“You’re sure it’s Rilen Lost?” Layne asked.
“I’ve thought it since this started,” I said. “She called Everly, man. She described the shit hole cellar. I was down there once. Remember?”
“That’s where you put Hollis’s hand? How did you pull that off?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I just know. I’ll get her, Layne. I’ll figure this out.”
“And Jony?”
I nodded and pointed to the gates. “Here we go.”
A black car stopped at the gates. The passenger door flew open and Vaughn came stumbling out. He had a gun in his hand, waving it around. He ran to the gate and started punching it.
“I’ll get him,” I said. I approached the gate with my hands up. “Vaughn. I want just you in here, man. Okay? And put your gun away.”
“I’ll fucking kill you all,” he said. “Give me her! I knew you had her!”
I opened the gate and Vaughn came blasting inside. I shut the gate and turned, realizing we could have just probably killed Vaughn right then. But the second I thought that, I heard the sound of a helicopter. I looked up and saw one going by. Call it paranoia but I really started to believe things were going to get worse and we would end up in a living nightmare if we killed Vaughn right now.
“Give me her!” Vaughn screamed.
I grabbed Vaughn by the shoulder and spun him around. The gun was jabbed into my gut. “Whoa, man. We don’t have her. What the fuck is wrong with you…”
I could see it in his eyes. He was high as anything on his own stuff. Probably stuff he never took before.
“You can’t be doing this to yourself,” I said.
“I can’t stop thinking about her being hurt,” Vaughn said. “Just give me…”
“First off,” Layne said. “We should fucking kill everyone in your life for what you did to us.”
The tension mounted as Vaughn turned. The gun went with him and I could see it happening. The gun going off and Layne taking a bullet to the stomach. Layne falling to the ground and bleeding out like a stabbed pig. There was a small part of me that wondered just how that would have all turned out for me. But the better part took control. The part that allowed memories to affect my decisions in the moment.
I grabbed Vaughn’s wrist, grabbed the gun, and twisted.
Vaughn let the gun go and stumbled to the right. He spun around, looking like a terrible mess and stinking of death.
“You need to keep your head clean,” I said. “Or you’re never going to see her again.”
“Are you threatening me?” Vaughn asked.
“No, I’m not. But I am going to kill you. I’m going to kill you and I’m going to kill Jade. We don’t fucking have her.”
Vaughn growled, making a move toward me.
I put my hand out. “But I have an idea who does. There’s a small problem though.”
“And what’s that?”
I had this feeling that we were surrounded. That people were watching us from rooftops, helicopters, everywhere. That intense feeling of paranoia was an easy way to the grave for someone living my life, but my paranoia was truth.
“He’s in prison,” I said. “Jony…”
Vaughn’s eyes went wide. “That motherfucker.” He turned and made it two steps and stopped. He looked back and smiled. “Jony. Rilen Lost. Your enemy.” He then started to laugh. “You stupid motherfucker.”
“He’s not fucking around,” Layne said.
“I think he is,” Vaughn said. “You point us in the wrong direction. You see my power, and you like it. You want me to destroy Rilen Lost. This is all a ploy.”
“Actually it’s the other way around,” I said. “Rilen Lost took Jade. And your focus is on us. Jony is in prison right now for murder. Don't believe me? Look it up. He got busted for murdering one of our own.”
“Who?” Vaughn asked.
“Hollis,” Layne said.
Vaughn shook his head and blinked fast. “We… took care of that…”
“And I set him up,” I said. “Now I have to go get him out of prison before he gets fucking killed. Don’t you get it, Vaughn? What more proof do you need in this? Go through the clubhouse, like Layne said.”
“Take something in exchange,” Layne added. “We have nothing to hide.”
“I have to fucking ruin a plan to kill Jony for you,” I said. “That’s going to bring some heat to the MC.” I stepped toward Vaughn. “And all I want to do is put a bullet in your fucking skull. But I don’t want to lose everything for you. You’re not worth it.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve ever said,” Vaughn said. “Because I’m everywhere.”
