by KJ Dahlen
A few minutes later, a picture came across her screen. It was her mom, sitting in a chair with a newspaper in her hand. The date was today’s date but her mother had a vacant look in her eyes. She had bruises fading on her face and neck. Her skin looked pale and her hands were tired to the chair.
Then her phone pinged with a text message. “Here’s your fucking proof of life you stupid bitch, now tell me what’s going on over there.”
Slammer sneered.
Trish turned her head and stared at him. “Why would I tell him all this? If he comes here to see for himself if all this is true, he will kill my mom when he finds out it isn’t.”
“Your mom is already dead girl,” Shotgun told her in a soft voice.
“No she’s not, he showed us proof of life!” Trish shouted out.
“Look again,” Shotgun urged her.
Trish paused then looked again at the photo of her mother. She noted her pale skin and the vacant look in her eyes. Then she looked down at her arms. She was tied into the chair to make her appear to be sitting upright. At first glance, her mother looked beaten and afraid but now as she looked again, she could see that her mother was already gone. Her eyes were dead and cold. Tears rolled down her face as she realized the truth. “What good did all that do?” Trish wanted to know as sobs came up from her throat.
“I want him to come here after us. I want him to face me once and for all before I kill the man.” Slammer snarled. “So type this... the men are going out the back way.”
Trish looked up at him. “Unless he kills you first.”
“Just send the fucking message. Tell him the men are going at midnight out the back way. Make sure he comes here tomorrow night.” Slammer growled. “This has to end.”
Trish brushed the tears from her eyes and typed the message.
When she was done, Slammer held out his hand for the phone.
Trish reluctantly gave it back to him. “Please make it hurt.” Then she went over to a corner, slid down the wall and began to weep silently.
Booker shook his head. He even felt for the girl. This had to have been the worst thing a person could go through. He then looked around the room and found Tracy with her arms crossed and her eyes glaring. She didn’t look sympathetic now as she had just minutes ago.
She was over in the corner and she did not look happy. Her fingers were tapping the wide leather arm band she always wore as if she were impatient. The band was stained dark and had a design burned into it. It was two infinity symbols crossed to form an x shape. She’d always worn the band ever since she first came here three years ago.
Then Tracy saw him looking at her and her angry eyes faded to a blank expression. Just two seconds ago, her eyes were cold and calculating, now they were blank.
Booker leaned back against the wall thinking. He’d had a while on this watch of the women here in this room to remember certain times in the last few weeks. Times when he’d felt eyes watching and his senses had gone on alert but when he looked around he’d only seen the people he trusted.
He’d learned to trust those senses over the years. He first joined the MC life when he was very young. He and his dad bought his first bike when he was ten years old. His dad was part of a club back then called the Silver Bullets, they were 1 percenters and he’d grown up seeing things no kid should see at that young an age.
When he was sixteen, he and his dad went on a run for the club. They’d been gone for three days and in those three days, everything they knew changed. They had come back to find the compound under siege by the police, ATF and DEA.
They rode away then found out later that they had been betrayed by one of their own. His dad found out that Smitty, had gotten caught by the ATF with a batch of guns he was running south of the border. He turned the tables on his club brothers and they all got busted. His dad began looking for Smitty and found him in a bar. He beat the hell out of the man and Smitty died a few days later.
Then the police began searching for the man who’d beat their witness to death.
They found his father and hauled him to jail. Booker was left on his own but he could take care of himself. He was there in the courthouse the day his dad got sentenced to twenty to life for Smitty’s murder. To his mind, his dad only carried out MC justice. Most of the rest of the MC had already been sentenced, some had died in the firefight they had when the cops busted the MC.
But for Booker, the defining moment was watching the sheriff leading his old man out of the court that day. His dad turned his head before he went out the door and told his son to forget this life, to get straight and stay that way.
That was his first strike...
A few years later, he found his own place. He’d been working in a garage fixing and building bikes. There had always been something he could connect with while having a bike under his ass and the hum of a cycle’s roaring engine between his thighs. Booker loved the freedom of riding and high speed.
Somewhere along the line, he found a mentor who taught him the art of bike racing. Speed Demon had been his name. If there was anyone on this earth that knew more about bikes, racing and speed, it had to be Demon. The man was sort of crazy but a fucking genius. Booker became a follower so to speak and hung out with the man many a day to learn all he could about the craziness and cycles.
Before he even knew what was happening, racing was the one thing Booker became very good at. While he preferred the freedom of the open road, he’d gotten quite good on the track. He got so good that he threatened one man’s record. The man’s racing name was Torren. This man set him up to bring him down. The very next race, Torren tried to take him out by bumping him off the track. But that plan backfired when the accident took out all the riders in the area including him. Torren was killed and Booker was severely injured.
Weeks later, when he got out of the hospital, the police told him he was in the clear. Enough people had informed them that Torren had threatened his life and the accident that took his life was one he, himself had engineered.
Again, Booker was on his own and while the guys at the garage would miss him, especially Speed Demon, he felt this was his second strike...
