Rock Bottom

by Manda Mellett

  “But I want my bike.”

  “I’ll get it for you later, sweetheart, but now I need some help.” Marcia backs Sam up, her calm voice showing none of the concern I’m certain she’s feeling.

  Heart’s daughter pouts for a second before skipping back, followed closely by Grunt, immediately going to Marcia and her young siblings.

  We might be congregated around the pool rather than being inside, but a certain peace settles on us, particularly as time continues to go by and nothing happens. Once again I relax back, this time making sure I don’t think of Rock and the intimate things we could be doing. The babble of voices, the squeals of children goes on around me.

  The calm is shattered by a loud explosion, but not from the clubhouse.

  “It’s the shop!” Setting Eli down, Sam jumps to her feet and looks at the smoke billowing into the sky. “Soph, can you watch Eli for me? I’m going to see what’s happened.”

  Not waiting for an answer, she plonks Eli down next to Olivia, and the two children, who’d jumped at the loud sound, but being too young to understand the significance, quickly settle back down, becoming occupied with showing each other their toys as Sam walks quickly away. The rest of us stay put in a stunned silence, not knowing whether to follow the prez’s old lady or not. Looks exchanged between us indicate we’re all on the same page. Having convinced ourselves there was no danger, the fact that there was a bomb on the compound is alarming.

  “Was that the only one?” Sophie asks at last, concern in her face. “I hope everyone’s okay.”

  “Best stay here, love. Wait until Sam comes back…” Sandy pats her arm.

  Sam is back. Escorted by Matt. “Okay, okay,” she’s saying. “I get it. I’ll wait here.” While the prospect folds his arms and stands guard, she looks at us and shrugs.

  “Is anyone hurt? Tell us that at least.” I’m frantic with worry about Rock. I haven’t just found the man of my dreams only to lose him.

  But Matt looks on stoically.

  “Oh my god. Someone’s hurt, aren’t they?” Sophie gets to her feet. “Wraith, no…” Her hand goes over her mouth, her face pales.

  “Rock?” I ask anxiously, but get no answer.

  “Heart?” Marcia questions frantically.

  “Is Slick alright?” Ella and Jayden both stand at once. There’s a twitch on Matt’s face, which had remained impassive when other names were mentioned. “Nooooo!” Ella wails, then both her and her sister push past Matt, not giving him a chance to stop them.

  As though it’s started a tidal wave, all the old ladies are moving and racing in the direction of the clubhouse.

  “Stop!” Matt calls out, trying to get in front. “We don’t know…”

  “Clubhouse is clear!” Peg appears at the rear entrance. I notice he’s covered in dust, and there’s blood on his forehead, but it looks like it’s just from a small scratch. Who else is hurt? And how badly?

  “Slick!” We’re inside the clubhouse, my eyes rapidly scanning everyone standing, as Ella exclaims seeing Slick brought in on a stretcher. “Slick!” Getting no response, her hands flail as she goes to her old man. Jayden rushes to her side and captures one of her sister’s hands in her own.

  Drummer comes over and puts his arm around Ella, holding her back. “Slick got knocked out in the blast. Got the medics coming, Ella, sweetheart.” She staggers, and he tightens his hold around her. I anxiously glance behind him, but the rest of the men haven’t come in.

  Where’s Rock? What’s happened to him? The medics appear, check out the injured man carefully, then waste no time transferring Slick onto a proper stretcher, and it’s only when he’s wheeled out that at last I see him. My man. Walking in, rubbing at his arm but otherwise looking alright. I push my way past the other men to get to him. He acknowledges me with a chin lift but finishes his conversation with Road. When I reach him, I pause a step away, just letting my eyes soak in the man who, for one awful moment, I feared I had lost.

  “Rock.” My voice comes out as a whisper.

  He returns my gaze, then steps forward, then I’m in his arms, breathing in the perfume of my man, letting his scent, now tinged with smoke, consume me. I’d been so scared, worried I’d found him only to lose him. It’s then I realise how much he means to me. He’s my saviour, my rock. My. Rock.

  “I love you.” The words escape without me consciously intending to say them, drawn forth by the emotional turmoil of the morning.

