Lion

by Jessie Cooke

  Lion was shaking his head. “No. You wouldn’t betray Doc, that’s bullshit.” Hawk had kept Lion away from the ranch. It was one thing they occasionally argued about. Lion wanted to be a biker like Hawk, and at first Hawk tried talking him out of it, but when Lion wouldn’t let it go, Hawk made him promise that he would finish high school, and if he did that, he’d ask Doc to let him prospect. Lion had worked hard in school after that, putting in the kind of effort he’d refused to put in before. Now suddenly that was all pointless too?

  “It’s complicated,” Hawk said. “Just know if there was any way I could stay, I would. I can’t, though, Lion. They’ll kill me…and being around you and your grandma will just put you both in danger.”

  Lion still didn’t want to believe his hero…the most loyal man he ever knew…would have betrayed his club. “What are they saying you did?”

  “Doesn’t matter…”

  Lion lost his head for a second and slammed his fist on the table. “It doesn’t matter? You’re taking off, for God knows where and God knows how long, and it doesn’t fucking matter? What did you do?”

  Hawk swallowed hard and said, “I went behind Doc’s back and arranged to buy guns from a rival club, one that the Skulls already had a tenuous relationship with. The meet-up went bad and their VP was…he ended up dead.”

  “Did you kill him?”

  “No, but Doc and I and the two guys with me that day were all arrested. Doc and I were released…”

  “Then it’s okay. You didn’t do this or they wouldn’t have let you go!”

  Hawk sighed. “What I did that day doesn’t matter, Lion. The guys I was with are going down for the murder, but regardless, the deal was mine. That club will be out for blood now…Skulls blood. And the Skulls…they’ll be out for mine.”

  “Your own club? No way! You’re their vice president…”

  “No, I’m not, Lion. Not anymore. I betrayed my president, went behind his back. I can’t survive that.”

  “None of this makes any sense. You wouldn’t do that…”

  “I did. I did and now it’s either go into hiding or let them kill me.”

  Lion’s head was spinning. Hawk was telling him that he’d knowingly done something that would put his club in jeopardy…and now he was going to run away. It went against everything he believed about the man. “Then tell me why. Why did you do it?”

  Hawk looked at his watch and then once again toward the door of the diner. “I can’t explain it, Lion. Sometimes a man has to make decisions that hurt other people, even people he loves…”

  “Like Doc? You did all of this behind his back…and he trusted you.” Hawk looked like he might be sick.

  “Yeah, like Doc…and you.”

  “You still haven’t said why. You had to know it would hurt Doc…and me…so why?”

  “I wish I could explain it, Lion, but I can’t.” He slid a manila envelope across the table and said, “There’s as much cash in there as I could manage to put together. I will try like hell to get you more…”

  “No.” Lion pushed the envelope back at him. “I don’t want shit from you.”

  “Lion…”

  “No! Fuck you. You did whatever the fuck you did, knowing it would put us here…just like you said you’d always protect my mom, and you stood there while he killed her. I was a stupid kid when I forgave you for that, but I’m not a kid anymore, and I’m not going to forgive you for this.” Lion wanted to cry. He hadn’t cried since he was six years old and he wasn’t about to do it now, not in front of Hawk. It was easier to be angry…to hate him for everything, even things that weren’t really his fault.

  Hawk stood up. He left the envelope on the table. He had tears in his eyes as he looked at Lion one last time and said, “I’m sorry.”

  Lion didn’t say anything else. He didn’t even look at him when he left. He waited until he heard Hawk’s bike pull away and then he picked up the envelope and left the diner…and headed straight for the ranch. He became a prospect that day and he never went back to school. Doc Marshall wouldn’t take the cash from him that Hawk had left, so he took it home, to give it to his Me Maw…but that never happened either.

  Thankfully, Lion woke up before the dream turned into the nightmare he hadn’t had in a long time. He was sweating and out of breath still. He got out of bed, drank a bottle of water, and then went down the hall into the small room he’d built onto the side of the house. It was the only place in the house where the ghosts never haunted him. Shirtless, barefoot, and in a pair of shorts, he sat down in front of the drafting desk he’d built with his own hands, picked up a piece of charcoal, and began to draw.

