by Ruin, Olivia
As if that hadn’t been bad enough, Frank had upped the stakes in the midst of the event and made Jed fuck me in the ass. It had been my first and only time experiencing anal, and it had been in front of the entire club with cameras rolling. It was a disgrace and an embarrassment, but I had been so determined to be successful that I had done it.
As part of my deal to keep the club out of prison following the ambush and the subsequent DEA intervention, I had made every single club member delete all copies of the video and swear an oath that they would never speak of it again. Whether they all followed through I wouldn’t know unless the video turned up on the internet, but I had no choice except to trust in the bond that they shared with Jed, their new club president.
“It looks fantastic in here, doesn’t it?” I asked the two men as I approached the bar. “I can’t wait to see what it looks like filled up with club members on a Friday night.”
Nathan gave me a nod as I came up. “Jed and I were just talking about the new recruits. We think it’s about time to bring them on board.”
After the casualties sustained in the multiple attacks a few weeks ago, Jed had decided to open the doors to several of the younger men in town who had grown up with a romanticized view of life in the gang. All they saw was the swagger that the bikers walked with, and they wanted nothing more than to join and emulate their heroes. With the man-power running low, they were about to get their chance.
I looked to Jed for confirmation. Nathan was the vice president now, but I would never take his word when I could get Jed’s.
“It’s true. There’s no point in waiting much longer, although we could put it off if we wanted to. If we were more active right now, it would be more important, but as it stands we need to take in more men.”
I winced. That they weren’t active was mostly my doing. As part of the deal with the DEA, the club had to abstain from any law-breaking activities that weren’t strictly necessary. The target had shifted, and the DEA was out for the really big names in the gun and drug trade.
“You will be active again soon, once we find Frank’s records and know what our next step is. Until we get those we can’t make any moves that we need to because frankly, we don’t know what those moves are yet.”
It wasn’t anything they hadn’t heard already. It seemed as though every day we had the same conversations with the same outcomes. We were stuck until we could find Frank’s files or the information come to us another way.
The conversation continued around the new candidates that they had in mind and how to vet them. Because of the restrictions placed on the gang due to the DEA, they couldn’t do the usual and make them perform acts of petty crime to test their mettle.
I felt as though I had to raise one of the glaring issues I saw cropping up.
“What are we going to tell the newbies about the club involvement with the DEA? It’s not exactly something that we can tell them up front, but it’s also not something that we can divulge and then let them walk away if they decide that they don’t want to get mixed up in this.”
Jed scratched his chin, and his eyes traced a path up and to the right as he thought it over. It was a mannerism that he didn’t even know he had, but I had noticed it and now it gave me a little internal smile every time I saw it.
“I think the only real option is to not tell them at all. They have to think that we are a regular motorcycle club. We’ll just have to tell them that we are mostly above board, which is at least consistent with how I want to run the group.”
Jed had been a firm dissident over the direction that Frank had started to take the gang. It had badly shaken what used to be a close partnership.
“How’s that going to work when we start chasing the really big bad guys?” Nathan asked. “I mean, how do we tell the new guys that we are just a lifestyle club and then go out and start digging into these huge criminal organizations?”
It was a valid point. An extremely valid point. Fuck, why didn’t I think of that before? I may not like Nathan very much due to the history, but there was a reason that he was the vice president and had been the road chief before that. I didn’t have a good answer for him.
“I think we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it,” Jed said. “It should be relatively easy to tell them that the reason we don’t do any of the petty stuff is so we don’t draw attention to our big schemes ever since Frank got nabbed. It will be an easy sell. We don’t need to hammer out every detail this early in the game.”
The tension eased slightly. It wasn’t natural, a government agent working directly with outlaw bikers, but it created possibilities that never existed for the DEA before. And it was all due to me. It was a shame that I’d never be able to take recognition outside of the agency for my part in the massive busts.
The need to keep the Winged Enemy out of the papers to preserve the cover meant that the DEA hadn’t even announced the arrests and bust they made three weeks ago. It was likely that the vague details wouldn’t make their way into a press release until at least ten years down the road.
My cell started to ring; it was my boss, Arnold. I stepped away to answer.
“Hello?”
“Trammel? I don’t have a lot of time right now, but I wanted to tell you before word leaked out in some other way.”
“Sir?”
In spite of the alleged haste that he was under, he hesitated. “Early this morning Frank was murdered in his cell.”
Once the words sunk in I expected to feel something. Anger, relief, even smugness that the source of some pain had been ended. Instead I didn’t feel anything at all. “How did it happen?”
“Another inmate slipped through and stabbed him with a shard of plastic. Right in the neck. As far as we know, there isn’t any sort of connection between this man and Frank, and we haven’t found any evidence of them having any interactions in the prison before this. It must have been an outside hit.”
If the actual news of Frank’s death hadn’t evoked a reaction in me, that did.
“Outside hit, sir? But no one was even supposed to know that he was in there!” I glanced over at the men. They had stopped talking and were looking in my direction.
