“That’s why they’re on the inside I guess,” Jony said.
I turned back around. I felt the knife down in my boot.
“Yeah,” I said. “He slit the back of my neck. It burned. Didn’t go very deep. Which is good. They told me I could have been paralyzed. If he hit nerves or something like that.”
“I’ll pray tonight,” Jony said.
“No prayers,” I said. “They don’t work.” I crouched down and touched my boot. “Then again, maybe I’ll try one.”
My fingers lifted the leg of my jeans.
That’s when I heard a horn.
I looked back and a black unmarked car came barreling into the dirt lot. Both Jony and I had to get out of the way before we were run over by the car. I wished then I still had my gun so I could empty the fucking clip into the windshield.
Things only got worse when I saw who got out of the car.
Detective fucking John.
“Gentlemen,” he called out, another fucking toothpick in his mouth. “Why didn’t I get invited to the party?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Jony growled.
Detective John opened his shirt and showed his badge.
“Jesus Christ,” Jony said. He looked at me. “You brought heat?”
“No, I’m a detective. Not the weather. A detective. That’s spelled… D-E…”
“What the fuck do you want?” Jony yelled.
Detective John reached into his car and pulled out his shotgun. He pointed it at Jony. “Don’t raise your voice with me. That’s a sign of threat. I’ll fucking kill you and then cover it up. Understand?” Detective John looked at the ground. “Is that a sawed off shotgun on the ground? Is that an illegal weapon?”
“Whoa, whoa,” Jony said. “That ain’t mine. Talon brought it.”
“Fuck you,” I said. “My gun is back there on the ground.”
“I guess I should call this in,” Detective John said. “Bring my guys up here. Raid that bar. Strip search on your men. Maybe dig a little in the dirt, see what’s there.”
“Fuck,” Jony said.
“What the hell do you want?” I asked.
“Simple,” Detective John said. “I want you, Talon, to get your bicycle, and ride away with your friends. There’s no wars today. Take the day off. Ease up a little.”
I gritted my teeth.
Detective John wanted me alive.
“Listen to him,” Jony said. “Smart man for a pig.”
Detective John laughed. “Pig. That’s good. Original.”
He then shot at the ground. I swear it had to have been just an inch shy of spraying Jony with pellets from the shotgun shell.
“Holy fuck!” Jony yelled.
“Get out of here,” Detective John said. “Back inside.”
“We’re not done,” I called out to Jony. “I’ll fucking get you for what you did to me.”
Rilen Lost tucked their tails between their pussies and went back into the bar.
Detective John then walked to my handgun and picked it up.
“I’m taking this,” he said. “Precaution.”
“You do that,” I said.
What the fuck did I care? I had two dozen handguns lying around the clubhouse.
Detective John took the toothpick from his mouth. He examined the tip and dropped it to the ground. “You gentlemen ride safe.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“What?” Detective John asked. “I just broke up what could have been something bad. Two rivals guys going at it. Guns. Probably some knives somewhere. Blood. Murder. I stopped all that. Damn, I’m good.” He smiled. “Now, the only other thing I have to do is warn that pretty little woman of yours, Talon, of the danger she’s truly in. The best protection would be from me.”
Detective John got into his car and took off.
He must have been following us the entire time.
I ran to my motorcycle and started it.
“Move!” I yelled.
We had to get back to the clubhouse. There was no fucking way in hell I could let Detective John get to Everly.
My secrets were meant to be mine. I had to keep it that way.
13.
(Talon)
I rode fucking hard and I rode fucking fast. I wanted to be back at the clubhouse. I wanted Everly in my arms. I wanted to hold her and whisper every promise I possibly could into her ear. And then I’d spend the rest of my days making damn sure to keep honest on those promises.
The feeling running through me was like nothing I’d ever felt. Something so real and pure.
Layne kept up with me while the rest of the guys hung back a little.
I looked over at Layne. He looked at me and nodded.
Even something little like that had some purpose to it. There was still respect there. From respect maybe we could find a way to rebuild. It had all just gotten so bad so fucking fast. Time flying. Wars building. The police up our ass on every possible charge they could try to muster up. The clubhouse constantly getting invaded and ransacked. Guys fighting each other out of frustration. Guys getting taken in for no goddamn reason other than to piss us off. It was just things mounting and mounting… and I never thought it would end the way it did.
But I had to do what I had to do. I had to protect Layne. I had to protect Devil Call MC.
