by Nicole Fox
“Remember,” Thorn whispered. “We start the fire. We get back under cover. We see if our mystery man is one of the guys that comes to put it out. Got it?”
The men nodded. They made their way down the rough trail, the limbs and leaves tearing at their hair and jackets as they went, trudging through the shadows of the trees.
Danny had played in these woods, when he was a kid. He and Jed and some of the other boys, all on the little 50cc dirt bikes that Pops had bought them for their birthdays. They'd only been out late like this a couple times, and he'd remembered how creepy the woods could get.
Man, their pops had tanned their hides that night they'd come home late. Told them he'd whipped them so bad cause Mom had been worried sick. Now, though, as he thought to how protective he felt of the little Reynolds growing in Sara's belly, he wondered if just his mom had been worried.
Soon, they arrived at the gate at the back of the old fence, though, and Danny had to push all the other thoughts from his mind. This was serious work that had to be done, and done right.
Karl came up with the bolt cutters and cut through the rusty lock, dropping the broken hunk of metal to the leaf-covered ground. From there, they had just another twenty or thirty feet to the storage building. They pulled open the gate with a creak and a squeal of old, rusty hinges.
Danny took the lead, firebomb in one hand, his pops' old lighter in the other. He stayed low as he half-jogged to the back of the storage unit. Right behind him, he could hear Thorn's heavy footfalls striking on the hard-packed dirt.
“Ready?” Thorn whispered in a harsh-sounding voice.
“Yeah,” Danny whispered back. He could just make out Thorn's features in the dark. “You?”
The president of the Fallen Knights nodded.
Danny ran his pops' old metal lighter down the leg of his jeans, flipping open the lid, then zipped it back down the other direction and struck the wheel on the flint. A flame kindled to life, and he lit the handkerchief. Flame flickered up the cotton, and Danny sent the bottle sailing through the air.
The Molotov cocktail went perfectly through the back window and shattered inside. Immediately, flames began licking at the air inside the storage unit, growing quickly with intensity.
“Shit, Danny,” Thorn hissed beside him, grabbing him by the vest.
“What?” Danny asked.
“There's red canisters in there,” Thorn yelled as he grabbed Danny and threw him to the ground, leaping on top of him. A loud whoomph went up, and an ear-splitting boom ripped through the compound.
Thorn was up and off of Danny, screaming as he patted at the back of his vest. Tongues of flame licked at the night sky, and the president's hands beat at the fire ineffectively.
Now it was Danny's turn to yank his old mentor to the ground. “Roll!”
As Thorn rolled on the ground, Danny threw dirt on him, trying to finish the smothering of the dying flames.
There was a loud thunk and suddenly, the area on the other side of the burning storage unit lit up bright as day. Flood lights illuminated the whole area, and men began to yell to alert the others.
Danny reached down, grabbed Thorn by his vest, and bodily yanked him to his feet. Together, they ran back to the open gate and fled into the forest. He looked back over his shoulder at the burning wreckage, but could only make out vague forms screaming for water hoses and buckets.
Beside him, Thorn groaned in pain as they passed through. “Shit, shit, shit,” he swore as they got down in the brush next to Tyke and Karl. “My hands, I think they're fucked.”
“Well,” Tyke growled, “that didn't go to plan.”
“Yeah,” Danny agreed. “Guess we should have checked if it was their fuel storage before we torched it.”
Thorn hissed. “I gotta get to the hospital, boys.”
“You sure?” Karl asked.
“This ain't good, that's damn certain.”
Danny looked back at the storage unit. The smoke was thick and heavy, and the back lighting from the flood lights was too bright. There was no chance they were going to see their mystery man, not in that mess.
“Okay,” Danny agreed. “Let's get you some help.”
Together, the four of them made their way up through the wood and to the back road they'd parked their bikes on. They were all huffing and puffing with the exertion, Danny least of all, and Thorn most.
“Karl, you and Tyke take my bike back to the clubhouse, make sure it's safe. My hands are fucked, and I ain't gonna be able to ride for a while.”
“I'll take him out to a hospital,” Danny said, stepping in.
“Which one?” Tyke asked as they took the keys and climbed on Thorn's bike.
“Better you don't know,” Danny said. “If something happens, and the cops get involved, there's no sense in you two taking the fall.”
“No sense in any of you taking it,” Thorn butted in, his focus on Danny, “you mean.”
“Whatever,” Danny said.
This had gone tits-up, far as he was concerned. And, from just looking at Thorn's hands he knew the old man needed help, and needed help fast. But, if things came down to taking the blame, he'd accept all the responsibility in a heartbeat. Half a heartbeat, even. These men were out here helping him with his problem, as much as with the Fallen Knights. He couldn't expect Thorn to take the heat.
