
“Makes sense.”
“We need to move the bikes to the back.”
“What for?”
“The Death Heads have been showing up here.” Shades shrugged. “They do tonight, we’ll have the element of surprise. They’ll walk in here blind.”
“Doesn’t hardly seem like a fair fight, does it?” Sandman asked.
Blood grinned. “If you find yourself in a fair fight your tactics suck.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
The rumble of pipes could be heard from outside. Brick, who’d been posted at the window, turned his head and announced, “Six Death Heads rollin’ in.”
Shades, Ghost, Blood, and Sandman all knocked back their drinks and rose from their barstools.
“Show time, boys,” Shades announced. The other seven Gulf Chapter members, joined them in heading toward the entrance, slowly pulling on black leather gloves as they went.
Shades put his arm out, holding them back from going out the door. “Let ‘em dismount first. We don’t want to give ‘em a chance to pull back out.”
Blood dipped his head, peering through the blinds and past the neon bar sign in the front window. “Least not until we beat their asses first.”
The men all watched through the window, as the men dismounted. Five headed toward the door. One hung back making a call on his cell.
“Now,” Moon ordered.
SHADES: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series Book 3) Page 25