“We should probably invite Bash in,” she told us. “Instead of making him sit on the front porch to guard us.”
“We don’t need guarding,” said Gen. “We have guns. I dare Dozer to come into this house.”
“I don’t like confrontations,” I told them. “Daddy had the nerve to call me a fucking drama queen, when I do everything I can to avoid drama. Fucker.”
Angelica opened the door. “They’re trashed. Get in here.”
Bash came in, closed the door, and pressed his wife against it. The kiss he gave her would’ve made my dick hard if I hadn’t been so drunk. It lasted forever, and Cassie said, “Not sure if we should tell them to get a room, or encourage them to keep going. Damn, that’s hot.”
Bash finally pulled away, looked at his wife a few seconds, and pulled her into his arms. “We good?”
“Yeah. I understood why you wanted me with you, and I’d go with you again if I had it to do over, but I think I’ll stick with the ol’ladies for a while. Maybe we’ll hang out with Harmony some now that she’s coming home — assuming Cassie and Bethany can go down there. They can’t go to Gen’s, but that’s because it’s in the RTMC neighborhood. I don’t know if their men will let them go to Brain’s or not.”
“I’m good with that for a few weeks. If it goes longer, we’ll need to talk.” He pulled her to the center of the room and looked us over. I was sitting in a corner of the sofa, and Gen was snuggled into me, leaning against me. Cassie and Bethany were snuggled on the other side of the sofa, and our feet all met in the middle.
Bash shook his head. “I hope the guns aren’t too close at hand?”
“Course they are,” said Bethany. “Can’t show you ’cause I’m drunk. Not supposed to handle a gun when drunk unless it’s a life-or-death situation.” She stumbled over the last word, but eventually got it out.
We argued over which movie to watch next and finally agreed on Deadpool.
“Shots,” I told them. “Every time Deadpool talks to the audience, the taxi driver appears, you hear the word Frances, the asshole asks, “What’s my name?”, or there’s slo-mo. One of those things happens, we all do a shot.”
I don’t remember the end of the movie, and Saturday morning I woke up on the sofa with a bathroom-sized garbage pail beside me, and a big note that said, “Puke goes here,” with an arrow pointing to the pail.
I didn’t need to puke, but my head felt like someone had cut it in two. Fuck. The sun was up, but no one else seemed to be. I stumbled to the kitchen and poured myself a Coke, hoping the caffeine would help.
Ranger showed up while I was downing it, and asked, “Tylenol?”
“Please.”
He handed me an ice pack with the capsules, and I sat in a chair and held it to my head. “Fuck. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Do you need food?”
“No. I just need a little while for this to kick in, and then I can go. I assume Angelica left my bike.”
“Yes. She and Bash left after I got home. Cassie and Gen are in a guest bedroom, sleeping together. We figured you’d do best on the sofa. You’re welcome to hang out for a while this morning.”
“I should call Razor. Let him know where I am.” I sighed. “I left my phone at the clubhouse so he couldn’t track me. He’s gonna be pissed.”
“Bash knew where you went. Razor likely knows, but you can use the house phone to call him.” He pulled a wireless unit off a charger and put it beside me. “I’m going to make coffee, do you want any?”
“No thanks. The Coke is working — and the ice pack.”
I called Daddy’s phone and was surprised when Dawg answered, “Razor’s phone.”
“Why are you answering his phone?”
“Didn’t want you to get his voice mail and think he’d chosen not to answer. He flew away last night. Hasn’t come back yet. I brought his clothes in, along with his phone and yours.”
Fear settled back into my gut. “He doesn’t stay out all night. It isn’t safe. Owls and…” My breath caught. There was no way for me to know where he was. If he died as a raven, would we even know? If an owl ate him, he’d just be gone.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” said Dawg. “He was upset. Probably just needed some time to think.”
