by Wilder, L.
“Of course, I came. No way in hell I wouldn’t.”
I’d never been happier to see him and hugged him even tighter. “Thank God you did because I’m not so sure we would’ve gotten through this thing without you guys.”
“Well, it’s done now. It’s over.”
“What about the fire?”
“It’s out. You don’t have to worry.”
“I still can’t believe any of this happened.” I took a step back and glanced down at Drake’s lifeless body. I had to fight back the tears as I said, “I thought we were prepared for anything, but it all happened so fast. One minute there was a fire, and then there was all the shooting. I had no idea what the hell was going on.”
“None of us did.”
Grayson walked over to Jackal, and like Widow had done just moments before, he knelt down beside him and placed his hand on his chest. He whispered a few words, then sighed with a shake of his head. After several moments, he stood and made his way back over to me. I looped my arm through his and whispered, “I’m so sorry about Jackal.”
“I am, too. He’s gonna be missed.” Grayson brought his hand up to my cheek. “Are you really okay?”
“I am now.” My voice trembled. “But earlier, I was a mess. I don’t think I’ve ever been so terrified in my whole life. There was a point when I honestly didn’t think we’d get out of here alive.”
Without responding, Grayson reached over and took me in his arms once more. After several moments, he kissed me on the temple, then stepped back as he looked down at Drake. “You got any idea who this Drake guy is?”
“His name is Drake Coburn. We had a few classes together, and he asked me out a couple of times, but I always refused. Other than that, I really didn’t know much about him.” I shrugged. “I had no idea until tonight that he was a dealer, and I certainly didn’t think he was interested in joining forces with me.”
“So, this was all about you two joining forces?”
“Yeah, those were his words, not mine.” I shook my head. “He’d never mentioned anything about that until he showed up here tonight. I’d always thought the creepy stares and small talk were because he liked me.”
“Oh, he was definitely into her,” Braylon added. “You could tell just by the way the asshole was looking at her. Besides, he would’ve just wiped us out and taken things over for himself if he was only interested in the goods. If he’d played it right, he would’ve gotten the weed and the girl.”
“So, this guy really is a whack job?”
“Definitely.” Braylon dropped his head in shame as he continued, “But he wouldn’t have gotten as far as he did if I hadn’t fucked up. I’m so sorry about all this.”
“This isn’t your fault, Bray,” I argued. “There’s no way you could’ve known this was going to happen.”
“You’re wrong, Kiersten. This was all on me.” Anguish marked his face. “It was my job to watch over things tonight and keep this place safe. I dropped the ball, and we lost—”
“No,” Widow interrupted. “This shit is on all of us.”
“But I was the one in charge of the cameras tonight, and I let myself get distracted with… Mia? Where’s Mia?”
“She’s okay,” I assured him. “I told her to get Regan and leave.”
“Thank God. I don’t know what I would’ve done if...”
His voice trailed off when the rumble of motorcycles pulled his attention to the parking lot. Hawk immediately went over and looked out the window, then announced, “Viper’s here with Shotgun and Doc. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Hawk stepped outside, Widow turned back to Braylon and said, “Now that he’s here, we need to get with Doc. He can check your wounds and fix you up.”
“What? No. This isn’t something for Doc. Bray’s been shot and lost a lot of blood,” I fussed. “He needs to get to the hospital!”
“Yeah, he does, but what’s he gonna say when they ask him what happened? When they ask who shot him?” Widow gave me a scolding look as he helped Bray to his feet. “’Cause they’re gonna want to know those things. And they’ll want to bring the cops in, and there’ll be an investigation—”
“Okay, okay. I get it.” I looked back over to Braylon as I asked Widow, “But will Doc truly be able to help him?”
“This isn’t Doc’s first rodeo, Kiersten.” Widow took hold of his upper arm, being careful not to get too close to his wounded shoulder and led Bray over to the door. Before they walked out, Widow assured me, “Doc will have Lynch and your boy fixed up in no time.”
Country leaned over to me as he added, “He’s right, babe. Braylon is in good hands with Doc. He’s the best.”
