The second those cunts flashed the camera to Willow, I thought Hammer was gonna turn into the fuckin' Hulk and smash everyone's heads in, and then find those fuckers and end them too.
I have no doubt that this war – because it is a war – is gonna end in the deaths of many. Every member of that club will be disposed of. And they have their new president to thank for that.
“Four hours is all we have to save my daughter.” Shepard slams his fists down on the meeting table, hunched over the thing.
He isn't taking this well at all. Not that anyone would expect him to. Willow may not be of his blood, but that girl is his daughter. She means so much to all of us. We all want her home safe.
Trouble is, we know what the fuckers want, but they're playing games with us, won't tell us where the hell they're keeping Willow, nor where they even want Shepard to go, so how the hell is our Prez supposed to give himself up to them? They're playing with us, they're enjoying watching our Prez going out of his mind. No doubt that's what they want, it'll be easier to kill him that way.
Not fuckin' happening. They ain't getting their damn hands on our Prez!
“Four hours. They've already made their damn point by beatin' the crap outta her.” I've never seen Shepard almost collapse before. But right now, he does. He slumps down in his chair, Jett standing by his side, hand on his shoulder. “My little girl.” He mumbles.
“It's gonna be okay, Dad. We are going to find her. We'll bring her home.”
“We need some outside help.”
“We don't need outside help, Hammer.”
“Yes, we do!” He screams at Jett while getting to his feet. This is killing him, I can see it clear as day.
“He's right.” Shepard looks up. “Sit down, Hammer.” He does. “I want you to find this Exorcist person. I know you can. I know you hired him to avenge Cindy.”
Oh, fuck, no.
Both Jett and Red's eyes shoot to me. Yes, they know who Nova really is. Jett might be her brother, but she's my woman, only I can agree to this.
I shake my head slightly. I won't let her get involved in this. I won't lose her!
But am I being selfish?
After all, the girl is a trained killer. The Snakes might kill, but we ain't trained killers. I have a lot of faith in my girl, I know she can handle herself and anything this world has to throw at her. And this is Willow we're talking about, the girl I grew up with. The little girl I, along with Jett, and every other member of this MC has spent forever protecting. She's Nova's sister. Can I really just keep Nova out of this when I know deep down we could and more than likely will lose Willow without her help?
Ain't no man wants to admit that he needs a woman's help with something like this. But I gotta face facts, my girl is no shrinking violet. She is a violent killer, strong and proud. Physically stronger than half the men in this club. If we are to get Willow back in one piece, we're going to need Nova's help.
“I know where to find what you're lookin' for.” I look to Jett. “Say nothin' until I come back.”
He nods.
“What do you know, Tank?”
“You'll find out soon enough, Prez. I'll be twenty minutes. Nobody go anywhere.”
Takes me less than five minutes to get to Coral's with the speed I'm doing. I park my bike and rush inside without knocking. There's no time for that shit right now.
“Tank, what are you doing here?”
“Where's Nova?”
“I'm here.” Yes, she is. Walking out of the kitchen and into the den, holding Ember, whose eyes widen with delight when she sees me. “What's wrong?”
I take Ember from her arms, kiss her chubby cheek and hand her to Coral. “I need you to take care of her for a while. I need Nova to come with me. It's important.”
“Of course.” Coral. Never asks questions, just seems to know when something is too important to talk about. Also knows Stryker will fill her in when he gets home.
I take Nova's arm, ignoring her protests and drag her out of the house. “Tank!” She shrugs free of me and folds her arms around herself.
I wish she wouldn't be so stubborn right now, she fuckin' knows what it does to me. If this wasn't a life or death situation, I'd be fuckin' her up against my bike right here, right now, neighbors be damned!
But this is life or death. Willow is in danger and we need Nova's help more than we've ever needed anyone's help before.
