Full Heat: A Brothers of Mayhem Novel

by Carla Swafford

  After a few minutes, the outside dusk to dawn lights clicked on, and Storm stood in the shadows. He’d learned to never stand out in the light alone. It made him an easy target.

  The clubhouse sat in the middle of a street lined with warehouses. In fact, it used to be a produce warehouse back in the eighties and had been empty ever since. Most of the warehouses were abandoned, but the few that weren’t had traffic Monday through Friday up to five in the afternoon and rarely on weekends. So when he heard the roar of an engine flying down the road between the buildings, his ears perked up. The pizza guy wouldn’t be going that fast.

  Then he saw it as it shot by. The black sedan from last night.

  The car swerved, and the sedan’s rear end knocked over a bike, causing several more to keel over. The Brother on guard duty shouted and a window on the sedan’s passenger side lowered.

  “Get down!” Storm warned.

  Two shots buzzed by. He hoped like hell the Brother had ducked in time.

  As if a fire alarm had sounded, Mayhem Brothers streamed out of the clubhouse. Men ran to the overturned bikes. The ones resting against one another as if they were fallen dominoes were quickly assessed for damage. Others scrambled to start their bikes and chase after the assholes.

  Cussing echoed around Storm as he stooped over to check on the guard. The man’s whole body shook.

  “What happened, boss?” Wolf helped Storm lift the big guard to his feet. Big Tom had a skinned elbow and that was it.

  “Thirty-Second. The motherfuckers are asking for it,” Speed said from behind Storm. “Whose bikes did they get?”

  “So far looks like just the ones from Razz’s chapter. They were the last to come in.”

  “Pity.” Speed’s tone wasn’t sympathetic.

  No surprise there. Whatever was between those two, Storm wanted to stay out of it. He had enough problems on his plate and one of them just walked up.

  “Aren’t you going after them, boy?” Easy snarled.

  “Razz and some of his Brothers will probably catch up with them.” Storm crossed his arms, hoping the old man got the hint to stay out of it.

  “This is your territory. It should be your people running down those assholes.”

  The old man wouldn’t shut up. The glances he received from the Brothers milling around warned if he didn’t nip it in the bud, more trouble could brew.

  Storm grabbed his old man by the T-shirt and slammed him into the wall. Nose to nose, he said, “You forget who runs this chapter. Your days are long gone. I’m boss of this chapter and you better not forget it again.”

  Knowing the bastard wanted him to lose control in front of Speed, Storm fought the urge to punch him in the gut and bust a few ribs. No matter how good it would feel, it wouldn’t be worth it in the end, if he lost the chapter. Brothers never fight Brothers. He sure would love to make this one exception.

  “Is there a problem here?” Speed’s voice came from behind.

  “No. Just clearing the air.” He released the old man’s shirt and caught sight of a van pulling up. A big pizza painted on the side caught several of the Mayhem Brothers’ attention.

  With a wave, Storm shouted, “Time to eat!”

  He went to pay the guy as the pizzas were handed out. In no time, he was headed inside and up the stairs with a pepperoni pizza and a liter bottle of soda for Mary Jane. She was probably hungry.

  Whenever Razz and his men returned, Wolf would come and get him.

  Time to make sure Mary Jane understood what would be happening tomorrow. A run to the Smokies could be rough to handle for first-timers.

  He bet she tasted damn fine in the mountain air.

  —

  Mary Jane stared out into the waning light as she listened on the iPhone to what her lawyer had done that day. No word about a suspect per the Sheriff’s Department, but they were still questioning anyone who owed Jimmy money or did business with him.

  Once again she heard the popping of fireworks. Her eyes searched the almost black sky. No other colors than those brought on by nature at dusk. Why was someone shooting off fireworks in September?

  Her lawyer continued the report. “After the coroner called me, I arranged for Sunset Funeral Home to pick up his body. As you know, he didn’t have any children and no close relatives. His ex-wives have no authority.” As Jimmy’s lawyer had proven the day he’d died, she was nothing but efficient.

