by KJ Dahlen
“They’re here now,” Dani called out before anyone else could reply. She was watching through the open door as five bikes rolled up to the locked front gate. She could see Hellspawn sitting on his big chrome cycle as he glared at her.
Digger was next to him on his bike. He kept revving his engine until his uncle told him to quit.
There were three bikes behind them. Hellspawn reached out and turned off his key. The others followed suit. “Where are the fucking stones, bitch?”
Dani shrugged. “I thought I gave them to Digger.”
“Well, guess what? Digger didn’t have them when the box was finally opened.” Hellspawn sneered.
Dani called back, “But I didn’t know that at the time I gave him the box and to my knowledge, the stones were in it.”
“I don’t fucking believe that,” Hellspawn swore.
“I don’t care whether you believe me or not. I’m not a liar or a cheat. My mother raised me to tell the truth but not take anybody’s shit.”
“I don’t give a fucking shit what your mom taught you.” Hellspawn growled. “I want my damn stones!”
“Well, I sure as hell don’t have them.” Dani broke away from Thor and walked out the front door. She went about halfway to the gate before she stopped. Without breaking Hellspawn’s gaze, she shouted, “Give him the stones.”
A twirling sound echoed in the yard then Digger almost flew off his bike. He screamed and grabbed his shoulder but no one else moved. Then he got back up.
Hellspawn turned and his eyes widened as he saw a small bag attached to the bolt. He reached out and grabbed the bag, jerking it loose.
Digger cried out as his uncle tore the bag away. His shoulder was pouring out fresh blood from the wound as he raised a shaky hand and pulled the bolt out of his flesh. He bent over his bike as the pain overwhelmed him for a moment. He looked up at her and snarled, “You damned crazy ass bitch!”
Hellspawn tore the bag open and spilled about five bright red stones in his hand. His eyes glazed over at the sight of the rubies but he knew there were more. This wasn’t all the stones, it couldn’t have been. He raised his head and glared at her. “Where are the rest of them?”
Before she could answer, Digger grabbed his weapon and pointed it at her with a shaky hand. “You fucking bitch. Look what you did to me.”
Dani turned her head slowly to glare at Digger. “I didn’t do jack shit to you. Your uncle wanted the stones, so we gave him the stones.” She shrugged. “I can’t help it you got in the way. That’s life isn’t it?”
“Where the hell are the rest of the stones, bitch?” Hellspawn growled.
Dani looked back at the clubhouse and nodded.
Spirit who was on the roof began firing the crossbow into the trees nearby.
The bikers watched as they heard the thunks of the bolts hitting the trees.
Hellspawn turned back to Dani. “What the hell do you think you are playing at?”
She shrugged. “If you find the bolts you’ll find the stones. There are nine bolts, nine small bags of stones. You wanted them, well now you have them.”
“You motherfucking little witch!” Hellspawn roared.
Then a gunshot was heard and Dani slowly crumbled. Her face went white, then she dropped to her knees and finally landed in the dirt as her body curled up.
They heard a loud roar from the door of the clubhouse and the sound of scuffling. Her name was screamed out several times but no one came through the doorway.
Digger’s weapon was still smoking when Hellspawn turned his head to glare at his nephew. “You stupid bastard. What the hell did you shoot her for?”
“That’s life ain’t it?” Digger snarled. “She got in the way.”
“And now they’re free to start shooting, you stupid dumb shit bastard.” Hellspawn growled as he backhanded his nephew.
Digger dropped his weapon in the dirt. He was almost unseated but managed to stay on his bike.
Hellspawn grabbed his own weapon as Thor roared her name again and stormed out of the clubhouse screaming Dani’s name. He paused when Hellspawn turned his gun on him.
“Don’t take one more step toward her,” Hellspawn ordered before he called out to Dani, “You still alive Dani?”
“Yeah, you fuck, I’m still alive.” She moaned as she writhed in the dirt.
