Dillon: A Wings of Diablo MC Novel

by Lake, Rae B.

I don't need to answer him, because there is nothing I can say to prove to him that I'm not exactly that—an imposter. Just a shell of who I once was.

  A few minutes later the cops come in the room and allow me to leave. They take down my information and apologize for the misunderstanding.

  Genie has his driver take me to the motel, but by now I'm no longer tired. The booze has already worn off and all I want to do is be out on the road. I can't bear to sit in one spot for too long with my thoughts, especially sober.

  All the shit that Genie had said struck a fucking chord in me. I just felt like more of a failure, because I couldn't shake this shit off. I don't think I would ever be the man that they all wanted me to be again. Especially when a major part of who I am is missing. Until I figure out where Keeley is, there is no need for me to even entertain getting myself together. No. It's the road for me and my inner demons as my brothers.

  Dillon

  The ride over to Maine is cold and long, but after a few days I finally make it to the Boys of Djinn clubhouse. Only something has changed. Before they used to keep the clubhouse for just business and to entertain. From what it looks, I would think that they are all staying there now. I wonder what had caused the change.

  I park my bike at the back of the building. The music is blaring loud, and no one is guarding the back door. Fucking amateurs. I’m all for having a good time. Though for a bunch of people that either used to be or still are part of counterintelligence you would think that maybe they would watch their asses a bit better. If this is the shit that they did over in the FBI it wasn't surprising shit slipped through the cracks.

  I take a few steps toward the front of the clubhouse, but a sudden idea crosses my mind. Why not have a little fucking fun with them? I just hope none of them shoot on sight. That would fucking suck.

  I jimmy one of the windows open and making sure not to aggravate the alarm system. The wires are visible, so I know that they are only linked to the bottom. Fucking amateurs. I pull the top panel down and slide right into the clubhouse. No alarms, no security, no cameras, there’s nothing. I shudder at the thought of how damn easy it would be for someone to roll up on them and do some real damage. All this shit needs to be rectified and fucking immediately.

  "That's not my fucking issue. Wyatt will take care of it." I reprimand myself. I had my chance to lead and I blew it. I can't go around now telling folks what they should and shouldn't be doing when it came to their club. Fuck, my opinion is worth shit right now.

  I walk through the club, opening every one of the bedroom doors. Toss some shit around and even walk into the fucking church. Still, they are outside partying it up, completely unaware that they have someone right on their ass.

  After about ten minutes of me waiting for someone to catch me the joke was starting to wear thin. This shit was dangerous. I move over to one of the windows and open it so the rudimentary alarm sounds. Then I make my way by the door. I want to see how they come in.

  I shake my head in disgust when the music is abruptly cut off and I hear them all yelling outside.

  "Someone's in the clubhouse!"

  "Fuck out of here. That's impossible. We've been sitting out here this entire time. There is no way." It sounds like Cody is the non-believer.

  "Do you not hear that fucking alarm?" I don't know who that is.

  "Fucking hell, who the fuck would do some shit like this."

  "Winnie, take the girls to the cabins." I think it's Wyatt who orders out.

  I hear a bit of a commotion and then the door swings open. Wyatt rushes in with his gun drawn, but he doesn't check his surroundings. I quickly reach up and wrap my arms around his neck and pull him backwards until his back is pressed against my front and shielding me from everyone else. I have been here for a little over fifteen minutes and had already managed to infiltrate their clubhouse, go through all their belongings and take a fucking hostage. It's sad.

  "Let him fucking go!"

  I peek over Wyatt's shoulder making sure to keep my head tucked as far behind Wyatt as I can. The last thing I want is for one of them to blow my fucking head off.

  "No. Don't think I will." I do a piss poor job of disguising my voice, but they don't seem to realize that it's me.

  "You fucked up, I promise that you won't leave here alive." Spark says as he moves further to the side to get a better view of me. I believe him, if I were an actual threat, they would for sure be able to put me down. The problem is would they be able to do it before I killed Wyatt? I highly doubt it.

