It was a beautiful crisp morning. It was cold enough that I wished I had put my chaps and my face mask on before we left. I was glad I’d skipped the leather jacket. It wasn’t quite cold enough for that. I loved the ride usually, but today I had a knot of anxiety and anticipation in my stomach. We rode for an over an hour before turning off on a windy dirt road that kept going higher. This wasn’t the same place we had gone to last time and I was starting to wonder how big their business was.
When we got to the top of the hill we wound around an iron, chain link fence that led up to a big gate. The other guys stopped a ways back but Blake, my dad and Bo went on up to the fence where I could see my brother and a few of his boys waiting. I sat back with the others and watched as they unloaded four flat crates from Bo’s bike onto a similar trailer my brother brought with him. Then Brock and my dad had their heads together for a bit before my dad finally signaled us it was time to go.
I rode up next to my dad as he was getting on his bike and said, “Hey, I’m gonna ride for a while. I’ll be back in a few hours or so.”
“Alright, see ya later,” my dad said.
I got another shit look from Terrance and his dad before they took off. I turned and looked back at Brock and his guys. Brock wasn’t moving. He was watching me. I waved at him and he waved back and then I took off. I headed for the warehouse I’d gone to with Blake and my dad that first ride we took after I got out. I was hoping that was where Brock was headed too.
It was quiet when I got there. I parked my bike a ways down the hill on the opposite side of where Brock would be riding up if this was where he was going. I climbed back up the hill and to the warehouse. It was locked of course. I didn’t expect any less. I went back around the back and waited. About twenty minutes went by and I heard the distinct sound of Harley’s coming up the hill towards me.
I counted four of them.
I heard the sound of the lock being opened and taken off. One of the bikes started up. I assumed it was the one with the trailer. The engine echoed inside and stopped once it was turned off. I could hear them talking as they unloaded the crates.
It was just bullshitting until I heard one of the guys say, “So is that Terrance dude gonna ride with us when we take the haul up to Nevada?”
“I think he’s still waiting for Daddy’s blessing,” Brock said.
“Your daddy or his?” the other guy asked.
“Probably both. The stupid ass worships the ground those two old senile goats walk on. You and the other guys take off. I’m gonna just ride for a while before I come back. I got some thinking to do.”
One thing my brother and I always had in common was that we did our best thinking on the saddle of a Harley. I guess some things never changed. I heard the other three bikes fire up and take off. Then I heard the door close on the warehouse. Now was my chance. I walked to the side of it, until I could see Brock about to put the big lock back on. I started running. He never saw me coming until he was on the ground and looking up at me. I thought I had the upper hand, but I underestimated my brother.
Brock brought his knee up and luckily for me and my family jewels, he punched my inner thigh. It wasn’t enough to incapacitate me like he’d been hoping, but it hurt like hell and shocked me enough that he was able to throw me off and jump up. With pain shooting from my thigh up through my groin I was on my feet too, almost as fast.
We stood looking at each other for what seemed like a long time before Brock finally broke the silence by saying, “You’re a fucking idiot, man. Why can’t you just leave this shit alone?”
“What shit is that, Brock? My life? I was set-up to take the fall and I spent over two years of my life wondering what the fuck for. I want answers and I’m not leaving until I get them or you kill me.”
Brock grinned and said, “You’d probably enjoy that, wouldn’t you, you little fucker. I’d really be the pariah then. Dad would skin me and hang me up over the bar while your mommy would make cookies and milk for everyone as they sat around and watched me bleed out. You’re the golden boy, killing you would be suicide for me.”
“You’re the one who’s a fucking idiot. My mother loves you. She treated you as good as if you were her blood. You were the one who treated her like shit and that’s where you went wrong with our dad. He may be an asshole, but he loves her and if you go against her, you go against him too.”
“So sweet, they should make a Disney movie out of their love story. Of course they’d have to hire a whole lot of extra’s to play all the sluts that Dad has fucked on the side in their twenty years of marriage. Maybe Mommy’s not so good to him in bed.”
He was trying to piss me off and it was working. I was trying hard to keep my head straight and not do anything rash.
“Bitter, bitter,” I said. “So, you hate my mom for being good to you and our father for not. What about me, Brock? What’s your issue with your brother?”
“I didn’t have any issues with you until you attacked me you little fuck.”
“Really? You always go around ordering people to put drugs in the saddle bags of the brother you have no issues with?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I’m out of here.”
He started to walk away and I reached out to stop him. The first punch he threw landed on the side of my face, the second in the center of my gut. While I was doubled over, gasping for breath, he took off for his bike. I forced myself to fight through the pain and caught up with him. I grabbed his jacket and when he twisted to get away from me, I put my arm around his neck. He’s a big son of a bitch and I lasted on my feet for about five seconds before his twisting and kicking took us down. As we fell, I tightened my grip around his throat. He was on top of me once we were on the ground, but I still had him in a choke hold. He sat up, thinking he could get away and I used that leverage to flip us over so I was on his back and his face was in the dirt. I was really pissed by this time. With my weight on him, I was able to let go of his neck and start throwing punches to the sides of his face.