“If you hurt someone else in this MC, I won’t give a shit anymore,” I warned.
“Then make your deal happen,” Vaughn said. “You want me to buy into this? Then get Jony out of prison. Safe. Sound. Back to his club. When that happens, we’ll talk.”
“If you want to go get her…”
Vaughn gritted his teeth. “I’d chase my own shadow to the end of the world for her. But I don’t trust you. I don't trust anyone. I just want to know she’s alive. That I can get to her.”
Vaughn looked beyond me. He really still believed that Jade was inside the clubhouse. That I had taken her for my own benefit.
The guy was high and stupid.
I knew he’d end up dead sooner than later, which was fine by me. I just needed to make sure the clubhouse and everyone inside it was safe.
“Can I have my gun back now?” Vaughn asked.
I gave Vaughn the gun and he quickly pointed it at my forehead. I had my limit, just like any other man in the world. I smacked his hand away and threw a right hook to the side of his jaw.
“Talon!” Layne bellowed.
Vaughn flew back and slammed into the gates. The gun started to go off, Vaughn just pulling the trigger with the weapon pointed down. The bullets hitting the pavement, Vaughn’s face in shock.
The driver got out of the black car and hurried to help Vaughn leave the lot.
As Vaughn got into the car, he looked at me. “You’re going to pay for everything, Talon. What she did to you. What she did to me. It’s all… going to come crashing down.”
I half expected for something to happen right then.
But it didn’t.
There was just silence.
When I turned around, Layne stood there, his hands balled into tight fists. His face pissed off. This was the Layne I had been looking for.
“Think you stop all this?” Layne asked.
“You’re the President, man, you should be doing it,” I threw at him. “Do I think I can stop it though? Yeah, sure. I think I can do anything. Will it actually happen? I don’t know. We better have a plan and we better be ready for a bigger war.”
“You better make your calls,” Layne said. “Get that meeting with your buddy.”
I nodded.
My meeting with Mutt.
I needed to get to him before he got to Jony.
Layne turned and slowly walked away.
I ended up right where I began… and bringing back some way too distant memories for my liking.
Me standing alone in the lot. Motorcycles lined up to my left, to my right. The bright blue sky, wide open, another day of life and living. Another day of survival and killing. The spot I was standing at was the same spot where I decided to kill the former President of Devil Call MC and take over.
Were the same thoughts running through my head then?
I’d be a liar if I said no…
__
6.
(Talon)
I rode right up to the chain linked fence and felt my heart racing and my stomach doing flips. My eyes scaled the tall fence, the barbed wire on top in spirals with its crooked razor fingers, ready to grab clothing and flesh of any asshole dumb enough to try and escape. There was always a sense of desperation inside though. That desperation often lead to some kind of pathetic sense of hope. Guys would
believe that they could be the one to climb the fence and get over the the barbed wire without getting cut. Or if they were cut, the wounds would eventually close up and heal. All they wanted was the sweet taste of freedom.
Yeah, so do I… and I’m on the outside…
Once I got inside the prison, I was frisked and patted down two different times. There was a bit of an understanding between the MC and local police that bled into prison. We were well connected through favors, memories, and muscle, so I was treated just a little bit differently than any normal visitor.
Hell, considering the crime Mutt had committed, there was no way in hell a normal person would get a meeting with him. And if they were lucky enough to get it, it would be with a big piece of glass between them.
Not me.
I was escorted to a white room with a long table.
The cameras would be accidentally shut off, leaving me and Mutt to discuss any business we needed to. All of which was taken care of by a guy in the prison with a rough voice, a rough face, and a daughter who needed help from a guy that kept smacking her around. I made sure all of that was taken care of, giving the message to Layne, who then sent out three prospects, Drave, and Ash to visit the guy and break his fingers, wrists, elbows, and dislocate both shoulders. And then I made sure Drave and Ash could fight over the woman to ensure her complete safety.
