“Talk to you, Isaac?” Show had come up on Isaac’s other side.
“Sure, boss.”
Show shook his head. “Don’t do that.” He turned to the Prospect. “Parrot—just a Bud.”
As Show sat next to Isaac, Len got up. “See you in the Keep, brothers. I’m gonna find my old lady.”
When they were essentially alone, at the bar, anyway, Show said. “Been workin’ on something, and I want your vote on it.”
“Okay.”
Show turned away from Isaac and stared at his new bottle of Bud. “In the Keep, tonight, I’m passing the gavel.”
Rage Isaac stormed into his head, making his eyes pulse. “What the fuck? Show, you son of a—”
Show held up his hand, turning again to face Isaac straight on. “Hold on and listen. I’m passing to Badge. He’s already talked to the officers he wants. It’s known that this has been a plan. The vote’ll go the right way. But you’re a fuckin’ legend around here, and if you balk, that could send the vote sideways. I don’t want that to happen. I want to take a seat next to you. That’s where I belong. If you want the gavel back, I’d take that seat next to you. The one I had. And not one vote would go against you. Badge wouldn’t want it if you did. If you want the gavel, it’s yours. Do you?”
Isaac swallowed down his Jack and waved Parrot away when he came back to refill. He thought about that. Did he want to lead again? Was he fit? He’d asked himself that question over and over during the dark years. He’d always had the full faith and trust of his club. He’d never made a unilateral decision. And yet he had led them into mayhem. Whether he had done so as a good leader or not was irrelevant to Isaac. He had been the vanguard, and they had swum in blood.
It was more than that, though. He didn’t know the town like he had. He didn’t even know the club like he had. Everything was different, and he wasn’t sure yet where he fit. He couldn’t lead from a place of disorientation.
And most of all, he was done. He was weary. He wanted his quiet life. He wanted to ride his bike and fuck his wife and raise his kids and… “No. I don’t. My time was the past. But Show, you’ve done great with the gavel. The club is stronger than ever. Why pass it now?”
Show took a long drink. Staring at the shelves of liquor behind the bar, he said, “You and I are a team, Isaac. We always have been. Far as I’m concerned, we always will be. I kept the gavel in your absence. I don’t want it in your presence. Simple as that. I’ll sit at the end of the table with you.”
His eyes burning sharply, Isaac reached over and clapped his hand on his best friend’s shoulder.
~oOo~
Isaac supported the vote, and Badger was unanimously elected the fourth President of the Night Horde Motorcycle Club of Missouri. He named Double A his VP and Nolan—Havoc’s kid, who was twenty-fucking-five years old now—his SAA. Damn. The times had really changed.
The leadership change happened first off, and Badger led the rest of the meeting. Listening to the new President discuss club business, seeking input and mediating discordant opinions, Isaac tried to remember the skinny, nervous, shy kid with the zits who’d come in as a Prospect fourteen years ago. It was hard to reconcile the confident, mature man at the head of the table with that urchin of the past. He still had the same long hair and beard, but otherwise he was almost unrecognizable. He even seemed taller.
And Nolan—he was a man. A young man, but certainly no kid. Isaac saw an edge to him, a shadow. That kind of darkness was an asset to an outlaw SAA, but in these quiet times, he could afford some light. The only thing the Horde seemed to do that was even remotely dangerous was some legit protection work. There was no longer a call for a man who could use pain to make someone talk or pay.
Other than the change of leadership, most of the business—all new to Isaac, who’d been almost completely out of the loop since he’d been transferred to Pennsylvania—seemed routine, except for a charity run coming up the next month. It was a massive national run, cross-country, coming straight through Horde turf. They were picking up with it at home, opening the clubhouse and business buildings for an overnight stop, then joining the run all the way to LA, where they’d meet up with the Night Horde SoCal, where Bart was still VP.
Isaac wanted on that run. He didn’t know how to make it work with his parole, and he didn’t know if his back would let him get all the way across the country, but he was going for it anyway. He’d see if Lilli and the kids would drive along. The rally in LA was a big, family-friendly do. A vacation in sunny Southern California. A chance to see Bart. A national charity run. There had to be a way. There had to be a string to pull or a palm to grease somewhere to get him okayed for that trip.
He stopped his thinking right there. He’d ask for approval. If he didn’t get it, then he’d stay home and be content to party during the stopover. There would be charity runs when his parole was over. Until then, he was keeping his promise to his family. He would not risk violating.
Badger gaveled the meeting to a close, and the Horde went to the bar to toast the new officers. As they tossed back a third shot after a third toast, Isaac searched his heart to see if there was disappointment or resentment lurking there. Sitting at the opposite end of the table—the place for the wise old men—would be an adjustment.
But no. He was glad. He’d told Badger long ago that he would be the future of the club. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment in all the years he’d held the gavel was that he’d recognized that fact, that Badger’s heart and brain would someday take the Night Horde in the right direction.
Seeing Badger and Show talking together, Isaac went over. The new President turned with a goofy grin, and they embraced.