We've lost too many men and women over the years to violent deaths because of rival clubs, including my parents. They target us because we're the mother charter. Try and take us all out and take over our turf. They might take out a few of ours, but we'll end every one of theirs.
You wanna mess with the Snakes? You and everyone you love will suffer.
The motherfuckers who took Willow will soon learn that.
But we can't risk losing her, she's a massive part of this club, every one of us is feeling it. Everything we've done since Cindy was killed to protect the women of this club suddenly means nothing because it wasn't enough, they still took her, they've hurt her. None of us wants to think about what else they might have done. Those Dogs are known for raping and torturing women, it would mean nothing to them to take turns with Willow.
What's their excuse for taking Will from us?
Our Prez killed one of their men.
Lie.
Shepard tries to keep the peace between clubs where he can. You cross him, you die. Simple.
Most clubs work with us, not against. They know it's better to go with what Shepard tells them. They can run their turf without the whole sex trafficking thing. Don Vidal does not like that shit. Anything else? Yes. But Shepard made a deal with the Don to make sure we keep things peaceful as best we can. We do that, he won't start a war with us. No one crosses the Don, he would end every MC in America.
The guy talks out of his ass if you ask me. But what the fuck do I know?
Then you got some MC's like those Devil Dog, Barber Bastards, who don't want to work with us. Those who defy even Vidal. They wanna take over the biggest MC charter this side of the Atlantic. Us. So they make their little plans, wait until they think it's perfect before striking.
The women of the club are rarely out alone anymore. Someone is always with them. It might sound like prison, but these women are our lives. Would you risk your girl’s life? No. No one would. These women aren't dispensable to us.
Until Nova came into my life, I never really understood Shepard's need to trail the girls, to make sure they went out in groups and always with a prospect trailing them, so if anything happened, he could call us and we'd be there in minutes to deal with it. Now I understand the need to keep them safe.
Willow wasn't taken while she was out shopping for shoes, or whatever it is women do while out and about. Willow was home waiting for Jordan, her fiancé, a prospect with the club, renamed Trace, to come home. Trace was busy dealing with a clean-up Jett had ordered him to do. That's what we have prospects for. It doesn't matter that Trace will be Jett's brother-in-law, and mine, I guess. It means nothing. We all had to go through the same shit as prospects, even Jett. His grandfather was Prez, his dad VP, didn't stop them giving him shit jobs to do in order to prove he was worthy of his membership patch with the Snakes.
As soon as Trace was done he should have gone home. But he didn't. Trace received a phone call to let him know his grandfather had died. So he shot straight over to his grandmother's place. No one could blame him for that.
Back to Willow.
Those motherfuckers must have been watching her house. They waited until Trace was out of there before breaking in and taking her. She'd put up a fight, the state of the place was evidence of that.
Like I said earlier, motherfuckers stated in the live feed they sent that they wanted Nova. But any of Shepard's daughters would do. If they wanted Nova so badly they should have gone to our place to find her, not Willow's, dumb cunts.
If anything could hurt Shepard. It's this. Hurt a man's daugh
ter and he won't be in the right mind to think straight. You can take down a man with nothing on his mind but his daughter, and nothing in his heart but pain and anger. A man like that becomes reckless.
Ain't nobody taking out our Prez. We're too fuckin' big, too smart, too strong, and now we have the one thing all MCs would kill for, the one weapon that could end every MC around. My girl. Nova. The Exorcist.
I grab her face in my hands and kiss her softly before resting my forehead against hers. “We need you, baby. You're the only one who can help us find Willow before it's too late.” She nods against me. I lift up and look at her. There's no cockiness in her expression. No, “I told you so,” just understanding. She's good at what she does, if anyone can find Willow, it's Nova.
We have all the firearms we could ever need, more explosives underground than the damned army. But we can't do this on firepower alone.
“I'm going to have to tell them who I really am.” It's not a question, she knows what needs to be done.
“Yes. I wouldn't ask you to do this for any other reason than finding your sister and bringing her home alive.”
