by Emery LeeAnn
True could see the look of concern on Devon’s face. He knew it had nothing to do with possibly impending violence. The Dragons were known as the Dragons of Death because that is what they did – they doled out death sentences. They were hired hit men.
Pulling Devon aside while the others discussed plans, True asked, “What’s up?”
Devon smiled. True knew him better than anyone except maybe Brynn, Devon’s old lady. “Something isn’t settling right with me about this.” He shook his head like he couldn’t quite decide what he wanted to say. “I mean, if you are new to a territory, and you want to make your mark and take over, why the fuck would you blow up a bike shop, and not the rival clubs? Because if you are trying to be top dog, you need to go after us, Cutter’s club, The Bastards of Asphalt or the Saints. We were going to cut them in on the shop, so it makes no sense. I had a meeting scheduled next week with Xain, their president.”
True thought about it. “So, who is setting them up? Rael would be the obvious one, but this war is brewing, would he be that stupid to go to war with three clubs?”
Devon looked thoughtful, “Or he has enlisted one of these guys, and they are trying to see what we know. Keep your eyes and ears open. I don’t trust any of them, including Cutter.”
“You think he would risk hurting his own daughter?”
“I wouldn't put it past him. Try and convince Shanna to stay here.” True nodded. “Will that cause a problem with Chase?”
True sighed heavily. “If it does, he will have to get over it. Her safety has to come first right now until we find out what the hell is going on.”
Devon walked back over to the group as True nodded to Shanna and Chase. They walked over to him. Looking pensively at them, True decided to just take charge and tell them instead of asking. He would soon find out that was a mistake of epic proportions.
“Shanna you need to bring your things inside here. You will be staying here until your shop is fixed and we know all the danger has passed,” then addressing Chase, “Babe, I need you to grab extra pillows and towels. She will stay in our room and can use the top two drawers of the dresser for her things.” True looked satisfied thinking he had wrapped everything up until he saw the look on Chase’s face.
“I’m not sure who the fuck you think you are talking to,” Chase began, holding his hand up when True tried to interrupt, “She is more than welcome to use my pillow. There are plenty of clean towels in the bathroom closet, as you know. The dresser will have plenty of room when all of my shit is moved out of it.” Turning around, Chase stormed around out of the meeting room as True stood there with his mouth open.
Shanna shook her head. “You idiot,” and she left the room. That was when True heard everyone trying not to laugh, although not trying very hard, in the background.
“Way to put your foot down,” someone snorted.
“Fuck you guys.” He shook his head. Well that went well.
Laughing around the table didn’t help his disposition any, but he knew that his personal shit would have to wait. Planning a visit to another club, especially one that would mostly take it as an aggressive act, could get a lot of people killed if not coordinated properly.
Devon got everyone’s attention then started picking different club members for shifts at Shanna’s. When that was done, he looked at True, “I want you, Hauser, and Pup to give Rael a visit and make sure he is behaving.”
The gavel hit the table to end the meeting and everyone left. True hated leaving things the way they were with Chase, but he had to handle business first.
Chapter 6
Shanna went after Chase to see if he was alright. When she caught up with him he was slamming stuff around in the room packing his clothes. He turned around in a huff when he saw her.
“You can have him,” he said.
She tried to make him feel better by saying, “I don’t want him, he is all yours. He didn't ask me to stay here, he just assumed. He's a man, you know that's how it works.” She caught herself realizing Chase was a man as well when he raised his eyebrows at her. “I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that, I just meant he assumed I'm going to stay here, and I'm not. I'd already made plans to stay with my father.”
Chase just turned around. He didn't care, he just wanted to get out of there. He felt like he was suffocating.
Shanna walked around him and stared him in the eyes, “Look, you and he are together. I know he loves you. Wait and talk to him first. You will regret it if you leave now and don't have a conversation with him.”
He looked at her with tears in his eyes.
“It's clear he wants you, and not me.” Shanna said, “It’s true we have an interesting relationship, but it is just a friendship. I've never wanted to be committed to anybody, and he will tell you that he's never wanted to be committed to me. We just don't work like that, but we are close. I'm not going to lie to you about that, and if he didn't tell you it's just because it didn't come up, it's not because it was a secret.”
Chase looked at her. “He has told me some of it, but not all of it. The way you hang onto him I can tell it's not over yet.”
Shanna said, "It's not about it being over, it’s about if I need somebody to rely on, I know it's him I can count on. I don't have to worry, I know he'll always be there. It has nothing to do with him being in my bed, it has to do with somebody who protects me and takes care of me.”
Hearing the roar of the bikes leaving, he said, “Yeah, well the son of a bitch is leaving, so I guess he doesn't really care.”
Shanna looked at him and said, “You of all people should know, club business always comes first.”
Chapter 7
When Devon and Cutter arrived at The Demon Aces Clubhouse, there were surprised faces about having two presidents from local MCs coming to see them, without warning. That usually meant some shit was going to hit the fan.
“Is this a social visit fellas?” Xain said as he walked out to meet them.
