Savage Saviors: The Complete Boxset (Savage Saviors MC)

by J. C. Allen

  I sneered, working to catch my breath as the elevator chimed, the doors opening to the lobby. I glanced over at Clarence, now loaded with a gun that he managed to keep hidden from the untrained eye, as he offered me a professional smile and friendly wave. I tried to offer something in return, uncertain if I could achieve anything in the realm of professional orfriendly in that moment, and hoped that I’d at least succeeded in not freaking him out again. The memory of my last encounter with Clarence replayed through my mind and I began to move faster out the door, afraid that my residual anger might mean I take it out on Clarence again, even if he’d done nothing wrong.

  All the more ammunition to taking down Falcon, I thought. Then, deciding I was tired of giving him the satisfaction—even if only indirectly—of using that stupid fucking nickname, I thought, No, not “Falcon.” Frank. Frank. Fucking. Young.

  The man my father had once called a friend.

  The man who the Savage Saviors had once known as a second-in-command.

  The man who’d gone off, betrayed the Saviors, formed the Black Falcons, and dubbed himself “Falcon;” baptizing his new identity with the blood of my family, my colleagues, and my friends.

  Fucking Falcon.

  Frank fucking Young.

  The one who ruined everything for me.

  For my family.

  Call him whatever. So long as I could call him “dead” as soon as goddamn possible.

  I took a deep breath, pulling my phone out of my pocket and started to call Roost. I had promised to give him a call before I left for the first chase, partially as a means to ensure that I wouldn’t do something drastically stupid, and partially so that it could put me in the right frame of mind. Either way, it was a necessity.

  “Well, well, well,” Roost’s voice chimed on the other end. “Was wond’rin when ya would get around to callin.’”

  “Yeah, yeah, sorry,” I answered, rubbing the back of my neck. I always felt like a scolded child when Roost talked to me like that; even after all these years. “I was out with Eve.”

  “Did ya go to that outlet center I told ya about?” Roost asked with a knowing chuckle.

  “Yeah, and the Medieval Times restaurant. That place was awesome,” I said, smiling as I relived the memory.

  “Yeah, I like it there, too. ‘Cept the knights never choose me to give their roses to,” Roost said, sounding sulky near the end.

  “Boo-hoo,” I said as I rolled my eyes. Roost would be the one to sulk over not getting a rose from a handsome knight. “I’ll spare a tear for you later.”

  “Ye’re such a peach, Derek,” Roost replied.

  “I try,” I said, but the tension of the moment was keeping me from pressing our little lovely conversation any further.

  “Good, anyway, listen, Derek, stay on the line with me for a bit, would ya?”

  “Why?” I asked with a little bit more harshness in my tone than I had wanted. “It’s not like I would keep you out of the loop with whatever I find. Do you think I’m up to something?”

  “I ain’t askin’ fer information or yer loyalty, Derek Knight,” Roost began, suddenly using my full name and causing me to wince at the sudden seriousness of his tone. “Ya know damn well why I had you call me before goin’ out there and why yer staying on here with me for a bit.”

  I sure did. And even though I had just thought it, it felt like a reward for putting a leash on myself, Roost was tightening the collar all the more.

  “I’m going to be careful, Roost. You know—”

  “Bull-fuckin’-shit!” he said with such force I pulled the phone back from my ear. “I know what yer hopin’ for out there, an’ I meant to tell ya notto do somethin’ stupid!”

  “Something stupid? Who do you think you’re talking to?” I demanded.

  Stop. Stop. Stop! You get so goddamn defensive when you’re mad. Slow the fuck down!

  “I think I’m talkin’ to yer stupid ass! Ya know, the stupid ass that decided to crash a Black Falcons party aloneall ‘cuz ya heard that Rock be there.”

  “You mean the party I met Eve at? I’m supposed to feel bad for that now?”

