Finding Charity: Red Devils M.C.
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Authors: Michelle Woods
Finding Charity
By: Michelle Woods
Copyright
©
2014, Michelle Woods
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Donskaya Olga
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In the year 2075, the world was well on its way to being disease free, with the portents of also being a technologically advanced society. Only, Mother Nature had another plan, when the government discovered that the world would lose more than half its land mass to the ocean, they built the wall to keep it out.
Built to protect the rich and the privileged from the fallout of the catastrophic natural disaster that was likely destroying half the world, the city behind the wall was to be an elite society. The world outside the wall on the other hand, was left to the lawless. As the years passed, the city behind the wall created a class system that was only fair to those born in the upper districts. The Hillies, an elite class according to them, ruled the lower Slum class with fear of the being forced into the lawless world outside of the wall. Only the world outside had reset itself. It was no longer lawless, those who lived outside the city had created their own set of rules, ones that were made and enforced by outlaw bikers, who weren’t about to let anyone change the world they now ruled.
Tick Copeland wanted to pull his hair out. He’d been following her trail for days, and he was no closer to bagging his quarry than he had been a week ago. It was really pissing him off. He had a son he needed to get back to. A son without a mother to care for him, he thought, his heart squeezing a bit in his chest. After two years he still missed Vivi. She’d been a comet he was lucky enough to hold onto. Only the universe had stolen her from him and their young son. The damage from the flood that had swept away his dreams of holding onto that woman for the rest of his life was repaired as if it had never happened. Yet, he and his six year old son, Max, felt the reminders every day. Every day that Vivi didn’t wake Max with kisses, every day she didn’t tickle him as she put him to bed, every day she didn’t whisper “Be Safe” to Tick as he went out on some club errand. Yeah, they remembered every fucking day.
He was finally able to realize that even if she was gone she would want him and Max to move on. Vivi had loved life, she’d been so alive she’d vibrated with it. He still wasn’t sure what the hell she’d seen in a busted up biker like him. Fuck, he thought, wanting to stop remembering the pain of his loss that still caused a twinge when he reminisced like he was today. Bone had sent him on this errand to retrieve a woman who needed to be spanked, running off was childish and kinda stupid. The world outside of the sheltered life she’d led with the Devils wasn’t friendly to women who were alone. Not that she was, or ever would be.
He’d been pissed when Bone had called him and told him to go chasing after some foolish girl who was acting like a five year old. He’d wanted to ask the man why the hell he had to go, he’d been sure that any prospect with half a brain could bring her back. Only after two days did he realize why Bone had called him. She was good, damned good. If he wasn’t better, she’d already be long gone without a trace.
That was why he was sitting in a rundown motel in Blue Bandit territory ready to pull his hair out. He was thirty years old, which was too fucking old to be chasing a woman. If he wasn’t worried that a woman sheltered all her life by her brother and the club would run into trouble she couldn’t handle, he’d call Bone and tell him she’d disappeared.
Sitting on the edge of the bed he pulled out his phone, calling Ratchet. He was keeping Max while he was chasing a foolish woman with a death wish.
“About damned time you called me back, asshole.” Ratchet growled, instead of a greeting.
“What did Max do now?” Tick demanded with a sinking feeling in his gut.
“What he hasn’t done would take less time, Tick. Little buggers a pain in the ass. You need to find that damned girl and get back here before I go batshit crazy.” Ratchet growled.
Over the last two years his son had turned into a hellion. It was likely all his fault too, Tick realized. When Vivi had died he’d given up for a while, and then when he’d finally woke up, Max’s misbehavior had been excused as grief over his mother’s death. Now, Tick thought, groaning internally, the little bugger needed discipline.
“Just tell me what he’s done, Ratchet.” Tick demanded, letting out a rough sigh.
“Maria was watching him today at the main house while I was out working the perimeter. She went out to feed the pigs, and when she opened the door coming back inside she was dowsed in milk from a bucket above the door. Then she hears laughter and the little shits are standing there laughing their little asses off.”
“I’m guessing that Connor or Alex were involved.” Tick ran his hand down his face, his frustration mounting. Connor was nine and Alex was seven, the three of those boys were thick as thieves, and his son was their ring leader.
“Both, and when are they not? After all every little mastermind needs his lackeys to do his bidding.” Ratchet practically roared into the phone.
“It could have been Connor or Alex’s idea you know, it’s not always Max’s fault.” Tick defended his son, although he knew that it was not very likely that it was true.
“Ha, you know as well as I do that it was Max. Besides Alex’s mom showed up and he sang like a canary. He’s actually afraid to get into trouble with his mother.” Ratchet told him.
Fuck, he really was a shitty dad, Tick thought self-deprecatingly. “That’s really a small prank for him…”
Ratchet interrupted. “Oh, I’m not done that was just this morning. Tick, you have got to discipline that boy better!”
“What else did he do?” Tick asked, falling back onto the bed in exhaustion. Fuck, he was tired.
