Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC

by Kiki Leach

  He moved across the room and stood right in front of me while pointing the gun directly at my forehead. I closed my eyes when he slid his finger across the trigger and feigned pulling it back as a way to try and scare me even more than I was already.

  "I could blow you away if I wanted to, darlin'," he said. "Watch those pretty little brains of yours splatter all over this motherfucker's pretty white rug."

  "Why don't you?"

  "'Cause I need something from you," he told me. I opened my eyes and stared up at him. "My cock's been needing something from you since the second I first saw you coming down the stairs of your apartment complex and even before that."

  "Why are you doing this?" I asked him, my voice calm as I looked directly into his eyes. He stumbled back a little, almost as if he was stunned that I had even asked. "You're not such a terrible person to look at. As a human being, you sort of suck a lot of ass, but physically speaking, I can't understand why someone like you would have to go through so much trouble just to get laid. Unless it's a power issue," I said. "Unless you're only doing this to somehow make yourself feel like more of a man--"

  He shoved the gun against my mouth, and instantly, I panicked and threw my hands up. My jaw shook and my heartbeat accelerated to a rate that was no longer considered normal even for a meth addict. "Don't try to fucking analyze me, bitch. If I had to hold a gun to every bitch I wanted to fuck..." He stopped and ripped the gun from my lips, though he didn't remove it from my sight completely, as he used that same hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Stand up and take off your robe." He dropped back and waved the gun at me, indicating that I stand.

  Slowly, I pushed myself up and off the bed, and reached down for the tie to my robe, though I had no intention of actually removing it.

  "Come on, come on!" When I didn't move fast enough, he lunged forward and tried removing it for me. I did the only thing I knew to do and kneed him in the groin as hard as I could and raced for the door. But the moment I felt his hand wrapping around my hair and his fingernails digging into my scalp, I knew that it wasn't hard enough. "STUPID FUCKING BITCH!"

  He yanked me back as hard as he could and threw me back onto the bed. As I squirmed and tried getting back up, he shoved me back down and climbed on top of me while trying to remove his shirt. And even as I smacked, kicked, punched and bit at his arms, legs and face, it seemed to do nothing to deter him. This son of a bitch was determined to get what he wanted from me no matter the cost, no matter his life and it was clear as hell that he didn't give a damn about mine either. In fact, I think he gave even less of one.

  When I saw his hand coming down for my face in an attempt to either smack or punch me with the hope of just finally knocking me out so that he could do whatever the hell he wanted without the consequences, I threw my hands together and knocked him in the stomach and balls as hard as I could. Finally, he rolled over on the other side of the bed and unwittingly dropped his gun to the floor right beside it. I shoved my hair out of my face and immediately hopped up and over him. And as I reached for the gun, he slapped a hand around my ankle and tried jerking me back onto the bed. It slipped between my fingers, and I turned to kick him in the face with my other foot. When he fell back, I grabbed for the gun again and crawled across the room. Once I stood up and he saw it in my hands, he started laughing like some kind of hyena and tried sitting up on the bed. Everything about this moment was all too familiar and in a way that made me feel sicker than I had become during my last trimester.

  "You ever shoot one of those things, darlin'?" he asked me, that hint of laughter still in his voice. "'Cause I don't really take you for the gun slinging type of bitch."

  "There's a first time for everything." I wrapped both hands around the gun and slid both index fingers across the trigger, all too eager to pull it back. Despite my heart nearly beating out of my chest and sweat falling into my eyes during the struggle, despite being so out of breath that my chest felt as if it was collapsing inside of me, I was determined as hell to keep this man as far away from me as humanly possible.

  "I could take that goddamn thing from away from you in a single fucking move--"

  "I sure as hell would like to see you try."

