by A. Lynn
“What do you mean?”
“She turned up pregnant and that was when she threw in his face that she was fucking another man.”
“Wait… is Waverly Dec’s?”
“No. She tried to act like he was because—according to her—they had never stopped sleeping together. But Dec swore that he stopped sleeping with her a long time before she found out about the baby.”
“And you believed him?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Is there a DNA test to say who the daddy is? I assume Dec and Shadow, both, got tested?”
“Shadow took one, but Dec refused to take one because he didn’t want to give her claims any validation.”
“You know that his refusing validates them, right?”
“I don’t know and I don’t really care. Shadow’s test proved he was the father and that is all that matters.”
“So, that’s why you fought her? You think she was lying on Dec?”
“A lie like that can mean life or death in the MC world.”
“I understand and respect that, but I am having a hard time believing it was all a lie. You’re his mother, Stella. If there is anyone he is going to lie to get himself out of trouble with, it’s you.”
“I know that, Rea, I really do. But I will always go to bat for my children. Even if it’s over something stupid or illegal. They’re my babies and I will always stand behind them.”
“I get it. I would do unspeakable things to protect Jordan and our Peanut. But what I won’t do is lie to myself over what they did or what they are capable of doing.”
“I know, but I feel so much better when I lie to myself.”
“Since we are on the topic, can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“How do you feel about Dec giving Cleo the stuff to drug Crow?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure. I only just found out about it the day before yesterday. I’m still processing.”
“That’s fair.”
“How do you feel about it?”
“Like I want to beat his ass.”
“That’s fair,” she parrots.
“So what did you come up here to tell to me about Crow?”
“The only thing that I know is that there was an explosion at the Rippers’ clubhouse—“
I gasp. “No,” I whisper.
She grabs my hand and squeezes until I make eye contact. “No. He is fine but he lost a couple of brothers. I came to see if I could take Jordan because Crow is going to need you when he gets out of Church.”
“Yeah, okay. J, baby? Do you want to have a sleepover with Nana and Pop?”
“YES! I’s get my’s stuffs,” he crows as he runs out of the room.
“You want to take some movies with you, baby?”
“I’s gets dem, Moma.”
“Thank you, Rea.”
“Stop it, we’re family,” I say just as she rounds the table and pulls me into a tight hug.
“That’s exactly what we are. I love him so much and I can’t wait for this one,” she says placing her hand on my belly. “I hope it’s a girl!”
I laugh. “Don’t let Jordan hear you say that. He threatened my stomach earlier that it best not be a she.”
“Why?” She chuckles.
“I’m not sure. He just said that boys are better because he will have a playmate. Then I reminded him that he spent time playing with Waverly, and all he said was that she was different. And then proceeded to tell me that she is his girlfriend.”
“That boy is something else.”
“I know, right?!”
“I wonder what he meant that she was different, though?”
“I don’t know. He’ll tell me when he is ready.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Oh, hey, I wanted to talk to you about,” I pause and look over my shoulder to make sure J isn’t in the room, “going to my house for Christmas this coming week.”
“I don’t know if that is a good idea.”
“The construction is done at my house, so it will be perfectly safe. I am going to talk to Crow about it tonight or tomorrow and I just wanted to extend the invitation to you, Colt, and Skylar. Should I invite Dec? I don’t know the rules here.”
“If Crow and Colt have no issue with it then I have no issue. And on the Dec front, you can invite him if you want, but it has been radio silence for the last month or so. But since he walked away, I don’t know what to do either. Maybe ask Crow and see how he feels about it and then make a decision after that. I can say for certain that Colt won’t care if he is there. Neither will I for that matter, but I also don’t want any of my children to think that I am choosing one over the other. Colt and I can do Christmas with him later.”
“Okay, I will talk to Crow about it and let you know what he is thinking.”
“You ready, Nieto?”
“I’s gettin’ some moobies, Nana. I’s be wight outs.’ Stella chuckles.
I turn to see what’s funny and all I can see is J’s little tush bouncing up and down as he backs into the room, struggling with an overstuffed bag. “You needs some help with that, baby?”
“I’s gots it, Moma.”
“Do you need all that stuff for one night?”
He shrugs. “I’s don’ know, MiMi gots all my’s stuffs.”
“It’s fine, Rea. When we can go back home, we’ll get all your stuff for our house, too.”
“Dats good, Nana. Dis is heavy. Good ting I have muskles,” he says dropping the strap to his bag so he can give us a gun show.
“Dang, Nieto! You got a permit for those things?”
I fold at the waist with giggles while Jordan—bless his heart—tilts his head in confusion. “Huh? Whas dat?”
“It’s just a joke, baby.”
“I wasn’t joking, those muscles are weapons and need to be registered!”
“You’s siwwee, Nana. Deys onwy weapons when I's hi-ya with dems.”
“Why don’t you let me carry your bag so you can give Moma hugs and kisses,” Stella says with a smile.
“Otay, Nana. Kiss kiss, Moma?”
“Absolutely,” I say picking him up from the floor. “I’m going to miss you, baby.”
