by K. J. Dahlen
“What about all the blood she lost?” Mountain asked with concern all over his face.
“Her own body can replace that if she rests,” Raine assured them. “Then we need to get plenty of fluids and food into her. I’ll have Reva bring her something hot and filling in a little while but for now, I think she should sleep.” He got to his feet and stared at the two other men in the room. “I’ve given her something for the pain and she needs the rest. Don’t you guys have some business to take care of?”
Mountain pushed himself away from the wall. “Yeah, we do.” He tapped Sam on the shoulder and turned to leave the room.
Before he could get too far, Melora called him back, “Daddy?”
Mountain halted in his tracks his face paling at the endearment he thought he would never hear. He slowly turned then stepped over to the bed.
She reached out and grabbed his hand.
Mountain gently squeezed her fingers. Looking at her, he could see the struggle she was going through. He leaned over her and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’ll be here if you want to talk later.”
She smiled softly. “I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”
Mountain kissed her cheek then stood up tall and straight. He nodded at Sam then left the bedroom.
Sam went over to the bed and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I’ll be back.” He straightened up and turned to leave.
Melora reached out and grabbed his hand.
Sam turned to look at her his hand reaching up to smooth her silky hair away from her face.
“Make him suffer,” she whispered. “He’s caused too much pain and agony in this world. Give him some of it back.”
Sam smiled slightly. “I don’t think that will be a problem. This time, it’s a matter of more than just bones, baby girl. If I can’t break him Mountain will.”
After he was gone, Raine caught her glance. “That man loves you.”
Melora smiled. “I know. I love him too.” She chuckled. “I never thought I would ever say that about someone.”
“Why?” Raine asked. “You’re young enough to fall in love several times over.”
She shook her head. “My mother only ever loved one man. That man just walked out of this room. She never loved anyone the way she loved him and when he left her behind, she never forgot him either. She taught me about that kind of love and I’ve never felt it until the day I met Sam. It was so strong and so sudden, I never knew what hit me. I never thought about it until then. Now, I can’t imagine my life without him in it. I don’t think I even want to try.” Melora closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
Raine felt surprised at this news. He’d known Bones for a very long time and suddenly, he saw him through this girl’s eyes and he shook his head. “I’ll be God dammed.” Then he stood for a long moment just staring at her. Finally, he raised the blanket up and over her then turned to leave.
~* * * *~
Whiskey shook his head and tried to clear away the fog. He registered the pain pounding in his head but couldn’t remember where it came from. His whole body hurt and he didn’t know why. He struggled to open his eyes but couldn’t quite manage it. He must have had a hell of a party last night.
A few minutes later, he came to again. This time, his head began to clear. He heard men talking in the background but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Shaking his head, he felt the pain but it was clearer now, sharper even than it had been before.
He lifted his head and opened his eyes. Glancing around, he noted they were in the woods. They were in a clearing surrounded by trees. He tried to move but found he couldn’t. Lifting his head, he saw he was bound to a pole. His hands were pulled above his head and tied. He also found he’d and the others had been stripped of their clothing. All they had left on their bodies were underwear. Their vests were laying in the dirt in front of them with all the patches removed and shredded.
Turning his head, he saw Micah and Gremlin were also bound and tied to poles. Both men were sweating but silent as they awaited what was coming next.
Finally, the others noticed he was awake and Whiskey watched as several men came to stand in front of him. He knew Raven but he didn’t know the others. “What the fuck is going on here?” he demanded.
“This is a tribunal,” Raven informed him. “MC laws demand a tribunal judgment when treason is charged against a member.”
Whiskey sneered. “What charge of treason?”
“You and the others have been charged with treason against the Ghosts of Dixie, The Sin’s Bastards, and the Sons of Satan MC.”
“What the fuck did I ever do to the Sin’s Bastard and the Sons of Satan MC?” Whiskey demanded.
“You took my woman,” Sam replied.
“You shot my man in the back, paralyzing him for life, then you kidnapped my daughter,” Mountain spoke next.
Whiskey snorted. “I don’t know your woman, old man and I sure as hell don’t know your daughter.” He ignored the other charge completely. If they had the proof it was him they would have done something about it by now.
Mountain smiled. “Sure you do, Whiskey. She’s the one you were giving lessons to about all the ways you could stab a person without killing them.”
Whiskey paled. “Melora Shaw is your daughter?”
Beside him, Micah groaned in disgust. “Fuck! She was telling the truth.”
Sweat beaded Whiskey’s forehead but he tried to bluff his way through it.
“Yeah how is that for a kick in the head?” Mountain grinned. He turned his head to glare at Micah who for some reason couldn’t or wouldn’t meet his eyes.
Sam stepped forward and raised his hand to Whiskey. In his hand was Whiskey’s blade. It was still covered in Melora’s blood. Without losing eye contact with the other man, Sam simply shoved the blade into Whiskey’s shoulder. The action wasn’t slow or gentle like Whiskey’s had been—no Sam’s thrust was more brutal. It was the same place Whiskey had stabbed Melora.
