Layne took a step back. “Now we’re done. You assholes keep going and heed the warning.”
Heed the warning? What the fuck did that mean?
“Come on,” Jony said and grabbed Jack by the arm. “Not the time or place.”
“Hey, you name the time and place,” I said. “I’ll be there.”
Jony looked at me, his lip curled. “Talon…”
“Fuck. You. I’m going to kill you, Jony.”
Jack got on his motorcycle and started it back up. Jony did the same. They then slowly weaved their way around our motorcycles and were cruising away. With their group, off the drop Jimmy’s body into the ground. To rot away.
Watching the black hearse get eaten up by the horizon made me shiver for a second. That was all our fate right there. Someday we’d all end up in the back of a hearse. But between now and then, I had shit to take care of.
Get the patch. Get Everly’s heart once and for all. And get fucking happy.
6.
(Everly)
My body ached and my head spun so fast. I walked through the clubhouse, realizing it was a little light on members. I spotted Gabel sitting at the bar, nursing a drink. The guy drank his scotch from a straw because his jaw was still wired shut from Talon attacking him. But Gabel deserved it. The rest of the madness and violence within the club I wasn’t so sure of.
Part of me kept thinking about the day I went snooping around and ended up in Layne’s arms and on the back of his motorcycle. If I had just kept to myself and my own business…
No, that wasn’t the life I wanted either. Some dumb and boring life. I was meant to be here with Devil Call MC. I was meant to go through everything I had so far and would keep doing so. I just needed a little distance, time, and a chance to actually think.
I left the clubhouse and walked to the lot. I stopped when the sun hit my face. I saw that Talon’s motorcycle was gone, along with Layne’s. Those two together out there riding couldn’t have been a good thing at all. I feared the day when one of them finally broke down for good and they killed each other. Yet all they needed to do was shut the hell up and get drunk together. To figure their personal shit out and bury it once and for all.
That made me sound and feel like a complete bitch, since it was Layne who lost a girlfriend in all this. But my heart was torn. Talon killed Layne’s girlfriend to protect him and to protect the MC. There had to be some kind of honor in that. Dark honor, yeah, but something.
I started to walk and soon found myself at the gate. I opened it but didn’t leave the compound. The rules were pretty cut and dry around here. I was protected if I had people with me. There was no way in hell I wanted to be babysat right now. I just wanted to stand at the open gate and look out. Pretend that I was truly free and that Talon would come back happy and safe. That Devil Call MC would settle its debts, its wars, and maybe I’d experience some good times with the MC.
Good times? What the fuck was that?
I put my head against the gate. It seemed so easy right now to break down and cry. It seemed so easy to just start running. To see how far I’d get before someone found me. In my fantasy, it would be between Talon and Layne. Whoever found me first gets me. There, that’s the decision. No voting or fighting. Find me, get me.
Reality settled in though when I realized just how deep I was with Devil Call MC. I was on footage with Talon as he killed someone. That meant there were authorities who could eventually want me in custody. If that wasn’t scary enough, there were so many enemies lurking around, I was an easy target. They’d take me and torture me. They’d use me to break Talon down and make Layne go insane. I would become the final piece to the puzzle that finally took Devil Call MC down for good.
I already felt that way though…
From the corner of my eye I saw a black car approaching. I hurried to turn, wanting to slam the gate and run, but it was too late.
Detective John fucking saw me standing there. He pulled up and stopped, blocking the entrance. He climbed from his car. He took off his sunglasses and took a toothpick from his mouth. I hated the way he always had a toothpick in his damn mouth. He used the toothpick to scrape at his teeth, then examined the end of the toothpick. He flicked it to the ground and walked around the front of the car, offering me a quick wave.
“That’s littering, Officer,” I said.
“Actually, I’m a Detective. And I don’t give a shit about littering. Not a piece of paper. A toothpick. A cigarette butt or two. I deal with bigger pieces of trash. Like all that’s behind you.”
