Tharnished Hearts (Savage Saviors MC Book 6)

by J. C. Allen

  Bastard planned it that way so I couldn’t get away.

  Alright, fine. We’ll do this the hard way.

  I’ll walk.

  I thought with some amusement that all I had to do was follow the sounds of the bullets and I would come to Derek’s location. I thought about how best to clean up the mess, but decided that was something that the Savage saviors could best do on their own at a later time. If I tried to do this now, I’d just collapse in exhaustion, useless and worthless.

  I first made sure to reload my gun and put my knife back in my purse. I made sure, for good measure, I had some pepper spray in there as well in case I needed to suddenly take off. I also wiped off all of the blood off of me and then put on more athletic shoes rather than the bare feet that I had.

  Feeling as ready as I possibly could, I headed to the elevator, called it, and headed for the lobby.

  Derek, you better still be alive. If I just took out a half-dozen Falcons using my skills, there’s no reason you can’t still be alive. You better still be kicking.

  Because goddamnit, if I don’t have sex in the next two hours, I’m going to punch a hole through the goddamn wall trying to make that happen.

  The doors opened and I grimaced as I walked out. There, at the desk, was Clarence, a bullet through his skull. I heard the distant sound of sirens, and while in any other situation I would have waited to explain what had happened, I knew full well that if I got stopped by the cops, I was never going to get out of there. I’d never get to Derek until it was too late.

  I hurried out and took a right.

  And the last thing I remember was feeling something heavy hit the back of my skull.

  When I awoke, I was in a dark place. The sound of rats skittering and squeaking nearby reached my ears. I had a massive headache in the back of my skull.

  And I was bound and gagged.

  I squirmed to break free, but this was not like the neighborhood escape, where the ties were pathetic and easy. Whoever had done this was a professional and had ensured that only the passage of time would wear out the ropes—by which point I’d be starved or dead anyways.

  “Don’t waste your time.”

  I stopped at the sound of the voice that sounded as if it was trying to sound calm. I looked around me, but I didn’t see anyone.

  “Your eyes haven’t adjusted yet. Give it time and they will.”

  “Who are you?” is what I would have said if I didn’t have tape over my mouth. But instead, it just came out mumbled.

  “We’ll get that off of you in just a second.”

  And then, out of the shadows, wearing a dirty black shirt and white pants, appeared a very fat, bald man with bags under his eyes, blood on his hands, and a smile on his face.

  Falcon.

  “But first, I’d like to make a collect call with you.”

  The man pulled out his phone, dialed the number that I immediately recognized as Derek, and waited. As soon as it was obvious that the line picked up, Falcon started talking.

  “I have your girl,” Falcon said.

  I screamed as loudly as I could, the better to let Derek know that I was still alive. Even though I couldn’t do nothing but sound like “mmm! Mmmm! Mmmmm!” it at least gave him the heads up that Falcon hadn’t killed me yet.

  Of course, there was no guarantee now that that would last.

  “Come to the place where your father died if you ever want to see her again.”

  And then, he hung up, throwing his phone down below.

  “Do you know where we are?”

  I shook my head. Falcon sighed, looking so frazzled but trying so hard to project a voice of confidence. He then bent down and ripped the tape off of my mouth.

  God, that hurt!

  “Jesus Christ!” I shrieked. “Help! Help! Somebody! Help!”

  “I wouldn’t waste your breath on something like that,” Falcon said. “This station has long been holed up and abandoned for years now. At best, a stray cat or dog might hear you, but Lassie’s not going to go tell her master someone’s abducted in the well.”

  “Fuck you,” I growled, mostly because I knew he was right.

  Falcon chortled with laughter as he gave a hard pat on the back of my head, inflaming the already bruised portion of my skull from whatever he had done to me earlier.

  “You still haven’t answered my question, by the way,” he said. “It’s rude to do such a thing.”

  “No, I don’t know, and why should I?”

