“What about the Chaos Riders’ clubhouse? Won’t the bullets be traced back to your club?”
Drummer laughs. “Unlikely. We know our job. There were a series of explosions in their badly stored ammunition. All the bodies were inside, badly burned. Likelihood is the cops won’t investigate too deeply as they’ll just be glad that the scum has been taken out. It’s an isolated location, some way out of Tucson. They may not even have discovered it yet.”
“What about Jill? What happened to her, Drummer?”
Drummer’s face twists as he answers in a cold voice. “Club business.” Just like that, he shuts me up.
I don’t dare question him further on the matter. I wonder about asking whether he wants me to leave the compound now it’s clear I mean nothing to Rock, but something warns me I don’t want to pre-empt that conversation. What if he said yes? What on earth would I do?
We’ve arrived. Drummer turns into the hospital and finds a parking space. Before we get out he drums his fingers on the steering wheel and throws me a thoughtful look. Then he gets out of the car without letting me know what he was thinking, comes around to my side and opens my door without speaking.
Once inside the hospital it takes us a while to get the right directions to, and then find, Beef’s room. He’s unconscious when we arrive and has still not come round by the time Drummer needs to leave.
This time there’s no decision for me to worry about making. The last thing I want to do is return to the compound to be confronted by Rock. “You go on, Drummer,” I offer. “I’ll stay with him. Make sure he doesn’t wake up alone.”
Drummer nods and looks relieved. “Appreciate that, Becca. Don’t like the thought of no one being with him.”
Chapter 18
Rock
Doc’s been in and changed my dressings, clearly pleased that any signs of infection are receding. He’s using an old trick, Vaseline to cover the skin and stop it becoming dry with bandaging over the top to keep the air out and prevent scabs forming. While it still hurts like a bitch, I want to keep moving. I’m not a man who likes lying around in bed. Unless there’s a woman keeping me company that is, and I’m not up to that yet.
Last night Diva and Paige came in, both giggling, both offering to suck my dick, but I excused my lack of arousal on the morphine even while knowing that had nothing to do with it. The only woman my dick seems interested in is one who prefers the cocks of other men. I’m mad with myself. Why hadn’t I seen how shallow she was? How could I have been so taken in by her beautiful deep blue eyes? Madness. I must have mistaken my sympathy for a deeper emotion on account of the conditions she had been kept in.
Apparently Beef woke up this morning. Despite my pain, nothing’s going to stop me going to visit him, needing to see with my own eyes the evidence that he’s going to make a full recovery. It was him, my oldest friend in the club, I missed most when back at the Riders’ clubhouse I’d thought of my brothers.
Although nothing’s going to keep me from his side, it’s harder work than I expected to slide my t-shirt over my raw, bandaged back. Pulling up my jeans is even trickier, muscles rippling and tugging at the ruined skin. However slowly I tried to take it, I’m breathing heavily by the time I’ve finished.
“Hey, Matt!” I call to the prospect I’ve spied as hunched like an old man I enter the clubroom. “Need a ride.”
“Sure thing, Rock. Where we going?”
“The hospital to see Beef.”
“Cool.” Looking eager, the kid runs to find the keys to the spare SUV, returning quickly with Marvel by his side.
I can’t help glaring at the man. It’s easier to forgive Beef seeing as we’ve shared women in the past, but Marvel? I’m unable to hide my disgust that he’s been with the woman I can no longer consider mine.
Marvel’s quick to notice. “Was gonna come with you, Brother. But from the look on your face you look more like you want to kill me. Though I’ve no fuckin’ idea why.” He looks mystified as he shakes his head.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I breathe deeply. “Sorry, man. It’s not your fault, shouldn’t blame you. You weren’t to know.”
“All of us thought the same, Brother.” Marvel’s face drops. “Prez did his shit too well. He wanted us to believe you’d turned on us so we’d act the right way if we ran into you.”
Rapidly I shake my head to reassure him. There was a reason for what Prez did, it kept me alive. “Not talking about that.”
