by Vera Quinn
“I don’t want when-this-thing-blows-over shit. Give me a date because sweetness, your girls have a knack for attracting trouble. I’m not saying it’s their fault. Your girls are some of the best I know. I love them the same way I love Callie. Their children are my grandbabies, but Bourbon needs me. He’s my brother by blood and by club and I owe him this. He’s been carrying my load while I have been here with you. I need to do this, and it’s time I make the decisions I need to make to take care of my responsibilities. Give me a date or we need to reevaluate our relationship. I’m not going to live with my body in Oklahoma and my heart in Texas. If you’ve changed your mind, then I will let you go. I was honest with you about my responsibilities to the club that I belong to. I have been here more than there and it can’t go on any longer.” Rye stops and looks at me and I start to talk but I am cut off. “I love you, little darlin’, but I put my balls in no one’s purse. It’s time. I won’t argue, we’re too old for that shit. You make your mind up if you can go where I go, lay your head where I lay mine, and love this old biker the way I love you. I’ll be on the road the day after Sarge and Shield finish this. I don’t know what kind of life lays before me, but I know I will never stop loving you. I need to make the rounds now and I’ll be back in a bit. I may take a ride afterward; I need the road beneath me for a while.” Rye walks across the room and kisses me senseless. He doesn’t say another word before he leaves the room. I can’t make my mouth work. The sound of the closing of the door brings me out of my haze.
I can’t leave my girls full-time. Rye must know that. I love these girls like they are my own and their children are the only grandbabies I will ever have. How can I just leave them? Maybe I should let Rye go, but he owns my heart. He calms my soul when I’m restless. What am I thinking? I’ve already made my decision. It tore my heart apart, but I know Rye is my one. The one that I want to be sharing rocking chairs on my front porch with, somewhere when the time comes. I could no more leave Rye than I could let him walk out of here without me. I’ll give him his space for now but when he leaves here, I will be on the back of his bike. We have the rest of our lives to make the tough decisions together.
19
Maddie…
The last couple of weeks have dragged by. I have been working in the office alongside Micah and Aunt Deb. The gym has been coming along by leaps and bounds. It’s on time and even under budget since some of the things have been donated in exchange for advertisement after the gym opens.
My house is three months from being able to move in if all the subcontractors stay on schedule. The rest we have put on hold because it’s hard to run everything from home. I have meetings to take and a school board to persuade about using our facilities.
Micah has the insemination side of business down pat. We never have to meet the buyers of the sperm; the contract is done online. We take payments online or bank to bank so no handling of the money. The sperm itself is shipped according to government regulations. If the buyers want to see the horse the sperm comes from, then we do it via live video, webcam, or chat rooms with video. Business is doing very well.
Aunt Deb and Rye have seemed down, but Micah and I won’t interfere because we don’t want to take sides. It will cause hurt feelings. Micah even agreed without argument. Motherhood has mellowed Micah a lot, but she is like a mama bear when it comes to any of the children, and I can’t say I am any better.
Sarge and Jeb have been gone out of town for a while. Jeb said he would be careful and would explain when he returned home. I know that Jeb will do just that. I trust him.
Micah told me Sarge and Jeb are on the hunt for the man that sent the two men here after me and the children. Micah is guessing because Sarge told her the same thing Jeb told me. Micah has a good imagination but this time I think she’s right. We have our security still, so this isn’t finished yet. Micah also thinks Jeb is going to punch Dra out. On that, I hope she’s wrong, but I wouldn’t put it past him. I won’t interfere. Jeb will do what he thinks is right and what the occasion calls for. I won’t step on his toes about it.
I’m shocked to hear the alarm system going off. Micah and I look at each other. The kids are upstairs down for naps. I don’t know where Rye and Aunt Deb are. “I’ll grab B and Lucas and meet you in your room.” We both move. We run up the stairs like the flames of hell are after us. I go to B’s room and she’s watching a movie. “B, come on. We’re going to Micah’s room.” I try not to scare B, and I grab some snacks on her table and her water. We run to Lucas’s room and I get him up and grab his diaper bag. I put the bottle of water and snacks in the diaper bag and we are running for Micah’s room.
