The Rising Sons Motorcycle Club (22 page)

“I’m gonna be honest with you, thing’s
aren’t
great. Bear might never come out of that coma. It’s a complete roll of the dice. The next forty-eight hours are the most telling. If his condition changes during that time, you’ll get a better sense of what’s going on, but in the meantime, just take care of your mom. Let the hospital take care of Bear.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, then.”

“Who’s in control of the club right now?”

Trask didn’t know if she was just changing the subject or she was truly interested. Either way, she brought up a good point. “I haven’t been to the bar, I’m not sure who is leading the army.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow, love.” Hope hung up the phone.

Trask slid his phone away and thought about that. Raven had called him to let him know, but who was the one calling the shots? Gunner was his best guess. He was the new Sergeant-at-Arms, which gave him the power of second in command. He thought that Gunner must have had Raven call to let him know.

He turned around and headed back to Trigger. Trask beckoned him with a tilt of his head, and Trigger followed. In a snack room, they faced each other and embraced.

“Sorry to hear about your pop, man.” Trigger slapped Trask on the back hard before they broke the hug.

Trask nodded. “Appreciate that. The doc filled me in on the medical side of things. Now it’s your turn to fill me in on the Rising Sons side of things. Was this a deliberate attack? I’ve known that man five years, and I’ve seen him ride home from battles with bullet holes in him. I ain’t never seen him go down. You?”

Trigger shook his head. “He wouldn’t go down unless someone put him down. That’s a fuckin’ fact. We don’t know who did it, but the club might have a better idea. Raven sent me here as a second guard as soon as she rounded everyone up.”

“Raven rounded everyone up?” Trask looked intrigued. “I figured someone made her secretary. She’s the one that called me.”

“Nah. She kicked everyone but the Sons out of the bar and told us the skinny. Sent me here, sent Gunner to load up on weapons. Made everyone else call members that wasn’t around.”

Trask almost laughed, “So let me get this straight. Raven is running the club right now? The Rising Sons?”

“I guess so.” Trigger shrugged his shoulders, and regretted it the instant his shoulder came up.

Trask kept his voice low, but it was angry. “You guess so? Did anyone stand up to her? Did anyone tell her to sit the fuck down and shut up? You obviously didn’t. You asked ‘how high?’ when she told your sorry ass to jump.”

“Hey. She was the one that got the news. Before we knew what was happening, she had us all seated. No one really knew what was going on, so we just went with it.”

Trask punched the soda machine to his right. His hand went through the opaque plastic. He pulled it out and laughed. “God damn. The only woman in the club and, she’s already telling everyone what to do.”

“You want us to head back to the bar and regroup?”

Trask shook his head. “You’re here. Might as well stay. I’m heading there, though. I’m the one who should be running this club. Stay put until you hear from someone.” After Trigger nodded, Trask added, “Someone with a fucking rank, too.”

Back in the hospital room, Faith’s gaze never wavered from her man. Her finger stroked Bear’s hand with the lightest touch. She leaned in close, careful that no one outside the room could hear.

“You’re gonna pull through this. Do you understand me?” Even her whisper gave away the pain in her voice. “I need you, and I know for a fact that you need me. Without me, you’d fall apart. I know you’d never let anyone at the club know it, but who’d do your laundry? Who’d help you with all the hard decisions? That’s why you’ve got to wake up. You’re putting all the hard decisions on me and your son, now.”

She leaned down, leaning her head against Bear’s arm. She smiled, feeling how thick and hard it still was. He had kept himself in fantastic shape over the years, and she had rewarded that by doing the same for him. She found herself thinking about religion for the first time in decades. Her thoughts were the same. If there was a god, why would He do things like this? Why would He tear a family apart for no good reason?

She didn’t hear Trask come back into the room, and she let out a surprised cry when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, God, you scared me.” Her heart was strong, but it was being put to the test. Faith wasn’t sure how much more she could take in one day.

“Sorry, Mom. Look, I think I need to head to the club and see what’s going on. If anyone knows anything about how this happened, I need to know. If this was an attack, we’re going to make it right. We’re going to destroy whoever thought that they could go after Bear. Are you gonna stay?”

She nodded.

“All right. Tanner and Trigger are going to stay too until I send two more Sons to relieve them. If you go home, make sure one of them is with you.” He looked out the window into the desert night. “Someone out there has it in for us, and I’m not going to let them get a second chance.”

Half of the club was out. Raven had thrown a quick team together to get some supplies. They had booze to get them into next year, but the unused kitchen was empty, and she anticipated a long stay. Four more bikers were off trading out their Harleys for a pickup, then heading to the big box store for food. She checked her phone every few minutes, even when she knew there was nothing new.

The members still at Los Bandoleros were either talking with each other or on the phone with contacts they knew.

Sam hung up his call and shouted across the bar to her. “My cousin with the Saints said it wasn’t them.”

“You believe him?” Raven had asked the question every time.

“Oh, yeah. He owes me big time and wouldn’t lie. If it was them, he probably would have warned me first. For real. I saved his ass on more than one occasion.”

