by Naomi West
Just like magic, that evil grin of Aaron's dropped from his face as he finally realized what he'd stepped into. What kind of trap he'd entered through his own over-confidence.
“Drop the crowbar,” the older woman rasped, then coughed.
He dropped the tool on the ground, and the metal on concrete echoed loudly throughout the building.
“Kick it to Star.”
He followed her orders, saying, “You know I've just been messing around, right? I was just funning.”
“You know we're not laughing, right?” Star replied as she bent over and picked up the heavy metal bar.
“You just messing with us when you got my boy hooked on smack?” Tova spat at him. “Or when you kidnapped Tanner's ol' lady?”
Aaron gave them both a weak shrug. “Oops.”
“Oops?” Tova asked, shaking her head. “Star, hon, go get one of those chairs. I saw some duct tape in that back office, too. Guess we're going to get to play cops and murderous psychopaths today, ain't we, Aaron?”
Chapter Forty-Four
Tanner
Tanner nearly threw up as soon as he saw the strange car parked next to his mom's beat-up sedan at the empty warehouse. She wasn't supposed to have been here! She was supposed to have been at home, free and clear of any danger.
Now, he'd have more than just Star and the baby on his conscience if what he thought was true turned out to actually be so.
He pulled in and jumped off his bike His feet slapped the gravel parking lot, beating out a wild tattoo as he ran to the door.
Behind him, the rest of the boys came screaming in right behind him. Dirt and gravel flew everywhere as they all skidded to a stop and came running.
God, he hoped he wasn't too late. He'd never forgive himself if anything happened to Star, or his mom. He threw the door open and rushed inside.
“Answer her, you son of a bitch!” his mother screamed from somewhere deep inside the building. “Answer her, or I'll start blowing off every little piece of you I can!”
Tanner ran through the trash and discarded boxes, kicking over old fixtures and containers as he made for the source of the yelling.
“Told you I ain't talking until your boy gets here,” said Aaron, his voice carrying over the jumble of noise Tanner was making. “And, from the sound of it, your boy's here now.”
He came upon them at the back of the warehouse, near the little office at the back. Both of the women in his life had captured Aaron and duct-taped him to one of those rolling chairs. His mom had his dad's old revolver clenched in both hands, and she was waving the hand-cannon like she knew how to use it. All three sets of eyes swiveled to his as he came out of the shadows.
“And there's the man of the hour now,” Aaron said, laughing crazily.
“You two okay?” Tanner asked as he went to Star and pulled her into his arms.
Star laid her head against his chest and rested there. “I was so scared,” she whispered.
He soothed her hair down and held her for a moment longer, silently wishing he could have been there sooner.
“We're fine, dear,” Tova said, then coughed again. “This motherfucker thought he could get one over on all of us, though.”
Tanner kissed the top of Star's head and squeezed her tight. He let her go before turning to Aaron. “Why?” he yelled. “Why do this to me and to my family?”
“Funny you should ask that,” Aaron said, a big grin spreading on his face. “Cause I was about to tell you. You remember from back when we were young and wild, right Tanner? When we felt like we had the world as our plaything?”
“Yeah,” Tanner said and frowned, not feeling the same warmth of the remembrances that Aaron was. “Go on.”
“I knew your daddy back then, you see. I remember him coming out every now and then, to see how we were doing. How our bikes were riding. Goddamn, he loved you, Tanner. You could see the look on his face every time you rode by. Beaming like the proudest father to have ever walked God's green earth.”
Blade, Brendon, and Cam came walking up back about then. They were calmer than Tanner, more restrained.
Aaron glanced back towards the new arrivals, but ultimately ignored them and continued on with his story. “Years later, years after we'd fallen out of touch and gotten grown up, I tried to get into the Blood Warriors. Tried to join up with your club.”
“I don't remember that,” Blade interjected.
“Exactly,” Aaron said, nodding at the point. “Exactly. I didn't even merit a review, not even a fucking review for my recruitment. Do you know why?”
Tanner shook his head, but he had an idea.
Aaron's face twisted in anger. “Because of your daddy, Tanner. Because of your goddamn, motherfucking daddy.”
Tova lunged towards him, but Blade wrapped her gently, but firmly, in his arms and restrained her.
“Thank you, Blade,” Aaron said. “Hate to ruin my good looks. Your daddy, old man Logan Rainier, high poobah of the Blood Warriors, wouldn't even accept me for fucking review. Said I was a loose cannon, a bad apple that needed to be kept from the rest of the barrel. Said I was too violent and reckless, and that I wouldn't get in to the MC so long as he was alive.”
Everyone sat in stunned silence, partially at the story, and partially at the fact that the Roaming Wolves had let this clearly-unhinged man into their club. How had he gotten so far into their club? How had he gotten these men to help him? All because of a vendetta against the Blood Warriors?
