BEAR: A Hellbound Lovers MC Novella, page 6
“One.”
His voice echoed in the empty alley and I looked left to right, trying to figure out what to do here.
“Two.”
I clenched my jaw and did the only thing that came to mind. I took a shot at his knee, his wail alerting anyone in the area that something was going down. I watched as he writhed on the floor, the radio strewn far away. I emptied the gun of any bullets and threw it in the dumpster behind me.
Picking up the radio I grinned as I spoke into it. “Man down at Linny’s Diner.”
I crouched down before him and threw the radio onto his belly. Grabbing his hair, I yanked him forward. He yelled out, putting his hands up.
“I know what you did, and I will find a way to bring you down. And if I find you did something to Meg, I’m going to rip you limb by limb, slowly, so that you feel every fucking minute of it.”
Letting him go, I slid onto my bike. I revved up the engine and pulled up next to him. I looked down at him. I wasn’t afraid of him, and he knew better than to blame me for the murder of those kids. Because if he did, if he made that call, he’d sign off his life in that moment. I revved the engine and sped off, leaving a cloud of smoke in my wake.
I heard the sirens in the distance as I made my way out of Bucks County. There was no going back now, and only one question remained.
Where the fuck was my woman?
Seven
Bear
Ten Years Later…
Those fucking gang members are getting on my last nerve. They come anywhere near us and I’m poppin’ caps in all their asses.”
“Calm down now, Big Pimpin’, you can’t possibly pop caps in all their asses.” I patted Hail on the shoulder and rolled my eyes at Nick who chuckled.
Hail was one of the youngest Prospects turned Enforcers. After helping us with the last job up in Washington he became official. Nick had decided to bring in more men and we were gradually selecting new members. He was right, it was time to bring fresh Prospects in to learn the ropes and keep the MC moving forward. After being shot at we realized we weren’t as agile as we used to be. At least Nick and I weren’t. At forty-seven, I was the oldest among the brothers. It had been easy to lose track of time these past ten years. Fuck, I focused on work twenty-four-seven. I didn’t want to think anymore, I spent too much time doing that. And feeling. I’d gotten pretty good at hiding my feelings from everyone. Everyone but Nick, but he was smart enough not to ask questions.
After I left Buck’s County that night, I’d met up with Nick and Ryder. They stayed with the Royal Bastards for a year or so, and I managed to get them jobs at the MC. They were merely prospects but at least they had food and a roof over their heads. I was forced to lay low, hiding from the FBI as they came around asking questions as to who I was and where I was. The Royal Bastards may have been some of the biggest asshole I’ve ever met, but they took care of their own. How they did it, I don’t know. It took a while, but they got the Feds off my tail.
Either way, I didn’t even give a fuck what happened to me, my sole purpose was finding out where my Meg went. Nick and Ryder were the sole witnesses to what happened to me during that time period. My desperation in finding her, my fearing for her life. I’d searched for Meg everywhere I could. I even sent men out to Bucks County to ask about her, but they’d come back letting me know that Sherry hadn’t heard from her, and she had never returned. The thought that something bad had happened to her, weighed me down, and fuck, I wanted to keep searching until Nick sat me down.
“If she wanted to be found don’t you think you would have found her already?”
“You don’t know that!”
“I know you’re wasting away your life away searching for a woman who left your ass high and dry!”
That comment alone had landed Nick in the hospital with a broken rib. He never said a word to me after that, but deep down I knew he was right. If Meg had wanted to be with me, she would have found a way to do it. Instead, she left me, feeling like an idiot because she took my damn heart with her.
After a couple years of dealing with gun fights and hardcore drug runs, we all agreed we needed to get our shit together. We enjoyed the MC life, but the Royal Bastards were a different breed, and we wanted to do our own thing. So following Nick’s advice, we got out. The Hellbound Lovers MC were formed soon after. We voted for Nick as the Prez and I was his second in command after Ryder decided he was a better rule maker than a leader. I focused on getting the club up and running. On getting us a name and slowly we started to gain a reputation. We settled in New York City but that was short lived thanks to Ryder and the dealings that were coming in through with the Commission. A bunch of Italian Mafia leaders who decided to fuck with the club. I still wouldn’t forgive him for his stupidity, and we now owed a major debt to the Fallen Kings, but fuck if he didn’t get us the fuck out of there. The fucker was always getting us into trouble, but we couldn’t get rid of him. We didn’t even think about it. He was family. Our brother. Even if he did fuck around with our enemy’s daughters and get his ass nearly shot dead by one of the Devil’s Syndicate.
But that was the least of our worries. We had Los Perdidos roaming the streets with our names on their shitlist and talking smack about us. They were looking for a fight and we were far from giving a shit, unless Hail had something else to say about it. The kid was a hothead and I had the misfortune of having to keep an eye out on him. Another foolish move like the one he pulled last night, and I was going to strip him of his title and put him out on his stupid ass.
“You need to calm the fuck down, kid. I’m not in the mood to spend my money busting you out of jail cells. You do it again and I’m leaving you there and stripping you of your title.”