“Fuck! Stop it! What the hell do you want from me, Dax? You’re gonna fucking kill me!” Brock yelled after six or seven very well-aimed shots to the head.
“I want answers! I want to know who set me up and why. I’m sick of this shit! I’m sick of this life. I want to go on with my life and I need closure first. Tell me who set me up, Brock and why.”
“Damn it, Dax, leave this shit alone, man.”
“If you’re not going to tell me anything then I may as well beat the shit out of you. That will at least make me feel better.” I picked up his head by the rag he wore on it and slammed his face into the dirt.
“Fuck!” he yelled with blood spurting from his nose and mouth. “You’re a crazy little shit.”
“That’s what happens when you spend two years in prison brother. It turns you into a crazy fucking animal. Add that to the fact you were innocent to start out with and it just intensifies the whole thing.”
“Let me up and I’ll tell you what I know. But I warn you, Dax there are things about this that you don’t want to know. I’m actually protecting you by not telling you.”
“Aw, isn’t that sweet. You’re protecting your little brother,” I said in a sarcastic voice.
“Whatever, Dax. You keep saying you don’t want trouble and then you go around asking for it. Dad wanted you to be the one to take over the club, did you know that?”
I didn’t answer him. I knew and it was one of the reasons our dad and I had such shit for a relationship now. I had pissed him off beyond reason when I turned him down.
“Your silence speaks volumes, brother,” Brock said.
I tightened my grip on his neck and said, “Are you going to cut the bullshit and get to the point?” His airway was cut off, so he nodded.
When I let go, he gasped for air and said, “You’re crazy!”
“Talk or I do it again,” I said.
“Blake was pissed when he found out Dad wanted you at the hel
m. When you announced you wanted nothing to do with the club and you were going to go to college, he relaxed a little. That was until Dad knew you were coming home for winter break. The big mouthed idiot told everyone that he was going to woo you and he knew that you were going to give in and be part of the club. Blake said it was bullshit and that you never would, but then Terrance started telling him how you thought Dad was like some kind of super hero and you didn’t want to disappoint him. That got Blake all worked up again and he put a plan in place to get rid of you, at least for a while. I think he would have liked to kill you…No, I know he would have liked to kill you, but he knew that as soon as Dad figured out it was him, he’d have a bullet in his own brain.”
“It makes sense so far big brother, except that I saw you on the security tapes sending that email, the one that made Terrance set me up.”
“I did send it. Blake asked me to. Terrance likes to act tough, but he’s just a big ass sissy. He’s scared shitless of his dad. Even so, it was going to be harder than hell to convince him to set you up. So instead, we made it look like the orders came from Dad. As scared as he is of his own father, he’s ten times more afraid of Dad.”
“What did it take to convince you to send it?” I asked him.
“The fact that it was gonna hurt the old man to see you behind bars, his golden child.”
“Jealousy, Brock? You did all of this because you think Dad likes me better?”
“I don’t think you little fuck. I know. Everyone does. The old man looks like he swallowed a watermelon and it got caught in his chest every time you’re around. It’s sickening.”
I had enough. I got off of him and he tried to jump up but he was moving slow. I didn’t worry that he was going to give me any more crap.
“What’s in the boxes, Brock?”
“Leave it alone, Dax. You wanted to know who set you up and now you do. Leave all this shit alone and go back to school where all you pretty little smart boys should be.”
I was tired of screwing with him.
I went over to where the crates were and he said, “I’m taking off, Dax. I’m going to tell Dad you were here. If any of our merchandise is missing, he’ll know who to blame.”
I didn’t answer him again. Instead, I picked up a crowbar that I saw lying on the ground and I used it to pry open the crate. Inside were hundreds of tiny black baggies; black balloons of heroin. They were just like the ones in my saddle bags the day I was arrested. I put the lid back on the crate and I realized I hadn’t heard Brock leave.
I turned and looked at him. He said, “This part of the business belongs to Blake. Dad wants us to get out of it, but Blake won’t let it go. He makes too much money…and he likes money. He also likes that the cartels aren’t cutting off his head. He will take you and Dad both out if he has too, Dax. Leave this alone.”
I watched my brother limp to his bike. He winced when he buckled down his helmet. His nose and lip weren’t bleeding any longer but they were both swollen and there was dried blood all over his face. He looked like hell. I watched him go and then I threw the lock back on the warehouse. Brock was probably as right as everyone else…I probably should have left this alone. I still couldn’t though.
Chapter Five
Olivia
All morning at work all I could think about was that I needed to go to Terrance’s apartment and pick up my mail. He never checked the mail, so I knew it was probably stuffed full. I was sure most of it would be mine. I made forty different excuses why I couldn’t go. I needed to do laundry. All three pairs of my jeans were dirty. I needed to wash the car…The truth was that I really didn’t want to run into Terrance. He had scared me the last time I saw him. I guess I’d have to throw in the time before that too when he was holding the giant gun to my head.
