“Pound already told us that the girl who fucked over Stark and the club isn’t here.”
“Then why are you guys here?” Bane asked.
“Because Stark is fucking crazy. He don’t give a shit about anybody anymore, he just wants blood.”
“Turn your head and look at me,” Bane ordered.
“Why?” A drop of sweat rolled down Crank’s forehead.
“Because I want you to see exactly who is going to kill you,” Bane whispered.
The man stared straight ahead. “I’d rather not if you don’t mind.”
“I need some answers and I need you to tell me the truth.”
The man swallowed hard. After a few minutes, he dared to ask, “What do you want to know?”
Bane began to question the man and he answered the best he could. In the end, Bane knew all he could about Stark’s MC. Its strengths and its weaknesses. He also knew about the man himself.
He learned that the three men that had come here after Cricket. Pound had known the real Cordy and when he saw Cricket, he told them all this wasn’t the one who had set Stark and the others up. Pound told them he didn’t feel good about this mission. Scooter told them he would take the shot and then they could get out of here. They could report back that they had taken the shot and go back to the club where they belonged.
He told Bane that he hadn’t wanted to be here in the first place. Since Stark got out of prison, he was a raving maniac. When the club found out the bitch had ripped them off Stark got the club all revved up about revenge. He sent teams out to find her and take her out. He didn’t even care about the money anymore.
When Scooter had taken his shot earlier and then took a bullet himself that had been enough to scatter the other two.
Bane hardened his heart. He hated a coward and he’d seen too many of them in his line of work. He felt that when a man was staring death in the face he should take his own balls in his hand and at least face it without crying like a baby.
When he found out as much as he could about Stark and his MC, Bane wasted no more time on the man. He didn’t see it coming but Bane sank the knife deep into his throat. Crank died quickly only because Bane was feeling merciful. He left his body leaning up against the tree. The wolves he’d seen earlier would feast tonight.
Bane disappeared into the woods, hunting the third man.
~*~
A couple of hours later, Bane got his chance to get the last one. As the sun came up, his body grew tense as the last of the three men he’d been hunting all night stepped forward. He’d been watching the clubhouse and had seen Cricket come outside and stand there looking up at the stars. The shadows had hidden him well but Bane now knew where he was and it wouldn’t take long to bring him down.
Bane took careful aim and squeezed his trigger softly. The retort echoed in the silence and when the man went down, Bane watched as the MC men poured out of the clubhouse. They found the man writhing in the dirt and hauled his sorry ass to the clubhouse.
Bane took his time walking up to the club. He wasn’t in a hurry anymore.
The back door opened and Bane walked in. He was dressed for hunting. His clothes were dark in color and he was carrying a rifle across his shoulder. Around his waist was a rather large knife sheathed in leather. Around his shoulders, he wore a double holster housing two weapons. He had heard Deke’s statement about going up against Stark and his MC.
“Personally, I think you should wait on going anywhere,” he told them as he reached the group. He noted the protective circle the men formed around his niece with Raine standing directly in front of her.
Deke glared at him. “And why would we do that? We don’t want this war but we won’t back down from it either.”
“Waiting for death or a showdown plays on a man’s nerves. The longer you make him wait the more nervous he gets. When he gets nervous he makes mistakes that might work in your advantage,” Bane stated then shrugged. “Stark is losing it. His club, his authority over his men and his mind.”
“How do you know all of this?” Bones dared to ask.
Bane snarled. “His man Crank filled me in before he passed. He got very chatty, very quickly. It was too easy. He barely put up any fight at all. Lord, I hate a coward.”
“We can’t just sit here and wait for the man,” Deke told him. “That would make us look like cowards and that’s not something I can do. We protect what’s ours in a timely fashion.”
“I didn’t say wait that long,” Bane retorted dryly.
“I thought you would be gungho to see this contract done,” Deke stated.
Bane smiled. “You misunderstood what I said yesterday. All I came here to do was to let Cricket know the contract existed. I never said I was going to fill it.”
Cricket pushed her way through the lineup of men between her and Bane. “Then you’re not here to kill me?”
“I never was.” Bane stared at her.
“Then why did you agree to give me three days?” She practically screamed at the man.
“I never agreed to give you anything,” Bane reminded her. “You asked for three days. I allowed you to think you had made a bargain, that’s all I did.”
“You bastard!” She swore at him. “Why would you do something like that? Why?” She turned and walked away from him.
Deke, Raine and Bane watched her walk down the hall and a moment later, they heard a door slam.
“Answer the question old man,” Raine demanded. “Why would you do something like that to her?”