  “Why should you?” Falcon said, standing up.

  He moved about five feet away, looked down, looked around, and then nodded.

  “It was right at this spot, about forty-some months ago, that I crushed Dominick Knight’s skull and ended the Savage Saviors,” he said. “At least, that was the idea at the time. This spot, this spot right here, this was where I thought my reign began.”

  He chuckled some more, pulled out a cigar, and lit it with a lighter. He took one puff, offered me some, and shrugged when I spat in his direction.

  “In any case, I felt sure that killing the founder of the Saviors would mortally wound their spirit. I underestimated Dustin, but once I killed him, I was sure that that would be the end of it. Derek, as you probably knew from the beginning, was weak. He was, and still is, easily manipulated. He throws temper tantrums like a baby, and as a rival who has such a cool head, he was easily controlled.”

  “And yet you’re still down to just you,” I growled. “Strange how you have no men, Falcon. It’s almost as if everyone you trusted has run or been killed. Did you know, by the way, I killed six of your men?”

  “I assume just as much,” he said. “More than that, actually. But six tonight, certainly. You two are the reason the Black Falcons will go down in flames, and for that, I congratulate you.”

  He took another slow puff of his cigar, seeming to be fully aware that this was the end.

  “However, frankly, I knew this would all come tumbling down someday. It is the nature of such clubs, with their politics, their industry, and their trade that they are bound to crumble. I had hoped that I would not live to see it, but, alas. In any case, however, the Black Falcons falling apart will not bother me in the slightest at the end of the day. I am a rich man and will be out of the city within six hours. I simply need to do one more thing.”

  “Do tell,” I growled.

  The Falcon took one more puff of his cigar.

  “I thought you would have guessed by now, but I suppose a whore needs to be told things in as simple a term as possible,” he said before crouching down in front of me, taking a puff, and blowing it in my face.

  “Kill Derek Knight.”

  15

  Derek

  Was it possible to break the speed of sound on a motorcycle?

  That was the question I was testing for myself as I blazed across the highway, rushing to get to the place where, just a few days ago, I had found two of my men mutilated, their blood sent as a message.

  And now, Falcon was having me rush there as part of a new chase, but this one was most certainly not a goose chase.

  No, by now, Falcon had to know that he was alone. We’d wiped out the Black Falcons, and anyone who remained was certain to be in jail or have fled as far as the eyes could go if they knew what was good for them.

  But that wouldn’t mean jack shit if he killed Eve.

  I had thought before that if I had to, I would trade the entire Saviors for Eve’s life. And while I never thought that such a situation would actually happen, it seemed more and more likely.

  Behind me, Roost hurried to keep up, but there was no way anyone was going to at this point. If not for the fear that Falcon had put Eve at the entrance of the subway station to run me over, then I would have driven my bike down the steps to charge right in and take him out.

  I found the highway exit and went off it, never dipping below the speed that was well into the triple digits. I spun into the space right by the subway station and hopped off. Roost m
otioned for me to stop, but I wasn’t going to stop now.

  I hurried down, gun aloft, as I examined the area. I didn’t see them anywhere.

  “Falcon!” I shouted.

  There was no point in subtlety anymore. Not when I had just arrived on my bike, swerved into position, and gotten off with my bike still running. I heard Roost turn it off upstairs, but there was no slowing down at this point.

  I heard someone coming behind me and pivoted to see Roost following. He motioned for me to be quiet, but by now, that was too late.

  And then I heard laughter.

  Menacing laughter.

  “Did you actually come alone this time, Derek?” Falcon’s voice said from the darkness. “Or, let me guess, you brought along your boy toy.”

  “I’m here to kill ya too, ya fuck,” Roost said. “The road ends here, Falcon.”

  “Ahh, Matthew Rose. So glad you could join us. This will make our final moments here that much more pleasant.”

  “Where are you?” I growled.

  Suddenly, blinding lights filled the arena. Both Roost and I had to put up our hands to deflect from our eyes going blind.

