“You see, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I’d much rather it be easy, but if you wanna make it harder on yourself, well, that’s your own damn fault. Where’s Austin?”
He narrows his eyes, lookin’ all confused. “Who the fuck is Austin?”
“The guy that lives here,” I scream. “You know, the one whose parents you killed?”
“I didn’t kill anyone!” he tells me, lookin’ confused.
Jesus. Is this dude as dumb as a doornail? “The young man who lives here, whose parents were killed by someone else.”
He nods his head. “Yeah, yeah. I know who you mean.”
I smack his chest again, urging him to start speaking.
“Why should I tell you where he is? Even if you let me leave with my life, I’m as good as dead. Grizzly will fuckin’ find me and make me pay!” I glance a little lower to see if I can figure out this guy’s road name when I see he’s a prospect. The Bears, for as long as anyone can remember, have never allowed their prospects to have road names. They simply refer to them as what they are and being at the lowest end of the totem pole, they don’t get to put up any sort of fight when it comes to that.
I hear boots crunching the snow and look over to see my brother coming over. He comes right up next to me and notices we have a live one here with us. “He say anything yet?”
“No, I’m workin’ on it. He was just about to tell me where Austin is, and maybe Grizzly too,” I say, lookin’ at the prospect. He knows there’s only one way out of this because he can’t be dumb enough to think anything else.
“Yeah, I was just about to tell him!” The man in the truck says with enthusiasm, but I can still hear that whistling sound with every word that spills from his lips. “He planted him out in a shed on your property, by the clubhouse.”
“What?” I respond, shocked beyond belief. “When? When did Grizzly do that?!”
“This mornin’. He told us to come out here and said he’d be putting Austin right under your nose, that it wouldn’t matter when you were all blown to bits.”
“Motherfucker!” Zane roars out, raising his gun. It happens so quickly but much like the explosion, I see it happen in slow motion. The prospect’s eyes go wide realizing the gun is coming toward him, knowing he can’t do a damn thing. He’s been shot and is already fucked. Based on the wheezing that was coming through him, I know he would’ve slowly lost his life. At least this way, Zane gave him the easy way out. My brother won’t view it that way, though. Instead, he’ll see this as the start of vengeance.
I take my phone out and call Bull, waiting as it rings and continues to ring until there’s no answer. “He didn’t fuckin’ answer,” I tell Zane as our eyes meet and both of us run out of that barn like we’re on fire. There’s only one place we need to be right now— home.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I’ve seen beauty in the people who were called ugly, and I’ve seen the devil in the most angelic faces.”
~ Conny Cernik
Ivy
“Ivy, get your ass up!” Bull roars, opening the door up to my bedroom. The faint smell of sulfur hits my nostrils and I know something is very wrong.
I hop to my feet and slide on socks. “Is the club on fire?!” I scream out, trying to breathe.
“Yeah, now c’mon. I need to get you the fuck out of here before the whole place burns down. I need to get Saffron and Sydney too. They’re in the back. Hammer,” Bull yells his name and a new face I haven’t seen before greets me. “Ivy this is Hammer, he’s a friend of Kade’s and I’m pretty damn sure that he’s going to be a prospect for the club. Hammer, get Ivy outta here.”
“Wait! Can I get some of my shit?”
He looks at me like I’ve lost my god damned mind. “The club is on fuckin’ fire. Fuck no! Get your ass outta here and up to Fist’s before I fuckin’ lose my shit. Hammer, escort her up there and make sure everyone we send up to the house is safe. We have no fuckin’ idea where they are at this point, but the fuckin’ Bears are here.”
My eyes nearly pop out of my head. “What do you mean?” There’s no way that Bull is right. Kade and the rest of the brothers went to go deal with my almost-daddy and their shit. Why would they be here?
“I don’t have time to fuckin’ explain, Ivy. Hammer, get her ass out of here now and don’t you dare leave her side either. If you do, there will be hell to pay and it won’t be from Kade. I’ll be the one skinning your fuckin’ hide!”
