The first guy I
killed was a murderer himself. Taking his life meant shit, but it still
bothered me afterwards. By the time I killed Playboy, I knew what kind of man I
was and never made excuses. The thing keeping me from becoming a complete
monster was my unwillingness to murder Harlow. Otherwise, I’d never shown any
hesitation.
As I hunted my
old club members in the woods of Kentucky, I wondered if I’d hesitate when facing
Caleb. He and I were friends once. We bowled every week. Got drunk off our
asses and stumbled around on the streets of Tucson together. Before Caleb, I’d
never had a really close friend my age. My buddies were the old timers at the
bowling alleys. My confidants were Mom and Granddad. Caleb was my friend, but I
planned to kill him anyway.
I remembered the
bruises on Harlow’s face and the way Winona trembled. I thought about Dylan in
the hospital with a gunshot wound and Bailey under attack in a place she
considered safe. Most of all, I had Raven to protect. Once these bastards were
dead, I was free to build a real life with my woman.
Yards away, Judd
moved in sync with me. These last few years of training, we’d learned to work
well together. Behind us were Cooper, Kirk, Tucker, and a half dozen other
Reapers.
After Harlow and
Winona escaped, Caleb and his guys were left with two choices.
Run or double
down.
We walked near
the only road from the cabin to the main road. Thirty minutes passed before we
heard movement coming in our direction. Judd and I squatted down to lie in
wait.
Two guys hurried
down the path with bags on their backs. A chunkier third guy farther down the
path was breathing hard while trying to keep up. None of them were Caleb.
The rifle felt
comfortable in my hands as I prepared to take my shot. Judd aimed at the guy on
his side of the road. The out of breath third one would give us info about
where his boss was hiding.
Once Judd and I
fired in unison, the two front guys collapsed instantly from head wounds.
They’d died quicker than they likely deserved.
The third guy
stopped his huffing and puffing. Standing very still, he studied the woods. I
wasn’t sure what he hoped for by standing so still. Did he think we hadn’t seen
him or heard all of his bitching about the walk? Whatever he hoped, reality
took hold. He bolted into the woods, not far from my hiding spot.
Taking off after
him, I expected gunfire. Clearly, he hadn’t the time or brains to grab his
weapon. Recognizing him, I thought his name was Freddy. When I yelled it out, he
turned and I tackled him.
Nailing him across
the jaw, I quickly had Freddy shoved against a tree with my gun at his head.
“It’s the
traitor,” Freddy hissed, catching his breath.
“Where’s Caleb?”
“Fuck you.”
I relaxed the
gun from his temple. “Look, I can make you talk. It’ll be long and painful and
you’ll likely piss yourself. You will talk though. Why suffer when we can make
it quick?”
“Fuck you.”
“When you came
here, I assume you knew you would die. Caleb made that clear, didn’t he? How coming
into Reapers territory to attack the locals would make you dead. Why act
shocked about death now?”
“Caleb never
said we were going to die because you Reapers are pussies.”
“You know
Lloyd’s dead, I assume. Now, the Mexicans will tear apart the Devils, so there’s
nothing for you to suffer protecting.”
After glancing
at Judd, Freddy noticed Kirk and his boys approaching. He clearly hadn’t
thought he would die by coming to Ellsberg. While I didn’t know Freddy well, I
felt safe in assuming he was an idiot. In his defense, Caleb could be
persuasive.
“Where’s Caleb?”
I asked.
“The coward fucking
ran off. He said he was finding us a new place to hold up at after those cunts
killed Peter. When we called him, he said he wasn’t coming back. He told us to
walk to the road and find a ride and get out of town. The bastard ditched us
and ran off.”
Knowing Caleb,
leaving his guys to die made sense. He had always viewed himself as superior to
the other club members. Like Cooper, Caleb had things handed to him. Unlike
Cooper, Caleb viewed the club as serving him without him having any responsibility
to the club.
