The motherfucker behind the glass in the morgue allowed the curtains to close. Not caring if they were done with him or not, Christopher somehow made it outside. In the bright sunshine when he felt so hollow and dark inside. When his nieces and sisters would never see light again or feel the breeze against their faces. They'd never walk again or talk again. Live. Because they were dead.
Toeing the kickstand and mounting his Harley, he pulled on his fingerless, leather gloves, then gripped the handlebars. Not seeing. Not thinking. Just there.
Megan’s gorgeous face popped into his head and spurred him to move. If no one else did, she needed him, so he had to pull himself together. He had to figure out how and when he’d lost control of everything.
The realization reinforced his decision to leave the club. He was no good at the shit anymore. He’d allowed personal feelings to interfere with club business.
No, he’d allowed Megan to interfere. Not only with her words but because of his own fears. Fears. He was scared! Him. For Megan and their children. He’d known Sharper would wage a vicious campaign, annihilating anybody he could in an effort to get to Christopher. Even innocent women and children. But, most especially, his woman and children.
So he’d hidden behind the excuse of Digger being Mort’s brother. Of Megan liking him and wanting Christopher to give him a chance to explain. Of anything except the real reason that he hadn’t had the fucking balls to admit until now.
When it was almost too late. When he’d lost almost his entire fucking family.
When he’d almost lost his girl.
The thought drove him a little insane. But loving laid your heart on the line, left you vulnerable in all kinds of ways. Yet, if it meant the difference between never having Megan in his life and this, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jumpstarting his bike with that thought pounding in his head, he returned to the club, greeting motherfuckers here and there, before going to his house.
CJ barreled to him as Christopher walked into the mud room. “’Law!”
Crouching down, he opened his arms and hugged his son close to him, lifting him off his feet as he stood. “Hey, boy.”
“Deel show games on Mommie iPad.”
“You been in your ma’s stuff again, huh?” He didn’t have it in him to discipline his boy. At the moment, he had nothing but the images of his sisters and nieces with bullets in their heads.
“Uh-huh.”
“Don’t be mad.” Diesel’s voice carried to Christopher from the doorway between the mud room and the kitchen. “CJ said she lets him play with it.”
“I ain’t mad,” Christopher said on a sigh, brushing past Diesel and into the kitchen, where Roxy leaned against the counter, Ophelia stood at the stove, Kendall sat on a stool, and Zoann emptied the dishwasher. They all turned to him.
“Christy?” Zoann whispered, her hands going to her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. Something in his expression tipped her off, confirmed the deaths before Christopher said a word.
He nodded. “I fuckin’ identified them.”
Zoann turned and ran toward the den, where Val probably sat. Her sob floated to him. Ophelia said nothing. She just followed in Zoann’s wake.
“Outlaw, sit,” Roxy instructed.
“No, I…my ass need to be alone.” And what better place than his bedroom, where Megan should be but wasn’t because he’d been a pussy.
“Are you sure?” Kendall asked with a frown. “This doesn’t seem to be the night to try and make it without seeing your wife.”
Roxy grimaced. “Don’t take it the wrong way. Kendall’s concerned about you.”
Christopher snorted and handed CJ to Diesel.
“When’s Meggie coming home?”
“In two or three days, Kendall,” he answered, wishing he didn’t have to talk to her, not sure why he did now.
“She’s not going to end up pregnant, is she? I’ll only have to share the baby spotlight with Bailey, right?”
“Kendall, sugar, shut the fuck up. Please. Now’s not the time for this.”
Kendall ignored Roxy. “You did get your dick snipped, right?”
“Keep my dick outta your mouth, bitch.”
“You wish your dick had been in my mouth,” she retorted.
Growling, Christopher stepped toward her.
Roxy caught his hand. “Just ignore her. Her hormones are all over the place.”
“Her fuckin’ hormones gonna get her brain all over the fuckin’ place if she don’t shut the fuck up.”
Kendall threw him a dirty look.
He lifted a brow and snatched away from Roxy’s grip. “You need a fuckin’ refresher on what fuckin’ with me get you?”
