BEFORE THE PATCH – book one (A Devil Call MC Book)

by Fawkes, Ana W.

  The Los Ahn guys broke apart and Nash walked through them, hands out. “Talon, we’re conducting business.”

  “Business? With the enemy?”

  “Talon…”

  “Nash,” Talon growled.

  I hurried along the railing and ran toward him. Talon turned, his gun pointed at me, but only for a second before he turned again.

  “We’re being watched,” Talon said. “Followed. I am.”

  “Talon,” I said to him. “You have to put the gun down.”

  “I can’t,” he said.

  “This is a peaceful meeting,” Nash said. “We’re working…”

  “Did you hear what I said?” Talon yelled. “I was followed. We’re under watch.”

  “Maybe it’s protection,” one of the Los Ahn guys said.

  Talon shot at the ground, an inch from the guy. He jumped back and grabbed his own weapon.

  “Next one will be through your fucking head,” Talon warned.

  “Holy shit,” I said. “Talon…”

  Nash came forward. “I’m going to have them shoot you. Stand the fuck down.”

  “Tell me what’s happening,” Talon growled. “Right now, Nash.”

  Nash gritted his teeth. “I’m trying to keep them close. Okay? I know about the drugs, the raids, the murders. I know where it’s all contained, Talon. I’m going to fix that. But I’m keeping it contained. This is how I do it. We’re talking. We’re negotiating. You want me to invite them into the clubhouse for a fucking beer?”

  I watched as Talon studied Nash. He didn’t believe Nash for a second. Fuck, neither did I. I don’t know if anything Nash ever said was the truth. It was Nash’s world and he made things up as he went along.

  Talon stood in place. The entire lot was in a deafening kind of silence.

  Nash reached out and put a hand around the barrel of Talon’s weapon. He slowly pushed it down.

  “Come on,” I said and put a hand to Talon’s shoulder.

  He then made a quick move, spinning around and somehow pushing Nash and myself away. He took a few steps back and finally put his gun away.

  “I don’t care what it is,” Talon said. “They’re fucking enemies. They’re going to set you up, Nash. And kill you. And attack us.”

  “Christ, Talon,” Nash growled.

  “Maybe we can do this later,” one of the Los Ahn said.

  With that, the entire meeting had officially fallen apart. And the look in Nash’s eyes terrified me.

  Talon was going to pay for this.

  9.

  (Talon)

  I finished a slice of a pizza and threw a ten on the counter. The old man behind the counter scooped it up and thanked me for paying. Tony was a good man, but Layne and I used to rip him off all the time. We stole pizza, drinks, cash out of the register, anything we wanted. So now I overpaid when I came for a bite, trying to make it up to him.

  Outside, Layne leaned against his ride, arms crossed, eyeing up some pretty women as they walked near the beach. It was amazing that we were so close to something that most people would kill to live near, but we didn’t care about it. It was just part of the territory.

  I had actually spent the night at Lexa’s little shit apartment because I couldn’t take the clubhouse anymore. Not with Nash and Jasmine going at it again. She had gone out and gotten mouthy with someone and she came back with a black eye and bloody nose. Nash sent out two prospects with shotguns - fucking shotguns - to take care of the situation. He then took Jasmine in the meeting room and fucked her on the table, with the door open.

  Yet outside in Brocke, we had the motel getting overrun by filth. And it was pushing into town. There were four robberies on one block. Los Ahn rode through town without an ounce of fear in their veins. Which told me that they were greasing Nash’s palms with cash to allow them to move drugs. Which we didn’t do. Devil Call MC…

  “It’s getting worse,” Layne said.

  “What kind of vote would it take?” I asked. “I mean, how would we…”

  Layne looked at me. “You need to have some big balls, man.”

  “I’ve got them.”

  “We could transfer.”

  “Seriously? Give up the cut? Move to another charter? They all have their politics and bullshit, Layne. This is home. Hell, the first woman I ever fucked was in that motel.”

  “How romantic.”

  “It kind of was,” I said. “I broke into a room and fucked her all night. But it wasn’t like it is now. People are afraid, man. I can sense it. I can feel it. Right?”