  "How you going to do that when I have your president? I know you won't kill him to get to me. So, what?" I almost laugh.

  "The fuck they won't." Wyatt says with my arm tightly wrapped around his neck, I loosen a bit not wanting him to pass out or any shit like that. Still, I don’t want him to get away. "Shoot this bastard, right now." He orders.

  I see Brendan moving around trying to get a shot, but I don't move. When he moves down trying to possibly see a spot on my leg that he could hit I knew the gig was up. Brendan is not one to fuck around with and I would rather not have a bullet dug out of my leg if I didn't need to.

  "You know you smell like vanilla and roses. You awfully pretty Wyatt." I say in his ear and can feel him cringe a bit.

  "What the fuck?" He tries to turn and I let him.

  "You need better security, this shouldn't have been this easy." I say as he turns and blinks a few times trying to understand what he is seeing. "I don't think your pops or Genie would have had the clubhouse like this."

  "Oh shit. You motherfucker!" He finally realizes that it's me and pulls his arms up into a hug.

  "Ummm? What the hell is going on?" Cody asks.

  I pull away from Wyatt and stand out where they can see me. "Hey boys."

  "Oh, what the fuck man." Spark pulls his gun up and activates the safety.

  "Oh Shit! Wire! What the hell are you doing here?" They all start to converge on me now that they realize I'm not really a threat, but instead family. A nagging voice in my head says over and over again, I was the same way as them. I trusted people, because I’d thought they were family when it was my family that betrayed me.

  "Wyatt. You need to check my person or have one of your boys do it." I tell them.

  "What?" He looks at me like I'm crazy and maybe I am. Only I don't want them to make the same mistakes that I did. I've been inside their clubhouse without their knowledge or consent.

  "Brother. I've been in here for over twenty minutes now. I've gone through your rooms, even into your church. You have no idea what I could have on my person."

  "Nothing. Why would you have something on your person? You're our brother."

  "Rooster was my brother. Vale was my brother. Ripper was my brother." I spit back immediately.

  "Are you saying that you're going against us?" Cody says still standing off to the side.

  "Hell no and I never would. But you don 't know that until you check. So do your checks." I put my hands up and Brendan is the one to step up to check me. Of course, he finds nothing on my person besides my wallet, keys, gun, knife, and phone. I'm no fucking traitor.

  "He's good Wyatt." He turns to his older brother and president before he walks away.

  "I know it. Come on Wire. Let's go out and have a brew." Wyatt claps a hand on my shoulder, and we walk outside.

  "You scared the shit out of us." Spark says as he walks by us.

  "Yeah, lessoned learned right?" I look to Wyatt and hope to God that he sees the many blaring errors.

  "Yeah bro, we got it. I'll have Brendan and Spark work on some security improvements."

  I nod my head, now a little more at ease that they are going to get things safer. I couldn't keep my clubhouse safe. I shut my eyes for a second and see Keeley and Lily as they walk out of the clubhouse, because I couldn't keep them safe.

  "Wire, you good?" Cody asks handing a beer in my direction. I have no idea how long he's been there.

  "Hmm. Yeah. Sorry it's been a long
ride." I take the beer and quickly open it. The bubbly liquid doing nothing to silence the guilt inside of me.

  "I should have known that it was you. Uncle Genie called us a few days ago to let us know that you would be on your way down. You got into some trouble up there?" Wyatt asks.

  "I get into trouble everywhere." I chuckle slightly, "But I was going to be coming this way anyway. I'm hoping Brendan has some information for me."

  "Ahh. Keeley?" Wyatt shakes his head knowingly.

  My wife, Keeley is the daughter of the leader of the Juric Crime Family. The largest family in the Croatian mafia. After all the shit that went down with the club and the women being attacked on the boat, she had left me. She didn't just leave to the other side of the state. The woman basically disappeared off the face of the earth with my kid. I had no idea if she were even still in America or if she went to Croatia. Hell, she could be in Antarctica for all I know. The Juric family is good at hiding what they don't want to be found. I have been searching for her, but I need some help so I asked Brendan to see what he could find. I shouldn't have though, because it would mean that he has to go through his connections with the FBI and that could land him in some hot water. Except I was running out of options.

