SATAN-SPAWN-COLLECTION-To Load

by Dahlen, K. J.

  “Pitch earned his one percent badge that night,” Ripper yelled. “He finally joined the rest of you old bastards and you were jealous of him.”

  Sam shook his head again. “Pitch never earned anything that night. One percent badges are earned in battle not for cold blooded murder. There’s a certain honor in battle but there was no honor in what your brother did.”

  “Bull shit!” Ripper swore. “Spider would have given him his patch if you hadn’t driven us to the cop shop that night.”

  Sam shook his head looking disgusted. “I didn’t fucking drive you two anywhere that night. Spider and a couple other brothers drove you there.”

  “You’re a fucking liar!” Ripper screamed like a maniac. The knife in his hand trembled and the steel bit into Quinn’s neck.

  She held as still as she could and sweat popped out along her forehead.

  “Nope. If I had driven you there I would’ve owned it but I didn’t.” He nodded at Quinn. “Let my daughter go and we can do this just the two of us. Man to man.”

  Ripper’s eyes darted to search behind Sam then he turned to look behind him and Quinn. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. “Who else is out there Bones? Who else is waiting for me to let her go?”

  One by one, the other men in the Sin’s Bastards MC came out of the shadows.

  Ripper could see they were all armed but their weapons weren’t in their hands, instead they were holstered but each man stood ready to fight. Fear began to crawl up his back. Sweat formed along his upper lip and a bead of sweat rolled down his neck as he watched the men come forward to stand at Sam’s back.

  Ripper’s hand tightened on Quinn’s hair and the knife at her throat. He glared at Sam. “You brought the whole fucking MC? You couldn’t face me man to man? Who’s a coward now Sam?”

  “If you threaten one of us you threaten all of us,” Deke called out. “Sam didn’t have to call us out. We came on our own.”

  “You took my daughter you fuckhead.” Sam snarled. “You’re holding a member of my family hostage and the men I care about don’t like it. What did you expect them to do?”

  “This doesn’t concern them.” Ripper grunted as he fidgeted while staring at all the armed bikers.

  “She’s not just Sam’s daughter,” Chance called out. “She’s also my woman. If she’s in danger then I’m right here with him. If you hurt her, you’ll deal with me as well as him.”

  Black Jack took a step closer but only one step. “Listen Ripper. I think you got this all wrong. I was there that night twenty years ago and I can verify what Bones told you was the truth. It was Spider himself not him that drove you and Pitch to the cops. The MC may stand for a lot but they would have never condoned the senseless murder of a boy that hadn’t reached becoming a man yet.”

  “Who the fuck are you, old man?” Ripper sneered.

  “Name is Black Jack Moore. And I was there. In fact, I helped them load you and your sorry ass brother in the back of Spider’s truck. Spider himself drove you two to the cops. We didn’t even have to call them outside. We just dumped you guys on the ground and when we took off, the boys in blue came running outside.”

  “That’s a lie!” Ripper yelled.

  Black Jack shook his head. “No boy, it’s not a lie. You see they found the whole robbery on security film and they knew exactly who you were. While not cooperating with them directly, we kept the MC out of trouble, something you and Pitch should have thought about doing yourselves but Pitch wasn’t thinking about anything but his own glory that night. He forgot the rules. Rule number one…always protect the club. You guys didn’t protect the club when you shot that kid.”

  “But we were part of that club. You guys should have protected us.” Ripper’s fingers tightened on the handle of the knife.

  Black Jack shrugged. “Spider took a vote that night after you were laid out on the floor. He asked each and every one of us if we thought you two deserved club protection after what Pitch did. We all voted thumbs down. Like Sam said, there was no honor in what Pitch did that night. No honor at all.”

  “Then I have nothing left to lose if I slit her throat do I?” Ripper called out.