Bane glared at him for a moment before answering his question, “I wanted to test her, to see what kind of woman she really was. You see, from the moment I met her, Cricket has intrigued me. She was more like her mother than I was comfortable with.” He sat down at the table and glared at the men around him. “I cared for Grace in my own way but I can’t say I ever loved her the way my brother did. I know that doesn’t make any difference to you and it means nothing at all to any of you but when I first met Cricket, I knew what she was and who she was. She was her mother’s daughter in every way and I was curious. For thirty years, I wondered about what made Grace tick. What made her so different from me. I will admit that I used what Grace and Orrin did against her and I did threaten your club to get her to do my bidding.” He shrugged then looked at Deke. “I would have killed whoever I needed to, in order to get my task done and I let her know it, in no uncertain terms. I wanted to see what she would do. When she came through for me let’s just say I was intrigued by her actions.”
“What did you think she would do?” Deke had to ask.
“I thought she would run and let the chips fall where they may,” Bane replied, keeping the other man’s stare.
“But she didn’t,” Deke stated.
“No she didn’t,” Bane admitted. “She went out of her way to protect this club from my wrath. Then she broke into my home to return something her parents took when they left a long time ago. That impressed me. After all, she had no real ties to this club. She could have run but she didn’t.”
“She damn near got herself killed doing your bidding.” Deke snarled.
“I know and that made me want to study her even more. I watched over her after I found my son. And when I brought him here to meet her… again, I was impressed by her actions. She gave up a big part of her father’s past to safeguard a child that wasn’t even hers. I never understood that part of her. She even warned me against Michael’s betrayal when she didn’t have to. When we left that day, I asked him if it was true. Had he planned to kill me and take what I’d built? He admitted it. I don’t know why I was surprised or maybe I just felt disappointed by someone else whom I should have wanted to be close to. It doesn’t matter. I am who I am. I can’t be anybody else.”
The men all stared at him in some confusion.
He shook his head. “It was then I realized it never mattered. Nothing I ever did in my life mattered. No one would ever miss me if I were no longer on this earth. My wife was long
gone, my brother was dead, and both my children were out of the picture. I realized that Cricket was the only person on this earth that might care about me. She might spare me a fleeting thought every once in a while. That’s when it hit me. I was her only living relative too.”
“What difference would that make to a man like you?” Raine asked. “You’ve done nothing but hurt her since the day you found her.”
“That’s true enough. I’ll give you that much but if I were you, I’d not show your disrespect so blatantly.” Bane snarled.
Raine started to take a step forward but the large biker known as Mountain pushed him back.
“So why did you let her think she only had three days left to live?” Deke questioned. “That seemed cruel even for a man like you.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I wanted to find out if she would finally run to save her own life or if she would stand her ground.”
“Well, she stood her ground, didn’t she?” Raine sneered.
“I had to see it for myself. I’ve never found her kind of courage before. The people I deal with in my profession would have offered me money or tried to run to save their own miserable lives. She did neither.” Bane reasoned. “If those men wouldn’t have shown up and tried to kill her, she would have been fine.”
“But they did show up and they did try to kill her and now we have to go to war to protect what’s ours.” Deke glared at him.
Bane got to his feet crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m demanding twenty-four hours before you do anything.”
“What makes you think you can demand anything from us?” Deke countered.
“Because I want one chance in this life to do something right. Cricket has proven herself worthy in your eyes by doing something right, by giving up a piece of her soul she knew from the start she might not ever get back. She brought your children back to you and your wife when she knew it could cost her life. Then she stood before a tribunal and faced a death sentence to allow the truth to come out about crimes she’s been accused of but was innocent of. And now she put her whole life on the line for this club without hesitation. She offered herself up to die in your place.”
The men all nodded, as every word he said was true.
Bane then went on to say, “All my life, I’ve never had emotions like normal people. It was as if I was dead inside, or maybe it was that I had no soul. I don’t really know, nor do I care, but I did care for another human being even if it wasn’t enough to keep her. I did care in my own way for Grace. I cared enough to look for her after she escaped me when she was pregnant with Michael, and I cared enough to allow her to run away from me with Orrin. I don’t think I would have come after them if he hadn’t taken the key to the safe. And I finally admitted to myself that I cared enough about her mother to want to protect Cricket by coming here to tell her about the contract on her life. I know that may not to mean much to you guys, but it means a hell of a lot to someone like me. So yes, I am demanding one day before you move against this other MC. I want to find out, no I need to find out if I possess the same kind of courage Cricket has.”
Deke just stared at the man as if to judge his sincerity. Then he nodded. “Okay, I’ll give you just one day. Tomorrow at this time we’ll make our move, but not until then.”
Bane didn’t say anything, instead he turned and walked out the back door, leaving in his wake a group of men who were confused by his request.
“Now what do you suppose that man is up to?” Bones asked.
“I wish I knew dad, I really wish I knew,” Deke replied.
Chapter Seven
Bane climbed a tree outside Stark’s compound. He’d used the cover of shadows to get where he wanted to be. He also knew he wasn’t alone in these woods. He couldn’t see anyone, but he knew they were there all the same. He’d spotted a man here and there and his eyes caught the logo of another MC. It hadn’t been Stark’s Dragon’s Fire MC. He decided as long as they left him alone, he’d leave them be too.