I swallowed hard. Don’t show fear… don’t show fear…
That was hard to pull considering all I knew now about Detective John and Talon.
“Have you seen my son lately?” Detective John asked me.
“Your son? I know… everything.”
“Is that so? You finally talked to Talon then? That’s great. What did he tell you? That I was a bad father to him? That I hurt his little feelings?”
“You’re not a fucking father,” I spat. I then gasped and covered my own mouth.
“Wow,” Detective John said. “So… it’s that bad, huh? What did he tell you?”
I shook my head. “I’m not playing your games. What do you want right now?”
“I came to see my son. See how his day is going. Like any good father would do. Right?”
“He’s not here.” I turned and pointed. “Look. His motorcycle is gone. And I have no idea where he went. Him, Layne, a few of the others, they went for a ride.”
“And you have no idea where?”
“No idea. I wasn’t involved. I don’t know how to ride a motorcycle.”
“But I’m sure you know how to ride Talon. Right? Or Layne?” Detective John put his hand to the gate. He smirked. “Or is it both?”
“Are you calling me a whore, Detective?”
“I’m just investigating, Everly. That’s all. I like the way your name rolls off my tongue. Everly…”
I started to feel uncomfortable. I wish I had someone there with me. But I was alone. With Detective John.
“You don’t like me, do you?” he asked. “You don’t trust me.”
“No, I don’t,” I said.
“Everything I’m doing is for the better for Talon’s life. The same as when he was a child. I never wanted him in this life and mess. And now, more than ever, I want him out. Being young and tough is one thing, but he’s on a fine line. The eyes are upon him, Everly. And if you really cared about him… loved him even… you’d see that yourself. You’d help me.”
“Help you do what?”
“That footage,” Detective John said. “I need it. I need to tie him to that murder. Bring him in. Take him from this. Protect him and keep an eye on him.”
“You want him in prison to control him,” I said.
“He’ll be safer there. I can make sure of it.”
My bottom lip quivered. “You always wanted him in some kind of prison. Just like his mother…”
Detective John shot a hand out and grabbed my arm. “Don’t you fucking talk about her. She fucking killed herself.”
“Talon told me you did it. You pushed her to that.”
“Talon doesn’t know what he did to his own mother. He was a bad kid.”
“And you beat him. You hurt him. Abused him. Left scars on his body.”
“I did what I had to do. To remind him of his actions. To prove that consequences exist and always fucking would. That’s why I need him now. Taken away from his hell of a motorcycle club. It’s all going to come down soon, Everly.”
“So then why care?”
“Because I don’t want him hurt… or you.”
“Me? What do I have to do with anything?”
Detective John took his hand from the gate and touched my face. “Look at you. I can see it in your eyes. How lost you are, Everly. That’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with being lost… just as long as you’re eventually found. And I’ve found you.”
“No.”
“Yes. You don’t want Talon. You don’t want this life. You like the tough guy thing from him? Guess what? I’ve got that, Everly. But mine comes with a badge instead of a piece of cloth. Mine comes with the law. I’m allowed to do what I do.”
“I want nothing to do with you. You lied to me. You made me believe…”
“Because I smacked him a few times?”
“More than a few.”
“Years ago. If he’s so tough, tell him to let it the fuck go and move on. I’m here to help. And I’m here to make sure you don’t go starving.”
“I don’t need you.”
“But you want me.” Detective John crept closer to me. “You need me, Everly. I checked in about you. You have nobody. You have nothing. You grew up hand to mouth, with nothing. You had your grandmother though, right? But she didn’t make it. She died. Funny enough, it was right about that time you fell into the loving arms of Devil Call MC. So what is it? You like being treated like shit? You want to be used and abused? I can do that for you. I can smack you across the face if you need it. I can leave marks anywhere on your body. However you like it.”
“Get away from me,” I said. “Get the fuck away from me.”