  Sam turned his head and saw Blazer standing there watching the drama. Blazer met his eyes and nodded at him. There was only one shot of getting Quinn away from Ripper now. He knew this and so did Blazer. Sam turned back to the man with the knife at his daughter’s throat. “Tell me something Ripper, do you know what you gave up that night, I mean besides twenty years of your life?”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “I know you had an old lady. Did you ever once think about her after you went to the pen?”

  “Now why would I do something stupid like that?” Ripper asked. “I knew if I ever fucked up, she’d leave me. She told me often enough.”

  Sam shrugged. “Maybe she did. Did you ever consider that she was trying to get you to drop your dumbass brother and grow up to be the kind of man she knew you could be if it weren’t for him. Maybe she had something to tell you that you might have been interested in hearing. Maybe, just maybe you missed out on a whole hell of lot you could have had, should have had if you’d been a different kind of man.”

  “Still talking in riddles?” Ripper rolled his eyes. “I’m tired of your bull shit, Bones.”

  Sam turned his head and stared at Blazer. “You see that guy over there?”

  Ripper turned his head and looked at the boy. “What about him?”

  “He’s what could have been in your life all those years ago.”

  Ripper frowned. “What the fuck are you on about? Who is he and what’s he fucking got to do with me? I ain’t never seen him before.”

  Blazer grinned sadly. “And you won’t ever see me again either old man, not if you hurt that girl. My name is Caden Benett. My mother’s name is Lisa Benett. She single handedly raised me because my father was in prison for murder.”

  Ripper’s jaw dropped. He took a step back and just stared at the boy. He dropped his tight hold on the knife and Quinn but she didn’t move. “What the fuck?”

  Blazer nodded. “Hello dad.”

  “You’re my son?” Ripper whispered. “How? I mean I know how but why? Why did Lisa not tell me?”

  Blazer tipped his head to one side still keeping contact with Ripper’s gaze. “I asked her that when you got out and she finally told me about you. When you went to prison with your brother instead of standing up for yourself, she feared you would never be the man she saw in you. She said you only had to do one thing and that was to tell them the truth but you wouldn’t do that. You gave up on her and took up for your brother again. She couldn’t trust you to know you had a son. She wanted me to grow up with the club and become the man she always hoped you would be.”

  ~* * * *~

  Ripper studied the young man in front of him and could see little bits and pieces of himself in the boy. It was then at that very moment, when finally he saw what Pitch had done all those years ago was wrong. He finally understood what Sam and the others were saying about honor.

  His son had honor as he stood tall and proud. The kid had courage and a determined look in his eyes. Ripper saw no fear, no stand down in him. He felt a little pride. He hadn’t done that though, raised the kid to be a man, no he’d let his brother ruin his life. He’d missed out on the kid’s upbringing and he’d missed out on living a life with Lisa.

  All for what? His brother had kept mouthing off and even got him beat up several times while in the joint. He could see everything that happened that night as clear as day in his mind’s eye.

  He saw the two of them walking into that 7-11. With Pitch going to the back to grab some beer while he grabbed some snacks. Making their way to the counter laughing and joking, Pitch pulled his gun out and told the kid behind the counter to give him the money in the till. The boy’s eyes got wide and his hands were shaking as he opened the till and pulled out the money.

  He still had his hands
raised over his head as Pitch and he turned to leave the store. Then at the last minute, Pitch turned around shot the kid.

  The poor kid’s eyes had widened in a brief moment of fear and then he flew back in slow motion and crashed into the shelves behind the counter. Blood poured from his chest and his mouth. He was dead almost before he hit the floor. His eyes were wide open and staring but he didn’t see anything anymore. His eyes wore the blank stare of death.

  Pitch had just laughed as he slung his arm around Ripper’s shoulder and ushered his brother out of the store. They both ran to their bikes and tore out of the parking lot. Ripper had forgotten that brief moment of stunned disbelief he felt back then. The utter shock of what had just happened.