“You never answered me. Will Meggie turn up pregnant while I’m carrying this baby? Zoann says she doesn’t want any more kids right now, so it’ll only be me and Bailey.”
Christopher was even less inclined for Kendall’s bullshit today. She had a lot of fucking nerve, once again placing herself above Megan when she had the worst reputation of all their women. “Kendall, lemme clue you the fuck in on something. Out of all these girls, you the only one who was the fucking whore.”
She and Roxy gasped.
“Megan and Bailey ain’t ever had dick before their husbands. By choice, the only motherfucker Zoann got dick from was Val. But you? You fucked every-fuckin-thing you could. To get shit. The fuckin’ definition of a slut, so before you fuckin’ keep up with this bullshit cuz of your hormones and you ain’t takin’ your medicine and just because you a fuckin’ psycho cunt, think about that shit.”
Tears slid down her cheeks. “You’re cruel.”
“No!” Roxy interrupted with exasperation, glowering between the two of them. “He’s right, sugar.”
Kendall’s face crumpled. Roxy had always championed and protected the bitch, serving as the mother she’d never had. But even mamas grew frustrated and practiced tough love.
“How could you, Roxy?” Kendall sobbed. “You’re my friend. I thought you were on my side.”
“Shut up with that bullshit. You know I am your friend. Possibly the only one in this motherfucker and that includes Meggie since you’re always up in that little girl’s ass when you get in a fucked up mood.”
“No!”
“Yes! I hate to tell this shit to you, but you are the only woman here who fucked other men besides your husband and the only one around here still trying to fuck Outlaw.”
She glared through her tears. “That’s not true! I love Johnnie.”
“Love don’t have shit to do with how your pussy feel and your pussy pissed it never got Outlaw’s dick in it. You can’t take that. Just like your goddamn husband can’t take the fact that Meggie wouldn’t fuck him. That’s some fucked-up bullshit. You two love each other, but both of you are spoiled, sadity motherfuckers. Johnnie thinks every fucking girl have to fall the fuck all over him because he turns his pearly whites on them in a charming smile. You think because you’re a tad better educated than the rest of the girls, you’re better than they are—“
“Well, you ain’t, cunt,” Christopher cut in, too frustrated and upset over today’s fucked-up events to hold his tongue any longer. “That just make you a snobbish, educated whore.”
Roxy rounded on him. “Back off, Outlaw.”
“Fuck you,” he fumed, only taking so much. “This my fuckin’ house, Roxanne. Where this bitch happen to be at. I appreciate your words but I say what the fuck I wanna, where the fuck I wanna, but especially in my fuckin’ crib.” He ignored the hurt creeping into Roxy’s eyes. “Kendall ain’t learned shit from all the fuckin’ bullshit we all went through cuz of her fuckin’ miserable ass. She might be fuckin’ educated but she the stupidest fuckin’ bitch I ever met.”
“She’ll learn,” Roxy said in a quiet voice, still hurt by his words. Women and their soft, fucking feelings. Even Roxanne, one of the toughest bitches he knew.
He sighed. “Look, babe. Although I meant what the fu
ck I said ‘bout my ass sayin’ what the fuckin’ I wanna, I ain’t mean to hurt your feelins.”
She sniffed and pretended his words didn’t matter but he saw her shoulders relax slightly. Not commenting to Christopher, she turned back to Kendall. “Kendall, baby, unless you change your attitude about a lot of shit, a lot of people will see you just like Outlaw do. No matter what the fuck my ass say to defend you, your words and actions fuck it up. You’re not better than anybody, sugar. Just different. I get that you’re pregnant and I understand the side effects of the medicine, but right now, I think you need to stay on them with your OB’s approval, which you have. After you deliver, than talk to your psychiatrist about modifying your medicine or trying another one.”
The bitch cried harder.
Not wanting to hear more, Christopher stomped out, leaving Roxy to chew her ass out however much she wanted to. Bitch deserved it. His cell phone rang. Expecting it to be Megan since she used the hospital phone sometimes and her special ringtone didn’t come through, it disappointed him to see the name Wilcunt flashing on the screen. “Yeah?”