“I certainly hope you’re right.”
The words had barely left my mouth when the doors opened and Viper walked inside with Hawk and Shotgun. It was clear by his expression that the Ruthless Sinners’ president wasn’t pleased as he strode towards us. Without saying a word to anyone, he continued over to Jackal and knelt down beside him. He placed his hand on his back, then whispered something under his breath. After several tender moments with his fallen brother, Viper stood and shook his head as he let out a stream of curses. After inhaling a deep breath, he finally made his way over to Country and me. “Someone gonna tell me what the fuck happened here?”
“We’re still trying to figure that out, Prez.”
Grayson removed his hand from my waist, and he and Viper walked over to Hawk and Shotgun. I couldn’t make out what any of them were saying, but they all kept glancing over in Drake’s direction. Even though he’d come there for me and my business, they didn’t discuss their club’s business with anyone—including their loved ones. I stood there with Duggar, watching silently as Viper’s face grew redder and redder with anger. After several long, heated moments, I heard Viper ask, “When will they get here?”
I wasn’t sure, but if I had to guess, he was asking about the guys from Satan’s Fury MC. With all the security cameras and sensors being tracked by Riggs, I had no doubt that they knew about the attack. I leaned over to Duggar and whispered, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m good. Just hate all this shit went down like it did.” He ran his hand through his long, shaggy blond hair and sighed. “Timms was a good guy. Didn’t deserve to go out like this.”
“No, he didn’t.” I looked around at all the destruction and mayhem Drake had brought to our doorstep, and it was difficult to hold back my emotions. I’d worked so hard to get this place up and running, and things were going so well. It was amazing how quickly it could all change. I was on the brink of crying once again as I told Duggar, “If I’d only known what Drake was up to, then maybe I could’ve done something to stop it.”
“You couldn’t have known he’d pull something like this, Kiersten, and even if you did, there wasn’t anything you could’ve done to prevent it. The guy was off his fucking rocker.”
Our conversation ended abruptly as soon as Viper and the others started walking over to us. Viper seemed to have cooled off when he came up to me and said, “We’ve got a real mess on our hands with this.”
“I know, and I’m really sorry about that.”
“You and me both.” Viper tugged at his beard as he looked over the demolished office and then the dead bodies on the floor. “We’re going to have to make some real changes around here, but before we get into all that, we’re gonna have to get this mess cleaned up.”
“Okay.” Even though I dreaded hearing the answer, I asked, “What do we need to do?”
“This is more than we can handle on our own, Kiersten. We’re gonna have to call in Billy.”
“What?”
“He’s the only one I trust to do this and do it right.”
My father had always been a meticulous man—from the way he dressed to the way he kept the house. I had no doubt that he was even more so with his work, which was the main reason why Viper and the Sinners used him. It only made sense that he’d want to bring him in now, b
ut the thought of my father coming to the Manor sent me into a tailspin. I was hoping to find a way to tell him about my work on my own, not to find out like this, so I told Viper, “But I didn’t want him involved with my work.”
“If you feel that strongly about it, then he doesn’t have to know you’re a part of all this.” To my surprise, Viper seemed to understand how upset I was over my father coming here and was willing to do whatever he could to make it easier for me. “You can leave while he’s here. We can handle things, and—”
As tempting as it was to hide and carry on with my charade of being the perfect daughter, I couldn’t do it anymore. It was time my father knew who I was along with my capabilities. I gathered all the strength I could muster and said, “I truly appreciate the offer, but I can’t let you do that.”
“You sure?”
“I am.” I cleared my throat. “Do you mind if I borrow your phone?”
Viper nodded, then took out his burner from his back pocket. He looked down at the screen, then pressed a few numbers before he offered it to me. “He uses a different line for cleaning calls. It’s ready when you are.”
My hands were trembling as I took the phone from him and pressed the button. Grayson and the rest of the brothers were watching as I stood there waiting for him to answer. Seconds later, my father’s voice came on the line, and he said, “Hey there, Viper. It’s pretty late. I’m guessing that means you’ve got a job for me.”