“Good... how long you live depends on what these men decide to do next.” Hellspawn pointed his weapon at her while he glared at the men crowding the open door. “You won’t get a second bullet as long as they keep their distance.”
“Sweet cheeks, answer me, you okay?” Thor called out.
“No not really,” Dani called back. “Kinda bleeding really bad here.”
“You all know we can take you all out, don’t you?” Thor yelled his face full of fury as his eyes gleamed with hate. “We got enough shooters to take all five of you out and you’ll never even know it until it's too late.”
Hellspawn shook his head. “Can you really take the chance you’ll get all of us before one of us kills her?” Shaking his head again, he muttered, “All she had to do was hand over the stones.”
“I was fucking shot uncle,” Digger grumbled. “You would have let her walk?”
“Shut the fuck up. You weren’t dead, just bleeding a little. ” Hellspawn growled. “Now, you got us in a Mexican standoff.”
“Let us get her inside and you can go find your fucking stones and get the fuck out of here,” Thor shouted.
“No, I wanted the stones handed to me and she fucked that up.” Hellspawn glared at him as he held his weapon, pointed down at Dani.
“So send your men out to find the stones and get the fuck out of here,” Thor yelled back. “But let me get her some medical help, you lousy bastard.”
“I’ll let you get to her when I get all the bags.” Hellspawn snarled. “Not a moment before.”
“She could bleed to death before then, you mother fucker!” Thor cursed him.
Hellspawn shrugged. “She shouldn’t have been so damned stupid, insisting on playing her games.” He glanced over his shoulder at the three other bikers behind him. “Find those fucking bags. Now!” he screamed at them.
The three men got off their bikes and dispersed into the trees. The sun was high in the sky and the air was hot. They could all hear the three men swearing, as they had to climb the trees to get to the bolts holding the bags.
Thor waited as long as he could then called out, “Dani, you doing okay?”
When Dani didn’t answer him he began to scream her name, “Dani, answer me. You all right?”
“Good enough for her.” Digger sneered.
“Shut up, you damn fool.” Hellspawn growled.
“Why should I shut up old man?” He sneered. “You aren’t going to be in charge here much longer. You know it and so do I. They know it too.”
Hellspawn turned his head and glared at his brother’s child. “You know something? You’ve been a pain in my ass for some time now, and I’m tired of listening to you whining in my ear.” He brought the gun around and fired a bullet into his nephew.
Digger just stared at him, then he peered down at his chest. The red stain blossomed across his vest as he stared at it. Then in slow motion, he crumbled forward, falling into the dirt at his uncle’s feet.
Hellspawn quickly turned the gun back to cover Thor but he didn’t even so much as look at Digger’s body again.
Finally, the three men came out of the woods in a hurry and got on their bikes.
“Well how many bags did you find?” Hellspawn asked.
“We found enough old man,” one of them growled back. “Let’s get the hell out of here. I do not want to die here.”
“How fucking many?” Hellspawn screamed.
“Seven altogether,” one of them replied.
“I want all nine!” Hellspawn shouted.
“You got all you’re gonna get,” Gunner called out as he came to the doorway. “We’ll give you one minute to get the hell out of here
or you’ll die where you sit. So get the hell off our property.”
The three men behind him started their engines and backed out of the driveway.
Hellspawn growled and did the same. As he backed away, he made a show of holstering his weapon. He took off a moment later.
Thor rushed to where Dani was laying in the dirt and gathered her in his arms. He rushed her inside the clubhouse, screaming for Patriot.
Owen, Reggie and Eli caught sight of her as Thor carried her past them, passed out with her head and shoulders hanging over his arms. Her face was smeared with dirt and blood from laying on the ground. Blood covered her shoulder and chest, but they couldn’t see her very well as Thor rushed past them so quickly.
Chapter Thirteen
Owen exhaled sharply and hung his head as he plopped down into a nearby chair as his sons crowded close by with concern. He started thinking about how he had been looking for her for twenty two years and now he might lose her before he even got to meet her.