He never trusted anyone, so he knew he had to do his own recon. He took what Crank had told him about the compound and found most of it to be true. It was laid out just as Crank had told him but he’d missed several things of interest.
There was a huge LP tank that sat too damn close to the clubhouse but that could come in handy. He also took note of the new construction around the club. While Stark had been in prison, the rest of the club had expanded the original clubhouse. It was bigger than Crank told him. His lips tightened but then he thought about this man Crank and he realized the man was just plain inattentive as he didn’t pay attention to the things around him that closely.
One of the lessons his grandfather taught him was to know what was going on around him at all times. Look at the scene and know your options, even how to escape if you needed to.
The parking lot was at the end, farthest away from where Bane was perched in his tree. He smiled evilly. He’d brought along with him the tools he would need to get this job done. The parking lot held fourteen bikes, so Bane knew he had to kill fourteen men tonight. A small part of him got shivers at the odds—fourteen to one.
Checking his watch, he noted the time. He had a few hours left before Deke said he would come for the MC. He hoped to be done by that time.
Bane took off the long-distance rifle off his shoulder. He screwed on the silencer quickly and got comfortable while he waited for his victims. He didn’t have to wait long.
Bane took out four more men before Stark even noticed they were missing. When he came to the door and found his men laying on the ground, he began shouting. Making a fuss as he closed his clubhouse up and took up a fighting position. He barricaded what was left of his men and they just began shooting at anything that moved outside. They were at a stalemate right now.
Bane decided to stir things up a bit. He laid down on the branch holding him and took the shot. A moment later, the LP tank blew up. A second later, the clubhouse blew up as well. He sat up and grinned.
Screams and chaos echoed around him as Bane slid down the tree and began breaking down his weapon. He intended to walk away when a shot rang out. He felt the bite of pain when it hit him. Gasping, he turned and fired instinctively.
Stark had stumbled from the burning house with flames and smoke and flying debris surrounding him and saw Bane walking away. He got one shot off and Bane had been hit but Bane turned around and smoked Stark. The shot took him completely off his feet. He flew back about five feet before he hit the ground. Then he didn’t move again. His dead eyes stared at the canopy of stars overhead. The shot had shattered the top of his head. Brain matter and blood oozed from the hole in his skull.
Bane turned wordlessly and walked deeper in the woods. At this point, he could no longer feel the pain of the gunshot as shock was setting in but he could feel the blood pouring down his side. The bullet caught him in the back shoulder and came out in his upper chest. He knew the bullet had clipped his artery and there was nothing he could do to stop the flow of his blood pouring from his heart.
Each step he took, he knew he was growing weaker from blood loss. He sat down when he was as far away from the crime scene as he could get on his own two feet. Leaning his head against the tree, he just felt tired.
He thought about the events of the night. He was satisfied that Stark would no longer be a threat to Cricket. She had proven herself to him and to the rest of the world. He didn’t have to worry about her anymore. He knew the MC would take care of her. He only had one regret… he would never meet his grandson in person. He smiled weakly then thought maybe that was for the best, Cricket would think so anyway. She wouldn’t want him to taint the boy’s life.
He smiled faintly as he thought about what he’d done tonight. He’d taken out an entire MC. His last act on this earth had been protecting a woman who hated him, one who wanted nothing to do with him. Hell, she didn’t even want the name she should have been born with. She was a true Jessin in the respect that she had more courage than most people could
dream about having, but she didn’t want that title.
Jessin was a name to be proud of and she didn’t want it. That name would be gone forever now. He had no children left to carry the name, even his grandson would have a different name by now.
Then he thought about what he’d placed on the front seat of his car. He wanted Cricket to know that he knew about the boy Dusty. He knew yet, he hadn’t done anything to claim the boy.
His will was there as well. He knew he might not live through this and he was right. Stark had gotten one good shot off before he met his Maker, whether he went to heaven or hell it didn’t matter any longer. Bane had put out the trash, as Deke would have said.
Cricket and Dusty would be safe now. At least, he’d done that much for them. He tried to get up but lacked the strength to do so. Instead, he just sat there and thought about what Cricket would do when she heard he was dead. He knew tonight would be his last night on this earth.
The sad part of his life was he had nothing to show for his existence. Oh, he had money and a sort of fame but anybody could have those things. He had a big house, nice cars and expensive art works on his walls but again, those were just material things.
He had tried to have a wife and family but that hadn’t worked out for him either. He felt something strange trailing down his cheeks and he frowned and raised a hand to brush it off.
His hand came away wet but there was no color to the wetness. Was he crying? Were those tears running down his cheeks? How strange. Never in his fifty-seven years had he cried. Not even as a child and he’d been hurt.
Now in his last few moments of life, he was crying. Bane didn’t understand why.
He wasn’t afraid of dying. It was a natural progress of things he couldn’t control. You were born, you grew up and hopefully you lived a good long life, then you died.
He had missed out on so much and until now, it never bothered him. He had gone through life with no regrets, but he hadn’t known regret. His lack of feeling hadn’t bothered him either until now.
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