“I could just find her myself. There's no need to bring anyone else into this.”
“This isn't like your other assignments, Nova. You're not just going in there to kill someone. This is a rescue and the possible takedown of a whole MC. We need your help, but you won't be going alone. Please, baby.”
She nods and smiles, no argument. “Okay. Anything you say.”
Why do I not believe her when she says that?
The clubhouse is eerily quiet when we arrive. Tank told me that they're all in the meeting room, even the prospects, which is unusual when they're not usually allowed to hear club business without being full patched members.
My sister's fiancé isn't here. His grandfather died the night my sister was taken, he's with his grandmother right now. What kind of shit must he be going through? The woman he loves is taken, then his grandfather dies. Some would say he should be here looking for Willow like he was from the moment he found out she'd gone. Others would sympathize that he's torn, doesn't know what to do, can't stop himself from flitting between looking for Willow and helping his family.
I have faith that he'll do the right thing. Maybe I shouldn't, but it's not like he hasn't been searching for Willow, the least we can do is give him a couple hours to be with his family at this sad time. Trace will be back soon, helping in the search for my sister. I know he won't give up until she's back with us. I trust him.
“I know this is going to be hard, but don't worry, they'll understand.”
“Don't worry about me, Tank, they'll soon learn I'm not the kind of woman you mess with.”
“That's my girl.” He winks. And with my hand in his, he leads me into the meeting room where they call church and talk club business.
I've never been inside here before. It's quite smart looking. Not much in here, but then, I don't suppose they need much. Long oak table with many chairs around it, all filled with tough-looking bikers. The head of the table sits my dad as president. My brother to the right as VP, Hammer to the left as Sergeant-at-arms. And so on down the line in order of ranking.
Six prospects sit along the back wall on hard plastic chairs. They haven't earned the right to sit on softer chairs at the big table yet. One chair sits empty where Trace should be. And, of course, Tank's chair.
The huge mural on the wall behind the guy on the right, the one that fills the wall with the MC's full patch and the names of the fallen catches my eye. It's beautiful. It really is.
“What the hell is she doing here?!”
Nice, Dad, thanks.
“She has something to say to you all.”
“This ain't a game, Tank!”
“I'm well aware of that, Prez!”
“Are you sure about this, Nova?” I nod my head yes at Jett and smile. Only he, Red, and Tank know the truth about me. But soon the other thirty-odd men will know. They'll all see me in a different light, but they'll also know not to underestimate me.
Tank guides me to his seat beside Jett's. I sit down and he stands behind me with his hands on my shoulders like he's my own personal bodyguard.
I look around the room at the faces of my father’s men. Each one is looking at me and wondering why there's a woman sitting at their table.
“Tank told me that you all need a little help from a certain someone in order to help Willow.”
“The Exorcist.”
I nod at Mike.
“You know how to find him? You can get him to help us find her?” I nod my head at Hammer. He knows this, but he doesn't know that it's me he's seeking.
“What?!” My father literally shrieks.
“She works for him, Prez.” I'm not looking at my father, but I can feel his eyes burning holes into the side of my head. I could kill Ghost, that wasn't his place to say anything! “Told her she should tell you.”
“You fuckin' knew about this and you didn't say anything?!”
I ignore my father and round on Ghost. “I also told you to watch your mouth, Ghost.” He can raise his eyebrows at me all he likes, but one of these days, I'm gonna pop a cap in his fucking head!
“Can you help us find Willow?” There's more inside that man's heart for my sister than I first thought. Hammer might not be ready to admit it, but he's in love with Willow, and after losing Cindy the way he did, I can only imagine how scared he is right now.
“I can find her, Hammer, and I can help you end those who took her.”
“You?” Ghost laughs, as do some of the others.
“You think because I'm a woman that I'm weaker than you? Don't make me laugh.”
He opens his mouth, but Red stops him. “I wouldn't, I've seen what she can do.”
