Blow Out (Steel Veins Book 1)

by Jackson Kane

  “Finish your call.” She kissed me on the cheek, whispering, “I’ll take care of it.”

  I nodded, knowing she had it under control, and resumed with Tee. I told him everything I had in mind at length. He thought I was out of my mind, but he promised he’d pull through for me. I’d known Tee since we were kids. We’d both joined the Veins around the same time and had been close ever since. If anyone had my back in the club, it was him.

  “First thing I need is a show of good faith to get me in with Bones. You got a lead on anything in the Santa Fe area?” I asked him. I hadn’t been gone all that long, but things moved fast in the club. And, honestly, these past six months, I hadn’t kept up with anything. I was so apathetic that I was just along for the ride mostly.

  “Actually, yeah. Veins funded a doxa lab in Channingstone, the ghost town just outside the city limits.”

  “You’re fucking kidding me! Veins are running doxa now?” Of all the drug trades, doxa was my least favorite. Doxa was the go-to since most of the methamphetamine ingredients became harder to get over the counter. It was a similar high to meth, but it was cheaper and far less volatile to cook. The MC shouldn’t have been running any of them, but doxa was by far the one I hated the most.

  “Not directly. Deadeye reinstated the Knights.”

  I could hear it in his voice that Tee wasn’t pleased about it. Couldn’t blame him. The Knights had a bad rep even within the club.

  “It was part of a deal to open up the heroin trade. We set up a guy in that area. Goes by the name of Edward. He gives us his contacts.”

  Officially, the Knights were one of our support clubs, but that was mostly club politics. “Uneasy alliance” would’ve been a better term for it. The Veins revoked their tenuous membership a while back because they were just fucking animals. It was telling for the state of our MC that they’d been reactivated.

  “Prisons?” I asked. Heroin was a real crowd pleaser in prison. What better way to escape when escape wasn’t an option anymore?

  “No, college campuses and—” His voice choked off. “—and high schools. Our chapter unanimously voted against it, but... fucking Deadeye, man.”

  The plastic of the phone cracked in my tightening grip. Schools now? I closed my eyes to keep my vision from turning red with rage. What the fuck had we become? It made me sick. We were supposed to be helping and protecting our community, not poisoning their fucking kids! I swallowed hard and calmed my breathing before I was able to continue. “The fuck is Deadeye thinking?” The words came out like a rockslide.

  “It’s not just him. Most of the mother chapter has been replaced with real low guys. Deadeye’s too stubborn to see it, but they’re bad news, man. Everyone else knows it too.”

  “Chig? Loose?” I asked. They were two of the decent guys in that chapter. “Are they still there?

  “Barely, but they don’t come around no more.” Tee sighed. “All the guys worth their salt in that chapter are gone, bro. Either nomad, transferred, or just quit. Nothing left now but Rio’s old crew.”

  I put the phone down and tried to push away the anger. The main chapter set the tone for the whole club. It was heartbreaking to see it fall so low. I didn’t realize it was this bad. It was only a matter of time until that eroded all the other chapters and destroyed the club as a whole.

  It was all falling apart.

  My contained rage finally bled over like a pot boiling. I wailed on the sheet metal wall that housed the phone. The loud rap drew a few dozen sets of eyes, but no one dared to come over. I could feel them watching and knew that if I turned, they’d snap their eyes down or away. Fucking spineless, paper people.

  I picked the phone back up.

  “I’ll handle the doxa lab. Just be ready for the next step. I’ll call you when it’s a go.” Every syllable was a struggle to get out. I no longer felt like talking at all. It was time action. “Let’s take back the Steel Veins.”

  “Hey, for the record,” Tee said right before we hung up, “I didn’t want any part of what Top was planning. I was only out that night to make sure Rio played by the rules and didn’t kill you. It was damn good to see that old fire back in you, man. Well, up until you fucking shot me. I thought it was because of what happened to Bren, but now, I get that it was because of that chick. I don’t know what you saw in her that made you do what you did, but thank her for me. Finally sounds like I’m talking to my old friend again.”

