Chapter 9

Ican’t believe that big, bossy bastard has sidelined me. I storm through the common room headed to Wire’s “Control center” as he calls his very impressive set up.

The clacking of computer keys drifts down the hall and I take a hard right into his room, watching for a moment as Wire and Dayz tap away at their keyboards, Remy intensely watching the CCTV video feeds dotted around Rose Grove township and on the main road to the club.

“Hey Ana, you been relegated to keeping an eye on the sedentary, huh?” Wire asks, his eyes not leaving his screen.

“How did you know?”

This time, Dayz answers. “We have amazing powers of deduction, duh,” She gestures at another rolly computer chair by the door. “May as well pull up a seat. If anything goes down in the rest of the clubhouse, you’ll be our first line of defense.”

She finally turns to look at me, her eyes running down my seated body until they stop at my heels, and I can’t help but feel a little judged by yet another Tombs regarding my footwear. But you know what? These are my favorite shoes, so they can both suck it.

“Might wanna change shoes if you need to kick ass though,”

“Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind.”

“Riders incoming, ETA 1 minute. By the looks of it, four, no, five Death Riders. Followed by a large group of unknowns,” Wire calls out, his eyes darting from one screen to another and another.

“That will be the five council members. Since Savage has been going legit, the only people on important runs are the five of them until he can rebuild the club with men he can trust,” Remy softly states.

I watch as Wire tips his head to look at her, a slight frown on his face. I get his interest in what she said. From what Dayz has told me about being an Ol Lady and the MC, club business is club business and not something you speak about with family members. Although Death Rider rules could be different.

“How much do you know about the Death Riders, Remy?” Wire asks casually, eyes back on his screen. She shrugs her shoulders and blows her bangs out of her eyes, her blonde bob swaying a little at the movement.

“Me and my sister grew up there, we’ve seen all sorts of - oh no!” she gasps out, her eyes glued to the screen.

Mine shoot up and I see a Death Rider lying on the ground beside his downed bike. He doesn’t seem to be moving and there is chaos around him as both Death Riders and DRMC brothers have their guns drawn, firing at the group of riders that chased Savage and his men into the safety of our gates. My eyes scan the screens for Gus, hoping he’s ok but before I can find him, Remy jumps up.

“I have to get out there! That’s my dad’s bike! That’s my dad!” She makes a move for the door, but I’m already up, blocking the doorway. I grab her biceps, holding her still as she fights me to get to her dad. The girl is a hell of a lot tougher and stronger than I gave her credit for, not to mention she’s taller than me by a good inch or two.

“Remy! Listen, it’s bloody nuts out there! Just wait until Devil’s Rose MC gets it under control.” I all but shout in her face, trying to get her to listen to me. As soon as her eyes snap to mine, I soften my voice. “It won’t be long and then you can get to your dad. Just wait a moment, a few minutes until it dies down, ok? Your dad will want to know you’re safe,” I stare into her big, brown eyes, the fear in them breaking my heart.

I know what it’s like to lose your dad suddenly, and I can only hope that he’s ok. He rode to safety, so I know he has fight in him.

Remy’s body slumps a little, softening against my hard grip on her arms, and she nods her head, whispering, “Thank you”.

God, this woman constantly has me wanting to give her a hug. I help guide her back to her seat, between Dayz and Wire. He gives me a nod of thanks before he reaches over, covering her much smaller pale hand with his larger, dark one. She lets out a breath, pulls her shoulders back and goes back to watching the feeds, although I see her eyes darting back to the one that her father is on now and then. He seems to be breathing, so that’s a bloody good sign.

I still haven’t seen any sign of Gus on the compound feeds. I know in my mind he can handle this, but that doesn’t seem to settle my nerves.

As if she can read my mind, Dayz turns to look at me, well, my nose, “He’ll be fine. He’s done stuff like this a million times before. It’s his job to protect people.” I give her a thin smile and watch her turn back to her screen.

If I’m being honest, I have no idea what the hell her or Wire, or shit, even Remy are doing, but I’m sure it’s important. It’s only me at a loose end and Gus can damn well bet that next time, if there is a next time, I will not be sitting with my finger up my arse waiting for the men to sort shit out.

I’ve not taken my eyes off the screen and there seems to be a lull now. The other riders have long since left our screens, screaming off down the main road out of town.