  Layne nodded. “Something’s shitty, yeah.”

  “Los Ahn,” I said, shaking my head. “They’re going to hurt us.”

  “Maybe they’ll just kill Nash.”

  “Fuck that. If someone’s going to get that pleasure…”

  I held back. Layne stared at me. It was a slippery slope to even think about it.

  Layne’s cell rang. He answered it. “Fucking hell, man. Who? Okay.”

  “Do I want to know?”

  Layne looked at me. “Nash is holding fights.”

  “Fights?”

  “Yeah. Patched in guys versus prospects.”

  I gritted my teeth. I fucking hated Nash.

  Layne and I hurried to get on the road and back to the clubhouse.

  Sure enough, we pulled into the lot and there was a circle of guys, drinking, smoking, yelling and cheering. In the center of the circle stood Ax and a prospect. The prospect looked too damn young to be involved in this life, and he was scared to death.

  I climbed up on a table and watched the fight for a few seconds.

  Ax put his hands down and walked up to the prospect. He bumped his chest into him and heckled him.

  “Hit me, pussy!”

  The prospect just kept moving. Back, to the left, back to the right.

  “I fucked your mother last night,” Ax said.

  “My mother’s dead,” the prospect said, hoping to get a rise out of Ax.

  But Ax was fucked in the head. He looked at the prospect and said, “Yeah? So what? I like ‘em stiff.”

  That’s when the prospect let out a scream and tried to attack Ax. He threw a fist and connected with Ax’s shoulder.

  “Fuck,” I said.

  Why would you fucking hit him in the shoulder?

  Ax barely moved. He then cocked a fist and with one solid punch, he sent the prospect to the ground, knocked out cold. Before everyone could attempt to cheer, Ax turned and pointed to another prospect to fight.

  Damn, I wanted to jump right in the mix of things and beat the fucking shit out of Ax. I needed to get to Nash though. I needed to crack that President wide open and find out what the hell he was doing. Was it my business? Fuck no. But it was the fate of the MC.

  Ax did the same cheap thing. Taunting the prospect and then throwing one punch and sending the guy flying back and to the ground. This wasn’t a goddamn fight. This was fucking bullying.

  “Give me one more!” Ax yelled.

  That’s when I lost it. I tore off my leather cut and tossed it to Layne. He shook his head, ready to beg me not to do this.

  I jumped from the table and pushed through the crowd.

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  Ax looked at me. “Talon. Get the fuck out of here.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “I said get the fuck out of here. I’m VP…”

  “You’re a pussy, Ax,” I said. “Prospects aren’t even trained for this. You’re a punk. With a small dick, too. That’s why you beat up prospects, isn’t it?”

  Ax laughed. “Trying to get me angry?”

  “No. I actually feel bad for you. I think you’re the one guy in this world Jasmine wouldn’t fuck. And she goes for everything. Men. Women. Everything. But it’s hard to fuck you… isn’t it? I mean, not only do you have a small cock, you have Nash’s cock stuck up your ass.”

  The crowd let out an ooohhh sound. Christ, it was like being in grade school.

 
; Ax tried to come at me as though I wasn’t fucking looking. I moved out of the way and threw a fist at the middle of his back. He went into the crowd, knocking some of the guys back. He spun and put his fists up. He nodded.

  Yeah, let’s fucking fight.

  I put my fists up and met him in the middle of the circle. He took the first swing and I jutted to the left. I threw a soft right and watched how he moved. See, that was the problem with Nash and Ax. They didn’t plan. They didn’t watch. They didn’t get it.

  Ax tried to use his muscle to get at me. Unloading jab after jab. A few I had to take to the ribs and gut. They fucking hurt, but I quickly saw how much he left himself open with each punch.

  The next time he threw a right, I turned into it. I took the rib shot and quickly turned, uppercutting with my left, connecting with his jaw. The sound was a crunching wet sound. Blood and spit sprayed as his head snapped back. Now, under different circumstances I would have let him recover and kept fighting. But I wanted to send a message, so I stayed on him.