  “Yeah.” Had to hand it to Tee. He always knew how to deflate my anger.

  “Oh, hey! One last thing,” Tee interjected. “Your chick, she got a sister?”

  “Shut the fuck up, Tee.” I would have chuckled if I wasn’t still so damned pissed off.

  I hung up. It took me a minute to let go of the phone. It had been good to talk to a friend—a brother—again. Everything else raced through my mind. I hadn’t realized just how much mess there was to clean up in the club.

  One thing was for certain, a big part of my plan had to change.

  First thing’s first. Prove to Bones that I still wanted in by leaking the info about the doxa lab. I’d never be a Lobos member, but they might take me in as an advisor.

  Cut off their feet. Bren’s words rang in my ears like a mantra.

  When I went over my plan in my head, it sounded... fuck, it sounded awful. But talking to Star earlier when I was planning it all out, we both agreed this was going to be the only real way to pull everything off.

  I would have to kill the Veins to save them.

  “Everything okay?” Star was wearing the sunglasses of the annoying woman who had been yelling at me.

  I could only imagine how that interaction went. Just being around Star lifted my spirits. It was more than her magical pussy, as Tee put it. It was every damn part of her. “No, but I’m going to fix that.” I took the gaudy glasses off Star and tossed them over my shoulder before I kissed her soft, smiling lips. She tasted of bubblegum and smelled of sugar. I suppressed an urge to slam her against the wall and sample the rest of her.

  Just a little taste, I compromised, kissing a sweet patch on her neck. Looking past Star, I could see the shrill bitch cowering against the wall. It didn’t look like Star had hit her, which had me curious at what she must’ve said to scare her enough not to leave.

  Star saw where my eyes had wandered and smiled. “Don’t ask.” That fire in her shined brighter than ever before. “Just reminded her to have some manners. So what now? We go back to the Lobos clubhouse to meet with Bones?”

  “No, change of plans. We’re going to let him come to us this time.” The gravity of what was to come seeped back in and, with it, the realization as to just how fucked up both clubs were that I had to take such extreme measures. I didn’t want to be the gardener, ripping out the weeds and throwing dead limbs into the chipper.

  But I would if that was necessary.

  I looked back at the bitch from earlier. What were her problems compared to ours? Were there lives hanging in the balance in the call she had to make? I ripped the phone off the wall and dropped it at her feet on our way out of the store.

  She gasped and wilted.

  Guess we’d never know.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Remy

  I killed the headlights as we drove into the ghost town.

  The Channingstone Company was an old brick manufacturing plant that died in the early twentieth century. It was around long enough for a small town to spring up around it. Looked like the Knights had set up in the old post office, one of the few brick buildings left with a roof that hadn’t collapsed. A few bikes were parked out front.

  We pulled through to scout the area then doubled back to a nearby gas station. Star dialed Nachomama’s for me, and I told Santiago to let Bones know there was a present waiting for him in Channingstone. My rough estimate was that we had about an hour before the Lobos showed up.

  When we got back, I parked us about a mile away, so we could walk in silently. We’d set up in the saloon across th
e street and wait for the Lobos to show up, then we’d take the doxa lab down with them. That was if they didn’t shoot us on sight. It was risky, but that was the only real play we had.

  “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” I wasn’t too fond of the idea of storming the place with just the two of us, but I’d at least have to check it out to make sure there wouldn’t be any surprises in store.

  “You’re not going in there alone, are you? I thought we were waiting for the Lobos first.” Star’s eyes went wide with concern.

  “I’ll need to tell Bones what they’re up against when they get here, or they might think we set them up.”

  Star frowned, begrudgingly nodding as I started turning away.

  Then I stopped. Something was eating at me. “If something happens, I’ll need you to take down anyone who goes for his bike and tries to escape. Are you up for that?” I couldn’t leave without knowing for sure.

