by Sam Crescent
“I can’t believe it all boils down to today.”
“Mason Terry is in town. You know, the guy from Paradise Rocks?”
“Yeah,” Devil said.
“Gonzalez’s men on the police force, he’s rounded them up, and they’re in a secured location for us to deal with when the time is right.”
Devil hadn’t met Mason before, but he knew the man ran a tight ship. He lived, worked, and breathed all things Paradise, but he was also a Skull, part of the Nomad team that travelled from place to place. Mason, however, wasn’t so much a nomad as a Skull in his own town. It was strange, but it worked for him.
“So Mason has the men we were initially worried about. Who’s next?”
For the next hour Tiny spoke of the men that were in town. Several of the men were pimps or fighters sent to provide entertainment for the coming night.
“Gonzalez thought it would be fun to have a contest to see who won against pimps and illegal fighters. He’s been poaching from Ned,” Tiny said, getting him up to speed.
“This is what it comes down to.”
Tiny sighed. “Yeah. In a few hours we’ll all know if we live or if we die.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
Devil walked out of the office toward his men. Sasha was standing by Pussy’s side, dressed and ready for the town hall.
“Right, I think this is how it’s going to be. Cheryl’s going to take Sasha, and they’re going with Butch to the town hall. We’re going to follow, little by little, so as not to raise suspicion. I’m going to turn up last in the van. I don’t want him to cotton on at the last minute what we’re about to do. In between then, The Skulls are going to arrive. We’re going to take our places, and then we’re going to make sure this goes down, cleanly and without any other fights. I want you to be ready to hit the deck.”
He looked at Sasha. She held Pussy’s hand hard as he spoke. When he’d first seen and heard about Pussy liking this girl, he’d had his doubts. She couldn’t take care of herself or even be what Pussy needed her to be. At least, to Devil she came up lacking. Seeing the determination on her face, gave Devil doubts about his first thoughts about her.
“You, Sasha, when it starts to get loud, you hit the deck. Do you hear me?” Devil knew Pussy wouldn’t be the same if they lost her.
“Don’t worry, Pussy’s been training me to duck and cover. It’s quite funny, actually. He started doing it at night,” Sasha said.
Pussy gave him a thumbs-up. “You don’t need to worry about my girl, Devil. I’ve trained her to be ready for the worst amongst other things.”
Sasha hit him on the shoulder.
Chuckling, Devil stepped away to see Hardy at the bar. The other man was looking at the booze as if it was a lifeline.
“I wouldn’t drink today until after all this shit has hit the fan,” Devil said.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hit the drink at all.” Hardy tapped his fingers along the counter.
“Why do you look cut up?” Devil asked. His curiosity was always going to get him in trouble. He had to know the littlest detail about everyone he came across. It was a flaw he hadn’t repaired.
“Besides the fact we’re walking in to a potential death trap, my woman’s going to leave me.” Hardy turned away from the booze.
“Rose won’t leave you.”
“Yeah, she will. It’s been ten years in the making. Neither she nor I realized it.” Hardy shrugged. “Can’t say that I blame her. I fucked another woman who wasn’t her, got her pregnant, and then we lost the kid that we were supposed to get out of it.”
Shit, Devil’s curiosity really did need to stop.
“Do you love her?” Devil asked.
“More than anything. I was a young, foolish fucker who didn’t know what he had.”
“Then instead of treating her with kid gloves, show her that she’s the only woman you want. Don’t give her a chance to get away. Fuck her, love her, and show her who she belongs to.” Devil tapped him on the shoulder. “Life is far too fucking hard to give it all up because fighting seems even harder. I love Lexie with all that I am. I wouldn’t give her up over something I did ten years ago.” He wouldn’t admit that there was no chance of him ever cheating on Lexie either. Only an idiot cheated on his woman.
“Thanks, Devil. I actually think that was a good talk.” Hardy tapped him on the shoulder.
Yeah, that was him. He was the guy filled with all the wisdom today.
