“Why you burnin’ up my phone brother?” I asked, leaning on the bar next to him.
“Why the fuck haven’t you been answerin’ ya fuckin’ phone?” he asked, his voice booming across the room.
“I was on the road here.” I said, a bit taken back by his attitude towards me, “Care to explain what your problem is?” I asked.
“The other day Alannah asked me to check her friend out.”
He must be on about Bonnie?
“I guessed she was worried about her, anyway, it took some diggin’ because her last name is different, none of us would’ve known, all that time she was at college right under our noses…”
He was babbling, this wasn’t going to be good, my mouth went dry in anticipation.
“And?” I hurried him.
“She’s Hunter Carson’s daughter.” he said, immediately followed up by necking the rest of his beer, “I called you because I ain’t stupid, I know when you’re not here, you’re with her.”
What were the chances of her being roomed with Alannah, both MC brats, rival MC brats?
“It’s a good job Bonnie flunked on her, you should tell Alannah not to have anythin’ to do with her.” he said.
I pulled out my phone to call her then it hit me…
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I yelled.
“What?” Slade said, jumping off the stool.
“It’s too late, Lana got a text before I left saying she was a half hour away.”
“Hunter’s daughter is on her way to our Alannah’s place.” he asked, wanting to make sure he heard correctly, “Oh, this is not fuckin’ good, not good at all!”
I frantically call Alannah’s phone, no answer.
I frantically call Billy’s phone, again, no answer.
Fuck taking this to the table, there is not one explanation that I can begin to understand for this Bonnie bitch to make friends with my girl, I would lay my life on the line to say she was being used and has been for a long time.
I faced my brothers, half of them already looking at us, I called out for silence. Michael came from out back wondering what was going on.
“Slade has brought some shit to my attention, while Alannah was at college she had a roommate, I’ve just found out that it was Hunter Carson’s daughter.” I told them all.
They began muttering all looking confused.
“This can’t be a coincidence, not with the Ghost fuckers. And, I know for a fact this bitch is on her way to the cabin, that’s if she ain’t already there.”
“Well lets fuckin’ go.” Sparky roared, coming to stand in front of me, every man in the club buzzed with anger behind him.
I wouldn’t fucking ask them to go, I didn’t need to, they will follow, no questions asked.
Loyal to my girl, I fucking loved them for it.
I hadn’t spoken the words but none of my brothers were stupid, they knew she was my old lady and it was Michael coming between us.
I held Michael’s stare for a full minute before he nodded slightly and joined us as we left for our bikes.
Riding to the cabin was torture, hopefully the bitch wouldn’t have turned up again, or if she had, we would find them gossiping on the sofa. Fuck me, I better find her unharmed sitting on the fuckin’ sofa.
None of us truly expected what we saw when we pulled up to the cabin.
No other car around, the front door hanging off its hinges, pools of blood dripping down the porch steps and our prospect slowly dragging himself across the gravel towards his truck, looking like something out of a horror movie. You wouldn’t have been able to tell his race, he was covered in that much blood.
I was off my bike in a shot, running to Billy. Everywhere was quiet, too quiet. Feeling dread on top of dread, I swore loudly dropping to the floor next to Billy.
“Pope, Oak, get in the house and find Alannah.” Michael ordered, joining me next to Billy.
“She’s…not…there.” he spluttered, blood pumping from his mouth with each word he spoke.
He had to be in an unquestionable amount of pain but I needed to know what happened.
“Billy, tell me what went down?” I pleaded.
I had every weakness on show, it was written on my face and could be heard in my shaking voice.
“Told her…to go…she came…back…didn’t shoot…them.”
Shoot them? She knew her way around a gun for sure but it wasn’t who she was.
“How many were there?” I asked, frantic for more information.
“Too many…just me…she…tried to…save me.”
That wasn’t hard to believe, we all had told her she was going soft.
“Ghost fuckers…got her…I couldn’t…save her.” he said, spluttering out more blood.
“Okay, okay. I get it man. We’ll get you to the Doc, you’ll be fine.” I told him. I wasn’t being true, he wasn’t going to live to see another day, I’ve seen some sick shit in my time, but this takes the piss.
“I’m sorry…get her…back.”
“Try not to talk brother.” I urged him, he had to have been using all his strength.
He smiled, showing his blood stained teeth.
“Brother.” he whispered.
“Your loyalty to my girl has cost you your life, one man on god knows how many, you never stood a chance. You’re dyin’ a Lost Souls brother.”
There was no point in trying to hide his fate from him anymore, we all know he stood no chance of surviving.
He choked on his blood one last time before his head rolled to the side of my arm.
Choking on my own fear, I placed him back on the gravel and stood staring at the sky.
“Michael, you better get ya ass in ‘ere.” Oak shouted from the top window.
I was running before Michael was, Oak was in Alannah’s bedroom.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I near enough flew to her room.
Cold on the floor was two Ghost Rider fucks, dead. One had a bullet in his skull and the other had a bullet in his chest. Why the fuck didn’t they take their dead with them?
I dropped to the floor checking under the bed, the gun I left there for her was gone. I knew my girl could shoot, but her aim under pressure was out-fuckin’-standing.