“I’m proud of you, brother. You’ve come far. You’ll go farther. You’re an impressive bastard.” Isaac meant it sincerely.
Badger nodded his thanks. “If that’s true, I didn’t come alone. You and Show and Len? You showed me how to be Horde. You showed me how to lead. Fuck, you showed me how to be a man. You left the trail. I just followed it.”
~oOo~
Supper was a chaotic, joyful, delicious mess, with kids running everywhere, people laughing, food and drink being shoveled faster than it could be served. For a while, Isaac sat and floated in the chaos, so much lighter than the kind of mealtime din he’d grown used to in prison.
This was his home. It was different from the home he’d known. It was happier, for one thing. Safer. More robust. But it still had room for him.
He’d spent the past week learning about the new Signal Bend and doing a turn around town, reuniting with old friends. He felt a step out of rhythm with his life, but he knew he’d catch the beat eventually. In the meantime, he was in sync with his family. He and Bo were finding their way together, and he and Gia were tight as ever. Tighter. That was enough.
And Lilli? Nothing would ever come between them. The cosmos had thrown every damn thing it could think of in their way, and they had climbed over all of it. Battered and bleeding, sure, but alive and together and strong. They were indivisible. They were one. They were forever.
What they had was a love for the ages, and every price he’d paid in his life was worth the chance to spend the rest of his days in her company. In their love. He had everything, and now he had the chance to set his burden down and make a life that could be as strong as the love it held.
She was sitting across the room after supper, talking with Cory and Shannon. Badger had already taken Adrienne, pregnant with their fourth, home. Tasha and Len were tucked into a dark corner, getting raunchy. Nolan had his arm over the shoulders of a busty little blonde. Show had his little granddaughters, Megan and Caroline, in his big arms, his head swiveling back and forth as the girls told him some story that required a lot of emphatic gesturing.
Isaac waited until he could catch Lilli’s eye; then he crooked his finger. Smiling, she got up and walked over, and he didn’t think he imagined the extra little sway in her hips.
“You beckoned?”
Sitting on a barstool, he pulled her between his legs and kissed her, deep and slow.
“I fuckin’ love you, Sport.”
“Mmm. I love you. You good with how the Keep went?”
“I am. It’s right. Things are right. Finally.” She smiled, and he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again. “Let’s go home, baby.”
“Okay. You want me to see if the kids can go home with Show and Shannon? They have just about the whole zoo tonight. Two more won’t matter.”
“No. I want them, too. My family. I want to be home.”
“Okay. I’ll round them up.” She kissed his scarred cheek and went off.
Isaac watched her.
His woman. His love.
His life.
THE END
~oOo~
Afterword
Hi, everyone. I just wanted to take a minute and thank you for reading, whether you read one book in the series or all of them. I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay in my little town.
I am deeply devoted to Signal Bend and the Horde. These people feel as close and real to me as my family, and I feel true grief to leave them behind. But it’s time to let this story end…before anybody else gets hurt. My muse is bloodthirsty, and I think she’s fed enough on this town.
I know that the stories I’ve written about Signal Bend—or story in the singular, as I think of it—have sometimes been painful and challenging, and I really do appreciate that you’ve stuck with me through the heartache. I hope the conclusion of the story was sufficiently satisfying to be worth the angst along the way. Or, maybe, if you’re like me, the angst was its own sick reward.
There’s a good chance you’ll might see a little more of the Signal Bend crew, at least in the background. For one thing, I have a few short stories I’ve written and posted, or intend to write and post, to the FCP blog, little moments that caught my muse’s interest but didn’t have a place in the main narrative (usually because I wasn’t in the right POV at the time).
I’m also considering a series set in the Night Horde’s new LA charter, where Bart and Riley reside. I’ve already populated that charter with plenty of hot men, so there’s a good chance. Before I start that project, though, I’m trying to exact a promise from my muse that, if I go back to the Night Horde in any way, she will leave Signal Bend alone with its hard-won HEA.
First I think I’m going to take a little break from MC writing. It’s all the fiction I’ve ever written, so far, and I want to try something a little different. I’m working on a romance story that might become a series, too. Still a bit dark, because my muse demands it, but maybe with a little less opportunity for such quantities of bloody violence.
I do like writing series, getting to really know a group of people. I love the friendships and family relationships as much as the romances. Maybe more. So, if you’re interested, I’ll keep you posted. And in the meantime, thank you again, so much, for joining me in Signal Bend.
Peace.
Susan
Oh, P.S.: I do a Pinterest board while I’m writing, with visuals and other details for my stories. I keep it secret as I write, because it’s spoilery as hell, but now that the series is concluded, I’m making it public. If you’re interested in my own personal visuals for the characters and world of Signal Bend, you can find the board at: http://www.pinterest.com/laughingwarrior/signal-bend-series/
And as always, you can keep posted on my writing projects, and on all the rest of the Freaks’ work, at our blog: http://tfcpress.wordpress.com/ and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/freakcirclepress
I’m on Twitter, too. I’m not an avid tweeter, but I do tweet updates and stuff like that: @sfanetti
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