Whiskey drew in a deep breath but didn’t say anything. When Sam twisted the knife around and pulled the blade out Whiskey smiled. “You’re gonna have to do better than that old man.”
Sam’s smile deepened and he moved the blade to Whiskey’s side. Slipping the knife in deep, he twisted the blade a bit then pulled it out again.
Whiskey groaned but otherwise remained silent.
Then Sam raised the blade to his other shoulder and dug the blade in deeper.
Blood ran freely down his body. Whiskey felt the pain of his wounds but he’d felt this pain before and it didn’t seem to faze him that much.
Just then, Sam noticed the old scars. They covered most of his chest and arms. Cut scars, some looked old while others where barely healed. All of the old scars looked to be self-inflicted. He shook his head. “You don’t even feel the pain anymore do you…you crazy fuck?”
Whiskey smiled. “Oh, I still feel it, I just don’t let it rule me like it once did.”
“Maybe you won’t feel it in the non-lethal places, nutjob,” Sam countered. “But you might feel it where it hurts more.” He pulled the huge bloody knife back again.
“No wait!” Raven called out. Stepping up to Mountain and Sam, he raised his hand to stop them. “We have to do this according to the MC laws.”
“And they are?” Mountain asked.
“With everyone present, we read the charges and take a vote.”
All three men looked around at the number of men standing beside them.
Raven’s men were all there, as were Mountain’s men. Deke’s men were also present. Sam’s men stood around the edge of the group too. They turned and saw Iceman leaning against a tree on the outer edge of the clearing. Beside him stood his men.
When Iceman noticed them looking at him he pushed away from the tree and came over to join the others. He met their gazes straight up then turned to the three men bound to the poles. “Which one of these bastards held a gun to my wife’s head?” Iceman asked quietly.
>
Anyone who knew him would have known that tone in his voice. Iceman was not a man others took for a fool. When his voice reached the tone it was at now—that’s when he was at his most dangerous.
Everyone looked at the three men and it was Micah they all stared at.
Iceman walked up to the other man and spoke softly, “I guess that would be you, huh?”
“I was just following orders.” Micah trembled.
Iceman turned to gaze at Whiskey for a moment then turned back to Micah. “And were you and your other friend just following orders when he hit Cassie, not once but several times? And what about after the fact when Melora made him run into a tree? Were you just following orders when you dragged her off your bike and beat the hell out of her in the woods?”
Micah paled and began to shake. Each word striking him as if Iceman was using his fists.
“Your friend, the one they called Lightning, he deserved to die for what he did to Cassie. Melora got justice for her but I’m gonna get justice for Peaches. Sam over there, is gonna get justice for his woman.” He leaned closer to Micah.
Micah was so scared the sweat rolled off his face.
“You see, I made my woman a vow that nobody would ever hurt her again. Nobody would ever scare her that way again either and…you did both shithead.” Iceman took a step away and watched along with the others as Micah wet himself. Sneering, he shook his head. Turning his head to Raven he said, “Call out the charges and then call for the vote. But before everyone votes, maybe it’s time they see what Whiskey did to Baily and maybe they should hear what his plans for the club were gonna be. I don’t think everyone here knows what he had planned.”
Raven nodded. “That sounds fair enough.”
Melora’s video was passed from man to man, even those who weren’t Ghosts.
Whiskey could almost feel the crowds’ displeasure growing and for the first time, he began to feel the pain of betrayal. He began to feel the nerve endings all over his body tingling and the hairs on the back of his head began to itch.
The charges against them were read and the crowd immediately called out their guilty vote.
Raven motioned for two of his men to carry out the sentence of death but Deke stopped him.
Everyone turned to stare at him for a moment.
Deke shrugged. “While I totally agree with the findings of the tribunal, I think poetic justice should be administered here.”
“What kind of poetic justice?” Raven asked. “What do you have in mind?”
“Exactly what they wanted for Baily,” Deke told the group. “We feed them to the hogs.”
“Do you have wild hogs up here?” Raven asked.
Deke grinned. “No but we have a neighbor who has several sows that will eat anything put in front of them. He also has a couple of mean sows. They really tear into their food and devour it quickly, so there’s never a trace.”
“I like your idea.” Mountain nodded.
Sam stepped forward and made a brushing motion toward Micah and Gremlin. “Those two deserve death before consumption but I think Whiskey deserves to feel everything he has coming.”
“I like that idea even better.” Mountain gave him a cold grin.
Whiskey stared at them without seeing them. He was trying to escape to the place in his mind that would help him block out all the pain but it wasn’t working. He could still hear everything going on around him. When he heard the two shots that echoed in the woods, he was startled enough to look beside him. He saw Micah and Gremlin hanging limp against the poles and he knew for them, the nightmare was over.
Several men gathered around him and one began tying his feet together while another one cut the rope holding him in place. His hand were still bound but when they pulled him away from the pole, Whiskey began to fight in earnest.
It didn’t take much to subdue him and as they carried him away he began to beg and plead for his life.
