I shook the entire fight from my mind as I took all the back roads. I wanted to make sure absolutely no one would stay on my tail. I wanted to make certain I wasn’t being followed. This was serious. All the DEA had to do was have reasonable doubt that some bullshit was going down and they’d flood this entire fucking town with black sedans. We had people riding on this deal. Debts that had to be paid. Trips that were going to be taken. Bank accounts that were drying up. We had to lay low after our last shipment almost got caught, which meant we were already hanging on by a thread.
Already on someone else’s radar.
I parked my bike and busted into the bar. Mac and Fox were in the corner, sitting there just nursing a couple of beers. I strode through the bar, commanding attention as I hooked my eyes onto them. Mac looked at me and immediately saw the sternness of my gaze, and he stood, with Fox following not too far behind.
“We got a problem,” I said.
“Church,” Mac said. “Now.”
Mac got on his phone while Fox got on his. We settled our tab and left the bar, hopping onto our bikes and scooting up to the mechanic shop. The moment we walked in, Fox flipped the switch on the wall. Talon had wired up the entire mechanic shop with a scrambling device. That meant if something serious was going down and we really needed some genuine privacy, we could flip that switch and no one could hear us. No planted bugs. No hacked cell phones. No nothing.
“The fuck’s going on?” Mac asked.
“Wait until everyone gets here,” I said. “I’m only gonna explain it once.”
Fox’s eyes were on fire. The last thing he wanted was for this shipment to be ruined. He was the one that suggested we go with the warehouse location again. He was the one that suggested this would be a good way to get us some cash flow while flying under the radar. He knew if this fell through, Mac would have his fucking head on a platter.
All I needed to do was keep Syd’s name out of it.
Both Talon and Snake piled into the shop. The locked the door behind them and quickly came to sit down. They were all looking at me, wondering what the fuck was going on, and the moment I opened my mouth I heard them all sigh in frustration.
“The DEA’s poking around,” I said.
“What?” Mac asked.
“I fucking told you this shit was a bad idea,” Snake said.
“This isn’t my fault,” Fox said.
“No one’s blamin’ anyone,” Mac said. “Yet. How do you know it’s the DEA, Hawk?”
“Went to scope out the warehouse site a couple hours ago and there was a black sedan there. Don’t worry, the guys we’re paying were the ones that alerted me to it. They’re good guys. Obedient. Observant.”
“Yeah. Concrete’s solid,” Fox said.
“What did you do?” Mac asked.
“I waited until they left, then followed them. All the way out of town. About thirty minutes. They stopped at a diner in some small ass town, and I parked. Watched them for a while. It’s DEA all right.”
“Why the fuck didn’t I hear about this then?” Mac asked.
“Good question,” Talon said.
“I figured it could wait until our next session this weekend,” I said. “Until I saw a fucking black sedan outside of my house this evening.”
Not completely true, but Syd did say one of them cropped up. I wasn’t sure if it was the same one, but I had the boys so rattled it wouldn’t even matter.
“You think they fucking spotted you when you were tailing them?” Snake asked.
“Even if they had, I had a helmet on, my jacket, and jeans. They’ve wouldn’t of known who I was, especially since I switch out the license plates on my bike every so often,” I said.
“Fuck!” Mac exclaimed. “Was it the same sedan?”
“Didn’t see the license plate on the one the one outside my place, but I figured it was enough information that it couldn’t wait,” I said.
“You’re fucking right,” Mac said. “All right, so now we gotta figure out how the fuck to get these guys off our trail.”
I breathed a silent sigh of relief. They weren’t going to ask any more questions, which meant I could keep Syd’s name out of it. I saw Talon looking at me a little oddly, but I tried to shake it off. Talon was paranoid as it is, so he was probably starting to wonder if I was cooperating with the DEA.
So, I decided to abate his worries.
“And Talon, before you even fucking ask, the answer’s no,” I said.