“All right. Thanks, Sam.” Raven let out another sigh. It was getting late, and they were no closer to finding out who did it.

The deep roar of a motorcycle grew in the distance, and Raven stood up right away. She snatched up the handgun she’d found in the manager’s office. A few other bikers stood and pulled their guns from holsters or the waistbands of their jeans. Two of them moved toward the front door.

Raven’s heart raced as the motorcycle grew louder. The constant engine note turned to a low rumble as it pulled into the parking lot, then died. The silence only made her blood rush faster, and she flicked off the safety. No fool would be stupid enough to attack Los Bandoleros with ten bikers inside, but only an idiot would attack the president of the Rising Sons, too.

Everyone kept their guns pointed at the floor and fingers were well away from the trigger, but everyone’s eyes were wide, and they looked to Raven. She stood sideways to the door, making herself a smaller target if someone did come in firing.

Her pocket vibrated, and it startled her. She reached for it, but kept her eyes on the door
. Trask had texted her.
It’s me
.
No one shoot.

“It’s Trask. Holster your weapons. The last thing we need is a second Rivers in the hospital.” She flicked the safety back on and laid the gun back on the table.

The two bikers at the door turned away, but when the front door swung open, they checked over their shoulders. It was, indeed, Trask.

Sam extended a hand. “Sorry bout Bear, man.”
 

Trask shook it. “Yeah. Thanks, Sam.” He walked in and made a line straight for Raven. Without a word, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her along with him toward the kitchen. Most of the bikers looked away, and no one acknowledged Raven’s cries.

“What the fuck? Jesus, Trask, get your hands off me.”

He pushed open the door to the kitchen and shoved Raven in front of him. Even before the door swung closed, he was yelling. “You want to explain this to me? The newest fuckin’ member giving orders? I mean, fuck. What the fuck makes you think you can order my boys around?”

“They aren’t
your
boys anymore, Trask. You’ve got new boys up in Davis. You’re a guest here, now. Also, you’re fucking welcome for the call, asshole.” She shoved him hard, and Trask fell backward into a small table. He caught himself.

“Funny thing about that; you getting a call saying Bear was in an accident. Who’d you get that from? Let me guess: the cop you’re fucking. Does Gunner know, or do you just schedule things for every other day?” Trask knew she’d try for another attack, and he was ready this time. She came at him, and he threw an arm around her neck. He squeezed, reminding her of the fight with Gunner.

“Fuck off. I haven’t talked to the cop in over a week. I stopped sleeping with him, and then he threatened the club.” She choked out the last words as Trask’s grip tightened.

“What?” He stopped squeezing her.

Raven pushed away from him, rubbing her neck. “Since I used him to get Bear out of jail and then to get the address of that cop, he’s blackmailing us for a quarter million bucks, now.”

“Who knows about this?”

“Me, Tanner, and you.”

“Why doesn’t the club know? Why doesn’t Bear know?”

Raven screamed at him, no longer caring if anyone outside the kitchen could hear. “Because we thought it was a bluff! He’s just one cop, and he’s not going to fuck with us!”

Trask spoke low, taking the opposite route of Raven. “And then, a week after you stop talking to him, Bear gets run down on his Harley. How motherfucking convenient. I ride all the way down here, and you know what I find?”

“What?”

“I find you in charge. Some of those men have done time, Raven. They’ve done things in the name of this club that would make your stomach turn, and I find you barking orders?” Trask was waving his hands around, his voice picking up intensity. “Who the fuck put you in charge?”

“You know who did? Everyone. When they did nothing, someone had to step up. Just because I got the text, that’s not why I’m in charge. After I got all the civilians out, everyone looked at me. They wanted to know why I threw everyone out on their asses, so I told them. Then I stood there, waiting for Gunner to step up. Instead, he stood leaning against the wall, waiting for me.
Everyone
did. I didn’t bully someone out of the top spot. I stepped into it because everyone else was sitting on their ass.

“I got your mom to her husband’s bedside,
with protection.
I sent brothers out for food and supplies. I got guys heading to get weapons, because whoever did this isn’t done. This was a message. This was meant to destabilize us, and guess what?”

Trask nodded. “It worked.”

“It sure as shit did work. If you want to take over, be my guest. I’ll catch you up, and then they are all yours. I’ll follow your lead. I’m not here to step on toes. I’m here to kick ass, so just point me to the asses, Trask.”

He calmed down knowing that Raven wasn’t going to fight him for control. “All right, all right. Before we head back out there, you really think it was your cop friend?”

“He’s not my friend…anymore.”

Trask knew bringing up the cop was cutting deep into Raven and it was dirty pool, but he didn’t really care. This wasn’t the kind of game where you came out ahead by playing nice. “Whatever you call it.”

“I really didn’t think he could have done this, but we’ve eliminated any smaller clubs in the area. The Rising Sons don’t have any rivals. No one would come after us like that. Everyone still in the bar has been combing through their contacts all over the state, and nothing’s come up.”

“Well, fuck. I guess we’re going up against the PD, then.” Trask gave a sarcastic smile before turning for the kitchen door.