by Jordan Marie
“He attacked… attacked me!” she cries, taking a deep breath between the broken words. A shudder goes through her body and I pull back to look at her. She’s been beaten. Not horribly, but someone’s definitely left signs on her.
“Who did this to you?”
“I don’t know! He was wearing a vest like yours, except it had… it had Chrome Saints on it. He was big and had blonde hair…”
Viper. Motherfucker! Does he know of the attack his father and I are planning against Colin next week? Had my men slipped up on doing recon? Or was it the mole I have in the group? Who the fuck is it? Briar? He, Torch, and Beast are the only ones who knew…
“Skull, he said to tell you that next, he’s coming after your daughter. He was crazy. He said you turned his father against him.”
“Viper? Did he say his name was Viper?”
“I don’t know! I was so scared!”
“It’s okay, querida. It’s okay. Where were you when he attacked? Do you know where he is now?”
“It was at the parking garage at the hospital. I was so scared, amante! He left me alone after I promised to come straight to you with his message, but…”
“But?” I prompt her, my mind going over the options in my mind. I can’t go back to my club first. Chances are, whoever the mole is will warn Viper we’re coming. He’ll never suspect me coming immediately on my own, and Torch and Beast will have the men follow me. That way, even with a mole, I’ll have more on my side. It’s my best chance.
“I followed them after they left. They’re at that strip joint on Old Mill road, the one that shut down last month.”
“How did you follow without them seeing you? Especially since you’re so distraught?” Beth asks.
I get that she’s jealous, and I wish I had time to work this out, but I don’t. The quicker I can hit Viper, the better. I don’t want to give them more time to prepare because I’m sure Viper will know I’m coming after him. The moment he brought my daughter into it, his fate was sealed.
I turn to her. “Beth?”
“Here, lover,” she says sweetly—way too sweetly. Shit.
“You get our daughter and Teena back to the club, make sure you are safe. I’m heading after Viper. This fucking shit will end today.”
“Skull!” she protests. “You can’t just go! You’re probably walking into a trap!”
“She’s right, amante! You must be safe. I couldn’t take anything happening to you,” Teena adds in.
How did I not notice her voice was so annoying before?
“I’ll be fine, Beth,” I tell her, ignoring Teena’s plea. “You head straight back to the club. Tell Torch and Beast only what’s going on. That way, they will only be ten minutes behind me at the most. Can you do that?”
“Damn it, Skull! This is crazy. Aren’t you the same man who preached to me about charging head first and…”
I walk to her, holding her shoulders tight.
“Beth. I’ve got this. Plans were already in place to take Viper out. This just speeds it up so we can concentrate on our wedding. Trust in me, mi cielo. I. Got. This. You just get you and our daughter safe and send Torch and the boys, si?”
“If you get hurt, I’ll never forgive you,” she whispers, tears in her eyes.
“I’ll be careful.”
“I love you,” she whispers again, kissing the side of my face gently. I grab her face and hold it.
“That’s not how you kiss your man, mi cielo,” I tell her before claiming her mouth in a hard, quick kiss that can’t leave any question in her mind that I need her. When we break apart, I go to my truck and get my gun that I keep in the dashboard. Beth doesn’t say anything else. She just stands there and watches as I leave.
“Be safe!” she calls just as I jump into Teena’s truck, slamming the door.
I plan on it. I also plan on ending this shit once and for all. With any luck, the bastard will have Colin right there for me to kill, too. I want this shit done and over. I have a life to live and a woman to finally fucking marry.
I watch Skull leave in a cloud of dust. The first thing I’m going to do when this is over is tell him about his free use of the word querida. I know it’s a throwaway endearment, but hearing him use it with her makes me want to knee him in the crotch and scratch her eyes out. I watch until the truck disappears and then I turn to look at the bitch. Riding in the car with her even in the ten minutes it’s going to take to get back to the club is going to kill me. I’m already jogging to the vehicle. We need to hurry and get Skull help.
