Princes of Hell MC Set

by KJ Dahlen

  “Show me what you’re talking about, Digger.”

  Digger looked like he aged another twenty years as he led the way to a back room. When he flicked the light on, it looked like a normal bedroom. He went to a dresser, opened the top drawer and took out a few bags of junk.

  And that’s what it was junk.

  “Fucking junk,” Talon said.

  “Look, I’ve got an agreement.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Hammer and Eagle signed off on me patching out.”

  Talon felt his spine tighten with anger. “Because Hammer knew if your deal fell through, he would get fucked.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m out and I’m free.”

  “I’m taking this to the table, Digger. We’ll vote and see. Open the next drawer.”

  Digger did as he was told.

  That’s when Talon saw the cash. “Drugs and cash. Well fuck, you’re just a regular outlaw, huh?”

  “Don’t fucking play me, Talon. You know most guys have to earn outside the clubhouse. Last time I checked, Princes of Hell doesn’t offer health insurance and retirement.”

  “And this does?” Talon asked. “This shit looks like an early retirement. And a painful one at that.”

  “Say what you want, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Digger said.

  Talon threw his hand out again, gripping Digger by the throat. He drove the old outlaw back to the bed and tossed him down to it. “You motherfucker! You didn’t come to the clubhouse to pay your respects because of Hammer’s death. You could have come to the funeral for that. But you didn’t show up. Why? You think Eagle would’ve killed you? So you called for a meeting. You and him alone. Jesus Christ, what does he know?”

  “Nothing,” Digger replied while gasping and holding his throat. “That’s why I wanted the meeting alone. To see what he knew. Which is dick. Meaning Hammer kept to his word.”

  “And that word is buried,” Talon said.

  “But Eagle signed off on me leaving the club. You can’t take that back.”

  “You’re right,” Talon seethed. “So you won’t even get an honorable death.”

  “I told you about your old man, Talon. Nobody else would. That counts for something. It has to. Your father was killed in a fucking ambush that had Hamer’s name all over it. And Jethro is your guy... serving a life sentence for murder. Former Road Dog. Remember that. I gave you information that nobody else would. Give me that much before you kill me.”

  Talon smiled. “Kill you? You’re a former member of the Princes of Hell MC. That makes you my brother. You’re a shitty brother. You’re going to die doing this shit. And you and Hammer deserve each other in a corner of hell for what you’ve done to the MC. And you’ll get there soon enough.”

  “So you’re not going to kill me?” Digger asked in a desperate tone.

  “Fuck no, brother. I’m going to walk my ass out that door and be gone. I’m talking to Eagle. And the club. But with Hammer’s ass in the ground and you looking the way you do now, I have no reason to kill you. Plus, whoever you’re running for... they’re going to do it really soon.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  Talon backed up to the dresser and lifted a block of cash. “Because I’m taking fifty thousand dollars, Digger.”

  “What?” he yelled out he kicked and hurried to get off the bed.

  Talon pointed his gun at him.

  Digger fell to his knees. He was a broken old outlaw. Hooked on drugs. Running for someone. Trying to save his own ass and feed his addiction.

  “Look at you,” Talon said. “Just another beggar on their knees before me. Too bad you don’t have a nice set of tits, right?”

  “Fuck you, Talon,” Digger spat out. “I’ll tell them you took the cash. You want another war for the club?”

  Talon stepped forward and swung the gun, smashing Digger in the jaw. Hard enough that Digger fell to the side and was out cold.

  “You do what you have to do, brother,” Talon said. “My advice would be to just eat a bullet and finish everything you started once and for all. Thanks for the talk.” Talon walked to the dresser and counted out fifty thousand in cash.

  He left Digger’s house and called Eagle.

  “What’s the word?” Eagle asked in a slurred voice.

  “Digger is a problem. Not sure how much you know, Prez. That’s a conversation we can have in person.”

  “So why’d you call me then?” Eagle asked in a confused voice.

  “So you can make the call to Dmitri.”

  “Why?”

