Rock Bottom

by Manda Mellett

  Matt’s tackling the larger areas, other brothers using their boots to stamp down or kick sand over smaller burns. Apart from Paladin and Road, who have stayed with Slick, everyone else has come back down here. The shop might be a total loss, but with the manpower we’ve got, hopefully the fire will be contained.

  We’re beating this. As we make progress I start to focus my thoughts on the fucker who has done this to us. Hawk. But how did Hawk come to the conclusion we were responsible for the body in the cellar? We’ll be looking for answers to that later.

  My slowly recovering ears pick out sirens, which become louder by the second. Two fire trucks and a police car soon appear. Known faces jump out of the first. Drummer updates Hammer, the paramedic, who races up to the clubhouse that he’s more than familiar with—only a few months ago he was delivering Heart and Marcia’s twins there during a wildfire. Darcy swings herself out, immediately searching for Peg, her face losing its tension when she sees he’s okay and unharmed. The sergeant-at-arms, however, is the opposite. His face tightens when he sees her manhandling the hose. She’s what, four, five months pregnant now? They have constant disagreements about her continuing to work. Which Peg obviously loses. After a quick explanation of what they’re dealing with, Captain Slade puts his men to work. The police, once the fireman are organised, wait no longer to approach.

  “Drummer.” A state trooper comes over. “What the hell has happened here?”

  Drummer turns around and shakes his head. “Accident. You know the type of stuff we work with in the shop. Gas, Arcon. Fucking assholes didn’t notice a gas leak on that…car, there.” The hesitation as the burned-out hulk barely resembles anything like a vehicle anymore. It’s then I realise one of the doors flying off must have been what brought Slick down. It had been hard to see through the dust. Drum continues, “Gas leak. Sparks. Baboom.”

  The trooper eyes him sharply, but the prez’s face is set. Disappointment, upset for the loss. Nothing suspicious to see there.

  “We’ve got this handled, Officer,” Prez tells him firmly.

  “I’m sure you have.” The trooper smirks. Then shakes his head, waves to his partner, has a quick word with the fire captain, then, thankfully, departs.

  Drummer speaks softly. “They don’t care. Someone wants to blow us up? They’d have been happier if they’d taken some of us out. Don’t want them investigatin’. Whoever did this to us, to Slick. Well, they’re going to pay. In blood.”

  “Hawk,” I say quietly.

  “Goes without saying. But he didn’t plant the bomb. The man who did? Well, I want blood for that.” Leaving me, Drummer steps forward. “You need me here, Captain?”

  Slade shakes his head. “Your boys did a good job stopping it spreading. Might as well let us do what we do best.”

  “I’ll leave the boys with you. I got business to go deal with.”

  As Drummer turns away the captain calls him back. He speaks quietly, but I’m close enough to hear. “Drummer. Look, I know you. You know us. You might have fooled the trooper, but auto shops don’t just explode.” As Prez goes to speak, he stops him. “You and I both know the cops aren’t going to bother investigating. And there’ll be no insurance claim put in, am I right?”

  “You’re right,” Drum says through gritted teeth. Bikers don’t do insurance.

  “Which means whatever I find will be just between us, okay? I’ll give it to you directly.”

  Prez stares at him for a moment before he nods his head. “Appreciate that, Captain. As I said, lazy douchebags didn’t notice a leak, or think that the electrics would spark.”

  The captain eyes him for a moment before grinning. “Just what I’ll put in my official report, though I might make it a bit more credible. Oh, and Drummer, before you go, any ammunition…?”

  “Nothing,” Drum says sharply. “We don’t run guns or store ammunition in the shop. As you know, Slade, we run a clean club.”

  “I haven’t seen anything different. But I need to be sure, that’s my crew going in there.”

  While Slade’s got a point, Drummer’s right. All our ammo is stored under one of the old swimming pools where no one can find it. It’s been missed by the Feds before now. As the captain goes back to what he was doing, Drummer waves Wraith, Blade, Dollar, Mouse, and Peg to follow him. Peg’s reluctant to leave, but as Darcy takes a second to glare at him he throws up his hands in defeat and comes along with us. I’ve never understood it before, how much hold one woman can have over your life. Until Becca. Yeah, well, she’s made everything come clear. If I was Peg, pregnant or not, I’d have slung her over my shoulder and carried her away, never mind what she wanted. But then, Darcy and Becca are two different women.

