She felt him come up behind her and wrap his big arms around her waist. “What ya looking at baby?”
“I just wanted to look at the stars.” Turning her head, she smiled. “Thank you for the birthday party. I don’t think I’ve had one since I was about four.”
Raine frowned. “What? Why not?”
She shrugged. She didn’t want to tell him the real reason she hadn’t had a birthday celebration in the last twenty years. Her fingers tightened on the necklace.
“Why baby?” he insisted quietly.
Cricket turned and stared out at the stars. “Just before I turned five, my mom was really sick. She fought for her life for over a year but the treatment didn’t work. It was on my birthday when I was six that Cordy killed her. After that, my dad never remembered this day with anything but pain.”
“Cordy never remembered your birthday?”
Cricket rolled her eyes. “Cordy didn’t remember anything that wasn’t about her. She never celebrated Dusty’s birthday either and she was his mother.” Looking out as the dawn came up over the horizon. “I guess that’s why me and Dusty made this our tradition. We did this on our birthdays and it was a very special time we looked forward to. This was ours and ours alone.” She looked up at him. “That’s why I told your family about this tradition when they took him back to Maine. I wanted him to have a little bit of me left in his life, even if I couldn’t be there.”
“I don’t think you got anything to worry about with Dusty.” Raine assured her. “I don’t think that boy will ever forget his aunt.”
“At least, I know he’s safe. Bane can never know about him, please promise me that. No matter what happens tomorrow, please promise me you’ll keep that boy safe from Bane.”
Raine hugged her close. “We will darlin’. He’s a Moore. The whole family will protect him. That’s one thing you won’t ever have to worry about.”
Cricket leaned back into his arms. “Thank you for the wedding.” She chuckled. “I certainly never expected that. Even if it isn’t legal, it’s still special to me. You’ve made this a birthday I’ll never forget.”
“What makes you think the wedding wasn’t legal?” Raine asked her. “We are legally married in the eyes of the law and the club.”
She turned her head to stare at him. “Deacon has the power to marry people? He’s a real minister?”
Raine nodded. “He is and he does. You really are my wife.”
She smiled. “Wow…Cool.”
Raine held up his left hand and stared at the ring he wore. “How did you get your dad’s wedding band?”
“I took it the day we buried him. I didn’t tell Cordy that I had it or she would have sold it but I wanted just a little piece of him. My mother gave Cordy and I these necklaces before she died but I didn’t have anything from my dad. I hope you don’t mind?”
“I don’t mind at all. I told you that. Your dad did the best he could.”
“Yeah,” she agreed sadly. “He just seemed to lose himself after Mom died. He was never the same and sometimes, he remembered he had kids but most of the time he forgot us.”
“I don’t think he forgot you, he just couldn’t deal with the fact his wife was gone. She was his life and then she wasn’t. Some men can’t handle that well.”
“What did Bane mean when he told Deke one of the men got away?”
“Bane has been watching the compound. The man who shot you was caught and questioned. He admitted that two others came here with him. Bane caught one of the men but the other man got away from him.”
Cricket began to shake. “So if he got to a phone, he would be able to call Stark and tell him where I am.” Raine didn’t have to agree or disagree. She knew. “I had hoped he wouldn’t come here. I was hoping the MC would be safe. They had nothing to do with this mess.”
“Neither did you.” He pointed out. “This is all on Cordy.”
“And she isn’t here to give a shit who she hurts by her stupidity.” Cricket shook her head. “This is typical of what she’s done over the years. No one else mattered. Not Hammer, not Dad or Mom, not even Dusty. Certainly not me. She used people all her life and still she couldn’t be content with what she had. She always wanted more. I remember the day she came home and said she found Deke. She was so excited and raging at the same time. You see Deke didn’t wait for her to grow up. He found a new life without her and she just couldn’t see that he never loved her. In her mind, he should have waited for her.”
“She was just plain crazy.” Raine shook his head.
Cricket shrugged. “My mom explained it to me once. She said it wasn’t really Cordy’s fault. She said there was just something missing in her DNA. She was more like her father than anyone realized. You see Bane can’t feel emotions either. He never loved my mother even after he married her. But he did want her and what she wanted didn’t matter to him. He’d already told my mom that the day he no longer wanted her, he would set her free. She didn’t think he meant to just let her go though, she thought he always meant to kill her. To his mind that would be setting her free.”
“Damn,” Raine whispered in shock. “No wonder she ran away from him.”
She shook her head. “No she ran away because she fell in love with my dad and he loved her back. If she hadn’t been in love with him, she never would have left Bane. She was that afraid of the man. She’d run away once and he found her and brought her back. He almost beat her to death that time, so she knew if she ever ran again, she’d better stay gone.”
“Stark needs to die but your uncle needs to die too.” Raine seethed. “The world would be a better place without either of them.”
Cricket shook her head. “Wishing someone dead is bad enough, taking another life is wrong no matter what, unless it’s self-defense it’s just wrong. No matter what the man has done.”
“I know baby, I know but neither of these men are worth your thoughts.”
“I know I was hoping that I’d never see Bane again. I thought I could trust his word but now I know I can’t.” Cricket took a deep breath. “And now we have to live a lifetime in one day.”
