Chapter 20

The aftermath is a gruesome sight.

Red and blue lights still flash outside as the crime scene investigators and the county examiners collect the bodies and all the evidence, of which there is plenty. We covered our asses the best we could, and most of our self-incriminating documents are stashed away out of the cops’ reach.

The clubhouse may have turned into a crime scene, but there are sections in the basement that they have no idea about, nor do they need access to. There’s nothing down there that could aid them in this particular investigation.

Paddy is at the hospital with Nadia and our other injured brothers. I’m relieved to hear they’ll be making a full recovery and that Nadia is okay. She’s safe. It’s all that matters. Frankly, the sheriff could arrest us right now. I don’t care as long as Nadia is okay.

“What was Colton thinking?” Kai asks in a low voice as he comes back to the bar.

The evening wind blows through the room, courtesy of the shattered windows. We’ll have to board them up for the night and have them replaced tomorrow. Drake is now giving his statement to the deputies while the sheriff walks around, flashlight pointing at every single detail that catches his beady eyes.

I don’t like the guy, but at least I know he’s thorough and not in Colton’s pocket.

“Either he’s desperate, or he was just testing the waters to see how we’d respond to an open attack,” I tell Kai. “Did you give your statement?”

“Yeah, all good.”

“The others know the drill,” I say. “We have to do something, Kai. It’ll get worse.”

“I know,” he nods slowly. “What about Nadia?”

I nod once. “She’s fine. Her dad’s with her.”

“Oh, fuck, he’s going to want to talk to us, you realize that, right?” Kai groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We need to be careful.”

“Paddy says she told him that she was here to pick up some papers for her café employer,” I reply. “We can just stick to that. I’m sure I can pull out a form or something to flash in his face and get him off our backs.”

“He deserves more than that,” Kai says. “If we’re going to get serious with Nadia—”

“We are going to get serious with Nadia.”

“All the more reason to sit Quicksilver down and tell him the whole truth, ideally with Nadia present.”

I scowl at Kai. “Does it seem like a good time to do that?”

“No, man … I’m just … fuck me, this has just got out of hand,” Kai lets a heavy sigh leave his chest.

I think it’s the first time since the shootout that he’s actually had a chance to sit down and take a deep breath. We saw plenty of action and violence during our military service, worse things than what transpired here today, but the memories are still vivid, embedded in our brains, and eager to come out at every turn in the presence of the slightest trigger.

Yet there is one thing I simply cannot get over long after the nightmare ended outside the clubhouse. We almost lost Nadia today. One stray bullet would’ve been enough to kill her. Had Paddy not caught her when he did … the mere thought sends my blood racing, an invisible hand tightening its grip around my heart. I love this woman with every ounce of my soul, and I am ready to go scorched earth on Colton’s ass if I have to.

“Perhaps it’s time to reconsider my suggestion,” I say to Kai.

“Yeah, you don’t sound as crazy anymore,” he grumbles. “Though I’d rather just load the trunk with every weapon I can get my hands on and comb the whole of Orange County until I find that fucker and fill his ass with lead.”

“Notice that he wasn’t here today,” I reply, thinking about the earlier events. “He sent his men into a predictable shitstorm. They followed his orders. They probably knew how this was going to end, but they did it anyway.”

“They’re loyal,” Kai says, “possibly indoctrinated. Colton’s like some kind of prophet to his Black Devils. Otherwise, I can’t explain it.”

“Oh, my God!” Carla’s shrill voice tears makes me lose my shit altogether. She comes in with wide eyes, horror imprinted on her tanned face. “I came as soon as I heard. Orry, are you okay?”

She stops in the middle of the room, looking around as she struggles to take it all in. There is something in her expression that startles me, though. Something I can’t put my finger on, yet it irks me somewhere deep down.

Perhaps it’s just an added layer of suspicion coming on the heels of a most egregious attack. We were lucky to survive when twelve of Colton’s men died in what I can only describe as some kind of kamikaze mission.

“What are you doing here, Carla?” I ask, my voice low and weary.

“I was worried, of course,” she says.

One of the CSI investigators comes over, so I nod at him. “Can you please take her away? She’s not supposed to be here.”

The man gently escorts her off the premises.

“Hell, if she hadn’t sent that stupid picture, Nadia wouldn’t have come over in the first place,” Kai grumbles, practically reading my mind.