Of course, he didn't need to have an argument with the president of the club, and definitely not in front of the other members. No sense in pressing the point now. Besides, if you were a member of the club, you followed orders. Right now, the most important thing was to get him some help, and to get it fast.
This had been a waste, all a stupid waste. And, on top of everything, Thorn had hurt himself while he was saving Danny. If he hadn't thrown Danny to the ground, it would have been his face, instead of Thorn's back going up in flames like that.
Worst of all? They didn't even find out any thing useful.
Danny sighed as, together, they climbed on Danny's bike and took off down the dirt road. Tyke and Karl were right behind them.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Danny
They rode nearly an hour away from town, to a small emergency room Thorn knew about. Clearly, this wasn't his first rodeo when it came to getting patched up out of sight from the cops.
“Pull up here,” Thorn shouted in Danny's ear as they got into the parking lot.
Danny shut off his bike and helped the older man through the automatic sliding doors. This was his first chance to see the damage the explosion had done, and the sight wasn't a pretty one.
Thorn had lost a big patch of his long hair, which had been singed off by the fire that had caught on the back of his vest. Instead of the Fallen Knights symbol and Thorn's patch, there was a large, blackened crater. His upper back would be a mess, Danny knew, and maybe one of his shoulder blades. But, he was a tough old bird and would be able to handle the pain.
His right hand, though, looked worse. The skin was blistered horribly, and covered in dead purple and red skin, like he'd stuck his hand into the fire, rather than just tried to protect his face.
“Get out of here,” Thorn whispered. “I can handle this.”
“Hell you can,” Danny said. “Unless you went southpaw on me during the ride over.”
“Fuck you,” Thorn mumbled, clearly resentful of the need for help. “But, thanks.”
They shuffled up to the admittance counter and got the nurse's attention, a big red-headed woman who looked like she'd seen it all. She sucked in a breath, though, when they showed her Thorn's hand.
“Second and third degree, it looks like,” she muttered as her eyes flickered back and forth between the two bikers. “Can your father fill out his admission paperwork?” she asked Danny.
He shook his head. “Nah. And he ain't my dad, neither.”
She shrugged. She clearly didn't care one way or another, but just handed over a clipboard with a stack of paper on it.
“Now, we've got a wait,
but not too bad of one. We'll get you in soon as we can.”
Danny led him over to an empty seat in the waiting area. She was right, the number of people ahead of them wasn't too heavy.
They sat down and started to go over Thorn's information, with Danny filling out the forms in his chicken scratch. Aside from inventory, this was probably the most writing he'd done since high school.
“What are you going to tell them happened?” Danny asked when they'd finished.
“Late night grilling gone wrong,” Thorn replied with a wince as he tried to move his hand.
“Hell of an accident, you ask me.”
“Well, you try grilling steaks in the dark,” Thorn said with a pained grin.
“Stop fucking moving it, old man. You ain't making it any better.”
Thorn sighed and dropped his hand to his lap so he could cradle his burn protectively. “I know, I know. Just hard to sit here and do nothing. Especially since I know it didn't work.”
“Well, steak doesn't always come out the way you want it,” Danny mumbled.
Thorn chuckled, hissing as the laugh jostled his hand. “Don't I know it? Life ain't always exactly what we want.”
“Yeah,” Danny agreed.
“Speaking of which, how're things with you and your ol' lady? Or whatever the hell you're calling her these days?”
He debated whether or not to tell his old mentor the truth. Finally, honesty and a need for advice won out. “Did a pregnancy test today.”
“And?”
“She's pregnant.”
Thorn nodded, then shook his head as he chuckled. “And you still came out with us?”
“Yeah, of course I did. It's my fight with these guys, not just the club's. Whoever that guy is, I think he's got it out for me.”
“Sometimes, Danny-boy,” Thorn said, “you gotta know when you have a good thing. I've seen the way that young lady looks at you, and now you're gonna be a daddy on top of it all?”
Danny chewed on the end of the pen, not even thinking about which hands had previously held it, or how sick they may have been.
“Don't get me wrong, though. That's good news, boy,” the old man said, bumping into Danny's shoulder with his own. “Isn't it?”
The news was good, Danny admitted to himself. In fact, finding out about Sara being pregnant had been the best thing he'd heard in years. “Yeah,” he said. “It's good.”
“Decided what you're gonna name it?”
“Probably after my dad,” Danny said, without even thinking first. The answer had just popped into his brain. “Logan's a good name.”
“What about a girl?”