He finally became a Nomad. He helped several MCs with jobs that maybe weren’t so kosher but nothing lethal and he’d banked quite a large amount in savings. He had very little costs in his life, so that bankroll just sat there collecting interest.
Shortly after that, he went back to the only life he knew, the biker life and found the Steel Renegades. He’d been here ever since and now, these men were his true brothers and he wasn’t going to let anyone take this away from him. He refused to believe that this war with Anaconda and Venom would be strike three.
He stared at Tracy again, for a long moment then found his eyes going to Slammer.
Slammer followed his gaze back to Tracy and raised an eyebrow. Then he motioned for Shotgun to take the phone. “Let’s see how they take that news.”
“You can’t leave us locked in here!” Tracy exclaimed.
“Sure I can.” Slammer smirked as he, Texas and Shotgun left the room.
Booker then locked the door again and listened to what was said.
Amber threw a pillow at the door and screamed in outrage, “Those stupid bastards are gonna get us killed!”
Tracy snorted. “You’re the stupid one, getting your picture taken with Ricco.”
“I wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t’ for my foolish brother,” Amber grumbled.
Trish didn’t say anything at all. She was too caught up in the grief for her mom. Now she had to worry that Venom would find out that she’d ultimately betrayed him.
Chapter Two
Ivy watched Bess as she played quietly in the dining area. She, Andrea and River were sitting at the table having early morning coffee while the men were busy elsewhere in the club. They heard Amber’s hissy fit earlier and then some yelling by one of the other women in that room but none of them said a word.
They each had a goo
d reason not to like the three. But they did not want to get involved with any of that at all.
“I have something I need to talk to you about.” Ivy looked into River’s eyes.
River picked up her cup and sipped at the hot liquid. “Oh and what would that be?”
“It’s about Bess.”
“What about Bess?” Andrea asked with concern on her face.
“She’s so alone here,” Ivy stated sadly
River and Andrea looked over at the little girl who was eating her cereal.
“Yeah, she is but I don’t see that changing anytime soon, do you?” River asked.
“What if we could change it?” Ivy said with a question in her tone.
“How so?” River looked back to her quickly.
“A friend of mine trains service dogs. Her name is Quincy and she started her company to train service dogs for vets with PTSD. She has a brother that came back from the war with a severe case of it and having a dog really helped him cope with day to day life. I’m wondering if it would help Bess too?” She nodded. “Well that, and keep her safe.”
“What do you mean keep her safe?” River asked.
Andrea just stared at her with amazement as she spoke her mind now, “Well, someone pushed her outside yesterday and locked the door behind her. We all know that much. If she had a protection dog, they wouldn’t have gotten close to her.”
Ivy simply nodded. Point made by Andrea.
River thought about that for a moment then nodded. “I agree with you there but you’ll have to talk to her father to find out for sure.”
“But you would be okay with it?” Andrea wanted to know.
“Yeah, I would be.” River nodded. “Poor kid, she’s all alone in this place and we didn’t even know she was deaf until you got here.”
Ivy was hopeful about trying this as she continued, “A dog would give her someone to be with twenty four seven. She wouldn’t be alone anymore. Animals are also therapeutic for people, especially the very old and the very young.”
River reached over and tapped her hand. “Honey, you don’t have to convince me, you need to convince her dad. I’m not her legal parent and he is.” She looked over at the little girl again. “I know her type of loneliness though. I lived it but at least I could hear the world around me.”
“It would be a scary thing, I would admit.” Andrea sipped her coffee.
Ivy set her cup down. “Not sure when we could do it though. This war is too dangerous to bring anyone in.”
River looked back over at her. “Slammer, Grinder and Shotgun... well, all the men, will take care of this. I’ve watched them for the whole time since I’ve been here and they are all good men. They will get this done.”
Ivy nodded. “Honey, you don’t have to sell me on that,” she smirked using River’s line. “Slammer is smarter than well, any man I’ve met.”
“Yes, he is. He seems to have both street smarts and a calm head. He, Grinder and Shotgun are amazing really,” Andrea weighed in on this subject.
The three women all smiled.
“Well, we should know right?” Ivy asked.
They all just chuckled and continued with just sitting and watching the little girl in the club, they all had high hopes for her to be a happy little girl someday.
Shotgun, Slammer, Booker and Grinder along with Mammoth and several others sat in a closed room they called Church. They had Blaze take his watch with the women.
They were discussing what happened this morning.
“So Trish was feeding them lies this whole time.” Shotgun shook his head.
“What I want to know is why would she do something so stupid?” Mammoth asked.
“They had her mom,” Slammer reminded them. “She also did not give anything away that was true. We have to consider that. She threw them off track if anything.” He let a smile slip. “Since I’m an insane egomaniac with an axe to grind.”
Shotgun chuckled. “Yeah, a madman frothing at the mouth!” He slapped his hand on the table and laughed.
“Well, it did us a favor in an odd way though,” Mammoth piped up. “Telling them shit that was fantastic. Fuck, I wish I had a rocket launcher or two.”
“Yeah, light up their world!” Shotgun was now laughing hard. “Damn Slammer, you are Ironman or something!”
