“Just keep alert.”
Fuck. I had a bad feeling about this.
~*~
February 6th, 1998
“Well, he knows you're home, Reb. It's time to pay the piper.”
“Let's do it, Pops.”
As we rode to the Clubhouse, I wondered how Devil was going to take the news Reb and I had agreed he should tell Devil. I'm sure he was going to be pissed as hell. But Reb did have a valid point, so I hoped he would accept the excuse for the time being.
It would fucking help, if I could find those god damned books. I have searched high and low all over the Clubhouse, and nothing. The couple of times I tried getting into the trailer, I almost got caught. He had someone fucking watching it at all times. Unless he had all the books on him, some had to be in that pigsty he called a home. While he might have one book on him, there was no way he had all that info in just one book. So, he had to have the others hidden in that trailer somewhere. I've thought about just burning the motherfucker to the ground, but my luck, the fucking books were in some kind of fireproof safe.
If he hadn't fucking shown me one of books that night, I would swear he was lying. But unfortunately, I knew better. He was using those books to blackmail many people I believed. Because come hell or high water, he was getting his way one way or another, and what better way than to have dirt on people and use it.
As we pulled into the Clubhouse lot, he was standing outside with Spawn and Acid waiting on Reb to arrive. The motherfucker was impatient. That's where the drugs were coming into play. Before he would have waited for Reb to come to him, but since he had started increasing the blow, his actions were manic and unpredictable.
“Well boy, I see you're home. You were supposed to come here as soon as you got back.”
“Fuck old man. I had shit to do, not run and kiss someone's ass the minute my feet hit home ground.”
“Watch how you talk to me, boy,” Devil demanded.
“I'm a combat veteran, old man. I can talk to you however the hell I want to. You're not my boss. You're not my warden. All you did was shoot a sperm that fertilized an egg.”
“You fucking insolent little bastard. I'm your Prez and your father.”
“You ain't shit to me old man. I'm not in the MC so you ain't my Prez, and just because your DNA is in my body, doesn't make you my father.”
If looks could kill, Devil would have murdered Reb right then. Reb was pushing it harder than we had talked about doing, but I knew why, and I couldn't blame him. I hated the bastard, too.
“Time for you to prospect.”
“Not right now. Gonna take a couple months or so to acclimate myself back to being home and out of the military. I'm not ready to jump right back into something.”
“You've got one fucking month, two weeks of which you have already used. When that month is up, you will put that Prospect cut back on. If you don't, you know what will happen.”
“Yeah you fucking bastard, I know. I'm so disappointed my damn wish didn't come true while I was gone.”
“Yeah, what's that boy?”
“I was hoping someone would take your sorry ass out.”
“Ain't no one brave enough to try that. People respect me.”
“The fuck they do old man, people hate your miserable ass. You just have everyone scared because of what you have on them.”
“I call that respect, boy.”
“That's not respect. You're fucking delusional is what you are old man. May you rot in hell, sooner rather than later.”
Since we hadn't even gotten off our bikes, we started them and headed back home. Now we waited to see how he was going to respond to Reb's taunts. I had a damn sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I was afraid it wasn't going away anytime soon.
~*~
February 6th, 1998
Devil
“Spawn, Acid, I want you to follow every god damned movement he makes. I want to know where he is going, what he is doing and who he is doing it with. You boys hear me?”
“Yeah, Prez. Got your back,” Acid replied.
“Sure, old man, I'll watch him,” Spawn muttered.
“You watch your fucking rude mouth around me, boy. Reb may think he can get away with that shit, but he's gonna learn soon enough that he ain't nothing but an ass kisser, just like you. When I tell him to jump, he's going to fucking ask how high, then do it. You got me, boy?”
“Yeah, got you.” Spawn spit out.
