Like any good outlaw leader, Alec knew how to get his point across. Dangle the money in front of them. It wasn’t that her boys were bad, well, all of them. They did have families, child support, and alimony. Sick mothers, bills all of their own, and typically very little legal job skills. Money was their heartstrings for the most part.
A bell rang. The ride was starting, the group was informally dismissed.
Destiny climbed on her bike and Fabio walked up behind her. “Well what do you think Fort Worth will decide?”
“I think most will hear the double the money part. But I don’t know if I trust the Warriors. They’re crazy and I don’t trust Cochise at all.”
Fabio gave her a brief nod and she strapped her helmet down and fired up her bike. Sweetwater would lead the pack being it was their run. Her godparents were already lined up front since Alec had already given his welcome speech. As much as this was a club event, it was also a family run. Today the rest of the club and their friends would be reminded that she was the daughter of a legend; that Wes had helped birth this club, was its first President and that she was the adopted daughter of the head of their organization. She was at the front of the pack. Today no one would forget that and no one could deny her that.
She lined her bike up. Today she would ride in the third row beside Fabio. Only Bryant and his wife, along with Kristy and Eric, would ride between her and Alec.
It was the third stop on the run. She hadn’t even had time to order a beer before her phone rang. She looked at the readout. It wasn’t a number she recognized but she answered it anyway.
“Hello?”
“Destiny.”
“What now?” she asked her ex.
“Sorry to interrupt your day but there’s a situation in town I thought you and your crew would want to know about.”
“And you choose to call me, not Alec?”
“I thought you would care the most.”
“What is it?” she asked as she lit a cigarette, annoyed.
“One of your girls from the strip club was found badly beaten about an hour ago outside of town. She’s in the hospital, stable, but tore up pretty bad,” Trent informed her.
“If her first name’s Kari I don’t care,” Destiny told him.
“Try the first name Anastasia on for size. I know it’s been a few years but she is one of your offspring and she was supposed to be one of your best friends.”
“Give me a room number. I’ll meet you at the hospital in an hour,” Destiny said, feeling that rage fill her.
Trent gave her a number and Destiny disconnected. She grabbed Fabio by the shirt collar from where he stood talking to a red headed leather-clad girl in heels.
Fabio followed obediently without asking questions. Alec and most of the other presidents and VPs stood around with their old ladies talking. Alec put his cigar down and his smile started to fade as he saw Destiny storm toward them.
“I’m taking Fabio and I need the loan of at least three more boys for the moment. I need a few more on standby. Trent just called, Anastasia was jumped and beaten last night pretty badly. They just brought her into the hospital an hour ago.”
“Oh sweet Jesus, is she okay?” Kristy asked.
“Stable, I was told. I’m meeting Trent there in an hour and I’m going to go track down whoever did this to her. She was working last night. Someone on pay roll or those cameras seen something,” Destiny told the group.
Alec nodded. “Keep us informed. You two take Drew, Vat, and Riccardo with you. I’d go but I need to keep the masses calm in case something happens here.”
“Leave Drew. He’ll only push her buttons. Stella and I will ride with and stay with Anastasia at the hospital,” Eric said, and Stella nodded.
“I’ll go get her son from the babysitters,” Stella said and Fabio loped off. He would have Vat and Riccardo ready to ride in a moment’s time. “The poor girl is probably worried sick. Ana is never late.”
Less than an hour later, Destiny was storming through the hospital halls until she got to room 203. She turned the corner to see Trent and another deputy standing outside the room. Stella and Eric had gone to get the car and Anastasia’s son, leaving just Jay, Vat, and Fabio to accompany her.
She threw a glance back at the boys, ordering them silently to hang back. Jay and Vat stopped in their tracks. Fabio dared to venture a few feet further. Trent looked up from his discussion with the other cop and dismissed him upon seeing Destiny stroll forward.
“What do we got?” Destiny asked as soon as she reached her ex.
“Nothing much. X-ray and MRI came back a few minutes ago. Two cracked ribs, fractured wrist, and luckily, no internal bleeding. She got the hell beat out of her though,” Trent said and Destiny glanced into the room where she saw her friend hooked to all sorts of machines.
“What about DNA?” she asked.
“We wanted to do a rape kit but she was conscious enough to deny us one. Said she wasn’t attacked like that,” Trent started.
“Do you believe that?”
“No. She was changed back into her street clothes from work and they had been shredded. Everything looks like rape,” Trent told her.
“If she’s not consenting though…”
“Then I would say she knew her attacker at least somewhat. Probably someone in the system she’s protecting. Or at least the patch they wear,” Trent said accusingly and that truth sank into Destiny.
“I don’t care who did this. They will pay. And if they are patch of any club we associate with, they will lose it,” Destiny growled.
“I don’t need a biker war starting here. I’m getting a warrant for your security footage. It will be processed in a few hours. If you find out who did this, I want them turned over to me, Dallas.”
She didn’t reply. She just stared into the room and tried to calm herself. Away from the black vortex that had nearly killed Hesser. It would do no good right now.
“Dallas, I mean it. I’d tell Alec if I were you that Anastasia will be no good on the poles anytime soon.”
