Cracked & Crushed

by A. J. Downey

  So here we were, the leadership of three separate MC’s, gathered around the fucking kitchen table, a bottle of Patrón had its seal cracked and shots were passed all around. I raised an eyebrow at our VP, Dray, who looked like he was smellin’ something bad as he put his down. Griz, the Soul Stalker’s VP laughed a booming crack of thunder that filled the cabin’s large open front room to the second floor rafters.

  “Never met a Mexican that didn’t like his tequila,” he commented and Dray gave him his award winning scowl that was enough to scare the pants off a lesser man, but then grinned, showing a whole lotta teeth and said nothing. Respect. I could see that was the only thing that held our second in check but it wasn’t respect for Griz, but more for his old man because that’s where his eyes cut to next. Trig and I saluted our Vice President with our shots before putting them down ourselves. Mmm, smooth as silk.

  We traded all the necessary pleasantries and talked some about what the weekend was all about, the friendly competitions and the like. The big topic of discussion was the main event for Sacred Hearts the next morning.

  “Just lettin’ y’all know we’re and by ‘we’, I mean The Sacred Hearts, are gonna be up early tomorrow. Sniping tradition but more’n that we’re patching in a new member. Don’t feel the need to get up on our account, just lettin’ you know we’re gonna be up and moving around at first light to set shit up,” Dragon said. The men of the Kraken and the Suicide Kings nodded.

  “Good deal man, thanks for the heads up,” Cutter said.

  “Yeah, sorry I plan on partying hard tonight so I probably won’t be up that early but more power to y’all. Congrats,” Sparks said and the bald and scarred president of the Suicide Kings stretched.

  “Cool, all right, well the food is up, the booze is out, let’s go join our brothers and have a good time!” Dragon said and we all nodded and joined the rest of our folks outside. I was looking forward to watching my old lady soak it all in, and the questions I was sure were going to come. Trig slapped me on the back of my cut and grinned and I grinned back. This was going to be awesome!

  Chapter 22

  Hayden…

  It was early, the windows barely lighting with the first hint of dawn when I woke to Ashton shaking my shoulder.

  “Hayden, Hayden wake up!” she whispered excitedly. I jolted and turned and I realized Reaver’s side of the bed was not only empty but stone cold when I swept an arm over the sheets where he should be.

  “What time is it?” I moaned.

  “Time to get up! It’s that time,” she whispered excitedly and I sat up.

  “Oh right!” I exclaimed and dressed quickly, pulling the tags off the short denim shorts after yanking them up my legs. I didn’t bother with a bra, instead I pulled a ribbed Sacred Hearts tank top on and pulled on my leather vest that proclaimed me the property of Reaver. Ashton giggled hysterically and I blinked and looked at her, I mean really looked at her and I burst out into a fit of giggles of my own. I snatched the binoculars Reaver had packed for me out of the saddlebag and hung them around my neck when I heard Everett say dryly,

  “Apparently we’ve adopted a Sacred Heart’s Old Lady uniform code,” she was standing in the doorway, Ashton and I looked over and then all three of us cracked up. We were all dressed the same by happy accident. We heard a muffled and very unhappy male voice shout from the couch in the common room.

  “Shut up!” and we all giggled again, stifling it with our hands stuffed in our mouths. I shrugged my feet into my flip flops and we made our way out of the cabin. Apparently we’d been admonished by the Suicide Kings’s VP who lay face down on the couch, his denim cut much the worse for wear.

  “Fucking females,” he muttered as we went by and I saw Everett’s mouth turn down at the corners. An expression I knew I had mirrored on my face. Ashton’s golden eyes went wide and she hugged herself, tiptoeing as quietly as she could past the couch between Everett who led the way, and me bringing up the rear. I placed my hands on her shoulders and she jumped. Old habits brought about by old ghosts… I sighed.

  We made our way quickly up the steps to the deck on the back of the lodge and I smiled. Everyone was here! Ashton, Everett, Chandra, Shelly, Doc, Dray, Dragon, Data, Gypsy… everyone except Reaver, Zander and Squick who were on the opposite side of the lake. Trigger and Loyal, who wouldn’t be called that much longer, were hoisting the long picnic table up against the railing. Ashton had described in detail how they went about preparing to shoot and I raised the binoculars to my eyes. Sure enough, there was Reaver, Zander and Squick across the water. The targets, sturdy cross beams of wood with watermelons and cantaloupes set on top to act as heads, were lined up in the sand and Reaver was waiting for some kind of signal. Dragon and Dray were standing off to the side with binoculars of their own to their eyes.