“Then what?” The brother who likes comics looks perplexed, his brow creasing as he seems to think through all possible ways he could have upset me.
Taking pity on him, I shrug, then wince and regret moving my shoulders. “You fucked Becca.” I sigh. “You weren’t to know I wanted her.”
“Becca?” Now it’s Marvel who’s rapidly moving his head side to side. “I’ve never been near the bitch. You think I fucked her?” His eyes open wide.
Maybe Jill was wrong to put him on the list.
“Sorry, Brother. My intel was obviously wrong.”
“Sure fuckin’ was. Now we got that cleared up, you trust me to drive, or are you still gonna shoot me?” As Matt chucks him the keys I see he’s smiling. Marvel doesn’t bear grudges.
Carefully I raise my arm and slap him on the back and hope he’s wise enough not to reciprocate. When I see that he is, I accept the ride. “Sure thing. I’ll be glad of the company.”
When we turn onto the I10 and the journey becomes smoother and easier for me, Marvel looks over. “What was it like in there, Brother?”
“With the Riders?”
“Yeah.”
I gaze out of the window as I remember. “Fuckin’ awful, man. Women forced to take the members dicks. It wasn’t pleasant.”
“Red got the women out, didn’t he?”
“That’s what I heard. Took them to Vegas. Was going to get them settled somewhere they could recover.”
Marvel’s face has gone grim. “The youngest was only fifteen.”
I nod. Another thing Drum had confirmed. “Just glad they’re all in the ground.” I only hope Beef is truly recovering and won’t be joining them.
“It’s good to have you back, Rock. Fuckin’ hard thinkin’ you’d stolen from the club. With you and Mouse gone, the club felt different.”
“Have you noticed anything different about Mouse since he’s been back?” I don’t know if I’m imagining things. He’d only popped his head round the door briefly, but he seemed distant.
“He’s quieter, as though he’s not really with us.”
Dipping my head to show that’s exactly how I read it, I look ahead once again, wondering what’s going on with my brother. Normally he returns from his vision quests refreshed. Maybe no spirits appeared to him this time.
It’s not long before Marvel is indicating, and I can’t wait to get out of this seat. Being in the car has meant leaning on my sore back. Sliding out is painful, but Marvel’s patient and walks with me slowly as we follow the directions Drum had given us to get to Beef’s room. I walk down the hall alongside my brother, glad he’s slowing his pace for me. When we’re at last outside, anxious to see my old friend, I’m the one opening the door…
That’s when I find them. My best friend and the woman I’d considered making mine. Beef’s laying on one side, Becca’s behind him, her arm draped over his shoulder. Both fast asleep.
“They make a good couple, don’t they?” Marvel murmurs from behind me, not knowing how close I am to throttling Beef. He’s my best friend and he wasn’t to know. The mantra repeats over and over again in my head as I try to calm myself down. He didn’t know. Not that it helps much.
Although he’d spoken quietly, Marvel’s voice wakes Becca. She opens her eyes. On seeing us a smile lights up her face. When she notices only Marvel’s reciprocating, the unfriendly scowl on mine makes her happy expression slip away as quickly as it came.
It shouldn’t have surprised me to find them snuggled up together, but it does, and fe
els like a punch to my jaw. My face grows darker. Becca slides off the bed, her action disturbing Beef, who starts thrashing. Immediately she turns back to soothe him, he settles right away. The fucker misses her. But then he probably doesn’t know he’s sharing her with everyone else. Except for Marvel, who’s assured me he hasn’t tapped that. Man’s probably got too much sense.
“We’d like to sit with him. Alone.” My words are clipped, and I hope I’m sounding polite. She made me no promises, it was all in my head.
Marvel looks from Becca to me. “Hold on a minute, Becca. Tell us how he is first.”
She looks at Beef, reassures herself he’s quieted again, then at us and indicates the doorway. Once outside she leans against the wall as she tells us. “They removed his spleen, that was a success. He’s got an infection, and when he came around was hallucinating. When he sleeps he keeps thrashing around. I’m worried he might pull the stitches out. It calms him if I lie next to him.”