The group as a whole marched behind him in stony silence and a few minutes later, they paused and waited to watch as the small group made their way to the fence line beyond.
The air here was stagnate with the scent of pigs and garbage. Whiskey felt his body being lifted up and dumped over the fence line. He landed with a hard thump into the mud. The sounds and scents came right up into Whiskey’s face and he let out an inhuman scream as a hog’s face came right up close to him and opened its drooling jaws.
~* * * *~
Raven, Mountain, Sam, Iceman and Deke along with the others watched from the other side of the fence. When the hogs noticed them, they all came running over and then the sounds of grunting hogs and Whiskey’s screams was all that could be heard.
When the sounds finally died down, none of the men smiled, they all did what had to be done. In silence everyone turned and headed back the way they came.
~* * * *~
It took three days of complete bed rest before Melora felt good enough to even sit up in bed. By the end of the third day, she was going stir crazy. Pushing the blankets aside, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She felt dizzy for a moment but as soon as her head cleared, she made her way slowly to the dresser. Opening a drawer, she pulled out one of Sam’s t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants. She had to roll the pants up several times before she could even take a step without tripping but finally, she was ready to go.
Brushing her long hair back away from her face, she made her way to the door. She had to stand there a moment to gather her strength. Just moving the little bit, left her trembling but she knew if she gave in to the weakness, she probably wouldn’t go anywhere for a while.
She opened the door and gradually made her way down the hall and into the great room.
Everyone sitting there stopped talking the moment she showed herself.
She could see them all, Mountain, Sam, Deke and Cassie, Iceman, Peaches and Raven. They were sitting at the main table in the room. The only one missing was Izzy.
Melora straightened her shoulders and carefully made her way over to them. She didn’t ask for their help nor would she have accepted it and they all knew it. It was the longest walk of her life but she made it.
Sam stood and brought her to him. When he sat down, his arms cradled her to his lap. “Are you okay?” he whispered in her ear.
Melora nodded and looked at everyone. Shrugging, she put off their concerns. “I was bored in that bedroom all by myself.”
Raven smiled. “I’m leaving in the morning and I hoped I would get the chance to say goodbye.”
Melora reached out her hand and when he took it she asked, “Are we good?”
Raven nodded. “Yeah, we’re good. Whiskey’s threat is over and I’m going home to pick up the pieces and try to get things back on the right track.”
“Before you go, I need to give you something.”
“What would that be?” Raven looked curious.
“The location of Baily’s body. I told the Senator when this was over, I would release his body for the family to get closure. I think they deserve that much, don’t you?”
Raven nodded. “Yeah, they do. I appreciate it and I know they will as well.”
“It was the right thing to do. I couldn’t let Whiskey win this one and Baily might have been a dumbass, but he didn’t deserve to die like that. Nobody does.”
“For the record, I never told Whiskey to jump him that night,” Raven assured her. “I know now that it was Whiskey who lent him the money and Whiskey was the one blackmailing him to get him in a position he could use to get the Senator under his thumb. That’s not the way my club is supposed to work.” Raven shrugged. “Would I love a political connection? Who wouldn’t? Am I going to use blackmail and the threat of violence to get it…No way. That always comes back to bite you in the ass in the end. Some of the boys and I have been talking about coming clean. We may be a motorcycle club and all but who says we can’t be legit? I’ve been watching things around here and so far, I like what I see and what’s more, I do
n’t think I’ll have too much trouble selling it to the rest of them.” He shook his head. “Hell, I’m getting too old for most of the horseshit anyway.”
“Maybe returning Baily to his family will help smooth things over then,” Melora offered.
Raven grinned. “I can say it’s been a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Melora Shaw.”
“Maybe the next time I’m in Raleigh, I’ll look you up.” Melora nodded. “Maybe.”
Before she could do anything else, the backdoor opened and Izzy walked in holding one of Cassie’s babies. She glanced up and saw Melora. Yelping, she rushed over to the table. Handing the baby to her mother, she went over to Melora and hugged her tight. “Damn girl, don’t ever do that again.” Izzy gave her grief. “I never thought I’d see you again.”
Melora smiled. “You should know better by now. How many times have we been in trouble together? Don’t I always come back from it?”
Izzy chuckled. “More times than I care to remember, that’s for sure but this time was different and you know it. This time, you might not have come back. I was really afraid for you.”
Melora raised her hand and cupped it around Izzy’s cheek. “I wouldn’t do that to you. We’ve been through too much together to start thinking like that.”
Izzy began to cry. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Melora’s waist. “This time, you weren’t alone with just me looking out for you.”
Mountain couldn’t stand to listen to the heartbreak in Izzy’s voice anymore. He scoped her up off the floor and held her on his lap. “This time, neither of you is alone. As long as you are part of Melora’s family, you’re part of mine too.”
Izzy wrapped her arms around the big guys’ neck. Glancing over at her friend, she tipped her head at Mountain. “So this Mountain man is your daddy, huh?”
“Yup, sure is.” Melora grinned.
“And that’s your old man?” She nodded at Bones.