“But, then, well, your daddy died, didn't he?” he asked, shaking his head. “And, I thought to myself, 'Now's your chance, Aaron! Now you can be a Blood Warrior, just like you've always dreamed!'”
“So why didn't you just apply?” Blade asked. “We would've given you a fair vote, up or down, to become a recruit. None of us knew you.”
Aaron snorted. “Why bother? I'd rather have my revenge. And, when I'd heard Brendon was back in town, I figured out how I wanted to start.”
“You went through all this, just to get revenge for something a dead man did to you years ago?” Tanner asked, his eyes wide.
Aaron nodded, that wide grin of his spreading across his face again. “Why else? I mean, I'm your biggest rival, now. Figured a little cred with the Wolves wouldn't hurt things.”
“Geez,” Blade said, “on second thought, thank God Logan turned you down. You evil sumbitch.”
“What do we want to do with him?” Brendon asked, the look on his face just as perplexed as everybody else's.
Tanner shook his head as Star backed away from him. Everyone knew what had to be done, what deserved to be done. He'd been in here, after the women. He'd gotten Brendon hooked on drugs, had kidnapped Star. But, still, killing him would just put a murder over the club’s head. And that, by itself, was too dangerous.
“You really love the Roaming Wolves?” Tanner asked, his voice level. “Don't you?”
Aaron shrugged, his head trying to track Tanner as he circled around him. “They're my boys, same as you got with the Blood Warriors. They pick me up when I'm down, they got my back. Why wouldn't I?”
Tanner was behind him now. He reached up and put his hands on Aaron's patch, the big Roaming Wolves name that arched across the back of his vest.
“What the hell are you doing?” Aaron yelled and struggled against the mummy-like duct tape wrappings. “You keep your hands off that patch, you son-of-a-bitch Warrior!”
“You ain't exactly in a position to make any demands,” Tanner said, his voice flat and emotionless as he began to rip the patches off his vest.
“What are you doing?” Star asked.
“To one of us,” Tanner said, nodding to Blade and the rest of the guys, “losing your patch is like losing your honor. A biker wouldn't be caught dead without his patches. Ain't that right, Aaron?”
“You son of a bitch,” Aaron said. “You give those back.”
“Don't think so,” Tanner said as he circled back around, patches in hand. He reached into his pocket a
nd dug out his pops' old Zippo, the same lighter he'd used to light the Molotov those weeks ago. God, that felt like a lifetime distant, now. He flicked the case open and sparked the wheel, sending up a flickering orange and red flame. He made sure Aaron could see what he was doing, too. Make sure he could see the punishment Tanner was about to inflict on him.
“What are you-?” Aaron asked, the words seeming to swell in his throat and choke him. “You can't! You wouldn't!”
“Wouldn't what?” Tanner asked as he put the flickering tongue of flame to the edge of the patches. “Take away the only thing that matters to you? Same as you tried to do to me?”
Aaron's mouth dropped open, and Tanner thought he might burst into tears. All that pride, all that honor. Gone. Poof. Up in smoke. Literally.
“My patches . . .” Aaron said, his eyes fixated on them as they burned in Tanner's hand.
“No more,” Tanner said. “And, I don't want to find you anywhere near here. Or by the college. I see you anywhere within fifty miles of the Blood Warriors territory, I'll kill you myself. You hear me?”
Aaron's mouth opened and closed, his tongue twisted and tied by the reality of what was happening in front of him.
“I asked if you heard me, you piece of shit!” Tanner yelled as he dropped the burned patches on the concrete floor and squashed out the flames with his boots.
Aaron, seemingly struck dumb, could only nod.
“Good. Cam, cut him loose.”
The recruit whipped out his pocket knife and got in close behind him. He reached down and cut the duct tape, slicing through the adhesive strips like butter. Aaron brought his hands around and rubbed his wrists, just like Star had all those weeks ago when Tanner cut her loose.
But, Aaron did what Star hadn't.
He tried one last time to get even. He lunged for Tanner.
Tanner had expected something like this. A man like Aaron, he'd keep going until all his options were exhausted. He was definitely the type to stay on the stage until a whole choir of fat ladies sang. Tanner struck him fast, a quick jackrabbit punch that hit him square in the nose and dazed him.
Aaron stumbled forward a little bit, suddenly unsure of his footing.
Tanner kneed him in the gut, knocking the wind from him, then slashed him to the ground with a wild haymaker.
Aaron tried to get up again, but the attempt was feeble.
“Don't,” Tanner breathed, then kicked him in the side. “Or, so help me God, we'll finish this the other way.”
Aaron didn't try again to climb to his feet. This time, he stayed down.
Star came over to Tanner, wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him back and away from Aaron's prone form.