“You know we probably shouldn’t leave the compound don’t you?” he reminded her.
“I know.” She nodded. “But everyone we care about is right here with us.”
CHAPTER NINE
Cricket stood there in Raine’s arms and watched the new day’s dawn breaking. When the sun was past the horizon, she turned to go back inside but stopped when she saw a man standing at the edge of the woods beyond the fence staring at them.
She thought at first he was Bane but Raine’s sudden breath told her otherwise. When she looked closer, she saw the man was leaner and dirtier than Bane. His long hair was greasy and blew in the slight breeze. His eyes were too far away to see clearly but his body language told of his rage clearly.
“Do you know him?” she asked Raine.
“Not yet, but I will,” he vowed angrily. He turned and dragged her back inside and slammed the door. He went directly over to Deke. “We have a visitor other than Bane. He was standing at the edge of the woods as bold as brass.”
Deke’s lips tightened and his whole body stiffened with rage. “Fuck this shit.” He looked around and chose a half a dozen men.
They were all armed and rushed outside to find the man and bring him back for questioning.
A short time later, gunshots rang out.
Cricket began to shake as they waited for the men to come back. It took forever for the front door to open.
Mountain and Bones dragged the man inside and dumped him on the floor in front of Deke. The man sported a gunshot wound in his shoulder and was bleeding all over the floor.
The women were all gathered in the kitchen, except for Cricket. She stood in the safety of Raine’s embrace.
When the man on the floor looked up, he glared at her.
“Who the fuck are you?” Deke demanded.
“They call me Pound,” the man growled.
&nb
sp; “Why are you here?”
“I’m looking for a woman.”
“Why?” Deke asked.
“Because my president wants her fucked up, if it’s any business of yours.” Pound glared at him.
“Why what did she do to your president?”
“She fucked him over but good. Even sent him to prison,” Pound told them.
“But I had nothing to do with that!” Cricket cried out.
“Who the fuck are you bitch?” Pound asked.
“I’m Cricket.”
“The fuck you are.” Pound shook his head. “You aren’t anything like the real Cricket. She was a real bitch.”
“That was Cordy. I’m Cricket.”
Pound frowned as he continued to glare at her. “I’m looking for a woman named Cricket but she ain’t you.”
“Cordy is dead. She’s been dead for a few months now,” Cricket informed Pound.
“Who the fuck is this Cordy chick you keep talking about?”
“She’s the one you think is me. And she died about four months ago.”
“Fuck, that ain’t gonna make Stark happy. He wanted to be the one to end her.” He sighed. “After he found out where she hid the money, that is.” Then he paused and glared at her. “Do you know where the money is?”
Cricket just glared at him without saying a word.
“Damn girl.” Pound shook his head. “You do know where it is, don’t ya?”
“What makes you think there’s any money left? It has been four years?” she asked him.
“There better be money left.” Pound snarled. “Stark is pissed enough the way it is. If the money is all gone, he’ll tear this club apart and leave nothing but the nails in the walls.”
“He would declare war on us over some bitch?” Deke demanded.
“He’s got four years of prison to work off.” Pound shook his head wincing as the movement hurt his shoulder. “He don’t care who gets in his way. He’ll take them down and not worry about it.”
“Your president is gonna get his club killed over nothing. Does he realize that?” Bones stated.
Pound snorted. “Tell me about it. He’s going fuckin off the grid. He really wants blood and nothing is going to satisfy him but that.” He looked up at Cricket. “He’d even settle for your blood. She was your sister after all.”
“Well, he isn’t going to get it.” Raine growled.
“If one of us doesn’t make it back, he’ll come looking for us.” Pound got a calculating look in his eye. “He’ll go through all of you to get to her.”
Deke looked at his men then back to Pound. “Not if we get to him first.”
“Fuck, you guys are nuts.” He shook his head. “If this is all the men you got, Stark isn’t even going to notice you knocking on the front door.”
“This isn’t all we got boy.” Deke stood tall. “We got Sin’s Bastards, Sinners out of Boston, Bastards out of Maine and so much more than that if we need them.”
“Sure you do,” Pound rolled his eyes.
“My name is Sam Tory, the Bastards was my club,” Bones stated.
“I’m Iceman and the Sinner’s was my club,” Iceman called out.
“My name is Mountain and my club was the Son’s of Satan out of Texas. I’m sure you’ve heard of us.” Mountain called out softly. “I’m sure if I called them they’d love a field trip.”
As each man called out, Pound grew paler. Looking around the room, he saw their faces.
Deke knelt beside Pound and told him, “Your president sent you as a declaration of war. He called this, we didn’t. We don’t want this but we won’t run from it either. For every man he sent out, he declared war of every MC he sent them to. You knew you were dead men the moment you left your club. You had to know that.”
Pound hung his head. Then he lifted it and looked at Deke. “Yeah, we knew but he gave the order. He’s supposed to be our leader and he gave us a fuckin order.”
Deke shook his head. “If he told you to blow your head off would you do it? You’re supposed to be a grown man. Grown men think for themselves.”