  “Tell him we have his cash.” Talon ended the call.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  When Talon walked into the clubhouse, he met Eagle waiting for him. With his arms crossed over his chest and a glare on his face, he asked his VP, “What the fuck did you do?”

  Talon just smiled and handed over the cash.

  Eagle glared at it and growled, “Digger just gave you 50k?”

  “Oh no, he showed me the real reason why he left the club.” Talon nodded. “He’s a runner for somebody. Didn’t ask who, didn’t really fucking care. He knew all along about Hammer’s gambling and never said a fuckin word to me or was this something you’ve been aware of the whole time?” He glared at Eagle. “Said he’s been doing this since before my dad was killed in that ambush. He knew Hammer’s secret and according to him. Hammer and my dad knew his secret. Is that true?”

  “How the fuck am I supposed to know what your dad knew?” Eagle shrugged. “Did I know? Fuck no but then Digger isn’t part of this club anymore now is he?”

  Talon stepped up face to face with his president, “He’s still part of this club, you know that. Once a member always a member.”

  Eagle shoved him back a step or two. “Not when the member was excommunicated he isn’t.”

  Talon glared. “How the hell did he get excommunicated without a bullet in his head?”

  Eagle shrugged. “That happened right after your dad died and before I got the Presidential patch. I have no clue and Hammer wasn’t exactly saying. He didn’t want secrets spilled any more than Digger did. They both played the game of don’t ask, don’t tell. Digger was out and when I asked why, Hammer wouldn’t tell me. Said it was none of my business.”

  “It was my fucking business.” Talon growled.

  Eagle agreed. “Yeah, it was but there was a reason no one told you, now wasn’t there?”

  “Yeah, those two fuckers were behind the ambush, now weren’t they?” Talon reasoned. “Or they knew why it happened.”

  “But now Hammer is dead and Digger isn’t exactly gonna say anything is he?” Eagle played devil’s advocate.

  “Fuck.” Talon swore under his breath. Then he straightened his shoulders and looked at his president. “But there’s one man who knows the truth and we know where he is don’t we?”

  Eagle just stared at Talon for a moment then shook his head. “No, you aren’t going to the prison, hell you’ll never get back out. Not alive anyway and I need you alive.”

  Talon smiled. “Oh, I’ll get out. You see I got a plan all worked out. I got too much to lose not to come out of there alive. I got a girl waiting for me and a whole other life I need to get back to. I just want to know what happened the day my dad died. I want... no, I need to know why he had to die.”

  “And the boy?” Eagle wanted to know. “Are you gonna claim a kid that isn’t yours?”

  “They’re a package deal, can’t take one without the other.” Talon shrugged. “Besides, once she has my baby in her belly she’ll forget the man that walked out on her and the kid.”

  Eagle snorted. “You really believe that? “

  “Doesn’t matter,” Talon stated. “I’m doing this with or without your approval.”

  “You need my approval and backing from the club,” Eagle reminded him in a not too gentle way.

  Talon closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again. Looking sheepishly, he nodded. “I know but this is so impo
rtant to me. I need to know what happened that day and why. I mean it never made sense to me why four men including my dad had to die that day. Why did they die when Hammer and Digger were able to walk away?”

  Eagle shook his head. “I don’t know but both of those men carried their own wounds from the ambush.”

  Talon paused then thought about that for a moment. “Yeah, they did didn’t they? But you know what? They were wounds that healed. The rest of the guys had fatal wounds didn’t they? Four men were double tapped, in the chest and one single bullet through the head. Execution style. A little overkill don’t you think?” He let his president think about that for a moment then added, “While Hammer took a bullet to his arm and Digger took a bullet to his leg. That’s just a little curious to me.”

  Eagle nodded. “Yeah it is, now that you mention it.”

  “We already know who Hammer was working for but who do you think Digger is running for?” Talon queried.

  “Would the Bratva have more than one member working for them?” Eagle asked while look enraged.

  “Fuck if I know.” Talon growled. “And I seriously doubt Digger will tell us the truth now. He did say something about not wanting to bring another war to our MC.”

