by Nikki Pink
I began to climb in. It was filthy. I stopped for a moment. “Surely there’s room—”
The Englishman’s cold voice cut into mine, stopping me in my tracks. “I said, get in the fucking van.”
What the hell? My head whipped back sharply, incredulous that he’d spoken to me like that. My rapidly turned head was met by an equally rapid slap which set my cheek burning and my mind reeling.
“What the fu—” My words were interrupted as his hand covered my mouth and he pushed me hard in the stomach, shoving me into the back.
“Hey!”
The van doors slammed shut.
I considered trying to rouse attention by screaming and smacking the back of the van, but in seconds the engine had shuddered to life and it wasn’t quiet. There would be no chance of anyone hearing me.
Shit. Is Lonnie in league with the Doctor? What the hell is going on? Is Jase okay?
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jase
The pickup finally pulled to a stop. The ride had been bumpy and despite the protection offered by his leather jacket Jase knew he he’d be bruised tomorrow. If he lived that long.
Jase heard the two front doors of the pickup open and then slam shut, followed by the crisp steps of biker boots stomping across the ground. The footsteps came closer and then stopped. Uhoh.
Silence. Jase’s heart raced. Was the Doctor standing above them like an executioner, about to end them before he had a chance to act? He’d already agreed not to shoot them in the back of the truck, hadn’t he? But he’s fuckin’ deranged.
Next to him Eag was breathing hard and fast with shallow breaths. He was terrified. But of course he should have been, there were a lot of people who genuinely wanted him dead right now.
“Alright fuckheads. I’m going to undo this tarp. Gauge is gonna tape you up. One move and I’ll turn your heads into a fine red mist.”
Psycho. The sound of the rope being untied and pulled through the eyelets of the tarp was soon followed by blinding light as it was lifted away.
“On your knees.”
The two men rose to their knees and shuffled to the back of the pickup truck.
Gotta play the part or he’ll get suspicious. “Doc, please! I don’t know what’s going on, but—”
“Shut the fuck up!” The Doctor turned his attention to Gauge. “Tape their motherfuckin’, brother-killing mouths shut.”
Jase looked into his friend’s face as he offered his wrists forward. Gauge’s face didn’t flinch as he first bound their wrists, and then wrapped the tape around each of their heads several times, sealing their mouths shut.
He knows I didn’t do it right? Jase looked into Gauge’s eyes and could detect nothing. He’s going to go through with the plan, isn’t he? The Doctor didn’t get to him did he?
“Up, bitches.”
Getting out of the bed of a pickup track with your hands and arms immobilized is just as tricky as it sounds. After watching Eag tumble out and avoid eating dirt only because the generous amount of tape wrapped around his head stopped it entering his mouth, Jase carefully climbed out, managing to stay on his feet as he did so.
“Walk.” The Doctor punctuated his command with a couple of hard jabs to the back from the business end of his shotgun.
They headed around to the back of the trailer. A chill ran down Jase’s spine as he saw the familiar oil barrel ahead. The one they’d used for target practice before their assault on the Mexican house, and the same one they’d later secured Carlos to.
“Sit down fuckheads.”
They were directed to the oil barrel, and when they got to it the Doctor gave them each a firm shove. As he fell to the ground Jase saw a mad glint in the eyes above him. He made some sounds from behind the tape as if he was protesting. In fact he was saying just you wait fucker.
The Doctor and Gauge walked back a few yards. Gauge unslung his rifle and shouldered it pointing it right at them. I hope he’s aiming at Eag.
“Not yet Gauge. Wait for the boys.”
Gauge spoke softly, but his voice still managed to exude menace. “I know. I know. Just making sure they don’t decide to go for a run.”
The Doctor patted him on the shoulder.
They didn’t have to wait long. Soon the distant sound of motorcycle engines could be heard. A surge of excitement ran through Jase as he heard the rolling thunder approaching. The Doctor was pacing up and down in nervous excitement behind Gauge who stood steady as a rock.
Jase shook his head to himself. He looks like a school kid who’s just been told that today, instead of his normal allowance he gets $200 to spend in the candy store.