  “Thank you so much, Heather, for handling this for me.”

  “Don’t think anything of it. I’m glad to help. Jimmy was a good man and smart to have everything arranged in case of his death. His body will be cremated and placed in the Columbarium at Sand County Memory Gardens. He set up a fund for a memorial service. Uh, Mary Jane, you know how eccentric Jimmy could be.” Heather’s tone softened as if she was about to spill bad news.

  “Eccentric is Southern for crazy.” She caught her sad smile in the glass. She’d loved that unpredictable man. “What did he do?”

  “He named the place he wanted the memorial held. Time and date at your discretion.”

  The lawyer’s pause caught her attention.

  “And?”

  “The Skull and Bones Bar.”

  Unable to hold it back, Mary Jane laughed. Yes. She loved that man.

  “Bet he decided that last year when he was investigating the club,” she stated.

  Heather sighed. “Right. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wanted to be with ‘people who were free to ride in the wind.’ Jimmy’s words.”

  Mary Jane heard a little sniffle. Every woman Jimmy came in contact with fell for his charm. There was a good reason he had five ex-wives.

  “I’ll check with the local president of the club and see if he’ll agree to it.”

  “Agree to what?” a deep voice asked behind her.

  Mary Jane spun around.

  Storm stood in the open doorway with a pizza in one hand and a liter of soda in the other. She couldn’t decide what she was the happiest to see, Storm or the pizza. She was starving for both, and the basil and pepperoni scents floating to her increased her hunger tenfold.

  Without taking her eyes off his face, she said to Heather, “I’ll let you know when. Thank you for all of your help. You’re the best.” Then she pressed the red button on the phone’s screen.

  The curiosity on Storm’s face changed to suspicion. Did she catch a dash of jealousy? She blinked. No one had ever cared enough about her to be jealous. Examining his expression more closely, she decided she’d misread him. She was aware their time together would last only as long as the Thirty-Second gang held on to their vendetta or Storm tired of her. She certainly would never tire of him. Maybe what they say about a woman’s first lover was true. That he always held a piece of her heart. That had to be right if the man knew what he was doing in bed. Regardless of his first painful thrust, Storm had ensured that she’d orgasmed several times after that.

  From what she’d heard over the years, not many men cared enough or knew how to satisfy a woman.

  She watched as Storm cleared off the coffee table, opened the pizza box, and used his large hands to carefully place a slice on a napkin, leaving it in front of the other recliner. Were all bikers as considerate as he was? She doubted it. She couldn’t picture Easy or Speed treating her like that.

  Once again, she found herself thinking about Jimmy, the only man besides her father who’d always treated her with respect. Jimmy and her grandfather had served in the Army together during Desert Storm. Her granddad had died in battle the day before he was to return home. Her dad had told her that Jimmy had shown up the day of her grandfather’s funeral and spent the winter months with them every year afterward. Jimmy taught her so much about the outside world during the times he came to visit her family and after she moved into his house.

  Before she teared up thinking about Jimmy’s death, she lifted the slice and began eating. She closed her eyes and moaned. She loved the stuff.

  “Did you know I never had p
izza until I went to live with Jimmy at nineteen?”

  The creaking of the leather in the other recliner assured her Storm hadn’t left.

  “Was he your uncle?”

  She opened her eyes and did her best to smile. “No. No relation. But he was like a grandfather to me.” Her voice broke. Breathing deep, she took another bite. “Everything okay with your club?” Changing the subject would help curb any tears.

  Storm quit chewing and looked at her. “Nothing to worry about. Tomorrow, we’re going on a run to the Smokies.” He stared a little longer and then reached for the remote and turned on the TV. “You’re going with me.”

  His tone warned her he wouldn’t listen to any argument.

  Should she go? She had so much to do. Her lawyer could only do so much. Heather was handling the transition of the NASCAR team’s ownership. And sure, her operations manager was handling the everyday tasks for the motorcycle shops. She was grateful he could be trusted and didn’t need her looking over his shoulder. The thought of going into the office without Jimmy was too upsetting at this point. Maybe a trip on the back of a bike to the mountains would be perfect.