  “Then I doubt its Bratva he’s running for. But it could be mob. Mob is as close as Santa Rosa.”

  Talon stilled and turned to his President. “You don’t supposed old Devin is connected to the mob do you? He seemed awfully nervous about something when we cornered him at my apartment.”

  “That might also explain the second phone he had,” Eagle commented.

  “We’re missing something here though.” Talon ran his fingers through his dark hair. “Why would a man like that panic over a hundred bucks? It doesn’t make any sense. I could see it if it were a hundred thousand but a hundred bucks? Hell, he probably has more than that in his pocket.”

  Eagle nodded. “I think we need to talk to Fiona again and find out more about the night she swiped the money.”

  “You could be right,” Talon reluctantly agreed. “There’s something more going on here than a missing hundred bucks. Hell, a man like him would consider that pocket change.”

  “So why did he come all this way with a gun to confront Fiona?” Eagle wondered out loud.

  “I don’t know but I intend to find out.” Talon stomped out of the room and down the hall to the main room of the clubhouse. When he got there, he found Fiona and Bret. They were sitting in a corner talking quietly.

  Talon walked over to them and glared at Fiona. “I need to talk to you, privately.” He wouldn’t look at Bret but kept his eyes on Fiona the whole time.

  Fiona had paled and then she nodded slowly. She looked at her son and whispered softly, “You wait here baby bear. Talon and I need to talk, ok?”

  Bret looked from his mom to Talon and back to his mom again. “Are you gonna be ok? He looks kinda mad.”

  Fiona smiled. “Oh baby bear, I’ll be fine. He won’t hurt me.”

  Talon knelt down, so he was face to face with Bret. “I’m not gonna hurt your mom little man. Like she said, we’re just gonna talk.”

  Bret searched Talon’s eyes and finally nodded. “If you do hurt my mama, I will hurt you, understand?”

  Talon had to smile. “I understand.” He then grabbed Fiona by the upper arm and led her outside.

  Eagle smiled and watched the young boy watching over his mother. He didn’t notice the older biker come up beside him until the other man cleared his throat. He turned his head and found Crow staring at the young son of Fiona.

  “When did Talon have a son?” Crow asked.

  Eagle snorted. “The boy isn’t Talon’s.”

  Crow snorted loudly. “The hell he isn’t. You may not remember what Talon looked like as a kid but I do. That boy is Talon thirty years ago. Right down to the cowlick in his hair.”

  Eagle turned to stare at the old man for a moment then turned back to study Bret. Then he remembered when Fiona and Talon were together. Talon had told him the kid was only three but could he be closer to four?

  The kid did have Talon’s dark hair and dark eyes and they did share a cowlick. Eagle hadn’t thought about that before now. Leaving the old man, he went over to where Bret was standing.

  He was still staring out the window watching over his mother.

  “He isn’t going to hurt her you know.” Eagle squatted down so his eyes were level with Bret’s gaze.

  Bret turned his head and stared at the bigger man. His eyes grew big in his face.

  For a moment, Eagle could see a resemblance to Talon in his eyes. “So kid, do you know when your birthday is?”

  Bret snorted. “Yeah, I know when my birthday is. Why? Don’t you know when your birthday is?”

  Eagle chuckled. “Yeah, my birthday is August second. When is yours?”

  Bret grinned. “My birthday is tomorrow. I’ll be four. Mama says I’ll be old enough to go to school. Did you go to school?”

  Eagle nodded. “Yeah, I went to school. So you’ll be four tomorrow huh? That’s cool.”

  Bret nodded. “Mama usually makes me a birthday cake but I don’t think she’ll be able to this year.”

  He looked so sad for a moment that Eagle had to ask, “Why is that?”

  Bret looked around the clubhouse and shrugged. “We don’t have a kitchen. Everybody knows you can’t bake a cake if you got no kitchen.”

  Eagle shook his head. “Yeah, that might be a problem but you know what? We do have a kitchen. Would you like me to show you?”

  Bret’s eyes lit up and he nodded wildly. “Yes, please.”