  He’d forgotten the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach on the ride back to the club. He forgot a lot when Pitch pulled off the road and grabbed his shirt pulling him closer to him. He now remembered he sounds of his brother’s evil snarl when he told Ripper to keep his mouth shut about what happened back there. He hadn’t remembered the threat in his brother’s voice or the hate in his face until now. Seems he’d forgotten a lot that night. Remembering back to their childhood, all the time when Pitch had hurt him, all the times Pitch made him take the blame and take the beating for shit he didn’t even do. He remembered then everything Pitch had ever done to him. Pitch always claimed he was helping him become a man when the whole time Pitch was nothing more than a bully, a sadistic, mean bully. Pitch never loved him like a brother, he used him like the pawn he became.

  He stared at the boy who claimed he was his son and he knew it was true. Lisa had come to see him only once before the trial. She had begged and pleaded with him to let his brother go and to tell the truth before Pitch dragged him into a hell he would never escape from. But Ripper had been too stubborn.

  He’d been too filled with hate to see what she was saying. Pitch was the one who filled him with hate for Sam and the Club. He’d been the one who talked about being wronged and set up when in fact he was guilty as hell for the murder. He used Ripper to lay the blame at his brothers feet one more time and it had worked.

  The DA had tried to get him to tell the truth for a lighter sentence. The DA showed him the security tapes, he had pointed out the evidence that would clear his name, but Ripper had stubbornly refused to speak up for his innocence. He stood proudly beside the man who had finally dragged him to hell. He’d been an idiot all these years.

  Tearing his eyes away from his son, he glanced down at the woman in front of him. There was no reason for her, like that kid from twenty years ago had no reason to be where she was right now. Other than his own stupidity. The kid had been in the wrong place at the wrong time but he had taken her against her will and dragged her into this showdown. Twenty years ago had been on Pitch for that crime but this—this was solely on him.

  He brought his knife up behind her and cut the ropes that held her arms. Quinn groaned as she brought her arms in front of her body. He still held the knife in his hands but he dropped it to his waist as he curled his arm around her throat.

  Pulling her back against his chest hew saw every man standing there tense and ready to kill him.“You tell your dad that I never hurt you, other than give you a headache. You tell him I never touched you wrong. Can you do that?” he whispered in her ear.

  Quinn nodded. “I can do that.”

  Before he could let her go, a woman stepped out of the shadows and walked up behind Blazer. She was older than Quinn but still very attractive. She put her arm around the young man and called out to him, “Well Rip, you got yourself into another fine mess didn’t you?”

  Ripper jerked his head over to stare at the woman. Finally, after a long moment he called back to her, “Lisa, what the fuck are you doing here?”

  “Protecting my son.” She shook her head. “I never wanted him to know about you.”

  “I understand that. And I don’t blame you for it. What I did twenty years ago was stupid but what I did here today was ever worse, wasn’t it?”

  Lisa dropped her arm and stepped away from her son. She locked her eyes with Ripper’s. “Not if this ends here. Let Quinn go. You don’t need to hurt her any more than you already have.”

  “Then what?” Ripper called out.

  “Then be a man for once in your life and stand up to the consequences of your actions.” Lisa dared him. “Twenty years ago that was on Pitch but this today, is on you. Do what’s right here. Show these men and your son what kind of man you could be.” Then she turned and walked back into the shadows.

  Blazer stayed and crossed his arms over his chest, almost daring his father to do the right thing.

  Everyone stood there waiting. The next few minutes were tense as everyone waited for Ripper to make his move.

  In the end, it was Quinn who made her move. She took a step away from Ripper. Just one step. His arm was still around her neck and as she stepped away, his arm loosened and finally fell away from her.

  Six more steps brought her close enough to Sam that he could grab her and hold her close then he pushed her behind him as he stood to face Ripper.