“We are trying to figure that out. Just make sure you’re on your toes, Trammel.”
The line went dead.
“Was that… was that what I think it was?” Nathan looked shaken.
I grimaced. It was better that they heard it from me now than get it from somewhere else later.
“Frank’s been murdered. It has the hallmark of an assassination. It wasn’t a prison fight gone wrong or anything.”
To my surprise, both men’s faces fell. I was used to Frank being villainized and disliked, so their expressions confused me.
Both men raised their beers and cast their eyes downwards. Then first Jed and then Nathan gulped down the amber liquid in a few quick swallows.
“Frank had taught me how to ride when I was a boy,” Jed said. “There was a time that I would have done anything for him.”
Nathan just shook his head stared at the floor. I could almost feel the memories welling up and filling the room.
“Enough talk,” Jed said, and his look sent a shiver right through me. “Let’s go for a ride.”
NEW GIRL
I hadn’t been on Nightshade for three weeks. It felt so natural to perch on the back seat and cling to Jed’s back, trusting in his prowess and ability.
We cut corners and roared down straightaways, the wind blowing through our clothes. The dry New Mexico heat baked into my bones the way I loved.
I was able to let go and finally just experience something the way it was supposed to be. I could pretend as though things between Jed and me were perfect and we just cruised the road together as we enjoyed the sunshine.
Predictably, Nightshade’s engine started to work its magic. The vibrations found their way up the seat and into my groin the way that I knew they would. I couldn’t help but squeeze my knees tighter
around Jed’s waist as I let myself be carried higher and higher.
Ah, yes!
I quickly approached my peak, the nearness to Jed intensifying the sensations and bringing them much harder and faster than I could manage with only my fingers. Those fingers wrapped themselves in Jed’s jacket, squeezing into his shoulder as my muscles started to spasm.
Fuuuuuck!
Delirious pleasure shot through me, and I almost worried about being able to stay on the bike for a moment before I could regain control of myself. My clit rubbed directly against the seam in my jeans, and the pleasure center quickly pushed me up towards another climax.
Jed continued to blaze along the roads, and I lost track of where we were as a string of climaxes kept me occupied. I wonder if he can track each one by how hard I clamp onto his shoulder and waist. Does he even know what he’s doing to me back here?
We started to slow down, and I raised my head from where it had buried itself in his neck to see why.
There was a bike stopped on the road in front of us coming into town.
It wasn’t one that I recognized. Not that I had all of the bikes of the club firmly memorized, but this one was distinctive in a way that I couldn’t quite place my finger on.
The rider sat astride in an easy stance, waiting for us as we slowed to a stop several feet away.
My breathing still hadn’t recovered from the intense orgasms I’d just experienced, and I struggled to compose myself as I was about to meet someone for the first time.
There was an odd feeling in the air. Jed stayed quiet but his focus never wavered from the rider in front of us.
“Do you know who that is? Did you expect them to come?” I asked Jed. There was something different about this rider.
“Oh, I know who that is. I counted on it.” His voice was unreadable.
A tense silence developed, the new-come rider staring at us through his black visor. That was one big difference, none of the bikers in the club ever wore a helmet when they rode their bikes.
“It’s good to see you again, Jed. It’s been a long time.”
The voice hit me like a physical blow. It was a woman’s voice.
The biker reached up and took off the helmet. Long black hair fell down in waves as she shook it out. She tucked the helmet under her arm and combed the hair into a less unruly mess.
She was gorgeous. I had never seen a woman biker, and I had just assumed that if there were any they would be as beat up and ragged as most of the men were. That was certainly not the case here. This woman could have graced the covers of fashion magazines if she wanted to. Even the way she rocked the leather jacket she was wearing screamed chic.
I disliked her instantly. And it’s not completely because of the way her voice sounded when she spoke Jed’s name. There were times when you could tell there was history between two people just by the first moment that they came in contact with each other, and the signs were all over this setup.
My hands still held onto Jed’s shoulders, and I could feel as they alternatively tightened and relaxed. I wish I could have seen his face as he looked on this mystery woman.
“Leslie,” he said through what sounded like gritted teeth. “Meet Kat. Kat, this is Leslie.”
A broad grin cracked across her face. “Leslie, it’s a pleasure to meet you. And you don’t have to say anything right now if you can’t manage it, I know that Nightshade herself is quite the pleasure.”
My face burned. This woman’s first impression of me was that I must be some bimbo who rode along with Jed and came fiercely on the back of his bike. The fact that it was true made it that much more embarrassing.
This is so brutal. Who the hell is this woman? And why does she know how great of a ride Nightshade really is? It made me wonder how many woman Jed had taken on the back of his black bike.
“I’m fine, really. It’s great to meet you, Kat.” I had to say something, but after a wan greeting I was at a loss at what else to say.
She had stopped paying attention to me anyway, eyes clearly locked on Jed’s face.