“Of course Hawk’s not cooperating,” Snake said. “Shut the fuck up, Talon.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Talon said.
“You never fucking have to with those wild eyes,” Mac said.
“So, Mac. What do we do?” I asked.
“We could try to lose them. We’re far enough out from the shipment to where we could redirect.”
“We’d have to pull the money from those guys’ bank accounts. Issue refunds,” Fox said.
“Or at least get them temporarily transferred, which’ll raise red flags,” I said.
“And pulling the money from their accounts will be even more suspicious,” Snake said.
“We could divert and get the shipments ourselves,” Mac said. “Somewhere remote. Somewhere no one would think to look. We could do all of that without having to go back to that warehouse where they’re fucking snooping around.”
“Where would we redirect? Those drugs are already on their way in. We’d have to radio out to them, and that risks interception,” Fox said.
“Yeah. If the DEA is expecting us to panic, they’ll see that coming from a mile away,” Snake said.
“Well, you assholes got any better ideas?” Mac asked.
“I’d like to know how they fucking got onto us in the first fucking place,” Talon said.
“You know it’s been all over the news. Shit with the Iron Souls,” Fox said.
“You think they’re checking into everyone with all that shit going down?” Snake asked.
“And don’t forget, we almost got fucking caught last time. That already put us on their radars. Then the Iron Souls go and fuck up shit in our neighbor state. I’m honestly shocked they weren’t here sooner,” Mac said.
Holy fuck, as the conversation went on, I became more and more relieved. Mac was keeping his head on straight, especially with Talon ready to pull the trigger. The last thing I needed was to throw Syd into this fight. The last thing I needed was for them to figure out she was the one that brought the DEA into town.
We sat around for two hours shooting the shit when it came to plans. We tried to find ways to postpone. Divert. Reroute. Anything we could do to try and get the DEA off our tails. I was secretly hoping they would just follow Syd out of town. Just long enough for us to get this fucking shipment in. Then I could go after her. Track them down. Help them in any way necessary.
Maybe even tell the club she was back in town and that I had a beautiful daughter I wanted them to meet.
But until we could get through this shit-- until I could volley both sides of this-- she was on her own.
Then again, that’s kinda what she’d always wanted anyway.
“So, we can’t reroute. We can’t divert. We sure as hell can’t go through with the shipment as planned. What if we just turn their heads another way?” Fox asked.
“Whaddaya mean?” Snake asked.
I saw the look come over Fox’s face and I knew exactly what he was thinking. It was the same look we all got whenever we thought about that night. That gruesome, bloody night that forever changed the course of my life, the course of Sydney’s life, and the course of the club’s life forever. I could see the hurt and guilt in his eyes. How he wished he could’ve done more for his fallen family members. We all felt guilty. We all visited that makeshift cemetery a few miles down the road. We all harbored and held close some sort of guilt.
We all suffered from some form of anxiety over it.
We all secretly wanted to get revenge for what The Devil Saints
had reigned down on us that night six years ago.
“We could put them on the Devil’s tail,” Fox said.
“That would take some serious planning,” Mac said. “I’m not sure we got that kinda time.”
“But it would work. You know damn well that The Devil Saints ain’t got no morals,” Talon said.
“You got any plans going on in that head of yours?” Snake asked.
“Matter of fact, I do,” Talon said.
“Spill it,” Mac said.
“We’ve had a feud with them for years. Even before that night, we never got along. They treat their women and children like shit. Use them as fall guys and shields. They set them up for failure and ain’t got no issues taking what they feel is theirs,” Talon said.
“We get it. They’re scum. What’s your plan?” Fox asked.
“If you’d shut up long enough, I’d get to it. You guys talk enough for all of us, so sit down and listen,” Talon said.
I had to say, I was impressed with how he was handling this situation. Fox and Snake grumbled, but Mac was definitely impressed. We all sat back in our chairs and let Talon go on his little rant, but when he got to the good stuff, he really delivered.