  I never expected him to call my bluff. Then again, I never expected him to really leave the house quietly either. I sure as hell never expected to be the person to put a bullet into his brain more than any of the above. But it's exactly what I did. And as he slumped to the floor next to River's bed, as the blood pooled out of his head and onto the floor, as the gun slipped from my hand and I slid down the wall and sat down beside it, I exhaled in relief and gulped at the dread of what I knew would be coming as a result of what I had just done.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  After coming up empty-handed at the prison, due in part to nearly everyone inside from the guards, prisoners and even the officers being so unwilling to give up any kind of information whatsoever regarding Ricky, as well as finding no clues inside Mia's old apartment or around any of Ricky's former stomping grounds, River and Blue angrily headed back to his truck with even less information than they seemed to have before arriving back down there.

  "DAMN IT!" hollered River as he jumped back inside and slammed the door shut. As his veins seemed to pop out from either side of his head in frustration, he leaned over the window, balled his hand into a fist and pressed it against his mouth. He momentarily closed his eyes and grinded his teeth. "No matter what the fuck we do, this motherfucker is gonna keep outsmartin' us left and right from whatever shit he learned in bein' locked up. Now he's not only got the cops on the inside workin' for him, he's got the motherfuckers on the outside workin' for him again too. Asshole must have a dick the size of Texas the way he's been wavin' it around this fuckin' city and these assholes must love suckin' it 'til it's dry. Even behind bars, he had motherfuckers out here runnin' scared."

  "Like your girl?" asked Blue.

  River looked over at him and snarled. "Bein' the mother of his goddamn kid is a fuck of a lot different than bein' an asshole on the same level or even higher who could blow him the fuck away if that's what they wanted. Obviously keepin' him around benefits 'em in ways that finally gettin' rid of him would benefit us."

  "I think gettin' rid of him would benefit them too, they're just too fuckin' scared of the retaliation or consequences that come along with finally doin' it." Blue pulled his last joint from inside his pocket, licked every side but the tip and set it between his lips. "What the fuck are we tellin' Prez about this shit?"

  "We tell him that this shit was a goddamn waste of fuckin' time just like I knew it'd be. He knew that we wouldn't find shit in comin' back out here and he knew that not a single asshole would be willin' to talk. Shit, even if we did find shit or some asshole was willin' to talk for the right amount of change, it wouldn't be enough to find that motherfucker like we fuckin' need to 'cause he'll just keep jumpin' from place to place like some kinda goddamn leap frog.... Fuck." He reached inside his center console and pulled out his phone to check for any missed calls and unanswered messages or texts, and with plans to call Mia to tell her that he was on his way back to the city. But when he scrolled through his list, he found at least ten missed calls from her and two from Slim. "Shit."

  "What?"

  "Mia's been callin' for the last hour or so," he said.

  "She leave any messages?" asked Blue.

  He shook his head. "None that I can find. Looks like every call dropped before she could even get through to my goddamn voicemail. And since she was usin' the house phone, she couldn't send me a text from it."

  "Why the fuck was she usin' the house phone instead of the cell you got her? Wasn't that the whole goddamn point?"

  River shrugged and pushed a few buttons to tap into the monitor on Mia's necklace. But when the screen quickly faded to black, he realized that not only was Mia not wearing the necklace, but it didn't even seem to be turned on. Motherfucker didn't want to panic because doing so wouldn't have he
lped anybody and he knew it, least of all himself, but he also knew there was something about this shit that didn't feel right inside his gut.

  "Do me a favor and get that asshole Slim on the phone while I try callin' Mia back."

  "Yeah, VP."

  After a quick speed dial, River put the phone up to his ear, while Blue reached inside his pocket for his cell and quickly dialed Slim.

  "Mia," he called out one once he finally got her on the phone. When he heard the panicked tone and trembling sound of her voice, he damn near internally lost his shit. "Wait..." he said. “Hold on, slow the fuck down...." He pinched his brows as he listened to what she was telling him and shot straight up in his chair the minute the words 'Eightball' and 'dead' came out of her mouth. "Hold the fuck on, you did what?" As she continued, her voice bouncing between rapid and moving at a snail’s pace in getting out the details, River fell back and began massaging his temples with his other hand. "Jesus. Christ. Where is this motherfucker now? .... Alright, alright, shit. Listen, look... Mia, listen, I don't want you to do a goddamn thing about him right now, doll, alright? You can't move him. Blue and I are headed back right the fuck now. So don't call anybody else, don't text a single motherfucker. The only thing I need you to do right now is get that goddamn necklace I gave you and put it the fuck on, alright?" Once she agreed, he nodded his head and exhaled. "Keep that shit on 'til I get there and turn the volume up too. I'm gonna have my phone tapped into it the entire fuckin' time.... Alright, alright, good. We'll be back there in a few hours."