  “No, dumbass,” Roost snarled. Pull the fuck back, Derek, and calm down.. “I’m not expectin’ ya to feel bad, but I was sure-as-shit hopin’ ya’d learn! Ya admitted after the fact that thathad been a bad idea, that ya’d gone in half-cocked and that ya likely woulda gotten yerself killed if not fer Eve. An’ that was just fer Rock! What am I supposed to think ya’d be crazy enough to do if…”

  He trailed off and sighed, pausing for a moment wherein I could practically see him shaking his head at me. He’d done it often enough. Sometimes feels like a miracle that man hasn’t killed me yet.

  Then, groaning, he continued.

  “Promise me that, if ya see Frank, ya won’t do somethin’ stupid. Ya got a woman who loves ya now, Derek. Ya gotta think about others too. If he is there, he won’t be alone and he won’t make it easy. Ya know that, right? So… if ya see him, ya need to do somethin’ fer me and fer yer woman.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, already knowing what he was about to suggest.

  At least I had calmed myself down enough to be having this conversation. At least I had lowered my temper enough to know what he would want me to do and I could accept it calmly.

  The question I wondered was… would I be able to do it?

  Even if Roost asked me, would I be able to do what he wanted me to?

  Would I be able to sit there, scouting him, watching his movements for a later strike, and—

  “Run,” Roost said.

  Run?

  Run.

  Run!

  Are you fucking crazy, Roost?!?

  “Roost, you can kiss my—”

  “I damned well can ask that! Ya fuckin’ get that head outta yer ass, Derek Knight, and listen to me,” Roost roared over the phone. “If ya see any signs of Frank Young, ya get the fuck outta there. Pronto.”

  “No fucking way!” I yelled. “This man killed everyone I love, and he’s going to kill even more of my loved ones if I don’t do something! I’m going to find him wherever he is tonight, be it a goddamn store, street, or subway, doesn’t matter! Got it!”

  Roost paused for a long moment.

  “Roost.”

  Again, nothing. I heard his breathing, so I knew he hadn’t disconnected, but I wondered if… had he had a heart attack?

  “Roost?

  “Did I ever tell ya how yer old man died?”

  It was my turn to pause. Roost wouldn’t have asked me such a question for the sake of taunting me. This…

  This wasn’t going to be an enjoyable talk.

  But I had a feeling Roost wouldn’t have asked if it he hadn’t had a reason for it.

  “Not the specifics, I guess. Then again, I never wanted to know the details, either. Wasn’t he shot-up, though, like gunned down off his bike?”

  “Well, pardon me fer sayin’ so, but I think this is important,” he said before taking a deep breath. “Yer old man was pumped full o’ bullets, kiddo, and he was in pretty bad shape when we found him, gunshots taken ‘pletely out of the equation. Bones busted all to shit, bruised and bloodied. Hell, his fuckin’ leathers was even mangled up something terrible. The brightest Saviors we had decided he must’ve been riding when the Black Falcons made their move. A man can survive a bullet or two, sure, but if’n that bullet yanks ya right off yer bike when ye’re rocketing along at eighty… Well, let’s just say yer pops wasn’t the sort of guy who went down easy; certainly wasn’t the sort to be caught off guard.”

  An even longer pause came. I swore—swore—that Roost’s voice cracked. I had never heard him make such a sound, and it caught me so off-guard I thought he might have been choking. But just as quickly as I thought I heard it, it vanished.

  “But truth be told, that ain’t the whole story,” Roost said. “Ya know that subway station yer fixin’ to head over to? Well, that’s where we found ya daddy. Or… what was left o’ him
. Frank curb-stomped his skull ‘till it shattered.”

  I was left breathless and speechless.

  I knew my father’s death had not been a kind one and had been a ruthless one, but to hear that it had ended in such an ignoble fashion… to hear that the Falcon had done something so cruel, so gross, so evil…

  “Roost,” I said, but I couldn’t get anything else out.

  “We didn’t tell ya cuz we didn’t wanna bring ya back into this life if ya could avoid it, but, well, Dustin faced a similar fate. Least we know he didn’t have it as bad.”

  Roost let out a long, long sigh—almost like the kind of sigh someone made when they were trying to push away tears.

