Chief

by Debra Kayn

  He grabbed hold of Skidd's wrist and put the pistol in his hand. Then, he raised Skidd's arm and forced him to put the pistol to his own head.

  Stepping closer, Chief got in Skidd's face. "The only thing you inherited was your mother's cowardliness."

  Chief stepped back with his empty hands in the air. Off to the side, he knew Jett had his pistol aimed at Skidd. He didn't have to look. He didn't have to ask. He didn't doubt that his son would protect him because that's the loyalty in which he raised his sons.

  "You have two choices." Chief pulled out a book of matches and tore one match off, striking it against the abrasive cover. "Slow or fast."

  He tossed the lit match toward Skid. The gasoline soaked into Skidd's boots instantly caught on fire.

  Skidd stomped his boots against the concrete floor, but the fire continued to lick the bottom of his jeans. Chief could almost smell the fear coming off Skidd roll through the room. He walked over to Jett and stood beside his son, watching the punishment for betraying Brikken.

  Chief crossed his arms and widened his stance. "The only way Brikken will survive is if there is loyalty from the members. One weak member and our lives will forever be changed. We owe it to the club to lead them, son."

  It took less than three minutes.

  Skidd stopped trying to put out the flames and stood still. Chief crossed his arms and watched as Skidd looked forward and calmed. Only a betrayer would take the cowards way out of this life.

  Skidd raised the pistol to his mouth and pulled the trigger. The shot echoed in the garage a moment before Skidd's body tumbled.

  Jett put his weapon away. Chief laid his hand on his son's shoulder. "We protect the family. It could've been Olin we buried today."

  "Is it true?" Jett looked at his father. "Was he Rollo's son?"

  "Yes," said Chief.

  "How can you be sure?"

  "Because Skidd wouldn't have gone to the depth of his betrayal unless he believed there was a bigger prize at the end." He looked his son in the eyes. "Something to remember, as you have two brothers. As the oldest, make sure they don't wander from the family."

  His oldest son nodded. He would get used to handing out punishments and watching his back against those who threatened Brikken. Someday, Jett would stand with his future son, and teach him the same lesson.

  Chief stepped over to the wall, removed the fire extinguisher, and walked over to the deceased ex-Brikken member. Putting out the fire, he turned to Jett and ordered him to get a team of six, including Thorn—who needed to experience the backend of Brikken, to take Skidd off the property and bury him.

  He walked outside and excused the rest of the members. With business taken care of for the day, he walked around the corner of the garage and headed toward the creek. He took his phone out of his back pocket and called Keeffe.

  His vice president answered on the first ring. "Chief?"

  "Give me a half hour and then tell Johanna to walk to the creek to find me." He disconnected the call and put his phone back in his pocket.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chief stood at the bank of the creek. Johanna slowed to a walk over the uneven ground, catching her breath. Going by the activity in the clubhouse and Keeffe giving her permission to go outside alone to look for Chief, she suspected he'd taken care of the problem with Skidd.

  Fearful that he'd be arrested and forced to leave her again, she tried to console herself that he stood in front of her. Later, after Olin recovered and Nene's death wasn't giving her nightmares, she would try and figure out why her distress of losing him impacted her more than someone losing their life.

  She walked through the tall grass, and when she was within ten feet of him, Chief put his hand behind his back, reaching for her. He always knew when she was near without looking.

  She hurried the rest of the way and slipped her fingers into his hand. Side by side, she looked at him, trying to figure out what was going on and what happened with Skidd. What she needed to do to make sure nobody found out what went on today and how she could keep Chief in her life forever.

  He gazed into the water. She brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles. She learned long ago that when he wanted to talk, he would. If he wanted silence, he refused to talk.

  She'd take either side of him. Looking where he stared, she waited.

  A maple leaf fell from the tree limb overhanging the creek. The orange and maroon colors fluttered freely in the air. The rolling water gently caught the leaf, not damaging the fragile state.

  She watched the foliage float downstream, protected from the rocks, the sticks, and the force of the water. Peace came to her. How many times had Chief been the cushion for her to fall on?

  "I will never leave you," said Chief, breaking his silence. "Remember that."

  She turned her gaze to him. "I remember everything."

  He closed his eyes an extra beat and inhaled deeply. She stepped closer and leaned against his arm. The bits of information he'd made her remember over the years were part of a bigger picture that she accepted. As if he understood giving too much of himself would scare her away and weaken him.

  "On the other side of the creek, Rollo built a house for my mom." Chief exhaled heavily. "It was back when they first met. He was spending all his time building Brikken that he wanted her closer to him. If you stand in the meeting room and gaze out the window, you'll look right at this spot here."

  Absorbed in the story, she held her breath, lulled in by the thick emotions coming through his voice.

  "Rollo loved my mother more than life." He glanced at Johanna. "Almost as much as I love you."

  She warmed. He'd grown up in a loving household with parents he respected.

  "Rollo believed in the old philosophy...." He cleared his throat. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

  She looked away from him and repeated the idea, unsure if she personally agreed. Her preference would be to stay away from anyone she didn't like.