“I happen to know The Devil Saints were behind us almost getting caught last time,” Talon said.
“You what?” Mac asked.
“I do some snooping in my spare time. Looking for ways to get them back for what they did to us,” Talon said.
“You know that ain’t safe. That could bring wrath down on the whole fuckin’ club,” Snake said.
“Yeah, well. It’s better than sitting around and doing nothing like you guys enjoy doing. I don’t have concrete proof, but I did overhear some conversations one time,” Talon said.
“And where did you hear these… conversations?” Mac asked.
“In their bar. It’s amazing what they don’t recognize if you just don’t wear your cut and fucking put some sunglasses on. They’re so hot on themselves they don’t even give ya a second look,” Talon said, grinning.
“What did this conversation entail?” I asked.
“They were talking about how our routes had become predictable. Talked about how hiding the drugs in the auto parts containers was smart, but how often we used the trucks on our routes wasn’t. One of the guys even laughed about how it was easy to sink the police on our tail because our bikes are modified to be so damn loud,” Talon said.
“Holy fucking shit. They looked at our merchandise,” Mac said.
“How much you wanna bet they took some of it, too?” I asked. “And that’s why we were three boxes short the last time Talon did inventory?”
“My thoughts exactly,” Talon said.
“I’m still wondering why the fuck you didn’t voice them when you needed to,” Mac said.
“I was about to, but then we started up with this whole other shipment, and I got distracted," Talon said, shrugging. “We made the course corrections, I knew who took the shit, so now’s our chance to get them back. Both for our stolen property and our fallen comrades.”
“Ya still haven’t given us a plan,” Mac said.
“There’s a lot they fuckin’ run their mouths about when they get drunk as hell. Been to their bar a few times. Enough for them to open their mouths to me because they think they can recruit me,” Talon said.
“Holy shit. You serious? They’re that careless?” Fox asked.
“When you’re high on yourself, it’s easy,” I said.
“You know that growing violence problem west of here? That small little town just beyond the desert?” Talon asked.
“The Devil Saints are dealing our drugs?” Mac asked.
“I think they are. And get this: they’re using their own fuckin’ women to do it,” Talon said.
“How the hell do you know?” I asked.
“I bought one of their women for the night. I wanted to see how their operation went, and they are using all of their own women to be the front of it so that they remain protected.” Talon said.
“Fucking Christ,” Mac asked. “How’d you get the info out of her?”
Talon let out a bit of a laugh. “Let’s just say, I treated her better than her husband did.”
“Of course you fucking did,” I said.
“Why the hell is the DEA here then?” Snake asked.
“Well, I heard that there have been several OD’s in the area lately. Some of OD’s were guys in the Devil Saints,” Talon said.
“They’re fucking using our product for personal use? Are they fucking insane?!” Snake asked.
“And you’re sure? About all of this?” Mac asked.
“It’s why I didn’t come to you immediately. I wanted the whole picture before we waged war. But this sorta seems like karma to me,” Talon said.
“How do we get their scent onto the DEA agent, though?” Fox asked.
“Simple: an anonymous tip,” Talon said. “There’s gotta be someone in this group that doesn’t want be in it anymore. Always is.”
All of them flicked their gazes towards me, and I clenched my fists. I knew they were all talking about Sydney. How she just fucking ran and left us all behind. I wasn’t the only one that impacted. I loved her, yes, but Talon was close to her, too. She helped Talon come out of his shell a lot. He was a tough fucker now, but as a kid he was scared. Lonely. Shit at conversation. She really pulled him out of his shell. And Mac. She fucking called Mac ‘Uncle’, for fuck’s sake. Fox and her grew up next to one another. Neighbors and all that shit. And Snake just enjoyed being around her. Said he liked her laugh and the way she was always smiling about somethin’.
Syd impacted all of us, then she just fucking left.