The mailboxes for the building were at one end of the complex and his apartment was at the other end so I convinced myself I was just being a big chicken shit and finally drove over there. I parked a little ways away from the boxes and snuck up to them like a thief, looking this way and that. I didn’t see Terrance’s bike anywhere. I put the key in and opened the box and things fell out on the ground. I really needed to put in a change of address. I just really wasn’t sure what my address was those days. I sorted through what was his and what were mine, putting his back in the box and shutting it. I looked down at the envelope in my hand. It was from the college.
I carried it all back to the car, staring at the envelope all the way. It was either an acceptance or a denial letter. I told myself since it was skinny they probably denied me. One of the teachers I had when I dropped out a couple of years back had told me that with all those withdrawals on my transcripts, they probably wouldn’t let me re-enroll without going through some kind of appeal process. My stomach was fluttering and I told myself to just open it. If they turned me down then I would appeal it. I wasn’t completely incapable of standing up for myself. I’d proven that, to me at least, when I stood up to Terrance. I finally ripped it open and pulled out the single piece of paper.
Taking a deep breath I unfolded it and read: We are pleased to inform you…
I squealed out loud and then I read the rest. It was just the standard information about registration and start dates. I did a little happy dance in my seat and laid it on the opposite seat of me.
I started the car and put it in reverse and then I threw it back into park and picked up the letter and read it again. I was so excited. I wanted to tell someone. The first someone I thought about was Dax.
I started driving in the direction of the bar and I was about half-way there when I realized that I hadn’t even told him I had reapplied. We had just got back together and he had just promised me to stop chasing around the MC, trying to get revenge or whatever it was that he wanted. What if he was upset that I’d be going away for big chunks of time? What if it made him not want to be with me at all? I didn’t want to lose him again. I guess I have some time. I didn’t really have to tell him this minute. I could hold off until our relationship was tighter and he was over everything that had been going on. I decided that was exactly what I was going to do, wait….just a while longer.
Chapter Six
Dax
I was sitting in my room in the back of the bar thinking over everything I’d found out. My best friend and my own brother had set me up. They both wanted to say the major responsibility for it all lied on Terrance’s father’s shoulders, but the truth was their betrayal was worse…a lot worse. I didn’t give a shit if Terrance’s dad liked me or not. But Terrance and I grew up together. We learned what we knew about life together. He was closer to me than any brother ever could be. We told each other everything, shared everything. He set me up as easily as he breathed and he tried to write it all off by saying he did it because he feared for his life. There was a time that I would have taken a bullet for Terrance and I thought he felt the same about me. I guess I was wrong.
Then there was my brother. Granted, Brock and I had never been close, but he was my family. My mother raised him as her own. He and I slept in the same room in bunk beds for years when we were kids. He taught me how to ride a two wheel bike and he took me on my first Harley ride. He was my fucking brother, whether we had the same mother or not, and it meant nothing more to him than to agree to help these bastards send me to prison.
I took out a notebook and I started writing things down. First, Terrance’s dad decided he wanted to get rid of me so that my dad couldn’t convince me to take over the club someday. From what I knew about him Brock was right. His preference probably would have been to kill me but he was too afraid of my dad. So, he turned to his other son, the one who already had his own spin-off club going. The one who kissed his ass and did whatever they wanted him to do, no matter what dirty deed it involved. The one who I’d only recently discovered is so jealous of the way my parents feel about me that he couldn’t see straight. He had agreed to do it and it didn’t seem to me like it had been out of fear for his safety. It was
like he was just waiting for the right opportunity to come along.
Lastly, there was the illustrious vice president of the club himself. He wanted the ultimate power. He probably always had. If anything ever happened to my dad, he would succeed him…as long as he had nothing to do with whatever happened to my dad. But when they both retired, when they were too old to ride and make deals with bad guys, my dad wanted the guy who succeeded him to be me. I’d like to say that I was hardened enough by everything that had happened to this point that I saw how ridiculous it was. The problem was it was the first indication I ever had that my dad gave a shit about me. I didn’t want to be President of the stupid fucking club. I didn’t even want to be a part of it. The idea that my father, who was all about respect, wanted me to takeover had a weird effect on me. It made me…proud. It was further proof to the rational part of my brain that I needed to get the hell away from those people.
I wrote down how they had all conspired to put me away and then I moved onto listing what I could do to get even. The first thing I wrote down was, kill them. I could honestly say when I was in prison, I was angry enough that if I had found out who had set me up, I would have come out of there a homicidal maniac. The difference now was that I had time to think things over a more clearly. I wanted a life, a real one. If I killed the bastards, they would win. I’d be back in prison.
I crossed it out and put, set them up. Put them in a cage for years and let them decide whether it was worth what they did to me. That way, they would be out of my way, living in a cage like animals, and I’d be doing a public service by getting them off the streets.
I was looking at my list when Olivia walked in. I tossed the notebook down under the nightstand next to the bed before she got the door all the way open. I looked up at her and I was consumed with an overwhelming desire to kiss her, so I got up and went over to her. Without saying a word, we put our arms around each other and I pulled her in for a long, deep kiss.
Dirty Biker (An MC Motorcycle Romance) (The Maxwell Family) Page 85