I had breakfast with Ranger, Jonathan, Bethany, Gen, and Cassie, but left soon after to retrieve my phone. Duke told me I shouldn’t go home, and when I insisted, he said, “Dozer knows Razor’s in the wind. You aren’t going home alone. You can stay here, or you can go home with me and Gen.”
“Gen’s at Bethany’s,” I reminded him.
A muscle in his jaw clenched. “Not for long. We need to collect our child from Gonzo’s house and have a talk.”
“You don’t need me there for that. I’m not staying here and I’m not going with you.” I don’t know where I found the courage to stand up to Duke, but no way was I spending the day with him and Gen while they fought.
“I’ll be here all day,” said Bubbles. “Dozer won’t lay a hand on you when I’m with you. Stick around and watch the games.”
Bubbles was an enforcer. Daddy had told me I’d be safe with him. “Can I invite Micca? We were supposed to spend the day together.”
“Sure.” Duke looked at Bubbles. “If she needs a place to stay for the night, put her and Matty in Razor’s room. He knows they sleep together, and she has the codes to get in his house.” He looked at me. “She’s your responsibility, and you’re Razor’s responsibility. You know the drill.”
Micca and I had fun hanging out and playing video games. We walked across the road with Bubbles to eat, and didn’t see Dozer all day. I kept expecting Daddy to walk through the door any minute, and turned to look at the door every time it opened, but he never came. By the time we turned in for the night, I was really worried about him. I woke up and checked my phone every couple of hours during the night, but… nothing.
“I can’t do this again,” I told Micca Sunday morning while we cuddled in bed. “I can’t be alone again. I can’t. I just can’t.”
“You’ll do whatever you have to. You have a job you love, and you’ll be back on the dirt-bike circuit next year. You have a wonderful life, and it’ll suck if something’s happened to Razor, but you’ll survive.” She pulled me to her. “You have to survive, because I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
I let her hold me a few minutes before I pulled away. “I need to get out of here. Let’s go out the side door and leave in your car before anyone can stop us. Breakfast, maybe?”
We got dressed, did our hair, escaped without seeing any bikers, and went to a nice brunch place. From there, we hit the mall and shopped. I bought jeans, shoes, and the most adorable jacket ever. Micca bought clothes for work — all black but with fashion flair. She said they were supposed to wear the black clothes assigned to them, but she hated them, and so far no one had said anything about her wearing something different. She worked in the office, so it shouldn’t matter whether she wore the company’s insignia. I wasn’t sure she’d worked there long enough to start breaking rules, but I also figured she’d taken a good measure of her bosses and knew what she could probably get away with, so I helped her find the perfect all-black, kick-ass outfits with style.
She suggested a movie when we finished shopping, but I didn’t want to have to turn my phone off.
“Shooting range?”
I shook my head. “That’s an RTMC business. I don’t want one of them to decide they have to protect me again.”
“I can take you to Drake’s range — we’ll just have to stop and buy ammo on the way.”
Chapter 29
Razor
* * *
It was well after noon before I awoke on Sunday. Matty still wasn’t home, and I didn’t have my phone. We didn’t have a house phone, so I had no way to call him. Micca wasn’t home, either. I didn’t know whether to be worried or pissed, so I was a little of both. Okay, a lot of both. He’d left when I told him not to, and he’
d been gone two nights.
I was starving, so I fixed food and ate before I drove to the clubhouse. I retrieved my phone, found out Matty had spent the night but had left with Micca that morning, and debated my best course of action. I needed to see him, not just talk on the phone — I felt blind when I could only hear him and couldn’t get any feedback to tell me how he really felt. I was no longer worried something had happened to him, but feared more was going on with him emotionally than I’d understood.
Paco was in the control room, and he tracked Matty’s phone for me. “He’s in the Drake Security offices.”
I looked at the map, dumbfounded. He’d gone to one of the few places I couldn’t get to him. WTF. Was he trying to avoid me? He hadn’t called, hadn’t texted. Nothing.
I went to my room and breathed a little easier when his shampoo and some changes of clothes were still there, but I still worried.