  “Anyway, the point is that Frank’s got his ways, an’… and I don’t wanna bury another Knight. I don’t think I got it in me to do another one. So ya keep yer ass safe, ya hear me? That’s an order. If ya don’t like it from me, think of it as comin’ from yer daddy.”

  I had no idea. I had no idea it was ever that bad.

  I had…

  I had no idea Roost actually cared about me as much as he had just said.

  I had felt sincere love from Eve, but this was a different kind of love. The love of a brother, of a friend, of a father figure.

  One love I might have gone crazy for. But two?

  Two… two kept me in check.

  “I…” I stopped myself, caught myself thinking about Eve, and nodded, more to myself than to Roost. “I promise. I promise Roost that I’ll run if I see any sign of him.”

  “Yer a good kid, Derek,” Roost said, sounding proud that I’d actually listened. “And a far better leader than you let on.”

  Now I actually let a tear shed. I was thankful my voice hadn’t quivered, but every other part of me wanted to collapse. For so many years, Roost had been like the stepdad who could never quite handle what a disappointment I had become. Or, depending on my perspective that particular day, he had become the friend who couldn’t believe what a fuckup I’d become.

  But today… he was like my second brother.

  “Thanks for the pep talk, Roost,” I said. “Now, I’ve got a lead to chase.”

  Time to move on. Clink beers, share hugs, and give and receive encouragement later.

  “Ya do that,” Roost said. “And get back to me with what you find.”

  “I will,” I said, hanging up the phone and tucking it away in the inside pocket of my leather jacket.

  I let out a long, long sigh as I looked up to the night sky, unusually clear and starry. Even if I hated to admit it, even if I wanted a chance to get after it with Falcon… Roost was right.

  Sticking around if I came across Falcon was not a chance for a heroic martyrdom. It was just a chance to bury me next to my family. As much as I wanted to end this, it would be too dangerous to think I’d be getting the drop on him.

  Already, we all thought this could be a trap, and it would be a stupid act to think that Falcon would be there coincidentally. And who knew how many guys he’d have on him? It was too dangerous to think that I could go in there and take care of it all on my own.

  I had to be smart when fighting against Frank, who’d always shown he was brains over brawn. Almost entirely brains over brawn. It was all enough to make me sick.

  And, as much as I hated to admit it, Frank Young was not someone to fuck with.

  But that didn’t mean that we couldn’t start the process of ending this once and for all.

  I slid onto my bike, slapping at the sides gently, the only girl in the world that could compete with Eve.

  Not that she would win. But she was close.

  “Alright, girl,” I whispered. “Let’s go for a chase, shall we?”

  Turning the ignition, the motorcycle roared to life underneath me, filling me with a rejuvenated sense of power and control. I pushed back the kickstand with my heel and turned into first gear, turning out onto the empty city streets. I let out a battle cry as I moved forward, even as I thought that I needed to tone down the fire.

  Most of the city was already asleep, the normally substantial shine of residential lights from the many towering apartments and condos lending to a sort of half day until the truly heinous hours of the night were upon us. I was, however, well into those truly heinous hours of the night—a time that seemed best for me to be doing this sort of work—and the degree of darkness I was met with was almost as jarring as the degree of loneliness I was met with. With the exception of a few overnight commercial vehicles and the few drivers and pedestrians who were, like me, likely up to no good, the streets and sidewalks were utterly vacant.

  This, however, was just fine with me. It gave me a freedom to be alone with my thoughts, and I basked in only the moonlight and my headlights as my only source of illumination. It felt like I had to fight in the darkness in more than one way.

  I continued down the city streets, heading to the south end of the city where the first of the bodies had been found. I glanced around, noting a nearby construction area, a small public park, and the entrance to the subway. I moved to park my bike on a nearby side street, making sure the area was safe enough before slipping off.

  “Where to start…?” I mused to myself.

  I paused, letting my eyes drift, though they did little work as I thought of where best to direct my focus. Truth be told, the superstitious part of me wanted to go to the subway station, thinking that if Falcon had sprung a trap, he’d do it in the same spot that he had done it to my father.