“Outlaw?”
“You know this my ass, so what the fuck you want?”
“It’s Jazzman.”
Christopher scowled at the priest’s furtive tone and use of his unearned road name.
“A situation has come up.”
“Just fuckin’ tell me. I ain’t got time to fuck with you today.”
Wilcunt cleared his throat. “Digger called me.”
That stopped Christopher in his tracks. Of all the news he’d expected to hear, Digger calling the priest wasn’t it.
“For what fuckin’ reason? To pray for his fuckin’ soul when I fuck him up?” If Sharper was really dead and Osti was gone, Digger was the last one remaining that Christopher could use for revenge. “I ain’t understandin’ why else he’d fuckin’ call you, other-fuckin-wise.”
Could this day get any fucking worse? All the fuck he needed was more deaths of innocent people. Riley working for the club didn’t make him completely innocent, but his wife was. “He say how he was fuckin’ tracked so quick?”
“He doesn’t know. According to Digger, the only time his location was discussed was when Bunny’s father called you.”
Fuck, but he hoped Digger hadn’t given Riley away. Christopher didn’t doubt Bunny and Digger knew Riley’s identity, but he’d prefer not many other people know. That wasn’t the biggest fucking problem at the moment. “His fuckin’ phone might be tapped.” How the fuck else could their location be sniffed out so quickly? Cell phones were harder to listen in on, but with the right technology and enough money, nothing was impossible.
“He needs refuge for Bunny’s parents. He believes his father sent men to kill all of them.”
“Fuck.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“What the fuck you did?”
“If you’re going to kill him, I’d prefer not to say. He sounded frantic and not like a man against the club.”
Christopher didn’t want to fucking hear this right now. Digger was the only one he could make suffer. He wanted revenge for his sisters. His family.
Megan.
“We’re all redeemable,” the priest began. “He is. You are, too. Helping him in his time of need would help in your salvation.”
“I ain’t interested in no fuckin’ salvation,” he yelled. “I want fuckin’ revenge.”
“On a man who risked his life by calling me to help a woman and her parents? A woman your wife thinks highly of, might I remind you.”
“You know what the fuck I just got through doin’?”
“Being mean to me,” Kendall sniped in the background.
Glaring at her, he turned his back as the priest answered.
“I know, Outlaw. John Boy called me.”
“Then you know how the fuck my ass feelin’.”
“Completely,” he lied.
No fucking way could he understand Christopher’s pain and guilt.
“At least give him a chance to explain. Without your backing he’s on his own, attempting to save Bunny’s life and get back to the club.”
“The motherfucker comin’ here?”
“After he deposits Bunny’s parents in a safe place.”
“That you fuckin’ provided for them.”
Silence.
“I’ll fuckin’ think on this shit,” Christopher said and disconnected the call before the motherfucker said another word.
“You were harsh.”
Christopher frowned at Roxy’s stiff words.
“To who?”
“Kendall, of course.”
Oh, yeah. A quick glance and he saw that the bitch was gone.
He shrugged. “She need to keep her fuckin’ mouth shut.”
“Somebody got to be the adult and back the fuck away.”
“Maybe, but this my fuckin’ house. She can get the fuck out and stay the fuck out.”
“She’s pregnant.”
“Don’t give a fuck. I was tellin’ the fuckin’ truth.”
“Didn’t you say the club would go to shit if you and Johnnie were always at odds over Kendall and Megan?”
“We ain’t been at odds in over a year. Kendall been halfway fuckin’ normal.”
Roxy harrumphed.
“If you don’t need me for nothin’ else, I’m goin’ up-fuckin-stairs.”
She straightened. “You not going to see Meggie today?”
Glancing away, he bowed his head. “No. She ain’t needin’ to be worried ‘bout me and if she see me, she gonna know shit ain’t right.”
“But—”
“But nothin’, Roxanne. I just wanna be left the fuck alone so I can think.”