Sparky was the first to speak as he checked their patches, everyone else couldn’t take their eyes off the dead bodies on the floor.
“She managed to get rid of Larry and Slug, Hunter’s VP and nephew.” he whistled.
“That ain’t good for her, Hunter is goin’ to be out for her blood now, him and his VP go way back.” Slade said.
I couldn’t handle this anymore, I lashed out, kicking and punching anything I made contact with, when that wasn’t enough I started kicking the lifeless bodies on the floor. Sparky and Oak pulled me out onto the landing. When I saw Michael leave the room, I rounded on him, not giving a fuck what he knew about us anymore.
“This is your fuckin’ fault.” I shouted, “You used a piss poor reason to put her here and made yourself feel better by leavin’ a prospect here!”
“Calm down Castiel.” he said.
“Fuck off. If she doesn’t come back then neither do you.”
I wasn’t fucking about with threats either, he understood it was a promise.
I barely heard the gasps bouncing around the small landing that currently was where all brothers were standing.
“Listen Cas.” he said, raising his voice, “If she has her phone on her, we can track her.” he informed us.
Without thinking why he would go to the trouble of having her bugged, I turned to Slade.
“Search the place, see if her phone is here.”
He disappeared down the stairs while I shrugged out of Sparky and Oak’s grip.
No one moved as I got in Michael’s face.
“You have my loyalty and my blood when it comes to the club and my brothers, but I’m tellin’ you now, Lana is my old lady and I’m gonna kill anyone who gets in my way bringin’ her home.” I told him.
He swallowed hard and nodded.
Until Alannah was home in my arms and every fucker who had a part in taking her was dead and in the ground, I couldn’t give a fuck about the club ranking. She is my woman and I’ll say how it goes down getting her back.
I would’ve expected the others to speak up, but as I looked from brother to brother, they remained silent, they gave me their loyalty and nodded.
“Pope, Oak, you two take care of the bodies, their blood is on Lana and I don’t want no comebacks on her. Then take our brother Billy back to the club.”
They both agreed and left as Slade came up the stairs.
“Her phone ain’t here.” he said, noticing the difference in the air around us.
“That’s good, get to the club and get on that fuckin’ machine of yours. Find her.”
He left, everyone else remaining were waiting on me to give them orders.
“The rest of us will head back and call every brother in the fuckin’ area, we’re goin’ to war, and we’re not comin’ back till their all dead in the fuckin’ ground!” I bellowed.
Chapter Fourteen
Cas
Four hours and three minutes had passed and we were no closer to finding Alannah than we were at the cabin. Slade sat vigilantly at his laptop waiting for a signal to appear, Michael disappeared into his office as soon as we got back while the rest of us pulled every weapon we had, luckily Sparky thought to bring the stash from the cabin too.
For the past hour brothers from others chapters slowly arrived and were filled in on what has happened.
It wasn’t only because she is my old lady, Alannah had been engrained into all these men’s lives, she didn’t need her family connection to the club, looking around I felt the respect they had for her, she held her own.
I couldn’t get Billy out of my head, I got to thinking, even if two or three Ghost Riders showed up wanting to take her, he still wouldn’t have survived, he wasn’t the biggest guy I’ve ever met. I desperately wanted to blame him, but I couldn’t, it’s someone’s fault and when I find out who, they’re going to wish they had never laid a finger on what’s mine.
My body was aching from head to toe, I’ve been punched, kicked, even stabbed a couple of times, but none of that amounted to the pain I feel now at the thought of losing her.
Hunter’s nickname came to mind, ‘Noose’, as in his preferred method of taking someone out was to watch them hang. Sometimes he made it quick by positioning his victims so their necks snapped instantly on impact, other times he liked to watch them suffer, drawing their deaths out.
“I’ve got a signal.” Slade shouted to everyone.
About fuckin’ time!
Staring at the laptop screen, it looked like she was at a warehouse and not one I recognised.
“It’s roughly a two hour drive north.” he informed us, tapping on the keys a mile a minute.
“Okay, you heard him. We’ve got a location.” I said, loudly, everyone fell silent and I carried on,
“Alannah is my old lady, most of you have known her the whole of her life, she is our family and you all know what happens to fuckers who mess with that! Take out any fucker who gets in ya way, get in quick and get her out even quicker.” I told them, “All prospects will join us, the more men we have the better.” I added.
They all looked to Michael, he nodded and they looked back to me.
“Anyone have a fuckin’ problem?”
They all shook their heads and remained silent.
“We leave now, get ya shit and hit ya bikes. Everyone from the mother chapter will go in the vans.”
I was on the edge and it took all I had to keep it reigned in.
“And tonight brothers, this ends! I don’t want a Ghost Rider fuck left alive by the time we’re finished.”
Ending my speech, the clubhouse vibrated with their roars and vengeance for blood.
We were sixty men strong, the amount of bikes would be hard to hide, but until Alannah is safe I couldn’t give a fuck, we needed to make an impact and that was it.
I grabbed the duffle bag I packed full of guns and ammunition and headed outside. Sparky was waiting by one of the vans so I made my way to him and threw my bag in the back.
