by Rae B. Lake
We made a pick up two nights ago at one of our bars in town, and shit went by without a fucking hitch. However, the next day Storm, Ryder, and Clean went to make their runs for the day, and Storm bit it. His brakes completely fucking failed him. Luck must have been on the bastard's shoulders because he wasn’t going fast enough for the fall to be fatal.
He got up and walked away from the crash, with only a bit of road rash on his side and some cuts and bruises. After Ryder’s crash, this was probably one of the boys’ worse nightmares.
The shit made no sense; we ride all the time, so we have maintenance done on our bikes regularly. There was no way his brakes would just fail. We had Devin take a look at it. He was no licensed mechanic, but he’d do in a pinch. It didn’t take long for him to discover someone had cut the brake lines. Again someone was coming for my family.
“Have the Spawns heard anything coming down? What about Vexx and her girls?” I growled at the men sitting around the table in church. I wanted answers, and I had no fucking patience.
“They didn’t hear anything. I even reached out to the Djinn boys, and they’ve heard nothing. From what everyone is telling me, everything is calm.” Ryder, my treasurer, answered.
“Prez, what did Devin say about brakes. Did we hear from Maino?”
“Nothing from Maino yet, but he’s on his own time. Devin did say it looked like the line was only sliced part of the way, almost as if the person knew it would break on its own. It was done intentionally. What’s Clean saying?” Prez questioned.
I narrowed my eyes at the man who used to have my seat. I usually didn’t tolerate any backtalk or questioning, but this was throwing me for a fucking loop.
“He’s back at the bar, trying to see if he could get any information from them, maybe the bouncer saw something. I doubt it though; they would’ve said something. No one fucking messes with us. It’s fucking bullshit.” I slammed my hand down on the table just as the front door to the clubhouse burst open.
My hand immediately went to my gun. There was no screaming or running except for one large set of footsteps.
The door to church burst open, and Clean came barreling in.
Everyone jumped from their seat, thinking something was wrong.
“What the fuck, Clean? You know better than that shit! What is your problem?” I yelled at him as I watched him try and catch his breath.
“It’s,” gasp, “fucking,” gasp, “Ink!”
“What?” Ryder asked, leaning forward.
“Ink!” Clean yelled.
This time Prez was the one who moved forward, the emotion clear in his voice.
The same emotion I could feel in my chest.
Ink.
Ink was a brother we had lost. He’d been kidnapped back when we were fighting Vilanuevas and his sex trafficking cronies. They stole a piece of us, and we haven’t been the same since they’d been gone. Ink, Vale, and Angel.
We discovered Vale had been seen with the rest of the Vilanuevas brothers, but we all hoped it was staged, maybe they leaked this picture to fuck with our minds. We wanted to believe anything but what we were being led to believe. Ink and Angel, though, we had little to no word on them. All we knew was they always traveled together, Ink looking like he was protecting the little girl. The last photo we had was from more than two years ago. Most of us believed they were dead, casualties in the war. Not Prez. He never stopped looking, never stopped asking for people to press harder.
“Clean, open your fucking mouth and talk!” I growled.
He raised his hand, showing us the flash drive in his hand. He rushed over to the in-wall computer and pressed a few buttons to start up the computer. He plugged in the drive and let the video play. It was from the bar, the three hundred and sixty degree camera right above the door, it showed from across the street and at least half a block in either direction.
Someone in a dark hoodie strolled behind us before the bouncer stopped him. He looked up at him for a second, but we couldn’t see his face.
“Are you fucking sure it’s him. He’s too big.” Prez said, his foot tapping restlessly under the table.
“Yes!” Clean fast-forwarded and showed the man in the hooded sweatshirt down by Storm’s bike. When he got up to leave, he turned, and the camera caught a clear shot of his face. “It’s him. That’s fucking Ink! I knew we’d find him! I fucking knew it!” Clean jumped up and down. He punched in the air like Rocky.
“We didn’t do shit, he found us.” Ryder said, leaning forward on his forearms, “Now we have another problem because he just tried to kill one of his brothers. .”
I sat in my seat, the short-lived excitement and relief we’d found him cut short because he went against his patch, a patch he hadn’t worn in years. Maybe he turned like they say Vale did.
“Either way, we’re going to hear his side. We owe him that much.” I turned to where Clean was standing. “Clean, get every single shred of information you can. I want to see Ink face to face. It’s time to bring our brother home.”
Chapter 13- Ink POV
Ink POV
Days passed, and Angel got better. She didn’t need one of the bags of liquids the old lady left for us, and her coughing had all but stopped. I stayed in the house with Angel, and when Jazmine had to go to work, we snuck out of the house and went with her. It was like we were in a bubble of our own, no one from the outside world had come for us, and we hadn’t had to go looking for anyone else.
It was the most relaxed I’d been in years.
I sat back and watched the sun begin to set. Angel sat on the stoop beneath us, reading her book.