“She’s not going back to the poles. She’s the daughter of this club; she will be treated as one.”
Even from a distance where he was eavesdropping, Fabio must have felt her go on edge. Heard that tone in her voice because he now came to stand next to her.
“Keep her in check, Fabio. You and I both know she can be a danger to others and herself.” Trent tossed a last look at Destiny, she knew because she could feel his eyes on her. “I’ll be in touch when the warrant is ready to serve.”
Trent disappeared down the hall and Destiny glared at the deputy till he turned his attention to something other than her. “Jay, Vat, get over to the Grounds and get those tapes examined before Trent gets his warrant. Look for anyone suspicious, no matter what his jacket patch says. It has to be someone stupid as hell and with balls of steel to touch one of our girls.”
“On it,” Jay said with a nod as he and Vat fell back down the hallway and toward the nearest exit.
“Stand guard. I’m going to talk to Anastasia,” Destiny told Fabio and she approached the deputy.
“Name?” he asked before she reached the handle of the door.
“You know who I am,” she said and she pushed the door handle down and maneuvered her way into the room. The deputy didn’t say a word, nor did he try to stop her.
Hospitals had always given Destiny the creeps, even before she spent so much of her own time lying in one of those uncomfortable beds.
The machines hummed and beeped and Anastasia lie motionlessly. Her face was black and blue. There were stitches in her lip and across her eyebrow. She didn’t give a damn if Fabio had done this, she would kill the low-life one way or another. Club backing or not.
Destiny pulled a chair a little closer to her friend’s bedside, careful of the cords and tubes running every which way.
She sat down and took Anastasia’s hand in hers and stroked it gently until her battered eyes fluttered.
Anastasia looked frantically around the room before her eyes settled on Destiny. “It’s okay, princess,” Destiny assured her.
“What are you doing here? You should be on the ride,” Anastasia said, laying her head back on the pillow.
“This is where I should be.”
“Trent needs to learn confidentiality.”
“You ain’t got no next of kin. Someone needed notified so that we could see to it that you and the baby were taken care of.”
“I appreciate it, Double D, but you and the Bastards don’t owe me anything,” she whispered. “You don’t need the trouble.”
“But we do. It’s our fault this happened to you. As a daughter of the club, we should have made sure you had what you needed so you didn’t need that profession anyhow. Besides, if we didn’t like the trouble we shouldn’t wear this patch,” Destiny assured her, trying to calm her own trembling hands as she thought about what she was going to do to this bastard who hurt her friend.
“It’s been a long time since my daddy died. The club isn’t expected to carry me my whole life. Besides, you provided me with a job where I can make enough money to take care of me and my son.” Anastasia’s weak hand gripped Destiny’s as hard as it could.
“Don’t do this, Destiny. Not for me.”
“You have to tell me who did this to you. We will find out one way or another. Trent’s getting a warrant for the security footage from the club but Jay and Vat are hoping to work through it and find something before he comes for it. We will take care of it one way or another. That’s what this club does. It takes care of problems and this is a very big problem,” Destiny growled and she looked to Anastasia. “Tell me who did this so that he doesn’t do this to another girl. One at the club or somewhere else.”
Anastasia began to cry. “I can’t.”
“Did you know him?”
Anastasia shook her head slowly.
“Did he wear a patch?”
More tears ran down Anastasia’s face. She sobbed and slowly moved her head up and down.
Destiny’s fist clenched even tighter. “A Bastard?”
“No,” Anastasia choked out.
“A Hellion?”
The look in Anastasia’s eyes told Destiny all she needed to know. She opened her cellphone and called Jay. “Get me a picture of each Hellion. Sent to this phone now.”
Her gut told her it was the man from last night—the one that had even managed to make her feel out of place. As she waited for her phone to blow up with the pictures of the visiting chapter, she held Anastasia’s hand and her high school friend was quiet until a rap came at the door. Stella walked in holding a small baby boy.
The tiny boy snuggled up next to his mother in bed and Destiny’s burner started to vibrate. She opened it and the first picture that popped up was one of the man. She turned the phone to show Anastasia. Her friend swallowed hard and stared at the image. “That’s him.”
Destiny snapped the phone shut and stood, stuffing it back into her cut pocket and leaning down to kiss Anastasia on the forehead. “Don’t leave her side,” she ordered her aunt.
“Let’s go,” she growled as she exited the room and Fabio followed her to the lot where they were far from the badges.
“You got a name, I’m assuming.”
She showed him the picture. “He’s a third or fourth year Hellion. Name’s Buster. I want you to call Jay. Tell him to send Vat back toward the ride. I want him to stay there and hand the footage over to Trent himself, only if there is no incriminating evidence pointing to him. I don’t want any questions arising when they can’t find Buster.”
It took another hour to catch back up with the ride. Destiny took her bike right up next to Alec. “What did you find out?” the president asked as he and a few of the officers gathered around.
“She wouldn’t tell Trent a damned thing. Refused a rape kit. I struggled to get her to tell me.”
“Why wouldn’t she want to tell you?” Alec asked.