“Let’s go!” I call, then gasp when she grabs me from behind, her long nails biting into my shoulder. Seriously how does a doctor keep such long nails? “What are you doing?” I growl, jerking around.
I don’t have time to duck before her fist plows into my face.
Son of a bitch! Katie will scream at me for a fucking month for being so stupid. I shake my head, trying to escape the effects. Whatever else this bitch is, she can throw a punch.
She’s on me quickly, grabbing me by the hair. She pulls me hard, but before she can punch me again, I throw an elbow into her. I try to angle up, hoping to hit her throat, but have no such luck; my elbow catches her boobs instead. Jesus! How did Skull keep from getting smothered in those damn things?
Then I think of how she slept with my man, and I remember exactly how much I hate her.
“You bitch! You should have stayed gone! You ruined everything!”
I break away from her, knowing that it cost me a hell of a lot of hair.
“What are you talking about??” I shout back. “You fucking loon! You were the one sleeping with my man!”
I dodge a punch. I could strike her, but I’m letting her wear herself out a little bit. She’s got a heavy punch, but she hasn’t had training, as is evidenced by the fact that she’s swinging wildly. I remember what my instructor always told me about channeling rage: the best thing to do is use your opponent’s weakness to your advantage. Besides, making her madder will only be more fun for me.
“I had him right where I wanted him, until you had to show back up,” she growls, then swings at my stomach. I can’t dodge that, but I kind of block it, then quickly grab her arm and twist it hard. She jerks away, but I can tell by the way she moves it that I did a little damage.
“Skull would have never been yours. You were just an easy lay to pass the time. If you think by attacking me that you’ll ever get him back, that peroxide you use on your hair is destroying your brain cells.”
“I don’t want him, you idiot! I have a man!”
Whoa… What?
“If you have a man, then what the fuck are you doing?”
“Delaying you!” she brags, throwing another punch.
This one is aimed directly at my face. I’m so stunned by her answer, I almost let her hit me. I swing the opposite direction at the last second and connect my own fist into her stomach.
“You set Skull up?? Why? I thought you cared about him!” I huff, deciding I’ve played this game too long. If Skull is going into a trap, I can’t waste time.
“I can’t stand him. My man needed a way to keep tabs on him so his club could beat Skull’s out of business. Skull made it so fucking easy. All I had to do was dye my hair like yours, wear those pathetic dresses you used to wear all the time, and act like a stupid kid and he couldn’t chase me fast enough.”
“Your boyfriend sent you to sleep with Skull to keep tabs on him? God, you’re even more sickening than I thought!”
I charge into her, pushing her back against the car. I hear Gabby crying for me and my heart breaks. She has to be scared. God, I have to hurry here. Teena grabs my hair again, because apparently that’s the only real move she knows. I do the same, even though it disgusts me. I can just hear my trainer now telling me how pathetic I am to be fighting like a little girl.
Still, he had another motto: whatever works.
And when she screams like someone is killing her, it seems to be working. “Let me gu
ess. Viper is your boyfriend?” I ask her, breathing hard. Apparently, I’m in horrible shape since I quit working out.
“Listen to you. ‘Boyfriend’. You really are stupid. He’s my old man!” Teena huffs, swinging wildly once again, but unable to hit me because I have such a tight hold on her hair that she’s bent sideways.
Gabby’s crying grows harder, so I do the only thing I can: I ram Teena’s face into the fender of the truck. Teena falls back hard. I let her hair go and she slams into the ground. I stomp on the side of her face. Not classy of me at all, but it makes me feel good.
I look up as tires screech. Katie’s pulled up in her jeep. She’s out before I can even wipe the blood off my face. Damn. I guess Teena’s last hit was pretty good. I kick her face again. She’s out. It’s not like she’ll know, and again, it makes me feel better.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Katie, rushing to check on Gabby. “Mommy’s here, baby,” I tell her, handing her Bingo Bear, her favorite toy.
