“Yes,” she replies, just as softly, with no hesitation at all.
I have no problem envisaging her as a female equivalent to Blade. A smile plays at my lips. Like him, she’d take no prisoners, or if she did, she’d have no hesitation in making them hurt, and they’d think as a woman she’d be squeamish. That she’s not makes me so fucking proud of her.
“Moving on. Now we come to Stormy.” Drummer’s eyes narrow as he glares down the table at the man he’s just named. “You made two hits that weren’t yours. Two men died clean deaths which they didn’t deserve. You robbed Demon and Lost of the chance to question Major and Alder, respectively. In Lost’s case, there are answers he and his old lady needed, not in the least to know for certain that business is ended.”
“It is,” Stormy speaks, sounding unrepentant. “We checked, there are no trails, no contacts waiting to take on unfinished shit. Both chapters are closed.”
Demon and Lost both sit forward, their faces carrying identical expressions of rage. It’s Lost, the normally mild-mannered prez who speaks first. “Your excuse, as I understand it, is that you didn’t fuckin’ trust us to interrogate our captives. You fuckin’ thought both Demon and I would see the lure of lucrative deals instead. What the hell do you fuckin’ take us for?”
Stormy just can’t help himself. His hand crashes down onto the table. “I don’t know you,” he yells. “Yeah, it was unlikely, but Major and Alder were experts at twisting things to suit themselves. If enough money was on the table, you might have been tempted. I had the shots, so I took them. Problem solved.”
“You took the shots because it was a fuckin’ challenge.” Drummer’s correction thunders down the table. “I don’t buy your suspicions for a fuckin’ moment. You were showing off. What the fuck is your problem, Stormy?”
“I ain’t got a problem.”
“From where I’m sitting, you have,” Drummer snarls.
“I’ll get the answers out of him, Prez.” Blade looks gleeful as he offers his assistance. Knowing my brother, it’s Stormy I feel sorry for, especially when Blade adds, pointing at the woman beside me, “And she can help. Could be useful for her to pick up some pointers.”
Drummer looks like he’s seriously considering it for a second, then shakes his head. “No, he deserves to have his patch taken and sent out in bad standing.”
I watch as the blood drains from Stormy’s face. “You… you’re sending me out bad?”
I don’t know the man’s issues, other than he has them, but now it’s been put into words, it’s plain stripping him of his patch is the worst thing that could happen to him. His mouth opens and shuts, but he doesn’t say another word. His Adam’s apple bulges as he swallows hard.
Snatcher raises his hand. “I’ll rein him in, Drummer. He’s already been called back from being nomad. I’ll keep him close so he can’t cause more trouble.”
“You think you can control him?”
“Yeah, Drum.” But Snatcher’s expression suggests he’s not so sure.
“Send him out bad,” Demon growls. “He’s no Satan’s Devil. What’s our motto? We fuckin’ ride together. Ride. Together. Yet he’s a loose cannon and does what he wants and doesn’t trust the other chapters. We can’t afford to have someone like him as a member.”
“I agree,” Lost says, looking disgusted.
Red grimaces and says, “I’m afraid I do too.”
“This club is all I’ve got.” Stormy tries to put his case forward. Seeing how he’s acted since I’ve been here, I’m surprised he wants to stay part of it.
Swift fidgets beside me, then tentatively raises her hand. When Drummer nods at her, she speaks.
“Stormy’s got issues, fuck knows what they are, but though he doesn’t always show it, he lives for the club. He needs us, but I think he’s forgotten how much. You say he shouldn’t be a member, well, I agree with that.” Stormy’s full on glaring at her by this point. “Why not bounce him back down to prospect? Give him six months. Let him reprove his loyalty to the brotherhood. Let him remember what it’s like to be one for all and not all for one. If he can’t do it and fails to regain our trust, then he’s out.”
“Out bad,” Lost grumbles.
“Swift’s made a good suggestion. I for one, could live with that.” Red looks at her admiringly.
A slow grin spreads across Drummer’s face. “Knew there was a reason we allowed women members,” he starts, pausing for the laughter that follows. “Demon and Lost were the ones wronged. If they’re happy with that suggestion, then I’ll go along with it.”