  And then I heard a gunshot.

  And I heard Roost groaning.

  “No! Roost!”

  Eve cried out from somewhere beyond the sources of light. I turned to see Roost staggering, gulping, and then falling to the ground, breathing heavily.

  “Not a muscle, Derek.”

  I froze, frustrated, and turned to see Falcon stepping forward… with Eve in his arm, her head close to his so that I could not get a clear shot.

  And for that matter, her body was tightly tied together, meaning she could not punch or kick him. She was, for all intents and purposes, a true body shield, which meant that if I wanted to shoot Falcon, I had to have literally the perfect angle to avoid killing her—something I was not willing to take a risk on.

  “Now then, you and I are going to have a talk,” Falcon said. “Oh, don’t worry. You will die. But you need to know the why first.”

  “The why, huh?” I said. “The why for you killing my father? My brother?”

  “Indeed,” Falcon said. “Allow me to explain, Derek. You like to think that the Knights are an honorable family. After all, Knight practically screams ‘I am honorable and ethical. I am a good man.’ It’s what knights were all these centuries ago. But really, are you such an honorable man? For you to show up with so many men today after we agreed to come along is rather disappointing.”

  “Only for you, fucker,” I growled. “And now it’s just down to you. Your club is dead. You have nothing left.”

  I hated that fucking laugh that Falcon gave. I swear it was his default response to everything. When I killed him, that would be the greatest part of all—that I would never have to hear his laugh ever again.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Derek,” Falcon said. “As I told your lovely lady here, I am a rich man who will be gone before the night is out. The men who served me? I could care less about them.”

  “You’re a sick fuck.”

  “A rather healthy one, actually, but I appreciate your concern,” Falcon said with a snort. “I have but one thing to do before the night is over, and that is to see your life come to an end. You see, here’s why I killed your family. You Knights are nothing more than a hypocritical, sanctimonious bunch of bastards who believe you’re making the city a better place, but in reality, are doing nothing more than profiting yourselves and making yourselves rich.”

  “Like I’ve never heard that critique before,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “Ahh, but never from someone so close to your father.”

  I arched an eyebrow, to which Falcon just smiled. All the while, Eve struggled to escape, but her ropes were so tight there was no chance of that.

  “Do you know who the actual founder of the Savage Saviors was? I’ll give you a hint. It was not your father.”

  “Yeah, smartass, you—”

  “You don’t believe me? Ask your friend. He knows. He was the third member, my first recruit.”

  “Roost, tell me he’s full of shit.”

  A groan came from behind as Roost struggled to sit up.

  “I suggest you not use your weapon, Matthew,” Falcon said. “I would hate to see Eve die because of your actions.”

  “Take a dildo up yer ass,” Roost said.

  “I’m afraid I don’t like any dicks other than my own. But go on, Matthew. Tell them. Who founded the Savage Saviors?”

  “Roost?”

  An awkward silence came.

  And the more time that passed, the more I knew it didn’t matter what Roost said at this point.

  “Yer daddy was president,” Roost said, coughing up blood. “But…”

  “But I founded it,” Falcon said. “You see, I knew that I didn’t have the know-how to run a club like your father did. So I made a deal with him. Make us co-presidents for three years so that I could learn the ropes, and at the end, he would become a vice president with a president’s pay. The deal seemed easy enough, and we both agreed. But the hypocrite played the politics game, and when the time came, he got me demoted to vice president.”

  “Ya got demoted cuz ya didn’t do shit, ya—”

  A gunshot rang out and hit Roost on the hip.

  “Roost!”

  “His part in the story is done,” Falcon said. “But our story is not. Do you know why, Derek? Because from that point forward, your father took over not just running the Savage Saviors, but in retelling their story. Now, instead of it being me who founded it and bringing him on as a sort of co-pilot, we founded it together. Then, apparently, I went rogue and cold, made some decisions that would’ve profited the club but ran afoul of some silly rules, and got kicked out.”