  A left, a right, a nice hook to his left eye, and I had him on his knees. He put his hands out to me, face bloody. I grabbed Ax by the throat and just held him. I could have said something poignant. I could have choked him to death. I could have just kept beating the piss out of him.

  I let him go and backed away.

  The truth was that Ax was still the VP of Devil Call MC. I had to take my pride and step on it and walk away.

  I pushed through the crowd again, who all stood in silence. Layne held out my leather cut and I grabbed it. I put it on and went for the door.

  “Talon…”

  “No,” I said. “This shit stops now.”

  I went in the clubhouse knowing damn well there was a good chance I’d find Nash fucking Jasmine. It was a risk I had to take.

  I opened the door to the meeting room and took two steps inside and couldn't believe my eyes. Nash was there, but Jasmine wasn’t. Nash was actually alone. Just his own company. He didn’t realize I was there at first. So I stood and watched him stick a fucking straw in his nose and lean down to the table. A line of white powder disappeared into the straw and into his nose.

  Nash took a deep breath and fell back to his chair, almost giggling like a little kid.

  That’s when he saw me. His eyes wide, red, flying a mile high.

  “Talon,” he said. “What the fuck do you want?”

  “That’s why you met with Los Ahn?”

  “Keep the enemy close and happy,” he said. “It’s a business opportunity. Take a seat.”

  I wanted to pull out my gun and shoot. But I couldn’t just kill the President of Devil Call MC. That would turn Nash into a hero or martyr. That would put Ax in charge. And I’d get a bullet between the eyes.

  So I grabbed a chair and sat down. I stared at Nash. He wiped his nose and then ran a hand across the table, cleaning up the evidence and any powder he left behind.

  “What do you see for this club, Talon?”

  “Does my opinion matter?”

  “Sure. Everyone’s opinion matters.”

  “I don’t see drugs. I don’t see Los Ahn. I don’t see the town living in fear.”

  “Fear,” Nash said. “The world is shit, Talon. It’s always been shit and it always will be. I’m not going to go out there and police a thing. You want to survive? Then fucking fight.”

  “Putting prospects in danger…”

  “Fuck them,” Nash said. “I didn’t hurt anyone that wouldn’t have gotten hurt anyway.”

  I gritted my teeth. “And your habit here?”

  “What about?”

  “You’re high, Nash.”

  “Yeah. Feels good.”

  “How are you supposed to lead? Los Ahn is going to just show up one day…”

  Nash leaned back in his chair. He then reached to his left and lifted a white brick of powder and plopped it on the table. He stuck a finger into it and then licked his finger.

  “This is money,” Nash said.

  “No fucking way,” I said. “You’re not selling…”

  Nash reached down again and brought up a sawed off shotgun. He placed it on the brick and it gently rocked back and forth.

  Then he looked at me with the most intense stare I’d ever seen on him.

  “Talon, I’m going to keep it simple for you. I’m the fucking President of Devil Call MC. You want formality? You want to sit around the table and make decisions? You want to vote, and debate, and fight? Then go earn a fucking seat and a patch somewhere else. I’m finding ways to keep the club above water and aligned where it needs to be.”

  “Oh, I know you’re the President, Nash,” I said. “But for how long?”

  I stood up as Nash laughed. “Are you threatening me?”

  “No,” I said. “But someone is going to kill you.”

  Nash grabbed the shotgun. He opened the chamber and showed me a shell. He then pumped it and pointed it right at me. “Then I guess it’s good I’ve got protection. I’ve got friends. Favors. More than you’ll ever understand, Talon.”

  “That shit is going to fuck your head,” I said. “I’m saying that as a friend.”

  “Well then, friend, why don’t you get the fuck out of here? All the guys are outside blowing off some steam. Go fuck that sweet little thing you’ve been with. What’s her name? Lexa? I wouldn’t mind a run at that.”

  I made fists. I reminded myself… not to care about her.

  “Enjoy yourself, President,” I said.

  I walked to the door and Nash called for me. I looked at him. He opened the shotgun chamber and let the shell fall to the floor. He gently placed the gun on the table and stood up. “My advice? Don’t live in the dark. You’re better off dead if that’s the case.”