Slammer shook his head. “Shut the fuck up.” He did wear a smile though.
“She must have known they would kill her mother,” Grinder surmised in a soft voice.
Slammer nodded. “Yeah, I think she knew. That’s why the lies.” Then he turned his gaze to Booker. “What did you see that the rest of us missed?”
“I think Tracy has two faces and neither of them are good for us,” Booker flat out told them. “I saw a coldness in her eyes today that sent a shiver down my back.”
Mammoth nodded. “I’ve seen that look in her eyes too. She’s as cold as ice inside.”
“So all three are bad eh?” Slammer noted the obvious. “Shit, we thought Amber was the worst of them and turns out she might not have been the leader of the three that she and everyone thought she was.”
“Well, we have one day before they’ll come here to release whoever is left when the fighting is over,” Grinder stated.
“The good news is that they are losing their men to the Triad,” Slammer told them. “They broke into the bar Zoe told them about and they found their holy man’s head. Tommy called me about an hour ago. He said Venom, Anaconda and two others escaped but that they are tracking them all over the city. He also told me they will have to stop hunting them for twenty four hours to honor their hold man’s death at sundown tonight. The Triad is grateful for Zoe’s help and will come here to retrieve the button from his cloak, so that it can be passed down to the next holy man.”
Shotgun knew Slammer well and he seemed to know the man had something else that troubled him. “And the bad news...?”
Slammer rubbed his face with one hand. “They also requested that we do not kill Venom if he comes here. Tommy said he has to receive the same fate as the holy man or his soul will not rest in peace in the afterlife.”
“Well damn, that takes all the fun out of it for us then, doesn’t it?” Grinder smirked.
Slammer glared at his men. “We have to honor their request.” He looked from one to the next man. “Agreed? We try to take Venom alive for the Triad.”
One by one, they all reluctantly agreed.
Slammer brought down the gavel and Church was over.
One by one, they all filed out of the room to go to the dining area where Audrey had a meal waiting for them.
As soon as the men sat down River looked at Ivy and nodded.
Andrea sat next to Grinder and quietly nodded at the other two women.
Ivy wet her lips and looked to Slammer. His eyes were hooded, as she appeared nervous. Then her eyes went to Shotgun and Slammer frowned.
“Shotgun, I have something to ask you...” She began nervously.
Shotgun put his coffee cup down and looked at her. “And what would that be?”
“Well, we have this friend...” she paused and glanced over at Slammer again and saw his forehead wrinkled with confusion.
River kicked her lightly under the table.
This brought Ivy back to the conversation, “I have this friend, Quincy Marlow and she trains service dogs, you know for people with PTSD and other disabilities. I think Bess would be eligible for one of her dogs.”
“My daughter is not disabled.” Shotgun growled.
Ivy reached out and touched his hand. “We know that. But she is a deaf child living in a hearing world. She has to learn to adjust to that, just like we have to learn to adjust to her. Look at her... she’s all alone, caught up in the silence that surrounds her. She’s got you and everyone else here, that’s true, but you don’t understand her world. I don’t even truly understand her world and I work in it every day. We can take care of her, feed and shelter her but we can’t be there for her twenty four s
even. We come and go from her sight, but a dog could be there for her every minute of every day. I know Quincy’s dogs and I know Bess would benefit from having one beside her.” Ivy paused.
Andrea then added, “Also, a dog would have prevented her from being tossed outside, he would have stood between her and the person or persons who did that.”
Slammer’s frown deepened as he heard their words. They did have a point, one he hadn’t thought about before now. He looked over at his brother and found he was thinking the same thing.
“Do you really think she would be safer?” Shotgun asked.
Andrea nodded. “It makes sense.”
Ivy nodded with her. “Once they form the bond, the dog would protect her with his own life.”
Shotgun looked over at his woman. “What do you think?”
River smiled. “I’ve known her loneliness. Even though I could hear, my parents kept me out of the world and safe at home. I wasn’t allowed to have friends because we moved around every few months. I would have loved having someone there for me. I think Bess would love to have a dog.”
Shotgun looked over at Slammer. “Boss?”
“Get her here before we go to war,” Slammer told him. “If for nothing else, we can protect her that way. Bess isn’t going to understand what’s coming and I don’t want her afraid.”
Shotgun nodded then looked over at Ivy. “Give your friend a call. See if she can bring the dog today.”
Ivy smiled, then blushed. “I was hoping you would agree because I already called her. I wanted to know if a dog could help. Quincy said she had the perfect dog ready to go. His name is Rainy. She said she could deliver Rainy this afternoon. But...”
Shotgun shook his head. “But you’re not sure if we can get her in here safely.” Then he looked over at his child. “I hope I’m doing the right things here. Being a parent isn’t always easy.”
“But you’re doing a wonderful job,” Andrea told him. She too, looked over at Bess. “She’s adjusting pretty good, for just being here a few months.”
“Sometimes you do what you have to do, just to survive,” River stated looking over at the girl. “It isn’t easy to get disrupted from the only life you’ve ever known and be thrown into something else. I agree though, I just don’t know if we can get her in here safely right now.”