“But…”
“Shut the hell up and listen up, all of you!” I addressed the whole lot of them. “Los Perdidos are looking to get a rise out of all of us. All we need is to get pissed enough to pull out a weapon and they’ll have all the ammunition they need to ruin us. Watch your backs, don’t travel alone, and for fucks sake,” I bent down and hovered over Hail’s head. Speaking to him directly. “Stay off their damn property!”
“They took one of our bikes…”
I held up a hand, slowly tightening it into a fist as I stared down at him. “Don’t tempt me kid. I don’t give a shit what they stole, I don’t want you near them. I’m putting Ryder as a watch on you.”
Ryder lifted his hands in anger. “Now I have fucking babysitter duty.”
I pointed at him and he instantly lowered his head. “Shut the fuck up. You’ve already gotten us into enough trouble.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” the other one murmured under his breath. I stared back at Nick and bit down on my retort. “Take care of this before I beat the shit out of both of them.”
“That’s enough,” Nick stood up and I sat my ass down cause I was done with these fools. “We’ve got a gang of crazy ass bandidos out there looking to find one tiny weakness to infiltrate and shoot us down. Watch your damn backs, don’t travel alone, and I swear to God, Ryder, if you contradict me, I’m going to rain down on your ass today.
“I didn’t say shit.”
“Bear is running the show. I don’t want to hear it. Get your asses out there, get some fucking intel, and stop wasting my goddamn time! And Hail…” He turned towards the kid and the room went silent. “You wind up in jail again and I’ll make you wish you’d never made that fucking mistake. You’re a fucking Hellbound Lover, act like it!”
Nick stared out at the rest of the brothers and members and slammed his hand down on the table. “Now get the fuck out of my sight!”
He turned to me and sighed as the members scurried past us and shot out the door. “It’s like babysitting a bunch of five-year olds.”
“Worse. They’re like fucking teenagers. Don’t know what the fuck they’re doing but think they know it all.”
“What are we gonna do about this fucking gang?”
“They’re a threat for sure. I heard they’ve been fucking around with shipments of cocaine lately. One of the brothers let me know they had cargo coming in from the East Coast. Fuckers have balls to transport that shit cross country, but I also heard they’ve got connections. The law enforcement kind of connections.”
Nick nodded as he took a swig of his beer. “Where there’s cocaine, there’s cartels, and then there’s the fucking mafia. I’m not in the mood for this shit, Bear. I thought we were done with all this crap.”
“It was expected after our run in up on that mountain. They’re looking for vengeance, but here’s what I don’t get. What are they waiting for? They could have easily barged in here, shot the place up with every member in it, and then left, but they haven’t?”
Nick frowned. “They’re not smart enough to lead this all on their own. They’re got someone running the show. Someone who’s smart enough to remain in the shadows and wait his turn to pull the trigger, which makes them dangerous.”
“Exactly. Those fuckers aren’t your typical gang. They’re lookin’ to do something, something bad. They’re lookin’ to destroy us.”
“Not before we destroy them,” Nick looked fierce as he clenched his fist and stared at me.
“Watch your back, brother. I’ll put this place on lockdown if I need to. No brother of mine is going to get shot by a fucking Mexican gang member. That’s not how the Hellbound Lovers are going down. Keep your eyes and ears open. Anything you hear you let me know. And get Ryder to find some backup with the Devil’s Syndicate. We’re gonna need it.”
Eight
Meg
I stared at the big sign out front. Hellbound Roadside Bar. The place was completely off the beaten path, located a few miles east of Sacramento, California. It looked so isolated that I hoped it would be the last place Jebediah Crawford would come looking for me. In the last ten years I moved continuously every three to six months. At one point, he’d intercepted a call I’d made to Sherry. John told me he’d nearly beaten the life out of her when he found out. I lost contact with Sherry right after that, and John wanted nothing to do with me anymore.
Jebediah had isolated me to the point of stealing my life away. Letters telling me how much he missed me, random bouquets of flowers sent to wherever I could find a job waitressing or bartending. He even entered the rooms I rented. He’d leaving photographs of me sound asleep, completely unaware that he had been only a few feet away. I’d find those strewn on my bed days later, and scared for my life, I’d be forced to move once again. Ten years of this shit, and I had nowhere to go. No one to turn to.
Sherry had told me that Jebediah had put out a warrant for Derek’s arrest. That he’d been blamed for murdering some kids, but I knew that wasn’t true. I knew my man was harmless. The Royal Bastards had no idea of his whereabouts and they didn’t want to help me. They were downright cruel telling me he might be in a ditch somewhere. One of them took pity on me, and he told me that the last thing they knew was that he was somewhere in New York. He said he was hiding from the Feds and it would be nearly impossible to find him. I continued to ask around for several years, careful not to raise any alarms, but the answer was always the same. No one knew who he was or who he ran with. I never did come across his name again.
I’d given up a few years back when I landed at the doorstep of the Fallen Kings. I was waitressing at a nearby bar when I heard one of the patrons talk about a guy named Shamrock and how he’d helped him. Curious, I asked one of the bartenders about him and sure enough he knew who he was. Said he wasn’t someone I should go messing with, but if I was looking for help, then Patrick Carroll was the man to go to.
