Bash, Volume II

by Candace Blevins

  Some days we’d worked together the whole day, because you need four hands for some things. We’d been a great team, and I’d loved hearing her take on life as seen by a fifteen year old werewolf who was growing up in the human world. Even with her dad being the RTMC President, she’d had a mostly normal life. At least, until her mom was killed. I knew she’d done an about-face after she lost her mom — no more wild parties, no more sneaking out. She’d dove into her studies and finished a little over two years of college courses by the time she got her high school diploma. That’s how she’d managed a Master’s degree from MIT in such a short time.

  “Starting from your sixteenth birthday, once you were driving,” and after her mom was dead, but I didn’t say that part, “what’s the wildest thing you’ve done?”

  She shook her head and shrugged. “I focused on my education more than partying. I mean, sure, I went to some wild parties, but it was important my peers at MIT didn’t see me as a party animal. I got away from campus and went crazy a few times, but it’s stuff you’ll think is tame.”

  I smelled the hint of an untruth, and said, “No, there’s something. What is it?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Not wild so much as reckless, probably. I went to a biker bar a few times. If they’d known who I belonged to it could’ve been dangerous, but when I got really homesick…”

  She trailed off, and her scent told me she expected me to get pissed. Part of me was, because she’d been right about it being dangerous. However, she’d already hinted about going to the bikers a few times, so that wasn’t the part I focused on. “You were homesick?”

  “Not often. I loved my time up there, but you can’t get sweet tea, everyone talks funny, the winters are brutal, and it’s just different. Plus, life as a civilian got to be too serious, sometimes, and it was nice to be around people who just didn’t give a fuck.” She shrugged. “I eventually lost most of my southern accent because everyone treated me like a country bumpkin at first. Especially the people on campus, but even the fucking bikers did.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed your accent shifting around. I like that you seem the most relaxed with me and your dad.”

  She looked at me a few seconds, and sighed before she told me, “You were my last assigned prospect. Daddy drove me around until I turned sixteen, then made me drive his truck for a while, instead of my car. Losing Mom made him want to put me in a tank, but I guess someone talked to him and convinced him he couldn’t put me in bubble wrap without suffocating me. Or, that’s what he told me, at the time.”

  I was trying to figure out what she was saying, when she explained, “If my mom hadn’t gotten killed that night, or if the whole night had gone different, I’d probably be a different person. I know she wasn’t killed because I snuck out, but it still all got twisted up in my head, and I became a good girl. No more sneaking out, no more wild stuff. I stopped stashing short skirts in my backpack and changing clothes when I got to school. I hadn’t liked where Sloane was taking things and I didn’t want to be super sexy anymore.” She looked at the floor, then back up to me, and her emotional pain reflected in her eyes. “That one day changed my life more than anyone can possibly understand. So, the answer to your question is that most of the wild stuff I’ve done happened before I was sixteen.”

  I’d set the bag with our dinner on the coffee table while she showed me her plans, and now I reached for it and told her, “Let’s get some food in you, while we talk.” I had no idea what to say to her, and stalling usually serves me well, in these situations.

  I knew about her past, and it was time I shared more of my past with her. We got dishes and drinks, silverware and napkins. I turned some music on and swept for bugs one more time, and then turned the water in the sink to a small stream. Brain had taught us all how to defeat listening devices, and I wanted to be sure no one but Angelica heard this conversation. You aren’t paranoid if they really are out to get you, and there’s no statute of limitations on murder.

  We sat down to our small feast and I told her, “Before all the trouble started at home, I’d dated the same girl for years. At first, she was on my side, saying if I’d had to kill them she was sure I’d done it for a good reason. I never told her I had, thank goodness, just kept with the same family line about coming home from school and getting something to eat, and not admitting they’d been at the house that day. At first, I intended to tell her, but then my gut told me not to. Good thing, because the cops showed her pictures of their bodies, let her read some of the medical examiner’s report, and it freaked her out and turned her against me. We’d hoped having the bodies would give the families closure and things would get better, but to make sure they didn’t get some freaky forensics from them, we stripped them down, scrubbed them, soaked ‘em a while, and put them near a well-travelled coyote path. They’d been pretty scavenged by the time they were found. Still, the skulls were broken and they could tell it’d been done just before they died and had likely led to their death. If anything, it pissed the families off worse.”

  Angelica didn’t say anything, just let me talk.

  “The way she looked at me, as if I was a monster — it broke something inside me. Those men jumped me, intended to force me to give them our guns and ammo, and were going to hurt me bad if I didn’t. They didn’t expect me to be so strong, but even so — it was three large, well-trained, armed men against one teenage wolf who couldn’t get to any weapons before they started hitting him. They fought mean and dirty, and it turned into me having to kill them in order to survive. They shot me a few times, and I needed to take them down as fast as possible so I could change before I bled out. They were the bad guys and I was defending myself, but no way would LEO have seen it that way.”

  “So, you were defending yourself, and for all she knew you had nothing to do with their deaths at all, and she turned on you? Fuck her. She isn’t good enough for you.”