Soon the motorcycles came into view, a trail of dust surrounding them as they slowly growled their way down the unpaved track that led to Gauge’s patch of land. Ahead of them, seeming to lead the cavalry, was the old panel van.
The two captives sat in the dirt watching as what was left of the biker gang after their recent misfortunes pulled up. T-Bone and Bottle dismounted from their steeds, and a moment later Lonnie jumped out of the van. His face looked grim.
Nicole must be inside. This was a problem. As Eag had explained to him earlier, he hadn’t had a chance to tell Lonnie what was going on. The night before Eag had gone to the clubhouse with an important message from Jase, explaining what was going on. He’d handed over hand-written letters, not wanting to risk causing a scene with the Doctor present. Jase himself had gone to the club Gauge was working security at; he didn’t think Gauge would believe anyone but him.
But Lonnie hadn’t been around, no one had known where he was. He’d been fully taken in by the Doctor’s plan.
Jase winced when the Englishman yelled into the back of the van, “Get the fuck out.”
A moment later a scared looking Nicole climbed out, blinking as she looked around stunned. Her eyes caught his.
“Jase!” she yelled.
He looked on wide eyed, unable to do anything as Lonnie’s hand swung through the air and smacked her across the face cutting her yell short.
“I told you before. Not a fucking word.”
Fuck.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Nicole
I didn’t know what the hell was going on. After the assurances Jase had given me the night before about handling everything things sure didn’t seem to be going right. I wasn’t supposed to be part of this.
I tasted blood on my lip as I turned my head back from Lonnie’s blow. Bastard.
A yell escaped from my lips as he grabbed me by the hair and shoved me forward. He started walking me to where Jase and Eag were sitting in the dirt. I looked down at him but he couldn’t speak, his mouth covered in gray duct tape. He raised his eyebrows at me and shook his head slightly. What is that? An apology? Regret? What’s going on?
Lonnie shoved me forward again as he released my hair and I fell onto Jase and Eag. My face landed in Jase’s chest, my nose pushing into the leather of his jacket. I breathed in deeply, the scent of the leather reassuring me despite our precarious situation.
I turned around and sat leaning against Jase, grimacing when I saw the rifle Gauge was aiming right at us. Next to him the Doctor stood, shifting his weight from foot to foot, a toothy grin on his lips that looked like he was having the time of his life.
We sat silent in the dirt as Lonnie walked over to join the Doctor, Gauge and Bottle. T-Bone was lumbering over from the truck. I felt a bead of sweat roll down my head, but it wasn’t from the heat. How the fuck did I end up here?
When T-Bone finally reached the Doctor the former medical practitioner let his shotgun rest against his leg as he clapped his hands together in glee, before picking it up again. “We are gathered here today, due to the acts of traitors!”
“Damn straight,” said T-Bone.
“You’ve got that right,” said Gauge, not moving even a fraction of an inch as he spoke, his rifle still held up against his shoulder, pointed right at the three of us on the ground.
The Doctor’s eyes seemed to widen as
he made himself more and more irate. Spittle flecked from his mouth as he spoke. “Due to these snakes,” he paused to spit before continuing, “we have lost Bigfella to the prison system, and Brodie to the heavens.” The Doctor looked up to the sky and shook his head. “And for what?
“For money? Fuckers! They’ve nearly ruined us. We’re never going to be the same again. Never!”
Lonnie spat on the ground, his face fuming. “The club’s been royally fucked.”
T-Bone growled. “That it has, brother. You don’t know the half of it.”
Lonnie cocked his head at T-Bone in confusion, before returning his angry gaze to us.
The Doctor’s face had grown red and when he wasn’t speaking his grin was beginning to look manic. You’re a goddamn fruit loop Doctor. You and that English bastard.
The Doctor’s voice seemed higher when he next spoke. “You traitorous snakes. You dogs. You sicken me. You sicken us.”
Lonnie nodded in agreement, and then frowned when Bottle, Gauge and T-Bone didn’t respond at all.