“You don’t know Stark. He was just this side of crazy before he went in the joint, when he came out… something had snapped inside his head. Now if we question his orders, he just puts a bullet in our head.” Pound shook his head. “That’s how Chico bought it. He questioned Stark’s order to fan out and find this Cricket bitch and Stark put a bullet in his head. He just walked over and shot him with no warning at all. No one questioned him after that.” He looked over at Cricket and grinned. “Or whatever the fuck her name was.”
“We need to know if you called him and told him she was here.” Deke stared hard at him.
Pound shook his head. “When the old dude got Scooter earlier, Crank and I took off. He went one way and I went the other way. I lost him then had to come back to see what happened to him. I never found him then your men found me.”
Deke nodded. “By the way, did you know Stark put the money up as payment for the hit? He said whatever was left of the eight million dollars was the fee for Cricket’s life.”
Pound stared at him. “That don’t sound right. Stark wants that money almost as much as he wants her dead.” He nodded at Cricket. Then he shrugged. “Stark would have killed the shooter and got the money back that way. Killing a man wouldn’t bother Stark.”
“Do you know the name Bane Jessin?”
Pound groaned. “Yeah, I think everybody know that psycho’s name. Why? What’s he got to do with this?”
“Bane took the contract on Cricket,” Deke told him. “I don’t think Stark would have gotten the money back from Bane, do you?”
“Oh, fuck.” Pound swore quietly. Then he looked around fearfully. “Is Jessin here?”
“He’s around outside, in the woods. He’s the one who shot Scooter and who we think got Crank.”
“Son of a bitch.” Pound swore.
Deke snickered. “Oh, and Cricket is his niece. The real Cordy was his own fuckin daughter. Think about that for a minute before you wet your pants.” Deke got to his feet and walked away from the man on the floor. He went over to where Raine and Cricket were standing.
Cricket gave him a dirty look. “You know Bane doesn’t care a fig about being my uncle. Family means nothing to that man.”
Deke gave her a look. “I know this and you know that and every man here knows it too, but Pound has no fuckin clue and that might work to our advantage. Right now, we need all the help we can get.”
The other men joined them.
Deke looked around the room at them. “Stark has declared war on us and on every MC between us in just about every direction. He wants blood and he thinks if someone else kills Cricket, he’ll still get the money back. Of course, that means the shooter will have to die too, but Pound doesn’t think that will bother Stark over much.”
“So are we going to war or what?” Deacon asked.
“That will depend of what Bane does tomorrow,” Deke declared.
“Yeah, we all know how that’s going to go, don’t we?” Mountain growled.
Every man nodded but with Cricket standing right there, they didn’t want to say the words.
She pushed away from Raine’s embrace and went to the kitchen where the rest of the women were waiting. Cassie wrapped her in a hug and just held her. Cricket cried on her shoulder for a moment then raised her head. “I don’t want this. I don’t want this thing going to war.”
“Honey, we know that,” Cassie assured her. “They don’t want this either but when push comes to shove, they will defend their territory with their lives if that’s what is called for.” She shrugged. “That’s the kind of men they are. That’s what we love about them. They will put their lives on the line to protect what’s theirs.”
Everyone in the club heard the single shot as it rang out from somewhere in the woods beyond the fence.
The women screamed and ducked for cover as they were unaware of where the shot had come from. When there
was no second shot, they all got to their feet and looked around in confusion.
Everyone rushed forward and they all watched in stunned horror as the man named Pound slammed down to the ground. The shot had taken half his face. Blood poured from the wound and he was left staring at the sky with dead empty eyes. He must have escaped…or tried to.
Cricket gasped and tried to get to the front of the line of men standing in the doorway but Raine held her back. Wrapping his huge arms around her he held her close to him. Deke and the others rushed over to the door. They looked down at the man lying there then looked towards the woods.
Bane came out of the shadows and just stared at them for a moment before turning and disappearing back into the shadows. He still had the smoking rifle in his hands.
Deke glanced at Mountain and Bones then nodded at the body.
Both men grabbed one of Pound’s arms and hauled him away.
Iceman went to the kitchen, grabbed the bucket and mop. Filling the bucket with water, he carried it over to the doorway he began mopping up the mess.
Deke urged the women back to the kitchen.
No one spoke until Cricket turned her head from where it was planted in Raine’s chest to look at Deke. “Why? Why would Bane shoot him?”
Deke shook his head. “I don’t know. And I’m not sure I want to know.”
“Does that mean he’s coming for me sooner than tomorrow?” She could barely whisper the words.
Deke shrugged. “I don’t know. I won’t lie to you but I just don’t know what he’s up to. I don’t think Pound was able to get word to Stark about you’re being here but that won’t stop Stark from checking in with the men he sent here. I don’t know how he runs his club but I do know I wouldn’t just send my men out without checking with them.” He thought for a moment then added, “We need to know a count of the men he’s got left with him.”
“Do you think Stark would come here?”
“I don’t know but I will tell you this, Reaper from the Hellspawn MC called me early this morning. He found two men watching his compound. They were Dragon’s. Let’s just say Reaper wasn’t happy about it and leave it at that.”
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