Hammer grabs my arm and leads me out of my bedroom. I didn’t even have time to put on shoes. As we venture through the club the air thickens and smoke fills the room. I can tell the fire must be bad because the heat spans across the floorboards and causes my feet to burn. “Ouch!” I yelp, running faster with Hammer.
He turns back to look at me and much to my surprise, he picks me up, darting to the front door. “I didn’t realize you didn’t have any shoes on.” Luckily, the door is wide open as we venture through, out into the cold. I went from being pretty toasty to freezing my damn tits off. I turn back, looking over his shoulder and from the light out in the parking lot, I can see a basement window is broken. No one stays in the basement area, so no one would break it to get out.
Hammer continues to carry me up the hill and to Fist’s house. I grab the door and he puts me down on my feet. I see a couple of the clubwhores in the living room all sitting in a circle, crying their eyes out. Zorro is standing by them with his hand planted firmly on his gun. “Who are they workin’ on getting out now?” Zorro asks Hammer.
“Saffron and Sydney are still inside. Axel and Grim were checkin’ the rest of the club to make sure no one else is inside while Bull gets those two. Have you called the others?”
“Yeah, Ashley is at home with Dex and Noelle. Blackjack installed that safe room not too long ago so they’re all held up there. Roxy is in her basement with the girls hiding until they know it’s safe.”
I think this is the perfect time to bring up the basement window, so I do. “Did you see the window was busted?” I ask the two of them. They share a mutual look.
“What do you mean?” Zorro asks.
I elaborate, “When Hammer was bringing me up here, I saw one of the basement windows was busted. How did the fire even start in the first place? I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Zorro takes a couple steps closer to me. “We don’t know yet. I smelt somethin’ burning and told the brothers. We all split up, I went down to where the girls were and brought them all up here. Bull and Hammer were workin’ on gettin’ you out. Meanwhile, Axel and Grim are working on getting Saffron and Sydney out.” Saffron and Sydney share a room at the back part of the club, away from some of the clubwhores. If I was her, I wouldn’t want my daughter hearing the unmistakable moans of pleasure coming from her friends’ mouths. The questions that could be asked by Sydney would be a horror to explain.
“You said the Bears are here. Where are they? I didn’t see anyone,” I say to the entire room. A couple of the clubwhores look up from the ground, glaring at me. One has short blonde hair and stands straight up, giving me the impression that she’s about to stir up some trouble.
“This is all your fault. If you never came here, our home wouldn’t have burned to the ground!” she screams, tears shooting from her eyes. She comes charging toward me and I yank my hand back and slap it across her face, shaking her dumbass out of whatever she was about to do.
Grinding my teeth, I let my emotions flood over me. “Now listen up, bitch. I don’t know who the fuck you think you are coming at me like that, but remember where you are on the totem pole. You’re at the bottom. You’re nothing but a fucking guppy in this ocean. I’m a piranha, and I’ll tear every bit of flesh off you until there’s nothing left but bone. Do you get me?”
She cackles in my face and Hammer chooses this moment to position himself in between the two of us. “Oh, look at the new boy coming in to protect Kade’s bitch. Do you know how many times I fucked him? How he promised t
o make me his ol’ lady?”
I roll my eyes at what she’s trying to accomplish. This is how all clubwhores are. They think that they can just swoop in and try to threaten a relationship between an ol’ lady and their man. Newsflash, that’s not going to happen here. “Sweetheart, you’re living in the past. Kade stopped fucking you the moment he met me. He told me so, ‘cause I asked him if he had anyone. He told me he had an easy booty call but he was looking for more than that. You need to stay in your lane. You’re not the one with his brand on your back or his child in his womb, so step back, bitch.”
She gasps, balls her hand into a fist, and tries to get past Hammer and come toward me. “You cunt! You stole my man, you stole my fucking life!”
“You don’t own him!” I roar out, allowing my voice to fill this entire house. I’m tired of being the bitch who’s walked all over and I refuse to be her anymore.