The rest of the morning passed by with tension as all the men waited for the coming fight. Devil didn’t know how it was going to go, but it was starting to look up in his favor. Every now and then he saw Butch looked a little freaked out as he checked his phone. He didn’t like the change inside Butch, and if he could know what was going on inside his head, he’d feel a hell of a lot better.
“Butch, it’s time,” Tiny said.
Devil stepped away from the bar as he watched the first couple move out of the clubhouse. Cheryl looked petrified, and he watched as Pussy helped Sasha into the waiting car.
This is it.
After everything they’d been through they were now going to get their chance to take out their revenge.
Anticipation filled him.
He checked to make sure that he had his weapon at the back of his jeans. Devil made his way out to the car and climbed behind the wheel.
Watching men with their brides leave the compound filled him with anticipation. Gonzalez wouldn’t know until the last minute what was going on. Only a couple of women, Angel, Sandy, and Mia, were present, and by the time Gonzalez saw most of the women were absent, it would be too late. Within thirty minutes he was on the road and heading toward the town hall. They passed several of the locals at work. Some of them stopped to see them driving and riding past. He glanced in the back of the car to see his kids’ car seats. This was why he fought as hard as he did. He couldn’t fail them, nor could he fail Lexie. She needed him.
Thinking about Ronald with the gun pressed to her temple, filled him with anger. Getting into the zone, he parked the car ready to enter the town hall. Tiny was outside waiting for him.
Climbing out of the car, Devil walked toward Tiny.
“I want to apologize,” Tiny said.
“I don’t give a shit what you want to do. I told you, after today, we’re done.” Devil entered the town hall and saw several locals were inside, surprising Devil with the attendance.
Sasha and Cheryl stood at the front near the stage, looking a little out of place with their dresses. In the front of the seating arrangements, Devil spotted Gonzalez. In his mind he saw Lexie with a gun pointed to her head once again followed by Ashley, the club whore. She’d never had an easy life, and this bastard had taken it away from her. There were so many people Gonzalez had ruined to get to this moment. So many men, women, and children, who deserved their chance for revenge. They were going to do this, take this fucker out and ride the world of several bad guys along the way. Above all, they were going to finally put Ashley to rest. Pussy would never have loved her, but Devil knew one man would have. She was the kind of woman everyone loved.
Going to his gun, Devil grabbed the weapon. This was his chance to end all the pain. Judi was in a coma because of this man. All of those girls who were now a little broken, it was because of this man.
Taking out his gun, Devil didn’t care about the civilians who were present. Aiming the gun, Devil was ready. He’d lost his chance the other day, but he could win this time.
Before he got a chance to fire, gunfire exploded from behind him. He had no choice but to duck as he saw men enter the town hall, firing their guns. A bullet missed him by mere inches. He didn’t recognize any of the men. They were untrained, erratic, and simply firing away.
“Danny, no,” Butch said, yelling as the guns started to explode. Turning around, Devil saw several men with the jackets of the Savage Brothers entering the clubhouse. Behind them all, he noticed a blue-haired woman enter the town hall
with her head lowered. She didn’t hold a weapon, but there was no mistaking the intent of her face.
****
Their carefully ordered plan was going up in smoke. Whizz watched as Ronald went for his knife. Striking out, Whizz pounced on the other man. He fought, getting slashed in the process as Ronald lashed out. There was nothing for him to do. Wrapping his hands around Ronald’s neck, Whizz squeezed the very air out of him. Unlike Killer and Lash, he didn’t have the skill to snap a man’s neck. Chaos ensued, and the mess went on around him as the Savage Brothers made a mess, killing civilians in the process. He should have known it was impossible to wipe out an entire club. Whizz felt the mistake as he watched the survivors kill before his eyes. There were over fifteen people in the room, all with weapons. Gonzalez was down, grasping at his neck from being shot. He was kicking out begging for help. No one went to him. The pleasure Whizz got was seeing the pain in the man’s face. For once it was a monster who was feeling what pain meant.