  I smiled. “I know that now, but the teenaged Brett believed her when she looked at me like a monster. And then, at eighteen, I killed someone in front of you, tore him to pieces, knocked him unconscious and then bashed his skull in until he couldn’t come back even though he was wolf, and you were grateful. You thanked me, reached for me, and even let me hold you. I wasn’t a monster in your eyes, even though you saw me at my worst.” I pulled her to me, needing to hold her and comfort her before I brought up any more bad memories. “When I made it to your house a few hours later, I expected to see fear and disgust, but you needed me. I held you all fucking night, with nothing I could do about your tears, and my heart broke for you.”

  “You were my knight in shining armor, come to rescue me. If you did that to someone out of the blue it would’ve been different. I know you have a temper, but I also know you’d never kill someone unless it was the only option. With the situation between Pack and MC back then, any other decision would’ve meant war, and a whole lot more people getting hurt or killed.”

  I knew she was right, but it didn’t change the fact her acceptance of me, even after she saw me kill someone like that, had fixed something broken inside me.

  She met my gaze and said, “Thanks for telling me. I know it’s hard for you to share some things.” Her eyes told me she got it and I didn’t have to explain anything more. She nodded at me, waited for me to smile, and then waved her fork at me. “Okay, enough deep shit, unless there’s something else you feel the need to share. The stuff I showed you, the plans? It’s proprietary government stuff no one’s supposed to see, so you didn’t see it. With that being said, I want to do some experimenting outside the office. Who do I talk to about using the bike shop’s CNC machine? I’ll pay for all the materials I use.”

  I smiled, happy she trusted me, happy we’d gotten through the deep shit without going all mushy. Just all around happy. “Which brings me to my news. I miss the shop, and Duke and Brain are in semi-agreement about my not being the person to permanently run the division I’ve been over. So, I’ll be gradually backing off while we
work to find a solution. I’ll still be officially over the division, and will need to be in the office a minimum of two nights a week, but in the next three weeks we’re hoping to have me back in the bike shop at least part time. I’ve talked to Duke and Brain before about adding a classic car department, and they’re on board with adding a few car bays in the coming months.”

  She tilted her head as she chewed and swallowed, analyzing me. “Why did you take on the other division in the first place?”

  “I was in on it a little in Atlanta, and felt we needed to do it here. It’s a huge moneymaker, and as a start-up charter, we needed the income. I was assigned to a half-dozen girls for a while in Atlanta — in charge of making sure they stayed safe — and I heard them talking when they didn’t think I could hear. They’d taken a lot of shit, been beaten up a lot, roughed up, abused, before they’d come to work for the RTMC. It not only made us a ton of money, it was performing a service. So, when I argued so strong in favor, and Duke wasn’t anxious to get started, he said I could just run the division.”

  “And now?”

  “They still think I’m one of the best people to do it, but they also need me in the shop, and they know I need to be there. Engines and transmissions make sense and don’t talk back. I need to have grease under my nails again.” I rubbed the side of her calf with my leg. “Speaking of which, thanks for helping me with Dawg’s bike. Was great working with you again.”

  Her face lit up. “I needed some grease under my nails, too. Nothing like hands on the metal to remind you of how things work. I’ve been looking at sketches and plans too long.”

  “When we finish eating, do you need to do more work, or can we hang out some?”

  “I’ve worked enough today. How long do you have until you have to go?”

  “May not need to go at all, but if I do, the phone call will likely come between eleven and twelve.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Bash

  As it turned out, the phone call I got wasn’t the one I expected.

  “You with Tink?” asked Dawg.

  “Yeah, what’s up?”

  “I’m in your office, talkin’ to Marlin. I think you need to bring Tink for this. Gonna call Brain when I get off the phone with you.”

  Duke was at a big charity auction thing with Gen tonight, and wasn’t to be bothered unless we had to. Calling in Brain was the equivalent of calling in Duke, right now.

  “She has to work tomorrow, can’t it just be me?”

  “She’s gonna want to hear this.”

  I was holding the phone so she could hear, and I explained, “Marlin is with the Disciples. Not the head honcho, but only a step or two down.”

  She nodded. “I’ll come.”

  Dawg heard her and said, “Make it fast. See you soon.”

  Angelica wanted to drive her own bike, but I convinced her to ride on the back of mine by pointing out if she rode with me, I’d have to take her home.

  Brain’s bike was already there when we pulled into the parking lot, and Slick motioned us into my office as we walked into the building.

  My wolf wanted to attack as we entered and saw Marlin sitting comfortably in one of my chairs, smelling way too calm for a human surrounded by wolves. Instead, I gave them my most menacing look and said, “Okay, you got us. What the fuck is going on?”

  “Hear him out,” said Dawg, his face dark.

  “One of the boys in custody for the fight with your girl and the DA is bein’ offered a deal by the current acting DA.” He spoke slow and steady, held eye contact, and I smelled no fear on him.

  “Does Dash know you’re here?” I asked him. Dash was the local leader.

  He shook his head. “Dash would have my ass if he knew I was talkin’ to the enemy. I’m tired of fightin’ you, though. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the way I see it, we’d all like to see Pickering sink on this one.”

  “What deal are they offering your boy?” Angelica asked, her voice strong.