I watch as the big ginger DRMC brother Switch races over to Remy’s dad. He’s an ex army medic, so I know the biker is in expert hands. Hospital is not an option if you live a touch on the wrong side of the law. Hell, Ivan’s right-hand man used to be a doctor here at the local hospital before he realized working for the Bratva was less stress and more money.

Grunts and hollering from the common room make their way down the hall and Remy turns to me with a questioning look. I give her a nod and follow her as she rushes toward the noise. When I reach the common room, it’s in chaos. The injured man has been placed on one of the main tables and about half a dozen men have congregated, the adrenaline running high, some shouting, one punching the wall.

From the last feed I saw, Savage and Marx were still outside with some men doing something or other, which explains why its fucking nuts in here. In the middle of the chaos, Remy sits at the table, her forehead resting against her dads, whispering to him while Switch tries his best to work in the middle of these less than perfect conditions. I can see the frustration on his face, so I move to stand next to him. Placing my hand over his hand, covering what looks to be a bullet wound in the top right-hand side of the man’s chest. I wait for his eyes to meet mine.

“Is there somewhere better you can do this, without all this -” I glance around the room “- going on around you?”

“I have rooms at the back of the clubhouse, sterile, with all my shit. He’s stable enough to move, I just have to get him there and these fuckers outta my space,” I give him a nod, place two fingers in my mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle, the noise stopping immediately, men looking in my direction.

“Listen up, Switch needs this guy -“ “Flack” Switch grunts at me “- Flack, moved to his rooms. I need four strong brothers to move him, following all of Switch’s instructions. Then you need to leave immediately so he can do his job. Got me?” Silently four guys move toward Switch and Flack, followings the Dr.’s orders to get him settled before “fucking off”. Remy is still sitting at the table, staring at a little bit of blood that’s on her hands.

“Hey, he’s tough, and he’s going to be ok” I grab one bloodstained hand and give it a squeeze. “Go wash that off and head on back, Switch won’t mind,” she nods at me, stands, and turns toward the hall her father was carried down. She stops, turns back and throws her arms around me, clinging to me.

“Thank you Ana. For everything.” She releases me before heading after her dad, leaving me to my thoughts. Men trickle in, including the two Pres’s, Jules and Pops, but no sign of Gus or Tav yet.

Feeling someone beside me, I turn and look up to see Dex, the SAA of the Death Riders. He gently taps twice on the table, “Nice work Bratva boss lady,”

I let out a snort and wave a hand at him. “Please. I’m just the secretary,”

“Still, thank you for helping Flack.” He taps once more and I watch as he wanders off toward the bar.

Sick of waiting here twiddling my thumbs, I figure I may as well check the feeds once more. Walking into Wire’s room, I see Wire and Dayz both eating popcorn, eyes glued to the screen.

“Where the hell did you get popcorn? And what the hell are you watching?”

Wire taps some keys and that somehow beams whatever they’re watching onto the biggest screen he has, so big in fact that I have to take a step back to see it properly. On the black and white footage are Gus and Tav, with some other guy. They look like they’re wrestling one of those floppy things that stand outside car dealerships. Either that or they’re remaking “Weekend at Bernies”.

“What are they doing?” I tip my head to the side as I watch all three of them land on the ground, before Gus jumps up, yells something and then kicks Tav in the leg before heaving the random man up once again. We all watch as they slowly get him inside the compound gates, through the lot and into the club.

“Showtime ladies” Wire says, standing with a smile, picking up his bowl of popcorn and laptop before exiting the room with me and Dayz in his wake.

Walking over to the piece of shit that is still trying to crawl down the road after his so-called friends, Tav and I stand over him, taking him in. He’s younger than us, probably in his twenties, and he looks like crap. But that could be because I shot him.

“Hey man, need a hand?” Tav smiles down at the guy, and you can see him visibly breathe out, looking relieved. I mean, we are big fuckers, but with me in my disheveled suit, and Tav in chinos and a tee, we look fairly normal. And more importantly, not MC. He nods up at us and I almost feel sorry for him. But not quite. You can’t expect to shoot up a place, a place where my wife, siblings, grandfather, and friends are, and not expect consequences.