“The cost of betraying the club is death. You knew it when you joined. But you’re scum. Fucking lowlife scum. You thought you could get one over on us. Fuckers!”
I was shaking harder now. The man in front of us seemed crazy, and Lonnie didn’t seem much better. The only comfort I had was the warmth emanating from Jase’s body next to mine. If he was afraid I couldn’t tell. I hope he knows what’s going on.
Gauge, still unmoving finally spoke, his voice cold and hard. “I don’t know about you Doc, but I’ve had about enough of this shit.”
I watched as the Doctor bobbed his head up and down like a toy. “Yes! Let’s get this over with!” His mouth was wide with a manic grin as he began to raise his shotgun. My eyes were wide. Somebody do something.
“That’s not what I meant.”
The Doctor turned to look at Gauge, not understanding. I cocked my head slightly. What does that mean?
My unspoken question was answered when Gauge, lightning quick, swung his rifle from his body and whacked the Doctor around the head with it. My mouth gaped open in shock at the quickness of his motion. Gauge was a mere blur as in one fluid moment he continued to move and kicked the Doctor in the stomach with a heavy military boot, before bringing it down and knocking his shotgun to the floor.
The Doctor collapsed to the floor, his mouth wide open but no sound escaping as he gasped for air. As he fell into the dirt Lonnie swung his weapon up to face Gauge. “What the fuck are you playing at?”
Gauge just shook his head.
“It’s alright Lonnie,” said T-Bone.
“Put the gun down,” said Bottle.
“The Doctor set us up! He framed us!” I yelled. I was the only one of us captives who wasn’t gagged with tape. Lonnie turned to look at me, realization flooding across his face. Sorry you smacked me now, asshole?
Lonnie lowered his weapon and looked down at the panicked man on the floor, shaking his head. He lifted his head again. “But, the tape?”
“Fake.”
“But how?”
“He’s been recording Eag and Jase for weeks. He patched together their conversations on the computer and made them sound real.”
Lonnie cocked his head at me. “How do you know?”
Before I could answer Bottle spoke for me. “Eag confessed to her last night. When he found out what was going to happen to him he decided to run for it. Jase didn’t let him.”
Lonnie looked more confused than before. “So, the bit about Eag was true?”
Bottle was walking over to us, and yelled over his shoulder, “Yep.”
Next to me I felt Jase begin to rise to his feet, so I did the same, my legs unsteady. Jase held out his wrists to Bottle, who pulled out a knife from his boot and cut the tape binding him.
I heard a yelp and looked back. Gauge had given the Doctor another kick in the stomach. He must have looked like he’d nearly recovered. I shook my head softly. Motherfucker. Try and kill Jase? Try and kill me? Bastard.
With his hands now free Jase was working on pulling the tape off of his mouth. Next to him Eag began to stand up, but quickly toppled over again when Bottle gave him a push with the tip of his boot.
“Don’t move fuckhead.” A panicked look appeared on Eag’s face at Bottle’s command.
Jase managed to get the tape off his mouth and turned to me. He enveloped me with his two strong arms and I pressed my head into his shoulder. Thank God. He hugged me and patted my back, before holding me by my shoulders at arm’s length.
“I’m sorry about this. You weren’t supposed to be involved. I didn’t realize just how crazy that asshole was.”
My voice was small. “It’s okay. You stopped him.”
He nodded. His eyes bore in to mine. “You know what has to be done, right?”
I nodded. They have to kill him. I looked at the rat writhing under the floor underneath Gauge. That asshole had tried to kill me. And not just me. Because of him Brodie was dead, and their club president was locked up.
Did I feel anything for him? Did I have compassion for that asshole lying on the floor clutching his stomach, moaning? Not much. I guess there are different kinds of people in the world — those who’ll put up with others shit, and those who won’t. Those who’ll bow down, be cowed, be forgiving and those of us who stand up for ourselves, who hurt those who hurt us, punish those who wound us and kill those who would kill us.
I didn’t care a jot for that man. He deserves everything he’s going to get.