  I stay for a while doing what I can to help, which means keeping out of the way of the experts. When I admit my puny efforts are futile, I finally return to the clubhouse just in time to see the paramedics, now using a proper stretcher, are already taking Slick out to the ambulance. He still appears to be unconscious, but for the moment, at least, alive. My hands fist at the sight of Ella and Jayden rushing behind him, Ella pale with worry, Jayden has red-rimmed eyes. Paladin is dangling his keys from one of his fingers, obviously preparing to follow them to the hospital. I move out of everyone’s way, not wanting to impede them. Slick needs to get where he’s going as fast as he can. But I do stop to question Road quietly before greeting Becca, who’s making her way over.

  “Slick?”

  Road shrugs. “Least he’s got is a concussion.” He leans in conspiratorially and lowers his voice. “Until they do tests they don’t know more than that. May have a brain bleed. He took a pretty hard blow to the head.” He’s right to speak quietly, the women don’t need to hear the worst. It’s best we all remain optimistic.

  Then Becca’s with me. She pauses a step away as if to reassure herself I’m all right. Seconds later she’s in my arms and I allow myself a moment to treasure her. When she tells me she loves me, that’s it. Pulling her to me I kiss her, pouring everything into it, reaffirming we’re both alive.

  “Was it Hawk?” Her voice breaks as she asks the question. “Rock, what if Slick…”

  “Slick’s going to be fine,” I try to reassure her, but the look on my face must betray me. I can’t promise her that. My heart bleeds for Ella and Jayden and the pain they must be going through right now. “As for Hawk,” I continue, “we don’t know at the moment, Ella. He’s locked up. But he appears to have arranged this.” I turn her to face me. “Sweetheart, in case it is down to him, we need to know Hawk’s contacts. Do you know anything that might help? Does he know the sort who could arrange an explosion?”

  Her eyes open wide as she shakes her head. “Rock, he is…was…a pastor. The only people I’m aware of are the elders at the church and the congregation. None of whom would know the first thing about something like this. I’m sorry, but I can’t help. If he was involved in anything else, I didn’t know of it.”

  Now my hands cradle either side of her head. “Think hard, Becca. Did anything ever strike you as strange? Any private conversations you overheard that you weren’t supposed to? Anyone in particular come to your place and have meetings with Hawk?”

  She bites her lip as she tries to remember. I know she’d do everything she can to help. But it seems she comes up blank. “I never even knew about the Chaos Riders, Rock. They never came to the house. He kept me isolated, remember? I really wish I could do something to help.” Her eyes start to water, presumably as she knows she’s being no help. “Parishioners used to pop in, of course, but I wasn’t party to any private discussions. I think I remember the man we saw at the church visiting, but I may have been mistaken.”

  My fingers stroke her cheeks gently. “Don’t worry yourself, babe. I didn’t think you’d be able to help. I’m just covering all bases. Don’t get yourself wound up.” It’s easy for me to say. I’ve probably said too much already, worrying her with my all but confirmation the explosion was in some way down to Hawk, organ
ised by him at least. She’ll think that means it’s down to her, that she brought trouble on the club, and now Slick’s in the hospital because of it. “It’s probably nothing to do with him,” I tell her. Too little, too late.

  The mood around us is sombre. The women well aware not only have we lost one of our major businesses, but Slick has been hurt. Only one thing can be heard over the subdued conversations, Marcia and Heart’s twins. She’s trying to rock them and calm them, but they’re both playing up and screaming. For a moment I wish I was still deaf.

  Heart notices everyone heading toward church and asks, rather optimistically I think, “Prez, you need me?”

  Drummer gives his kids a pointed look. “Nah, looks like you’ve got your hands full out here. Come on in when things have calmed down a bit.”

  Heart looks at the crying babies and grimaces. Grunt, the fucking wolfhound, has laid down near them, his head on his paws, his brown eyes focused on the babies. Even the dog looks concerned. But then a worried look seems to be his normal expression.