  “What do you mean, if something happens? What could happen? You’re just going to look, right?” Star worried.

  “Answer the question.” I let my tone diffuse. “Please.”

  “I think so.” Her words were drenched with doubt.

  “Not good enough. This is it, Star. You’re fully in it now. There’s no going back. Sometimes that means you’ll be the one to pull the trigger. I need to know that you have my back, no hesitation, no doubt. Can you do that?” I repeated the question.

  Star breathed out, letting the heaviness of the decision rest fully on her shoulders. She nodded, confirming her determination by the glint in her eyes. “Yes. I can.”

  I kissed her on the forehead and jogged across the street. I was asking a lot of her, but that was the only way I was walking out of there alive if I was spotted. It was hard to trust someone you cared about when that trust revolved around the person you needed most in this world putting him or herself in a dangerous situation. One misstep and that person was gone. That kind of trust was extremely difficult.

  I was a hypocrite through and through. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her ability or her constitution. I couldn’t bear putting her in that much danger. I didn’t trust myself enough to let her go. It was what I struggled with the most throughout all this. I didn’t want her here at all. I’d keep her locked away in a safety deposit box until everything with the Lobos and Veins was over if I could. I put Star behind cover across the street because, for now, it was safer.

  Had she been an MC brother, I would’ve had her come with me to watch my back without a second thought, because as hard as it would be to bury them, I knew I could do it. I didn’t have it in me to ever put Star in the ground.

  I just didn’t.

  I peered in through a window when I got alongside the building. Two Mexican girls were doing the cooking. I frowned at the collateral. When the Lobos got here, they'd kill everyone to send a message, including the women. No one cooks on their turf without them sanctioning it. Period.

  Through the next window, I saw two guys playing cards on a small table in another room. Their AK-47s leaned against the wall next to them. They were from a Veins support club. I didn’t know them personally, but if they volunteered for this gig, then they deserved whatever they got.

  I hated the doxa business; the fallout was always messy. People always got hurt. In the end, it wasn’t ever worth it; that’s why the Veins always stayed away from it. Until now, apparently. I shook my head at how far we’d fallen.

  There were four bikes out front, so where the hell were the other two guys?

  The sound of giggling hit me like a fucking freight train.

  Dread washed over me, and my heart sank. I didn’t need to look in the window to confirm my fears, but I did anyway. Kids. Four of them.

  Shit! That complicated things immensely. I slumped back against the wall and glanced over at Star, but it was too dark in the saloon to see her. This was a good thing because she’d be safer that way. I selfishly still wished I could see her face as I figured out how I was going to handle this.

  Was she my moral compass now? I hadn’t realized how much I had begun relying on her for emotional support. I wasn’t used to needing help, but knowing she was there warmed me regardless. I felt even more confident in walking the razor’s edge, knowing she was beside me.

  Maybe I could talk Bones into leaving at least the kids alive. Yeah, and maybe their fairy godmother would send a pumpkin carriage to pick them up. It was a nonstarter. I knew how that would shake out. They’d be witnesses to murder.

  And there was only one thing that happened to witnesses.

  I forced myself to think of the bigger picture. This wasn’t my problem. I was here to save my club, that was it. I wasn’t a saint, and I’d be lying to myself if I thought otherwise. No, I decided, slowly backtracking my way to Star.

  Stick to the plan. This isn’t on you. I’d wait till the Lobos arrived, and we’d deal with it as it came.

  I’d always had trouble with kids. They always struck the loudest chords in me. It always killed me when I’d hear about the twisted shit that happened to them. Whenever possible, I always stayed away from kids altogether.

  I didn’t mind kids. I even liked doing the Christmas charity runs and giving out presents to them. I just understood that the longer I spent around them, the higher their chance was of getting hurt. Doing what we did with the Veins wasn’t something you punched out of at the end of the work shift. No one turned off his phone. It just didn’t happen. Didn’t matter that you took off your colors to eat dinner, fuck your girl, walk your dog, whatever.

