Nothing Lasts Forever (Battle Born MC Book 2)

by Scarlett Black

  “I don’t think so, we have more, and I’m going to give that information to her when this shit is settled. She’s working for us, or she dies along with everything she’s trying to save. She knows the score.”

  “Cuervo came down here with you, Fuego?” Stryker asks.

  “Si, but he rode alone down to Tijuana to keep an eye on the streets. He’s set up, ready for direction.”

  “So, we call Cobra and ask for a meet. He’s been waiting. I have no doubt he’s been putting pressure on Tony for a while. Who has eyes on Tony?”

  “Ghost is watching Tony with a small crew and prospects up there,” Blade answers. “Tony wants back into the game. The only way to do that is through us, dead or alive.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  The red and orange sunset here in Tijuana, Mexico, is beautiful over the horizon. Horns blare from taxis and the locals yell back, cussing the asshole taxi cab drivers for almost running them over. Men and women sell food out of the trucks or carts that line the streets. This place in the slums, deep into the city, stinks. Children run up to us, wanting to sell jewelry or drugs to a bunch of thieves as their whore mothers offer us their bodies. Bitches would be fucking us no doubt while their fucking bastard kids would rob us blind. We left most of our credit cards and cash at the clubhouse in Vegas. Tucking my wallet in my cut, I tell the hundredth little shit, “No, gracias.”

  I swear these little bastards only bother the white boys, leaving the darker ones alone. Must be a taught trait; go for the white, naive guys first. We round the street corner and come up to a stop in front of an old Catholic church. Here in Mexico, the drug lords are considered heroes, even though thousands of people go missing every year. Not to mention the beheaded bodies found in ditches or the bodies that swing from the bridges.

  I guess you protect the strongest, and here, that’s the criminals. You protect or help them, and they help keep you fed or you die. A vicious reality. Even in the ranches, it’s not uncommon to find the wealthiest drug lord living with his family that will praise him. Listen to the songs of their native bands. They’ll tell you stories of their infamous drug leaders, selling drugs and doing drugs.

  Stryker, Blade and I, along with a handful of men, wait outside the church and are ordered to wait until a nun is supposed to allow us entrance. The hot sun and humidity sticks to our clothing, making standing here out in the open heat very uncomfortable, not to mention, out in the open in Tijuana.

  A few more minutes pass before a tiny little nun comes to the large front door. “Ven adentro, come inside.” She greets us and shuffles her old body along in her black sneakers. We follow her down the rows upon rows of pews. Musty old wood assaults my nostrils.

  She stops abruptly and, turning to us, she says, “Espera. Hold on.” Putting her hand up, she nods and walks away, only to disappear into a side door. Our nerves are shot as we remain quiet, listening for any movement and sounds. Our eyes scan the room and the landing for the seating above us.

  A door cracks open to the left and we see Cobra walking through. A little ranching looking man, weathered, with a long mustache and wearing snake skin boots and belt, cowboy hat and collared shirt. He doesn’t look like a flashy criminal, but, to the underworld, he is deadly.

  Cobra wears an MC cut over his collared shirt, the only indication of who the man really is. To our right, another door is cracked open and more of Los Reyes Malditos crowd the room. Five on my count to the right. My hand twitches in instinct to shoot all these motherfuckers.

  Blade and Stryker are at my back, watching the left side that Cobra just came through. “Hola, mi amigos from America are here. So nice of you to come visit. Long time, aye, Stryker? I think Fuego came home for a visit to his people too, no?”

  “If we are friends, then, Cobra, you can ask your men to stand in front of us and not at our backs?” Stryker’s low growl warns Cobra.

  “Sure, amigo.” The rest of his men move out behind him. “Bien, good? So, what has you all the way down here?”

  “You know why, cut the shit. Tony. We know you were transporting the diamonds through the old Prez in Reno and, after he died, through Johnny. I’m sure you heard they both died by now for their betrayal to the club. We have one last rat to clean up, and that’s Tony.” Blade bluntly states, sounding annoyed. “Stop fucking around and let us know what you have going on with Tony. We are here out of respect because he works for you. If I drop him, I would rather not have you on my ass. So, what is it?”