I watched as they left out on their bikes. It was becoming apparent that I was going to have to take Spawn down a notch or two pretty soon. It wouldn't be much longer, and I would have Jennie back. I didn't want the bitch, but Satan should have never let that bitch become Viper's Old Lady. She was mine to do with what I wanted. If I wanted her to be a fucking whore, then that is what she should have been, but her time was coming and so were those brats she'd birthed with Viper.
And I'm going to make sure that Rebel watches as I kill that whole god damned family. I'll teach him to pick Jennie and Viper over me. I'm his fucking father, not that bastard, Viper. One day soon he's going to wish he'd chosen me over them. I fucking couldn't wait to watch their blood spill; I'm going to bath in that fucking shit and laugh as I watch the light leave every one of those motherfucker's eyes.
~*~
February 11th, 1998
Devil
I watched as Spawn and Acid made their way towards me. They had been following Rebel for the last five nights. Fuck, I hated the nickname he was given as a kid. It all came about because if I told him to do something, he would make damn sure he didn't do what he was told, and of course Serpent had to point out what a fucking little rebel the kid was for going against whatever I told him to do.
I heard him call Viper Dad once and knocked the shit out of him. Told him that Viper wasn't his dad, that I was, and I better not hear him call Viper that again. He would never call me anything but Devil, while that was fine with me, he now fucking called Viper, Pops. That pissed me off to no end, but I couldn't make a big deal out of it. I didn't want to look like I couldn't control my boy in front of the Brothers. But Serpent took extreme pleasure in it.
Serpent made a point of getting his digs in at me, but I showed the old bastard in the end. No one knew that I was the one driving the truck that hit him, forcing him off the road into a stand of trees. He had become way too complacent in his old age. He always took the same route when he wanted to ride and think. All I had to do was sit in wait for him to hit a certain section of road and then the deed was done.
I had gotten out of the truck to make sure he was dead, but as I approached him, I saw that he was still breathing, just barely though. I derived great pleasure waiting as he took his final breaths, especially since he knew that I was the one who killed him.
I wanted to take out the whole damn family, but Serpent had sent his bitch of a daughter off to college in Florida and the bitch had met someone out there and stayed. Then Lorna boarded a plane before Serpent had barely been lowered into the ground and headed to Florida as well. She never returned to Kentucky. I’m pretty sure Viper told her not to come back. From the time Lorna left, Viper would take his family to see his mom and sister once a year. I know he checked on them all the time, because that was Viper, this big fucking ‘family’ man. I’d show the motherfucker family when I was through with him.
I’d thought about riding down there and killing their asses just to prove that no one got away from me, but then decided I had better things to spend my time on. But what Viper doesn’t get is that he’s seriously underestimated me. That fucker doesn't know who he’s messing with. Anytime I'm ready for someone to die, they're already as good as dead from that moment on.
Viper was going to get his. I was tired of this bullshit agreement. I was going to take everyone he cared about away from him, starting with Jennie and those two little bastards she'd whelped. By the time all is said and done, no one would be left but Viper. I had enough on people now that I wouldn't be
the one sitting in a fucking prison cell. He would. He could sit in a cell the rest of his life and think about how I took away every single person he’s ever cared about. I couldn't fucking wait either. It was all about to play out and I was fucking ready to see him get his comeuppance.
“So, what do you have for me?” I asked my sons as they finally reached me.
“He's met the same girl for the past five nights.” Acid informed me.
“Yeah, some college girl he's hooked up with.” Spawn confirmed the information.
I smiled to myself. I knew how to take care of that issue and it was going to be a pleasure to do. I fucking got off on hearing girls scream in pain.
“So, here's what we’re gonna do. When he leaves her place tonight, we're going in. Then, we're gonna play awhile. Once there, I want one of you to get her phone and tomorrow morning send a text to Rebel saying some shit like she needs to study for a test and not to come over that night. I figure by noon, with all the things we do to her, she'll be persuaded enough to leave this area for good. Before she gets too bad, we'll need her to write a little note to leave for Rebel too. We'll also tell her if she tries to contact Rebel again, that we'll kill him.”