  "Yeah, the last time that we spoke it seemed like he was close to finding some stuff out. Besides, Genie asked me to come down here and check on you guys. He may have to keep hidden, but I know he still cares about what happens with the lot of you."

  "I know it. He helps out whenever he can." Wyatt shrugs it off.

  "What the hell happened to clubhouse anyway? I thought you all stayed separate."

  "Humph, we did until I literally got caught with my pants down and couldn't reach out to anyone for help. They took my woman right out of my arms and I was strapped to my fucking bed. It was the longest few minutes of my life. We figured that it would be better if we all slept in the same place. That way if someone is hurt or if some douchebag decides to test their luck and come at one of us, we can all respond."

  It was a good plan, similar to the one we had at the original WOD clubhouse further down the coast, but it wouldn't work if the clubhouse had no fucking security. I could have walked in and blown their heads off one by one if I had wanted to.

  "Well, I'm sure when you get the clubhouse together it'll be the safest place to be. Your brothers will have your back."

  "You have our backs too." Someone says from behind me.

  When I turn, I'm happy to see a familiar face, "Devin, brother. How are you?" I pull him into a bro hug before I lean back. One of the first things that Clean did when I left him the mantle of president was to remove Devin from our founding chapter. He said that he couldn't trust him. I was pissed initially; Devin had done so much for the club. Though if I were honest with myself, that was probably the smartest thing that Clean could have done. If he didn't trust Devin, no matter what anyone said, he couldn't have him in the clubhouse.

  "I'm good. I like it up here." He looks around the area. The cabins, the scenery all of it a very calming environment.

  "That's good to hear. You know Clean only did what he thought was best." I do my best to ease some of the ache. I know that Devin was salty when Clean told him he had to go.

  "I know, I think it worked out for the best. I had no ties there, and I know where these guys are coming from. It's a good fit."

  "Aww ain't that shit sweet." Wyatt pushes Devin playfully. "Look Wire, I'm not going to sugar coat or beat around the bush. We were all talking and want to know if you want to come on here. If you're not happy at home, then you always have a place here."

  I back away from him, even though I knew this was going to happen. Genie had already warned me that Wyatt wanted me to join them. I didn't want to think that they truly believed they could pull me away from home.

  "Nah man, I don't need a new home. I have a home right now and it's on the road."

  "You can't live like that forever. Nomad life can't be sustained. Even I know that shit."

  "I'll sustain it for as long as I have to and when I decide to go home, I'm not going anywhere but back to the Wings of Diablo. Sorry brother, I'll always be here for you, but it's never going to happen."

  Wyatt nods slightly, accepting what I'm telling him.

  A screech fills the air and my head whips in that direction, "Cody, you piece of shit!" A woman grips the side of the hot tub as she sputters out water and screams at the man.

  Spark turns the music back on and I see Winnie with the rest of the guests that were outside when I first arrive start to make their way back to the front of the clubhouse. The threat now thoroughly contained. I'm happy to see that they are living good up here and everyone is at peace. However, now that the pleasantries are out of the way I need to talk to Brendan to see if there is any new information.

  "Brendan, a word?" I walk up behind him and his smile fades slightly when he sees me.

  "Hey Wire, yeah, let's talk."

  We sit down at one of the benches further away from the music so that we can hear each other.

  "You didn't find anything?" I ask when I don't see his face instantly turn into a big smile. It had to be bad news, at least it looked like it wasn’t good.

  "I found stuff, but not everything. I have a phone number that is supposed to be hers, but it is an out of country number."

  Fuck, she did go back to Croatia. Motherfucker. I didn't care if I was going to have to swim across the ocean to get to them I would.