Holding tighter to the man’s neck beneath his grip, Whizz watched as the life choked out of the man. Slowly, even though the man fought, Ronald died in his arms. There were no emotions inside Whizz as he watched the man in his arms fight a useless battle. He had the control in this situation, not this man. He jerked in Whizz’s hands, and his eyes bulged out.
When it was over, he collapsed back and looked out at the room. His brothers were fighting. Some of Gonzalez’s men that he couldn’t reach out to were fighting back. They’d posed as locals and were now fighting. The men with the Savage Brothers MC jackets on were also fighting. There was no order to this battle. It was brutal.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Butch asked, turning toward one of the Savage Brothers.
“You were supposed to tell us where he was. You fucking lied to us. You’re no better than Gonzalez.”
Before he could do anything, the man in front of Butch, aimed and shot him in the neck. Cheryl screamed, panicking. Butch went down with blood pooling out of his neck. Whizz watched as Butch grabbed his neck, trying to save himself.
Butch had betrayed them for the Savage Brothers. Why hadn’t Whizz thought of looking to see if any of them had survived? How could Butch have betrayed them? Whizz looked down at his shirt to see his side bleeding.
He was in pain.
This was all his fault. If only he’d been on the ball, he’d have known there was no way to completely wipe out an entire MC.
Through the pain, he saw the blue hair. Lacey was there? Why the fuck was she here? He needed to get up and get her to safety. It wasn’t over yet. He needed to protect his woman.
The town hall was alight, and he saw her inked body on display. For once she wasn’t hiding in the darkness. This was the woman he’d fucked, the same woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. She knelt down in front of him. In her hand she held a knife. For some reason it didn’t look out of place on her; it looked natural.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. The fighting went on, the shouting.
Tears filled her eyes as she lifted up her wrist. Every time he saw her with enough light, she always wore a long sleeved jacket. Focusing on the writing up her inner arm, Whizz chuckled.
“Now, that fucking figures.” He coughed as he went for his gun. The woman he’d been drooling over was none other than the enemy. She’d known who he was, had sought him out whereas he’d been fucking blinded by her beauty.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“You wanted to tell me what?” he asked. “That you fucking used me like a whore? Was that your intention all along? Play with a Skull and laugh while you did it?”
He was fucking hurt and not just because of the slash against his stomach. Lacey was the first woman since his kidnapping and torture that he’d actually wanted, and yet she was the enemy.
“I stumbled upon you, Whizz. I didn’t go out of my way to meet you. I wanted a drink, and you were there. I couldn’t stay away from you.” She stopped as tears fell down her cheeks.
Pulling his weapon in front of him, he aimed it at her, wanting to cause her some kind of pain. Seeing the tears, he knew she was also in a great deal of pain. Could he end this woman? He knew if she was part of the Savage Brothers MC then she’d been through a shit load of pain already.
“My name is Lacey Weatherfield, but I was born Lacey Newbon. I was part of the Savage Brothers. I was a kid. Please,” she said, reaching out to touch his cheek. “Don’t hate me. Everything we shared together, that was real.”
“You couldn’t warn me?”
“No, I didn’t have any other choice but to do this. I’ve been with the Savage Brothers all my life. This is what they wanted, and my loyalty was with them, not with you. I’m truly sorry. I never wanted it to be like this.”
He loaded his gun ready to shoot her. There was no way he could let her live, and yet, the very thought of never seeing her again cut him to the core. For once, he didn’t know if he could kill an enemy of The Skulls.
She looked sad. “You can kill me if you want.”
“Fucking bitch,” Gonzalez said, growling.
They both turned to look at the other fucker. He was on death’s door, and he was still trying to fight. The bastard was interrupting Whizz’s moment, and he needed to die
“Give me a second and we can finish talking,” she said. Lacey got to her feet and straddled Gonzalez’s waist. “This is for the Savage Brothers.” She held the tip of the blade to Gonzalez’s neck. Glancing around the room, Whizz saw the rest of his brothers were too busy fighting the Savage Brothers or some of Gonzalez’s men to get to Gonzalez himself. From the quick glance, he saw the majority of The Skulls were still standing.