Stormy’s mouth drops open. I can’t see why he’s upset. Sure, six months being at everyone’s beck and call isn’t anything anyone would volunteer for, but it’s better than being sent out bad, or losing your life.
“I could go for that on the condition he gets a beatdown,” Demon suggests after giving it some thought.
Drummer eyes the men standing, and slowly a smirk appears on his face. “I’ve got a feeling we can leave that to the Utah members. And if anyone’s thinking of holding their punches, Stormy came close to losing you your charter.”
From the sounds around me, Stormy is in for a world of hurt. To my mind, he deserves the lesson he’s going to receive.
“Right. Prospect.” Drummer jerks his chin toward, and then pointedly to the door. “Leave us. Prospects are not allowed in church.” Drummer’s smirk broadens as he reminds him. Stormy, taken by surprise, opens his mouth as if he’s going to say something, then he snaps it back shut. While multiple pairs of narrowed eyes stare at him, slowly he places his palms on the tabletop and pushes himself to his feet. He throws a glare toward Swift, then goes to the door and opens it. It slams loudly behind him.
Drummer brushes his hand down his beard. “You sure you can control him, Snatcher?” But it seems he’s not expecting an answer, as he moves on. “Now we come to Road.”
Momentarily, Swift’s hand lands on my thigh and squeezes it.
“Road lied by omission.” Drummer’s eyes hold mine. “I sent Road to Utah as I sensed something was wrong in this chapter. As soon as Road arrived, he should have told me everything.”
“Er, I had his phone. I was the one texting you, Drummer.”
“I know that, Pip. I’m not fuckin’ stupid. But you gave him his phone back, and he still kept quiet.” He lets that sink in for a moment. “What have you got to say for yourself, Road?”
I lean forward, placing my clasped hands on the table. “My initial reaction was to clue you in, Drummer. But Pip asked me to give Utah a chance, to see what happens here. Once I knew Stormy had been responsible for those hits, I knew there’d be a fuckin’ shitstorm. Then I went out on a hostage rescue and knew I couldn’t be responsible for that type of good work having to stop. I was caught between a rock and a hard place. I didn’t know what your reaction would be, or what would happen if you split the chapter up.”
“In other words, you didn’t trust me. You didn’t come to me and talk it out.”
I huff. “To be honest, I got a little tied up.”
“Quite literally,” Bolt puts in, which starts a few chuckling, adding under his breath, “Hog-tied,” making Honor and Duty snort.
Even Drummer can’t stop his mouth quirking, but he recovers fast. “As an aside,” he purses his lips, “is that business done and dusted or are there any loose ends?”
The question is directed at me, so I tell him what I know. “There could have been a woman involved.” Drummer looks up then back down. “But the guys here are trying to find out whether there is, and if so, who she is.”
“No progress yet,” Duty confirms, while Honor nods. “But we’ll keep digging. Anyone involved in kidnapping Swift will wish they’d never been born.”
Blade raises his chin toward the pair, for once in total agreement with the Utah members.
After staring at them for a moment, Drummer turns back to me. “I’m not happy with you, Road. Not happy that you didn’t contact me the first
chance you could. But in your place, I might not have done different. You took the decision to wait and see what was what, and what would be the implications of dropping Utah in it with me. Just one question, Road. Would you have ever told me the truth?”
I try to be as honest as I can. “I think I would, but I was trying to get my head around what was going on. I wasn’t happy that Pip wasn’t qualified to be a member, let alone, prez, but I did, do, respect him, and understand what he was about. I worried you might disband the chapter, and though there’s a bunch of assholes here, some of them are alright.”
There are snorts from the men standing and Piston calls out, “Takes one to know one, Brother.”
I give a quick grin, and show him my middle finger, then my face tightens again. “Yeah, I’m not good with secrets. I’d have come clean, but I wanted to work out the best way of telling you.”
Drummer’s head moves slowly side to side. “Knew I had a fuckin’ problem when you said there was a woman involved.”