  Eagle got to his feet and held out his hand. It felt a little weird when Bret grasped his hand but Eagle led him to a hallway and another set of rooms. Snapping on the light, Bret looked around the huge kitchen area the club had available his dark eyes huge in his face.

  Talon led Fiona outside and then turned her around to face him. “I need some answers. Ever since you called me, things have been happening that no one here understands. Why did Devin track you all the way here? For a lousy hundred bucks? Somehow, that doesn’t seem like the truth. He was willing to shoot you or the kid. Why would he do that?”

  Fiona began to tremble. “I don’t know.” Wrapping her arms around her waist, she shivered, remembering her last encounter with her old boss. In the span of a few days, her whole life had changed. It had been a struggle since she left there but when Devin cut her hours and she couldn’t pick up any extra shifts at the diner, things became almost impossible. Then she’d stolen money for the first time in her life and she suddenly, found herself on the wrong side of everything she knew.

  “Tell me about the night you took the money,” Talon demanded.

  “I told you before.”

  “Indulge me Fiona.” He gave her that steely eyed gaze of his.

  “Okay, Bret had been really sick with a high fever and he kept telling me his ears hurt. Nothing I could do for him helped, so I took him to the clinic. The doctors looked at him and told me he had a double ear infection. They said if I couldn’t get him on antibiotics soon he could lose his hearing. The infection could cause his ear drums to burst. I couldn’t see him suffer like that, so one night at work I went into Devin’s office and took some money out of his desk. I thought I could put it back before he noticed it was gone. I swear I only took a hundred dollars. I just wanted enough to buy Bret’s medicine. I swear.”

  Talon watched her solely as she paused, remembering.

  She moved away from him then turned her back and continued her story, “I got the medicine and it was two days later when Devin came around my apartment. He was so angry I thought he was gonna pitch me right off the roof. He said he wanted his money back and if I didn’t get it for him he was going to shoot me, or better yet make me watch as he put a bullet in my son.” She looked haunted for a moment then shook her head. “I couldn’t let him get close to Bret so I kicked him in the balls and ran. I grabbed Bret out of bed and just took o
ff. I had thirty dollars left and I got as far away as that would take me. Then I called you. I’d offered Devin what money I had left but he didn’t even look at it. After I kicked him in the balls, I took back the money and left with Bret. I don’t know how he knew where to find me. I never told anyone about this place.”

  “What made you decide to call me in the first place? I never thought I’d hear from you again after the way you left.”

  Fiona shrugged. “I was in big trouble. I didn’t know who else to call.”

  Talon ran his fingers threw his hair and just stared at her for a moment. “Do you have any idea who this Devin guy works for?”

  Fiona shrugged. “I’m not sure who the boss is but a man named John Waconda likes to hang around the club a lot. He’s there all the time. He and Devin usually sit together and talk business. It’s one of those things we knew but never talk about if that makes sense to you. Sometimes, John is even there with others like him but most of the time he’s there to talk to Devin.”

  Talon groaned. He knew the name John Waconda and it wasn’t good. Waconda was one of Vince Orlando’s men and everyone knew Orlando ran the Santa Rosa branch of the mob. Then he glared at Fiona for a moment. “Did anyone else know you took the money?”

  Fiona paled as she remembered the incident that happened when she came out of Devin’s office. “There was someone else outside the office that night. She was taking a break and she saw me come out of Devin’s office. She didn’t say anything to me and I sure didn’t say anything to her. I felt guilty enough for having taken the money in the first place. But I remember she gave me a funny look. None of us are supposed to go into Devin’s office when he isn’t there.”

  “Who was this other woman?” Talon demanded as he grabbed her by the upper arms. His hold was tight and Fiona winced.

  “Her name was Roxy. She was one of Devin’s dancers. I think she wanted to be his girlfriend at one point but Devin didn’t want her that way. He humiliated her in front of the other dancers when she presumed to think just because he slept with her, she was his girl now. He made a point of telling her she was just one of many. He’s kind of a douche like that.”