“If we find someone who doesn’t wanna be a part of us anymore, they could be anonymous against The Devil Saints. They could vouch that we aren’t doing anything weird while sicking them onto the other crew,” Fox said.
“It’s fucking risky as hell. It would only take the right amount of pressure for them to roll on us,” I said.
“But it’ll be the least messiest. It’ll keep all our hands out of it,” Talon said.
We all turned our heads towards Mac. We could tell he was thinking. His eyes were focused on Talon, but his stare was distant. He was running scenarios through this head. Making contingency plans. Trying to figure out if the plan was worth it.
But when he opened his mouth, we all realized once again why Mac was President.
“Talon, you seem to have an in with them and enjoy the undercover work, right?” he asked.
All Talon did was nod.
“Why couldn’t we find someone in there willing to roll over on their own crew? With the way it sounded, that woman you bought was so fucking disheveled, it wouldn’t take much for her to rat them out. Especially if we vowed to protect her,” Mac said.
Talon’s grin grew huge on his face as he nodded his head.
“Think you could go back and buy more from her?” Mac asked, grinning.
“I can do that just fine,” Talon said.
“So, we all in agreement?” Mac asked. “With this plan?”
All of us nodded our heads as Talon’s grin grew into a full-blown smile. If there was one thing Talon enjoyed more than protecting people, it was bringing down shitheads he needed to protect them from.
This was his perfect mission, and I was simply relieved I didn’t have to throw Sydney’s name into it.
Though by the looks on everyone’s faces, I could tell they all missed her… and something told me they’d accept her back if she ever came back.
If I could ever find her after this.
Chapter 12
Sydney
I drove us all the way to a town called Monterey, California. Emery woke up about halfway through the drive, and immediately she asked where Hawk was. My heart ached for her. I couldn’t imagine how she was possibly feeling. Being yanked around from place to place as I tried to outrun the stupid decisions I’d made over the course of
my lifetime. All I’d ever wanted to do was provide for her the life I couldn’t have. A life that didn’t know the pains I’d experienced. I wanted her to go to a regular school and hang out with children from other neighborhoods. I wanted her to be able to go over to other people’s houses without adults having to case the property to make sure it was safe.
To make sure she wasn’t fraternizing with someone who wanted to hurt us through her.
All I’d wanted was for her to have a normal upbringing. For her to know the security, I never did. For her to have a house to grow up in and not have to worry about defending herself all the time. I didn’t want to teach her kickboxing at ten. I didn’t want her to learn how to shoot a gun by the time she was a teenager. I wanted her to worry about her makeup. I wanted her biggest worry as a child to be which boy she was going to fawn over next. I wanted to take her to the movies without having to sneak in a weapon just in case someone from a rival club tried to corner us.
I didn’t want her life to be filled with the bloodshed I’d seen.
But even with her asking about Hawk, it didn’t take long for her to start asking about food, which distracted her long enough for me to get us into Monterey.
I didn’t have any idea where we were going, but the moment I saw the state signs for California, a part of me breathed a sigh of relief. I’d spent a great deal of time in California growing up, though I’d never ventured through it in a van. I was always on the back of my father’s bike until Hawk got his. Then, I’d travel the state with Hawk, my arms wrapped around his waist tightly as my hair blew around my neck.
Yes, I had positive memories of my years growing up with The Road Rebels, but when it came down to it that lifestyle ripped my only parent away from me before his time.
I didn’t want to die without seeing Emery fulfill every single piece of happiness she wanted with her life.
I pulled over to the first hotel I saw. It was back off the road a bit, but seemed nice enough. I took Emery in with me and checked us in, then took her back out to the car. I drove the car around to the back of the building, trying to hide it from the main road as best as I could before I dragged all of our stuff inside. I set the hotel aside for one week, thinking that would give me time to formulate a plan to find myself a job and lay low until the DEA was done with their witch hunt.
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