“Mommy, what is wrong?” I ignore B as we make it to Micah’s room. The alarm is still going off.
“Micah, it is me.” I walk in after I warn her. Micah comes over and locks the door behind us and then puts her room on lockdown. A steel door drops in front of the door and locks are engaged. The windows are blocked from getting out or getting in. I look at B and she is crying. “It’s alright, B. I was just in a hurry to get you and Lucas in here safe. A stranger is on our property and that noise is telling us that. Remember when we practiced doing this?” We had only done it once or twice. “Now we’re safe. I am going to leave you and Lucas in here with Aunt Micah and Wolfie so I can help Aunt Deb and Rye protect what’s ours. You need to help Aunt Micah with Lucas and Wolfie. Can you be my big strong girl and help Aunt Micah?” B doesn’t voice her answer, she just shakes her head yes. I look up at Micah and she looks determined. She already has a movie in playing and Lucas is back asleep on my shoulder. I take B by the hand and put her in Micah’s bed so she can watch the television. I lay Lucas beside her and turn and look at Micah. Wolfie is asleep in his bassinet. I turn to Micah. “I’m going, Micah, and you are staying with the children.” I take my phone and call Stealth but hear nothing. I look down to see if the call was connected. It wasn’t. “Someone blocked our phones. We need to go in your closet and use the CB radio. I hope someone is monitoring it at the clubhouse.” Micah smiles.
“I’ll do that, and you watch the kids out here.” I don’t care who does it as long as it’s done. I walk over and look at Wolfie and he is sound asleep. I see that Lucas is still asleep. That boy can sleep through anything, but he will be waking up soon. B is lost in the movie she’s watching. I walk over and kiss Lucas and then B. B gives me a smile. I get her snacks out of the diaper bag along with her unfinished water. I know Lucas has a container of the little snacks he can eat when he wakes up. He also has his formula and diapers. I know Micah has water and snacks in her room. She has them stashed everywhere since she was supposed to be on bedrest before Wolfie was born so no worries over the necessities. Micah is Wolfie’s food source. Everything’s covered. I walk back to the closet door and tell Micah I need a gun. Micah walks out with a smile on her face.
“I contacted Stealth, and the cavalry is on the way. Do you want me to go out and you stay with the children? I know you hate shooting people and I have no problem with it.” I smile at Micah.
“Oh, sister, I have turned over a new leaf. Shoot first and ask questions later when it comes to my loved one’s safety. You are Wolfie’s food source and Sarge would kick my ass if his son had to do without a meal. I’ll go. I put B’s snacks and a bottle of water on your nightstand. Lucas’s are in his diaper bag. I’m going out through the vents. Keep everything shut until you get the password from me, Aunt Deb, Rye, or Stealth. No password then don’t open the door for no one. I love you, Sis.”
“Maddie, be careful. You don’t know who or how many are out there. We may be tough bitches, but we aren’t Wonder Woman. This is my lucky gun,” Micah tells me as she hands it to me.
“I agree and I will be careful, but the rest of our family is out there and they need our help now. You guard the children, and I’ll do what I can.” Micah nods her head and I don’t let her think about it. I check the gun and Micah hands me four magazines. I know where the other guns are hiding
in this house so I will be fine if I run out of ammunition. “Give me the key for the vent system. I will die before they will get this key. They won’t get back to you. If I come back this way, I will still give you the password,” I instruct Micah.