  “Mind if I watch the fun?” I heard from the top of the stairs and smiled. Cutter stood and waited to be invited the rest of the way up. The men of the Sacred Hearts exchanged looks. Dragon looked to Dray and something passed between father and son, Dragon raised an eyebrow and Dray said, “Sure.” Cutter grinned and stood over behind me. He had a squat, leather, round canister in his hands and he snapped it open and pulled out a breathtaking wood, brass and glass spyglass. He opened it up so it telescoped out and quirked a smile down at me. I leaned back into him and bumped against his tanned bare chest beneath his Kraken’s cut and said, “Showoff.”

  His grin got wider, “You know it L’il Bit,” he said and everyone visibly relaxed around us. Dray slid his hand up under his hair, I caught a little blue light shining between the strands and grinned. I raised the binoculars to my eyes and picked out Reaver who touched the Bluetooth on the side of his head.

  “Snipers take your marks, Loyal you’re up first,” Dray said. Loyal settled behind the large, scary looking gun and Trigger spotted for him. I watched Reaver who stood beside a target with white cue cards. A brand new, fully patched Sacred Hearts cut hung from the target below a watermelon. Even with the binoculars the name patch was indistinct and too hard to read. Trigger was rattling off a whole bunch of tactical jargon and I heard Loyal exclaim,

  “What the fuck!? No! Serious you guys!?” we all burst out laughing and Reaver dropped the first blank card and we could clearly read the big letters.

  Hey Loyal…

  “Next one,” Dray said.

  You’ve proven yourself Brother.

  “Next one.”

  You have one last test…

  “Next one.”

  You want it?

  “Next one.”

  You really want it?

  “Yes I fucking want it!” Loyal yelled, beyond excited. We all laughed. Reaver must have heard because he dropped the last card.

  Then come and get it!

  Loyal looked through the scope at the flash of movement and in a single fluid movement, no hesitation, bounded to his feet. He leapt off the picnic table and dashed wildly for the stairs, flip flops flying; he didn’t even care! He shrugged out of his prospect’s cut and left it hanging over the railing haphazardly as he took off running full tilt for the lakeshore to the track of our wildly peeling laughter. He pulled his black tee over his head and let it fall to the ground and hit the water wading in until it hit him at the waist and then elegantly he bent at the waist and disappeared. For long moments there was nothing and then his head and shoulders crested the water as he propelled himself forward with long sure strokes of his arms.

  “It’s so far…” I said dubiously and it was a very long way to swim.

  “He’s a Marine, L’il Bit,” Cutter said, hand dropping to my shoulder, “He can do it.” I caught Trigger giving Cutter a look and craned my neck back. Cutter looked at Trigger with an equal measure of respect. They both nodded once, a sharp inclination of their head and we all turned to watch Loyal swim like the devil was on his tail across the lake. It was still a long swim.

  We all cheered, clapping and jumping as he trudged wearily up the beach on the oth
er side. He went to the target and pulled down the leather vest and stared at it. He said something to Reaver, chest heaving and Dray had his phone out and put it on speaker. Reaver’s already was on the other side of the lake.

  “You good?” Reaver asked laughing.

  “Naw! I’m better than good I’m great!” we heard Loyal cry and we all laughed and cheered. Dragon cleared his throat.

  “Now y’all listen and listen real fucking good. Loyal, you’ve been a boon to this club, worked hard, always been what your name implied and persevered. You helped us save Trigger’s Old Lady, you’ve been ass deep in alligators with us; you’ve laughed with us, cried with us and served us unquestioningly over this past year. You’ve fucking earned that cut like no other. Still, that being said, Loyal ain’t no name for a biker. A prospect yes, but Loyal is something you call your dog as a general rule. So you go ahead and read the name patch on front o’ that cut and tell us all who you are now,” Dragon said.

  “Ghost!” Came Loyal’s voice over the phone, breath heaving… “It says I’m Ghost!”