“Mommy fight!”
“Just for a little bit, but it’s okay now.”
“Mommy boo-boo? Need band-baid!”
“Aunt Katie will give me one. I’ll be right back.”
“I saw on the camera that Skull left, but when you didn’t show up, I got worried. I never did trust that cunt waffle,” Katie growls, then kicks Teena in the face herself. Since she’s wearing boots and kicked a lot harder, even I wince when her foot hits.
“Where’s your gun and keys?”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Skull’s walking into a trap. I’m going to go try to stop him while you get Torch and the boys and deal with her.”
“Come back to the club with me and we can get Torch and the boys to handle it all. You can’t risk yourself, and if you get caught, Skull won’t be able to keep his head about him.”
“Give me your gun and keys, Katie. You know damn well if it was Torch, you would be the same way.”
“Bethie…”
“You’re wasting time, time we don’t have.”
“Torch is going to kill me, and if he doesn’t, then Skull will finish the job,” she grumbles, begrudgingly handing me her keys. “The gun’s in the glove box. Extra bullets are there, too.”
“You got your phone to call for help?”
“I do. You just be safe,” she says, already dialing the phone.
I run to the jeep, praying I know what I’m doing. I vaguely know where the place is that Teena sent Skull; I just hope I’m not too late. I head out on the road with one last glance in my rearview mirror of Katie kicking Teena while she’s on the phone.
If I wasn’t worried to death, I would smile.
All the time I’m driving on Old Mill, I replay things in my mind. Maybe I’m letting Beth’s mistrust of Teena get to me, but something just isn’t ringing true. Her face seemed too controlled, even when she was supposed to be in a panic.
With that in mind, I stop about three miles down the road from the strip joint. If I am walking into a trap, I sure as hell don’t need to make it too easy for them. I know Beth, and she’ll get Torch and them out here fast. She won’t take a chance of being too late; I can depend on her.
I fought against her pull at first, knowing she was way too young for me. Some things you just can’t fight, though you want to. She’s grown up over the last three years. I’ve seen it in her, and she survived shit I can’t even imagine a young girl having to face. That’s how I know she’ll do whatever she has to now to keep her family together. I get out of the truck, carefully closing the door. I’ll walk and come up on the place from the east and hopefully have enough time to scope them out before making a move. Even better, by then Torch and Beast will be here.
It doesn’t take long to jog to the edge of the property that surrounds the strip joint. There are three cars in the parking lot and two bikes. I’d like to think that means there are only five people inside, but I somehow think that would be the wrong assumption.
I’m just about to make my move when I hear the voices. They’re coming from my left side and they’re whispering, but I can hear them pretty plainly, which tells me they are close. I look around for a place I might find cover. There’s not much to choose from: a rock or a tree, neither of which are extremely wide. I finally vote for the old oak tree, stepping behind it, my hand going to my gun. I click off the safety and wait.
“You really think this guy is dumb enough to come here and face us on his own?”
“Who knows? Viper says he will. I’m not about to chance it, though, which is why I’m carrying this instead of that damn thing you have,” the other guy says, holding up a semiautomatic rifle. The other guy is carrying a pistol. I’d like to be able to take them both out at once, but I don’t see how that’s going to be possible. If I let them pass me and attack from behind, I have to worry about the assholes shooting right away and giving my location up. I can’t afford a swarm of them all at once.
I wait until they pass me, then carefully make my way to stand a few feet behind them.
“You got two choices,” I announce to their backs. “Drop your weapons and put your hands up where I can see them, or take a bullet in the back of your brain.”
“Fuck!” one of them groans, but they don’t make a move to do what I say.
“You’re wasting time and I’ve got an itchy trigger finger,” I warn them.
“Hey man, we don’t want to die. We were paid for this shit,” one of them says, still not putting his gun down. “We just needed money to feed our families.”