  5

  Madison was sitting in the kitchen at the ranch, peeling potatoes. Ian, Cody’s and Harley’s little chubby toddler, was sitting at her feet, towing one of the potatoes in the toy dump truck he was playing with. Harley was on the phone, talking to someone in her office, and the rest of the “girls” were all busy chopping or cooking something. A big, round biker they called Tank was in the center of it all, basting, stirring, and barking out orders. Dax’s birthday was the next day and everyone at the ranch seemed to be rushing around, getting prepared for the party. She was getting bored just hanging around the ranch, so she was happy to help where she could.

  Harley ended her call and came over to sit across from Madison at the table. She looked down at her baby and blew him a kiss before picking up one of the potatoes and a knife. She was dressed in a sharp-looking black business suit and Madison laughed and said, “You probably don’t want to do that in that pretty suit.”

  Harley made a face. “I don’t care. I’m so pissed off.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Oh, it’s work…bullshit at work,” she said with a little growl. “The DA keeps forgetting what full-fucking-disclosure means. We go to court on Monday and the fuckers suddenly spring a new witness on us. Now I’ll have to either ask the judge for a continuance so we can investigate this witness on our own, or make do with an hour to depose the new witness.”

  Madison was no lawyer, or legal expert by far…but she had learned something about the legal system during her years as a witness for the prosecution after witnessing a murder. That event, the murder and being compelled by the FBI to be a witness, had been the catalyst for her whole life changing. When witnesses began to get killed and disappear, Madison had taken off and lived off the grid for a while…until the bad guys found her. Thankfully, the good guys were waiting in the wings. The Phoenix chapter of the Skulls had rescued her and taken her in…and then her father had sent Lion to get her. He said he had to lay eyes on her after everything…but Madison was beginning to worry there was more to it.

  “Well, that sucks,” she said to Harley.

  “Yeah, more than you know. I was just told the only available investigator is my ex, who I do my best to avoid if at all possible.”

  “Uh-oh, bad blood?”

  Harley smiled. “You could say so. You want to know the best part?”

  “What’s that?”

  “He’s Angel’s brother.”

  “Oh my God, really?”

  Harley chuckled. “Yeah, really. This place is fucking incestuous sometimes. Anyways, if I don’t have to go to court today, I’m taking the day off. I could use a three-day weekend.”

  Ian stood up and drove his little truck down his mother’s leg, tearing the nylons she was wearing as he did. Madison laughed as Harley shook her head and sighed. “I’ll bet you can,” she said. Madison always wanted to have kids, but lately she was feeling like her biological clock was about to stop ticking. She’d just never felt like she was in the right place in her life, or with the right man. Now she was once again about to start her life over, a single woman in her mid-thirties. She was beginning to think she might have to settle for being the woman that other people’s kids seemed to love to be around.

  Harley rubbed the little boy’s head full of dark red hair and he moved along to drive his
truck across the floor. “So, Lion should be here for the party this weekend.” She tried it out as a casual statement, but Madison could see the twinkle in her new friend’s eyes, and she felt her face go hot. She’d been asking a lot of questions about Lion, and the ladies at the ranch, understandably, thought it was because she was infatuated with him. In truth, at least to herself, she couldn’t completely deny that since he was definitely the hottest guy she’d ever laid eyes on, and her body did crazy things every time she was close to him. But the fact that he was rude, arrogant, and extremely odd, made him not the kind of man Madison was looking for…to keep anyways. She might not turn down one wild night with him, and she’d fantasized about it for sure, but she wasn’t going to chase him for that, either. What Madison hoped Lion was, really, was the key to figuring out her father’s past, and maybe what was going on with him in the present. Madison discovered before she even made it to the ranch that no one liked her father, except maybe Dax. But she also discovered that no one was going to talk to her about him either. She’d figured out enough about how things worked at the ranch, and already knew how stubborn her father was…so she knew that if he was the one who insisted on Lion’s going after her, there was something more there than “brotherhood.” She had almost given up that idea the night at the bar when he’d been so rude, but maybe there was still a chance.