“Come on dude, let’s get you up” Tav gives him a hand and pulls him up to stand. He’s a little shaky on his feet, so I grab one arm, throwing it over my shoulders, while Tav does the same on the other side and we shuffle toward the MC gates.

“Oh hey, no, we don’t wanna go in there. That’s the local MC.” He swings his head, looking around. “Where’s your car at?”

“Oh, we parked in there. At the compound you and your dickbag friends shot at.” His eyes widen and he tries to get out of our grasp. We wrestle him for a moment, but between his thrashing and Tav somehow not supporting his weight properly, we all end up in a heap on the road. Jumping up, full of frustration, I kick Tav while he’s down.

“Fuck’s sake Tav! Keep it together!” He rolls his eyes at me, calling me a “bossy fucker” under his breath and we heave this guy up again. Although he’s not making it easy on us, giving that he’s gone all floppy.

“Dude, quit it before I drop you. You’ll be fine. Our sister is in there. She’ll take care of you” Tav shoots the guy a wide smile and I really want to laugh. Unfortunately, he doesn’t stop squirming, so in the end Tav and I have to wrestle him through the gate, drag him through the lot, and by the time we make it to the front door, I’m about done.

Tav kicks it open with his foot, before yelling out, “Oh Maaaaaaarx, we got you a present.”

Both Marx and Savage spin toward us. Savage stares while Marx barks out, “Where the fuck did you get him from?”

“Oh, this? It’s just a little something I picked up,” Tav digs his toe into the ground, swinging from side to side looking all coy. Savage snorts as Marx rolls his eyes.

“You know where to take him. Drop him off then meet us in the main room, shits about to hit the fan.”

By the time we get back, men are scattered around the common room. Savage, Dex and two other Death Riders are sitting at the main table, looking pissed. I’m guessing their other member is still being patched up by Switch. Ana has nestled her little ass on the couch next to Dayz, so I stomp in that direction, pick my wife up under her arms, take her seat, and set her on my knee. I see her roll her eyes at Dayz before she settles back against my chest. She just feels right, like she’s where she’s meant to be.

“Right fuckers, we have some shit going down. Death Riders were hit just before riding into our territory,” Marx’s voice booms through the room.

“We were coming back from a gun run. Usual, run of the mill, nothing should have been out of the ordinary,” Savage says in a voice only slightly less booming than Marx’s. I’m seriously wondering if riding bikes causes industrial deafness. I mean, why the hell else would all these bikers talk so goddamn loud?

“But?” My sister pipes up. She’s looking far too excited about this.

“But shit didn’t feel right from the moment we made the drop. Dex was getting antsy and Flack was acting super fucking paranoid.”

“Flack? The guy that got shot? Remy’s dad?”

“Yeah, he’s been on edge lately, hence why Remy is here. Well, one of the reasons,”

“You wanted her here to learn shit from Wire and Chewy. What the fuck other reasons are there?” Marx says with a raised brow.

Savage opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, Rhodie jumps in, “The other reason better not have put my Ol lady at risk, otherwise I will fucking shoot you,” he seethes. It’s odd seeing him this way and remembering he is the Enforcer to the MC. I only ever see him as the love sick puppy that follows my sister around.

“Look, since we got rid of Hammer, our last Pres, Flack, has been on edge. Seeing ghosts and shadows where there are none.”

“Until today at least,” Jules blandly points out to him, earning him a scowl, but Jules’ is far more powerful.

“Yeah, OK. Until today. He’s been like this since Hammer was put out. Got worse when those three men you warned me about turned on us.”

Our first time dealing with the Death Riders was back when Rhodie and Dayz first started dating and three of Savage’s men crashed their date. Turns out they were moonlighting for Kraykowski, helping with the skin trade.

“And now?” Marx scowls, staring down Savage, who runs a hand down his face, his shoulders drooping.

“And now he’s worried Remy is in danger. It’s why he was pushing for her to come here.”

Looking around the room, all the Devil’s Rose men look slightly confused.

“Why does he think that?” Wire asks, looking up from his ever-present laptop.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense. Remy is a sweetheart. But it has to have something to do with her specifically, because Sunny, his other daughter, is still with us. Sending Remy to you was meant to achieve two things. First, she’ll be well trained enough to keep an eye on things back home, and second, it keeps her out of whatever line of fire Flack thinks is coming.”