Of course it does. Lucky motherfucker.
“Is he going to be okay?” Marvel asks.
“It’s sepsis they’re worried about. The medical staff are keeping a close eye on him.”
“When will we know if he’s going to make a full recovery?”
“I’m not sure, Marvel. When the infection settles I should think. But the signs are good.”
At that moment we hear groans through the door, and Beef’s arms and legs are being thrown about again. Becca’s straight back inside, up on that bed, holding him, and fuck me if he doesn’t go back to sleep immediately. My first thought had been to send her away, now how the fuck can I separate them? Knowing however much it hurts to see her with him, if it brings my brother peace and helps him heal I couldn’t be such an asshole as to deny him that. He’s my best friend. She’s nothing to me.
Marvel offers to get coffee, I accept. I’m left alone with the brother I love and the girl who’d taken up residence in my brain. While she hadn’t known it, until Jill spilled the beans she’d kept me going in the deepest darkness of the Chaos Riders’ club.
We sit in silence. After the update on Beef’s condition I can’t ask anything else. I’ve no wish to start a conversation during which I might say things I’d regret. I’ve no right to criticise her. I never told her of my intentions. Can I cope if Beef and Becca end up together? There’s certainly something between the two of them. As I lean forward to keep pressure off my back, I decide when he’s able to understand I’ll enlighten him that she’s fucked other members. It will be up to him what he does then. But unlike me, at least he’ll be armed with all the facts before he makes any decision.
She’s closed her eyes, but she’s still awake. Her hand is gently stroking Beef’s shoulder. As I watch her soothing him I can’t believe I read her so wrong. I’d never have taken her for being promiscuous, but slut she certainly is. Even though she still looks poorly herself. Perhaps if she’d done less fucking and saved her energy for healing she’d look better.
Placing my elbows on my knees, I put my head into my hands. She owes me nothing. We’re quits. I rescued her, she rescued me back.
Marvel returns, our coffees are drunk. An hour or so later Marvel reminds me that we should get back to the club, as it’s church tonight. Becca tells me she’s going to stay, unwilling to leave Beef alone. I have to admire her fortitude, and realise while it might slowly kill me inside each time I look at her, I’m not risking my friend’s recovery just because I object to his choice of woman. But for his sake I will be having a conversation with her. If she wants to have something with Beef, she’ll have to give up everyone else.
Back at the clubhouse I’ve only time to pop a pain pill before Drummer calls us in. There’s an awkward moment when Hyde rushes out to find me a chair, as mine had been removed. It’s harsh to think all the men sitting around me had believed me to be a thief and a traitor. They had to, I accept that. Though it’s still painful.
While they’ve welcomed me individually, this is the first time we’ve met as a group since my return. Drummer addresses it head on. He bangs the gavel. “Brothers, tonight we officially welcome Rock home.”
There’s a general banging of hands on the table and stamping of feet, as well as numerous vocalisations of welcome.
Drummer nods at me before sparing a glance for everyone. “Before we go on to other business I want to go over it again. Make sure we’re all on the same page as to what Rock has done for us. As you’re too well aware, another outlaw MC tried to set themselves up in Tucson. I needed a man on the inside, couldn’t ask for volunteers, as the only way to convince the Chaos Riders that that man wasn’t a plant was for everyone to believe he was no longer a Satan’s Devil. I needed his name to become dirt all over Tucson.
“I approached Rock, and he agreed immediately. Didn’t hesitate for a minute. Even knowing that had he come across one of the men he used to call brother, that brother would probably have killed him. That is, if the Chaos Riders hadn’t doubted what Rock told them and shot him on sight. I took the gamble he was worth more alive to them. A gamble which luckily paid off. But that doesn’t change the fact that in accepting this mission Rock put his life on the line for his club.”
Drummer pauses. The table’s gone silent as the implications of what he’s said sink in. He gives them a moment, then continues, “Wraith and I met with Rock to obtain information. Then once again Rock went back to the Riders, again potentially sticking his head in a noose. For this club.” Raising his head, he looks around the table, meeting the eyes of every man here. “I don’t think I need to tell you, Rock is a fuckin’ hero.”