“You know, if you just stayed still, I could get this done so much faster.” Jazmine huffed in my direction as she readjusted herself behind her easel. She had literally fallen in love with my skin. She wanted to paint it; she wanted to memorize it. She wanted to touch it. I had no problem with the later. Shit, I loved the feel of her soft hands on my body. I tried to get her alone with me as often as possible. It seemed like we were always one damn step away from fucking before Angel would call out for one of us. She was the biggest cock block of the damn century. I didn’t know how parents did it.
I smiled and relaxed further in the chair so Jazmine could get the picture she wanted.
Footsteps, multiple, soft, and slow. Soft footsteps meant trouble.
“Angel, in the house now. Hide.” I whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear me. She turned and ran into the house as quickly as her little legs would take her, she dove behind a couch and pulled a cover over her head. It was actually a pretty good spot, and if I didn’t know she was there, I would have walked right by her.
I got up, and as quickly as I could, I pulled Jazmine into the house. We hid behind the door, right up against the wall, where whoever it was wouldn’t be able to see me until it was too late.
I pulled the gun out of my pants and watched as Jazmine’s eyes went wide in surprise.
“Wait, you don’t know who it is.” She whispered as she held onto my shirt, trying to calm herself down.
I glared down at the woman, “I know it’s trouble, and that’s all the information I need.” I replied as I listened to the steps as they walked up the back yard and onto the deck where we’d all been sitting. All of our shit was out there, so they knew someone was home.
I slight knock on the door caused Jazmine to jump closer to me.
“We just want to talk to you.” A voice said, and I nearly punched my hand through the wall. I would remember that voice anywhere.
Wire.
“Let me go. They know someone is here, I’ll tell them I don’t know you.” Jazmine looked up into my face, and I knew I had to let her go, they’d break down the door before they just went away. Especially if they knew I was the one who sabotaged Storm’s bike.
“Don’t step completely out the door and don’t let them in. I’ll be right here to help keep the door closed if need be.” I kissed her once swiftly on the lips before she opened the
door just a smidge so they could see her face.
“May I help you?”
“Hello, I’m sorry to barge in on your property. I think one of our brothers might be here. Can we speak to him?”
“I’m not sure who you’re talking about. It is just me here,” Jazmine said, her voice staying calm and even.
“Bullshit! We know he’s in there. The fuck we look like?” Clean stepped up behind Wire and tried to push his way past, but I heard a thump which must have been Wire stopping him.
“This is a nice picture.”
Prez. It seemed like all the higher-ups came out, they were definitely here to kill me.
“Yeah, I paint a little. It’s not finished.” Jazmine replied, trying to keep the conversation light.
“No, you missed the sparrow, but I guess that’s next for you,” Prez replied, his voice coming closer.
I looked down at the tattoo she’d just been painting, and sure enough, there was a sparrow attached to it. They definitely knew that I was here.
“Not sure.” Jazmine shrugged, and her hand on the knob got tighter.
Wire stepped closer, “Well if you do happen to see Ink, could you tell him to come home. That there’s no need to run. He is our brother.”
If I could shove my hand into his heart and squeeze it to death for the lies, he was spewing; I would have. If I was their brother, why only now did they come looking for me. Where were they when I was going crazy in a small room with just Angel to watch over me? Where were they then?
“Um, if I meet someone by that name, I will make sure to tell them.”
“What the hell, we can’t leave? He’s here. I know it, Wire!” Clean complained as they walked down off the deck and around the house toward the front.
“We’re not going to see him now. Give it time.” It was the last thing I heard him say before Jazmine closed the door and pulled a gun on me. My attention was successfully diverted then.
“What the fuck?” I snarled at her, my hand already on my weapon, but I was in a tight spot. She was bound to shoot me before I could get the gun up.
“Jazmine, what are you doing? Please no!” Angel cried from where she was standing by the couch.
“That was a fucking gang.” Jazmine spewed in my direction.
“No, they’re not a gang,” I answered.
“Don’t insult my intelligence. I was a fucking kingpin’s daughter, and I know what a gang looks like. I told you all my shit, bared everything to you. Told you I was trying to stay as far away from that shit as possible, and you neglect to mention you were in a gang who may be looking for you and trying to kill you
I sighed and stood straighter, “How many fucking times do I have to tell you we’re not a gang. Motorcycle club is the correct term.”
“We? I thought you said you were through with them?” She asked, pulling the gun down from my face but not completely moving it away from my body.
“What? I am.” I had said we, I was lumping myself in with those bastards. I shook my head and looked away.
“I don’t have time for bullshit Ink, tell me exactly who those people are and why they are looking for you. Don’t drag me down back to the hell I just came from.”
“You should expect hell if you let the devil in.” I may have been nice to her, rather I didn’t kill her, but I was a monster. Those bastards had stripped everything I was away from me; all that was left of me was the killer. I would shoot Jazmine dead and mourn over her later if it meant I would stay out of the clutches of the Giles family.
“Ink. I know you’re dangerous. I know you could kill me in the blink of an eye, but I also know that it’s because of your circumstance and not your will.” She put the gun down, “I have known more than my share of psychopaths and murderers. It’s not you. I know it.”
“It’s not Inkpop.” Angel chimed in from where she was.
“Fucking hell, the both of you.” I rolled my eyes I’d had enough of this sappy shit. “It’s a motorcycle club, not a gang. They’re looking for me because I was a patched member.”