“You’re looking well.” At least Jed didn’t sound completely enthused to see this woman, whoever she was. “Did you have to come far?”
“I’ve been floating around here and there,” she said. “Just so happened that it was closer than I’ve been since I left.”
“Well, it’s good that you’ve come. There’s a spot if you want it, we could use the hands.”
“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear those words, Jed.” A soft silence rose between them.
Wait. Did he just offer her a spot in the club? Just like that? It was unbelievable, he just let the first woman he came across on the road into the club. I tried to bury the resentment and frustration at this gorgeous woman coming into my turf. A woman with obvious history with Jed.
I wanted to say something, but I didn’t know what. I needed to interject myself in the conversation some way, let them know that I was here, was relevant. For all that my arms and knees wrapped around Jed, I was a world away to the two bikers.
I opened my mouth to speak, when Jed’s cell went off from his belt. It was the ringtone he used for Nathan.
“Let me get this,” he said to her. “Hello? Patty? You’re sure? We’ll meet you there.”
He hung up and replaced the phone in its holster. He looked back over his shoulder at me.
“We found Patrick.”
ACCIDENT
Patrick had gone missing a few days before. It was assumed by most of the club members that he had gone riding off to one of his many mistresses in the neighboring towns. Jed said that sometimes he wasn’t seen for weeks at a time, but he always turned up eventually. It was a bit of an ongoing joke that the club’s secretary was the most unreliable one of the lot; but he had earned his spot with the brass through years of loyalty and a quick mind.
We only had to ride for a few minutes before we got to the scene. Nathan was already there, as well as a few other members in their colors. The men stood at the side of the road staring into the ditch.
Nightshade rumbled to a stop alongside the other bikes. Kat rolled in just beside us.
Long skid marks scraped deep gouges into the pavement of the road in mostly straight lines towards the ditch. At the bottom of the gully laid the remains of Patrick’s mangled bike and even more torn up body.
Despite the scenes I had seen both in training and in the field as an agent, bile rose to the back of my throat when I peered around Jed’s shoulder. This wasn’t a fresh accident. Patrick’s body had been there for at least a couple days, bloating under the sun, picked at by scavengers. It was not a pretty sight.
“Ah, fuck. That’s Patrick Jenkins?” Kat stood at Jed’s other elbow, close to his side. They even looked like a natural pair. I fought down the anger. She obviously knew the members of the club fairly well, the other men didn’t even question her presence.
“Yes, he disappeared a few days ago. We didn’t think much of it, you know Patrick.” Jed joined the other men in silent observation, as though they expected the dead man to jump to his feet and salute.
Buzzards crowed overhead, displeased at being disturbed from their feast. One of the bikers absentmindedly took his gun and shot it in the middle of the flock. A bird tumbled out of the sky and the rest bolted.
“What are you thinking, Nathan?” Jed asked.
The older man shifted to his right foot. “I think it’s pretty obvious. Patty had a little too much to drink, and instead of taking it easy and sleeping it off, thought he’d go up north and visit that cute little thing at the gas station there that he had a thing with. Wasn’t paying attention, something happened, he went down bad.”
Jed nodded but kept staring at his friend’s decomposing body. I had seen him like this before, twice. Once was after a number of his friends died in the attack on the Devil’s Roost that I had almost died in as well, and the next was after the big ambush by the Las Cruces.
Nathan looked over a
t him. I could tell that the same thought crossed his mind. “You think it’s foul play.” He made it a statement.
With his fingers tapping on his chin, Jed nodded. “It has to be. You knew Patty. We all did. He would be safer on his bike when he was drunk than he would in his own bed. Nothing would make him go down unless he didn’t have a choice.”
“Come on Jed!” Nathan said. “You saw the marks on the road. It looks like a classic case of Nathan caring more about his drink and his women than caring for his bike. The skid marks are exactly what you’d expect to see if a tire blew going too fast. There’s nothing you can do at that point. Anyone would be lucky to escape with their lives in that situation, and as much as it pains me, Patty just wasn’t lucky enough. Not that day.”
A couple of the other men nodded. It was a reasonable explanation. Without a forensics team out here to take samples and render their opinions, I couldn’t help either. Dead people and what killed them were not my specialty.
“Hey Jed, relax,” Kat said. “Why don’t you take me to the Roost and show me the renovations. I heard it’s completely revamped now. I knew you’d be making some changes without Frank around to hold you back, but I didn’t think you would mess with the Roost. We had some fun there back in the day.”
The soothing sound of her voice broke into Jed’s gloomy mood. He gave one last hard look at Patrick’s body and then turned away. “It looks great, Kat. Wait until you see it. Nathan, you got this?”
“Go on, we’ll take care of it from here.”
The federal agent in me burned as I saw the bikers start to go about cleaning up the body. It should be reported to the appropriate authorities and taken care of officially, but I didn’t want to take this moment to remind everyone that I wasn’t really one of them. Especially with Kat there, who didn’t know about my secret.