by Nikki Wild
I tried to edge around the end of the bar to see what was going on. I barely pulled back before the little cover I had exploded into a mess of splinters.
There was another assault on my position but I rode it out. After the last bullet was fired, I swung my Glock over the bar top and unloaded.
I was firing randomly to back them off, but the cry of pain that followed my last trigger pull told me I’d dropped somebody.
Across the room, Stitch was crouched behind an overturned table. When two more ran through the open, he popped up and put them down.
We may have been outnumbered, but we had the skill and experience. Most of the guys Sly and Dirty brought into the fold were nothing more than small-time crooks looking to get in on something big.
“What happened to Sly?”
Crazy was the only one close enough to talk to.
“I think he went outside, man. I dunno. James is down!”
Shit!
We couldn’t afford to lose anybody.
“Can you hold it down? I’m going after him!” I yelled.
“Yeah. On three. I’ll cover you!”
He made the signal with his hand. On three, he jumped up to lay down cover as I sprinted for the door. It was the first time I really felt the gash in my side. There was a lot of blood, but not enough yet to worry. If I started to feel lightheaded, I knew the reaper would be on the doorstep.
It took a minute for my eyes to adjust back to the darkness. There wasn’t a sound. Too quiet.
He tackled me from behind. With a running start, Dirty caught me off balance and sent us both flying off the front porch. Our combined weight came down right on my injury.
Blinding pain ripped through me. My body felt like giving out. It wanted to shut down to avoid the pain. But my mind was strong… in fact, it was amped. Because, I finally had my hands on the wormy little bastard who started all of this.
We rolled in the dirt, first him on top, and then me. He clutched at my neck as I rained down punches toward his head. He moved from side-to-side and rolled his shoulders to avoid my shots. And for the most part he did.
I wrapped my hand around his throat and leaned on it with everything I had. He flailed at my face, and if his thumb hadn’t raked my eye, I would have held the choke until he went out.
I had to release him to swat his hand away. Dirty pushed off with both knees against my chest, rolling me away of him. We both stood and squared our shoulders to each other. I avoided touching my side so he wouldn’t notice the debility.
“Woooo,” he screeched. “I’ve been waitin’ to fuck you up for a long time, boy. Just like I fucked your girl earlier tonight.”
I dug my feet into the ground and got ready to attack.
“What do you think about that, motherfucker?” he yelled.
“You have a tell,” I growled.
We were circling each other.
“What the fuck is the supposed to mean?”
“It means the corner of your eye twitches when you lie.”
I grinned and he charged.
I swung the punch in time with the pace of his footsteps. Everything I had went behind my fist. It connected just beneath his jawline. I knew he was out before he hit the ground.
Dirty sprawled at my feet, a broken and battered man. If there wasn’t a woman I wanted to keep in my life, I would have put two in the back of his head and been done with him forever. But killing a defenseless man, no matter how low he was, did something to you. I didn’t want that to creep up in our future together.
Two shots rang out.
Those definitely came from outside.
Jared was out there somewhere, and Sly was hunting him.
I followed the sound around the corner of the building, thankful of the shadows as I glanced over my shoulder and saw the SWAT team pouring into the main doors. Lights came on from half a dozen vehicles, the flashing red and blue illuminating the parking lot and blazing against the tree line. We were all in some deep shit here…
Turning away from the cops, I pushed myself into a full sprint… But what I saw next sent a shiver down my spine.
Jared and Adeline were backed up against the shed and Sly had his pistol leveled right at them.
26
Adeline
Jared explained it all in such a rush that I only caught bits and pieces. He said something about going in to help Hale. He said he needed to get the gun.
I had to grab ahold of his arm and drag my feet just to slow him down.
When he’d calmed enough to talk to me, it was too late.
The first two shots went flying just over head. By the time we found the source, there was no chance to run. It was the man from inside. The one who slapped me for talking back. The one who was in charge of all of this. The one they called “Sly.”
He pointed his big gun at us and told us to back up slowly.
“Shit, you two made this a much bigger pain in the ass than it should have been. I knew your sorry ass went to the cops!”
“I’m here. You’ve got me, so let her go,” said Jared.
“I don’t think so kid. I’ve got dead bodies lying all over this property because of you. Those pigs are taking down the whole fucking club. Two more bodies aren’t gonna make a difference.”
“She doesn’t know anything. You don’t need her,” he pleaded.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” said Sly. “I need her to suffer.”
He swung his gun toward me as Jared leapt. Everything slowed down. I saw the barrel spit fire and I heard the earth-shattering sound. I saw Hale… I saw him round the corner and lock eyes on us just as the gun went off.
I saw Jared’s body take the bullet that was meant for my chest.
When my brother spun in the air and came crashing down at my feet, everything went back into real time.
“Jared… no!” I shrieked.
His shirt was drenched in blood. It looked like the bullet hit just below his shoulder.
