by Ana Jolene
As the water drenched me, I thought about last night. I could still hear Indy’s sweet moans in my ears, could feel her exquisite body clenching and unclenching beneath my hands. Just thinking about it was getting me hard again.
A vision of her face came to mind when she asked me to kiss her. Even as she told me she wanted me, I didn’t want to do anything that she would regret or make her hate me later. Her absence now was exactly what I had hoped to avoid. How much worse would it have been if we had gone all the way?
Regardless, she had left this morning without a word. Not even a note to tell me where she was going. As much as I hated admitting it, this was the second time Indy had cut me deep in the last few hours.
I contemplated calling her, but decided it would be better to see her face-to-face when I asked her why she left so unexpectedly. The last thing I wanted was to make this feel like a one-night stand, but she had made it that way.
The chirping sound of my phone made me curse. I hopped out of the shower, soaking wet and grabbed it, hoping it was Indy calling to tell me where she was.
The voice on the other end was much too low to be hers. “Emergency at Cornwall,” Newt barked. “Get your ass over here.”
Cornwall was the border to Ward Four. What the hell was going on over there? A heavy feeling coiled in my gut as I realized that it could only be bad news. Dressing quickly, I hopped on my Harley and tore up the asphalt as I ripped out of there. At least Glory biz was one thing that could cool my anger before I hunted down Indy.
* * *
The sun was a blazing source of heat above us that didn’t help my already pissed off state. As I pulled up to the border that marked the end of Ward Four, I hopped off my Harley and joined the rest of Glory MC. “What the fuck is going on?” I asked as I approached them.
Lucky turned to me first and we clasped hands. Newt took a last drag of his cigarette before speaking, nodding to the motel across the street. “Got word that four of Brennan’s men are in there.”
Shit. Brennan really was an idiot.
Turning, I took in the motel. It looked like any other cheap ass motel with its off-white walls, inexpensive blinds, and reed thin doors. It didn’t seem like we’d have a problem bashing our way in. “Why are they here?”
“Suspicious activity has been reported,” Newt rattled off. “They broke our negotiation by crossing over without our expressed permission. That gives us a right to attack.”
By the sergeant at arms’ expression, Kitt didn’t seem the least bit pleased by that. “This asshole has some balls sending his men in here after our last meeting with him.”
Like I said, Brennan was an idiot. “He’s got no sense of responsibility. He knew sending his men here would provoke a war.”
“What’s the suspicious activity?” Lucky asked.
“We’re gonna find out.” Pulling out my pistol, I started crossing the street. My brothers jumped to their feet, following after me. “What room?” I asked as we climbed the stairs to the second floor of rooms.
“155,” Newt barked.
My eyes jumped around until I found it. Newt and Lucky separated as Kitt stepped back to kick in the door. The first one loosened the lock. I immediately heard a scuffle and curses from within. Good. They were in there. I nodded and Kitt kicked again, flinging the door open. Like your standard room clearing exercise, I turned into the room, bringing my pistol up, ready to shoot.
Three rounds went off in quick succession as one of Brennan’s men came charging at me with a knife. He dropped to the ground a second later. One down.
I heard hollering in the distance and realized that Newt and Lucky had caught one who had tried to flee through the back. Kitt was busy fighting another who was using brass knuckles. He swung, catching Kitt in the side of his face. I winced as metal met flesh. The guy had his face hit so often he could actually be classified as a piñata.
I stepped over to intervene, but Kitt managed a shot to the ribs that echoed in the room with a loud crack. The motherfucker slumped over, moaning and clutching his side.
Kitt grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the room. Neighbors came out to see what the noise was about, but none of them dared to question us. One stern look was enough to shut them up.
Newt and Lucky held the one who had tried to escape through the back at gunpoint. “Where’s the other one?” Kitt asked.
“I shot him,” Lucky said.
“You shot him?”