When his third son, Spirit joined them he asked, “Is she still alive?”
“We don’t know yet. Thor just hauled ass through here in search of someone named Patriot?” Owen told him.
Gunner walked over to them. “Patriot is our medic. He’ll do what he can for her, but she told Thor this morning she had a rare RH factor and transfusions could end up killing her.”
Owen got to his feet and stared at him. “That’s a trait my entire family shares. Her dad shared it as well, that was one reason he died so quickly. The hospital they took him to, didn’t have the right type of blood. If she needs blood, she can have ours.”
Spirit nudged Reggie and nodded toward the door and they both headed out.
Gunner called out to them, “Where the hell are you two going?”
Spirit looked over his shoulder at him. “We’re gonna head out to hunt down and send Hellspawn to hell.”
“You can’t do that,” Gunner interjected.
“Sure, I can,” Spirit informed him. “I owe him for Dani. She may not know it yet, but she’s family and we take care of our own.”
Cobra joined Gunner as the men were discussing taking Hellspawn out; he crossed his arms over his chest and told his man, Spirit. “No, you don’t have the right to lay claim to her just yet. She and Janet were out here on their own for the majority of her life.” He raised his hand when Owen started to protest and went on, “We all failed both of them back then. I’m taking my share of that blame as well but the point is we have to do this her way now. Janet raised that little lady a certain way and we can’t just throw that under the bus. If we want to keep her with us, we have to respect the way her mom raised her.”
Owen and Spirit shook their heads in disgust.
“I don’t like it either. But it is what it is. You know we’ve all been looking for them since Janet moved away but that little girl doesn’t and right now, she feels all alone. Well, except for Thor. We have to prove to her that she can trust us, all of us.”
“And you think she won’t want us to hunt down and end Hellspawn?” Owen asked in astonishment.
Cobra shook his head. “No, I’m sure she wants him dead but she just wouldn’t want her family to do it. She doesn’t want to stain your family honor with his death.”
Owen chuckled. “We wouldn’t consider that even a smear on our honor, we’d just be taking out the trash.”
Cobra let out a sigh. “Don’t you see what is happening? Jethro broke what her mother considered to be a man's honor when he beat on her and then cheated on her. Honor was something men had to work to keep and when the man she loved didn’t give a fuck, Janet took her child and walked away. Speed never really wanted their daughter and he proved that, at least he did to Janet anyway by ignoring their daughter and letting her go uncontested and I’ll be the first to admit he didn’t do what a man needs to do to safeguard his woman and kid. She walked away from him, from his club and from his family. She never knew because of his actions that he lost his place in the club. He had to earn it back. And I think that pissed him off more than losing his woman and kid.” Cobra cleared his throat. “He was lost for a while and he just never found his way back before he died.”
“I always hoped he would eventually, find his way back.” Owen looked saddened. “I brought my boy's up with manners and knowing about honor. Jethro always was a stubborn little shithead. He always thought he knew more than I did and when he got a certain age, he stopped listening to anything I had to say.” He shook his head and sat back down. “I guess he had to learn things the hard way.” Looking over at his other sons he said, “This time, we’ll do things her way. We’ll watch them but we won’t kill him just yet.”
Gunner grinned. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t follow and watch them. Maybe even drag his sorry ass back here to face MC justice. We can do that much.”
Cobra looked over at Jett and Gypsy then gave them a nod. “Find them and keep them in your sights. If and when you get the chance, take the fucker and bring him back here. He’ll more than likely have killed off the other three and it will be just him left. That’s when you grab him.”
“You want him alive and breathing right?” Gypsy asked.
“Breathing would be good but broken and bloody is okay too.” Gunner chuckled.
Gypsy grinned. “You got it, boss.”
Jett nodded at Cobra then disappeared for a moment, and when he returned, he was carrying a small duffel bag.
Gypsy had gone over to the armory and grabbed a few more weapons he thought might come in handy.