  “Okay. What are we going to do when we get there?”

  “We’ll party all weekend.”

  She widened her eyes in mock surprise. “But isn’t that what you do here all the time?”

  “Not exactly. You’ll like this. You’ll see more on the back of a bike than you would in any cage.”

  She nodded. Cage was biker slang for car, she remembered. Traveling on a motorcycle sounded like fun. She’d lived in the mountains but really never traveled around. Anyway, having his hips between her knees for hours appealed to her. She did her best to hide her smirk.

  “Okay. What else?”

  “We’ll fuck in the woods.” The devilish look he gave took her breath away.

  “Okaaay. I get the idea. All the same stuff but in a new locale.” She bit the side of her mouth to keep from grinning.

  “Correct,” he said, his tone sharp.

  So, he had no sense of humor when it came to a run either. Mary Jane filed that for later. She hoped there would be many laters.

  “One more question,” she said.

  He regarded her with a raised brow.

  “Can we do a small detour to visit my parents and spend one night?”

  “Parents? Why the fuck would you want to do that?”

  Considering his relationship with his father, she understood his abhorrence.

  “I think you’ll like my dad,” she said. And she meant it.

  He stared for a few minutes before he said, “Would your dad like the man who is fucking his daughter?”

  Her face heated. She wasn’t angry at his bluntness. Her plainspoken parents treated it as an art form. But what he’d said—that hadn’t even crossed her mind. She dropped her gaze to the half-eaten pizza in her hand.

  “When you say it like that, probably not. As long as we don’t do it in front of him, I’m sure everything will be fine.” She peeked up at him and fought a giggle. No need to rile the big manly biker.

  The quirk of his lips showed how much he wanted to laugh too. She was making headway.

  “We’ll see. I have certain things to handle first,” he said simply.

  “I need to tell them about Jimmy.”

  “Call them.”

  It was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

  He stared at her for a moment without saying a word. Then he nodded. “Naturalists. Commune. Right. No phones.”

  “Correct,” she teased, using his earlier answer.

  The stampede of boots pounding up the steps warned Mary Jane that their little private chat was over. She hated that. Though she’d much rather have his hands all over her, she enjoyed finding out more about him and his life. Of course listening to his deep voice was no hardship.

  A fist banged against the door and brought Storm straight out of his chair. He opened the door.

  “Boss, you better come. They’re going to kill him, and there’re too many witnesses if that happens.” Panic widened Wolf’s eyes and most of the color drained from his face. Two other Mayhem Brothers stood behind him, nodding their heads. “Speed is egging him on.”

  “I’m not going to ask who. I fucking know the answer already.”

  Chapter 10

  Mary Jane stood several feet behind Storm as he confronted his father and Speed, surrounded by a crowd of shouting Brothers.

  “Hey, honey, come over here with us. You don’t want to be in the middle of those testosterone-fueled lunatics.” The brunette she’d seen earlier hanging on Wolf stood at the end of the bar with the other women, waving her over.

  Considering what had happened earlier in the evening, she was surprised one of them would be so friendly. She moved over and stood next to her. They were in a pretty good spot. A handful of the Brothers sat on the stools, letting the women see through the small break between their broad shoulders. Giving the woman a smile of thanks, Mary Jane turned to see what was happening.

  In the middle of the floor, a man with his hands and feet tied to a chair rested his chin on his chest. What she could see of his face was bloody and bruised. His hair was matted with blood and hung over one eye, which was swollen shut.

  “Oh, fuck, that’s Toro’s cousin, Angel Garcia,” the brunette whispered. “Toro is the leader of the Thirty-Second gang. He’s a mean son of a bitch. He’s not going to like that the Brothers have beaten on his cousin. A shame about Angel. He was so good-looking, not to mention he has a rockin’ body. I guess there won’t be much left after the Mayhem Brothers are finished with him.”