Grinding her teeth, she looks like some sort of yippy dog that’s thinking about biting. “I’m gonna get you. I’ll make you pay for this!”
“Whoa, let’s settle down. Shall we?” Hammer steps forward, pushing this woman away from me.
“You don’t know me, prospect. I’ve been here a lot longer than you and my voice deserves to be heard.” Wow. Who the fuck does she think she is?
Zorro snickers from where he’s glancing outside of the window. “Damn, Blossom. You’ve really done it now. Haven’t you?”
“What do you mean?” she asks, narrowing her eyes in on him.
“Really? You’re going to act like you don’t know what the fuck you’ve just done? Not only did you just disrespect Ivy, who’s not only Kade’s ol’ lady, but Fist’s daughter-in-law, and now you want to disrespect Hammer, who is part of our club. We might not have had an official ceremony yet, but he’s one of us. Ivy and Hammer aren’t going anywhere, but the thing is, you sure as fuck are. You’re replaceable, and I can find three other girls to suck cock better than you can. Get the fuck out of here. You’re no longer welcome.”
“What? You can’t do that!” she shouts, looking from the rest of the clubwhores and back to Zorro. “You aren’t Fist or Cracker. They have to kick me out, not you.”
“Who in the fuck told you that? I’m a full patch and if I decide you’re a low life piece of shit who shouldn’t be pestering the club anymore, your ass is gone. I already told you to get lost. So, go.”
“But . . . the Bears are out there somewhere.”
He nods, “Yeah, so you’d better move quickly before they grab ya.”
“Fuck you, and fuck this entire club.” She sneers, walking out the door, slamming it behind her.
“She was a cunt anyway. None of us liked her,” Shiloh, one of the other clubwhores says. A couple of the girls around her nod.
“She’s been pushing buttons for far too long,” Zorro confirms, walking across the living room, into the kitchen.
“Do any of the other guys know what’s happening?” I ask. We haven’t talked about it yet, and I don’t have my damn phone. I left it in my bedroom so it’s as good as gone now. I peer through the blinds and see the entire club is almost up in flames.
“No, Shiloh, can you call Fist and let him know what’s happened? We’re gonna need them to get here as soon as possible.” Shiloh picks up the phone that’s sitting in front of her on the floor and does as Zorro asks of her.
“What is going on? Where are Sydney and Saffron,” I ask, still looking out the window. I see a body, holding something in his arms, rushing up the small hill. “Wait. Who is that?”
“Stay here!” Zorro grumbles out, rushing out the door and down the stairs. Soot covers whoever's face it is and the body he has in his arms is small and frail. Oh, fuck. This has to be Sydney.
Coughing greets my ears. “I have to g-go back. Saffron is still i-inside,” Bull’s hoarse voice states, “Axel and Grim are s-still t-trying to get S-saf.”
“What’s the problem?” Zorro is quick to ask the question that I’m also wondering.
“She can’t g-get out of the c-club, and the w-window is too small to p-pull her through,” Bull says, handing Sydney off to Zorro, before he turns around quickly he heads back down.
“Fuck,” Zorro hollers out, heading back into the house. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
I give him a disturbed look while my heart pumps heavily in my chest. I feel a bit of guilt, thinking that maybe Blossom is right and the only reason the Bears are here is because of me. “How much of that did you hear?” he asks.
“Every single word,” I confess, meeting his eyes with my own. “Can we do anything?”
“I don’t know. Grim, Axel, and Bull will try whatever they can. The rest of the brothers are with Fist and I need to stay up here with y’all and Hammer, makin’ sure nothing happens to you.” Zorro places Sydney down on the couch and darts over into the kitchen, turning on the water.
“I . . . I don’t know, Fist,” Shiloh says into the phone, looking like she’s about to cry. “Zorro just brought Sydney in. She’s a black color now from the smoke,” A few moments pass and Shiloh continues to speak, “She’s breathing but she doesn’t look good. I’m sorry, I don’t know where Saf is.”