A few minutes later, they left taking a truck instead of their bikes. A truck would be more protection and a way to bring Hellspawn back with them when they did catch him.
Owen glanced down the hall and then looked at Cobra. “I wonder how she’s doing?”
“Patriot will let us know as soon as there is something to know.” Gunner nodded.
Owen looked troubled. “I know but we’re so close and she wants nothing to do with us.” He shook his head. “My son was a fool.”
Cobra shook his head. “No, he was like thousands of other young men. Just too damn young and dumb. He just needed time to grow up, time he never got, unfortunately. Who knows how he would have turned out if he hadn’t died back then.” Shrugging he added, “We all make mistakes, the key is to learn from them and finally grow up. I’m sure he would have changed if he only had the chance.”
“But he would have still lost his woman,” Reggie stated. “From what I knew of her, he still would have lost her.”
Cobra nodded. “Perhaps but I think she would have allowed him to know their child. Janet was a good woman. In fact the day she left, she pointed out that when he got his shit together, he would know where to find them.” He frowned thinking about what he just said. “Damn it,” he slammed his hand onto the table. “He knew where she was the whole time. He just died before he told anyone.”
Just then, Thor came down the hall and addressed his president. He only looked at Cobra, “She’s stable, and he got the bullet out. It didn’t cause too much damage, mostly just blood loss. But Patriot knows she can’t have just any blood so for now, there’s little he can do.” He ran his hands over his head and growled. “Now all we can do is wait and pray that she recovers.”
“If she needs blood, we can give it to her,” Owen spoke up.
Thor turned his head and glared at the Rowlett family in general. “You only think you can give it to her but I’m not willing to take that chance. I’m not going to risk her life to prove she belongs to you. I’m not going to lose her. I can’t.”
Gunner stepped up and stood between the two men. “There might be a way to prove it. Will you both stand down and let it happen?”
“How?” Thor asked.
“I know someone who can do a blood test,” Gunner replied. “She won’t have time for an in depth panel but she can at least tell us if their blood will help her or kill her.” He looked between them. “Will that work for you guy
s?”
“Works for me,” Owen stated.
“That’ll do for me as well.” Thor nodded.
Gunner stepped away and reached for his phone. A few minutes later, he looked up and said, “She’s on her way with her equipment.”
Owen reached out and laid his hand on Thor’s arm. “If our blood is a match, will you let us give it to her? We don’t want to lose her either.”
Thor studied him for a moment and nodded. “I will tell you and your sons right now, she belongs to me and I have her back in all things. Do not try and separate us, or you will lose her altogether.”
Owen nodded. “Agreed. But you have to know something here. She’s a Rowlett as much as her dad was. She has both sides watching her back.”
“She is her own person and the ties she has are the ones she wants to have,” Thor stated. “If either of us thought to force her, we would lose her sure as shit. Don’t try to force her or you will lose her.” Then he turned and walked back to the Infirmary.
Twenty minutes later, both Sheriff Kyle and Gunner’s nurse friend showed up. While Cobra and Gunner were explaining to The Sheriff why a damn body was laying at their gate again, Lisa the nurse was shown into the Infirmary and she began getting things set up for the blood testing.
She began with a sample of Dani’s blood and then called in Owen and the others. She needed two things from them. The fact their blood ended up as B negative was only half the battle. They had to share the same RH factor as Dani as well.
That part of the test would take the most time but the results were essential. The wrong RH factor would kill her if they didn’t get this right.
Out at the front gate, Sheriff Kyle shook his head. “What is it with you damned bikers?”
Gunner shrugged. “I don’t know. He took a crossbow bolt from our side but the chest wound was one from Hellspawn. His own damn uncle killed him.”
“Do you have more bikers coming back a third time?” Sheriff Kyle wanted to know, as he looked disgusted.
“God, I hope not. Twice was more than we ever wanted.” Gunner shook his head.
“Tell me something Gunner,” Sheriff Kyle asked as he cocked his head to one side. “Did the man they call Hellspawn ever get what he came here for?”