  I nodded and left the room.

  Fuck you, Nash, you’re better off dead…

  10.

  (Layne)

  I saw it happening before I could save Talon. He was walking with his arm around that woman - Lexa - her hand in his back pocket. I don’t know what their deal was but they fucked hard, they fucked loud, and had been spending more time at the clubhouse than usual. Talon had himself convinced that someone was watching and following both of them. I never liked to doubt him, but he was definitely more intense than ever. Maybe rightfully so since it was now wildly okay to just use drugs in the open in the clubhouse. Shots and lines were common now.

  But as Talon walked toward the door, I saw Ax push from the wall. His face was looking rough thanks to Talon’s fists.

  I started to move but was too far away. Amazing how a couple feet of distance could change so much shit in life.

  Ax rammed his pool stick into the side of Talon’s ribcage. Talon yelled and dropped to one knee. Ax then lifted the pool stick and brought it down, breaking it over Talon’s back. Lexa let out a little yelp and Ax hurried to grab her by the arm. He pulled and swung her out of the way. She went stumbling and hit the floor, sliding a few feet on her hands and knees. I rushed to Lexa and made sure she was okay. She was fine. I looked and saw Ax ready to take the broken pool stick and stab Talon with it.

  Christ, I was worried he was going to kill Talon.

  I ran and threw my shoulder into Ax, sending him tripping over Talon. He hit the floor hard, just as Talon was able to catch his breath. Talon got on his knees and turned to Ax. I hurried and grabbed Talon by the shoulders and pulled him back, keeping distance between the two.

  “I’ll fucking kill you,” Ax said.

  “Yeah, come on,” Talon said. “I fought you like a man. You pussy.”

  I pulled Talon to his feet. He turned and shoved me, sending me into a barstool. The entire room was thick with tension, everyone ready to just let go. Maybe because everyone knew that this was going to end horribly, and soon.

  I lost my cool for a second and shoved Talon back. Then the two of us went chest to chest, teeth gritted, ready to unleash on each other.

  “Yeah, get him, Layne!” Ax yelled, as he got back to
his feet. “Take the motherfucker out.”

  I looked Talon dead in the eyes. “Bro, you need to breathe. Take a second.”

  “Fuck you, man. Fuck everyone in this place.”

  I sucked in a breath and backed up. I then shot a hand out and grabbed Talon by his shirt. “Don’t push me away. You need me. You need all of this…”

  “Hit him!” Ax yelled. “Right now!”

  I pushed Talon away. He turned and made a fist, showing it to Ax. Ax winced for a second and Talon let out a laugh. A few other guys started to laugh and Ax pulled out his gun. That shut the room up pretty quick. But Talon didn’t care. He turned and walked to Lexa, making sure she was okay. He put his arm back around her and walked as he did before getting attacked. He paused for a second and looked at Ax. Being bold as ever Talon reached out and grabbed Ax by the wrist. He lifted his wrist and gun up until it was between Talon’s eyes.

  “Right there,” he said to Ax. “There’s where to do it. Because if I can still breathe and I’m still alive, I’ll keep coming for you. VP? You fucking pussy.”

  Talon and Lexa left the clubhouse.

  When the door shut it felt like the entire place let out a long sigh.

  I turned and grabbed a fresh beer.

  “Layne.”

  I saw Nash standing in the doorway to the meeting room. He motioned for me and I went inside the room. When the table was empty, the place was dark and eerie. Being called in alone usually wasn’t a good thing.

  Nash walked down to the head of the table and made fists, resting them on the table.

  “Is Talon going to make it?” he asked.

  “Make what?”

  “Make it out of this alive? He’s on the line, Layne. He’s causing problems for this club.”

  “Talon is? Did you just see Ax attack him?”

  “Talon lit up Ax’s face…”

  “Ax was bullying prospects. Knocking them out cold.”

  “Not my problem,” Nash said. “If they can’t take a punch how can we trust them with a real leather cut? A real gun?”

  I swallowed hard. “Fair enough.”

  Nash put a hand to his chest. “You want me to rip this off? You want the President’s patch? You want to hold a takeover? Send me packing?”