Both my sons smiled at me. They fucking loved to torture women as much as I did. Viper fucking ruined Rebel with all his bullshit attitude of taking care of women. If I couldn't get Rebel in line, I'd have to kill him. But I wasn't ready to give up on him yet. There had to be some of me still inside him somewhere and I'd find it.
“Then Friday morning, I want both of you to pick up those two little bastards of Jennie’s and take them out to the barn and string them up. Don't do anything other than that until I get there.”
“Done.” Acid commented as a smile of pure evil crossed his face.
Yeah, that was my boy alright. I glanced at Spawn to catch a grimace run across his face.
“What's wrong, boy? You don't want me hurting your bastard brothers?”
“Nah, it's good, Devil.”
“You're fucking right it's good. You damn well better do what I told you to do, boy.”
Spawn nodded at me. I definitely needed to keep a close watch on him. He had lived with Jennie for nine years before he moved in with me. If he had anything soft inside, I needed to root it out before it became a problem.
“Let's ride, boys. We have some work to do tonight and I can't fucking wait.”
~*~
February 12th, 1998
Viper
I was sitting on the porch, drinking a beer and thinking. That feeling in the pit of my stomach was getting worse. It had been a week since Devil had given Rebel his ultimatum. I was fucking terrified for any of my family to leave the house. I couldn't be with everyone all the time and that had me scared beyond shitless. I couldn't keep the kids home from school, as much as I wanted to.
I did have BamBam and Cotton watching the schools, but one phone call from Devil was all it would take to send them on a run or something. I didn't think he knew what they were doing for me, but Devil had so many others in his pocket, I wasn't completely sure of that either. The boys swore they were watching the schools from secured locations and that they were sure no one had seen them coming and going. But I couldn't completely rely on that.
“Pops, pretty sure I saw Spawn and Acid following me yesterday.” Reb said as he came out of the house.
“Fuck. That bastard is planning something and for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is. I got a bad feeling, Reb. Something’s about to go down.”
“Yeah, Pops. I feel the same way. I've tried and tried to figure out what he might be planning, and I just don't have a clue. It freaks me the fuck out that you don't have some sort of an idea though.”
“It's freaking me the fuck out too, Son. I have wracked my brain, and nothing is popping. That sick bastard is so mentally unstable now, there's no telling what it could be, and that has me worried more than anything. His instability.”
“What are we gonna do?”
“I fucking don't know, other than stay hyper vigilant. Whatever it is, it's going to be soon. I can feel it.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes. Both lost in our thoughts. Neither of us had the smallest clue what was going on inside Devil's head.
“I think I'm telling your moms that I'm going to send the kids down to Pred.”
“You really think they're in that much danger?”
“Yeah, I do. All my instincts are screaming for me to get them away.”
“Then call Mad Dog and let's set something up. Hell, he'll send someone all the way up here to get them. All we'll have to do is slip them out to him.”
“Yeah, gonna talk to your moms tonight and let them know what I'm planning on doing. Only bad thing is then he'll know something’s up. Someone will tell him that the kids aren't here.”
“Fuck, surely we can make up some kind of story. Maybe Mia can go as well. Hell, that's what we can say.”
“What's that, Reb?”
“Mia can go with the kids, then we can get Rogue or one of the others to let it slip that you guys are having problems and Mia is taking the kids and leaving for a while.”
“Now who's becoming fucking brilliant?”
“Learned it from the best.”
“You going to see your girl tonight?”
“Nah, she sent me a text and said she needed to study for a test tomorrow.”
I nodded at him, but something about that made me very uneasy.
~*~
February 13th, 1998
Viper
“Colt, I want you to take Cale and Jemma to school this morning. Drop Jemma off first, then Cale. Reb, I need you to run to Lexington to pick up a part for me. You'll have to take my Blazer; it won't fit in your saddlebags. Call Hatchet and get him to meet you here. Have him put his bike in the garage.”
