LOGAN (BAD BOY BIKER ROMANCE)

by Jacobs, Kyle

  Logan was shocked to see that the place was packed with other full patch members of the Macabre Jesters. There were even a few from other Macabre Jesters Chapters from other towns. There looked to be close to two dozen people here.

  "What the hell?" Logan asked Parker, as he took in the spectacle. With so many members in one place, and unscheduled, it could only mean one thing. Trouble.

  "Yeah, I know," Parker said.

  When Parker didn't offer more Logan asked, "So, did someone die or something?" He felt totally clueless, and hated being so far out of the Club loop.

  "No," Parker said, almost somber. "Not yet."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Feathers have been ruffled and strings have been pulled," Parker said and nodded over toward the other side of the chamber.

  Logan looked and saw Milo. He was standing and chatting with a small handful of other members. It took a moment to realize Milo was talking to them about Logan as they all kept looking over in his direction.

  "Don't tell me," Logan said, exasperated.

  "Yup," Parker said. "The idiot is making a move."

  It was no secret that Milo wanted better status within the Club. Every time he had tried he failed. Laughably so in some cases. It was a wonder he hadn't been discharged yet. Which in Biker parlance meant stripped of his patch, beaten and tossed into the street.

  Yet here he was, the Club Idiot as some would say behind his back, about to do something that would most likely accelerate that process.

  But why is he so keen on me? Logan thought.

  Just then Logan stepped out from the back where he'd been talking to another group.

  "Okay, shut up!" Logan snarled.

  Two dozen hardened bikers stopped talking almost immediately. Such was the fear and respect they had for Logan.

  Logan said, "As you know, any patched member can call an emergency meeting. Usually it's done in times of war. But since we are not currently at war with anyone, I'd ask the member who called this meeting to explain his reason for this."

  The Club President turned and looked to Milo. "You're up, Milo."

  Logan and Parker were shaking their heads. What was this guy thinking?

  As Milo walked to the middle of the room there was some chuckling from the crowd. Some thought the Club Idiot was about to make a spectacle of himself. Milo ignored them.

  "My fellow brothers," Milo said. "I called this meeting because of a dire circumstance has arisen."

  Parker whispered, "Someone has been reading a dictionary."

  Milo strutted about, almost like a peacock. "As most of you may not been aware, I was given the green light to make inroads with some of the other Clubs. Laying the groundwork for potentially lucrative deals. Something we all know we need."

  This brought some mumbling and nods of agreement.

  "One of these Clubs really wanted to deal with us, and I was within reach of a tentative agreement that would have been worth a lot of money to many of you here."

  Now Logan realized where this was going. He started to worry.

  "Who's the Club?" someone called out.

  Milo blinked, as if this caused him to lose his train of thought. "The Silver Hounds."

  Now this got everyone's attention. The Hounds were neutral to the Macabre Jesters, but they were known to have bigger connections to the underworld than the Jesters, as well as much deeper pockets.

  Milo grinned at this. He knew this was something they would want very much.

  "But now that potential deal is on ice, because one person, one member has gone and sabotaged the entire thing."

  Logan was now on full alert. "Oh, crap," he said.

  "And not only that," Milo continued in full form. "He has gone out of his way to try and start a war with the Hounds!"

  "Who is this asshole?" said one of the members Milo had been standing with. A plant.

  Milo turned and with a dramatic flourish pointed directly at Logan. "Him!"

  All eyes turned to look at Logan.

  "Well, this just got interesting," Parker said with a poor attempt at levity.

  Logan walked over to confront Milo. "That is a load of complete crap, and you know it!"

  Almost instantly Logan appeared and physically blocked Logan, stopping him in his tracks. "Now wait a second, Logan. You know how this works. He gets his say and then you do."

  Logan backed down, but he was beyond furious.

  Logan looked to Milo to continue, almost begrudgingly.

  Milo sneered at Logan. "This member not only confronted a high ranking member of the Silver Hounds, he then took that Hound's boy toy."

  This actually brought some laughter which Milo didn't expect. He quickly added. "Unless something is done to fix this situation, there will be no deal with the Hounds."

  This made the crowd sober up. If it had to do with money, it got priority. And if Milo had made a good enough case that Logan was responsible for them losing money, or potential money, he was in serious trouble.

  Logan raised a hand, then looked to Logan. "Say your peace, Logan."

  Logan tried to maintain his cool. He turned to address the group. "This idiot has gone and twisted around a situation to his own benefit. We had a member of the Silver Hounds sneak into Hot Rocks uninvited. He took off with one of our dancers, who use to be his boyfriend. Well, he isn't his boyfriend, not anymore."