When I looked to Newt for confirmation, he simply shrugged his shoulders. “He came at me with a knife,” he explained.
Christ, Lucky was quickly earning the flash. Flash were special patches members wore when they killed for another in the club. It was a take on the “victor and the vanquished” notion, the wearer sporting the V meant for victor. He’d now match the one placed over my own chest. “Search the rooms,” I said. “Find out why they’re here.”
As Kitt left to do just that, I dropped to my haunches over the one he’d broken. “Why are you here?”
The guy spat out blood but otherwise ignored me. I kicked him in the ribs and watched as he howled. “Why are you here?” I repeated.
In the sun, my patience was wearing thin. Sweat poured down my forehead. I wiped it off with a forearm irritably. I needed to get this guy to talk. Now.
“Kill him,” Newt said over my shoulder. “If he doesn’t talk, I have another one.”
I laughed dryly. Most saw me as merciless, but Newt wasn’t vice-prez for nothing. He took care of business like no other.
I bent low before speaking. “Hear that? He wants me to kill you. But I know you’ve got something for me.” I tipped my head towards the man Newt had. “Your partner here looks like he’s gonna shit himself ’cause he’s got no clue. He knows he’s a dead man. You, on the other hand, can get yourselves out of this mess if you just tell me why you’re here. Come on.” I paused and stood up. “You just have to give me the reason.”
The man simply glared at me.
I waited. And waited. Letting the sun and their own minds push them over the edge. Either way, he had no way out.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Newt cried as his patience snapped, pulling out his own pistol and aiming it at him. “Tell him why you’re goddamn here!”
The sight of big, bad Newt aiming a pistol at the man’s head was a scary thing to witness. The grey strands running through his hair may relay his age. But there was no loss of control in the way the vice-prez handled his pistol. He was a straight shooter, take-no-shit kind of man, and if you didn’t respect him the way he deserved to be respected, you didn’t end up living very long.
I could tell that the guy on the ground knew that because he muttered something too low for us to catch.
Newt took a step forward. “Come again?”
He repeated his words, his lips caked with blood and cracked with dehydration. “He’s selling choppers,” he repeated louder. I stiffened instantly. What the hell was a Ward leader specializing in agriculture doing with bikes?
Eyes narrowing, I scanned the surroundings, ignoring the concerned looks of bystanders. My eyes landed on a moving truck in the parking lot. Over my shoulder, I called out loud enough for Kitt to hear. “Find me some keys. There’s a moving truck out there.”
Moments later, Kitt returned palming a set of keys that were latched on to a Welcome to Mexico key fob. He tossed them down to me. Catching them, my boots quickly ate up the distance between me and the truck. I tried out a couple of keys before I managed to get the right one.
“Son of a bitch,” Kitt breathed as I popped the back. I drew a hand over my face to make sure what I was seeing was true.
Inside the back of the truck were a dozen or so choppers, all loaded up and ready to be hauled away. Did Brennan think he could steal these bikes from our Ward and then resell them? It’d be simple; get new cases, stamp new numbers. All you’d need is some new paperwork and they could easily sell for $10,000 per bike.
With Harleys
in high demand, this racketeering business venture would make millions. However, Ward Four dealt primarily in automotives. Finding this kind of stash meant Brennan was stealing our business.
Stepping back, I examined the bikes with a hawk-like focus. Most were in good condition. Anything bad could be cut out and replaced with a new one. I didn’t know whether to think Brennan was a mastermind for this new business venture or think him an idiot for trying to steal from Ward Four.
Lucky let out a long whistle as he hopped into the back of the truck. “Bet they were planning to leave tonight.”
“Looks like it,” Kitt said. “Knuckle’s gonna be pissed when he hears about this shit.”
“Let’s keep an eye on Brennan. See what other pots he’s got his fingers in. He’s clearly planning something.”