  “That’s because you’re one of the quietest motherfucker’s we’ve ever seen. Lost count of how many times we’ve shouted ‘prospect’ in the last year only to have you right up on our ass,” Dray grunted.

  “No, thank you, I love it, thank you guys so much!” he said between breaths.

  “Okay now swim back,” Reaver said and we all burst out laughing.

  “Naw just fucking with you man! We’ll give you a ride back in the boat,” Reaver said when Ghost tried to trudge back towards the water. We could hear Zander and Squick busting up in the back ground.

  “Welcome home brother!” Dragon decreed and we all let out a cheer that carried across the water to Reaver, Ghost and the two as yet prospects. It was a good way to start the day.

  After the excitement of Ghost patching in, we all had breakfast and sat together to eat. Everyone kept coming up to Ghost, clasping arms, hugging him and congratulating him. Shelly though, she came to him and kissed his cheek and said “Congratulations” so softly, so unlike her spunky usual self it took us all aback. She was almost sad somehow and Reaver watched her with worry in his eyes as she disappeared into the crowd.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

  “She likes him,” he said and shrugged a shoulder. I frowned and didn’t get it.

  “Then why don’t they…” Reaver cut me off gently.

  “It’s complicated Baby and it’s not our deal. Just let them handle it,” he kissed my shoulder and smiled up at me where I was cradled in his lap, I smiled back and sighed in contentment.

  After breakfast the boys went to play with their knives and guns while the girls went out on the lake with Hossler. She’d brought six of these strange looking oversized surfboards which she’d had strapped to a rack on the roof of the Kraken’s crash truck.

  “What are these?” Ashton had asked.

  “Paddle boards!” Hossler had beamed at her. Another girl who had come with the Suicide Kings was standing nearby. She wore a pair of capri pants and sneakers and huddled in an oversized sweatshirt.

  “What do you do?” she asked. She was pretty, her hair a light brown with blonde highlights, cascading in perfect curls past her shoulders, a simple headband holding them back from a face free of makeup but simply beautiful. Bright inquisitive Hazel eyes watched us curiously.

  “What’s your name hon?” Hossler asked.

  “Tonya,” the girl said shyly and I caught Ashton looking at her with compassion in her eyes. I think my best friend was seeing something different than I was. While I was just seeing a shy girl, Ashton was picking up something different. I would ask her about it later.

  “Well come on Tonya! I’ll show you!” Hossler said enthusiastically.

  “I don’t know how to swim but I’d still like to watch if that’s okay,” the girl said with a shy and slightly embarrassed smile.

  “Sure! Hey Doll. You remember how to surf?” Hoss asked me I nodded. “Same principle…” and she showed us how to do it.

  The surfing lessons gave me an inside edge, Everett, because of her dancing, was a natural when it came to balance and Ashton, after a few tries, was able to get up, stand and get the balance right. Shelly was doing her best but kept getting frustrated and gave up, choosing to read in the sun. Chandra kept Tonya company while Shelly brooded silently beside them. We paddled out onto the glassine surface of Lake Eversong, Squick and one of the Kraken prospects, a guy they called Jonesie, possibly in correlation with the Davey Jones myth, joining us. It was a good way to spend the day.

  It was dinner before I saw Reaver again but that was okay. We were sitting with Cutter at a table with Dray, Everett, Trig and Ashton when Everett got up to get Dray a beer.

  “Woah hey!” Cutter exclaimed and hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her down onto his knee. He didn’t mean anything by it, I knew that, he was just friendly… Dray stood up swiftly and the darkness in his eyes made me swallow hard, Cutter didn’t notice, his fingertips grazing the scar on Everett’s thigh where she’d been shot last fall.

  “What happened here?” Cutter asked her and her steely blue eyes were frosty.

  “Get your hands off my Old Lady,” Dray ground out and Cutter put up his hands.

  “Didn’t mean anything by it. My honest and sincerest apologies,” he said.

  “I was shot, last fall,” Everett said standing up abruptly as soon as Cutter’s hold on her was gone. She immediately went to Dray and took shelter in his arms.

  “I think I remember you saying something like that,” he said absently to Reaver. I knew Ripper’s body, had seen the scar, I’d just never asked. He pulled his cut away from his side and showed the indentation on his front lower right ribs and turned so they could see the bigger one out the back.