But I was still shocked when Jase held me tightly by the shoulders, looked into my eyes, and told me what had to be done. I gulped. Can I do that?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jase
Can she do this? What happens if she doesn’t? Jase gulped.
“Usually a civilian wouldn’t be here. This kind of business should be kept separate.”
She nodded to him, her eyes fierce with righteous anger. She seemed to understand that this was a unique situation.
Jase looked her in the eyes. “You’ll do it?”
She nodded. “I’ll do it.” Her voice was a whisper but despite the low volume there was a steely hardness underneath. She ain’t no regular college girl, that’s for sure. She’s a keeper.
Gauge dragged the Doctor over to the oil barrel by a boot before releasing him. “What about this one?” he indicated Eag with a steel-capped toe.
Jase shook his head. “I promised we wouldn’t kill him if he helped me.”
T-Bone looked at him, his expression unreadable. “He betrayed us, Jase. No one will mind.”
Bottle nodded. “Fuck that guy.”
Lonnie didn’t speak. He seemed to be avoiding contact with Jase, probably because of the way he’d hit Nicole.
The acting president of the club faced his men. “We’ve seen too much fucking betrayal lately. It ends now. Within the club, we’re brothers, we do not fuckin lie, or cheat, or steal from each other.” There were murmurs of agreement. “I promised this fuckhead we wouldn’t kill him. Unlike those two fuckers, my word means something.”
T-Bone nodded approvingly. “You’re a better man than me Jase.”
“Or me,” said Bottle.
“I’d have wrung his neck last night,” said Gauge with an ominous chuckle.
Lonnie remained silent but gave a nod of the head.
Jase nodded slowly. “He’s banished. I don’t want that fucker within a hundred miles of the club. And if we expand? He gets the fuck further away. If anyone sees him in our territory take care of him however you want.”
With the decision made Gauge dragged Eag back to the rest of the club members. He’d now have to take his last action as a Son.
Jase wrapped his hand around Nicole’s waist and led her over to the men. She stood confidently among them, a look of firm determination on her face. She’s really going to do this, huh.
The Doctor lay unmoving, facing away from them. He seemed dead already.
; Everyone held a rifle, handgun or shotgun. They were in this together, and the deed had to be carried out together. And if a civilian was present, like Nicole? She had to join them. Jase could no more change this rule than he could stop the sun rising again tomorrow. Luckily Nicole had seemed to understand.
They fired together in unison. After it was done Jase looked at her. Nicole’s face was at first unreadable. She didn’t seem scared any more, and she didn’t seem upset; at least not in a normal sense. No, he thought, the look on her face was something else. She turned to look at him, her eyes glinting. Realization rushed through him. She looks… proud.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Nicole
I had my arms wrapped around him as he drove us away back to the compound. He’d asked if I’d wanted to go back to the dorm. But I hadn’t. I wanted to be with him, at least for a little while. I knew he’d undoubtedly have club business to attend to soon, but I hoped we could snatch a few minutes alone.
The guys had sent Jase off with me. I’d played my part by firing the handgun I’d been given, but I didn’t need to be there for the rest, when they got rid of the body.
I shivered at the memory. I’d never fired a gun before. I don’t know if I even hit him. But the memory of the weapon lurching in my hand as I pulled the trigger again and again until it stopped would never leave me.
Should I feel bad? Is there something wrong with me that I don’t? Or maybe it’s right — after all, the fucker tried to kill me first.
I was contemplative on the ride back as the day’s events ran over and over in my mind. But not just the events of that day, but from the previous few weeks too.
I think something changed in me that first day in the warehouse. When I’d first had a taste of the power of the club when we stood over the meth-heads who’d shot at us, and I’d got my first taste of Jase. Like a switch being flicked, I’d become more than I had been. I was still the good college girl, but now I was something else as well — a biker chick; or a biker’s chick at the very least.
I’d come to the realization that we can either stand up for ourselves, or we can get trodden on. We can fight for what is right, for our friends, for our brothers, for our beliefs, or we can let them get trampled on and be ridden roughshod over. Jase had me taught me that.