“Got it.” He grabbed the bag from me, shoving it into the saddlebag of his bike.
“Don’t forget: you’re new in to the area, stumbled into the bar. You’ve never been to this part of town. You don’t know any of us.” I sighed—this is it.
“Should I make up a name or some shit?” he asked, getting on his bike.
“Fuck no.” I lit a cigarette. “The less you have to remember, the less of a chance you’ll fuck up and blow your cover. If you tell the truth, there’s nothing to remember when they start in with the standard third degree.” Odin’s words of wisdom rang out in the cool night air. Even though he was a jackass, he had been right a lot of the time.
“Well, here goes nothing.” Ryder was off, and I had a weight in the pit of my stomach that made me want to hurl.
“This is a bad idea,” I mumbled over the top of my whiskey glass before killing the contents.
“It’s going to be fine,” Abel reassured. “Get that doubt out of your damn head. It’s time to let the guys in on our little plot.”
I got up from the table in the back room and ambled into the main room of the bar. Sending out a loud whistle was all I had to do to call the ranks to church.
Within minutes, all of our men were sitting around the worn oak with cigarettes lit and strong drinks in hand.
“I appreciate all of your patience over the last week. Before we dive into all the crap I have to fill you in on, I just want to remind you that Rave’s memorial service will be here on Saturday, starting at four.” Abel’s face went blank for a few seconds. “It would mean a lot to Crickett and myself if everyone, including your families, came this weekend. She’s been a trooper through all of this and I know she could use all the support she can get right now. She’ll never admit it, but Rave’s passing has hit her really hard, just like I know it is hitting many of you.”
“We’re all coming, brother.” Trent looked around as everyone nodded in agreement.
“That brings me to our big news: we have a mole going into the Sinners organization to get to the bottom of what happened.” Abel didn’t miss a beat in spitting out our secret.
Every man’s eyes grew ten times as they all started mumbling to each other in disbelief.
“How the hell did you pull that off?” Ozzy spit on the floor after questioning our new leader.
I cleared my throat. “Turns out, I have a son. He showed up here the other day and we were able to talk him into helping out the club.”
“You got a kid none of us have heard of to do our dirty work? How the hell are we supposed to be all right with this one? It should have been brought to the table.” Red was on his feet, yelling at Abel.
Abel put his hand up. “Look guys, we needed to get him behind enemy lines quickly and with the least amount of fuss as possible. I made the call, and that is final.”
“This better work,” Red growled as he took his seat.
“It’s going to. We can trust him.” I didn’t know if I believed the words coming out of my mouth or if I was saying them to convince myself.
Chapter 6
Searing pleasure quickly woke me as Pauline’s lips wrapped around the head of my morning wood. The way her tongue played as she sucked in my length was the perfect way to be woken up, hands down. Instinctively, I knotted my fingers in her hair, pushing her farther down.
“Good morning, darlin’,” I cooed as she looked up at me from between my legs with the smallest hint of a smile. “You better let me taste you while you do that.”
Pauline shifted on top of me, straddling my face as she leaned over to continue what she’d started. Her sweet nectar filled my mouth as my fingers gripped the tender flesh of her ass.
The muffled sounds of her moans and whimpers as I indulged her for a while was the biggest turn-on in the world.
Getting my dick sucked was nothing short of amazing, but knowing I was pleasuring her while it was happening made it that much better.
My phone blared from the nightstand, ripping me from my sex-soaked dream of reminiscence about years past.
“Ryder?” It was time for his morning check-in, right on schedule.
“We need to meet,” he barked quickly.
He had been behind enemy lines for just about five days, and finally he had something more to report than getting drunk with the new guys and prospects. He hadn’t even met the higher-up guys yet. They were lying low for good measure, and I didn’t blame them. I would have been doing the same damn thing. They knew how big the targets on their backs were.
“Go to the 24-hour diner. I’ll meet you there in ten.”
Ryder took longer than I would have liked to join me at the table. When he finally slumped down, the glaring shiner under his right eye smacked me in the face.
“What the fuck happened to you?” I whispered as the server filled his coffee mug.
He waved me off. “It’s nothing, just a little bit of a scuffle with one of the prospects when he got drunk last night. It was totally worth it though.”
I leaned back in the booth. “How so?”
“They offered me a prospect slot. The catch is that I have to take out an enemy to get it, the bigger the mark the better.” He gleamed with pride in the information he was divulging.
“They’re making new guys do their dirty work. I knew Rave’s death was too sloppy for an old guy to have done it himself. Too much was left to chance.”
“That’s the thing—they want it to look like an accident so it won’t come back on the club.” Ryder put creamer in his coffee as he smiled over at me.
“I have to hand it to them, it’s a pretty smart move.” I sipped my black joe, chewing on the information Ryder had just given me.
“Do you have any idea who might have taken Rave out?”
Ryder shook his head. “I’ve it narrowed down to three new guys. They could have done it together as a group for all I know.”