“Didn’t expect you to fall for a ball-breaker.” Wraith softens his comment with a wink at Swift.
Swift’s not bothered, she just tosses me a grin full of evil promise.
“You coming back to Tucson, Brother?”
Those five words along with the title of brother fill me with warmth. I hadn’t expected to hear them. To be certain I heard right, I ask for clarification. “You’d have me back?”
“I voted to take your patch,” Blade states cheerily.
Peg threatens loudly to gut him with his own knife.
It’s good to see the camaraderie of my brothers again, the men I’ve ridden and fought alongside. I’ve missed them. But then I turn my head, taking in Bolt, followed by the mystery that is Honor and Duty. I eye Preacher, remembering how I hoped never to have to fly again, but admit that trip to Santa Barbara had been both thrilling and rewarding, and I know I’d regret it if I never had the chance to go on such a mission again. Piston’s a joker, Rascal seems a good sort. Cowboy, well, his food is to die for and that’s certainly a plus. Thor and Snatcher, I can both respect. Even Grinch, Goofy and Mystic have already become friends. As for Swift, I don’t want to leave her, and know she’d find Tucson too frustrating for a woman of her skills. If I stay, I’d be road captain. A position I never thought I’d have, and one which suits me down to the ground. And here there are fewer reminders of the sport in which I can no longer take part. Also here, is that Kawasaki ZX14R.
“What are you thinking?” Swift leans into me, asking quietly.
“About staying because of the Kawasaki,” I tell her with a wink.
Her punch to my arm has me reeling but grinning all the same. The real reason I’d stay is her.
I raise my chin at my Tucson brothers. “I think Utah is far enough out of Blade’s range, so if the offer’s still open, I’d like to request a transfer.”
“Be fuckin’ glad to have you, Brother.” Now I throw chin at Snatcher.
Blade won’t let my comment drop, “Oh, oh, he’s too scared of the big bad enforcer to come home. Little baby going to stay here with his mommy.” He’s smirking.
I feel Swift bristle, and grin. If those two get into it, my money would be on her.
“Nah,” I fix my eyes on Blade, “I just prefer my enforcers with balls, even if they don’t have a dick.”
Blade snorts and points his knife at me. “Later, Brother,” he promises.
Ignoring the to-and-fros of the lighthearted insults, Drummer’s eyeing me carefully, then his eyes go to the woman at my side, and again he shakes his head. “Fuckin’ women. Always at the heart of everything. Wraith, what d’you reckon, transfer request agreed or denied?”
Wraith, the bastard, keeps me hanging, giving me a careful look of his own. “You sure about this, Brother?”
I glance at Swift, wink, then tell them seriously, purposefully widening my eyes, “They’ve given me a ZX14R.”
Peg looks completely disgusted, but the other three bellow laughs.
“Transfer request agreed,” Drummer states. “Tucson clearly is no longer up to Road’s speed. Snatcher, we’ll do the paperwork later.” He wipes a hand over his face, then picks up the gavel. “On that note, church is fuckin’ over.”
“You alright?” Swift asks as I continue to sit while everyone else starts to walk out.
“What? Yeah.” Truthfully, I’m dealing with a surprisingly sharp pang of regret. Tucson had been my home for a third of my life, and I’ve made friends there. Utah is a very different club. Apart from Swift, there are no women to bring out the brothers’ softer sides and certainly no children. Of course saying goodbye to my past is going to be hard.
I notice Drummer walking toward me. “If you want my opinion, I think you’ve made a good choice, Road. You need a new challenge in your life, and Utah will provide you with that. As will your woman, I suspect.” He raises his chin at Swift. “And as for your man,” he comments to her, “go easy on him.”
She grins at my now ex-prez. “You’re leaving him in safe hands.”
“As for hands,” he nods down at her right, “fuckin’ shame losing a finger. I was sorry to hear about that.”
She grimaces and raises her chin. There’s not really anything more to be added about that.
“How’s the leg, Brother? I see you’re not using the stick.”
Seeing Peg frown, I try and put his mind at rest. “I’m taking it carefully, Peg. Probably done a bit too much with it the last few days, but I’ve strapped it up.”