“You know what
happens next,” I said to Freddy who stared at me with pleading eyes.
“This is
bullshit. You killed Playboy. You stole our money. You deserve to die. I didn’t
do anything wrong.”
“Man, you came
here looking to spill blood in Reapers’ territory. You grabbed those girls.”
“That wasn’t me.
It was Caleb and the others.”
Doing the math,
I knew four guys grabbed Harlow and Winona before shooting Dylan. When I
glanced at Kirk, I realized he knew what Freddy had been up to while the others
were at Cooper’s office.
“I’m not going
to kill you, bud. I’ll leave that to the dad of the girl you took a shot at.”
Freddy tried to
talk his way out of getting a bullet to the head, but Kirk wasn’t in a
forgiving mood. Not when his kids were involved.
As I stepped
away and the Johanssons handled Freddy, Judd joined me.
“You think he’s
telling the truth about Caleb?”
“Makes sense.
Why else would they be walking? They ditched two cars near the road. They had
three, leaving one to take them to the cabin.”
“Caleb took the
car, but would he leave Ellsberg?”
“I don’t know.
He wanted revenge, but once the girls escaped, he likely knew we’d catch up to
them.”
“He had time to
get away. Why not take his buddies?”
“Bait,” I said,
sighing. “Every minute, we’re dealing with them, we’re not chasing him. As the
club VP, he has access to the club’s hidden funds. He could go anywhere with
that money. If he takes the guys, he has to hide them too. They might even want
to go back and fight for the club. If he figures it’s a lost cause in Tucson, he’d save himself and never look back.”
“Fucking cold.”
“Yeah, but we
should head back to the compound just in case he gets it into his head to start
shit again. Make sure word remains out about him. He could be lurking around my
place, Kirk’s bar, anywhere he think he can hit us.”
“Not the
compound though?”
“I don’t know,”
I said, feeling uneasy. “It’d be suicide. I don’t know if he’s ready to die.
The fucker’s always had life handed to him. I have trouble thinking of him
giving it up when he has an out.”
Maybe feeling
uneasy too, Judd rubbed hard at his neck. “Let’s just head back and regroup. I
know Tawny and Jodi can hold their own, but I won’t feel right until the Devils
are dust.”
While Kirk sent
out word that Caleb could still be around town, Cooper called his guy out at
the compound. Even knowing Raven was safe, the ride back felt too long and the
heat irritated me. An hour earlier, I hoped we’d hit the cabin, kill the
bastards, and be done with it. My life with Raven could begin without the
contract on my head and worries about our safety.
The Johansson
place was quiet when we arrived. In the distance, dogs roughhoused by the
river. Hearing a TV playing inside the house, I smiled at how loud Jodi kept
it. Nothing seemed out of place as we parked our Harleys in the massive
driveway.
As Cooper and
Judd started for the house first, I wondered about Raven getting ready for my
caveman needs. Unsure if she was at the house or the apartment, I decided to go
for the house.
A scream broke
through the stale summer air. Without thinking, we were all running towards the
house except the Rottweilers were barking at the apartment. A few were running
down the stairs in that direction too, so I switched gears.
The scream lasted
only a few seconds. As I barreled up the stairs to the apartment, I felt like I
was trapped in a horror movie. Her screamed echoed in my head and the staircase
seemed to go on forever. I feared I would never reach the top. A million
horrible possible outcomes lingered in my thoughts, but nothing was as
horrifying as what I found.
When the door
burst open and I rushed inside, Caleb was covered in blood. No longer was he my
cousin or friend. Caleb was less than a stranger. He was the fucker who caused
my woman to bleed. There was no time to consider my feelings about him. The
moment I caught a glimpse of my battered love, my humanity snapped off and I
was no more than a killing tool.
Caleb reached
for the gun in his waistband, but never had a chance to point it at me before I
was on him. We fell to the ground where I easily ripped it from his grip. Realizing
the fucker was worn out from beating on Raven, I wanted him to bleed now.