Shiloh looks like she’s about to break down, stressing out beyond belief. I don’t know why she looks so distressed, but I have to be missing something here. Are Saffron and Fist in some sort of relationship?
Zorro heads back over pressing a washcloth to Sydney’s face. He clears away the soot on her lips and nose, and tries to clean her off. “C’mon, kid, wake up. Show me you’re gonna be alright.”
“O-okay,” Shiloh puts the phone down on the ground, covering her hands over her face. “He’s so upset. He’s freaking out thinking that Saf is gonna die and he’s not even here. He’s over twenty minutes away!”
“What am I missing?” I ask everyone in the room and the answer that my gut was telling me comes out.
“Fist and Saffron have been seeing each other for a bit. He fuckin’ loves her more than anything on this planet. He told me something else . . . Cracker is dead.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“It’s the ones who are against you who believe in you the most.”
~ NotSalmon.com
Kade
Before we even make it a quarter mile out, the flames are lighting up the early morning sky. It’s a blood orange color, but as we venture closer and turn down the lane, bits of red appear. Smoke can be seen from here seeping up into the air. “Why isn’t the fire department here yet?” I ask Machk, cursing under my breath as I step on the gas.
“We’re just outside of Billings and with the snow, you know they won’t be able to stick to their normal response times. We’ll be lucky if they get here before the entire place is burned to a crisp.” As much as I hate what he’s said, I know he isn’t wrong. It’s going to be a bitch to even get the fire trucks down our lane and onto the gravel parking lot we have.
“Motherfucker, we’re just gonna have to do what we can,” I mutter lowly, slamming my foot down on the gas to get us there as soon as possible.
“There’s no point when the club is probably already too far gone. We need to see if there are any threats and take them down before anyone else dies today.” I nod in agreement with him and park a little ways off from the club. Machk and I both get out of the truck and head off, “The Bear told us that Austin is in a shed. See that building over there?” I point off in the distance, to a shed that’s almost in the middle of the field. “Take someone with you and go over, I just saw Dad run around the back of the club and I’m gonna follow him.”
The two of us split up, heading off in different directions to do what we need to. The snow is heavy as I try to run through it, picking up my feet quicker than I ever have. Of course, we’ve never had a situation like this before. The club is burning and every single moment counts right now. “Dad?” I call out over the rumbling of the fire. It sounds like wood is crackling, making popping noises like you would normally hear in a firepla
ce, only this time our club is the fireplace.
“Saf!” His voice sounds hoarse, even more broken than it did back at the farm where Austin was supposed to be.
Saffron and Sydney share a room on the back end of the club. Last year, we opted to put smaller rectangle like windows near the tops because air was slipping through. It’s ‘cause the windows were old as fuck and needed to be updated. Saffron wanted the smaller windows at a higher point because she has insomnia and if she’s trying to sleep during the day, she couldn’t with massive amounts of light coming through.
I’m looking through her windows right now and while I see they’re all broken, the only thing behind the wood is flames. I can’t see a thing in her room beside them, the fire has taken over the entire club, traveling like a relentless disease ready to kill.
Axel and Grim are standing a few feet away, both covered in a mixture of ash and smoke residue. The two of them look like they’re not quite sure what to do right now and to be honest, I’m in the same predicament they are. I’m still having a hard time processing what the fuck is happening right now.
Grizzly set us up and in my opinion, he was trying to take away the things that were the most important to us— our women.
“Is Saffron . . .” I look to Axel, not able to finish my question, who gives me a firm nod.
Right about now, it looks like he was successful and the only thing I feel right now is worry. I worry because I wonder how this day will impact my father’s life and what’s left of it. He hasn’t just lost his brother, but the woman he planned on spending the rest of his life with. Before this shit with Ivy went down, he confessed how he wanted to lock Saffron down and put a ring on her finger. He hadn’t spoken like that since Mom died, but he told Ashley, Zane, and I.
Chaos: A Reapers MC Boxset Page 14