But the sudden sound of shots fired bolted us into action. “What the hell?” We ran back to Newt, who was quick despite his large frame. “Shit! He’s getting away!” Newt turned a corner, chasing after Brennan’s man. “Go get—”
A huge booming crack cut off my words as we were all thrown back. Black smoke surrounded us, made thicker by the grime from the car that had exploded.
Coughing, I checked to see that I wasn’t suddenly missing a limb or had a gaping hole in my chest.
“You all right, man?” Lucky asked as he shook fallen debris from his hair. I nodded, turning over and wincing as pain shot up my right side. My arm had been hit by a smoking piece of metal and it had seared right through the leather, hitting skin. I tried to mask the pain I really felt.
“Where the hell is Newt?” Smoke billowed around us, slowly clearing as the fire raged on about twenty feet away from us. My heart started to pound when I couldn’t immediately locate him.
“Here!” Kitt called out as he hunched over a slumped figure on the ground. He held his phone to his ear, speaking rapidly but efficiently to the other person on the line. “Got backup coming,” he said as I approached.
“How bad?” I asked, fear knotting my throat and making it difficult to speak. Kitt’s look of concern told me it was lethal. My gut clenched hard. “What about the other guy?”
“He’s dead.”
Newt let out a long moan. Shit. He wasn’t looking good. “Get him flat,” I said when Kitt tried to pull him into his arms. “He needs to be flat.” I dropped to my knees beside him, noticing Newt’s labored breathing.
Blood. There was so much blood. Kitt applied pressure to the large wound in his throat. If we didn’t get him help quickly, he would bleed out. “It’s all right, man,” I told him. “Help’s on the way.” I adjusted my arm so it rested against my leg. It hurt less when in that position and I clutched Newt’s hand for support.
Don’t die, I thought. Please don’t fucking die.
With the fire raging on and the sun beating down on us as we waited for backup, I focused on the thought of Indy instead of the pain radiating up my arm. My vision wavered as the sound of rumbling engines was a distant cry in the wind.
* * *
Forty minutes later, Newt was pronounced dead.
He bled out too quickly for us to help him. By the time we had transported him back to Neptune’s, his skin was cooling. His jaw that was previously gritted in pain was now relaxed and the man we all knew and loved was gone.
Just like that.
My fingers curled tightly into a fist as if I could physically stop his soul from escaping his body.
As the truck we were in reversed towards the back entrance of Neptune’s, grief settled over all of us like a wet blanket. Knuckle’s large frame busted through the doors, nearly ripping them off its hinges. A wide-eyed Hanna followed him out.
The expression on Knuckle’s face was one I’d only seen once before in my life. My father’s dark eyes took me back to that moment when our lives were forever changed, the moment when my mother had died. I didn’t question that Newt’s death would also change our lives again. Losing a brother was just as bad as losing a wife.
“What the fuck happened?” Knuckle roared, his emotions clearly scattered like stars in a night sky. “Where is he?”
I met my father’s eyes. I didn’t have to say a word. Couldn’t with the way my lips were set in a grim line, as if super glued together, holding all emotion in. But he already knew.
“No,” he said quietly. That one word was packed with anguish. So were his eyes. “No!” he roared as he pushed Lucky out of the way to see Newt’s bleeding and battered body on the metal bed of the truck.
Without a thought, he jumped in, running his hands all over Newt’s face and body as if trying to reassure himself that that was really our vice-prez lying dead in the vehicle. Tear-stained eyes lifted to take in our expressions and our devastation was thrown back to us, making it feel real.
I jumped out of the truck, walking briskly to the back entrance of Neptune’s as if I could find shelter from the cloud of grief that was forming outside. Except it didn’t feel like a cloud hovering over me anymore. I felt it inside of me, clawing at my chest. No matter how many times I rubbed at it to alleviate the ache, it still burned.