When the door opened and Mutt came in, he smiled big.
I always remembered him as the massive, gentle giant. Thick neck, thicker shoulders, a size that was just scary unless you were on the guy’s good side.
I stood up.
The guards brought Mutt to the table and sat him down. They chained his ankles but left his hands free. The first thing he did was reach for me. I shook his hand, that big, sweaty hand of his, and I goddamn laughed.
“I actually missed you,” I said. “A lot.”
“Talon,” Mutt said. “You look like shit.”
“Not as rested on the outside, man. Too much going on.”
We were finally alone, sitting across from each other.
Mutt’s eyes were the eyes of a killer. A boy tortured who finally enacted revenge, so the same torture would never happen again. It left him tarnished as a murderer, and he’d live out the rest of his life behind bars.
But I wasn’t here to talk about the past.
“Listen, Mutt,” I said. “I can’t believe I have to ask this…”
“What’s wrong? What do you need from me?”
“That thing I sent in about. That guy, right?”
Mutt grinned ear to ear. His eyes lit up. “Yeah, I remember.”
“I need that to go away. You know? Just… leave it be. I’ll have to figure out something else at a different time. There’s things on the outside and…”
Mutt reached forward and clamped a hand down on mine. “Talon, my friend, my good dear friend. I’ve done it. It’s…”
I felt the air get sucked out of my lungs. I looked to the cameras in the room. I had to believe they were turned off.
“You killed him?”
Mutt nodded. “Yes. I was shocked to have them come and say I had a visitor. I was waiting for the lunch rounds to come in and then they’d find the body. Then the message would get out to you by tomorrow.”
“Holy shit,” I said. I swallowed hard. “You killed Jony…”
“He’s dead.”
I looked at Mutt, deep into those killer eyes. “How did you do it?”
“I smothered him,” Mutt said. “I thought about everything horrible. And I smothered him.”
“You suffocated him…”
“Yeah,” Mutt said. “With my hands and my body. He fought, Talon. He screamed. He pleaded and cried. But then it all stopped. All at once. All the voices in my head and anger and pain… it just stopped.”
“Fuck.”
Mutt smiled. “They think he’s napping right now. Soon enough, they’ll know.”
I stood up and turned around. I didn’t know what to do. Celebrate that Jony was dead? The piece of shit prick who tried to kill me how many times? He was gone. Fuck you, Jony, you’re dead.
I ran a hand through my hair.
I thought about Vaughn. About Jade. About Everly.
This was bad. This was very bad.
When word got out about Jony’s death, what would happen? Rilen Lost would be shaken to its core. They’d go fucking crazy. They wouldn’t have a leader, which is what I wanted to have happen. But not if they had Jade.
“Talon?” Mutt asked. “What’s wrong?”
I turned and faced the table. “Bullshit, Mutt. That’s what’s wrong. Just bullshit on the outside.”
“Did I do wrong here?”
Just like that, Mutt’s killers eyes changed to something so sad and lonely.
I walked around the table and leaned against it. I put a hand to Mutt’s shoulder. “No, man. You did amazing. Just like I asked.”
Mutt put his head to my arm. He was like a big teddy bear or something. A deadly teddy bear, but not to me.
“It’s nice to feel needed once in a while inside here,” Mutt admitted. “That’s why I waited so long. I took a little while to get to know him. To fuck with him. Knowing what I’d be doing. It was… I felt alive.”
“Good for you, Mutt. Good for you.” I touched the back of his head and he looked up at me. “Mutt, you did great. You did fucking great. If it were up to me, man, you’d be a patched in Devil Call MC member right now.”
“Really?” Mutt asked. “Me? A leather cut?”
“Yeah, man. That’s how good you did.”
“Thanks, Talon.”