What was going through his head? Why hadn’t he gone home? Was he purposefully avoiding me? He’d originally left without his phone or tracker, but then he’d come back and spent the day yesterday, so… fuck. I didn’t know.
Finally, I got on my bike and drove to the Drake Security offices, but with so many cameras on the parking area, I kept going. I drove the backroads until I came out on the main road at a grocery store. With my stomach in my heart, I parked, took my helmet off, and called Spence, since I didn’t think Abbott would be up yet.
“Matty and I are having a disagreement, I think. He’s in the Drake Security offices. Can you give me Aaron Drake’s number, please? I need to know why he’s there.”
“Have you called Matty?”
“No. I need to know why he’s there before I call him.”
Spence sighed. “I’ll call Aaron and give him your number. I don’t think I should give you his.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
I sat on my bike, staring at my phone, for ten minutes. When it finally rang, it was Matty’s number.
“Daddy! Are you okay? Where are you!?”
“Around the corner. I came looking for you, but you’re in one of the few places I can’t get to you. I thought you were still avoiding me.”
“No! Micca and I are in the shooting range. I’ll come out to the parking lot now!”
He was standing at the front door when I pulled into the lot, and he took off at a run to me. I barely got stopped and my arms off the handlebars before he was in my arms, on my bike in front of me, holding on for dear life and bawling his eyes out.
“I thought you were dead. Gone. I thought I’d never see you again. It’s been days! Ravens aren’t supposed to be out all night! I thought I’d lost you!”
Micca came out while he was blubbering, and stopped ten feet away, her arms crossed, her eyes shooting daggers at me.
“I’m so sorry,” I told Matty. “I was out all night and most of the next day. I flew home, but you weren’t there. I was exhausted, so I ate and fell asleep. I didn’t wake up until this afternoon, and my phone was at the clubhouse. I wanted to see you in person instead of calling you, but your phone triggered here. I thought you went somewhere I couldn’t get to you.”
My phone rang, and I was tempted to ignore it, but it was Spence.
“Thanks,” I told him. “I’m not sure what you did, but Matty called me. We’re good. I owe you one.”
“I’m glad you’re good. I called Aaron, but I didn’t know what had happened since.”
“He called and found out Micca had checked me in, so he called Micca,” Matty explained. “I called you while they were talking, because I got the gist of you knowing I was here and trying to find out why.”
Spence heard Matty through my phone. “Good. I’ll let you have your reunion, then.”
I disconnected, and Matty said “Don’t ever do this to me again. I had no way of knowing where you were, if you were hurt somewhere, or maybe…” He choked up and started crying again, but I wanted to make a point.
“Kind of like how I felt when you left without your phone, and disconnected the tracker on your bike? I had no way of knowing if you were okay, or if you were alive or dead.”
“I tried to call you first thing the next morning!” he exclaimed. “As soon as I woke up and could function!”
I shook my head. “There were no missed calls.”
“Dawg answered your phone and told me you’d flown away. I didn’t bother calling anymore because I didn’t think you had your phone.”
“Okay, so you were gone twelve hours and I was gone twenty-four hours. If you’d been home when I got there, you’d have seen me last night.”
“Duke told me not to go home. Said he didn’t know what Dozer might do. Wanted me at the clubhouse, but Micca and I left this morning. Dozer wasn’t going to find us at the mall.” His eyes got big. “Oh, you have to see what I bought! I got the coolest jacket ever. I’m going to wear it with black pants and a red top to work tomorrow!”
I looked at Micca in confusion, and she burst out laughing. “It is a cool jacket. Since you don’t have an extra helmet with you, I’ll drive him home. Meet you there?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Chapter 30
Razor
* * *
The following weeks weren’t ideal, but we managed. Matty and Micca went wherever the ol’ladies hung out, and I went to the clubhouse. I missed him, but it was kinda nice having my brothers without the ol’ladies for the first couple of nights.