  He glanced at Logan for permission to mention one important detail. Logan sensed what it was and nodded once. Milo looked alarmed at this but could say nothing.

  "I, too, was closing a deal. In fact I got a hand shake. With the Evil Masters."

  This brought more rumblings. Like the Silver Hounds, the Evil Masters were a highly sought after business partner.

  "But this rogue Silver Hound was making us look bad. Intruding on our territory, and snatching one of our boy toys. And the Evil Master saw this. If I had done nothing, it would have made us look weak. And as you all know, that kind of thing could not be allowed."

  There was nods of approval, and general rumblings of assent.

  "I don't think there is a member here that would have let that situation go on. So I put a stop to it."

  Milo now looked apoplectic. Perhaps he just didn't think Logan would have had a chance to say anything, let alone play on one of the Bikers major laws: Don't show weakness.

  "The Hound was not hurt. He even said that it was a personal matter, and not business. So after we made it clear he couldn't pull that stunt again, we let him go."

  Logan glared at Milo. "It was a personal matter, and had nothing to do with our business, or Hound business."

  Logan sensed that he had mollified the group, to a degree. He had cast enough doubt on Milo's serious accusations. Which left the other members to think on Milo's motivations.

  Logan stepped forward. "Okay, I've heard enough. Because this involves outside Clubs, this gets bumped up to upper management to decide what to do."

  There is almost always an upper echelon in the biker gang culture. Usually, old time members who now have enough influence to work on an almost national, and sometimes, international levels. Lower members usually are not privy to what kind of business dealing they are up to. Particularly if it might involve other gangs. To prevent an incident, any inter-gang deals gets run by these older members. The Upper Management.

  Logan said, "Now I'm not sure if this was even worth calling an emergency meeting." It was Logan's turn to glare at Milo. "And if Upper Management wants to punish the accusing member of this nonsense, he'll know it."

  This brought a burst of laughter from the group. Milo was mortified.

  In almost desperation Milo pointed at Logan and screamed, "That stupid boy toy is the real cause of all this!"

  Logan handled this in normal biker style. He punched Milo.

  Milo was unprepared and flew back to land on the floor. Blood streamed from his nose.

  Logan put a restraining hand on Logan. "That's enough." He said. Then he gave Logan a hard
look. "In fact, that'll be the last time you touch him. Until we hear otherwise."

  Logan got the hint. Milo was in Upper Management's hands now, self-delivered. Logan was not foolish enough to seek out any more revenge.

  "Okay," Logan said to the group. "That's over with. Now let's drink!"

  This brought a cheer, and members started to disperse. Some gave Milo sidelong mocking grins.

  Logan was trying to cool down. He had been more than prepared to beat Milo through the floor. He felt Parker put a hand on his shoulder.

  "I was just struck with a thought," Parker said.

  "What?"

  "This moron expected to win outright. Send you up the river. So if that was the outcome expected, wouldn't Oliver be part of that?"

  Logan caught his breath. Oliver was at risk. Maybe even right at that moment.

  "Let's go!"

  Chapter 17

  Oliver

  "The Silver Hounds want a deal?" Oliver said, to Eddie, incredulous.

  He knew what this meant. Gavin was screwing around behind the scenes, trying to get him to come back. Making him return, or even getting Logan dismissed. This sounded exactly like the scummy thing he would do.

  Eddie looked at him with pity, "Oh, honey, how could you be so blind? This is how these Clubs work. It's always about the money. They don't give a damn about people. Especially boy toys."

  Oliver had to admit, that did sound completely plausible. Was his little chance at heaven ruined now by the very man he was trying to escape? What could Oliver do? He had to talk to Logan.

  "I'm going to call Logan," Oliver said and picked up his cell phone.

  Eddie moved closer, and for a moment Oliver thought the other man intended to rip the phone out of his hands. Instead Eddie put his hand over Oliver's.

  "Just be very careful what you say," Eddie said.

  "Why?"

  "Because he's probably with other Club members, and if they hear him talking to you, they might get even more pissed off. Logan's in trouble now because of you. Don't make it worse for him."

  Oliver was hearing all of this and it made him worry even more, but a part of he didn't care. He wanted to talk to his man and see if he was okay.

  "Okay," Oliver said. "I'll be careful." He really didn't know what that meant, but Eddie removed his hand.

  Oliver called Logan. They had officially exchanged numbers last night.

  Oh, last night, Oliver thought. One of the most passionate and intense encounters of his life. Now it has been tainted by Gavin, and the Macabre Jesters, and this rotten biker life.

  He heard the phone ring but it went straight to voice mail. This caused him to panic. Why couldn't he answer? Didn't he always have that thing with him. It was practically a part of him.