“She said she wasn’t your problem. Didn’t want to cause riffs with the club.” Destiny stared her uncle down.
“He wears a patch,” Alec growled out lowly. If Destiny hadn’t known better she would say she got her temper from him.
“A Hellion. I sent for images and she identified one. My personal suspect,” Destiny said.
“Who is it?”
“A fourth-year patch named Buster.”
“I’ll get Richmond, he’s a good leader for the Hellions. I’ll give him some reason to get his entire crew to meet us down at an old service road about two miles back. There’s enough shrub brush down the end of it no one will be too suspicious,” Alec said and Destiny nodded.
“He’s mine, Alec.”
“Keep that temper of yours in check. You may get first strike but he gets treated the same way as everyone else. He wronged the club and sinned against his patch—he will be punished by it.”
Destiny sneered. “You have twenty minutes to get him here. I don’t know how much a lead we have over Trent. He was getting a warrant to search the Grounds’ security footage.”
Alec nodded and turned to Bryant who had been waiting patiently behind his president. “Gather the chapter. All of them. Prospects too. They’re in deep enough and they should see this.”
Destiny jumped on her bike and Fabio followed her back toward the service road.
10
The Bastards reached the end of the service road first. Vat arrived, making everyone but Eric, Jay, and Alec present. Alec would come with the Hellions if only to make sure Buster didn’t spook and choose not to ride with his brothers.
Drew looked suspiciously at Destiny. This was a job for patch members of Sweetwater. It happened in their chapter, it was their business. Destiny was the only one present whose cut read something else. But Anastasia was her friend and she didn’t give a damn what Drew thought. Drew could go to hell right next to Buster for all she cared.
No one said anything as the thundering hum of bikes could be heard in the distance before their blurry images appeared on the horizon.
Destiny took two steps forward. She stood apart from the rest of the club now. Fabio directly behind her and to her right. He always had her back.
The Hellions pulled in, led by Alec and Richmond. Not sure of what Richmond had been told, Destiny didn’t stare Buster down too much. Didn’t want him to make a run for it just yet.
“What is this about, Alec?” Richmond asked. The president was just a few years younger than Alec but he seemed much older. Most of the Hellions had calmed in recent years, Richmond was a prime example.
The prison tattoos reminded her that Richmond spent five years behind bars at Huntsville and was back on the streets by the time he was twenty-six. Richmond was no one to mess with in his prime.
“I don’t know if you had heard word about why part of my crew had to ride out earlier,” Alec started.
“Ah yes. One of the girls from your club was attacked last night,” Richmond said. “My deepest apologies for the girl.”
“We’re glad you feel that way,” Alec said. “Because this girl is more than one of our employees. She is the daughter of a lifetime club member who died in defense of this club back in the war with the BPs. We vowed to protect her and when we couldn’t—to avenge her.”
“I speak for the Hellions when I say we will do everything possible to help you with that task,” Richmond said and Buster jumped on his bike. He knew what was coming up next.
Destiny ran after him and he got his bike started and in gear but she launched herself into the air, landing on Buster and knocking him off of his bike.
They both hit the ground hard and Destiny was sent rolling. She tasted the dry Texas dirt mixed with the metallic of blood in her mouth. She pulled herself to her feet in an instant and Drew and Vince were restraining Buster. The rest of the Bastards, including the prospects, daring a Hellion to step forward in defense of their patch brother.
The Hellions hung back.
“We are positive. She identified him,” Alec said with a sad nod.
“I trusted you with my life,” Richmond looked at Buster and shook his head.
“You’re just going to believe them? A Bastard! Against my words as a Hellion!” Buster pulled against Vince and Drew.
Richmond walked up to him and struck him openhandedly across the face. “What you did to that girl was unacceptable a Hellion. Unacceptable as a man. You are a disgrace!” Richmond spat in his face and turned to Alec and nodded.
“Strip him,” Alec said to Destiny and she pulled her knife from her side. She rushed at Buster who fought hard as he could against her Bastard brothers. She grabbed him by the patch and drug her knife up along the zipper and ripped it from him.
A Hellion walked up and took it from her. She tossed her knife aside and punched him till blood ran from his nose and mouth. She grabbed between his legs and twisted his balls as hard as she could till he screamed in pain.
“How does that feel?! How does that feel?!” she yelled in his face before Fabio pulled her back.
One by one each Bastard took their own turn beating on Buster. When Alec had finished his turn, the former Hellion was tossed to the ground. Destiny blocked out the sounds of him begging as he had blocked out Anastasia’s.
The Hellions had pushed his bike out away from everyone and Richmond gathered up the cut that Buster had worn and removed the gas cap on the tank of his bike and stuffed as much of the leather cut in as possible, making sure to slosh gasoline all over the cut in the process.
The rest of the Hellions descended onto Buster. If he survived this, he would be lucky. If he made it back to the main road to be found, it would be a miracle.
One Hellion gripped Buster by the hair and forced him to look at his bike while Richmond lit the cut and ran backwards. In a matter of moments, the explosion happened and the bike and the cut were up in flames.
Buster was no longer a member of the Hellions.
The Devils Bastards MC: Destiny Dallas Callaghan Page 8