Then, we missed them, but none of us were prepared to put our foot down and insist they come back.
Finally, Duke asked for an audience with Aaron, Ranger, Mac, Jonathan, Abbott, Isaac, and Frisco.
I don’t think Duke realized just how much Dozer’s actions had hurt the MC until the request for a meeting was denied. Duke knew I had an in with Abbott, and he asked me to call him and feel things out.
I debated the best way to do it, and finally agreed to call him around five in the evening, figuring he was awake but confined underground, so it was probably a better time to call than after dark. I went with Duke and Bash to Brain’s house, so they could hear the call.
“I assume this is a business call?” Abbott said when he answered, without a proper greeting.
“I apologize if I’ve caught you at a bad time.”
“I have a few moments. Speak.”
He was short and to the point, but I forged ahead. “What has to happen for you to agree to meet with us about changing the status quo?”
“You aren’t a Pack, there will be no meeting. The MC was given a seat at the table because of the size of your organization, not because of any implied power. It was given in the interest of getting along.”
“Not true,” I countered. “Gabby and Horse have a seat because of who they are.”
“And they will keep their seat, but we’ll be voting at the next meeting about whether the local leaders feel the MC should have a place at the table.”
He sighed. “Off the record? If you’d ejected Dozer along with the formal apology and recompense, this probably would’ve faded into the background. Dozer put women who are important to some powerful people in danger. I consider Cassie one of mine, and Aaron considers Bethany and Viv in with those he protects. You have to know The Swan Queen is also close to all three women, and she can be scarier than her husband when it comes to protecting her friends. When you bring Isaac, Jonathan, Ranger, and Mac into it...” His voice hardened. “No one’s going to let it just fade away while you’re still defending him as one of you. His return changes everything.”
“He put Matty in danger, too. I’d boot him in an instant if I had the power, but it came down to a vote.” I might get fined for saying it, but this was supernatural politics, and they’d asked me to step in and do what I could to fix things.
“I know. This means while Dozer started the ball rolling, the membership is responsible for the final outcome.”
“You should be smart enough to know Bethany, Gen, and Cassie aren’t going to
let this just go away.”
He sighed. “I’m aware, but you’ve heard my position, which is Aaron, Sophia, and Isaac’s position as well. Your man fucked up. Your organization needs to reevaluate whether you want to continue backing him.”
“Thank you for your time. Please tell Spence I said hello. Have a good evening.”
“Give your boy an extra swat on the ass for me. A good evening to you as well.”
I hung up and looked at Duke, Brain, and Bash. I didn’t say anything, because everything that came to mind sounded too much like I told you so.
When no one said anything for several minutes, I said, “What Abbott didn’t say, is that Dozer’s opinion of me and Matty is likely the same way he feels about Abbott and Spence — also about Isaac, Frisco, and Cam.”
“Most of the really old ones are bisexual,” said Brain. “But they’re also old enough to not give a shit about what a redneck biker thinks of their lifestyle.”
“They care enough to take away our seat at the table,” said Bash.
“It’s a safety thing,” I reminded them. “Their women were put in danger, and there’s no reason to think their boys will be safe around him.”
“It’s also about respect,” Duke said with a sigh. “Most of the supernatural world gives Abbott whatever they have to in order to stay in good standing with him, and we dissed him by putting his business partner’s lover in danger after we’d promised to protect her.”
“Tyler used to insist he be allowed to help guard on Girls Night Out. He’d finally started trusting us, so Viv could have fun without her husband watching in the shadows.” said Bash. “We blew it big time.”
“I shouldn’t have withdrawn so much. I’d have seen this coming, had I known the details,” said Brain.
“What would you’ve done?” asked Duke.
“Recommended we send Dozer to another chapter, perhaps one that’s already voted to keep gay members out, so he wouldn’t run into this again.” He sighed. “It isn’t enough now. Do we have anything Aaron or Abbott wants?”
Razor: Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, Book 11 Page 24