  Less than a minute after hanging up with her, River quickly tapped back into the necklace and once it was turned on, was able to get a clear view of what had just taken place inside his house less than an hour before.

  "Fuckin'. Shit." When he got a good look at Eightball's body sprawled out on the floor near his bed, he quickly placed the phone upright inside a cup holder, shot up the engine and sped off from the building they had been sitting in front of, and down the street.

  Once Blue was finished with Slim, he hung up and placed the phone back inside his pocket.

  "What the fuck did that motherfucker say?" snapped an irate River, who was dodging lights and stop signs left and right. His driving had quickly gone from careless to just downright dangerously fucking erratic in only a matter of a few seconds time.

  Blue held onto the handle on the car door and shoved his body back into the seat as hard as he could. "Son of a bitch mentioned Arabella finally poppin' out that kid of his tonight."

  "Mother FUCK! Is that what the fuck he was callin' about earlier?"

  "Yeah--"

  "Shit!" River slammed his hand into the wheel a few times and growled. "Fuckin' piece of shit asshole--"

  "Riv--"

  "Son of a bitch sent Eightball there in his place to watch after Mia while he trotted off to the goddamn hospital. And that prick tried attackin' her again, so now he's fuckin' dead and bleedin' out all over my goddamn carpet inside my bedroom. Dumb, fuckin', stupid piece of shit, son of a bitch; goddamn assholes." He slammed his hand into the wheel again. "Shit like this is part of the reason the club's been failin'. We got too many goddamn morons tryin' to take over where the more qualified motherfuckers who fled left off. SHIT!"

  Blue picked up River's cell phone and saw a portion of Eightball's lifeless body laying out on the floor from the angle in which Mia was now sitting on River's bed. He could also see the tip of a gun, which she seemed to be holding inside her hand.

  "Jesus," said Blue. "She okay?"

  "No, motherfucker, she's not okay. She just killed a son of a bitch and is sittin' there watchin' him bleed out from his goddamn head all over my carpet."

  "I know that shit, asshole," he shot back. "I meant physically speakin' is she alright? Did he--"

  "No. She said shit didn't get that far 'cause she was able to fight him off. Said he lunged at her which is why she shot him." River shook his head. "All because this asshole had to go and knock up a club bitch, Tiny's goddamn prospect is dead inside my house. Shit's been a long time comin', but I never thought this motherfucker would go out like this."

  "Jesus, asshole." Blue sank down in his seat. "If Tiny didn't already hate you for bein' VP and takin' a spot he still thinks belongs to him, he'd want you put to ground for this shit. Hell, I think he might even try to bury Mia on top of you once he finds out what the fuck happened tonight."

  "That motherfucker ain’t findin' out shit about this, you hear me? Not a single motherfucker in the club is gonna know a goddamn thing about what the fuck happened inside that house tonight."

  "How the fuck are we gonna keep somethin' like this a secret from the rest of these fuckers, Riv? Slim knows that asshole was there tonight. If he doesn't start seein' him around the club again, son of a bitch is gonna start askin' questions."

  River turned his eyes straight ahead and wrapped his hands even tighter around the wheel. "No he won't," he said. "I'm gonna make sure of that shit."

  "How?"

  River looked over at his best friend and glared. "Just you worry about what the fuck we're gonna do with this asshole's body once we get back to the city."

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The rank smells of blood, death and fear hit River's nose the minute he stepped inside his house and closed the door. "Jesus."

  As Blue moved in behind and then past him to check around the living room and the kitchen to make sure no one else had randomly shown up and outside of Mia's vision, River headed straight off down the hall, only stopping just before he reached his bedroom. He swallowed hard and locked his jaw tight, preparing himself for what he knew he was bound to find on the other side, then slowly pushed the door back and saw Mia still sitting on the bed with her hand wrapped tightly around the gun, her finger slid directly over the trigger and her eyes focused directly on Eightball's lifeless body on the other side of the bed.