“What are you going to do? Call the police?”
Detective John grimaced and then laughed. He was acting drunk but he was stone cold fucking sober. And that made him even scarier to me.
I looked over my shoulder and the clubhouse seemed ten miles away. I feared trying to run, wondering if Detective John was going to do something horrible to me.
And Talon wasn’t here to protect me.
Damn him.
“What’s wrong? Waiting for someone to come and attack me? They won’t, Everly.”
I looked at Detective John again. “Stop.”
“That I won’t do. Not until I’m happy. Right now, I’m not happy. I’m not fucking happy at all.”
“What are you going to do then? To me. Right now. You have nothing.”
Detective John leaned in and his lips were so close to mine. “I’m going to have that sweet pussy of yours soon. And then fuck you…”
I brought my head forward and screamed. My head smashed against Detective John’s nose. Blood squirted and I freaked out even more. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand was flying at his face. I wanted to slap him so hard and so bad. I wanted to attack him. Maybe even kill him.
Was this how Talon felt?
Before my hand could connect with Detective John’s face, he threw his hand up and clutched my wrist. He spun, pulled my arm, and then I was against the side of his car. He looked around, sucking blood up into his nose.
“You’re under fucking arrest,” he growled at me. He pressed his body against my back. “You feel me?”
I shook my head as my eyes filled with tears.
“Attacking a detective. Right in the daylight. I have no fucking choice now.”
“You always have a choice,” I said.
He put cuffs on my wrists and pulled me away from the car. His hand then grabbed my hair and he twisted.
“Fuck,” I groaned.
“You did this,” he said. “But now I can protect you.”
“Fuck you.”
“You will. Soon enough. You’ll beg me for it.”
Detective John opened the door to his car and threw me inside.
Can Talon save me this time?
7.
(Talon)
I could feel Layne burning a hole staring at me. I figured he was either going to run me off the fucking road or drop his motorcycle and kill himself. I steered my ride to the side of the road, stopped, hit the kickstand, and climbed off. After I took my helmet off, I opened my arms and watched as Layne did the same.
He stood, staring at me.
Feet apart in person, miles apart elsewhere.
“Jagg, Buzzy, take the rest and go,” I said.
“Fuck that,” Jagg said.
“Shut up,” Layne bellowed. “Do it.”
“Listen to me,” I said. “Got a problem with that, Jagg?”
“Fuck you, Talon.”
“I’ll remember that,” I said. “You’ll be a fucking prospect when I get my patch back.”
Jagg spit at the ground. “I’d rather fucking die than see you as President.”
“Come on, asshole,” Buzzy growled. “Let’s move.”
The rest of the guys left and it was just me and Layne alone.
“What do you want, Talon?” Layne asked.
“You’re staring at me, man. Something’s burning in you.”
“You really needed to do that to Jony?”
“I fucking did.”
“That’s only fueling the fire.”
“So be it. Let them be angry and act out stupidly. That’s when we attack and finally end this shit. Take my direction, Layne. It’ll be much easier then.”
Layne stepped toward me. “When you have the President’s patch on your cut, Talon, then I’ll take your direction. But right now you’re nothing but a fucking outlaw. And I’m not going down that road with you.”
“No loyalty, huh?”
“Fuck you. I have the scars to prove my loyalty.”
I gritted my teeth. “So you can get drunk and pour your broken heart out to Everly, huh? That’s what she told me. As she was stroking my big cock. Right after she had swallowed a load down her throat. And right before I fucked her brains out. Wonder why she came to me so fucking horny. You still can’t make the right move.”
I expected it to happen, so when Layne threw a punch, I was ready. Fuck, it hurt like though. I spun around and went to the ground. I didn’t expect Layne to come at me again though. His big boot right to my ribs, taking my breath away. I was one second in the air, the next second on my back. And Layne was right there, fist cocked, showing his teeth, rage in his eyes.