  Logan's recorded voice spoke, and Oliver felt his heart melt at the sound of it. Gruff but soothing at the same time. "Hey, not here. Leave a message. Or, better yet, don't."

  This almost caused Oliver to laugh. But when the beep came and his message was being recorded he just said, "Hey, you. It's just me. Wanted to check in and make sure you were okay."

  Eddie leaned into his field of vision, looking worried.

  Oliver said, "Uh, gimme a call, okay? Like as soon as you can." And he hung up. For a moment there he almost ended the recording with 'Love you'.

  Wow, Oliver thought, as he put down the phone. I must have it really bad for this guy. And it might get him in serious trouble, or even killed.

  Eddie leaned back, and let out a sigh. He seemed even more relieved than the situation warranted. Was there something else he was worried about but not sharing?

  Oliver was now beside himself with worry. What could he do? Wait? Or even leave? He was at a complete loss.

  "Is there any way we can find out what is going on right now? With Logan?" Oliver asked.

  "I dunno," Eddie seemed to think it over. "The Jesters are really tight. It's not like we can fully trust any of them. Let alone expect them to share Club business. Even with me."

  "You said you had the inside scoop," Oliver said. "Who told you about the Clubs making a deal."

  This made Eddie bristle a little, then his expression returned to one of frustration. "Look. You hear things, right? Its all gossip until it really happens. Well, now it really is happening." He suddenly brightened. "I know who!" he declared.

  "Who?"

  "The only one of that lot who truly is worth anything. A real up an comer. Hell, you know him, too."

  Oliver was perplexed. "I do?"

  Just then there was a knock at the motel door. Both guys jumped a little and looked at each other in shock.

  "Expecting anyone?" Eddie asked.

  Oliver shook his head.

  The knock came again. "Oliver?" came a man's voice from the other side.

  Was it Logan? Oliver couldn't tell. He ran to the door and swung it open.

  Ryder was standing there. He looked relieved to see Oliver.

  "Oliver!" He said. "You're okay!"

  Oliver blinked at him, a little disappointed it wasn't who he hoped it was. "Yeah, I'm alright." Was he?

  Eddie said, "Ryder! Now see, Oliver. We start talking about the only Macabre Jester we can trust and look who appears."

  Oliver let Ryder in. Oliver did a quick glance outside. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, a blue mustang, or a group of Macabre Jesters with baseball bats, but nothing looked amiss.

  He closed the door, and went to sit on the edge of the bed.

  Ryder stood next to Eddie. A look of grave concern on his face.

  "I just came from the Club house," he said.

  Oliver looked at him with expectation.

  "Uh, Logan called an emergency meeting. Private Club business."

  Eddie said, "It's okay, I told him about the Silver Hound deal."

  "Ah, okay. Well, Logan called the meeting because of the situation with Logan, and the Hounds." He looked sheepishly at Oliver. "And, well, you."

  Oliver swallowed. This wasn't sounding good at all.

  Ryder continued. "A lot of the members are pissed off that the deal is potentially ruined now. And they wanted to discuss their options to revive it. And being the assholes that they are they came up with one option."

  Ryder was looking at Oliver with obvious sympathy. As if he didn't want to say what the option was. "Anyways, when the option came up and a vote was cast, Logan went a little crazy."

  Oliver caught his breath. He could see it in his mind, Logan freaking out. It was a terrifying vision. And all because of him.

  When Oliver didn't speak, Eddie asked, "What happened?"

  "Well, Logan attacked Logan."

  Both Eddie and Oliver gasped. Attacking the Club President was one of the worst offences a member could do.

  "Started beating on him. Other members pulled Logan off, and, well..." Ryder trailed off.

  Oliver was apoplectic. "What? What happened to Logan?!"

  "They beat the crap out of him. Real bad."

  Oliver gasped again. No! No, this couldn't be happening. Not to Logan. Not because of him. All he did was care for him. And now he's been severely hurt. And what about his Club standing? Was he out of the Club now?

  Both Eddie and Ryder were watching Oliver expectantly. They looked almost identical to when the were watching him running back to the change rooms after his audition.

  Oliver tried to get a grip on himself. "Is Logan okay? Is he alright?" It seemed a foolish thing to ask. Logan just received a Biker beat down. But he had to know.

  Ryder looked forlorn, "I don't really know. I left right then. I had to come over and warn you. I was worried for you."

  Eddie patted one of Ryder's big forearms. "You're a good man, Ryder. You always have been. It's good to have someone like you around we can trust."

  Ryder looked to Oliver. "Oliver, babe, we have to get you out of here. You have to leave town. Like, right now."

  Oliver felt the world slip away from him, swirl around his head. This
can't be happening.

  "I... I don't know," he said. This was all too much for one person to handle. "What about Logan?"