Devon knew something was off. If an MC was initiating a war, it would be on high alert, and there's no way in hell the two of them could have just rode right up with nobody stopping them. They stood there and stared at each other for a few minutes, then Devon reached his hand into his pocket pulling out the ace of spades playing card and handed it to him. Cutter stared at him with a blank deadly expression.
Xain looked at it, shook his head, "This isn't mine. Where did you get it?”
Devon said, “The bike shop.”
“The one that was blown up?”
“Yep, that's the one.”
Xain glanced at Cutter who was standing with his arms folded, looking as dangerous as he actually was, and realized that maybe he shouldn't be so relaxed.
“If you're thinking me or my club had anything to do with that explosion, you’re wrong. Why would I want to start a war with all of you?”
“That's why we came to ask.” Devon said with his hands up.
Cutter finally decided to open his mouth. "It didn't make sense to us, that is why we came, just the two of us, and not the whole army of our guys.”
Xain looked at Cutter sizing him up, nodded, and said, "Appreciate that. So, who the fuck is trying to set my club up?”
“That, my friend, is what we need to find out,” Devon replied.
“The girl that runs the shop, is she ok?” Xain inquired.
“Shanna? Yes. Luckily, no one was injured this time.” Devon answered.
“Good. She seems like a bad ass bitch. I love that in a female. I’ve been trying since I got into town to score her number.” Xain smiled looking thoughtful, well as thoughtful as his scarred face could look. A knife fight the previous year had left a nasty scar across his left cheek up to his eye. If he hadn’t jerked back in time, it would’ve taken his eye. Most women didn’t care about the scar, he was a gorgeous sight with his ebony skin, six foot six frame, and taut muscles. Hell, even men drooled after him.
Cutter glared at him, “My bad ass bitch daughter will be
staying with me, thank you.”
Xain's eyes went wide and then he laughed so loud it even made Cutter smile and shake his head. “I’m sorry man. I didn’t know. Your daughter is beautiful though.”
Devon shook his head. “We need to figure out who is doing this. Someone is trying to set this club up. It almost worked. We almost attacked without asking.”
Xain stopped smiling instantly. “Yeah let’s find the bastards now then. I will vouch for every single one of my men. I weeded out the bad ones when we moved here.”
“Could it be one of the ones you weeded out?” Cutter said with a growl.
Xain smirked, “When I say I weeded them out, I mean their remains are out with the weeds.”
“Good to know.” Devon and Cutter both looked at him appreciatively. Both of them were killers also so they understood you had to do what needed to be done.
Cutter looked at Devon. “I took care of my rat already. I’m assuming none of your club members would be stupid enough to fuck with the president’s daughter?”
Cutter laughed. “You assume right. Plus she grew up with them all. They all are like her parents.”
Devon sighed heavily. “So that leaves either a faction we are unaware of or Los Brias.”
“You sent the boys to talk to them?” Cutter questioned.
“Yes.”
“Let’s see what they find out.” Cutter looked at Xain, “You got any whiskey in there?”
Xain laughed his big heart laugh again, “Come on in. Any kind you like.”
Devon hated waiting but he knew True would message as soon as he found anything.
Chapter 8
True, Hauser, and Pup showed up to Los Brias clubhouse. They brought some of the prospects to hang back and hide out in case shit went down they could report back to the club.
Before they even had a chance to dismount, Rael walked out with his arms around a dark-haired woman.
“What the fuck are you doing on my property?” He slurred.
“We came to talk to you since you stormed out of the meeting. We thought you might want to give your input on the bombing of the shop since it directly involves money from your pocket as well.” True explained trying not to rile him up.
“Fuck you faggot. Get the fuck out of here before I blow you away.” He pulled a gun out of his waist band.
Hauser and Pup responded immediately pulling their weapons out. It looked as if there was going to be bloodshed tonight.
To kill a president is a death sentence but you are allowed to protect yourself. True just looked him in the eyes. Never moving to pull his weapon, but never hiding from Rael's gun either.
Rael, realizing he wasn’t scaring anyone, “What did you do, bring along your bodyguards?” Laughing he spit in front of True on the ground.
True stayed quiet looking at him, which seemed to unnerve him more. Rael looked at the girl in his arms, “Linda I guess all that dick he has had in his mouth has made him lose his voice now.” They both laughed.
Before anyone knew what happened, Hauser lunged taking Rael by the throat, knocking Linda to the ground and sending his gun flying in the air. Holding the smaller man up by his throat, he could hear the commotion behind him, but he couldn’t turn around at the moment until he felt the shotgun pointed at his back.
“Let him go.” A deep voice commanded.
Hauser squeezed his throat a little tighter making Rael’s face turn an odd shade of purple. “If you don’t release him I am going to shoot your VP in the head.”
He couldn’t risk it. He dropped him and let him fall to the ground. Several members rushed to him. It seemed Los Brias had been beefing up their numbers.
Turning around slowly he saw True and Pup on their knees with busted up faces and hands with guns pointed at their heads by over thirty men. True winked at him with the eye that wasn’t swollen to remind him they had people in the woods.