He hesitated though for half a second so I took a handful of dirt and threw it in Layne’s face. He screamed and fell back. I kicked myself back and got to my knees. I gave Layne a few seconds to wipe his damn eyes and then I shoulder tackled him to the ground. We rolled around a little, taking shots when we could. I landed a few punches to his face and a few more to his ribs.
It felt so fucking good to do.
We finally broke apart and stayed apart. Both of us on our asses. Covered in dirt, cuts, bruises, and blood.
“Look, man,” I said. “I can’t thank you enough for trying so hard when we were kids. But that wasn’t your war to fight. Then or now. I’m sorry he’s back, fucking around. And if that drums up memories…”
“Memories,” Layne said. He spit a chunk of blood to the dirt. He looked at me, running a hand through his hair. “You don’t fucking get it. I don’t give a shit about memories. I want the same you want, Talon. Devil Call MC. It’s in my goddamn blood. When you were inside everyone knew the patch meant nothing. I had no respect and no help. I lost my President. I lost my brother. I lost my best fucking friend. And when I turned around, she wasn’t there. Anneliese was fucking gone. I knew she was a bad person. Fucking druggie whore. But she was mine, man. All mine. And that was taken…”
Call me a pussy, but I felt a little remorse. Fuck, I had been feeling bad about what I’d done for a while, but not like this. I had no response for Layne. I just sat there and watched him get to his feet. He hobbled to his motorcycle and stood there, staring out to the horizon.
“I never wanted it to come to this,” Layne said. “I took Everly in with the intentions of showing her a good time. An outside chick to suck my cock a few times. Someone to throw around between the sheets. Someone to distract me from the club as it fell apart. I had no word on you and no direction on where to go. I fought hard for it all. But you didn’t keep your mouth shut on the inside, Talon. You made it known you were the fucking President of Devil Call MC. And that made my life hell.”
“You never fucked Everly though, did you?” I asked as I got to my feet.
“Couldn’t do it. Maybe
that druggie whore fucked up my head and cock for the rest of my life. I don’t know. But she got close and got deep. And then she slipped away. Everything slipped away.”
I took a step and stopped. I hated sucking up guilt, pride, rage, whatever. But looking at Layne from behind, I saw him as the little punk chunky kid that he had been. A big smile on his face. Always looking for some trouble to cause. He’d come up with the ideas and I’d enact on them. That’s how we rolled together. He’d ask me if I thought I could throw a rock across the street and take out old Mrs. Craptree’s window, and instead of answering the goddamn question, I’d find a fucking rock and throw it.
I took a few more steps and had no idea what to do next.
Touch his back? Grab his shoulder? Hug the fucking guy?
I just stood there, wanting to respect Layne and all his bullshit feelings. One thing I knew for sure, and learned at a young age, was that nothing in the past could be changed. It was a hard lesson to take in, but it was the damn truth. So I couldn’t do anything to take back killing Anneliese. And hell, if there was some kind of fucking time machine, I’d still kill her. She would have really fucked things up in Devil Call MC. Maybe worse than what they were right now.
So we stood there. Silence around. I was just feet apart.
Silence was sometimes a blessing, most of the time a curse. Silence let the mind work. Let the mind think. And I found out what Layne was thinking…
He spun around and pulled out his gun. I moved fast, always expecting someone to take me out once and for all. So I had my gun drawn too. Now we faced each other, daring one another to be the first to pull the trigger. We’d take each other out. Maybe there was something romantic and noble in it, but it left Everly alone. She’d be at the mercy of the MC and Detective John.
Layne and I both didn’t want that.
Not even a minute passed before two motorcycles came roaring up the road.
“Who is it?” Layne asked.
“I’m not fucking moving my eyes.”
“I’m not a bitch, Talon. Just look.”
“Jagg and Buzzy,” I said.
WILD STORM (A Devil Call MC Book) (Talon & Everly Book Five) (Devil Call MC Talon & Everly 5) Page 5