The words were right there on the tip of my tongue, but I felt like my throat was closing up, and I couldn’t speak. I suddenly regretted telling Viper that I would be the one to call my father. I was trying to think of what I should say when I heard my father ask, “Viper, are you there?”
“It’s me, Dad.”
“Kiersten?”
“Yes.” Having everyone’s eyes on me was only making it harder to talk, so I stepped away from them and started walking down the hall as I said, “It’s me.”
“But this is Viper’s number. How did you get his phone?” Sounding utterly confused, he asked, “Is he there with you?”
“Yes, but that’s not important right now.” I glanced over my shoulder, and just as I expected, everyone was still watching my every move. I tried not to think about it as I continued, “Right now, I need you to listen to me. I’m in serious trouble here, and I need your help. I need you and your men to come here and do what you do.”
“What do you mean by ‘do what we do’?”
“I know, Dad. I know all about ‘your work.’ I’ve known about it for years, but right now, none of that matters. Right now, I need you. There’s been trouble here tonight, and I was hoping you could come and make it go away. Can you do that for me?” I heard my voice tremble, and I feared I might break out into tears again. I didn’t want that to happen. Not now. I swallowed hard, pushing back all the emotions that were raging inside of me as I asked him once more, “Can you come and help me?”
“Send me the address, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay, thank you, Dad.”
He didn’t respond. He simply hung up the phone and ended the call. In all the years I’d known my father, he’d never once fussed at me or told me I had disappointed him. I’d never really given him a reason to—until tonight. I feared once he’d seen the Manor and all the mayhem that had ensued, he might never look at me the same. Feeling completely lost, I carried the phone back over to Viper and said, “He’s on his way.”
Seventeen
Country
As soon as Billy and his crew arrived, he put on his hazmat suit and went straight to work. He didn’t speak to anyone—just Viper, and even then, it was all business. Cut and dry. He wouldn’t even look in Kiersten’s direction. I wasn’t exactly surprised by his reaction. The guy had to be pissed that his daughter had kept this part of her life a secret from him, but he’d done the same to her. They’d both made a mess of things, but in the end, they loved each other and that trumps a few secrets—or at least I hoped it did, for both of their sakes.
When Riggs showed up with Shadow and Blaze, Kiersten knew we had things to discuss with them, so she went to the kitchen to give Doc a hand with Braylon and Lynch while we met with Fury in the old church. We brought them all up to speed on what had gone down with Drake and all his bullshit and how we’d called Billy in to clean up the mess. After hearing us out, Riggs shook his head and said, “I gotta say, I’m surprised this Drake kid had the means to pull all this off. When I looked into him, he just seemed like your average college kid.”
“You looked into him?” Viper asked, sounding just as surprised as I was. “When?”
“He came out to the Manor a few weeks back and was snooping around. When Braylon caught him, Drake said he was there looking for Kiersten.” Riggs shrugged. “She thought him coming out to her place was just part of his fixation with her, and I found no reason to believe that wasn’t the case.”
“And you didn’t think to tell us about him coming here?”
“I know it looks bad, Viper, but I assure you that I thought the matter was resolved. Otherwise, I would’ve come to you with it, or the very least, dug a little deeper and found out more about him.”
“Well, you best get to diggin’. You and Menace both need to find everything you can on this guy because I don’t want any of this coming back and biting us in the ass.”
“You got it.”
Menace turned to Riggs as he said, “I’ll get my laptop from the truck.”
With that, Menace stood and walked out of the church’s conference room. Tensions were high as we sat there waiting for him to return. Viper was still reeling from hearing about Drake being at the Manor. I was, too. I found it hard to believe Kiersten had never mentioned him to me. She might’ve truly thought it wasn’t worth it, or she simply didn’t think she could trust me with the information. Either way, I intended to find out. Once Menace returned, he and Riggs set to work on finding out everything they could on Drake. They were still going at it when Viper said, “We’re going to need to make some changes around here. We can’t afford to let anything like this happen again.”