I still remember being taken away after it all happened.
The look on Layne’s face. The tears in his eyes. One stray tear running down his cheek. The rest of the guys gathering around him to comfort him. Because I had done the unthinkable. I had killed a woman he loved. Not just a woman… but the woman…
Fuck, I got into the back of the cop car and I lowered my head and cried. I cried like a damn baby. I sobbed for what felt like hours. The two officers in the front of the cruiser, sitting there, saying whatever they wanted to me. Calling me names. Threatening to take pictures and send it to our enemies.
But I ignored them all.
I vowed to myself I would make things right with Layne again. That it would all work out.
That was before prison. Before hard time. Hard months. Harder days and nights. That was before almost getting killed on a daily basis. And that was before learning that my club was falling apart.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been on Layne’s shoulders to take things over while he was grieving, but someone had to do it. Layne should have stepped up and done more.
I tried to think for a second if something were to happen to Everly and I had to stop myself. It filled me with enough rage that I wanted to kill everything, including myself. That meant I cared about Everly.
More so, was that how Layne felt after I did what I did?
What a fucking disaster.
We cruised around a long bend and I spotted the jagged city called Brocke. That was home. That was always home.
Coming out here to start shit with the Rilen Lost was stupid. Part of me needed to do it to show Jony I had lived. That I wasn’t going to be taken down easily. It was going to take skill and balls to kill me and kill Devil Call MC. But part of me wanted to cut Jony’s neck and then have his guys shoot me. Have them really hurt me. To take away the guilt I felt from killing Tommy. That death was on my hands and that bothered me. Whatever was lingering because of it was going to be a real pain in the ass for the MC, but we’d get through it.
I just needed to get through the guilt of it.
I never felt guilt and I never wanted to feel it again.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Buzzy, Kade, and Drave still playing catch up.
It made me smile.
I spotted a black car coming up on them in a hurry.
I had to look forward, but I kept my eyes switching from the open road (fucking freedom, baby) to my mirror to see what was happening.
The black car came up in a real hurry, gaining speed by the second. It then blared its horns and flashed its lights. When the guys didn’t move right away, the car sped up some more. I thought for sure one of them was goi
ng to lose their edge and hit the ground.
They managed to keep their rides standing as they fanned out, letting the car through.
I reached for my gun, ready to shoot the asshole’s tires out. I felt nothing because I had no gun. Detective John had taken my fucking gun.
For a second I thought it was Detective John.
But it wasn’t.
This car was sleeker. Everything black. The paint, the wheels, the windows.
The car moved left to right a few times and then finally cut to the left. They were in the wrong lane, not that there was any traffic. The vehicle sped up some more. I tried to throttle my ride harder. I looked at Layne and shook my head.
What the fuck is this?
Layne reached into his leather cut and drew his gun.
I turned my head to the left, hoping the sight of Layne’s weapon would be enough to scare the asshole away.
The back window on the car went down a few inches.
Before I knew what to think or do, I saw a black dot.
A fucking gun…
I didn’t hear any shots and all I felt was fire.
My left shoulder was thrown back like someone punched me. My motorcycle instantly lost control and traction. I went down to the ground and then the motorcycle was up and over me. I was no longer attached the ride, but we were sliding together on the ground.
I heard the scraping of metal on the ground and then gunshots.
So many gunshots.
I looked up and saw a clear blue sky.
It was so clear. So blue. Such a nice day.
I managed to lift my head. Pain started to settle in, eating up the feeling of fire in a hurry.
I shouldn’t have looked.
There was just blood.
It was me, the road, and blood.
I had been attacked.
I had been shot.
My head fell back against my will. My eyes started to shake, along with the rest of my body. It was the coldest feeling I’d ever felt.
My eyes shut, a goodbye to the beautiful clear blue sky.
My mind… it offered me one more thought before turning black…
Is Everly okay?
14.
(Everly)
I went for a walk. Just like Talon told me to do. It was honestly the only thing I could do to even attempt to clear my mind and not obsess that Talon was out there, somewhere, possibly getting himself hurt. Or hurting - or killing - someone else.
As I started to leave the clubhouse, Austin stopped me at the broken door.
“Where you going?”
“For a walk.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“I didn’t ask if it was,” I said.
Austin smiled. “Cocky now, aren’t you?”
I inched toward Austin. I touched his leather cut and smiled. “Why don’t you go ask Gabel about me being cocky.”