  Still holding Becca, I watch as Sam gathers together the old ladies. Apart from Marcia, who is staying behind to watch over the children, everyone else is going to go to the hospital to support Ella and Jayden. Predictably Becca wants to go too. I don’t want her out of my sight. Who knows what Hawk might be arranging now he knows where she is. If he’s got other ‘friends’ like the Chaos Riders, he could get them to snatch her.

  “Nah, babe. I want you here. Don’t want you leaving unless I’m with you. Matt?” I call the prospect over.

  “This is my fault, isn’t it? Rock, I couldn’t stand it if…”

  “Nothing to do with you, sweetheart.” Prez overhears and shuts her down fast. Even if it is, it’s club business, and it’s best if she’s kept in the dark.

  “Gotta get to a meeting, Becca. I’ll see you soon, okay?” She goes on tiptoe to give me a kiss, then goes over to speak to Sophie. I watch her for a moment, wondering how well she’s going to cope with what’s happened.

  As I start to move toward our meeting room Marvel comes in and catches up with the men moving in that direction. Drummer and Peg look at him with raised eyebrows. He was one of the brothers who’d been doing the final check of the boundaries. We’d found one bomb, but wanted to make sure there were no others.

  “All clear that we can tell,” Marvel tells us.

  Peg nods to Drummer. “We searched the clubroom before I let the old ladies come in. Mind you, didn’t have a cat’s chance in hell to keep them out once Slick was brought up.”

  Marvel, like me, has his attention caught by the crying kids and then by the shaggy wolfhound cross carefully watching his charges. “Heart, ever considered training him as a sniffer dog? Fuckin’ animal does fuck all around here.” It’s said good naturedly, and Marvel chuckles when Heart shoots him the finger. But actually, Marvel might have a point.

  “Is it possible to train a wolfhound, Heart?”

  “Whether it fuckin’ is or not, we’ve got more pressin’ things to discuss, Rock.” Prez leads his way into church.

  Chapter 28

  Becca

  After the amazing night with Rock, the events of this morning had come as a shock. The day had started so well. I’d had a new lightness of step when I walked down to the clubhouse alongside Rock. When he was abruptly called away I didn’t mind entering the clubroom alone, while being curious and a little concerned as to why the men were rushing out.

  But my worries were soon pushed out of my head. When Sam saw me, something about the look on my face—hopefully not the stiffness of my gait—must have given me away.

  Coming straight over, she bumps me on the arm. “Looks like Rock gave you the full biker treatment last night. You went back for seconds then?” She grins knowingly.

  “Oooh. Becca got shagged!” Sophie shouts out. “Well, did Rock rock your world? Come on babes. Let a sister know.” As though it’s bruise-Becca-day, she also knocks her bicep against mine.

  “Was the Rock rock hard?” Ella calls out.

  “Sis!” Jayden tries to look shocked.

  Marcia’s laughing. “You better give them something, else they won’t stop. But keep it PG because of the kids. I think they’re asking if he rocked your world.”

  I try to look prim but fail. “It was great.” It’s about all I can say. How do you describe sex of the type you never even dreamed existed? It’s not just shyness, this is something I’ve never had before. Women to talk to, to laugh and joke with. Tears prick at the corner of my eyes as I feel emotional. I’ve barely dared think of the future, but could Rock and I be together? Could I make my home here with the rest of the old ladies? I’m fast coming to the conclusion there’s nothing I’d like better.

  Taking pity on me, Sam links her arm through mine and leads me across to the couch, absentmindedly passing Eli a toy bike he’d dropped as she passes. “What are you plans for the day, Becca?”

  I’m afraid I have to admit I pout. “Rock and I were off to see Beef, but he got waylaid as I was coming in.”

  “Yeah, there’s someone at the gate. Drum went running off too. Hopefully it won’t take them too long to sort out.”

  The words are barely out of her mouth before the prospect, Matt, comes running into the room. “All old ladies and children to go out to the swimming pool.” He’s so out of breath the words are hard to make out.