  "In the end, he was wrong and inviting that friend of his enemy into Brikken failed to protect my mother." He squatted down. "Get on my back, bug."

  She latched her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He walked across the creek with her on his back, ignoring the water getting in his boots, and stepped onto the bank bringing her to the other side. She slid off his back and grabbed his hand.

  Chief led her fifty feet away from the water and stopped. She peered down at the burnt remains of the house she hadn't been able to view from the other side of the creek. The broken concrete and aged wood charred from a fire lay underneath her sneakers.

  He picked up a nail and rolled it between his fingers. "The friend of my father's enemy decided it was important to tell my mother that Rollo hadn't just happened into the diner where my mother worked one day, sweeping her off her feet, but had planned the hardships that had hit her life before meeting him. He wanted my mother to believe Rollo forced her to accept my father's help—which started their love affair."

  "He was only helping her?" she asked.

  He shook his head. "No, my father had an ulterior motive, the friend was right. Rollo had her parents killed, and then a month later had her evicted from her apartment prior to her meeting him at the diner. He'd spotted her several times without her knowledge and became fixated on her. He made sure that she had no options but to accept his help when she found herself living in her car and no family to help her."

  "That's not right," she whispered. "He was a murderer."

  "Does it matter? They loved each other."

  She frowned. "She had a right to know. Maybe her feelings for him would've been different if she had known the truth."

  His gaze softened. "There are always two truths, bug."

  She pursed her lips. It was hard to agree because she heard the story second-hand.

  "Learning the truth got her killed." He walked a few paces away and turned around, facing her. "Without that knowledge, Rollo and my mother would be alive today, loving each
other, believing they had the best thing in life."

  She stepped toward him. "How did your mother die?"

  "The friend who took it upon himself to betray my father tried to get my mother to leave Rollo. He claimed he'd fallen in love with her and she deserved better than my father. She'd already forgiven Rollo for his crimes and told the friend to leave her alone. Rejected, the friend came back later that night while my mom was sleeping and set the house on fire. She was alone. Rollo had ridden out with the club that night, and when he came home in the early hours of the morning, he found out the fire had taken his wife."

  "Oh, my God," she whispered. "How old were you?"

  "Twenty-five. I was on the ride with Rollo when it happened. Back then, we didn't have as many Brikken members. When we rode, we all went together."

  Her heart ached for him. Since she'd known him, he always had respect for his parents and raised his kids to honor Rollo.

  "Losing his wife devastated Rollo. Mom had been his life. He got reckless, taking chances where normally he wouldn't. He rode out looking for the disloyal Brikken member and for weeks I didn't know if my father was alive or dead. In the end, he came back without paying retribution, partied too hard, fucked too much, and wasn't ready for when mom's killer shot Rollo in the back." Chief squatted and put his elbows on his thighs. "I won't make the same mistake."

  She pressed her hand to her chest, taken back by the hardness in his voice. Then, she looked behind her, and across the creek, afraid someone would overhear him.

  "I wouldn't believe someone else if they tried to convince me not to love you," she whispered.

  "That's why I brought you out here where we could talk privately. What happened today with Skidd made it apparent that I not only have to protect you, but you must know the truth so that nobody can ever weaken what we have together." He straightened.

  She shook her head. "Nothing could ever make me stop loving you."

  "Come to me." He waited until she stood in front of him. "Over the years, you've asked about your mother."

  Her body came to attention, and she braced herself on his stomach. He'd never willingly talked about her past before.

  "She's gone, bug. It happened not long after I brought you to Brikken." He cupped her face. "The reason why she came and went in your life was that she was hooked on heroin."

  She waited for the shocking news to hit her and she felt nothing. A small part of her always knew something was different with her mom. She'd known other children had mom's that were always home and picked them up at school. Knowing she had passed away also made sense. There was nothing on the internet showing her mom existed.

  "That's why I always woke up in someone else's room and wouldn't see her for days." She stared at his beard. "I barely remember what she looked like or what she sounded like."

  Chief stroked her face with his thumbs. She tried to remember the night Chief took her to Brikken. Something had woken her up, and she'd found herself in a strange place, alone and scared. She'd hid in the closet when she heard men's voices.

  She looked up at Chief. "Is that why she never came for me, because she'd died?"

  "Let it go, bug. It was a long time ago, and there's nothing you can do to change your past." Chief lowered his voice. "You weren't living a good life. A safe life."

  "I probably don't have grandparents, or they would've stepped in and taken care of me," she mumbled, numb from hearing someone else tell her what she'd always suspected.

  An addict. No wonder she was afraid of her mom leaving and not coming back. Even at a young age, a child would be afraid of a mother who acted differently or was never available.

  The only person she'd ever been able to rely on was Chief. He'd taken her insecurities onto himself and planted trust, security, love in her.

  Her vision blurred and she squeezed her eyes shut, opening them to Chief's concerned gaze. "Thank you for loving me," she whispered.

  He captured her mouth. Hard, solid, and possessive. He washed away the gloom that settled over her in the retelling of his parents' life together and her past.

  He pulled back, then kissed her again. "Been a long fucking day."

  "It's not even noon." She smoothed his beard down his chest and then remembered what started their morning. "Did you talk to Skidd?"