“What are you talking about?” My father isn't in the right frame of mind for this. He's too involved. Yeah, he's the president of this MC, but he's still a scared father right now.
“We don't need her help, we need The Exorcist himself!”
Fucking Ghost! I'll kill him.
I jump to my feet. “I am The Exorcist, you cunt!”
Ever been in a room where everyone is talking, someone yells something that no one expected, then it suddenly goes deathly silent? Eerily so?
Yeah, that's what it's like in here right now, along with all the staring, wide eyes, open-mouthed shocked looks on their faces.
Anyone would think I just told them I'd grown a dick and raped all their wives.
“You? Don't make...”
“Shall I prove it to you, Ghost?” My gun is out of my holster faster than anyone can blink, pointing right at Ghost, who's now leaning back in his chair with his hands out. “I am a trained sniper assassin, you cocksucker! I could kill everyone in this fuckin' room before just one of you could draw your gun if I wanted to!”
“Enough!” Reluctantly, I put my gun away and turn to my father with a sneer on my face. I haven't spoken to him since the day I fought in the ring with Mike. “Is this true? You're The Exorcist?”
I nod slowly.
There's so much hurt in his voice, so much he wants to ask me. So much pain in his eyes and I know some of it's for me, for the fact my childhood was stolen from me in order to make me a killing machine. But there is no room for that here now, we have to find Willow!
“There's a lot you don't know about me, Dad. I'm not the little girl you remember. I'll tell you everything you need to know but now isn't the time. What you all learn in this room stays in this room. Anyone of you breathes a word about who I am, I'll kill you and your whole family without so much as batting an eyelid, and don't think I won't.”
Every eye in the room is on me, a lot of them nod in my direction to show they've understood.
Good.
They know my reputation, they know I mean what I say.
“I want you to all know this,” I look around them all. “I am not weak in any sense of the word. You all know my reputation and what I can do. I can hol
d my own as you may have noticed when I got in the ring with Mike.” Mike chuckles. “I am trained in weaponry, I'm a sniper for god's sake, an assassin, I'm trained in many forms of martial arts, there is nothing I can't do, no one I can't trace. I can find where they're hiding Willow, all I need is to see the video they sent you. You recorded it?” Hammer nods. “Good. Show me and I'll have a location in minutes.”
“You can really do that?”
I nod and smile slightly in Hammer's direction. He really loves Willow. I can't imagine what this is doing to him right now. The man must believe himself to be cursed.
“We need a plan. A good one. I will be coming with you.”
“I don't think so.”
“You need me, Dad. Trust me on this, you need me.”
“She's right, Prez. Jett, Red, and me, we've seen what she can do. She's amazing.” I smile to myself. My man has faith in me, and that means everything.
“You all knew...”
“There's no time for this!” I snap. There's no point to this right now, we're wasting precious time! “When we're out there, you treat me like one of you. You do not make pointless exceptions because I'm a woman. You each stick to the job I give you. The plan has to be perfect. I want my sister home safely. If you can't take orders from a woman just this once in order to save Willow, then fuckin' stay behind. This isn't about your stupid male, biker pride, this is about Willow and finding her alive and bringing her home to her mother, her father, her siblings.”
“What do you say?” My father asks.
“Aye!” Stryker yells, which sets off a chain of Aye's.
“Good. This is the plan.”
This is what I get for minding my own business, kidnapped from my own home and dragged to a dirty derelict warehouse in the middle of nowhere. Two days I've been here. Two days and no one back home has come for me. It's not that I don't have faith in them, it's just that these pigs seem to have thought of everything.
Their leader, Crack. He's a vile piece of scum, thinks he can break me with his constant taunting about my dad, and how even if he gives himself up they won't let me go. I'm going to die here, that doesn't mean I'll roll over and take it.
The One I Need (Snakes Henchmen MC Book 1) Page 18