  “El hijo de Stryker, verda?”

  “Si, Cobra, he is my son and the Prez in Reno,” Stryker responds.

  “Que bueno familia, no? I had a sister too once. Rosa. She ran off with a pendejo to America. I hear she died a horrible death. But after she left mi familia, she was already dead to me.”

  Stryker and Cobra hold each other in a silent war while the rest of us wait out the tension. “A story I’m sure to be continued for another dia perhaps? This man you speak of, Tony, yes, he works for me, he’s behind on his shipments. How he acquires these shipments is none of my concern. What are you offering me for him?”

  “Nothing,” Blade states.

  Cobra tsk’s his tongue in response. “Mijo, this doesn’t work this way. I’m a businessman, I need money and diamonds for my customers and suppliers. He’s made me look bad. If you’re willing to transport, I’ll give you Tony.”

  This little motherfucker smiles with laughter in his eyes.

  “Not good enough, Cobra, and we don’t have any intention of transporting your shit for you either. We’ll give you passage at a freight fee, that’s it. It’s more than we’ve given you in a decade. Technically, you should be dead for moving shit across my territory without coming to me and ask, motherfucker. I’m tired of your games, Cobra. After years of living with this bullshit with you, it’s over. Take it or leave it.” Stryker’s impatience grows thick with each word he speaks.

  Blade’s hand slowly moves at his side. Crack! A gunshot comes down from above. The men and I dive in between the pews as more gunfire goes off. Looking over the bench, men have spread out and glass is flying around from the windows. My hands come up to cover my head and face. Shouting and gunfire from both sides create chaos. My ears start to ring from a gun that’s firing next to my ear.

  Fuego and his men storm above us, shooting down below at Cobra and his men. Crawling my way over to the side, I aim my gun and pull the trigger at a man who was pointing his gun at Stryker. Memories assault me, and all I see is Maddox’s dead eyes staring back at me.

  Crawling over to Stryker, I give him cover with gunfire as we both stand and run behind a nearby wall.

  An enraged Cuervo shouts from up above, “You will die today, pinche cabron. Today you will fuckin’ die by my hands!”

  Cuervo jumps down from the seating level above, and, with a machine gun, he starts spraying fire left to right when a bullet suddenly hits his leg. It slows him down, but he keeps moving forward. Blood paints his pants crimson.

  The brothers take out a few more men, gaining ground. Cobra’s men drop to the floor like flies. Cobra raises a gun at Cuervo’s head. Blade pops out from behind the bench and shoots his arm. Standing, Blade and the rest of us inch forward with our guns aimed at the last few men standing, Cobra included.

  “Toss your guns,” Blade demands, but no one moves. Blade shoots one in the head and the other man tosses his gun to the floor, leaving Cobra standing there alone.

  “You think this will avenge the puta, that slut, you married Cuervo?” Cobra laughs in his face as Cuervo drops his machine gun at his side and charges Cobra, taking out a knife from his thigh holster as he goes.

  Cuervo stabs him in the gut and he continues charging forward until they both hit the wall. Holding him there, he pulls the knife out and goes to stab his gut again, then his neck. Cobra’s body slides down the wall, leaving the wall painted in a haunting red in its path. “Puta de tu madre, Cobra.” Cuervo spits on his body and starts walking for the door.
<
br />   Without looking at us, Cuervo throws over his shoulder, “Get on your bikes, assholes, and make it over the border by sunrise or your corpses will stay in Mexico forever.”

  Chapter 26

  Dana

  God, not again. There’s a banging on the door, and I’ve felt so tired. There’s never enough time to sleep to satisfy me. Axl has been gone for four days and I wish he was home already. I feel restless and extra cranky over it even though we’ve talked. But I won’t be happy until he’s home.

  The persistent knock gets louder and I drag my ass out of my warm bed to get to the front door. Peeking through the peephole, I see Vegas standing there impatiently. I unlock the door for her, swinging it open, and the cold breeze winds its way around my bare legs like a lover’s caress. I pull the flannel tighter around my arms wishing I had put on more than shorts.