“The prospect was alive when we got there, Barbie will still believe he’s alive. For some reason she took to him, this will crush her, I know her well enough to know she will blame herself for his death.” he said, stubbing his cigarette on the ground under his boot.
“She’s not to blame, Michael is, he’s the one who put him there, and I’m gonna make sure she fuckin’ knows it.”
I couldn’t console her over Micky’s death but I’ll be damned if I won’t be by her side after this until her tears run dry and she is smiling again.
“Cas, hang on.”
Michael came jogging over, I nodded to Sparky and he got in the van.
“You’ve shown great leader skills tonight.”
I went to tell him to shut the fuck up, I wasn’t trying to show off my skills, I’m doing it without thinking, I’m doing it for my girl.
He held up his hand to shut me up.
“When we get back, I won’t stand in your way with Alannah, I don’t think I’ll meet another man who’s gonna end a war over a woman. Tonight, this is gonna be the end.” he promised.
All I wanted last year was to have his blessing, all I wanted since Alannah came home was his blessing and now I have it, it feels wrong, it feels planned.
I wasn’t doing the heart to heart right now, I nodded and got in the van.
Forty three roaring bikes and two vans crammed with seventeen men rode out Willows Peak.
We had been on the road for an hour, you could feel the tension in the van. The closer we got, the more you could taste the violence that hung in the air. We stayed mostly silent, preparing ourselves for the fight of our lives.
Loading and unloading my gun kept my hands and mind busy until like a fucking jigsaw being put together at lightning speed sped through my head.
Everything was beginning to add up, Michael going to the extreme of threatening to rip my patch from me, forcing Alannah out of the club and into the middle of nowhere, claiming she won’t be living our lifestyle anymore but then keeping her close and a prospect by her side. If he truly wanted Alannah out of the club and away from our world then he would sent her far away, on her own. Continuously warning me away, calling me out in the club about my disappearing acts, like he was trying to keep her isolated. He knew if she was with me then I wouldn’t let her out of my sight often and she definitely wouldn’t be living in the middle of nowhere.
And thinking back to earlier, he has remained calm and collected through out, he is her uncle, her blood, took her on as his own, he should have been livid, he should have put me in my place over riding my relationship with his family bond and took charge, but he let me continue to give out the orders.
And most of all why have her tracked if she wasn’t a part of the club anymore?
Like a ton of fucking bricks falling on me at once, it hit me. No, there is no way he would do that!
I trembled with anger, barely able to hide it, I loaded my gun for the final time and slowly raised my arm, pointing it straight at Michael’s head.
There wouldn’t be a single person in this van who wouldn’t be covered in brains and blood at this close range.
“What the fuck Cas?” Sparky boomed, ripping his ear buds out.
I couldn’t tell you what the brothers faces were showing, my eyes were trained on Michael’s and never fucking left them.
“One more time, why did you force Alannah to the cabin?” I asked, keeping my voice calm.
He showed no fear, his arrogant features had me nearly pulling the trigger without his answer.
“I think you know otherwise you wouldn’t be pullin’ that gun on me son.” he spoke quietly.
“I don’t want it to be true.” I whispered.
He had been a father figure to me since the da
y he first saw me trying to steal a car, his next words would change everything.
“Will someone tell us what the fuck is goin’ on?” Sparky shouted, looking between the two of us.
“You not gonna deny it?” I asked, my voice full of pleading for me to be wrong.
“No.”
“Okay, I’m gonna shoot ya both, if you don’t fuckin’ tell us what is goin’ on!” Sparky shouted again.
“He used Alannah as bait.”
Chapter Fifteen
Alannah
Coming back to reality wasn’t pretty, I’d rather have stayed wherever I was in knocked out land, my head hurt tremendously. Not only did I have the headache from hell, I was hanging from sort of contraption in the middle of a warehouse. Trying to gain my bearings I couldn’t see much, there were a couple of lights on, one of them shining on me, making it difficult to see further than the glow around me.
It was freezing and the air smelt like rain and dirt. I don’t know how long I have been here but I hoped Cas had returned to the cabin and found Billy and knew I was gone. Oh god, I remembered Billy slumped on the hallway floor, I prayed he would be alright. No, I couldn’t think about him, I had to focus on myself and how I was going to get out of here.
My hands were tied above my head to a chain and I was standing on crates. My arms ached from the pressure and when I noticed the rope around my neck I looked up to see the rope had been tied around a rafter. Oh fuck, am I going to be hanged? Who the fuck does that?
Taking a better look at the contraption I was tied to, I think I had it figured out. My hands were tied to a chain that kept me in place, the chain was connected to the rope somehow so if anyone kicked the crates from under me, I would hang. When I tried pulling my arms down, the rope around my neck tightened. I had no chance of getting myself free.
I didn’t have much time to think about anything, a door on the far side opened and the two men from the cabin came through.
“Ah, our guest is finally awake.” the president said joyfully.
He came into the light and I got a better look at him. I didn’t take any notice of his looks earlier what with trying to save Billy and all.
Biker Bait: The Lost Souls MC Series Page 14