He places his hands on my cheeks and whispers, “You’s wan’ me’s to stay?”
“No, baby. I want you to go and have a sleepover with Nana and Pop.”
He nods, looking relieved, and wraps his arms around my neck. “I’s woves you’s, Moma.”
“I love you. Be good for Nana and Pop, okay?”
“I’s will, pwomise.”
“You ready now, Nieto?”
“Yeah, Nana. Wet’s bwow dis popysicy stand.”
Chapter 9
Crow
“What the hell happened out there?!” Roen demands.
“Calm the fuck down. You are here as a courtesy, nothing more. You are not a part of this MC, Roen, you chose your path a long time ago,” Gunner booms. “I understand—”
“You understand? You? I’m the one who is going to have to cover up two dead bodies!”
“You don’t have to do a fucking thing! No one knows what happened out there today but us and we sure as hell aren’t going to say anything about it. When we bury Axe’s dad, they’ll get buried, too.”
“You think that makes it okay? There will be someone asking questions that we won’t be able to answer. This is not going to end well.”
“The only person that will ask questions is Unit’s mother and she is on her way here now. We didn’t cause this, Roen, stop acting as if we did.”
“You certainly didn’t help the fucking situation any, either.”
“You better watch your fucking mouth, Sheriff. I don’t like the way you’re speaking to Gunner,” Moose threatens. “I don’t give a fuck about how far back y’all’s friendship goes, either. Show some fucking respect when you are in the room.”
“Look—“ Roen starts.
“No, you look. I’m not going to sa
y it again. We went out there to try and get Harley and your sister back. If you want to be a dick about things, you should have never come to us. I don’t like for women to be hurt, which is why I will always stand at Gunner’s back but make no mistake, this mission is to bring Harley home. Your sister is an added complication,” Moose finishes, causing a chorus of ‘ayes’ to fill the air.
The wind leaves his sails at that. He drops into a chair and looks at Gunner. “He’s right, Gun. I shouldn’t have acted like that when I was the one to come to you for help. I just want my sister back; she all I got, man,” he rasps through an obvious lump in his throat. I respect that, if it was Skylar I would lose my shit.
I don’t know how Gunner is doing it, though. It’s a widely known “secret” that Gunner has been over the fucking moon for Harley since we were kids. It seems everyone knows but Harley. If it was Reagan, I would burn the world to ashes until I found her.
I have to admit, I’m surprised by the display Moose just put on, or maybe I’m surprised that I’m surprised. Moose is a brother and I trust him, but I trusted Dec and Cash, too. He has never given me a reason to question his loyalty but I have never really seen him as much more than one of my little brother’s best friends. I need to get my shit together.
What I need is a stiff drink then to be buried balls deep in Reagan and not come up for air until this unsettling suspicion is abated.
“Does anyone else need a drink?” I throw out to the room, much to Axle’s displeasure—if the scowl on his face is anything to go by. “Don’t look at me like that, Axle, I watched two of my brothers get blown up today. I deserve a fucking drink.”
“I could use one, too. Call Motherfucker and have him bring in a couple of bottles of Jack and glasses for everyone,” Gunner agrees.
“You got it,” I say, getting up from the table to get my phone from the basket to send a text to Motherfucker. When I pick it up and open it there is already a couple of messages waiting for me.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Did you find what you were looking for?
UNKNOWN NUMBER: **Multimedia message**
Me: Bring 2 fifths of Jack and enough glasses to the chapel. Beers, too.
Motherfucker: You got it. Does Roen want something?
“Roen, Motherfucker wants to know if you want something?”
“I wish you guys wouldn’t call him that. But no, I’m not staying much longer.”
“That’s the name he chose, Roen. We don’t normally let brothers and prospects pick, but it was too damn good to pass up,” Axle chuckles.
Me: He doesn’t want anything.
I slip my phone into my pocket and head back to the table. When I am seated again, I stare holes in Gunner’s face until he looks at me and cocks his head to the side. I subtly nod in Roen’s direction and mouth, ‘get rid of him’. He still looks confused, so I mouth it to him again.
This is getting nowhere and I’m starting to get pissed. We need to have a lip-reading seminar in this bitch. ASAP.
He must be getting pissed, too, because he yells, “A word, Crow?”
“You got it, Prez,” I say and rise from the table with Axle following.
When we are in the farthest corner away from the table, Gunner demands in a hushed tone, “What the fuck is it, Crow?”
“I said to get rid of Roen.”
“What’s up?” Axle asks.
“When I was texting Motherfucker about the drinks, two messages were waiting for me,” I say, getting my phone out of my pocket and handing it over.”
“Did you get what you were looking for? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Axle asks.
“If I had to guess… probably the explosion at their clubhouse,” Gunner supplies. “Why do you keep getting these messages, though?”
“I don’t know. I keep asking myself the same thing but I keep coming up blank.”
“Well, we need to get Roen out of here so we can watch the message,” Axle states.
“That’s the plan,” Gunner says, walking back to the table. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about, Ro?”