“Understood, now go before I beg you to stay.” I go in the bathroom and climb on the toilet. To get more of a lift, I climb on the tank of the toilet and push the ceiling tile in. I lift myself with my elbows into the crawl space, then put the tile back in place. I cover the tile over with the insulation and crawl over the joist to get to the vent system. I put the small key in, and the vent door opens. My grandpa set this up in our house because back in the day, there were men they called Night Riders and they would raid the ranches. This is where my grandma, Mom and Aunt Deb would hide when they came. Grandpa was said to be a mean man and few folks crossed him, but the ranch was hit twice. No one was ever killed but horses were stolen, and my grandpa hunted every horse thief down and hung them. That’s the punishment for stealing a horse in Texas. In his eyes, justice was served. I’m not saying he was right, but at the time, that’s how horse thieves were handled.
Once I’m in the ventilation system, I make my way to the end of the hall. I climb back onto the joist and lock the ventilation system. I go to the trap door that leads to about a six-foot drop to the hall. I try to situate myself so before I drop, I can pull the opening cover as close to closed as possible, and then I drop to the floor. When I hit the floor, I see the opening is mostly covered. I go to the closet that has the controls for security on this floor. I open the door and go in. I open the panel behind the door, and I search the screen for intruders. I go to the kitchen screen and nothing. I look at the screen for outside and nothing. I go to the dining room and there is one man there. I scan the other room. Aunt Deb is sitting in the office and Rye is on the floor bleeding. One man has a gun on Aunt Deb. I see a welt on Aunt Deb’s face. He’s hit her. I see red. I hit the alarm to let the sheriff’s station know we have trouble. I send a text message to 911. Then I do the one thing I’m not sure of. I make the alert go loud and it’s outside too. I see the man leave the dining room and go to the office. That’s all I can do from here. I know if I hurry, I can intercept the guy. I shut the doors and go down the back stairs. I check my gun to be sure the safety is off. I’m being as quiet as possible, and I see the man before he sees me. I shoot without hesitating. I hear the man coming from the study. I turn but I feel pain in my arm, and I fall down the stairs. I dropped the gun in the fall, and I hear a shot before everything goes black.
20
Shield…
The hunt has been long but Sarge has his scope on the man we are looking for. He’s not going to kill him, that’s my pleasure. The distance that this has put between me and Maddie has made me realize the extent my love goes for that maddening woman. I miss her and I miss B and Lucas. This minute here makes it all bearable. Sarge takes the shot and I know the man will be waiting for us.
“Target is down. Let’s get our man.” We move out and we get to the body. Sarge looks down at the man. “He’ll live while we torture him for a while, but I am ready to get home. Get your revenge and then we’ll mail the Troubled Fathoms MC their gift.” I look at Sarge. I wanted to deliver it ourselves but home sounds mighty good. “You have an hour and then we’ll ride a couple of hours tonight and then stop and sleep, or we can take turns sleeping while the other one drives.”
“I go for the option of driving. Let’s do this.” I put the man over my shoulders, and we start down the trail. “Why would a man like this be alone in a cabin in the woods? I would think he’d have one or two men with him.”
“This is where he met his piece on the side. His wife and ol’ lady don’t know of his little love nest here. His wife is older but is loaded with money. That’s how he backed his pursuit of Maddie and Callie. His club is barely staying out of the red. His ol’ lady is younger, but she is a pure bitch and she’s loaded too. She also likes the biker lifestyle to piss her rich daddy off. The woman he meets here is incredibly young but his affection for her seems real. He buys her jewelry and brings her here. They have dinners delivered and the rest you can fill in. He never brings anyone with him when he comes up here. She meets him here. That’s why I thought it would be the perfect place to catch him. I didn’t fill you in on any of this in case it didn’t pan out. It was a long shot at best. They haven’t hooked up in months. I know you wouldn’t have liked my backup plan, and that was to grab the woman. She would have brought him out of hiding.” Sarge is right. I don’t believe in hurting women if there is any other way to do it. I also don’t like my woman shot at. I feel my pocket vibrate from a text alert. I take it out just like Sarge is doing. I read the text from Deb.