“Why are they here to hurt you?” Jazmine asked, leaning back against the door frame.
“The other day, when I went into town, I either killed or tried to kill one of the members. I don’t know the outcome, so I don’t know if I succeeded.”
“Why? If these were the men you were in this club with, why would you try to do that?”
I shook my head looked away, "It was to get back at one of the bastards who did this to us, his brother is still in the club. If they know it was me who tried to kill him, they for sure are here to kill me." I'd be ready for them, though.
"I didn't see any weapons on them. Just the one big blonde one who wanted to get in.” Jazmine said. "Maybe they want to talk ?"
"It's too late to talk if they wanted to talk they should have come and rescued us from that hellhole."
"So, what do you guys deal with drugs, prostitution?"
"No prostitution, we do... I mean, they have a few legit strip clubs. A lot of trafficking is done, but they don't sling. They are heavily into the gun trade, but who knows, this was the norm four years ago. They could be all different now."
“I have heard of them; they are usually at all the fundraisers and community outreach projects. They seem like good folks.”
“Looks can be deceiving.”
“You think they sacrificed you? Is that why you don’t want to go to them?”
I rushed her, the anger I’d been holding onto bubbling up trying to force its way out, she didn’t flinch. “It doesn’t matter if they intentionally let me get taken or if they didn’t. What matters was I gave my life for them, I pledged on my patch, and to my brothers, it would always be the club before all else. I would protect my brother with my life, and I’d avenge any of them who fell. I made those vows, knowing in my heart, I was joining with men who meant them as deeply as I.” My face was even closer to hers now, “It was all a lie.” I groaned between my teeth. “The Wings of Diablo has allies all over the world, connections in both the underground and above, they should’ve been able to find us. The only way they couldn’t have found us was if they weren’t looking; they threw us to the dogs and forgot we existed.”
She sighed and walked past me, “You don’t understand. It was all these wars and vengeance that nearly drove me insane. I couldn’t stand always looking over my shoulder, waiting for someone to come for me. What happens when you’re successful, and you kill one of them, you think they won’t retaliate? What about me? Am I expendable? Angel? Would you sacrifice her so you can get your revenge?”
“Don’t fucking do that shit.” She was poking at a raw wound. I turned and walked away.
She ran behind me, my long legs covering twice the distance compared to her shorter ones. “No, you can’t run from this.” She grabbed my arm and turned me around. “I can’t begin to say I understand all the horrific things you both were put through, but starting a war just to show them you have the upper hand is going to backfire. It may not be on you, but it will be on someone you care about or who cares about you.” She let my arm go and put the gun she had into the small of her back. Her big shirt falling over it and concealing it from view. I walked over to the room I’d been sleeping in when I wasn’t watching over Angel. Pacing back and forth in the small space like the caged animal I once was.
She was telling me I needed to let it go. I wasn’t trying to hear that shit. At first, it was the thought of my brothers coming to get me that kept me going, but by the end, it was the chance to give every one of them what they deserved. Now I was free, and they were so close, I didn’t want to hear about how I needed to let it go. I didn’t fucking want to let it go. They betrayed me, one way, or another, they had to fucking pay for that.
The only issue, I would never sacrifice Angel for that. Fuck. There was no way for me to do this without someone hurting her. I thought about Mikki, but I didn’t know if she would be able to protect her from Prez if he was as far gone as he had
been before. I’d seen him kill for less.
My brain was racing a million miles a minute, the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t see a way out. I opened the door and walked briskly over to Jazmine; I had to get out.
“Let me use the van?”
She didn’t even balk at the request, just reached over to the desk, and tossed me the keys.
“We going somewhere?” Angel pulled the cover off herself. She was getting better, but even a little activity was enough to tire her out.
“No, you stay here with Jazmine.” I put my hand out, stopping her from moving. I saw her face crumble slightly, she wanted to complain, but I couldn’t be Inkpop right now. I was tearing at the seams, and I needed to clear my mind.
I jumped into the van, not even bothering to tell any of them bye. It was days like this; I wish I had my bike.
Chapter 14
I drove around for hours thinking about what Jazmine had said about how if something happened to me, it would kill Angel. If there was anyone in this world, I knew loved me; it was that little girl. I didn’t want to become like everyone I despised. I promised her we wouldn’t go back. I promised her I was going to stay with her. I promised her I would bring her back to Mikki. How in the fuck could I do that when I didn’t trust anyone in the clubhouse? Thinking about it just frustrated the hell out of me. I ended up at the pier; I don’t know what I was expecting to find. Maybe I was looking for Lou. Perhaps I was looking for a random hobo to start with me.
I knew as I arrived; it was a bad idea. Several shops were teeming with police officers, and the Giles cargo ship was still in port.
I had no idea if these people were looking for me, but I was cutting it too close. It was a stupid idea.
I looked over at the art shop. Jazmine had been complaining she didn’t have the colors she needed to do all of my tats. I could pick them up. It would only take a second. I drove into the back of the shop, making sure no one was looking in my direction. Fortunately, the back was mostly covered by trees and thick brush. There was only a tiny clear area where you could park.