Whizz watched in disgust and awe as she slid the blade in once, twice, three times and kept on going. She wasn’t with him in that moment. She was killing the man from the past. Gonzalez wasn’t responsible for the Savage Brothers’ demise years ago, but his son was a good second. He dropped the gun to his side admiring Lacey’s kill. She was brutal in her work. There was no holding back as she plunged the knife inside Gonzalez, over and over again.
There was no way he could kill her. He wanted to kill her. Whizz wanted to hurt her, but this wasn’t the way.
“Lacey, stop, we’ve got to go.” A large man Whizz had never seen before grabbed a blood covered Lacey.
“Get off me, Dalton.”
“No, we’re going now. I don’t give a fuck what you’ve got to say. This is fucking over. We’ve got to round shit up and get the fuck out of here.”
He watched her being carried out of the town hall. Fuck, what was he going to do? The one woman he really wanted had just turned into the enemy of The Skulls.
Fuck!
When was his life ever going to make fucking sense?
****
“Butch, wake up, baby, please, you’ve got to wake up. You can’t die,” Cheryl said, screaming his name. There was blood everywhere, and none of The Skulls agreed to help him. Everything had gone wrong, and she didn’t know how to make it all right. “Please, somebody, help me.”
Tiny, Devil, Alex stared down at the body refusing to help. Why wouldn’t they help? Butch had done everything they asked.
He didn’t tell them about the Savage Brothers MC.
“He’s dead. Leave him be,” Tiny said, spitting on the ground. He was covered in blood, his arm holding a giant gash revealing too much of his flesh. Gonzalez and the Savage Brothers had taken them all by surprise, and now both crews were having to pay the price.
“No, he’s not dead. I can feel a pulse. Please, you’ve got to help him.” Cheryl tried to cover the bullet wound to keep his blood from leaving his body.
No one was helping. Sandy was passing out across the room. The guys had brought her along in case they needed fixing up. What remained of the Fort Wills town hall left a lot to be desired. Civilians were running around trying to get away from the attack that had hit the town within days of Tiny going to war with Devil. Well, they didn’t go to
war, but they’re no longer friends. Butch had told her that it could end in war if Devil and Tiny really wanted to fight over territory. She’d always doubted they’d go to war seeing as Devil didn’t want Fort Wills. For the first time in years Devil and Tiny didn’t get along. They’d all been mistaken. Gonzalez never intended to choose between the two men. He was going to take on Fort Wills and Piston County, killing all of them without leaving anyone behind. Cheryl saw the glares they were shooting at her man. It was all a big mistake. They were all staring at Butch as if he was a rat, vermin, something they couldn’t bring themselves to touch. Didn’t they know he was helping them all?
“He’s not getting my fucking help,” Zero said, standing up. “He’s fucking dead to me. I saw him talk to one of those bastards. He was with the Savage Brothers. No brother helps another club behind our backs.”
“This is what Gonzalez wanted, to tear us all apart,” she said. Butch told her everything about what he’d done and why. Gonzalez had to be put down. There was no way to stop what he had to do. He was betraying his brothers, and yet he was protecting them at the same time. The Savage Brothers was in his blood. He was helping all three clubs without even picking one. The Skulls were his home, and the Savage Brothers had left him for dead.
Butch did what Alex told him to. He’d told her everything, not leaving anything out. The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds were refusing to see the truth, and now the love of her life was dying in her arms. Glancing around the room, members of both crews were dying all around them.
She tried to think fast.
Staring at one man to the other, she tried to figure out the fastest way to help her man.
All of them, apart from Alex, were married. Those women were in a safe house, or at least they thought it was safe. Butch had arranged for the women and children to be at the warehouse in the hope of luring Gonzalez away from them. The Savage Brothers knew where they were, and perhaps Gonzalez did as well. Deep in her heart, she knew Butch would never allow harm to come to the women, but she hoped they doubted him enough to believe that he would.