It was done, he realized. It was finally over. The Roaming Wolves may bother them again, but Aaron wouldn't be any party to it. His days in their MC were over. They'd seen to that.
Chapter Forty-Five
Star
Star carried her box of the few keepsakes she had kept from childhood into Tova's house. They'd already moved her small coffee table and bed out of storage. All told, her belongings fit into the bed of Blade's pickup truck. Well, all of her possessions that had been worth keeping, at least. Some of it had just ended up by the dumpster, left to be someone else's treasure.
The plan was to live here until they at least got the place fixed back up. Tanner figured moving in would save him the hassle of having to get out here every day. He could just wake up every morning, have his coffee, eat his breakfast, then go and tear down old sheet rock, or start working on the plumbing. He, Brendon, and the rest of the boys would have the place back up to snuff in no time flat.
Then, after his mother's place was fixed up, they'd purchase their own home. Tanner said the one he had wouldn't do for his family. He was going to give them the best he could.
Star believed him, even if she didn't care either way. After being alone for so long, with just her thoughts and the awful memories of her childhood to keep her company, a full house was what she needed. The bustle of other people coming in and out. People to watch TV with. People to yell at because the TV was too loud and she was reading.
Tova seemed to warm to the idea, too. “I never had a daughter, you know,” she'd confided in Star one night when Tanner and his brother were down at the Old Crow.
“What about Willow? Didn't you like her?”
“Willow never fit in,” Tova said, reaching across the table to pat Star's hand. “You, though. Honey, you got Blood Warrior ol' lady written all over you.”
Star couldn't help but smile. This was the first time she'd ever felt like she'd belonged. She realized she'd been a square peg all her life, but had always been told only round holes existed. Now, all of a sudden and completely by accident, she'd stumbled across an entire board full of square holes.
“That the last of it?” Tanner asked as Star came into the house with her arms full. He came up to her, arms outstretched to take her load. “Here, let me take that.”
She shook her head and twisted the box away from him, out of his grasp. “Tanner Rainier, I'm barely pregnant. I can lift a box by myself. And, no, there's still a few more. You better go help Blade out with them before he throws his back out.”
“That old man?” Tanner growled before kissing her on the cheek. “He's tough as nails.”
But, he went out anyways to help the president of the Blood Warriors.
And Star Bentley turned and watched her man go. Because that's what he was. Her man.
# # #
Tanner
That evening, Tanner and Blade sat out on the back stoop of his mom's house, beers in hand, looking out over the backyard. They'd loaded and unloaded moving boxes all day, and they deserved the break.
“Thanks for the help today,” Tanner said, toasting his old mentor.
“Don't mention it. Anything for your family, you know that. Your daddy always did right by me.”
Tanner grinned. “I know.” He took a sip of beer and leaned back against the door frame. “You proved that, and more, with all that Aaron shit.”
“You know how it is,” Blade said. “Strike at one of us, you strike at all of us.”
“Damn straight,” Tanner agreed.
They both grew quiet, just letting the chirping crickets fill the silence. Contentment, for the first time in he-didn't-know-how-long, filled Tanner. Everything seemed right with the world. No worries from the Wolves, no worries from Aaron. His ol' lady was with him. He had a baby on the way. His brother was home safe. Hell, his mom seemed to be getting better, even.
“Tanner,” Blade said after a while of comfortable quiet, “I've been thinking.”
Tanner took a sip of his beer. “About what?”
“Retirement.”
Tanner almost dropped his beer. He hadn't seen that coming! “What? You can't retire, old man!”
“Not from the club,” Blade said, a wry smile on his face. “Just from leadership.”
“What are the Warriors going to do without you?” Tanner asked, the shock still reverberating through him.
“Pick someone younger, faster, and stronger. Look, I've been thinking about everything that went down with Aaron -”
“You mean how I almost fucked everything up?”
Blade set his beer aside. “Tanner, lemme ask you something. Know what makes a good leader, versus a bad one?”
Tanner shook his head.
“Making more good decisions than bad ones,” Blade said, “and taking responsibility for them. Sure, you made a mistake, but no one got hurt in the end. But, do you know what makes a man a leader, good or bad?”
“Never really thought of it, I guess.”
“Being willing to make decisions. Period. What you decided to do at the end, with us trying to chase down Aaron, then having to race back to the warehouse? Then just taking his patches and sparing his life? It was a decision, no matter which way you look at it, and the right one in that case.”
Tanner nodded as he list
ened to Blade. He still kicked himself every now and then about the decisions he'd made during the whole affair, and how wrong some of them ended up being. “I still got so many things wrong,” he said. “I just feel like I screwed it all up.”
Blade shrugged. “Welcome to life, Tanner-boy. Not every decision is going to be the right one. Hell, not making a decision, period, that's as much making a decision. You're just choosing to let events unfold for you.”