  “Um, that’s nice,” she said, with a little laugh. Hawk had overheard her asking Harley and Angel questions about Lion, and now even he thought she had feelings for Lion and that was why she was refusing to go back to Arizona. She was embarrassed to think that they all thought she might be desperate enough to chase the man…change her whole life for him. She wondered if she looked that desperate, but decided to just find the humor in it and let Hawk believe that, along with everyone else. If he knew her real motives for staying, he’d be even more pushy about her leaving. He just didn’t look well to her, and she couldn’t stand the thought of his being sick…or, God forbid, dying, in a place where no one could even stand the sight of him. Madison already felt like he’d spent too much of his life alone and it made her heart hurt.

  She was sure the people who hated him must know an entirely different man than the one she knew. The father Madison knew had given up one of his kidneys for the daughter he hadn’t even known about when she was not quite two years old. He’d visited her in Las Vegas every chance he got after that, spoiling her by taking her wherever she wanted to go, and buying her whatever she asked for. But more importantly than that, he’d never let her wonder how he felt about her. Every time she saw him, or even when they talked on the phone, he told her how much she meant to him. He was also always respectful of her mother, and her mother’s husband, her stepfather. She’d learned so much from him, and she was grateful to him for his part in her having a good life, and it was difficult for her to reconcile all of that with the picture of a man that everyone else seemed to hate.

  “We’ve been trying for years to set that boy up with someone. He lives up in that cabin like a mountain man. He needs a good woman in his life.”

  Madison laughed. “I’m afraid I’m not that woman, Harley. I admit, I think he’s really…”

  “Hot?”

  Madison giggled. “Yeah, he’s hot. He’s also rude, boorish…”

  Harley laughed. “Yes, he can seem that way.”

  “Seem that way? That’s putting it mildly. He basically told me to fuck off the other night when I ran into him in town.”

  “Aw, I’m sorry about that. See, the thing about Lion is that he doesn’t have a lot of social skills.”

  “You don’t say?”

  Harley laughed again. “Honestly, his story is a really sad one. I only know it because some of the guys in the club grew up with him, and they talk…gossip like old ladies sometimes. His mom died when he was really little, and his grandmother raised him. She was a strange old lady…thought she was a witch or something. I’m guessing he took a lot of crap for that, and then she died when he was a teenager. He’s spent a lot of time alone. No one except Dax…and maybe Hawk…even know exactly where he lives…as far as I know, anyways. He likes his privacy and guards it closely.”

  “That is sad,” Madison said. Her heart hurt for him, but at the same time she still didn’t think it excused his behavior now as an adult. At least maybe it explained some of it. Madison had thought it was her when she first met him. Now she knew that he was just odd. “Harley, do you know what Lion’s connection is to my dad? I’ve overheard things here and there about my dad and his mother being…I don’t know, something, to each other. I did try to ask Lion about that, but he got really pissed off when I brought up his mother.”

  Harley was shaking her head. “I don’t really know. I hung around here a lot when I was a kid, a teenager. We lived on the property next door, and that’s how I met Cody. I remember seeing Lion around sometimes but like he is now, always alone and barely speaking to anyone other than Dax. Cody doesn’t know much more about him either…of course Cody spent a big part of his life in prison.” Madison tried to keep her facial expression neutral. She hadn’t known that about Cody and while she was still not judging, she thought it funny how a guy who spent most of his life in prison had ended up with a lawyer for an old lady. “I do know that when everything was going on with you out west, Cody said Hawk wouldn’t agree to anyone going out there after you other than Lion. If Hawk would trust him with something like that, I’d say they have to have some heavy history.” That was what Madison thought…maybe at a party at the ranch, Lion would be more willing to loosen up, and talk. It was another shot at least. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to put her life off much longer, but before she got back to it, she had to do everything she could to make sure her father was going to be okay.