  But, remembering Roost’s words, I decided that I would save that for last, and I would only do it in the safest and most cautious of manners. The last thing I needed was to hear everything he said and then do the exact opposite, getting me killed and leaving Eve and Roost to wonder “why?”

  Letting my gaze follow my mind to the second choice, I decided that the park was a good place the start, so I headed in that direction.

  The lighting was awful in the area, even with the stars up above, so I slid my phone out and, using the flashlight app, and birthed a wide, powerful beam of light over the area. I began to look around, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. With the exception of a few stray dogs and cats frolicking about—and, in one awkward instance, fucking about—and the normal traffic of squirrels and chipmunks, I realized I was likely the only other living thing. Luckily, the park wasn’t too large and it hadn’t taken me too long to realize that nothing was off about this area.

  I wasn’t sure what it said that I felt utter relief that I hadn’t run into any Falcons of any kind here, but I gave myself a pass and said it stood for me just being sane for once in my life.

  My next choice was the construction area, which didn’t look to be of much help with any leads, either. Unless I was hoping to steal a few discarded tool boxes or a blown truck tire, it was obvious that there was nothing there for me. The place was mostly an empty lot aside from some construction vehicles and a few spots of concrete that had most likely just recently been set.

  Once again, I felt sheer relief that I had not run into any enemies of any kind. I just hoped the same was true for the other members of the Saviors, patrolling the different regions of the area we had triangulated off. While I knew some of us would inevitably die, the more I could position ourselves to minimize that, the better.

  I glanced back, looking towards the subway entrance. I swallowed. I hated being underground, had hated the subway since I was a kid. Something about traveling under the city had always left a bad taste in my mouth. Hearing the story of how my father had died had only made it worse.

  Two conflicting thoughts played in my mind right there. One said to get the hell out of there, to ask for backup, and to then approach the subway. That seemed like the rational plan, but the downside was that if I didn’t go now and Falcon was there, and he wouldn’t have suspected my appearance, then I was missing out on a great chance to end this war.

  And thus came the second thought, which said to explore anyways. It was the more emotional of the t
wo, the more impetuous and impulsive of the two, but damn if it wasn’t winning. You didn’t come here to run. You came here to run only if you saw Falcon nearby. And that hasn’t happened yet, so.

  Get your ass downstairs and see what you can find.

  Taking a deep breath, I headed forward, heading for the stairway to my descent. I stood at the top of the stairs, glancing down into the dimly lit entrance to the subway. At this hour, there wasn’t likely to be much down there aside from maybe a few homeless people looking for a place to have a decent sleep.

  Hopefully, I wouldn’t be interrupting much.

  And, hopefully, I wouldn’t find much down there.

  Even though I had a terrible feeling as I moved that I wasn’t going to get my wishes this go around.

  I wanted to get back to Eve. I wanted to be wrapped up in her arms. I wanted to be making love to her, because I loved her, and because I couldn’t bear the idea of losing another loved one, and because if I did, I didn’t know how I’d keep going.

  I could feel the sudden, sincere hope that maybe we were wrong, and that wouldn’t be so bad if it happened.

  Maybe there would be no connection. Even if that meant we were back to square one, it meant that we weren’t any worse for wear either, right? Our men would have survived another night, with no casualties, and we could better plan our attack…

  Or you can man up and keep going. No Falcon, no running.

  I took a deep breath and finally began to walk the steps, hating how loud everything suddenly seemed. Every step I took seemed to echo through the expansive subway terminal. Whatever ideas I had of sneaking up on someone seemed ridiculous, since the echoes could likely reach not just people in this station but people a station a mile away.

  As I got down, I glanced around, hating how dim the lighting was below. Did they always keep the lighting this low? I decided not to dwell on that, difficult as it was, as I began to walk through the terminal, looking around for any signs of trouble.

  As I made it to where passengers would board the trains, I was beginning to feel relief at not finding anything. Today was just what I said it was—a goose chase, not anything to fear, not—