Murmurs of agreement float around, none of dissent, while I sit wishing I could disappear under the table. Any brother would have done what I did had they been the one asked. But that doesn’t stop heartfelt thanks coming from every chair. Viper comes around with his hand up and I flinch away fast. He goes back to his seat with an apologetic look. Thank fuck. It doesn’t stop my back burning at just the threat.
Prez waits for everyone to settle. “We were successful in taking out the Chaos Riders because of the intel we had from Rock. Without him there we wouldn’t have been able to plan it so well. While the loss of any Devil from whatever chapter is hard, it could have been a far higher number.”
“We were lucky, Prez,” Viper butts in.
“No, Viper, we weren’t. It wasn’t luck. Our success was down to Rock.”
Peg’s looking at his clasped hands on the table. “Got us a problem though, Prez. While we had to get Rock out, Christ, he’d already got hurt bad enough,” he breaks off to look at me with a grimace, “we had to go in fast, and I worry we didn’t cover our backs.”
“Agree with you there, Brother. But we couldn’t wait any longer to go get Rock. Not once fuckin’ Jill got a bee in her bonnet and went after him.”
Mouse looks up from his laptop. “While the Riders’ clubhouse was far enough out of town that the shots didn’t attract attention. Blowing up that farmhouse certainly caught the police’s notice.”
Prez looks tired as he nods at Mouse. “Our hope is that they won’t be investigating too hard. They won’t waste much resources on trying to discover who took out an outlaw MC.”
Slick raises his hand. “They were storing hard drugs there. Probably part of a pipeline and had just taken delivery. The cops will be more focused on that. Hell, we did their work for them and saved the money they’d have spent on them doing prison time. I made sure to leave enough evidence before blowing that shit up.”
Raising his head again from his laptop, Mouse nods. “Shoot out among themselves is one of the reasons they’re putting forward.”
My brow creases. “Anything that might connect Beef’s injury with the Riders?”
“Nah. Medics bought the story his gun went off while he was cleaning it. Luckily Doc got the bullet out and disposed of it. Only the timing might have made the cops suspicious, but the hospital staff didn’t see any reason to record it other than as an accident.”
Thank fuck for that.
But I’m still worried there may be a weak link. “What about the women. Can they be trusted to keep quiet?” I know Red got them out of state, but it’s still a worry.
Blade grins. “They will if they know what’s good for them.”
A glare from the prez stops the enforcer continuing. “They were bemused, just grateful to be free as they’d given up all hope of rescue. Red’s keeping an eye on them, but he doesn’t think they’ll cause problems.” He looks to his right. “Peg, I know why you’re worried. And there’s nothing more I want than to run a clean club. But when we’re threatened we are going to retaliate. It does bother me that it was easy for Chaos to believe we were weak and wouldn’t have put up much of a fight. Or that I’d lost control of the other chapters.”
Peg frowns, but raises his chin. “Have to agree as sergeant-at-arms, that’s a bad position for us to be in. We earn our money clean, but we’re always going to do what’s necessary to protect the club.”
“While we’re talkin’ about protectin’ the club, I want to talk about the sweet butts.” Prez glances at me. “Jill should never have been able to put us in the position she had. All our plans almost went south because of one club whore. Rock, did you know she had feelin’s for you?”
“Yeah, Prez, I did. That’s why I stopped fuckin’ her. Never thought she’d take it as far as she did though.”
Drummer wipes his hand down his face and tugs at his greying beard. “Any other sweet butts getting ideas above their station?”
There’s a general shaking of heads.
“Jill’s been causin’ problems going way back. Challengin’ the old ladies,” Wraith observes.
“So she should have been out on her ass long ago,” Drum says sharply. His eyes narrow as he looks from one man to another. “I don’t want to get into this position again. If a sweet butt is latchin’ onto a brother, or getting above herself, I want to know about it. I’ll shut that shit down fast.”
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