Using the butt
of the gun, I slammed it into his face. The first strike caught him telling me to
fuck off. The second landed as he choked on his shattered teeth. Hitting him
again and again, I tossed the gun aside and used my fists.
His bones
shattered under the impacts, but it wasn’t enough. I knew on some level he was
dead long before I stopped hitting him. Logic meant nothing until he was a
stain on the floor.
I only stopped
pounding when I saw Judd moving towards Raven.
“No,” I growled.
“Don’t touch her.”
Crawling to
Raven, I begged for some sign of life. As if sensing my desperation, she reached
out for me and tried to sit up.
“Don’t move,
cookie,” I said, taking her bloody hand and running my fingers over her already
swelling face.
Seeing her
bloody lips move, I leaned down to hear her.
“I knew you’d
come,” she gurgled.
“I’m here,” I whispered,
wanting to apologize for failing her.
Her eyes already
swelling shut, Raven turned her head and spit out a tooth. Blood was
everywhere, making me fearful to touch her.
“We’ve called an
ambulance,” Judd said, leaning down next to me as I held Raven’s hand.
“Don’t,” she
mumbled, “tell Lark it’s bad. Protect her.”
“We won’t, baby.
It’ll be okay, sugar. I promise, darling.”
Raven laughed at
my excessive terms of endearment then whimpered in pain.
“We’ll have them
turn off the sirens,” Judd said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll clean
up the trash.”
Noticing Cooper
and Tucker at the door, I knew their faces said it all.
Raven was bad
off.
Judd patted my
shoulder again. “You got here in time. It’ll be fine.”
The way he said
the words helped me believe the lie. I needed lies more than anything. Raven
wasn’t a delicate girl, but I didn’t see my woman on the ground. I saw a bloody
and broken stranger.
I leaned forward
to whisper in her ear and Raven exhaled at the feel of my breath. She sighed
the same way in the morning when I’d wake her by whispering naughty ideas.
Raven always smiled after she sighed, but she couldn’t now. Her lips were
busted and I couldn’t imagine her smiling ever again.
“I love you,
peanut. Baby doll, don’t leave me, candy.”
“Nickname overload,”
she mumbled with great effort.
“I’m sorry,” I
whispered, fighting my panic and rage. Wanting to cry and scream, I really
wanted to kill Caleb a million times. Instead, I begged, “Don’t leave me.”
Raven tightened
her grip on my hand. While I sensed she wanted to speak, it was too much
effort.
“We’ll protect
Lark,” I promised, calming myself. “She won’t see you until you look like
yourself.”
This was the
biggest line of bullshit I ever told.
Raven arrived at
the hospital where they did x-rays and gave her pain medicine. I stayed with
her whenever I could and paced around like a caged animal whenever they made me
leave her.
Two cracked
ribs, a broken nose, and a break in both her right leg and left arm. With time
and care, Raven would recover. Once they cleaned her up, added a cast to her
leg and arm, and settled her into a room, I took my post at her side.
Despite my
promise to keep Lark from seeing Raven until she was healed, the pixy wasn’t
taking no for an answer. I knew she wanted to be brave, but seeing her sister
beaten so badly sent her into hysterics. A sobbing Lark only calmed when Aaron
hugged her and whispered something. Soon, she was merely teary-eyed as she
caressed Raven’s swollen face.
“You’re so
strong. So brave,” Lark said.
Raven mumbled
something then giggled.
“She’s really
digging her meds,” I explained and Lark gave me a weak smile.
“We’re going to
take care of you. I’ll cook your favorites.”
Raven made a
humming noise then fell asleep. Long after Lark and Aaron left, she remained
quiet. Nurses came in, checked her, and smiled reassuringly at me before
slipping out of the room. Raven needed rest and the medicine would keep her out
for a while, but I needed her to tell me that she was okay.