“I’ll get him working in the gym,” Swift promises.
“Want me to share the exercises he should be doing?”
“Hey, he’s here,” I remind them both. “One thing, Peg, she’ll be prettier than you to look at when I’m doing leg presses.”
Peg stares at Swift, then barks a loud laugh. “Can’t argue with that. Why don’t you both come on down to Tucson soon? You’ll be wanting to pick your stuff up. I reckon Darcy and Sam would like to meet Swift.”
“I’ll fly you down if you want?” Preacher, who’s just walking out, overhears and shouts.
Drummer shakes his head and rolls his eyes. Then his gaze sharpens. “That a Satan’s Devils’ plane, Brother?”
Preacher, put on the spot, can’t do anything but nod. Drummer just gives a knowing smile. “Well, that’s fuckin’ good to know.”
“Are you hanging around?” I’d appreciate a catch up without being in fear of losing my patch or my life.
But I’m to be disappointed. “Nah. We’ll see the others head off to the airport and then get on our bikes and head home. Christ knows what Eli and Zane are getting up to. Sam will appreciate having me there to take some of the load.”
“Olivia and Zoey will be running rings around Sophie as well.” Wraith’s loving parental smile reminds me how much his daughters have him wrapped around their little fingers.
“Noah will be good, but Lisa’s teething, so Darcy will be glad to see me back.” Peg’s voice brims with pride.
“Mason and Sabrina will be behaving themselves if they know what’s good for them.”
“Blade, we all know your kids get away with murder,” Peg scoffs.
“Yeah, so? I’ve taught them well.”
The enforcer’s retort makes me snort.
A new voice joins in. Another I know well. “Might not have kids, but I’ve a woman and a dog who’ll be missing me. Road, I’m off too, but before I go, I got some info for you.” Beef glances at Swift, then winks at me. “Reckon it’s exactly what you need.”
Taking the piece of paper from the Colorado VP, I thank him and pocket it.
The next few minutes are back slaps, hellos to Swift and goodbyes to me. Dart and Lost come over for a couple of minutes as well.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of him.” Snatcher, having left at the end of the meeting with Pip, has now returned. His words remind me that I’m not losing brothers, but gaining new ones.
Then, finally, the visiting
prezes and assorted officers leave, and the clubhouse seems strangely quiet and empty.
39
Swift…
Despite our misgivings this time yesterday, we’d all survived. Well, all of us except Stormy. When we exited the meeting, it had been to find Stormy had taken off on his bike, leaving his cut behind. I can’t say I was surprised. He’ll have some decisions to make about turning his life back around. If he really wants to continue as a member, he’ll need to return and take his punishment like a man.
It won’t be the beatdown he’ll be afraid of, Stormy’s made of stronger stuff than that. It will be whether he can hack it as a prospect for six months. He’ll know he’ll have to prove himself all over again, and that includes jumping to every reasonable or unreasonable request made of him, while being respectful to the members at all times. In order to do that he’ll need a personality transplant. It makes me wonder how he got through his time as a prospect when he first patched in.
I think we’ll see him again, but none of us are entirely certain. If he doesn’t return, well, he’ll be out bad for certain.
Yesterday’s meeting had been mentally exhausting. The outcomes, I believe, were positive and well decided by the mother chapter prez. I may previously have only known him by name, now having met him, I’ve a lot of respect for him. We’re certainly all breathing easier now everything’s out in the open, not least myself.
Pip doesn’t seem unhappy with his loss of status, but then Snatcher always did run the day-to-day shit of the club.
After our visitors had left the clubhouse, Cowboy had thrown burgers and brats on a barbeque as no one really wanted to sit down and eat. We were all processing how the changes would affect us. I, for one, was happy we no longer had to hide what we did at the club, and I knew we’d have a much better relationship with the other chapters, and maybe get involved with them more. I’m looking forward to going to Tucson when we eventually go down to collect Road’s stuff, riding alongside him as an equal, not having to pretend I’m an old lady. I’m not at all certain whether I could have pulled that off.
Road Tripped: Satan's Devils MC Utah #1 Page 38