  "Mother of God," Blue muttered, sharp words that forced Mia to turn to the both of them as they stood staring at her in the doorway.

  Her mouth dropped open as River stepped further inside the room, and though she had the urge to get up and wrap her arms around him while also telling him how scared the fuck out of her mind she was in not only killing a man but actually being forced to sit alone inside a room and with his dead body, it was as if her entire body had been filled with lead or concrete. She couldn't seem to move despite wanting to and he couldn't bring himself to force her out of place.

  River moved closer to her and turned his eyes down toward the gun, while Blue shuffled over across the room and stared down at Eightball.

  He twisted his head left to right, then bent down to check his pulse both in his neck and his wrist. "This motherfucker's dead as a goddamn doornail," he said.

  River kept his eyes on Mia and bent forward to gently remove the gun from inside her hand. After flipping on the safety and sliding it between his back and the rim of his pants, he moved directly in front of her and lowered his head. "Doll." Her eyes shifted over to him and she gulped.

  "I didn't..." Turning her eyes back to Eightball, she shook her head and sniffed to hold back her tears. "I didn't mean for it to happen like this," she said. "I just wanted to scare him when he came at me, but--"

  "This shit ain't your fault," said River. "Not a goddamn thing that happened here tonight is your fault, babe, alright? This sick fucker was bound to be put down like a goddamn dog at some point. You doin' it just...." He shrugged, unsure of what the hell else to say to her.

  Blue nodded at him. "What the fuck are we gonna do with this asshole?"

  He rattled his head. "We've got no goddamn choice but to call up that motherfucker Tank at the crematory. Tell him we've got some trash that needs to be burned before the goddamn night is over."

  Blue knit his brows. "You sure about this shit, VP?"

  River glanced over at him and muttered. "I'm sure I want this motherfucker outta my goddamn house tonight. I'm sure of that shit, motherfucker."

  Blue took a st
ep back and didn't say another word; he knew from the hard look in River's eye and the even harder tone in his voice that questioning him about this shit wasn't the smartest goddamn thing in the world to do. While he reached for his phone and dialed up Tank as asked, River reached out for Mia and helped to lift her from the bed. He brushed the hair back from her face and got a good look into her eyes as she stared up at him. Motherfucker saw the pain and terror and every single bit of her goddamn fear, and all he wanted was to strip that shit from her and make her feel safe again.

  "Come on." He quietly dragged her from the bedroom the minute Blue began talking to Tank and walked her into the kitchen. "You're gonna need some shit to help get you through the goddamn night after what the fuck just took place back there." He went over to one cabinet for a glass, then pulled a bottle of cognac from another and began to pour. After handing her the glass, she hesitantly reached for it and took a seat at the table. River turned and crossed his arms as he leaned back against the counter. His eyes fell to the floor the second she took her first sip, and he glowered. "I'm sorry this shit happened, to you tonight, doll. Sorry it had to fuckin' happen at all--"

  "It's not your fault," she blurted. "You couldn't control the kind of weathering storm he had brewing up inside of him."

  "Yeah, but I shoulda fuckin' known that shit," he told her. "Shoulda fuckin' seen it comin' knowin' what the fuck he's always been like, what the fuck he tried doin' to you right inside my own goddamn kitchen that day. I knew then he shoulda been out and I shoulda been the one to take care of that shit." He grinded his teeth and sharply exhaled. "Asshole motherfucker was one of Tiny's goddamn recruits from a few months back, and it was clear as a goddamn bell to me and every motherfucker in the club from the moment he showed up that he wasn't a good goddamn fit for the Shadow Riders. But that son of a bitch's friendship with Wolf always seems to override any goddamn thing that has ever bad for us." He swiped his hand back and forth across his mouth and stood up straight. "If I'm bein' fuckin' honest, Wolf ain't the only reason shit's been tumblin' for as fuckin' long as it has now."