  Getting to her feet, Sam asks sharply, “What’s going on, Matt.” She holds up her hand. “And don’t you dare say club business. If it’s to do with our safety, then we need to have more information. It’s not particularly warm, and we’ve got children to think about…”

  “Bomb.”

  “What?” “Where?” The questions come from everyone, along with gasps of horror.

  “Anywhere. Somewhere on the compound. Prez thinks around the swimming pool is the safest place.”

  “Right everyone. Let’s get the kids and get out there now.” Sam starts directing people. “Becca, could you give Marcia a hand with the twins please? Sandy, if you can take Eli I’ll bring Grunt.” I’m impressed by the way she immediately takes charge, and that there’s no way she’ll be leaving the dog behind.

  Sam’s so successful in organising us that the clubhouse is evacuated in orderly fashion, without any panic. It’s only when we’re all outside that we turn back and I realise I’m tensing up, waiting for what’s become my comfortable place to turn into a fireball. I’m not the only one to be staring back, hardly daring to breathe.

  “Mommy. Can I swim?”

  “Not now, Eli. It’s not warm enough.” Sam’s attention is caught by her son’s question. It breaks the tension.

  “Mummy!” Olivia’s complaining to Sophie. “I want to swim too.” Sam and Sophie exchange glances and both shake their heads together.

  “Might as well make ourselves comfortable.” Ella indicates the loungers.

  Jayden comes over and gestures for me to give her the baby, who’s luckily continued sleeping. I hand her over, grateful to do so before she wakes up. Even the teenager knows far more about looking after a baby than me. Then, no longer having a distraction, I look back again, wondering exactly who is searching the clubhouse for a bomb. Rock? I grow cold. While I wouldn’t want to see any man hurt, I can’t lose him. Not now I’ve just found him. My heart rate speeds up.

  “Becca. Come sit here.”

  I realise I’m trembling as I go to join Marcia. “Is it for real?” I ask as I take the empty seat beside her. “Is it really going to blow up?”

  Marcia purses her lips. “You know I was a cop?” When I nod, she continues. “Hopefully they’ve just received an empty threat. But you know these men, they’re overprotective. They’re going to take any warning seriously whether it’s credible or not.” She goes quiet, obviously thinking. “We’ve had no strangers at the clubhouse, no delivery comes there direct, the prospects bring stuff up from the gate. It’s hard to see how any explosives could be planted.”

 
“There were hangarounds up from Tucson last night,” Sandy reminds Marcia.

  Sam overhears and gives a very unladylike snort. “You see what they were wearing? Hard to believe they could smuggle anything in in those skimpy clothes.”

  “What about purses?”

  Drummer’s old lady shrugs. “I expect that’s the kind of thing the men will be looking for. They’ll have it handled.” As she looks back toward the clubhouse the beating of my pulse speeds up again. The thought of any of the men poking around looking for something that shouldn’t be there is frightening.

  Sophie’s cleaning dirt off Olivia’s face with a tissue she’s dampened with spit. She looks up when she’s satisfied. “Loads of bomb scares back in London,” she informs us. “Even my workplace was evacuated for a suspect package more than once. Never came to anything.”

  “Hopefully this won’t, either.” Sandy relaxes back on the recliner. “Carmen’s at work, she’s lucky she’s missing all this.”

  As she names the hairdresser my hand automatically goes up to my hair. It’s starting to grow out and could do with a trim to keep it tidy. I can’t wait for it to grow long again. Spikes sitting up at all angles don’t suit me. Carmen won’t just let me leave it, but she knows what she’s doing, we’d been discussing styles to let it grow while keeping it tidy. The thought of the talks I’ve had with her about my hair help keep my mind on mundane things, and as minutes tick past without anything happening my mind starts to ease. It is probably just an empty threat. When the sun comes out from behind a cloud giving a gentle warmth, I raise my face up. I start to think of Rock eventually being able to hold onto my hair when he’s thrusting inside of me, which makes parts of me tingle.

  “What you thinking about?” Sam nudges me with a laugh. Busted. I feel my face flame as I watch her pick up Eli and check he doesn’t need changing. “Amy! Come back here. Stay with your mom. She needs help with the babies.”