  He looked at me, surprised she’d spoke, and I explained, “This concerns her. Don’t know if inviting her was your idea or Dawg’s, but she gets to ask questions if she’s here.”

  “Dawg made the call,” he said, looking at her with interest he hadn’t shown before. “Rumor has it you dated Pickering. That true?”

  “Didn’t know he was the DA at first, and we only went out a few times. He’s making this personal, but I have a few aces I can pull, if I have to. What kind of deal is he offering?”

  “They want my guy to implicate you, say you been selling for us, and say you and Viper been doin’ the nasty. Turn the MC against you and get you in deep shit with the law — two birds, one stone.”

  “What’s your play?” I asked.

  “The Disciples and MC are never goin’ be friends, but no reason we have to be active enemies. I’m about to make a play for Dash’s job, and forging a truce with the MC will give me substantial backing.”

  If Marlin took over the Disciples and wanted peace, this could be a huge deal, but I wasn’t sure Brain could stand in for Duke on something this big.

  I looked to Brain in question, and he nodded at me and told Marlin, “I know how much I can agree to. If we need to go farther we’ll have to wait for Duke. You took a risk coming to us, and I appreciate it, but it’ll be one or two in the morning before we can get him here.”

  Marlin pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “I’m proposing we split the parts of the city we all want. I need to get something from you, so I’m taking a few blocks ya’ll have claimed — territory we’ve found to be quite lucrative in the past. I’m giving you double the space on your other side, though.”

  Brain looked at it and shook his head. “Duke won’t give up the school. We can give you a third of the southern portion you’re wantin’, but the southwestern part, starting from two blocks away from the school, will have to stay ours.”

  “We gave you another school, on the western portion.”

  “And it’s appreciated, and the only reason Duke will be willin’ to give up territory we’ve bled to keep, in the past.”

  Marlin looked at us a few seconds, debating whether to tell us something, and I told him, “I’m aware you got kids at both schools. We know more about your upper management than you think. What’s the rest of your deal, and what’s the yellow hashtag area on your map? No man’s land?”

  He shook his head. “At first, yeah, but I’m proposing — once I’m in charge — you only send people there who can come face to face with us and play nice, and I’ll do the same. Locals will see us talking and living together, assume we’re good. Reduce tension, and get the po-po to stop trying to play us off each other.”

  Brain nodded. “Yeah, some of the officers seem to think they can get us to take each other out, save them the trouble.”

  “Do you have to take the reins before Viper turns down the deal?” asked Angelica.

  Marlin shook his head. “Viper’s my boy. Dash doesn’t know about the offer yet.” He glanced at Brain, gave me an appraising look, and then focused on Angelica. “We’re in two factions right now, mine and Dash’s, only Dash doesn’t know how deep the rift goes. Need to clue you in on what the other factions are thinkin’, but I don’t want it to come off as me threatening you. Just want you aware of what they’re planning.”

  “Understood.” She held his gaze and I knew her wolf wasn’t far below the surface. Mine wasn’t either, but I was used to these kinds of situations. She wasn’t, and yet she was handling it like a pro.

  “You’re one girl, all fashionable and shit, damned easy on the eyes, and fuckin’ petite,” Marlin told her, “and you singlehandedly took down three of my guys. Add to that, you seem to belong to Rolling Thunder’s Sergeant at Arms. I can keep the people loyal to me from fuckin’ with you, but there’s a faction lookin’ at you as a trophy right now, no matter your daddy kicked up a shitstorm in Atlanta and you’re s’posed to be off limits. Thing is? They don’t want you de
ad, they want you chained up in their basement so they can play with you. You are prime white meat, girl. Need you to stay out of our territory and be extra careful.”

  My wolf came to the surface and I stared at Marlin as I growled. My eyes stayed human, but I knew enough of the wolf peered out, Marlin could see the wildness in me. He lifted his hands to the side as if to show he wasn’t a threat. “I don’t want no part of her, just want to be clear Dash and a few others want to send a message and think she’s the perfect tool.”

  “When I was around twelve, I think,” Angelica said, her voice calm and steady, showing no fear at all, “there was another dominant gang in town. In Atlanta. Did you ever hear of The Black Swords?”

  Marlin nodded, “Yeah, all kinds of rumors about where they disappeared.”

  “The leader threatened my mom, so my dad and a few others took them out. All of them except for a few of the newest guys — enough men to spread word of the slaughter, and just how bad it was. It’s my understanding the MC wiped the Swords out in one night. The next day they were just gone. Their bodies were never found.”

  Marlin looked to me in question and I shrugged. “Before my time. Probably Brain’s, too. We’d need to ask Duke.”

  “No need to ask Duke,” said Brain. “I wasn’t around yet, but I’m aware of what happened. She’s right, and the point is that her dad will go to extremes to keep her safe. From what I hear, they killed twenty-seven men in one night, and told another five or so of the lower level guys if they ever saw their face again, they’d take them out, too. The rest of the crew ended up in Montgomery, joined forces with the Hellions. Bud made sure the ones he took out went through a world of hurt before they checked out, and the ones he let go told the tale. No one bothered the MC for a long while, from what I hear.”