  “Vegas, it’s early. I know you rise at the crack of dawn! But I love my sleep.” I keep ranting as I walk into the kitchen, with her trailing behind me. “No more visits before ten a.m., that’s a new rule,” I declare and make my way to the coffee pot in the kitchen. I find Mom pulling out a fresh pan of cinnamon rolls.

  “Yes.” Vegas and I fist bump at the same time.

  She sets her grocery bag on the table and grabs a plate, setting a hot roll on her plate and inhaling it just as fast as me.

  “Mom,” I say around a mouthful of food. “This is great, and I love your cooking, but you cannot keep cooking this for me. I think I’ve gained ten pounds these last few days, I need you to stop. Really, I do.” I complain, but it does not stop me from taking another bite.

  “I don’t care what you say. Your dad and brother love my food. You don’t have to eat it. No one is making you eat it, sweetheart. But I’ll take the compliment. Thank you,” Mom grins and gives me a side hug.

  Gabe barrels around the corner following the smell of bacon and rolls. His hair is a mess and is only wearing his boxers. He takes a roll in one hand and takes a big bite out of it, then stuffs half of a piece of bacon in his mouth too.

  “Holy shit, bro, you’re all grown up. Really, go put some clothes on. I can’t look at your manliness. It just got weird,” Vegas tells him, pointing her finger up and down over his exposed muscles.

  “Like these arms,” he says, flexing his arm.

  “Yep, still a dork, but in a man’s body,” Vegas tells him.

  The front door slams open and Papa comes walking through, packing in orange juice and milk in each hand. “What the fuck are you doing, mijo? I swear to God I will beat your ass if I catch you in the kitchen with no clothes on again.”

  Gabe’s mouth drops open in explanation before Papa barks, “Did I fucking ask you to tell me why? Fuck no. Go.”

  “Yes, sir,” he says as he’s grabbing one more roll, and heads off after kissing Mom on the forehead.

  “Baby,” Mom says with puppy dog eyes at Papa, “Do you have...”

  “Yes.”

  “But he’s just...”

  “Yes, Katie, I do. Because he’s going to be a man, not your little boy forever,” Papa says as he’s placing the orange juice and milk on the counter. He kisses her and does the exact same as Gabe not two minutes ago. He grabs bacon with one hand and a roll with the other. He takes one large bite of his roll and then half of the bacon is gone.

  “He’s a man, alright,” Mom comments sarcastically.

  The three of us laugh together as he chews scowling at us. He takes his food and leaves us alone in the kitchen.

  I turn to look at Vegas. “What’s in the bag you brought?”

  “You’re going to think I’m really weird.”

  “I already do, so what?”

  Vegas rolls her eyes at my sarcasm. “I’m scared I’m going to lose the baby again. So, I bought a couple tests to check,” she admits with a hint of sadness in her voice.

  “Vegas, that was a freak thing that happened. You’ll be okay. You can’t control this. It will happen for you. I know patience is not your thing, but let it go, okay?” I reassure her.

  “What if the first test was wrong?” She asks.

  “Oh God, I can tell you’re not going to let this go, are you?”

  “No.” She tries to stop the grin coming, but she fails miserably.

  “I’ll prove it to you.” I grab a box and take it with me to the bathroom.

  A handful of minutes later, I come walking out with the peed-on pregnancy test in hand. Shaking it back and forth like a thermometer, I tell her, “See, only one line, not pregnant. The test works fine.” I hold the stick out to show them.

  Mom and Vegas’ eyes pop out and Vegas points at the stick. Flipping the stick around, I look at the small window seeing that there are two lines!

  “What the FUCK!” I yell out and toss the stick toward them like it was gonna bite me. Vegas and Mom jump out of the way.

  “Dude, you threw your piss stick at me!” Vegas yells back.

  “I’m not pregnant!”

  “Yeah, you are!” She yells in excitement.

  “Mom, go take the other test, hurry!” I beg her.

  Mom laughs and says, “Your papa was fixed, honey.” She grins with her hands under her chin. “I’m going to be a grandma!”

  “I’m gonna cry,” I admit.

  “I am crying,” Vegas says.

  “Princess?”

  Startled, I turn to find Axl, Blade, Tank, Papa and Gabe all staring at us from the living room.

  “You’re having my baby?” Axl’s eyes beam with pride at his question.