  His lips are on mine. It’s not a gentle kiss. His hand curves behind my head, his fingers trying to find purchase on my short hair as he angles my face and ravishes my mouth. A celebration we’re both alive and safe. He breaks off too soon.

  He asks me questions about Hawk, enough for me to know that my husband is behind it. If it was possible to hate him more, this would have made me. I feel so guilty. If I hadn’t come to the club this trouble wouldn’t have come to them, and Slick…Slick wouldn’t be on his way to the hospital, quite possibly fighting for his life.

  Drummer overhears the end of our conversation. But even his assurance that the bomb had nothing to do with me doesn’t help. What should I do?

  Sam is gathering all the women together. It seems the old ladies are preparing to go to the hospital to support Ella. Offering my shoulder to lean on is the least I can do.

  “Can I go along, Rock?” If Ella suspects I’m the reason her husband got injured, she might not want me with her. But it wouldn’t be a wasted journey. While I’m there I can also go and see Beef. We’d planned to visit him later, and he’ll be wondering why we’ve not arrived. Beef will talk good sense and ground me.

  But Rock’s got other ideas. “Nah, babe. I want you here. Don’t want you leaving unless I’m with you. Matt?” he finishes, waving the prospect over.

  I want to question him. What else does he know? Is he just being cautious, or does he think Hawk is planning on getting me away and, heaven forbid, have more of his friends look out for me? Does Rock think I’m in danger? But I’ve no chance to ask. When the prospect comes up to us, Rock tells him enough for me to gather Matt will be my babysitter while he’s in a meeting with his brothers. Then Drummer’s voice sounds, and Rock disappears into church.

  Chapter 29

  Rock

  “Seen too much fuckin’ fire around here lately,” Peg growls as he walks to his seat. “What the fuck was that, Prez? What shit is this Hawk involved in that he can order a hit like this on the club?”

  “That’s what we’re here to try to figure out.” Drum tunnels his hands through his hair. “Dollar. Will need you to look into the financial implications of setting the shop back up.”

  “That’s the tattoo shop down the tube,” Blade complains. “No auto shop, no new business. Fuck.”

  I look down at my hands, feeling guilt laying heavy on me. I brought Becca back to the compound. I got us on Hawk’s radar. “I’m sorry,” I mumble. “Shouldn’t have got you involved with Becca.”

  “What the fuck difference does that make?” Drummer snarls. “You think we’d have turned that little girl away when we saw what had been done to her? You have your brothers behind you. Same as we were there for Marcia, Sophie, and not forgettin’ Sam. You expect us to turn our backs on anyone’s woman?” His stare focuses on me. “Well? Had it been any one of your brothers, Rock, you say you wouldn’t have done the fuckin’ same?”

  I give him the evil eye. “Course I’m not fuckin’ sayin’ that.”

  “Then shut the fuck up.” He glares at me again before saying, “Mouse?”

  Having got Prez’s attention, Mouse clears his throat. “Not sure who we’re looking at for this one.”

  “Let’s start with Hawk.” Wraith points at him. “Hawk got word his woman was dead, and somehow that we were responsible. We’re just fuckin’ lucky Prez and Rock went to see Stub, who was able to get a message to him correcting his information. If we hadn’t been warned things could have been fuckin’ different. Sam, Blade… Any one of us could have been
in the shop when it exploded.” He’s right. It’s not unusual for brothers to be working on their own rides over the weekend. Or the prez’s woman, or their son, Eli, who loves nothing more than helping his mom.

  Drummer pales for a second, then shakes his head and brings himself back to what we’re dealing with. “Let’s go through what we know. Hawk’s a fuckin’ pastor with a violent streak that put him in the pen. Not the type you’d immediately expect to know people who’d build and plant a bomb. Except he’s also sitting on a church with one of the biggest arsenals I’ve ever seen underneath. He’s got to be holding that for someone. We’ve just got to figure out who he’s working with.”

  “Let’s start with the man who brought the bomb onto the compound,” Blade suggests.

  “Nah,” Prez contradicts. “We’ll get to him. But I suspect he’s just the delivery boy. I want to know who’s behind it.”

  “Find him, find them,” Blade suggests.