“Okay, sounds like a plan.” Reb replied as he drank a cup of coffee.
“You heard the man, let's get a move on. I don’t want to be late for work.” Colt said to his brother and sister.
“Mia, do you need to come to the garage today?”
“Yeah, I need to work on the books for a little while.”
“Jennie, do you want me to have Jace stay here with you until Mia is through? He can come to the shop after she gets back.”
“No. I'm good. I'm not going anywhere.”
“If I leave you alone in this house, you promise me that you will keep your ass here and not go anywhere at all?”
Jennie sighed, “Viper, I'm not going anywhere.”
“You call me if you need anything, got me?”
“Yes, love. I got you. You all go on, I'm fine here.” Jennie said. “Colt and Cale, I want hugs.”
“Ah jeez, Mom. I'm eighteen damn years old. I'm too old to be giving my mommy hugs.” Colt muttered as he walked over to Jennie.
“I don't care how old you are, you are never too old to give your mom hugs, now get over here mister.”
“I'll give you hugs, Mom.” Cale said as he ran up and hugged Jennie. “I'll even give Mia hugs.” He ran over and picked up Mia in a bear hug, she playfully swatted him around the head.
“You big oaf, put me down,” Mia told Cale.
He just snickered and held her tighter.
“Cale, quit tormenting Mia. You're feeling your Wheaties this morning, I see.”
Cale grinned wickedly at Jennie then ran like a bat out of hell out of the house. That damn boy, I don't think he's ever gonna grow up. But at least someone wasn't in a somber mood this morning.
I felt like the fucking energizer bunny. I didn't know if it was the eight cups of coffee I'd already had this morning making me feel this way or if it was just nerves. But my fucking gut was burning like crazy. I don't think I've ever been on edge this bad. I fucking didn't like it, that was for sure.
“Jemma, come on!” Colt hollered out. “I ain't got all damn day.”
Yeah, apparently all the men in the family, except for Cale, were feelin
g the stress and tension I couldn't seem to shake today.
“Oh, that's so cool,” Jemma commented as she made her way out to the truck.
“What's that, kiddo?” I asked her.
“It's Friday the 13th,” she replied as the screen door shut behind her.
I am not a superstitious fucker. But after hearing Jemma's words, the bottom dropped completely out of my stomach.
~*~
All fucking morning, I couldn't settle. I bounced from one job to another, accomplishing nothing. I pulled out my phone and called Jennie. It went straight to voicemail. My stomach plummeted. I called again, straight to voicemail.
Jesus. Fuck.
Something was wrong, I felt it.
“Mia,” I said as I ran into the office. “Gonna run up to the house for a minute. Jennie's not answering her phone.”
“Okay, baby. Holler if you need me.”
I didn't even answer. As soon as I got out of the garage, I took off at a dead run. I knew I could get to the house faster running than riding on my bike. I leaped across the back steps altogether and raced across the deck. I grabbed the doorknob and turned it. It was fucking unlocked.
“Jennie!” I screamed as I flew into the house.
Nothing but silence.
“Jennie!” I screamed again as I ran through the house searching every room. She wasn't here. I ran back into the kitchen and saw the note I had missed moments ago.
Viper,
He's got the boys, he said if I didn't come alone, he was going to kill them. Oh god, Viper, he's got our babies. He told me to come to the barn. I'm sorry, I have to go to our babies.
I love you,
Jennie
I screamed in rage and fear.
“Fuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkkkkk.”
I ran to the front door, but the Suburban was gone. I started to run back to the garage to get my bike, when it hit me that Rebel and Pred's bikes were in the garage. I didn't have Reb's key, but I did have Pred's. As I ran to grab the key, I called Rebel.
“Pops, what's up?”
“That motherfucker has Colt and Cale and he called Jennie and told her if she didn't get to the barn, he was going to kill them. I'm about to leave on Pred's bike.”
Viper (Angel’s Rebellion MC: #1) (Angel's Rebellion MC) Page 22