  Words fail me and I just nod yes.

  Axl steps forward toward me when Gabe brings his fist back and punches Axl in the nose. Blood sprays everywhere. Papa, Tank and Blade belt out a boisterous laugh.

  “What the hell is wrong with you, Gabe?” I yell at him, grabbing a towel from the sink.

  “Nobody leaves my sister and then gets her knocked up is what, Dana,” he states calmly.

  “He didn’t leave me! Damn it, his face was just starting to heal!” I yell back.

  “Oh”, he looks at Axl. “Sorry, dude, I didn’t get the update,” Gabe shrugs.

  Walking over to Axl, I place the towel on his nose and he pulls me close. “What the hell is it with you and your dad? He hit me in the face too.”

  “See that, Katie, that’s our boy,” Papa says, beaming at Gabe.

  “When did you hit, Axl?” Mom asks him.

  Papa opens his mouth to answer before he’s cut off by Axl. “Dana, you’re having my baby.” He’s not asking this time.

  “Yeah, me, you and a baby. I don’t know how, I must’ve forgotten to take my pills a few times right after you left?” I look at him a little unsure.

  Axl grabs his phone from his pocket and starts dialing. He places it on speaker as soon as it starts ringing.

  “Hello?” Harley answers.

  “Hey, Ma, guess what?” Axl exclaims to her while still holding the towel to his nose.

  “What, sweetie? You sound weird.”

  “You’re going to be a grandma. Dana and I are having a baby!”

  There’s no response from her and I start to worry. Then I hear sniffles coming from the other end. “That’s great, I’m going to be grandma.”

  We all know she’s happy but also devastated because Maddox can’t be here with her to witness this.

  “Hey, Momma, this little one is bringing some of him to us, okay? Dad is right here with us, because he’s in our hearts.”

  Chapter 27

  Axl

  Blade and I sneak around the ritzy neighborhood, dressed in all black. We dodge the house lights that pop on in the back yards. We stick to the shadows as far back as possible. Quickly, we run between two houses with a large gap between them. The neighborhood security guards zoom by in a cart, looking around, surveying the properties.

  “Ready?” I ask. The house we came here for stands a few more yards away.

  Blade texts Snake the go ahead. A few minutes later, Snake texts that
the guard is at the opposite end of the block checking on an alarm in an empty house. He will keep the guard busy and set a few other alarms off for him to check. We have about thirty minutes to get in and out with the security bypass.

  The doors on the house have a security code keypad to unlock them. Spider set up a new code for us. I punch in the numbers and the door unlocks. Following the floor plan we memorized, we creep through the house as quietly as possible. We come to the master bedroom door, slowly open it and walk in with our guns drawn out. Blade points his at the bed as I look around the room.

  Walking up closer, we find Tony in bed with one of the girls that he keeps around at the Casino. Pointing our guns, we each take a shot at the same time. One shot through the skull and one through the lung with our silencers on. Practically soundless. Her body jolts from the bullets ripping through her small body.

  Tony wakes up from her movement as her body convulses from her nerves, uncontrollably shaking her. He pulls on her shoulder moving her over onto her back, still not noticing us standing and watching in the dark. “Anna, what is wrong?”

  Her lifeless heavy body barely moves toward him, but it’s enough that he now sees the bullet hole in her head as the blood pours out. Soaking the sheets. A manic laugh rips from Blade and I see Tony’s horrified realization. That fucking whore is dead. Blade flips the light on, still pointing his gun at Tony.

  “Sandman is here, motherfucker,” he snarls at Tony.

  “You dirty fucking biker!” Tony roars at him, jumping from his bed to charge at him. His fists fly, aiming for Blade’s face. Blade tucks his gun in his holster, dodging a few, but one lands on his jaw.

  The pain brings the wolf completely to the surface. Gone is Blade’s sanity. He thirsts for Tony’s blood as he howls out. Blade’s fists come swiftly for Tony’s head. He punches him with a right, then a left blow from down up under his chin.

  Tony’s body flies backward and he stumbles before he hits the floor. Blade and I charge forward. Our boots kick unrelentingly from his head down to his legs. We stomp this dirty fucker into the floor.