  "Give it to me!" I bark at him. I didn't want to hear anything else that he had to say. If there was a way for me to get in contact with her, I needed it. My heart was already beginning to race at the thought of me being able to hear her voice. I hadn't talked to either one of them in so long. Oh fuck I miss them so much. "Look I don't want you to call her and spook her off. Maybe you should wait until I can pinpoint a location before you call. You know how the Juric family is bro, they will move her in an instant if she asks them to."

  The words that are coming out of his mouth don't make any fucking sense to me, "Are you telling me that after waiting all these fucking months to find some way to get in contact with her that I should wait some more so I don't scare her off? Are you out of your fucking mind Brendan? Give me the fucking number before I break every goddamn bone in your face." I snarl at him and hope he knows that I'm serious. I love them all like family, but if they keep me from my wife and kid, they could kick rocks.

  "Alright man. Let me get it from inside." Brendan stands up, I follow right behind him as he walks into the clubhouse and then into his room.

  He pulls out a small sheet of paper from one of the folders with a bunch of phone numbers printed on it. There is one that is highlighted.

  Keeley's number.

  "Thank you so much brother. You have no idea how much this means to me." I hold the sheet of paper in my hand like it’s a bar of fucking gold. I have been waiting so long to get something on her. Anything.

  "I know it. I hope it turns out how you want. I'll keep working on finding out where she is, and I'll get that to you as soon as I can."

  "Thanks." I instantly put the number in my phone and am about to call when Brendan stops me.

  "Maybe you want to do this somewhere a little quieter? More private?" Just as the words come out of his mouth loud laughter echoes from outside. He's right I want Keeley to know that she has my undivided attention.

  "Yeah, you guys got an empty room where I can crash for the night?"

  "Sure, come on." Brendan walks over to one of the empty rooms. There is a bed and a small table, nothing crazy but it was enough for me to get comfortable.

  "I'll let the rest of them know not to bother you for the night." Brendan nods his head once and closes the door as he walks out. I was alone with a number that should put me in contact with my wife. I have ripped the skin off my enemies, had guns pressed against my head, and even been on death’s door more times than I could count. Despite that I have never been as scared as I am right now
. She could just hang up and refuse to talk to me, but I had to hope that she still had even a little bit of love for me.

  "Fuck this." I plop down on the bed and swipe the screen so that I can input the numbers. When I swipe the call icon, I can feel my hands shaking with nervousness.

  After three rings the line picks up and I hold my breath waiting to hear anything on the other end.

  "Mmm, hello?"

  Joy fucking rips through my body. It was her. It was my woman. She was tired, I must have woken her up. I would remember that sleepy voice until the day I died.

  "Princess." I grunt out. She was my princess and I’d let her get away. I feel my throat tightening up as the emotions that I've been trying so hard to stuff down rush to the top.

  When she doesn't say another word, I stay quiet just to make sure she hasn't hung up.

  "Dill ... Dillon?" Her voice is shaky.

  "Yeah, it's me." I reply.

  A deep exhale rushes through the line and I hear things ruffling. This wasn't the call that she was expecting.

  "How did you get this number?"

  "What does it matter? I have it. Are you telling me that I shouldn't have called my wife and child?" The joy that I was once feeling slowly starts to turn to anger. She had left me. She was my everything and she just took my kid and left. Now that I finally have been able to reach her it's like she never thought I would.

  "No, you can call if you want. What do you want?"

  I scoff at the phone, "What do you mean what do I want? I want my family."

  "You sure? Or do you want fame? Maybe you want to take over another club? Got some more women to sell off into slavery?" The sarcasm drips off each one of her words. I guess nothing has changed. She is just as upset as she was before. She blamed me for being so blinded by ambition that I didn't see what the hell was going on around me. That I couldn't tell the same people I was doing all these good works with are the same people who were destroying everything that I stood for. She had tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. I didn't listen to anyone.

  "Keeley, stop the shit. You know it's not like that. I made a mistake. I didn't know."