  When that call came in, you answered it. And sometimes the shit you had to do followed you home afterward.

  Of all the shit that burned away at my conscience and the dark horrors that kept me up at night, having the blood of some innocent kid on my hands, fortunately, wasn’t one of them. I did that by staying the hell away from them. That was why I was so torn to go inside that building. If I did—I couldn’t predict what would happen. There were so many variables.

  One of the two bikers from the card room stepped out of the post office to piss.

  Light scuffling and childish yelps and laughter ate away at me. No women, no kids, no innocents if it could be avoided. Goddammit, we had rules! My resolve to not get involved eroded. If nothing else, I needed to find out why these sick fucks had kids here.

  “Hands up, asshole,” I whispered to the pissing biker. In a flash, I had a hand over his mouth and my knife to his throat. His dick hanging out, he pissed all over himself as I led him around the corner to a spot that was a little more concealed. “You say anything that’s not an answer to my question, and I’ll bleed you. Answer slowly and quietly now. Why are there kids in there?” I took my hand away from his mouth, but pulled my knife tighter against his neck.

  “Don’t do this, you mother—”

  I covered his mouth to muffle his scream, then rammed my knife hilt-deep into his shoulder. The biker lurched from the pain, but I held him in place. “I thought I was pretty clear about the rules,” I hissed, extracting the blade and touching the sharp, wet edge to his throat again.

  “Insurance,” he choked. “Keeps the girls working and gives us a bargaining chip if the cops can’t be bribed.”

  Smart plan. Evil, but smart. Any empathy or loyalty I might’ve had for these guys just doing what their club asked of them just evaporated, replaced with cold certainty.

  I covered his mouth and stabbed him in the side of the neck then jerked the blade across, turning his throat into a blood Pez dispenser. He flailed, but I had him. There were several ways I could have done it, but I couldn’t find it in me to make it less bloody and painful. These men were rabid dogs that needed to be put down. I held him for a few minutes till the writhing stopped, then shoved the body forward to keep myself from getting shat on when the rest of his bowels released. I dragged the dead Knight a little further away so it wouldn’t be accidentally stumbled upon. Blood stained my hands and shirt. It was inevitable.

  It
was always so goddamned inevitable.

  A dot of light blinked on over the horizon, followed by several others. Headlights. Lobos would be here soon. I immediately knew what I had to do. How could I look Tee and the others in the eye and tell them I wanted a better club if I let a room full of kids get gunned down?

  Star would have to understand.

  I slowly opened the back door and entered what would’ve been a package-sorting area converted into a cooking station. Long tables were cluttered with partially filled, five-gallon water jugs and hoses going in every direction. The shelves were covered in metal alcohol, paint thinner, acetone containers, plastic bleach and drain cleaner bottles, and bags of rock salt, lye, and coffee filters, plus a shitload of incidentals, like batteries and matches. There was also a gas generator noisily whirring away to power the lights, burners, and blenders in the building.

  The two women who were cooking probably thought I was just another Knight and didn’t dare to look over at me. They wore gas masks, frantically measuring and adjusting things.

  As I passed them, they startled at the blood on my clothes. I put a finger to my lips then motioned for them to leave the way I came in. Fear gripped them, but they stopped what they were doing and headed for the adjacent room thick with the laughter of their children. I waited patiently for the women to grab their children. One of them stopped me and spoke quickly, but I couldn’t understand her. She looked like she was from a Central American country, but wasn’t speaking English or Spanish. Maybe Portuguese? Either way, despite her frantic warnings, I didn’t have time to linger. The Lobos would be here soon, and I needed to make sure there were no other kids kicking around anywhere.

  I took out my gun and advanced slowly.

  Old floorboards creaked with each step toward the room with the card players. The further away from the generator I walked, the more I heard country music from someone’s phone being played in one of the rooms up ahead.