“I don’t know. I just got a message from Mom, he rolled in just moments after we left.”
“Someone had to feed information to the cops.”
“Don’t,” Fabio warned. “Don’t you dare go blaming someone in this club without good enough reason or evidence. Especially someone you personally don’t get along with. It won’t end well for anyone.”
“Someone had to nark though,” she insisted.
“And they’re going to think that someone was you. The one with the ex-boyfriend cop? The one that you were making out with last night behind Murphy’s Longhorn?”
Destiny winced. So Fabio had found out about that. One day they would have to discuss the events of the previous night and she feared it would go even worse. She feared for the loss of Fabio’s friendship. Though it seemed she had no problem attempting to piss him off with Trent.
“You date a cop and it’s going to cause problems.”
“I’m not going to date Trent.”
“Fucking a cop then.”
“I’m not going to do that either. Last night was just a fuck up from a… emotional roller coaster, so to speak.”
Fabio flashed a smile at the waitress as she delivered their food and refilled their drinks. “I wouldn’t go talking like that around the club either. They will think all that PMS bullshit will be a liability.”
“It’s not PMS bullshit. It’s you bringing up emotional bullshit that neither of us needs to be dealing with right now.”
“It was my fault. It will never happen again. Don’t know why anyone would want to try and put up with your ass anyhow.”
“If we weren’t in the middle of such traumatic issues I would take severe offense to that. But back on topic. Whatever this Apache mess is, it’s already costing us.”
“That’s true. I still don’t know all the details. Don’t really want to. Dad knows a bit more than me. In all honesty, I would follow Alec to the end of the earth but I’m not sure what kind of deal he struck with Cochise that has to do with protecting Bryant or the money.”
“Uncle Alec and Aunt Kristy have their own money. I don’t think that’s it but I think we need to find out. We need to be realistic here. It wouldn’t be the first time a brother in arms turned on the club.”
“Leto was an accident. It’s not like Austin.” Fabio looked down at her phone as it buzzed again.
“I think you check my phone more than I do, Fabio.”
“It’s Houston.”
“I’ll talk to him when he gets here.”
“You can’t hold a grudge against him forever. Especially since you’re the one who keeps trying to reach out.”
“I need my brother. My last living blood relative. He doesn’t give to shits about family right now. He will come for Leto. He has no choice. We will talk then.”
“I guess lover boy told you he’s keeping a special eye on Houston even though he doesn’t ever venture into his jurisdiction.”
“He mentioned it at that clubhouse that day he showed up to welcome me home.”
“Houston is looking into Austin’s death a little more lately. The topic of someone turning traitor inside the club, again. It will only tear at him even more. Right now this should be between us.”
“Maybe, Houston isn’t scared to weasel out the rats.”
“That was a prospect you killed in Fort Worth for making deals with the Pride. That’s different than talking to the cops,” Fabio told her. “I can’t keep you out of all the trouble you get into. Please, I lost Austin and Houston. I can’t lose you too, if you get yourself in some mess you can’t get out of and it kills you. This patch means nothing then.”
“This club will live on.”
“It will never be the same. The Bastard patch might but the Sweetwater chapter? A Callaghan has to be alive to guide us. Or else here the heart dies, the body will follow. You know that.”
“Yet you keep trying to lead me astray with talks of love and marriage.”
“I never said which part of my heart I want to protect. I also never said that the club was best for you. Just that you were best for the club.”
Fabio tossed some bills on the table and they walked out of the diner. “Houston gets into Fort Worth and we come up with any suspicions that this wasn’t an Apache set up or the cops just getting lucky. Then we will fill him in and see what he thinks. But until then, Dallas, it’s between us.”
14
Destiny and Fabio rolled into the clubhouse at Fort Worth in the early afternoon. Tears filled up Destiny’s eyes before she could even dismount her bike. She fought them back. Now wasn’t the time for the club to see her as a weak female.
Fabio waited patiently for Destiny to get herself together. She had buried a lot of loved ones in her day. Her parents, her brother. The boys in her squad she lost in the Middle East. Other patch members. Somehow it never got easier.
The clubhouse was full already and it would only fill up more as other club members and friends of the club would roll in from all across the state over the next few days before the funeral.
This was her home chapter right now. Right now she couldn’t give a damn about patching Sweetwater. Today she had to have her heart with Fort Worth.
Ray N.’s old lady was waiting at the main entrance to the clubhouse. “He’s waiting for you at the bar.”
Destiny hugged her before nodding and moving through the throng of people. Fabio following her. A few murmured hellos and pained expressions. She had left Fort Worth at a bad time. But she hadn’t known that. She didn’t know what her uncle was getting the whole patch into.
Ray sat at the far end of the bar smoking a big cigar and drinking whiskey on the rocks. His sergeant sat next to him with a few more members. They cleared away when Destiny walked up.
“I know. I’m a traitor.” Destiny sat down next to Ray.
“You’re not a traitor.”
“I wasn’t here.”