  “Maybe, but let’s think about this. Again, who’s Hawk teamed up with?”

  “The Herreras,” Peg puts forward. “They would have fingered us for the hit on the Riders. They set us up to go head to head.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Drummer considers. “If it was the Herreras they’d have moved those guns by now.”

  “They might have restocked. They might be using the church…”

  “There was dust on those boxes,” Wraith puts in. “That doesn’t happen overnight. Those guns had been there a while.”

  Drummer raises his chin toward the VP. “I agree. There was nothing to suggest there’d been recent activity there. Which means Hawk’s the key to all this. And Hawk was either friendly, very friendly with, or had something over the Chaos Riders. They were looking after his woman for him. So, what’s the connection? In your time with them, Rock, you ever see them running guns?”

  “It wasn’t discussed in church, but remember I wasn’t sitting around that table for long. Something of that type could have been going on. A few their members were on the road a lot. Of course, it could have been their boys they left in Phoenix who were more involved on that side.”

  “That would make sense. That’s where Hawk’s church is.”

  “Which could explain why the Herreras were prepared to give them a chance. They might have known they had experience of the trade. Could have been useful to them.”

  Drummer stares at the VP, then shakes his head. “If the Herreras were already using them, they wouldn’t have offered the trade to us. The fact they did suggests we could be looking in the wrong direction linking Hawk to them. I don’t think they were behind the bombing. And the Herreras would more likely be pulling the strings than jumping to Hawk’s tune.”

  I raise my hand and frown. “Now the Riders are no longer in the running, we’re the only ones in the game. Could be a message to play ball, or…”

  “Or they’ll take us out,” Peg finishes for me.

  Drum’s hand slaps on the table. “Not their fuckin’ style. Oh, they might fuckin’ attack us, but they’d warn us first. Javier would have contacted me. Don’t forget, we know Hawk ordered the hit.” Shaking his head, Prez continues, “I just can’t see a connection between Hawk and the Herreras.”

  “Why hasn’t Javier been in touch?” asks Blade, his brow furrowed. “Think about it. They must know the Riders are out of the picture by now, so why haven’t they come to us?”

  Kicking his chair out a few inches, Drummer leans back, resting a foot against the table. One hand strokes his beard. “Things don’t add up. You’re right, Blade. I was expecting the Herreras to come knocking long before now. And then there’s Hawk and the mystery of the guns under the church. None of this makes any sense. All we know is that someone planted a bomb in the club, and that Hawk was behind it. We know no more than that.”

  “Could Stub take Hawk out? He’s gotta pay for what he’s done some way.”

  That sounds like a fucking good idea to me.

  Drum moves his hand from his beard and uses it to slam it on the table. “Fuckin’ think for a moment, Blade. Don’t give a damn about Hawk. He’ll get what’s owed to him. What I do care about is who he’s dealin’ with, and whether they’re workin’ for him or he’s their mule. And who the fuck he arranged to have plant a bomb in the compound. We might have more than Hawk to worry about. At least we know where he is and how we can get to him when the time comes.”

  There’s more fidgeting than usual around the table. Most of us are impatient to get to the hospital to see what’s going on with Slick. There’s an air of frustration that we’re still sitting here talking. Drummer’s got his phone close by, but there’s still been no word about our injured brother. I know everyone will share my concerns that he hasn’t yet come round after the explosion. It can’t be a good sign to be unconscious for so long.

  Matt knocks at the door, Peg disappears for a few minutes, Prez gives us a moment to talk among ourselves. When the sergeant-at-arms returns he’s got Heart with him who brings the news that the fire’s been put out and Slade and his team have left the compound.

  Heart and Peg, both ex-service men, lean over the table and start examining some of the remains that the captain, good to his word, has passed over. The parts of a timer he’d found are now in front of us.

  “Slick’s the explosive’s expert.” Prez eyes the device. “But Heart, anything you can tell?”

  “Basic timer as far as I can see.”

  Peg’s nodding his head, “I had a quiet word with Slade. He was the one who found it, but its existence will be left out of his report. He agrees it was something simple to make, there are instructions on the internet.”

  “So who are we looking at?” Wraith asks.