“Good work, kid. I’m impressed.” It was a small compliment, but it was true. I felt bad for doubting it, Ryder was proving himself faster than I had expected.
“Thanks. It’s been pretty easy. They’re a bunch of morons from what I have gathered. I mean, they trusted me really fast and way too much. They all have big mouths once they have a few drinks in them.”
“Sounds about right.” I chuckled to myself. Our biggest rivals weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed. They believed in numbers, not caring if their grunts had anything going on upstairs. We were the exact opposite.
Ryder smirked down at his cell.
“What has you so happy this early in the morning?” I questioned, already suspicious of the answer. It was always a damn girl.
He bit his lip. “Raine.”
“Be careful, son. Abel isn’t going to let you get within a hundred feet of that girl, especially if you decide you really want into the club.”
“It’s just nice to have a friend,” he muttered.
“I don’t blame you there, and she’s a sweetheart. So, did they give you a hit list or something?” I couldn’t keep talking about Raine with Ryder. She was too much like a daughter to me, and he was too much like me; it just felt too wrong.
“Basically your entire club. Abel and you are the big targets.” He bowed his head. “Sorry, Pop.” I stopped dead, but not from the danger—there was always a threat on my life. What gave me pause was that it had been the first time he’d referred to me as his father in some fashion other than just stating facts.
“It is what it is, son.” I shrugged, trying to ease his mind a bit.
Ryder smiled a little more. “To be honest, I’ve been having a little bit of fun doing this. Thanks for trusting me.”
“You’ve earned my trust, Ryder. This morning proves it that much more.”
Chapter 7
The thickness in the air weighed on me as I sat in the corner of the bar with my brothers scattered about. Everyone had come; even some of the guys from the Arkansas, Killeen, Sweetwater, and Atlanta charters had arrive
d in droves to pay their respects to our fallen leader.
Bear, the VP from Atlanta, stomped over to me, leaning up against the wall to my right. “How’re you holding up, Holt?” he asked. Bear would give the shirt off her back to anyone in need but that kind nature was wrapped in a rough-and-tumble exterior blanketed with scars and tattoos.
“It’s the risk we take, right?” I glanced over at Raine, who was crying in her stepmother’s arms behind the bar.
“Still, ain’t ever easy,” Bear sighed. “Rave was a good man. He’ll be missed by all of us.”
“How’re things going in your neck of the woods?” It had been way too long since I had checked in with our other chapters, something I was going to need to get a heck of a lot better about with the shoes I was about to have to start filling.
“Can’t complain. Seems like most of the action is up here. Should have transferred when I had the chance after Odin lost his marbles.” Bear started laughing uncomfortably. Odin wasn’t someone that any of us really brought up anymore. He was a black stain in our cub’s history books that we wished we could all forget.
Odin had snapped years before. He was a ruthless man, meaner than sin for the entire time I had known him. When his old lady left him for Rave, there was nothing holding the rage back. He murdered Sherry, Abel’s mom; Colleen, Abel’s girlfriend and Raine’s mother before turning the gun on himself. It was one of the worst situations any of us had had to deal with.
“You know you’ll always have a place here, but that VP flash looks pretty damn good on that cut.” I pointed to Bear’s leather with a drink in my hand.
“Speaking of vice presidents, why is Abel still wearing his VP patch? Shouldn’t that be on your chest?” The confusion on Bear’s face was little funny to me. He was right, Abel needed to step into his role.
I laughed a little. “Long story, but it’ll happen, all in due time.”
Dhonal walked up with beers for the two of us. “You guys look like you need a refill.”
I chugged the half-empty longneck in my hand, taking the fresh one from his. “Thanks.”
“Good to see you, Bear.” Dhonal hugged him quickly before turning back to rejoin his old lady and son at their table.
As I was about to head behind the bar to check on Raine and Crickett, a text buzzed in my pocket.
Ryder: We’re coming. They know.
I snapped into action, rushing to Abel’s side. “I need to talk to you in the office right the fuck now.”
Abel followed on my heels into the bar’s office. “What’s going on?”
Without a word, I showed him the text.
“We need to get the women and kids out of here.” His face went white. Of all the low blows, this one took the fucking cake. Even for outlaws on the hunt for blood, them coming for us at a damn funeral was pretty barbaric.
“There isn’t enough time. Have Crickett get all of them in the back. Any of them that can shoot need to get armed.” I pulled Rave’s ax off the wall, handing it to Abel. “It’s only right that she sees the vengeance she deserves.”
“Welcome back, butcher,” Abel muttered, slinging the strap of the sheath over his shoulder.
I cracked my neck before removing my pistol from its side holster. “They want a war, we’ll give them one hell of a damn war.”
Crickett made quick work of rounding up everyone who needed to be protected in the back. As she started to walk into the back room, I grabbed her arm. “Give Raine a gun. I know you don’t want to, but she’s a better shot than most of the guys in that room.”