“Not right now. Keep me posted, yeah?”
“You got it. Tex, will you show him out and let whoever is working the bar know that I am expecting Unit’s mother.”
Tex just nods and walks out of the chapel with Roen following him.
“What’s with the private in the corner?” Pop asks.
“Einstein, get Crow’s phone and set it up on the TV,” Gunner directs. “It seems that someone left a couple of messages on Crow’s phone since Roen’s been in here. Crow was trying to tell me to get Roen out of here so he could share them.”
“What do the messages say?” Moose follows up.
“One says ‘did you find what you were looking for?’,” I answer.
“What does that mean?” Pop ponders aloud.
“And the second message?” Shadow asks.
“It’s a video, so we are going to wait until Tex gets back—“
“Ask and you shall receive, Gun,” Tex says while swaggering back in the room. “I just stopped at the bar to give Motherfucker a hand.”
“Finally,” Gunner grouses as Motherfucker starts to hand the drinks out. “Just set them down, we can serve ourselves.”
“You got it, Prez,” Motherfucker mumbles before dashing out the door.
“Get your drinks so we can watch the video,” Gunner states, pouring himself a solid three fingers of Jack.
Pouring myself two fingers and grabbing a beer, I plant my ass in my seat facing the TV, already knowing I’m about to watch my brothers get blown up for the second time in twenty-four hours. I just shake my head and force a drink past the knot in my throat that’s threatening to choke the life out of me.
When did shit get so fucked up? How did shit get so fucked up?
“What video are we watching?” Tex asks.
“It was sent to Crow’s phone,” Moose replies.
“A video? Who’s it from?”
“That’s what we are about to find out,” Axle snaps.
“Christ, Axe, why don’t you put your fucking purse down and chill the fuck out? I was just asking a fucking question.”
“A question that was already fucking answered!”
“He wasn’t in the room, Axle, calm down,” Gunner demands. “You ready, Einstein?”
“Whenever you are.”
“Then play it.”
When the video starts to play, it is a slanted view, not centered on the front of the clubhouse. It’s like the camera is mainly focused on where we are taking cover in the trees and the clubhouse is in the background. After a minute or so, Unit and Rock come walking out of the trees, crouched low and checking each other’s six.
The vantage point of the camera changes as our brothers get closer to the building. When they appear to be about fifty feet from the steps leading to the front door, a pain-drenched scream fills the air surrounding the Rippers’ clubhouse and the chapel that we are currently sitting in. Without a second thought, Rock and Unit fly up the steps to the entryway of the building determined to save the woman who owns that blood-curdling scream—to save Harley.
The second they clear the steps and are rushing the front door, an earth-shaking boom erupts from within the structure that blows Unit and Rock flying from the porch. Then the camera starts bouncing and the picture gets clearer because the motherfucker is moving closer, while Gunner and the rest of us come charging out of the copse of trees in a mad dash to get to our brothers.
“FUCK!” I hear myself scream as I drop my head to his chest, allowing a few tears to escape. I look up and make eye contact with Gunner but he just shakes his head. “What do we do? Call 911? They’re going to ask questions we can’t answer.”
“Call Axle, tell him to bring my truck. We will just give them a proper burial at the clubhouse. Rock doesn’t have anyone, but Unit’s mom needs to be told. That should wait until we are home and can do it in person though.”
“I wond
er if there are any more bombs rigged to the structure?”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re not going to find out.”
“Gun—”
“No, Crow. These bastards have taken too many lives from us the last couple of days.”
“I know.”
“They knew we would come here and set us up. Harley isn’t here, she probably never was. They probably won’t be back either. So it’s back to the drawing board for us.”
The video ends with a low but maniacal cackling.
“That was brutal,” Shadow says.
“Didn’t get any easier seeing it a second time,” comes from Tex.
“Did you expect it to? Our brothers were blown up today, man,” I snap.
“No, but—“
“But what?”
“Fuck, Crow, I don’t know!”
“How did someone have a clear shot of the club and where you were without any of you seeing them?” Axle asks. “No one saw anyone?”
“There was no one to be seen. We scouted and there was no one around,” Gunner replies.
“There was someone there. Did they get there after you?” Pop asks.
“We would have heard them,” I reason.
“Maybe someone was planted deeper in the woods?” Moose suggests.
“It’s possible. Maybe they walked up after we arrived.” I reply.
“Then how would they know you would be there?” Horse asks.
“That’s the million-dollar question. Is it possible we have a leak somewhere?” Moose asks, drawing all the eyes in the room. “It’s not fucking me!”
Gunner starts to answer when there is a knock on the door and Easy gets up to answer.
“Tell the Prez that Ms. Addams is here to see him.”
“We’ll continue this tomorrow. Get some food and some rest. Meeting adjourned,” he says smacking the gavel on the table and heading for the door.
As the brothers file out of the chapel, Moose stops me. “You got a second, Crow?”
“What’s up?” I ask stepping back into the room.
“Don’t get pissed, I am just telling you my opinion. It could be completely out of pocket, but I just wanted you to know what I was thinking.”
