Chaos Conquers All (5 page)

"That ain't gonna go down well," Trace replied.

"I agree with you on that one Brother,” Tex responded with a small nod of his head, “King wants everyone at the clubhouse."

Nikki could not believe the man's audacity. The Niners hitting the clubhouse that time was bad enough but now they were going after the Soldiers in their homes. Nikki pulled on her shoulder holster and tucked her pistol into it. If Cole wanted death, destruction and hellfire brought down on his head he was going the right way about it.

"Let's go," she commanded as she pulled on her cut and went out the door.

The clubhouse was packed with members, their old ladies and immediate family; anyone who lived in town that could be a target. The place was clean and stocked with food. They looked like they were ready for a massive party. Despite everyone being either tired or wired, the atmosphere was one of general happiness. These people trusted that the club had things under control. They trusted that as long as they were here, there was no threat they couldn't survive. It was like one giant family reunion or, in their case, a typical Sunday family get together.

Tex had watched Nikki moving around the room in her tight ass jeans, her low cut singlet and her cut. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and he couldn’t stop thinking about her face as she came. Fuck, he hated Bridges, Black and all the Niners. He should be at home buried deep inside his woman right now, making her come. Instead, he was at the clubhouse about to enter a room full of sweaty, stressed out and sleep deprived dudes. Life was a fucking cruel bitch.

“King wants us in the boardroom,” Trace stated, breaking him out of his ‘I should be getting laid right now’ pity party.

He nodded in reply and turned his attention back to Ace. She walked over to his mother and said something to her. Rose didn’t respond. She seemed to be staring off into space. Nikki touched Rose’s arm gently and this seemed to bring Rose out of her trance. She sat on the stool next to Rose and held her hand. Nikki’s face was filled with genuine concern as she listened to Rose. Rose looked down at her feet and said something that made Nikki frown.

Tex started towards them, concern driving him forward. He stopped just shy of them as Nikki leaned forward and embraced his mother.

“It’ll be ok, Mum. No one else is gonna get hurt. I promise,” Nikki told her as she squeezed her tight.

Tex smiled at Nikki calling Rose Mum. They were like mother and daughter in a lot of ways. Rose had never agreed with Nikki’s decision to patch in, but not once had she wavered from providing her with love and support. He knew that his mother considered her a daughter as much as Nikki considered Rose her mother. He had hoped one day he could make that label official. Now that hope had dwindled down to the barest flicker.

“Ace,” he interrupted them, “King wants us in the boardroom.”

“Hey Darlin’” his mother greeted him with a warm smile.

“Mum,” he leant forward and embraced her, “You alright?”

“I’m fine sweetheart,” she replied, “Tired but fine.”

As he stepped back from her, he began to notice how much she had aged recently. Strands of grey were beginning to appear in her hair, her skin had lost some of its colour and the brightness had disappeared from her eyes. The knowledge that she was suffering troubled him deeply. 

“Why don’t you go lie down?” he suggested.

“Oh yeah. Where do you suggest I do that? Your room?” she asked with raised eyebrows and a tired smile, “No offence son, but if I wanted to share my sheets with skanks, I would’ve been a porn star.”

Nikki scoffed in amusement at that comment.

“I meant in Dad’s room. I’m pretty sure the bed in there has been collecting dust for quite some time,” he quipped.

Trace called out to them from across the room.

“Duty calls,” he said as he took Nikki’s hand.

His mother smiled softly as her gaze fixed on his fingers wound together with Nikki’s.

“You kids be careful. I don’t know how many more dead bodies I can put up with,” Rose replied as she squeezed his arm.

Tex led Nikki across the room dropping her hand as they neared the door. The boardroom was not the place for public displays of affection.

He took his seat next to his father and the door closed, shutting out the rest of the world.

"These bastards are getting brazen. First they attack our shipments, then our clubhouse and now our homes. We already have one Brother and two prospects dead. I do not want any more of our family dying because of this son of a bitch," his father growled across the table. "We end this shit sooner rather than later. Is there any way to find out if this guy truly is Bridges without tipping him off?"

Tex noticed Nikki shift in her chair uncomfortably. He frowned at her but she wasn't looking at him. Maybe she was thinking what he was thinking. They had one opening to leverage the information out of someone who might know.

"There's only one way to know for sure who Bridges is and that's Black," Tex stated, as all eyes came to him, "We use him to confirm one way or another that this guy is Bridges."

"You think if we carve the man up a little, the way his brother loved to do, he's going to cave?" Nikki asked with a little too much glee, even for Tex's liking.

As much as he would've preferred that course of action, Tex had something far more effective in mind.

"We don't have to cut him up. Black has a little honey tucked up in a high end apartment block in the city. He visits her like clockwork and he goes unprotected. His next visit is due tonight. I say we use her to loosen his tongue."

"Do it. But you do it quick and quiet," King told him, "And you are gonna have to do it today 'cause I'm gonna need you on tomorrow's shipment."

"Consider it done," he told his father firmly.

Hopefully Black would cave without any harm having to come to the girl but this was the life they lived and sometimes people needed to get hurt to keep them alive.

"We need to be on alert tomorrow night. That shit at the meeting may have been all about the Chairman, but that in turn makes us targets. We are also gonna have to go in light because someone is gonna have to stay here with them," he nodded toward the closed door, indicating their extended family in the main room beyond.

Shit was not going to get any easier so the sooner they got rid of the threat from Bridges the better.

"No non-member leaves this compound without an escort and no one goes anywhere on their own, not until this shit is over. Got it?" King commanded.