  Sam slowly reached back and grabbed his gun from the back of his waistband. Pulling it out, he aimed it at Ripper. “That was your one and only chance boy. You ever come near me or mine again and I will kill you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Ripper dropped his knife in the grass at his feet. Then he nodded. “I understand. But you need to understand something too. Pitch was all I had for family back then. While what he did was wrong he was all I ever had to cover my back. I was wrong to let him do what he did and not try to stop it. I didn’t know he was gonna shoot that kid though. My loyalty to him was misplaced, I see that now. I see a lot of things clearer now that I could never see before.”

  “Another thing you missed back then was the fact we were your brothers too,” Black Jack called out. “We would have had your back if you had stepped away from Pitch but you never did.”

  “I realize it now that the MC would have stood behind me if my mind hadn’t been fucked over by Pitch. I didn’t feel right about freeing myself by turning evidence against my own brother, ya know, the only family I had then.” Ripper shook his head. “I had a whole family I missed out on but he was my blood, I couldn’t turn my back on blood.”

  “We tried to tell you but you were just too stubborn to listen,” Black Jack reminded him.

  Sam shook his head. “You never understood that blood isn’t always right, in fact they can be very fucked up. Family can be just those people who want you in their lives. The MC is family and while family does matter, so does loyalty. You and Pitch turned your backs on the Bastards long before they turned theirs on you.”

  Ripper nodded. “I lost more than Pitch ever did. He used lies and threats to control me back then and he died in a place I never thought I’d be in. He never thought he’d die in that place. Even after he was shived, he never thought he’d die. Then just seconds before he died he finally realized he wasn’t going to make it. He begged me with his dying breath to forgive him. I realized something today. I’d always been afraid of Pitch. I always knew he was crazy. All my life he’s been just a little bit off but I never thought just how crazy he really was until that moment and I couldn’t forgive him for that. I’ve held on to all that anger all these years. Now I realize that I need to find a way to let it go.”

  “That’s the first step and they are often the hardest ones to take.” Sam lowered his weapon.

  “The first step?” Ripper queried.

  “The first step to becoming the man who deserves that young man as his son.” Sam nodded at Blazer. “You’ve got a long ways to go but at least you’ve done the right thing here today.”

  Ripper nodded. “Are we square?”

  Sam hesitated then gave him a brief nod. “Like I said, if I see you again I will kill you and not even the police will ever find your body.”

  Sam and the others watched as Ripper turned and headed back int
o the woods. No one bothered following him.

  Blazer watched him as well and when he was finally gone, his mother joined him again.

  “He might come back,” he told her.

  “He might but then again, he might not.” She sighed. “He’s got a lot of growing up to do first. Are you gonna be okay with that?”

  Blazer shrugged. “I have a feeling he’ll come back and when he does I want the chance to get to know him. He is my father after all.”

  Lisa smiled. “I did love him once upon a time, you know that. Maybe there’s still a part of me that still loves him I don’t know. We had so many dreams of what could have been.” Shaking her head, she reminded her son, “They just never were.”

  “Come on Mom, let’s go home. Dad knows where to find us if and when he wants to.”

  The pair turned and disappeared into the woods.

  Sam turned to his daughter and hugged her close to him. “Are you all right?” he whispered in her ear.

  “Yeah, I’m ok.”

  Sam watched as the others drew closer.

  Chance walked right up to them and grabbed Quinn from his arms. Hugging her close, he asked if she was okay as he smoothed a finger over her cut lip.

  Quinn nodded and hugged him back. “I’m better than ok now.”

  Black Jack nudged Sam and smirked. “Looks like we could be related someday.”

  Sam growled. “Yeah, I know. It does look that way, dammit. You don’t have to rub that shit in.” He paused then glared at Black Jack. “You know I’m just getting to know her don’t you? I sorta might’ve wanted a little time one on one with her before some asshat stole her away from me.”

  Black Jack laughed out loud. “Cheer up old man, family really does matter, and right now, you’re already part of my family. But I beg to differ on who’s the asshat here, Bones.”

  “You got that backwards old man,” Sam grumbled. “You’re part of my family now Jack. I mean I’m not one of your mountain sized sons or nuthin—”