“Change of plans. Let’s get this done the straightforward way and we need to get back home. Rye and Maddie have been shot. Maddie’s fine but they don’t know if Rye will make it through the night. We’ll catch a plane out of Boulder and have the SUV shipped back to us by the shipping company. With the right amount of money, it won’t even be on the books.” My mind is stuck on the part that my woman was shot. I get on my phone and buy our tickets. We take the man back to the building we have our supplies in. We take all the plastic out of the truck we stole. We go to work. The pick-up is made, and the building is in flames with the truck pulled in the middle of it. We do this all in silence. We take our bags and walk out to a popular street where we catch an Uber to our SUV and take care of it first and then we are on to the airport. We’ll be home in four to five hours.
21
Two hours later - Troubled Fathoms MC Clubhouse
Krill…
“We had a delivery at the front gate. It’s a box covered in plastic,” Snuffer tells us. “I have the prospect still on gate duty while I delivered this. It’s says to Krill and Dra.” I get up and walk up to the bar with Dra on my heels. I put my ear to the box and there’s no ticking. I don’t see any wires. I take my knife out and open the box. I smell the tinge of blood. I open the box wider so I can see what’s in it and when I move the last piece of plastic, I see the head. I would know that sick face anywhere. It’s the man we have been hunting going on eight months. I take the paper out and it reads Problem solved, don’t bring trouble to our door again. Sarge made good on his word. Dra reads the note over my shoulder.
“I’m going after my family. Sarge is a madman. Who has a head delivered to anyone? I won’t have my children raised in a house with a crazy man like this. I’ve always said Sarge is a cold-blooded killer and this proves it. Anyone that follows his lead is just as bad. Shield needs to stay away from my family.”
“Dra, you are my brother in every way and I love you, but if you go to Maddie, then you will never be back in this club as anything but a flunky. You fucked up. Maddie couldn’t take it anymore. You mistreated not only your wife, but your children. Be a man and suck it up. Move on with your life. Shield is a good man so stop while you still have a relationship with your children. Give them space and let them heal. Maddie will never be yours again. You can be the man I know you are. Maddie has let you go like you wanted, so let her go like she needs.” I watch my brother soak up my words.
“I will never accept that Maddie and I will never be together again. I’ll give her the space, but I won’t quit trying. I am just biding my time for that idiot to mess up,” Dra tells me with conviction.
“I’m sure Shield had been waiting for you to screw up too. I love Maddie like a sister and those kids have our blood running through them. Just give them some peace,” I tell Dra.
“I will for now, but I am watching Shield’s every move. If he fucks up, then all bets are off and I will get Maddie back.” Well, that’s something.
“Understood. Let’s get this head out of here and destroyed,” I tell Dra. Dra takes the note and puts it in his pocket and then closes the box with the head in it. “I’ll take care of it. You get some sleep.” I shake my head at Dra, he’s still thinking of a way he could use th
is to his advantage against Shield. I think I could sleep for a week. It’s been a long war. My war has just started.
22
Maddie…
I was shot tonight but my wound is nothing compared to what Rye went through. Rye was shot in the chest. He pushed Aunt Deb out of the way and took the bullet.
I was attended to and then I came out to the waiting room to be with my family. The nursing staff wanted me in my room in my bed, but I refused. I told them I would sign myself out of the hospital against medical advice. I know my rights.
Rye was already in surgery when I finally got out of the room with my IV pole. I’m in a wheelchair. The surgery waiting room is full of Rebellions 4 Blood members. There are two pack and plays. B is asleep on the sofa beside them. Micah hasn’t left Aunt Deb’s side after she found out I was alright, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I feel useless. I want to do something, so I order food and coffee for everyone to be delivered.
I miss Jeb and I long for his arms to be around me, but I will not whine. Rye is fighting for his life and Aunt Deb has fallen apart. She said she called Sarge or Jeb. My pain meds have my head swimming. I’m no use at all. Stealth called Bourbon and Chief about Rye. I need to call Dra, but I can’t deal with his shit right now. Then I think I see Jeb coming in the door. Is that Jeb or are my eyes playing tricks on me?