  He chuckled and shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe the paths the story had taken.

  “I realized once your father kicked me out that the true enemy of this world was not me but your family name, Derek. The Knights are the true scourge of this city. Everything that I have done over the past decade has been to make a move on eliminating your family name. Everything.”

  “And yet, in doing so, you ruined countless lives, killed many innocent people, and irreparably damaged many others.”

  “The cost of doing business.”

  It was all…

  Even if it was true…

  It didn’t matter.

  It didn’t fucking matter.

  What mattered, right here, right now, was Eve, Roost, and I getting out of here alive. Once that happened, I’d figure out whatever family history, drama, and bullshit was true and what were just mind games by the Falcon. Story only mattered for the sake of convincing people of the truth you wanted them to see—but I already saw the truth that I cared about, and that was the truth of my love for Eve and my brotherhood for Roost.

  There was no hypocrisy, no evil, no damage in that friendship. This was as genuine and as real as it got.

  “In any case, I can see that despite my words, you fail to appreciate the magnitude of what I have done,” Falcon said. “And even if you had, your very name is a curse upon my life that needs to be eradicated. You are the last Knight, the last of your kind, Derek. I thought for sure you’d be dead by now. I suppose I should give you credit for escaping so well. However, that time has come to an end.”

  With that, he pulled out a gun, clicked the safety off, and held the trigger to Eve’s face.

  “You did not take my deal from before, Derek, when I made such an offer to you,” he said, his face a sneer. “But now, the deal must be made. You have no choice. I can kill your body, or I can kill your soul.”

  He pressed the gun deep into Eve’s temple when he said the word “soul,” and for the first time all night, Falcon said something that was actually true. If he killed Eve, he really would kill my soul, kill any reason I had for going on. If Falcon got his way, a part of me was going to die tonight.

  “But I know you. You’re goi
ng to play the hero and choose to sacrifice yourself so that the girl can live. While very noble and kind, I hate predictability more than just about anything else. So, rather than give you the choice of who lives and who dies… I’m going to give it to Eve.”

  “Fuck you, Falcon,” Eve growled.

  “Now, now, dear, that’s no way to speak to a man who can pull a trigger and end your life at any second. Hmm? We wouldn’t want that in front of your lovely man, would we?”

  I desperately searched for a way to kill Falcon, but he was too smart to not position Eve in any place where I could have a clean shot. I couldn’t move without him pulling the trigger, couldn’t shoot him without risking death to Eve—although it was looking more and more like I’d have to take that risk—and couldn’t hit anything else that would distract him.

  In short, I needed a miracle to kill Falcon, and we were running out of time.

  “You have five seconds to choose who lives, whore,” Falcon said, his voice finally cracking here. “You better choose quick! Five!”

  I looked at Eve, begging, praying for a shot. But Falcon had a grip on her too tight and too close. Shooting him in any fashion was also going to get him shot.

  “Four!”

  “Shoot me, goddamnit! Shoot him through me!”

  “Eve!”

  “Three!”

  I felt my eyes well.

  “Take me,” I said. “Take me! Eve! You have much more to live for!”

  “Derek…”

  “Two!”

  I held the gun, my hand shaking. Could I really do this? Could I really…

  “Derek pull the goddamn trigger!”

  I closed my eyes.

  “One!”

  “I’m sorry, Eve.”

  And then, I opened my eyes, ready to take my chances.

  And Falcon had dropped her.

  It all happened so quick, and it was only after the fact that I realized what had happened. Falcon had wrapped her up tight, making her arms and legs useless. But there was one thing that Falcon had removed that he probably never anticipated Eve would have used as a weapon.

  Her mouth.

  In the half second that I realized I had an open shot, Falcon was shaking his hand, screaming at Eve, but in doing so, he had dropped her to about hip level, leaving her body exposed. I took my shot and hit Falcon…