We remained there in silence. I could only imagine what was going through Mutt’s mind. The damn guy had been through so much and had so many years left in this shit hole, unless he was killed. And for me, I was fucked. Without Jony out, Vaughn would point his finger right back at Devil Call MC. The fight, the war, the blame… it would all continue.
There was a knock at the door and the guard held up wrist and pointed to his watch.
“Mutt, I have to go,” I said. “It’s time.”
“Okay, Talon. If you ever need anything, you can trust me.”
I looked down at Mutt. “I know I can trust you. Don’t worry about that, man. Hey, I have something for you.”
I reached into my pocket and took out a small notebook. I dropped it on the table and Mutt’s eyes lit up. Paper was his favorite thing to eat. It was so fucking weird and so fucked up. It made me wonder if that’s what his parents used to feed him when they’d put him in his cage. It kind of got to me a little to think about.
“Thank you,” Mutt said.
He tore into the little notebook, taking two pages at a time, stuffing them into his mouth.
I left the room and stood at the door. I looked at the guard. “Give him five minutes alone.”
“For what? You give him a key?”
“Fuck you,” I said. “He’s eating paper. The only pleasure he can get in life.”
The guard gave me a look and I walked away. I walked the halls alone and worked my way to the front of the prison. When I walked through the doors to the outside, to freedom, I took a deep breath, but I certainly didn’t smile.
I got on my ride and let the two wheels give me a sense of freedom and the ability to fucking think for a second. The only way to get Vaughn off my back and from killing anymore people in the MC would be to find Jade.
It was now my fucking problem, whether I liked it or not.
Ten minutes into my ride, I felt something whizz right by my head. I looked back and saw a black car coming up on me. A guy in the passenger seat, hanging out the window, a gun in his hand. I freaked when I saw the gun and cut my motorcycle to the right. I went off road, into the dry dirt, and kicked up dust.
I heard the gun going off, again and again, but lucky for me I didn’t feel any bullets try and take my life.
I cut to the left, kicked out my back wheel, and then set my sights back on th
e road. I hoped the car was dumb enough to chase me into the dirt as it would take some time to get back on the road. By then, I’d be gone.
But as the dust started to clear, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Vaughn stood in the middle of the fucking road.
If I didn’t hit the brakes and damn near drop my ride, I would have hit and killed him.
I stopped. The car behind me stopped. And Vaughn stood with his arms crossed.
“What the fuck…”
“When is he getting out?” Vaughn asked. “So I can find Jade.”
“Listen, man…”
“You were lying to me,” Vaughn said.
“I didn’t fucking lie. The job was already done, Vaughn. I had it all set up and I couldn’t stop it. Jony is gone. He’s dead.”
“And Jade is still missing. So what now? I just walk right into Rilen Lost and demand my sister?”
“There’s a start.”
“Why? So you fuckers can hurt her some more?”
“Vaughn…”
Vaughn started to walk. He went right by me and to the car. He opened the back door and stood there.
“There’s no more trust, Talon. I’m going to burn it all down now. It’s over. I’m going to find Jade. I’m going to kill and burn everything.”
I wasn’t scared. I’d fight to my death. But one thing was for sure… I believed Vaughn. He was broken. He was insane. And one of us was going to end up dead.
__
7.
(Everly)
I wasn’t supposed to be outside, but I hated being trapped inside. When the clubhouse doors busted open, I jumped back, hitting a pool table. I thought it was Talon coming through the door, going to find me and get pissed at me for being out of the room.
But when I saw Detective John tearing his sunglasses off his face, I let out a groan. Right behind him came two officers holding shotguns.
Layne was there a second later. “What the hell is this?”
“Warrant,” Detective John said. “I’m going to need to search the place. There’s some bad stuff going around.”
“Bullshit,” Layne said.
DARK EDGE (A Devil Call MC Book) (Talon & Everly Book Seven) (Devil Call MC - Talon & Everly 7) Page 4