  He grabbed her hand and led her to the creek. "Yeah."

  "Is it true that he was your half-brother?"

  He stopped at the edge of the water. "I'll never know."

  She tilted her head. "Why not?"

  "He's dead."

  Her head snapped back, and her chest seized. "You killed him?"

  "No." He hooked the back of her neck and brought her forward. "Like his mother, he took his own life."

  Her mouth opened and another senseless death stole her words. She would never be able to understand the level of desperation a person would have to hit to harm themselves with something so permanent.

  Struck speechless, she shook her head. "I'm sorry. He was a member of Brikken for so long and with what Nene claimed—"

  "I will protect my family. You, Jett, Olin, Thorn. My men." He gazed across the creek at the clubhouse. "Rollo's legacy. My legacy. I won't repeat the same mistakes as my father."

  She slipped her hand underneath his vest and rubbed his back. He'd done more in his life than most people and took more responsibilities onto himself than was expected.

  Johanna stared wide-eyed back at the landscape of where Rollo built Jaqueline a home. A fresh breeze and the comfort of fallen leaves masked the old, burnt timber, crumbling concrete, and fallen chimney. The beautiful area once scarred by an enemy could not kill the love that was grown here.

  It was time for Brikken to grow.

  It was time for Chief to sit back in the comfort of his family and enjoy the riches he'd achieved.

  Johanna turned to him and kissed him softly.

  She remembered.

  Epilogue

  Five years later —

  Chief braced his arm on the windowsill in the meeting room of the clubhouse, listening to Keeffe inform him about the updates from the two motorcycle clubs they used in their arrangement to get the chopped motorcycles to their destination.

  "Komoon's ready for the call." Keeffe, leaning back in a chair at the table, unlatched his hands from behind his head. "Everything is a go on our end."

  "Good." He gazed out the window. "Let's bring Shore and Cash in on the ride. Put D-Con in charge of them."

  Keeffe whistled low. "It's been a long time since we brought in anyone new on the rides."

  "Shore and Cash swore into Brikken almost five years ago. It's time they proved themselves to the club." He turned away from the window. "Where's Jett?"

  "Upstairs." Keeffe stood from the table. "Want me to get him?"

  "I'll go up." He walked across the room. "I need to get out of here early today."

  "Are you coming back to the party?" asked Keeffe.

  "Not tonight." He walked down the hallway and took the stairs.

  Johanna wanted him home because she had something she needed to talk to him about. He already knew what she had on her mind. But, he let her have her moment and kept his mouth shut.

  Upstairs, he stalked to the end of the hallway and banged on the door to Jett's room, opening it before his son could answer. Inside, Jett banged a woman on the bed. Chief tilted his head. The woman underneath his son must be new. He'd never seen her around the clubhouse before.

  "Johanna wants you and your brothers to come to the house for dinner tomorrow before we ride out. Make sure you're there, son." He gazed at the woman's breasts wobbling as Jett continued to thrust into her.

  "Got it, Chief." Jett panted, lowering his mouth to the jiggling breast.

  Dedication. That's what he liked to see in his boys. They knew how to get the job done.

  He shook his head in amusement and shut the door. Jett was almost his age when he'd found a pretty little eight-year-old girl who needed more out of life th
an hiding in a closet and brought her to Brikken. He strolled back downstairs. Jett would find what he wanted in life soon, and he couldn't wait to see the hell he'd go through to make sure he achieved everything.

  His son would learn the harder he fought for what he wanted, the sweeter the love.

  Downstairs in the clubhouse, he stopped and searched the room, finding Thorn at the pool table holding a stick in his hand, eyeing one of the women taking her shot at the game. He strolled over and leaned against the back of the couch and waited until his youngest son finished his turn.

  Thorn came over and stood beside him. "What's up, Chief?"

  "You're on patrol tonight, and I know you'll be sleeping tomorrow, but make sure you get up and join us for dinner. Johanna wants you there," he said.

  "Before our ride?" Thorn lowered his voice. "What's going on?"

  "She wants to feed us." He cocked his brow. "So, we'll eat and make her happy."

  Thorn grinned. "I never turn down a free meal. What time?"

  "Six o'clock or so."

  "I'll be there."

  He slapped his hand against Thorn's strong back. "Ride safe tonight."

  "Yep." Thorn walked to the pool table.

  He found Olin standing at the bar with Freddy and Cutter and worked his way over to his middle son. Cutter and Freddy spotted him and lifted their chins.

  "Men." He put his arm around his son's shoulders and squeezed his hand. "Dinner, tomorrow at our house. Johanna wants you there."

  "I'll be there." Olin turned toward him when Chief let go of him. "Hang on a second."

  Olin retrieved his wallet out of his back pocket and handed him a wad of cash. "For rent."

  He dipped his chin and pocketed the money. "See you tomorrow."

  After Olin had recovered from the stabbing, he'd approached him and asked if he could rent the house that Nene had lived in. While he'd questioned his son's decision to live away from the clubhouse when he had no woman in his life, he'd only received the excuse that he needed the quiet. That excuse was good enough for him. Almost dying had a way of changing a man.