I looked up just in time to see Sly fix his gun on me again. Another crackling shot pierced the night. But this time, Sly fell.
The hole in his heart was big enough to see through. At first there was confusion on his face, and then… nothing. His lifeless body dropped in the dirt.
Sirens screamed in the distance. Someone was shouting over a megaphone and gunfire continued to ring out from the clubhouse.
“Jared!”
He managed to sit up, his arm hanging limply at his side
“Are you okay, Sis?”
“We need to get you to a hospital…” I shouted, tears streaming down my face.
“I’m sorry about all this,” he said, “ I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“Don’t say you’re sorry… Just hang on. We’ll get you out of here.”
His eyes shifted past me.
“Did we get ‘em Roughneck?”
Hale jogged up to us and placed a big hand on my shoulder.
“Yeah, we got ‘em Ace…”
The look in Hale’s eyes as he surveyed the scene told me what I didn’t want to know. My little brother was hurt… Bad… Color was already draining from his skin as he helped Jared to his feet.
“We have to get out of here right now,” I said, pulling on Jared, but he was no longer paying attention to either of us. I looked past Roughneck toward the clubhouse and I could see exactly what Jared was staring at. The little girl who saved me was hanging from the same ledge I’d dropped from. She must have been spooked by the gunfire and followed me out.
A bullet whizzed through the air above us, slamming into the shed, and Roughneck pulled me down out of the line of fire. I lost grip on Jared as he started to move.
“Get her out of here Roughneck!” he shouted, his feet carrying him faster toward the clubhouse even as a trail of blood followed in his wake.
“He’s not going to make it,” I shouted at Roughneck, trying to get up and run after him.
Hale gave me a squeeze.
“Ad
eline… we have to hurry.”
“But my brother, he’s…”
He scooped me up in his arms and threw me over his shoulder. I sobbed uncontrollably as we ran away from my dying brother. I kept my eyes on Jared as Hale moved, watching as he caught the girl with his good arm. Both of them collapsed to the ground, my brother covering her with his body as more gunfire rang out.
Hale’s motorcycle was parked just outside the compound. He set me on the back and fired it up just as another half-dozen police cars came screeching on to the property. They didn’t see us behind the outcropping of trees.
He cranked the throttle and melted rubber to the road as we tore off into the night. I held my man tight as I wept. The noise faded but the image of my brother’s face burned bright behind my closed eyes.
I felt the world crashing down around me.
Epilogue
Adeline
“One day you will…”
I held my ring finger out and waggled it in front of his face. Hale raised an eyebrow.
“One day,” he said. “One day when he’s old enough to ride on his own.” He nodded toward our bouncing baby boy in the bassinet near the end of the bed.
“I don’t care,” I said. “As long as it’s one day.”
Hale pulled the pillow over his face and sunk back into the bed.
“Don’t even think about going to sleep! You promised you would take me before work.”
I jumped on him and tickled his bare stomach. He squirmed and tossed the pillow against the wall. Our baby giggled.
“Fine. You win.”
“Are you riding today?” I asked.
“There’s a meeting with the Drifters. Preacher needs me to hang around for a little while.”
“I hope you boys are playing nice.”
“The Drifters are solid. We’re talking about some territory splits for some time down the road when the numbers go back up. It’s best to be prepared for that sort of shit, I guess.”
The Fallen had regrouped after that fateful night. Hale remained very much an active member ever since. His side returned to power when the majority of Sly’s crew wound up dead or in jail.
The latter included Dirty, who was sentenced to multiple life terms for the two killings of the couple back east and the shooting out on the highway. I sat in attendance for every day of his trial. He cried on his lawyer’s shoulder when the foreman read the verdict.
Preacher had returned to lead the club, and he was a man who Hale respected deeply. He requested that Hale be his VP. But Hale didn’t want the role. He remained the group’s enforcer. It suited him well.
“Let’s go! I want to have enough time to see him off before I go in.”
“Alright, already. You keep nagging me and that damn ring’s not gonna meet your finger until we’re in rocking chairs.”
“Don’t tempt me,” I teased.
“Get the kid squared away with the sitter and I’ll meet you out front.”
I took JD to the babysitter waiting on our couch. One look at his little blue eyes and you could tell who he belonged to. He was our miracle child. He’d been there inside me that fateful night when everything went wrong, and here he was none the wiser. I loved him more than life…
I grabbed my ID off the table and went to Hale. The rumble of the bike never got old. All fuel and sweat and oil. I still loved it.
“Bus station, right?”
“We need to be there by two.”
“Hold on.”
We shot through town, and then on to the freeway. How Hale got away with breaking every rule in the book, I didn’t know. My theory was most cops didn’t have the nerve to stop him. I couldn’t blame them if it was true.
Hale rolled the bike to a stop at the curb and let me off.
“I’ll be right behind you, babe.”
There he was in his dress blues. I was truly proud.
“Hey Sis! You made it.”