  “Sorry it happened to you Sweetheart,” he said gently, “I know what a bitch it is. I really didn’t mean anything by it, I’m just a friendly guy. No disrespect Sir,” he said, addressing Dray at the last. Dray’s gaze flicked to Everett’s she smiled at her Old Man and there was a collective sigh of relief at the table when Dray nodded.

  “Just… Hands to yourself and we’re good. She’s mine and no one else’s.” Then as an afterthought he added, “I don’t share.” I bit my lower lip and felt a blush of shame creep up my face, the first time the emotion had come up for me in regards to the times I had allowed Reaver and Cutter to share me.

  “Hey, woah, that’s no slight on you Doll! Don’t go taking it to heart, it’s just not my thing,” Dray said, retaking his seat. Everett sinking into his lap, she held herself to him, arms around his shoulders while he clasped her around her waist. I pursed my lips and nodded mutely but couldn’t make eye contact with Dray. Reaver gave his VP a chilly look and Dray shot an apologetic one back. I sighed, waged a short internal struggle then looked Dray in the eye. I stuck my tongue out at him and the table laughed, including him and the tension evaporated. I enjoyed my time with Reaver and Cutter. It was for me, I wouldn’t let anyone else take that from me or step on that. I was okay with it and that was all that mattered.

  I smiled at Reaver who was smiling back at me and he bent to kiss me. Cutter’s hand smoothed up and down my back, a comforting supportive and decidedly nonsexual gesture and I graced him with an appreciative smile. The rest of dinner passed without incident. After dinner Everett danced for us, and everyone went wild. Reaver had gone off with Cutter to grab us some drinks and I stayed to watch Everett. Nearby, the Suicide Kings’ President and Vice President were standing near Dray and I heard the President say.

  “I’m glad she’s all right, for true man. She’s got some talent,” Dray nodded.

  “Me too man, me too,” Dray said.

  “Sorry I thought she was a stripper,” The Suicide King’s VP muttered and I laughed. Three sets of eyes turned my direction and I colored and waved meekly. Dray gave me a warning look, I couldn’t decipher; schooling his face into his cold hard mask of tough bef
ore the other two men caught it.

  “Fucking bitches,” Griz muttered and Sparks grunted his agreement. I frowned but said nothing as Dray stared impassively in my direction. Ah. Warning heard loud and clear. The Suicide Kings were apparently nothing like the Sacred Hearts when it came to their women. A few minutes later Griz and Sparks moved off into the crowd and Dray came to stand near me.

  “Be careful Doll. Don’t let anyone know you’re listening. Old Ladies, Bitches and Club Whores are meant to be seen and not heard when it comes to a lot of other MC’s. Some of these fuckers don’t play,” Reaver returned and gave Dray an inquisitive look. Dray filled him in and Reaver held out his hand, they clasped them and Dray and Reaver did one of those, pull each other into each other’s chests and let go things that was a hug without being a hug. I rolled my eyes.

  “Thanks man, good lookin’ out,” Reaver said and I blinked. I hadn’t thought it was that serious! Cutter handed me a hard lemonade and the look on his face combined with Reaver and Dray said I had dodged a bullet of some kind.

  “If you were with the Suicide Kings it would have been perfectly acceptable for Griz to back hand you into next week for that Li’l Bit,” he said gravely and I think I looked stunned.

  “You girls are considered spoiled by most MC standards,” Reaver said solemnly, Dray nodded.

  “We love you and wouldn’t have it any other way,” Dray said and graced me with one of his rare, full on smiles before turning his attention back to his woman.

  “I’m sorry,” I said and Reaver tucked me under his arm and pulled me into his side.

  “If he’d touched you, I would have carved him up, no question about it Baby. I’d have no problem starting a fucking war for you,” his smile was cold, a wicked curve of lips and the monster in him was showing true. I shivered with fear at the cold, empty and dead look in his eyes and his eyebrows went up, lips parting slightly with his arousal at my fear. I wasn’t sure I would ever quite get used to that but I could accept it. I had to, it was a part of Reaver. We watched Everett dance and I drank what Reaver and Cutter affectionately called my ‘bitch beer’.