Memories rushed back to the surface. My father’s tears triggered memories long ago repressed. The faded, flickering image of my mother played like an old movie in my head. The memory was frayed, reminding me that it was a long time ago. But some hurts lasted a lifetime, no matter how well the scars healed. I felt like that old wound had been sliced open again.
And yet there was some comfort in knowing that there was one person responsible for all this. I could put a blade into Brennan’s gut and know that he was feeling agony far worse than I was at the moment. Everyone in Glory MC shared that desire with me now.
I stopped just short of the doorway to Neptune’s as Knuckle’s voice echoed through the air. It sounded so strong compared to how angry and brittle I felt on the inside. “I want surveillance put on Brennan,” he ordered. “I want to know everything about him, what he’s doing, who he’s having lunch with, when he takes a shit. Every. Fucking. Thing. Understand?”
There were several nods of approval before Kitt answered with, “You got it, boss.”
Knuckle turned his body, his broken-hearted expression facing me. Despite the distance between us, his words held me captivated. “We are going to take his motherfucker down. No one takes a brother without paying the price.”
FOURTEEN
Mistake Number Two
Hastie
The first thing I did was go see Indy. She didn’t have to work today so I knew she would be at home. Standing in front of her house, I realized I should have gone home first to change. But fuck it all, not even a shower could wash away the bad mood I was in. The moment she opened the door, I growled, “Why did you leave?”
“Hastie!” she exclaimed, her eyes going wide as they ran down the length of me. “What the hell happened to you?”
Guess I looked worse than I thought. Glory MC was a bloody mess with the fresh death of Newt weighing on us. I imagined none of us looked good at the moment. Beneath my leather jacket, my skin felt clammy but my blood was boiling in my veins. I stepped over the threshold, wanting to get the jacket off. Now. “Why did you leave?” I snapped again.
“Come sit down.”
I stalked into her home, feeling too large in the small space. With all the lights on, the house looked different than the last time I was here. It seemed wrong to tread in here, covered in blood. But there was no way I was leaving here without speaking to her.
As Indy led me to the living room, I caught myself in the mirror. My face was covered in a layer of soot. Sweat and blood made my hair stick to my forehead. I brushed it back with my hand. God, it was hot. Or was that just my temper rising?
I sat down on the couch and began the slow, painful process of removing my jacket. It was stuck to my skin and I had to peel it off like rind on an orange. Giving it a sharp tug, I gritted my teeth against the pain that shot up my right arm. Son of a bitch! It felt like entire chunks of my skin
had come off with it!
Indy stepped closer to examine the mess that was my arm. “Holy fuck, Hastie. What did you do to get burned so bad?”
“It’s fine. Just a first-degree burn.”
“That’s not first-degree.”
“Fine,” I allowed. “Second-degree.”
“Why won’t you tell me what happened?”
“Why don’t you tell me why you left this morning?” I volleyed.
Indy flinched and avoided my eyes. I knew pain and grief made me grumpy but in that moment, I wanted nothing more than to know why. I was tired. Newt’s death had put me in a vile mood and I was funneling my anger towards Indy. When she didn’t answer, I pushed more. “Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t know!” she said again, throwing her hands up in the air. “I freaked out when I woke up. I didn’t know what to do, so I ran.”
I forced my voice to soften. “I told you I didn’t want to do anything you’d regret.”
“I don’t regret it,” she said. “I promise. I loved every moment.”
I shook my head. It was starting to hurt. “Then why did you leave?” Indy turned away from me then, cutting our conversation short. But not before I caught the glimpse of sadness in her eyes. “Don’t ever do that again. I want you in my bed, Indy. Make no mistake about that. So when I woke up this morning, feeling around the sheets for your body and couldn’t find you, imagine the state I was in.”
Wide eyes blinked innocently. “Horny?”
I brought my thumb to her chin and pinched softly. “Funny, but no. I was pissed. And worried. I’m not done with you.”
“But—”
“Not even close.”
Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink before she pulled away. “So are you going to tell me what happened to you?”