I see the other one in my peripheral vision tightening his finger on the trigger. This isn’t going easily, and I knew it wouldn’t.
I just hoped.
I fire a round in the back of one of the motherfucker’s heads, and he falls dead. The guy beside him jumps when blood splatters from the shot, his friend dropping to the ground. He drops his gun and puts his hands up quickly.
Idiots. They don’t think I see the fucking jackets they’re wearing? “Check for their families.” Christo! I drop him too, because I know if the motherfucker gets free, he’s just going to come after me. I can’t take a chance on any of these twisted fuckers who have aligned with Colin. Their fates were sealed when they joined forces with that motherfucker.
I can’t risk anything now that I have Gabby and Beth.
My life has never been for the weak, but I’m getting motherfucking tired of all this shit. It was different when I felt I had my brothers at my back. Now, I have no idea if they’re there to help or there holding a fucking knife.
I drag the bodies off behind the trees for the crows and vultures. There’s no sense in broadcasting my arrival too soon. I worried enough that they’ve heard the shot. Once I have that taken care of, I approach the building.
I can hear the music blaring immediately. It’s no fucking wonder they couldn’t hear the shots. Pendejos!
I walk around the club, doing my best to stay close to the sides and ducking away from the windows. I spot a window cracked in a bathroom. Mierda! It’s like they’re making it too easy. Maybe they are.
I thought Torch and the boys would have been here by now. I look in the windows a little more. Besides Viper, I see that fucker Colin inside. I hate that he’s still breathing air. I have pictured myself squeezing the life out of him, breath by fucking breath. Now that he’s this close, my fingers are itching to try it.
I wait a few more minutes. When there’s no sign of the cavalry, such as they are, I decide to just charge ahead and let the chips fall where they may. I’ll never get a better chance to take out Colin than I will right now, and I can’t afford to let that fall through my fingers.
I need to do this to avenge Beth. If I die, at least I’ll take Colin with me. With that thought, I hoist my body up and slip through the window.
“I got this. Trust me,” he had said. If we survive this, I may kill him.
Now I know how he felt when he found me at Matthew’s cabin. Right no
w, I’m dealing with two main fears. The main one being: I’m too late to keep Skull from going into a trap.
The second is: I can’t remember where this damn place is.
My nerves are on a thin string and I feel like I’m going to crack at any minute. It would help if the old country roads here had clear road signs. Half of them are missing, or heck, maybe were never there to begin with. Some have sadly been the target for bullets and the writing can no longer be read. Because I’m not sure of where I’m going, I’m having to drive a lot slower than Skull, too.
I pass the small road before I realize it. Luckily, I see the old barn with a mallard painted on it. I remember that from when Skull and I drove out here. I make a U-turn and find the small road I just passed, and sure enough, there’s a small pale green sign that says “Old Mill Rd.” right there with vines growing on it. I drive even slower on this road, looking along the side of the road for any sign of Skull—or anyone, for that matter, because I’m not sure what to expect.
I see a flash of blue and slam on my breaks. Teena’s old truck. When I get my man back, I’m going to set that bitch on fire just to watch it burn. The only thing that would make it more fun would be having Teena inside of it. I pull Skull’s truck alongside of the bitch’s, then take off on foot, gripping my gun tightly. I keep moving north, just like the road goes, figuring that will take me to the strip joint. After about twenty minutes, I’ve decided that I am way too out of shape for this shit. I’m so focused on looking around me that I almost fall when my feet run into… a body.
I scream before I can stop myself. I clap my free hand over my mouth, especially when I see the second body. I can only assume that this is my man’s handiwork. Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with a nice, boring accountant?
I break through the timber and see the building which has a big sign of a woman with large boobs that are covered up with peaches. Above her in neon colors, it proclaims the place to be: The Juggling Peaches. I shake my head, then wonder why it’s lit-up if the place is out of business. I don’t guess that matters. I wonder why a place with such a great name didn’t have a booming business, sarcastic bitch that I am.