“Thinking fucked up your head.”
Not responding, Christopher bypassed the den and went straight to the staircase. He heaved in a breath, knowing what awaited him. A bedroom without his wife, images of his dead family, and the dilemma he faced over Digger.
Should he kill him? Help him? Or just fucking tell Wilcunt to inform Digger to keep riding because he had no place at the club any longer.
Christopher suspected neither did he.
Detached garages were not cool when deranged motherfuckers were hunting you. Even worse than detached garages were long fucking driveways, where Dodge Chargers had been parked right outside of said fucking garage.
After talking to Father Wilkins and begging the priest to call anyone he might know in the Phoenix area, Digger decided to monitor the street. It wasn’t easy. With his dreads, he could be spotted immediately, so he stood sentinel by loitering behind the neighbor’s palm tree, weapon in hand, while Virginia packed whatever bullshit was more important than their fucking lives.
He wanted to leave that bitch behind so fucking bad, but he couldn’t add to Bunny’s distress. She was really torn up over Outlaw’s sisters and nieces.
Digger kept his outrage at bay. To him, fury was quite fucking different from outrage. Outrage might be soothed away, since it came about for a fucking lot of reasons. A jacked up utility bill, for instance. Fucked up restaurant service. Rude motherfuckers.
But fury…? Fury grew from an epic catastrophe that could’ve been avoided if not for the existence of colossal assholes. Only one thing soothed fucking fury. The shedding of blood.
A Mercedes crept in front of Walt’s house and paused. Digger didn’t need to see the license plate to know his father’s car. The black luxury sedan with tinted windows and custom rims was easily recognizable. Waiting for someone to burst out, or for gunfire to begin, his breath caught. The dark windows made it impossible to know how many motherfuckers were in the vehicle.
Sharper rarely traveled alone. He’d fucked over too many people not to have bodyguards. The public assumed he needed protection because of his popularity.
At the least, Osti was there…Or, maybe, not. Osti was probably the motherfucker who’d shot up Outlaw’s family.
After several heart-sto
pping moments, the car drove away. If he didn’t know how his father operated, he would’ve taken the departure as a good sign. But he did know the machinations of Sharper, and the car leaving was a bad omen.
Digger counted to thirty before he sprinted from behind the neighbor’s tree and across Walt’s driveway. He burst into the house at breakneck speed.
“We have to go now!” he yelled, running toward the bedrooms.
Virginia peeped into the hallway. “I’m almost done.”
“Like hell, lady,” Digger barked, happy to see Bunny no longer crying. Her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, and her hair was pulled up into a messy knot, as if she couldn’t bother to style it any other way. “We getting the fuck now or we’re leaving you the fuck behind. Your goddamn choice.”
Walt stepped around her and into the hallway. “Come on, Virginia. He’s right. We’ll replace whatever is destroyed.”
Outside, a car door slammed. Then another. And another.
“Move!” Digger said in an exaggerated whisper, spinning around and drawing the gun. “I’ll cover you.”
“Mom, Dad, come on.” Bunny shoved her dad while simultaneously yanking her mom into the hallway. Instead of going toward the back door that led to the garage, she headed to the guestroom, turning the lock on the knob.
A loud noise indicated the front door had just been kicked in.
“Cover me,” she unnecessarily ordered Digger. He already had her back. Running to the window, she lifted it, then urged her mom through. “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”
Glass broke and orders to find the motherfucker peppered the air. Once her dad climbed out the window, Bunny slipped through and Digger quickly followed suit.
By the time Digger reached the car, Walt and Virginia were scrambling into the back seat.
Bunny slid into the driver’s seat. Not having time to argue, he ran to the passenger side, barely closing the door before she rocketed the car backward, smoke rising from the concrete she went so fast. Pausing, she shifted the car into drive as a motherfucker exited the Mercedes and aimed his gun.
“Get down!” Digger yelled. The window on his side exploded from the impact of the bullet and glass flew in all directions.
Death Dwellers Motorcycle Club:: Fifteen Bad Boy Biker Books Page 258