“Haven't thought about it, really. Hadn't even thought about a boy's name, either, till you asked.” Danny said with shrug “Just feels like a boy to me, I guess.”
“Well, you'll be a fine Daddy. Just like yours was.”
The big red-headed nurse called out for them. They had a room ready.
Danny went with the old man back to the examination area.
“Listen,” Thorn said, “you go ahead and get out of here. Head on home, alright? I gotta girl out here that still likes to see my ugly mug every now and then, and I think I can lay up at her place for a couple weeks till I heal and things blow over.”
“You sure?”
“Would I be telling you if I weren't?” He clapped his good hand onto Danny's shoulder. “You're a good man, Danny. You'll do what's right for the club, and your family, and that baby on its way. Or I'll kick your ass up and down the county.”
Danny grinned and clasped his hand to Thorn's. “Yeah. Get in touch when you're better.”
“Will do,” the old man said with a nod, then ushered him out.
Danny stepped out into the emergency room examination area, then let himself back out the way he'd come.
He was bone-tired. He knew he should just go home, but he was worried the nightmares would just return like before. The nightmares about that big bruiser of a Jackal, standing over him with that murderous look in his eyes.
Instead, as he hopped on his bike, he decided he'd return to Sara's. She might have been pissed at him still, but that didn't matter. He needed her, and her comforting presence, by his side if he was going to get any rest tonight.
# # #
Sara
“Can I come in?” Danny asked. He stood there, framed by her front doorway, just as sexy as when he had left. In fact, he was positively smoldering. The smell of smoke wafted off him, even after his long bike ride.
Sara stood there in just panties and an over-sized pajama top. She'd been just about ready to turn in for the night.
“Do I want to know?” Sara asked. But, after one look up and down his sooty clothing, she didn't need him to tell her that he didn't. Instead, she just stepped aside and ushered him into her apartment.
“Want me to answer that?” he replied as he walked past her.
She shook her head. “You're right. I was just about to go to bed,” she said as she shut the door behind him. “Today's been . . . a day.”
He smiled that sexy smile of his, with those deliciously full lips. This time, though, she could see the hint of exhaustion and bone-deep weariness.
Their earlier argument about their relationship, about what would happen with the baby, about his putting himself in too much danger, seemed to melt. The memory of their shouts all evaporated as she looked into those icy blue eyes of his. The worries about the future, about whether there was even a future for them -- she forgot them.
She reached down and grabbed his hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let's go to bed.” She led him back into her already-dark bedroom and climbed beneath the covers.
He stripped down to his boxer briefs and crawled into bed next to her.
She curled up against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Some night, huh?” she whispered.
He nodded. “You have no idea.”
“Why'd you come here instead of your place?” she asked.
His hand went down to her belly and began to gently caress her abdomen. “I sleep better with you next to me,” he murmured.
“Same here,” she whispered back, a smile on her lips.
A moment passed as she just listened to the sound of his breathing. The steady inhale-exhale was soothing, comforting, like the tick-tock of a human clock.
“I didn't want this baby, you know,” he said after a while, his voice already groggy and heavy with sleepiness.
“I know.”
“But, I care about it.” He paused and licked his lips. “I dunno why.”
“Well, maybe it's not that oil is thicker than blood.” she asked, thinking back to the big Fallen Knights flag he had hanging in his bedroom at home. “Maybe, they're just about the same.”
“Maybe,” he whispered back.
After a few moments of silence, she realized that he was out like a light. Sara smiled, leaned up, kissed his cheek. Soon, she too was drifting off.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sara
“Oh my god,” Cathey said as she leaned down in front of Sara's nonexistent belly and nearly hugged it. “I'm gonna be a Grammy?”
She and Danny had swung by his mother's house to check on Jed, and to see how everything was going. They stood in the living room, where Danny had called both of his family members in and just announced the good news.
“I'm gonna be an Uncle Jed, you mean,” Danny's brother said from beside their mother. He looked way better than the last time she'd seen him, and was beaming like he was the father or something, not Danny. But, at least he'd progressed from his status as a walking corpse, and had approached something resembling living.
Sara laughed, taking it all in. She'd never had a home life like this, and it was a nice change of pace. Even if the way his mother stared at her belly did make her a little uncomfortable.
“Guess it's not soon enough to tell if it's a boy or girl, is it?” Cathey asked.
Sara and Danny both shook their heads. “
It's only been a couple days, Mom,” Danny said. “Takes a while for that.”
“Oh,” Cathey said as she went and sat down on her old couch, “I think it'll be a boy. Boys run in our family.”
“And, if it's a boy,” Jed piped up, “you can name 'em after me, right?”