Tex didn't miss the pointed look his father gave Nikki. King didn't have to worry, there was no way he was letting that girl out of his sight.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nikki had been ducking the boys for the last hour and a half. She needed to keep herself busy to hide the panic she was experiencing on the inside. The plan for getting the information from Black worried her immensely. She had no problem with cutting up Black, even if it got them nowhere. This woman was something else entirely. From the way that Trace had described it to her the girl didn’t have a clue about her boyfriend’s line of work. That might’ve made the woman a little stupid but stupidity was not a crime that warranted the punishment of torture.

What was the alternative? She copped to the relationship she had with Cole? She admitted to the knowledge that he was Bridges? She knew how the club would take that news. She also knew the position that the boys would end up in if that information became public. They’d be forced to choose and she knew what their choice would be. There was no way she was taking them away from the club. What if Black told them about her relationship with Cole? Or worse, what if he told them about the prospects? She had no way of confirming wether he knew about that or not.

“I think everyone’s good now, Ace. You should go get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow’s gonna be a lot like tonight,” King said dismissing her.

She looked around, trying to spot Tex and Trace. They were no longer in the main room.

“That’s an order not a suggestion Soldier,” King barked at her.

She looked over at him and though his tone was harsh his eyes were gentle.

She smiled at him and gave him a salute, “Sure thing Prez.”

She guessed she couldn’t avoid the inevitable any longer. She’d have to have that conversation with them.

She moved down the hallway noticing her bedroom door ajar. She entered the room to find Trace and Tex fast asleep. Trace was sprawled out on her bed and Tex on her old couch. She shut the door behind her and the clunk echoed through her room. Neither of them so much as stirred at the noise. As she moved closer and took in both men’s tired faces she knew she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell them about Cole. There had to be another way to do this. She just had to figure out what it was.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket interrupting her thoughts. It was Slick. What the hell would he want at this hour? She quickly slipped back into the hallway and answered the call.

“Now’s not a good time Slick,” she informed him.

“He wants to speak with you, Nikki,” Slick said quietly.

She frowned, “Who wants to speak with me?”

“Cole,” he stated simply.

His name sent her back to the old mill road and anger slid through her like an icy fog. She would not come when he beckoned like a good little whore. She would not tolerate his name. She would not speak to him unless it was to utter the last words he was to hear before she killed him.

“We can’t always get what we want,” she informed Slick then hung up on him.

Nikki looked down at her phone screen noting the missed calls from before and during the shooting. As she opened them up, she saw only one was from King. The rest were unknown numbers and she knew exactly who that was. Why was he ringing her? Was he going to warn her? Or was he ringing to say his last goodbye before they shot the shit out of her? Her phone rang again. Slick. She answered the phone ready to blast him but she didn’t get a chance.

“They have the twins and Patience,” he blurted out before she could speak.

Nikki’s heart stopped cold. Fuck. They took his brothers and sister. She couldn’t allow anything to happen to them regardless of what the consequences were for her.

“I’ll do it,” she said, “When and where?”

It seemed like no matter what she did, no matter what choice she made, someone was going to get hurt.

“I’ll meet you out the front in twenty minutes,” he replied.

Shit. That wasn’t long. Maybe just long enough for her to say her goodbyes.

“I’m sure you don’t need me to say this but you need to come alone Nikki,” Slick informed her.

“Yeah I know,” she responded and hung up the phone.

Alone. She wondered if everyone wasn’t better off if she just left and lived out the rest of her days alone.

She re-entered the bedroom quietly. She looked at the boys and thought about what she would say to them. If she woke them there was no way they would let her go. Maybe she could get in and out of this meet with Cole before they woke. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t come back at all. If she let them sleep on and they woke without an explanation as to her disappearance it might derail everything.

She moved quickly writing them a note. She told them she needed to sort out something and not to come looking for her. She should be back before they woke and if she wasn’t back that they should go ahead with the plan and she’d catch up with them. What she didn’t write was that she loved them both and that she was sorry, for everything. She left the note on the dresser and went to each man removing his boots and pulling a blanket over them. She touched both men on the cheek and placed a soft kiss on each of their lips. Lastly, she slid her guns into place under her cut and slipped her knife into her boot. She would do as Cole asked and meet with him. Whatever he wanted to meet with her about she couldn’t very well pass up the opportunity to end this once and for all.

Twenty minutes after her phone call she scaled the wall of the compound and found Slick waiting on the other side. He ushered her towards Cole’s Range Rover hiding in the nearby alleyway. As she approached she braced herself for what she was about to do. When Slick opened the door though the car was empty.

“Where is he?” she asked as she stared at the empty interior.

“He’s waiting at the apartment,” came Roger’s reply from the driver’s seat.

He hadn’t come. He’d obviously been smart enough to guess at her first instinct. She slid into the vehicle with Slick right behind her.

“Sorry Miss Jones but I need to ask Mister Drake to check you for weapons,” Roger explained as he watched her in the rear view mirror.

Slick proceeded to pat her down. He pulled out her pistol and thrown it into the front seat for Roger. Slick finished his check and relaxed back into his seat and Nikki made the mistake of thinking she’d still have her knife to rely on. Unfortunately Roger was far too perceptive for his own good.

“Check her boots too,” he commanded.

Sure enough, out came her knife and onto the front seat it went.

The ride to the Mint was filled with awkward silence and furtive glances from Slick. Roger watched her like a hawk through the mirror the whole trip. She was surprised they got there in one piece the way his eyes were glued to her. She was sure he’d been waiting for her to leap from the vehicle at any moment. She had no intention of going anywhere. She just ignored them both, keeping her eyes locked on the back of the seat in front of her. Even now as she stood in the elevator with both men, she refused to acknowledge them.