Austin stiffened and swallowed hard. “Yeah. That was some fucked up stuff.”
“Are you going to move out of the way? Or should I kick you in the balls first?”
“Easy now,” Austin said. “Just don’t want you getting hurt out there.”
“So glad you care,” I said. “Where were you when I was getting drunk and getting fucked. Passed around like… like a whore…”
“I don’t control the rules, Everly,” Austin said.
“Oh, I get it then. You just guard the door. Like a dog. A guard dog.”
Austin looked away and then walked away.
I kind of felt like a bitch, but it kind of felt good. Austin had never been inside me, but I held everyone in Devil Call accountable for what happened to me. I blamed Layne the most, but that was a whole different story to sort through in my mind.
Outside, the air was warm and comfortable. The sky was clear and blue. It was a beautiful day. It was almost a deceitful kind of day. The kind of day where it’s too good to be true.
I slowly walked along the compound. That’s what they called it. The compound.
The motorcycles that remained were lined up in perfect order. The sight was cool. It left me feeling protected.
I walked to the gate and pulled at it. I figured it would have been locked, but it wasn’t. The metal groaned as I pulled it open. There was a feeling of freedom that overcame me. I looked back to the clubhouse and knew I could have ran. It was my chance to do it. To get the hell away from Devil Call MC and get away from Talon and Layne. It sounded and felt so wrong, but it was probably the right thing to do. Plus, I was on tape somewhere on tape with Talon while he murdered another man.
“Shit,” I whispered.
I started to walk. I was out of the compound. Each step put distance between me and the Devil Call MC clubhouse. I wasn’t sure if each step added distance between me, Talon, and Layne, but I liked to believe it did.
Maybe with me gone, they could heal. Together. Figure out whatever their problem was. Whatever made Talon kill Layne’s girlfriend.
I killed Layne’s girlfriend.
The words ran through my mind. They kept coming, again and again.
I made it to the corner and I stopped. A few steps back and I was against a brick wall. I took heavy breaths and hugged myself. Shivering, my body thought it was the dead of winter somewhere cold. But it was anything but cold outside.
That’s when I knew I needed Talon.
Murderer or whatever, he was the only one that made me feel safe and alive. Layne could protect me. He could be the big, strong brotherly kind of figure, but Talon was everything. Talon… he meant everything.
And I couldn’t just go without answers, all the answers, like I had wanted before.
My walk quickly became a short lived one. Being outside the clubhouse and the compound did nothing for me. A wandering mind like mine was dangerous. Hell, that’s what got me wrapped up with the MC to begin with.
I started to walk back toward the compound. I kept hugging myself.
From the corner of my eye I caught sight of a black car approaching. Something inside me just knew that car was coming for me. So I started to run. Of course, a person versus a car, that’s always a mismatch.
The black car sped up and cut right in front of me.
I had no choice but to stop.
The door flew open and out came Detective John. He tore a pair of sunglasses from his face.
“Please,” I said. “I don’t know anything.”
“Yeah, bullshit,” he said. “I’m not here for that right now. Trust me, there’s plenty I could tell you. Shit that would make you cry, throw up, and then run for the rest of your life. Shit that would make you wish you could kill all these memories you’re making.”
“Then what do you want?” I asked.
“I need Talon… and Talon needs you… so that means I need you.”
Detective John reached for me. I backed up.
“Whoa,” he said. “Fuck, Everly, listen to me. You need to come with me right now.”
“Go with you? Are you fucking kidding…”
“I just got a call,” Detective John said. “It’s about Talon. He’s… he’s been shot. He took three bullets and dropped his motorcycle. He’s en route…”
The world spun. I looked up and the sky was still clear and beautiful.
Why the fuck was it like that?
Darkness… it’s a strange thing. Sometimes it’s just worse on the inside.
I looked back to Detective John and he said something. I didn’t hear it. I just fell forward.
Please don’t let Talon die…
And then, well, there was darkness… everywhere.
The DEVIL CALL MC series will continue soon… don’t miss a single book!
Don’t miss out on *new releases* *excerpts* *cover reveals* and some great *contests* … sign up for the *official* Ana W. Fawkes newsletter RIGHT NOW: http://eepurl.com/ADM0j
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other na
mes, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First electronic edition January 2015
Copyright © 2014 by Ana W. Fawkes
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form.
PIECES LOST (A Devil Call MC Book) (Talon & Everly Book Two) (Devil Call MC - Talon & Everly 2) Page 8