Yelling at them to stand up, they took them into a barn and chained them to chairs.
Rael walked in, this time with Linda supporting him, and sneered at Hauser.
“You bastard. You almost crushed my windpipe.”
Hauser smiled. “So, what are you going to do now? You know this isn’t going to end well for you.”
“The only fitting thing to do with a Dragon, baptize them with fire.” He started cackling like a lunatic.
Taking gas cans, some of the members started pouring the accelerator around the men.
True thought about Chase and Shanna. He hoped if he was to die here tonight, they would find solace in each other. Chase preferred men but had been with women.
The three chained men looked at each other. Pup was thinking of Jezzy, True of Chase and Shanna, and Hauser, he was thinking of the many different ways he would torture each one of his captors when he escaped.
Rael came back in with a branding iron in his hand. It was blazing orange on the end where it had been heated. He walked up to True, smiled and slammed the hot iron on his chest. It had the written word “crow”. True yelled out in pain as his skin sizzles under the burn.
“We brand all of our crow eaters when they join us. It only seemed fitting to do it to you as well since you are my son’s little bitch,” Rael said with a wicked smile.
True had a grimace of pain on his face but wouldn’t look at either one of his brothers.
Hauser knew he had to get them out of there. He wasn’t going to sit there while they tortured someone he admired more than anyone else. Fuck that. He shook the chains to see how much give there was. If he dislocated his wrist, he might be able to slide out of that side of the chain.
Rael walked back in with another brand. He walked straight to True who tried to hide his flinch. When he was getting ready to put it on his skin, Hauser shouted, “Me, brand me.”
“Oh Christ. Don’t tell me you’re a cock eater too?” Rael looked disgusted.
Pup saw something pass outside the door. Then he saw Jezzy's face. He didn’t know if he was hallucinating from the fumes or if she was really there but fuck if he wasn’t happy.
Hauser was saying, “Don’t you want to torture us all?”
Rael thought about it for a minute, but before he could say anything, he was ambushed by four clubs. Devon’s face was full of rage. He never thought anyone would be that stupid…again!
Jezzy had unchained all the men and was attending to True’s burn when Chase knocked her away. “I will take care of him.”
She backed away knowing how scared they all were when they heard who had the guys.
Suddenly, Rael started laughing. Everyone looked at him. He had his hands tied behind his back, he nodded his head to the other side of the barn. It was like slow motion. They all turned their heads in time to see a young girl throw a lighted match on the gasoline that was on the floor. True threw himself on Chase. Everyone who could get out, got out but True and Chase were still in the burning building.
It didn’t take long for the whole barn to burn up. With the four clubs working together with the fire department, everyone that was still inside of the building eventually was pulled out. True sustained second degree burns on his back and needed to be hospitalized for a few days. Most of the surviving members of the Los Bria, who helped in the kidnapping were taken back to the Dragon’s Clubhouse to see the Chaplain to confess.
There were ten casualties from the fire. Eight were from Los Brias, one from Bastards of Asphalt, and one prospect from the Dragons. It was going to be felt by all clubs for a while.
Hauser had a much different idea for Rael. He took that branding shit that the Los Bria Pres had done to True personally. He took True’s pain as it was his own. It should have been his pain, not the VPs. True was family to him, he was like a brother.
When they arrived back at the club, there was a new face. Everyone was wary at first until Devon embraced him.
Cutter had stayed at the clubhouse with Shanna making sure no one attacked. They were passing out drinks to everyone and helping get
the members situated.
“Everyone, this is Dominic. He will be joining us for awhile. He is a nomad right now, but I’m hoping he will decide to stay. With True in the hospital and the bike shop needing to be guarded, we are down in numbers. We are damn lucky to get someone this experienced.” Devon raised his glass to the man and so did everyone else.
One by one, they led in the members of Los Brias and took them to their Chaplain, the man they called Preacher.
“Would you like to say any last words?” He asked each one. Some begged, some didn’t say a word. Some spewed out secrets that they didn’t want to take to the grave, but they told those to the wrong man. Preacher was known for his ability to keep shit quiet, so all the secrets spilled that night would never be told. It wouldn’t have mattered anyways, they would all meet the same fate. “I absolve you of your sins.” Then he would put the gun to their head and fire the fatal shot.
This was more than their normal count of bodies so the cleaners would be paid extra and a bonus for it not being scheduled.
After Preacher was done, the only two that were left was Linda and Rael. Thankfully, Chase was at the hospital with True. It was Hauser’s turn to let his rage overtake him.
Hauser tied Rael up to a picnic table out back. He was bent over it, flat on his stomach, his face laid on the table. His legs were tied spread eagle to the bottom slats and his arms the same on the top slats. When he was satisfied Rael wouldn’t be able to get out, he started back in.
“What are you going to do, fuck me now?” Rael taunted.
Hauser, who was in no mood for this asshole, came back out and slammed his fist on the table, cracking some of the wood, said, “That’s precisely what I’m going to do.”