I was terrified entering King’s Summit, but it couldn’t have been worst then half the shit I endured with Jebediah. King’s Summit was huge, and it stood at the center of Hell’s Kitchen. The bar hosted half the damn biker’s in the city and Patrick was well known and respected among many. I had to make an appointment to see him. I was searched and frisked before they lead me to a back booth where he was waiting for me. Strangely, he was kind and he was the first person in my life who actually listened.
I knew I had to pay a price for his help, but I had nothing on me. So, of course, after telling him my story, I expected nothing. He’d sat there, staring at me for a long time as if he knew more than he let on. He then asked if I knew how to bartend.
Patrick Carroll gave me a place to stay, a roof over my head, and he made me bar manager at King’s Summit. I was finally able to breathe again, but it was all short lived. Peretti, one of the club’s Enforcers had heard that there was a Sheriff who was going around Hell’s Kitchen looking for a Meghan Evergreen. Peretti had been curious to see the photograph he carried, and as soon as he saw my face he knew. Patrick was informed immediately and debating where to send me, he let me know he had some good people on the West Coast who owed him a small favor. He worked on getting me relocated, gave me three-month salary’s pay, and sent me to the Hellbound Lovers MC. If this worked, Winters, California was hopefully going to be my last stop.
I took a deep breath and entered the old beaten up bar. It was small and smelled of stale beer and old cigarettes. I scrunched up my nose and realized the place was pretty empty for eight o’clock at night. A bunch of rickety tables were strewn along the walls, an empty stage stood in the far distance. A door lead out to what looked like a deck that faced out into one of the Canyons. There was potential, but God knows the type of men who ran this place.
“Can I help you?”
A man came out, his black denim shirt rolled up along strong forearms, salt and pepper hair and chiseled features made him quite attractive. His light brown eyes assessed me from head to toe as he made his way toward me.
I cleared my throat and shoved the paper at his chest. “I’m looking for Nick Barton. I came about the job.”
He arched a brow and gave me a sly smile as he took me in. I stood up straight, bringing my five-four-foot frame to its maximum height. He laughed then and handed me back the paper.
“This way.”
I blinked a few times and then realized he was leading me back to an office. “A-are you Nick?”
“Depends on who’s asking.”
“Oh,” I whispered as I followed him back. There were a few bikers at a back table playing cards, but they barely noticed me as I passed them by.
“What’s your experience?”
“I-I’ve waitressed and bartended down the East Coast, managed a few bars along the way. I’ve got some references if you need them?”
He waved at me as we entered a dingy old office. Pointing at a seat, he signaled for me to take it while he rounded an old wooden desk and plopped himself down in an old leather chair. I looked around the small space and took in the old titty posters that were aligned along the wall, a dated computer sat on the desk, and piles of paper were strewn all over. This place didn’t just need a makeover, it needed a deep cleaning. What the fuck was I getting myself into?
“Let me see what you got?”
I handed him my references and resume`. Sliding on a pair of black reading glasses, he perched them on his nose and leaned back to read the paperwork. Flipping through my references he hummed and mhm’d, and then finally paused and leaned forward.
“You worked at King’s Summit?”
“Yes. I managed it for a few months.”
“That’s a heavy biker bar.”
I nodded. “Yup. Right in the middle of Hell’s Kitchen.”
“I know it. My question is how in the world did a pretty little thing like you wind up managing it.”
“The Fallen Kings gave me refuge there until I found a better place. It was a tough place to work at but well worth it. I learned a lot with them. I’ll be honest, I owe them my life. They’re the reason I’m here.”
“The reason you’re here?”
“They said you could take care of me.”
The man narrowed his eyes on me and carefully set the paperwork on the desk. Folding his hands over it, he leaned in towards me. “So, just like that, I’m supposed to believe you come heavily recommended by the Fallen Kings?”
“You can call them if you’d like? I’m sure Patrick will give you good references.”
He held up a hand, detaining me from saying anymore. “Why are you here?”
“To help you with your bar.”
He shook his head at me. “Why are you really here?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m here to seek refuge with the Hellbound Lovers.”
He leaned back in his chair and propping his elbows up, he placed his hands on his chin and stared back at me. “Why does a pretty thing like you, need hiding?”
“It’s a long story…”
“If you want my help, then you better start talking.”
“I’m just looking for a place where I could finally settle down. A place where I can feel safe. Patrick told me I could trust you and your men. That you were good men and that you wouldn’t ask questions.”
He nodded. “That we are. Our dear old Shamrock didn’t also mention we were indebted to him, did he?”
I gave a small smile. “He told me I should start with that, but I figured I’d go a different route.”
He gave out a deep chuckle and shook his head. “I suppose I can’t say no to providing you with that refuge, now can I?”
I leaned forward and whispered. “I doubt you want to do that.”
He leaned back and stared at me. “Do you have a place to live?”
“Yes. Just a few miles away in Sacramento. It’s a small apartment but it was all I could muster with the savings I had. I kept what Patrick gave me for food and such.”
He sighed and shook his head. “That won’t do. Move all your stuff out, I’ll let you stay here for the time being. There’s an empty room in the upstairs corner you can take.”