  Pulling up to the clubhouse, late, Lion looked around at all the bikes. They weren’t just in front of the clubhouse and the shop, they littered the entire front of the 40+ acre compound. There were cars and vans there too…a slew of people, none that he really wanted to see. He usually begged out of the club parties at the ranch, and Dax was usually fine with that. Dax understood and respected his need for solitude. But this party was the annual shindig that he couldn’t say no to. It was for his president’s birthday and even if Dax didn’t care if he made it or not, Lion knew it would be outright disrespectful to skip it.

  As he stepped off his own bike he wondered exactly how many people were there. He knew Wolf would be there from California if he could make it, and Jace from Arizona. The presidents would both bring a crew who could be spared at home for a week or so, and they would have all probably brought their families as well. Then there were the closer clubs that the Skulls did business with who were always invited and always sent representation. Dax had turned the ranch into a place where anyone could feel safe taking their old lady and kids, and since Lion could already hear laughter and squealing from the playground out back, he figured most of them took advantage of that.

  He pulled off his helmet and hung it on his handlebars, and then took off the bandanna that was doing its best to contain his masses of hair. Some days he thought about cutting it off, especially during the summer when it was so damned humid. But one of the best memories he still had of his mother was her washing and brushing it for him and telling him how much she loved it. He felt like he’d be betraying her somehow if he got rid of it, so he let it keep growing and now his mixture of dreads, braids, and wild strands of hair refused to do anything it didn’t want to do. It ruled him most days and it pissed him off sometimes. At home he wore it up out of his way…but no fucking way would he show up at the club with a “man bun.” He was sure they wouldn’t say anything to his face, but he’d spent too many years knowing they were all whispering behind his back. He didn’t want to give them any unnecessary ammunition.

  Lion walked up to the door of the club and he could almost feel the cement building vibrate with the sounds of music and loud voices. The sun was going down, so soon
they’d all move out back for a bonfire…and the party would go on all night. It was why he’d shown up after the barbecue part. He was going to have a hard time leaving without catching a bunch of shit. This way he didn’t have to spend the entire day and night there. If he was lucky, Dax would overindulge and not notice if he snuck out in a couple of hours. Dax rarely overindulged…but it was his birthday.

  As soon as he walked in, he was surrounded by a sea of bodies, mostly clad in jeans and leather. The slapping on the back and handshakes started and by the time he made his way across the room where the guest of honor was shooting pool, he felt overwhelmed.

  “Dax, happy birthday, old man.”

  Dax laughed, put down his pool stick, and shook Lion’s hand. “If I remember correctly…you’re a few months older than me.”

  “True,” Lion said. “Can’t tell it by looking at us though.” Dax threw his head back and laughed at that. Lion could tell his president had already had quite a bit to drink, and he was happy about it.

  “You missed the barbecue!” Dax said. “As usual. Angel put some plates in the refrigerator for those of you who rolled in late. Go get yourself one and enjoy.”

  Lion wouldn’t turn that down. He’d turned into a pretty good cook himself over the years, but nothing beat a spread put out by Tank and the old ladies. He shook hands with Wolf, who was shooting pool with Dax, and a guy named Maz who was with them as well, and then with his head down and hoping not to have to talk to anyone else for a while, he made his way to the kitchen. He was happy when he found the kitchen quiet. Even Tank must be out front or back partying. The dishes were piled everywhere and Lion knew Tank would be roaring at everyone to roll up their sleeves and help by morning…but the night of Dax’s birthday party was like the Sabbath. No work was done and no business discussed.

  He went to the industrial-sized refrigerator and opened it up. Two shelves were filled with cellophane-covered plates full of meat and various side dishes that all looked delicious. He pulled one out, uncovered it, and popped it in the microwave. The noise it made must have covered the sound of someone coming in the door behind him, because when he pulled the plate out and looked up, Madison Benning was standing there watching him.