Jared survived that night. We didn’t know until the next day when the hospital called. He needed several blood transfusions and almost didn’t make it… But he was a hero. He saved that little girl from her fall, and he took a second bullet shielding her body with his own.
I was proud of him…
In exchange for his testimony in Dirty’s trial, he’d gotten his charges dropped and part of his record expunged. The prosecution called him their star witness.
The first thing he did when he recovered from his injuries was enlist in the navy.
“You’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”
“I know, I’m kind of nervous.”
“You’ll be great,” I said. “This is good for you. You need to get out of here.”
“And what about you?” he asked. “Will you be alright?”
I looked over my shoulder at Hale, who was just climbing off his bike.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
The PA system announced last call for boarding.
“Give me a hug.”
I pulled him in and tried not to cry. Despite everything, I was going to badly miss him.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. Be safe.”
He took a few steps toward the bus as Hale walked up and threw his arms around my neck.
“Give ‘em hell, Ace!”
Jared smiled and saluted my man before walking up the steps.
“You gonna be okay?” Hale whispered in my ear.
“I’ll be fine,” I said. “But I’m worried about the U.S. Navy.”
He gave me a squeeze and turned me toward the parking lot. I gave one last look over my shoulder to see Jared laughing and joking with another young guy on the bus.
He was going to be fine.
“Let’s get you to work,” said Hale. “Those patients aren’t gonna take care of themselves.”
“Take the long way. We have plenty of time.”
I felt free. It was hard to describe it as anything else. All of the pain and anxiety that had come as a result of those dark times was worth it now. There was nothing that could stand in our way. I held on to the man I knew would be mine forever.
The road rolled out amongst a beautiful backdrop of trees and mountains. We’d be back in the city soon, but that didn’t stop me from treasuring the beautiful day ahead.
The patch on his jacket used to make me afraid. I didn’t know what he was capable of while wearing it. But now, as I studied the stitching from the rear of his Harley, I found strength in it. No longer was I an outsider to the world. Hale had claimed me as his, and through that, I was protected.
“Can we stop?” I yelled from my seat. My voice floated away like a bubble in the breeze.
I gave his ribs a squeeze and he eased off the throttle.
“I don’t have to be back at the hospital for an hour.”
Hale grinned as he surveyed the road ahead.
“Home?” he asked.
The look in my eye told him I couldn’t wait for home. With a wink, Hale turned back to the road.
He knew the area like the back of his hand. Years of riding had shown him the way. He lived his life with passion, but never seemed truly at ease unless he was on the highway. It was his sanctuary.
We turned off of the main drag onto a little farm road. I pressed my thighs into him as he navigated the bumpy surface.
We’d spent the last year discovering each other. The baby was a welcome surprise. Our little, impromptu family was doing just fine. The nurse, the biker, and the baby boy… it didn’t sound real to me yet. I didn’t know if it ever would, but it made me believe in love.
Hale took pride in caring for us. The MC was in his blood, and he would never give up that life. I didn’t want him to, either. It made him who he was. But, we were his family and he’d go to the ends of the Earth to care for us.
The engine purred as he brought us to a stop in front of a little meadow. It was secluded from the rest of the world by a stand of trees that ran the length of the highway.
I drew a long breath of cool morning air in a futile attempt to slow the fire that was raging inside of me. Even after a year, he still made me tremble when he got that look in his eye.
“You look too good in those scrubs. I don’t know how those doctors keep their hands off of you.”
“It might have something to do with the fact that my boyfriend runs with The Fallen. More people know who you are than you would believe.”
I climbed down from behind him and kicked my shoes and socks off. The soft grass felt like heaven under my feet.
The image of him, alone on that bike, bent toward destruction, was one I’d be happy to keep in my head for the rest of time. The black bandana, the rough stubble on his face, the chiseled body… it all still put a weakness in my knees that I struggled to deal with.
I watched, lustfully, as he threw his leg over the beast and stepped off. His arms wrapped around my stomach in a gentle hug.
“You shouldn’t be out here in the middle of nowhere with a man like me,” he whispered in my ear.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you to stay away?”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Are you sure? Because, out here, no one can hear you scream?”
“You’re going to make me scream?” I asked, coyly. “I don’t know if you have it in you.”
He took my challenge in stride.
“Hold on tight.”
He threw his arms around me as I slumped against the seat of the motorcycle. The kiss he buried into my neck made my toes curl.
“I’m gonna give you everything you need. When I’m done with you, you won’t be able to beg for any more.”
I pulled his face to mine. Our lips touched and it felt like the first time all over again. Hot, forcefully kisses played back and forth between our mouths.
I steadied on the seat so I could wrap my legs around him. All I wanted was for the clothing between us to disappear so I could give myself over.
He whispered dirty things into my ear… words that would have made me blush and run away little more than a year ago. Now, I lapped it up and strained to hear more.
“Give it to me,” I pleaded. “I want you to fuck me hard.”