  “In my opinion?” Peg waits for Prez’s nod. “Not a munitions expert. Just someone who has the ability to get explosives and do a Google search.”

  “Well that narrows the field,” Marvel observes snidely, and receives a scowl from Prez.

  “It’s someone with a link to Hawk,” I put in.

  “Which would be useful if we knew who he was in bed with,” Drummer says. “And we only know as much as we do because Stub told him his woman, your woman, was here yesterday. He arranged to have the explosives planted but couldn’t get back in touch to stop it when he found out he might be putting Becca at risk.”

  “Stub managed to see him while he was in solitary,” Peg puts in. “Presumably he couldn’t get a message out.”

  “Didn’t Stub get any more info?” I ask.

  Prez replies, “Apparently not. He was too intent on getting us a warnin’. Hopefully he’ll be able to go back and get more.”

  “Any Chaos Riders left? Out of Phoenix, perhaps?”

  “Worth checkin’ out, Blade.” Drummer nods. “But the man who brought it in was black…”

  “From what I saw, Prez, Chaos Riders was a whites only club,” I inform him.

  “What I don’t understand is how Hawk knew to blame us for the attack on their compound. Didn’t leave a callin’ card, Prez.” Wraith’s looking perplexed.

  “The Herreras might have their suspicions,” Drummer throws at his VP. “Herreras knew they’d pitted us against each other. From that point on, Devils and Riders became enemies.” Suddenly Drummer’s eyes are on me. “Were there any Chaos Riders missin’? Are you certain we took them all out, Rock?”

  I lower my head into my hands, then after a few seconds look up. “Prez, I wasn’t in a good state that day. From what I can remember everyone was killed. But there may have been someone missing, I can’t swear to it. I’m sorry.” And I am. But I’d been brought up from the basement, hurting and bleeding. I hadn’t been counting the men around me, just wanted to get out and re-join my true brothers.

  Prez looks weary. “Okay, we’re getting nowhere with the bigger picture. Let’s turn to what we do know. Right, Mouse. What have you got on the fucker who brought in the car?”

  “Prez?”

  Again, Drummer’s fist hits the ta
ble. “The motherfucker who tried to blow us up. Whatcha found out?”

  Mouse, unusually for him, seems distracted. “Oh, yeah. Fucker gave us a fake name. Got a shot of him on the security camera, but that doesn’t really help. Unless anyone knows him?” Mouse clicks a few keys on his laptop, then turns it around. We all lean in for a closer look, but by all the shakes of heads, no one recognises him.

  Drum’s eyes narrow when it’s his turn to look. “First order of business. Find him.”

  There’s a moment of silence while we take in Prez’s snarled command. A silence broken by Prez’s phone ringing. He draws it out of his pocket and looks at the display. Then puts it on speaker.

  “Paladin. What’s going on?”

  “Slick coded in the ambulance. They got him back.”

  No one speaks as we listen to the young member’s update.

  “He’s had a brain scan. His eardrum’s ruptured and there’s a big bleed on his brain. The cut to his head is insignificant, the scalp always bleeds like a bitch. It’s the rest they’re worried about. He’s been rushed into surgery.”

  “How’s Ella doing?” Drummer asks.

  “She’s in pieces, Prez.” Paladin breaks off, clearing his throat before resuming. “She wanted to tell him something, was gonna tell him this morning before it all kicked off. She’s just found out she’s pregnant.”

  Oh fuck. We all know they’d been trying for a baby since the wedding, had all kinds of tests and shit, but it wasn’t happening. Initially the brothers had been giving Slick some shit about the state of his swimmers, though we’d all backed off as time passed. Fuck of a thing if a couple want a kid and it’s not happening. Which makes Ella’s announcement tremendous and, given the timing, devastating.

  “Sam’s comforting her, Prez, but she’s hysterical. Thinks Slick is gonna die and won’t ever find out.”

  Slick should have been the first to know. Now he’s going to be the last. If he survives to find he’s going to be a daddy. Fuck. That man’s wanted a kid with Ella for so long. No wonder she’s distraught. This should have been such a happy day for them, and now Slick’s fighting for his life instead of celebrating.