“What kind of changes do you have in mind?” Blaze asked.
“Well, there’s already been one big change.” Viper leaned back in his seat. “Kiersten’s girls won’t be selling on campus anymore. All distribution will be through us. That should help eliminate unnecessary exposure, but we need more eyes on this place or possibly a few more hands. We’ll have to replace Timms and possibly add another.”
Everyone’s attention was drawn over to the doorway when we noticed Braylon standing in the doorway with Doc. He looked like hell. His arm was bandaged and in a sling, and he had a significant limp from the graze on his thigh. He must’ve picked up on the fact that he shouldn’t have been anywhere near motorcycle clubs when they were in church because he said, “I don’t mean to interrupt whatever y’all got going in here.”
“You’re good.” Hawk nodded his head toward Bray’s shoulder. “You making it alright?”
“Yeah. I’m good.” Braylon glanced over at Doc as he said, “Thanks to him.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“I wanted to apologize for my fuck up tonight. I let myself get distracted, and it cost us.”
“Distracted how?”
“Mia had come into the office.” His eyes dropped to the ground, and guilt marked his face as he admitted, “We got to talking, and one thing led to another. Next thing I knew, the fire alarm went off.”
“Damn, Bray,” Widow fussed. “You’re better than that shit.”
“I know. When I said this shit was on me, I meant it. I fucked up, and if you want me to call it quits, I will. I have that coming.” He cocked his head to the side and sighed, then looked Viper in the eye. “But I want to be here. I owe it to Kiersten and myself to make amends for my mistake. So, if you’ll give me a chance and stick it out with me, I’ll turn this thing around and do right by all of you.”
“No
one’s showing you to the door, brother. You’re in this with us, and together we’ll find a way to make sure this sort of thing never happens again.”
Relief washed over Braylon as he said, “I truly appreciate that, and if you are needing a few extra hands, I have a few ex-military guys I could get in touch with. I’m sure they’d be more than willing to come give us a hand.”
“We might just do that, but for now, you go get some rest and tend to those wounds. We’ll get those names from you when you get back on your feet.”
“Okay, thanks. Sounds good.”
When he and Doc started to leave, I got up and rushed over to them. “Where’s Kiersten?”
“I checked her out and sent her back to her place,” Doc answered.
“Okay, I’ll go see about her when we get done here.”
“Good deal. Hopefully, she’ll be out like a light by then. Poor kid was pretty shaken up, so I gave her something to help her sleep.”
“Thanks, brother. I appreciate you looking after her.”
“No problem at all.”
Without saying anything more, Doc took hold of Braylon’s arm and helped him over to his place. I walked back to the table and was just sitting down when Menace turned to Viper and said, “There isn’t a lot about this guy. Looks like his folks died and left him some property just east of Murfreesboro. Not a big place, but if there’s any truth to all the bullshit he was feeding Kiersten, it could be where he’s growing his product.”
“What are you waiting for? Load up and go check the fucking place out.”
“And if we find anything?”
“Take care of it.”
Menace didn’t have to ask any further questions. He knew Viper’s expectations, and Viper trusted us to carry them out. I got up, and with Lynch and Widow close behind, we all followed Menace and the Fury boys out to the parking lot. Since our SUV was still parked out behind the property, we had to track down Duggar and get him to drive us over to it. Once we got to the truck, he headed back to the Manor, and we loaded up and followed Riggs and Blaze to Drake’s place. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to get there. Daylight was quickly approaching, so we didn’t have much time to fuck around. As soon as we were parked, we started up to the front steps. There wasn’t much to the place. Just a two-bedroom farmhouse that hadn’t been updated in at least twenty years. The yard was overgrown, and there were old tires and tools scattered around the dilapidated garage. The front door was wide open, so we had no trouble getting inside. It had an old, musty smell, and like the outside, the place hadn’t been taken care of. There was trash scattered about, and the furniture looked like it had been thoroughly abused. We searched the entire house and didn’t find a damn thing, which led me to ask Menace, “Are you sure this is the right place?”