“That’s not what they’re concerned about. They think there’s an actual traitor somewhere in our midst.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“They know how you feel about the traitor. They expect you to lead the hunt for him. They want revenge for their brother.” Ray ruffled through the box of pictures that had been sitting in front of them.
He pulled out the last club picture, from before she patched. Her brothers. A group run, the last time she’d seen her brothers together, alive. She had been on leave from her last tour in Iraq. Right before her injuries. Right before Austin died. Leto was there amongst the other brothers.
“They know Houston is going to roll in anytime. But he isn’t in his right mind enough to fight this fight for them. I can’t lead them on this man hunt. I’m not the leader I once was. Me and Alec are getting long in the tooth. I don’t have that energy to take this on.
“I know someone told the cops about that run. It was way too thought out and perfectly planned. Too flawless for the cops to just up and find out. Most importantly, I didn’t tell my boys the details until hours before we started the run.”
“You think it’s Apache?”
“I don’t think Apache wants us out of the picture enough to lose that big of a shipment.”
“I don’t either. Unfortunately…” Destiny trailed off.
“Exactly. Alec won’t be willing to see reason with it. He can’t believe anyone would turn against the patch.”
“Do the boys know? Know about… Trent?”
“They do know. But they know you. They know that you as a Callaghan would never turn against them.”
“Only two others weren’t on that ride. Drew and—” She tossed her head back behind her in Fabio’s direction.
“And your gut tells you?” Ray asked.
“It’s not Fabio. He’s my right hand. He would never turn against this club. I’ve had my doubts about Drew since I rolled into town and it has nothing against him behind the main vote against me.”
“Former cop turned
outlaw biker. Makes sense.”
“Fabio and I talked about it on the way in. I’ll find out who did this. Who’s truly responsible for Leto’s death. But I don’t think it’s wise to bring the whole club into it right now. Too hot of tempers. You need to keep them reigned in as much as possible.”
Ray nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. Your Uncle Eric is in the back waiting for you.”
Destiny hugged her president and lead Fabio to his father.
****
“Alec is footing the bond bill. Vat and Charlie will be rolling in with him shortly after the rest of the club. I got us rooms at a hotel a few blocks away. They’ve done a half-ass autopsy and will be releasing his body this afternoon. We’re hoping to have him shown tomorrow afternoon and buried the following morning,” Eric said as they joined him and another club elder at a corner table in the back of the club’s main room.
“How’s the unrest? Ray mentioned they’re wanting to head hunt a traitor,” Destiny said.
Rocky nodded. “Leto was like a son to me, Dallas, you know that. The boys want revenge. I don’t know how to keep them calm enough from stirring up a shit storm.”
“We have to try until there is more information available.”
“Who’s going to find that information?” Rocky asked.
“Ray asked me to look into it. He would have asked Houston but he’s not in his right mind. I’ll do what I can without triggering some sort of timed bomb throughout all the charters.”
“I should have known.” Eric nodded to her. “Stephan, son, I don’t want you more than half a step behind her until this shit is settled. I’m not Alec. I’m not blind enough to believe that someone in this club is not a traitor. She needs someone to have her back until this is settled. It’s a possibility that this was just a lucky break by the cops.”
“Could be. Everyone gets lucky every once in a while,” Destiny said.
“I know you wouldn’t give Trent a single piece of information,” Eric started. “But for the moment, stay the hell away from him. Any information needs to be exchanged with him, it goes through Stephan.”
Destiny and Fabio both nodded.
“Nomads!” someone called back into the clubhouse.
“Houston,” Fabio said. Destiny stood. Time to face her brother finally.
Destiny pushed her way to the front of the throng of people as quickly as she could.
Houston was just dismounting his bike and tossing his helmet onto the handlebars when Destiny walked out of the clubhouse.
“Dallas.”
She strode purposely toward her older brother. He opened his arms to take her into a hug. Instantly she changed her mind. She got within a foot of her brother when she reared back and slammed her fist into the side of his face.
Houston staggered but only from the shock, she knew. She didn’t give him the chance to come out of it. She slammed into him again and he took her down with a tackle. They rolled around the hot asphalt. There were a few cheers as she jabbed her elbow into his jaw.
Houston wrapped his arms around her chest in an attempt to just detain her. She fought against him but it was no use.
As always, her older brother was going to win. She could hold her own but not against her brothers. She stopped struggling and hoped she had made her point.
Houston finally released her. Fabio was there and helped both of them to their feet.
“Brother,” Fabio said as he and Houston embraced. “Damn, don’t get that blood on me!”
Destiny looked to see her brother dripping blood from his nose and mouth.
“Glad someone here is glad to see me,” Houston said in his famous southern drawl. Austin had been the quieter of her brothers. More reserved. The thinker. Houston was the doer who had been a ladies’ man and therefore kept the most in practice with thickening his already natural drawl.
“Let’s just say it’s the welcome home you deserve.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.”
“Of fact.”
“Well, little sister. It’s time to set that aside for now. Let’s go have a beer before the mother hens roll in.”
Destiny, Fabio, and Houston gathered around a table outside in the Fort Worth sun.
“God I hate these dark leathers when it gets this hot,” Destiny said, peeling off her cut and tossing it over the back of her chair.