Crickett’s eyes filled with tears as she sucked in a harsh breath. “Did this really have to happen today of all days?”
“When is timing ever on our side, darlin’?” I kissed her cheek, giving her the sawed-off I kept under the bar top. “It’s what I taught Raine how to shoot with when she started learning how to bartend. She’ll be fine.”
“Thanks.”
I locked the door behind her and made my way behind the bar. Every weapon we had was in someone’s hands or strapped to them in some fashion.
Within seconds, machine gun fire peppered the windows and exterior walls. We took cover but waited. They were going to have to come in if they wanted to get to us. It wasn’t our first rodeo, and it sure as hell was not going to be our last.
The door burst open, and in a matter of seconds, our bar was filled with new members and prospects from the Sinners.
Fucking pussies. Not one of the ranking members had the balls to go along with their guys.
Ryder was standing in the doorway, gun drawn, eyes locked on me. He nodded to the guy directly in front of him. He had figured it out, and just in time. He lined his gun up with the back of the guy’s head, but I shook my head at him. It wasn’t a life for him to take—it needed to be Abel.
Abel followed my line of sight and smirked. He knew exactly what Ryder had just informed me of without skipping a beat.
“Now, gents, if you wanted to come to the funeral, all you had to do was ask. No need to come in here guns blazing, but bravo on a grand entrance,” Abel taunted, his Smith and Wesson trained on the scumbag Ryder had pointed out.
They were all scared shitless. I had half a mind to just open fire, but that could cause too many casualties on our end. Abel was right: we needed to outsmart them.
“Ryder, fucking do it!” the asshole yelled, glancing over his shoulder.
Ryder stayed frozen. This was his initiation. I couldn’t help but almost chuckle at the fuckery of it all. Of course the stupid-ass Sinners would make my kid’s initiation offing someone from my club. Man, they’re all going to feel like idiots within seconds. They were outnumbered by ten to one—first mistake. The second was all the damn hesitation. They should have just come into the damn place shooting, not holding anything back.
Dhonal started cackling. “Well, isn’t this just the most anticlimactic takeover in the history of gangs.”
Abel joined in with the laughter. “I couldn’t agree more with the damn mick.”
“Ryder, you fucking pussy!” The guy turned around, and Ryder pointed to his piece, which was level with his head.
“I think you’re the pussy here.” Ryder winked and cocked his head to the side. “Hey, Dad, told ya I would find the asshole that killed Rave.”
“You fucking traitor!” Famous last words.
Abel removed the ax from his sheath and swung hard right into the side of his leg. He wailed as he fell to the floor.
“Oh stop your griping—I could have decapitated you.” Abel spit on the Sinner as the rest froze and trembled.
Our guys moved in, forcing the Sinners to put their weapons down.
I heard the door slam behind me. Pivoting on my heels, I saw Raine’s rage-filled eyes lock onto the guy sprawled out on the floor.
Before I could stop her, she took aim and shot him right in the side of the head.
“Baby, no!” Abel yelled as he ran to his daughter’s side. She collapsed into his arms.
I jumped onto the bar top. “I should let my guys take each and every one of you out just for the principle of how terribly y’all fucked up today, but that’s too easy on you. Get the fuck out of here and tell your president he shouldn’t be sending boys to do men’s work.”
The threat had been neutralized for the time being. Once all the Sinners were heading down the road, we swept up the glass and threw the dead enemy into the back of a van to be dealt with late. We were in the middle of a memorial and come hell or high water, we were going to honor Rave’s memory.
“Nice shot.” I pulled Raine into my arms while wiping a few tears away from her eyes.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” she sobbed into my chest. “I just couldn’t let him live.”
“He wouldn’t have, sweetheart. You just sped up the process a bit and probably saved a few of the other guys’ lives in the process.” I hated that Raine had taken a life, it was something that would haunt her, but there was no going back.
/> Crickett came up to us, brushing Raine’s hair behind her ear. “I know this is not what a mother should say at a time like this, but I am so damn proud of you, honey. I am kind of jealous that you had the guts to do it and I didn’t.”
Abel joined us with Ryder following behind him. “We really are one fucked-up family, aren’t we?”
Raine giggled while wiping her eyes. “It’s better than being normal, right?”
“You got that right.” Ryder grabbed my whiskey and chugged it down.
“You did good, kid.” Abel handed him a cut. “You earned this today.”
“And I think you can finally wear this.” I handed Abel Rave’s president flash.
“Thanks, VP.” Abel winked at me before cutting his own patch from the leather.
All the guys in the bar started clapping.
“Long live Abel!” Bear hollered from the back, and the horde hooted and cheered.
“And the man of the hour! Brothers, and all the rest of our family, I am pleased to introduce our newest prospect and Holt’s son, Ryder.”
The cheering got louder as I hooked my arm around Ryder’s neck. “You’re in for one hell of a ride, kid. I hope you’re ready.”
“I think I was born ready.”
The End.
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Unstable: An Unacceptables MC Standalone Page 4