“Let’s see, he let the dogs into the coops again. We lost three chickens this time. While I was helping the men deal with that, the little bugger decided that the pigs needed more exercise, and he herded them into the meadow with the cows. It took four hours and ten men to get them rounded back up again. I made him help with that as part of his punishment then sent him for a timeout in his room. So what does the little shit do? He sneaks out and heads over to the main house, where he steals two of the three pies that Maria made for the bon-fire tonight, and took them over to their treehouse where he shared them with Connor and Alex.” Ratchet finally stopped listing things, thank goodness. Fuck, his kid was out of control. “You need to get back here and reign that boy in before one of us kills him.” Ratchet finally finished.
Tick didn’t worry about his son’s safety. He knew that Ratchet and the other men in the club wouldn’t hurt him no matter what the little monster decided to do. They loved him as much as Tick did.
“I’m working on it. I still haven’t found her.” Tick told his friend, letting out a frustrated sigh.
“How is that even possible? I’ve seen you take less time finding a Jackal with years of experience. You’ve been searching for nearly a week.” Ratchet grumbled angrily.
“The girl is good.” Tick told him, not sure what else to say. After chasing her for a solid week the closest he’d come was a day behind her. It was really annoying.
“Not better than you. Now, quit dicking around avoiding your responsibilities, and get your ass back here.” Ratchet sounded as frustrated as Tick felt. Damn the man, didn’t he know that he was doing the best he could.
“No, Ratchet, I am not dicking around! The girls damned good at running. If they’d sent anyone else the trail would already be lost, days ago. She’d just a day or so ahead of me, and its making me nuts! I want this job done, so I can get back home too, asshole. Do you think I want to be chasing a grown assed woman half way across the Bandits territory?” Tick growled, sitting up on the bed, pissed off that his friend thought he was not really trying to find Trick’s little sister.
“Shit, calm down, Tick.” Ratchet said, realizing that Tick was about to blow his top. Ratchet knew that since Vivi had died he became really fucking crazy when he got either drunk or mad. He was getting better, but he was still not quite right when it came right down to it. He stood pacing the room in front of the bed.
“She’s that good, huh?” Ratchet asked after a moment.
“Yeah, she is, and it’s really fucking annoying that I can’t seem to pin her down. I am closing in though. It won’t be long now, and when I find her, I will do my best not to wring the girl’s neck.” Tick grumbled, sitting again on the edge of the bed.
“Shit, now I get how she and Katie used to get into so much trouble. I never understood how Katie, who is not a planner, could get into so many scrapes. She was always finding a way around the club to do whatever it was she wanted. She always dragged Charity with her, and I never knew how she managed it, but Charity being the one to work it out makes a hell of a lot more sense.” Ratchet let out a humorless laugh that made Tick’s fists clench. Yeah, the girl was a pain in the ass, he thought, grimly.
“Yep, the woman’s been slipping through my fingers every damned time I get close. It maddening.” Tick sighed. “But I need to catch some z’s so go get Max so I can tell him good night. I want to be on the road in about three hours. If I’m going to catch her I need to get a move on it.”
There was shuffling and then he heard Max’s voice crackle through the line making him miss his son even more than he had a moment ago.
“Hi, Dad.” He sounded hesitant, and Tick knew that was because he was afraid he would yell at him, which made his heart squeeze. He cleared his throat to buy himself time to get his own emotions under control, so that he didn’t take his frustration out on his son.
“Son, what were you thinking with the milk? And taking the pies was wrong and you know it.” Tick finally managed to say in a firm, but calm voice.
“I know. I’m sorry Dad.” Max said.
“Okay, but no more pranks. You know better.”
“Okay, I’ll try.” Max replied in a defeated voice.
Tick sighed. “No, you will do it son. Not one prank, or I will punish you this time.” Tick grumbled into the phone. His head hurt, and he hated being this far away from his son.
“I just miss mom.” He whispered.
“I do too, buddy. That is not an excuse to act out and you know it.”
“Yes, Sir. I love you.”
“I love you too, Max. Give the phone back to Uncle Ratchet. Remember what I said, I mean it. No more pranks.” Tick waited while Max muttered a solemn goodbye and put Ratchet back on.
“Hey, when do you think you’ll be back?” Ratchet asked.
“I don’t know. Hopefully soon. This chase is wearing on me.”
“I bet. It’s kinda funny though. I never thought I’d find someone better at this shit than you are.” Ratchet laughed.
“Shut up asshole, she isn’t better. She’s just better than most of the shit heads I hunt down. Go do something useful and put Max to bed. I’ll be home as soon as I can be.”
Charity Tannon breathed a sigh of relief when passing the sign that said now leaving Grandville. She was lucky that she had a craving for something besides the granola bars she had been eating every morning. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have seen the man her brother had sent after her, and she would most likely be on her way back to Devils Falls now, instead of hightailing it out of Grandville. She was standing in the line at the small bakery when she happened to look out the window. She had seen a large dark haired man getting on a bike in front of the boarding house next door. That had not been what had sent her into a rushed panic to leave Grandville. No that had been the Red Devils cut she had seen plastered on his back.
She had left the bakery and run to her car. Climbing in she had rushed to the hotel and grabbed her stuff and within minutes she was back on the road. She was pissed that Trick had sent someone after her like she was an errant child. It wasn’t that she hadn’t expected him to, she had just hoped he wouldn’t. She was a twenty four year old woman and she was capable of taking care of herself no matter what her brother thought. Her brother still treated her like she was a freaking twelve year old.