“Well, kid, given that he got his ass lit up, I’d say he’s probably on to something,” Pops butts in. Dex frowns at Pops for a moment, but that just makes Pops smile wide.

“What do you know about Dex?” Ana whispers in my ear, her soft puffs of breath causing a shiver down my spine.

“Grew up in the area. Both parents are still alive, has an older half-brother that seems to be a ghost, hasn’t seen or heard from him in about 20 years. Why’s that?” She wriggles a little in my lap, causing my dick to stir. Before he can get carried away, she tucks her head under my chin.

“He just reminds me of someone. Can’t quite put my finger on it” I jump when I hear a palm hit the table, and then my sister stands to her full height of 5’1.

“Well, if you have no more information for us, may I suggest we adjourn to the Rev Room?”

“Jesus Chewy, we are not going to call the shed that,” Marx grumbles as he runs a hand down his face.

“Aw come on! You hate everything I call it! You didn’t like Smack Shack, Blood Shed, or Pound Town. And you have to admit, the Rev Room is good. It’s like that sex room in that movie. But we have motorcycles and our torture isn’t sexy.”

“You know what? Fuck it. I don’t care anymore. Let’s just get this done,” Marx shakes his head and then leads the way out to the shed. I twine my fingers through Ana’s as we follow everyone.

“I wonder what new weird and wonderful tricks Dayz has up her sleeve this time?” Ana murmurs under her breath.

“Whatever it is, it’s gonna suck to be that dude.”

Following the brothers into the Rev Room, I see that it’s had a makeover from the last time I was here. Instead of being dingy and dark, it now has a calming sage color on the walls and ambient lighting. The metal chair still sits in the middle of the room, above the drain, however, it is now a cheery yellow. There’s a shadow board with all of Dayz’s girly looking tools lined up, and Rhodie’s sits on the wall opposite. There are even motivational posters on the walls and, is that a framed Live, Laugh, Love cross stitch?

“What the fuck happened in here?” I whisper to myself.

“Chewy happened in here.” I turn to look at Marx, who has a resigned look on his face. “Look, I let her do whatever she likes in here because let’s face it, I’ve somehow ended up with two Enforcers. If Rhodie can’t get shit outta them, then Chewy most definitely can.”

“Well, I mean when you put it like that, it makes sense to let them do whatever weird, freaky shit they get up to.”

I watch as Dayz and Rhodie do paper, scissors, rock. Dayz wins and Rhodie drops a kiss on her lips before patting her on the ass.

“Um, what the hell is going on?” A Death Rider with a patch that says “Bones” asks the room.

“My sister is about to torture information outta that guy,” Tav says, smiling proudly at our baby sister. Sometimes I wonder if it’s entirely healthy that we let her do this. But she seems happy enough, and at present, she’s the only person in our family in a normal, healthy relationship; so it’s obviously not doing her any harm.

“You let the Ol’ ladies do that?” Bones asks again.

Ana shakes her head and tuts at him. “You just watch and learn.”

I pull her to me; her back to my front, and wrap my arms around her as we watch Dayz pull on fresh coveralls, this time leaving her goggles off. Pops does the same and they lean their heads together, pointing at different body parts while their victim sits there wide-eyed while the crotch of his pants darkens with urine.

“Babe? Put on my soundtrack please,” Dayz sweetly asks. Rhodie smiles indulgently before pulling up the app and pressing play.

The first few bars of the song play through some type of hidden surround sound speakers, and LED lights I didn’t initially notice run along the bottom of the wall start flashing to the beat of the music.

“What is that?”

Everybody

“Oh, fuck no,”

Rock your body right

“Is that -”

Backstreet’s back alright!

Staring straight ahead, I try to avoid the shocked stares of the Death Riders. From the corner of my eye, I watch as Marx’s head tips forward, his chin resting on his chest. Ana shakes in my arms from her silent laughter and I drop my lips to the top of her head to cover my own. A little snort slips out when I hear Savage’s incredulous whisper, “What the actual fuck?”

Over the next hour, the four Death Riders are treated to the Tombs Show. They watch in awe and maybe a little fear as Dayz and Pops slice, dice, cut off, freeze, and burn various body parts to the soundtrack of Now That’s What I Call Music 3.