“There’s hotter places,” Houston said, taking a drink of his beer.
“Like Hell. Which is where I suppose you have been,” Destiny sneered.
“Close. Mexico.”
“They let half-bloods like you cross so freely?” Fabio asked of Houston. He had taken more after their mother than their father.
“Hell, it’s still as easy as crossing the state line if you know how to work it.” Houston smiled.
“Great way to lead the Nomads, brother.”
“Everything isn’t all about the club. Sometimes you have to go your own way for a while. I never left like you did.” Houston glared at Destiny.
“What matters is we are together now. We put Leto to rest. Gather ourselves and see where this club goes, where this family goes from there,” Fabio said, slipping an arm around both of his “cousins.”
“So, tell me what’s been going on in the last few weeks,” Houston ordered. Fabio and Dallas exchanged glances. “If the two of you jumped back into bed together already, I don’t need to know it.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Destiny asked.
“Please. I knew about the bike show. I didn’t expect that it would be that long before it happened again with Dallas back in town.”
“It’s not happening,” Destiny assured him.
“Not for lack of trying,” Fabio muttered and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.
“I haven’t got home yet. I’ve been turned down at the table. Drew mainly. Trent’s been pushing to show his dick size and asking a lot of questions that I couldn’t answer even if I wanted to, about you. We had an incident involving the Stomping Grounds, Anastasia, and a Hellion. Now this with Leto. The boys here think there’s a rat in the crew. You know how this is going down. They want to find whoever turned rat and see him punished. They would have you do the investigation but there is the fact you’re off the fucking handle so they’re having me do it.”
“And you have an idea?”
“I do. But it’s going to take a lot of careful tiptoeing around and finding a lot of strong evidence.”
“Drew.”
“How do you know?”
“I have no idea. Ex-cop. Disappeared last night when all this was going down. Besides, I was always uneasy around him. I figured you would pick up on that too. It’s hard to have a brother you can’t trust.”
“I will get to the bottom of this,” Destiny growled. “Me and Fabio. We will find out who tipped off the cops. And they will be punished accordingly.”
“And by standards of the club. It goes before the church. To vote, same as any other treason. If there is a rat, how to deal with him will be voted on by the club,” Houston stressed.
They stopped walking just short of the clubhouse and everyone else. “Like you would do? It didn’t take Trent very long to start insinuating that you were stirring up messes of your own. I would like to find out why it is that he knows so much about what the hell you have been up to when you haven’t been in his territory in months. That you haven’t been talking to me, but no fear, the cop knows what the hell is going on with you apparently.”
“That’s none of your damn business, Dallas.”
“First of all, it is my damn business. Secondly, since when do we keep secrets?”
“I haven’t seen you more than a dozen times in the last few years.”
“And whose fault is that? You find something out, I need to know.”
Houston squared his shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. “That’s for me to decide if you need to know something. You need to keep your distance from this. There’s enough
of us affected, you don’t need to be either.”
“Don’t treat me like I’m some little girl. I don’t need you acting like this. Like you are protecting me. That gets me nowhere with Sweetwater.”
“It’s not that I am treating you like some weak thing. It’s not like I am protecting you.” Houston ran his hands through his hair and groaned. People were staring. Fabio still stood guard to make sure the family reunion wasn’t interrupted. “OK, so I am protecting you. I would have protected Austin the same way. Because if this manages to get two of us, then someone needs to be here to pick up the pieces.”
“But if you don’t let me in, then what happens if it gets you? Then what am I supposed to do? How am I to pick up those pieces if I don’t know what the hell is going on? How am I to fix it?”
“Destiny Dallas … it’s not as bad as you think it is. But if something was to get thick, as things usually do right before the answers start, I need you to be here. Because if we all die then there is nothing to show. Nothing left of us! Nothing of this family! What Dad started! Nothing left! The aunts were right. Maybe you didn’t need in this. Maybe you should have stayed away but I wasn’t going to tell you that. I wasn’t going to keep you away. But I know I lost both parents and my brother. I need you to stay the hell back from this.”
“I need to know who to kill if something happens to you though.”
“If something happens to me, you don’t kill anyone. You stay away. You run this club, you don’t ask questions. You leave Sweetwater chapter if you can and get as far away from Texas as you can. Fabio will take you away from here.”
“No.”
“If something happens to me, Fabio will take you out of here one way or the other and get you to a charter away from us and the mess we were born into. Or out of the life completely, if that means selling the bikes and buying a cage to drive.”
“Why does he need to take me away if you die? You’re not here as it is now.” Destiny lit a cigarette and walked away.
***
Destiny sat drinking at the bar. Mourners came and went. Eric rolled in with Charlie and Vat. No one was hunting yet. No one was fighting, accusing. Just being. Two traitors in almost as many years and now another one in their midst. Was anyone faithful? Loyal? Honest anymore? Even in the midst of outlaws you would expect something better. Honor among thieves, right? Although thieves they weren’t.
The Devils Bastards MC: Destiny Dallas Callaghan Page 11