  Mary Jane watched with her stomach turning as Easy lifted the man’s head by the hair and hit him.

  “Quit playing dead and answer our questions,” Easy ordered between clenched teeth. The man remained limp. Easy backhanded him.

  “Get back!” Storm shoved people out of the way, making a path. “Step away, Easy. This isn’t your job. The Skull and me can take care of this.”

  Mary Jane was so relieved that Storm was putting a stop to the craziness.

  “Sure.” Easy raised his hands and moved back. “Let’s see your interrogation skills,” he said, the sneer in those words obvious as he crossed his arms.

  The cold and furious look Storm gave his father sent chills down Mary Jane’s back.

  Storm stooped down and examined the stranger’s face.

  “Fuck! This is Angel Garcia.” Storm stood and glanced around. “Was he driving?”

  Razz eased into the circle. “No. Passenger. They wrecked and the driver jumped out and hightailed it down an alleyway and disappeared. We searched but didn’t find him. This one had been knocked out in the crash.”

  “Untie him.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Speed pulled a gun out and aimed it at the unconscious man. “He deserves to die. Damaged our property, shot at a Brother, plus all the fucking trouble they’ve caused us the last ten years. He’s high enough in the Thirty-Second ranking to do some damage. Killing him will make it worthwhile for them to stay out of our way!” He double fisted the handle and eyed the sight down the barrel.

  Storm stepped in front of Speed’s target.

  Her heart pounded in fear. What was he thinking? Did he have a death wish?

  “Get the fuck out of the way, Storm!” The Skull’s face turned bright red. Mary Jane was certain he was about to have a heart attack.

  “If you wound or kill him, we might as well hire our own bodyguards. The Thirty-Second’s boss will never rest until we’re all dead or we kill them. I sure as hell don’t want to go back to the pen.” Storm towered over the older man with his fists at his sides.

  Noise from behind the crowd near the door brought everyone’s attention around.

  “Code red! The fucking cops are here,” Cutter said in a firm voice to be heard over the crowd.

  —

  Everyone scrambled to hide their dope and weapons. Two of the Mayhem Broth
ers picked up Angel, chair and all, and rushed to take him out of sight to the basement. Storm and Speed headed for the front door. They wanted to make sure the cops didn’t have a reason to enter.

  “Hi there, Jameson. What brings you to visit us?” Storm stepped in front of the Sand County sheriff’s deputy, blocking his way into the building. Though Brook Hill was a suburb of Sand City, neither town had a police force and depended on the sheriff’s department for protection.

  “There was a report of gunfire. You wouldn’t know anything about it, would you?” The deputy grinned.

  Storm and Jameson had a mutual agreement to lie to each other and keep the peace. They didn’t like each other but found the arrangement mutually beneficial. Storm didn’t want the cops bothering his Brothers or the clubhouse every day. And Jameson preferred to be left alone so he could visit his girlfriend while he was on duty so his wife wouldn’t know. Storm had no respect for the asshole, but he did make life easier. Thanks to him, there were no interfering cops snooping around.

  “No. Not at all,” Storm said. “Maybe someone heard a car backfiring when it passed by. You know how noisy those pieces of shit can be.”

  “I bet you’re right.” The deputy sneered and looked over Storm’s shoulder. “Well, hello. I haven’t met you before.” He held out a hand to Mary Jane.

  Storm wanted to knock the deputy on his ass. The thought of that sleaze putting his hands on her made him sick. He moved in front of her, facing down Jameson.

  “She’s my old lady.” He reached back and pulled her into his side, placing his arm over Mary Jane’s shoulders. Strangely, it felt right.

  “Touchy, touchy.” Jameson laughed and turned around, waving to the other deputies to follow him. “Tell your gang to keep it quiet. I hate leaving Mindy any longer than necessary.”

  “Give my regards to Annie!”

  Jameson scowled at Storm and ducked into his patrol car.

  “Who’s Annie? The deputy didn’t seem happy that you mentioned her.”

  “Annie’s his wife.”

  “Mindy’s their daughter?”