I’m about to delve back into my initial proposal of reaching out to the FBI regarding Colton Harrow when I see Michael Kessler coming in hot. My spine tingles. I sense danger. Fucking hell, he looks furious. His face is red and his eyes are glassy and flickering with rage.

“Kai, watch out,” I mutter.

As soon as Quicksilver steps into the clubhouse and sees me, all hell breaks loose. I see Carla standing outside the crime scene perimeter, watching curiously. She’s far enough away not to disturb anyone, but I don’t like that inquisitive gaze of hers.

“You son of a bitch!” Michael snarls and lunges at me.

Kai swiftly catches him in a lion’s chokehold and pulls him back. “Don’t struggle, you’ll pass out,” he warns Quicksilver.

“Let go of me, you piece of shit, I’ll kill you both!” He pauses from his squirming and looks around. “Where’s Drake? Where’s that treacherous prick?”

Drake hears the commotion and rushes downstairs, equally befuddled when he sees Michael. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Quicksilver snaps, then gives Kai a stern look. “I’m calm, you can let go of me.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Kai coolly insists.

“There are cops all over the place,” Quicksilver hisses and takes a deep breath. “I’m calm.”

Kai nods and lets go, then takes a step back, but the tension lingers in his shoulders. He’s ready to hold the man back again if he goes overboard. Not that Kessler can take the three of us at once.

“You three are the absolute worst!” Kessler says, pointing angry fingers left and right. “You need to stay the fuck away from my daughter, or I will bury you, and I will bury the club with you!”

“We didn’t see this coming,” I try to reason with him. “Nadia was just picking up some papers—”

“Cut the shit!” he shouts. “I know the truth. I know you three have been … all of you, you degenerates! It ends right now, you hear me? Grown ass men, defiling my daughter!”

Drake raises his hands in a slightly defensive manner. “Quick, it’s not like that, I promise. It’s consensual, it’s based on the utmost respect. We didn’t want to keep it from you, we just didn’t think you would understand.”

“My precious Nadia had a bright future ahead of her until you showed up and ruined her life,” Quick replies, his tone harsher than ever. I don’t recall ever receiving so much vitriol from this man, and so I don’t quite know how to react. It actually hurts me deep down. “No more, you hear me. You’ve done enough harm.”

“Quick, hold on, I’m sure Nadia doesn’t feel the same way,” I try to reason with him.

“Nadia doesn’t know what she feels right now, she has no idea what she’s gotten herself into, and I blame you, all of you. You need to stay away from her. It’s not a request. Stay away from my daughter. Period. If I catch any of you anywhere near her ever again, there will be hell to pay!”

I’m not sure there’s anything I can do or say at this moment to make Michael understand. His anger is sizzling hot. He’s an irate father who feels his daughter’s honor was tarnished. Of course, I should’ve seen this coming. Any man in his right mind would probably do the same or maybe worse. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to find a pistol or a shotgun in the trunk of his Lexus, with bullets for each of us mongrels.

“Stay the fuck away from her,” he says again and leaves.

The silence that lingers after he leaves is damn near unbearable. My heart feels heavy, my stomach tight as I try to make sense of today’s events. So many things went horribly wrong, one after the other. I didn’t have time to process one incident when the other came tumbling in. Then another and another until … well, this impressive clusterfuck.

“Yeah, so today has been fucking amazing,” Drake mutters. I reckon he’s taking it the worst. He and Michael were always close. They’ve been working together on some independent projects, and I wonder how it will affect their relationship going forward. Quicksilver may be a man of means and reputation, but he is more than happy to go down in the gutter and get his hands dirty to protect those he loves, and right now, we’re the enemy, whether we like it or not. “What are we going to do, guys?”

“Most importantly, what did he mean that we ruined Nadia’s life?” Kai wonders aloud, his brow deeply furrowed. “We’ve kept this on the down-low, after all. She must’ve been the one to tell him about us, and I don’t understand why.”

“Paddy assured us she’s okay,” I add, equally confused. “No harm, no injuries. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Whatever it is, it drove her to tell Quick,” Drake says. “And we can’t exactly talk to her about it. Not today, anyway.”

“Heads up,” Kai warns us.

Someone else approaches the clubhouse, walking past the CSI techs with noticeable confidence and a heavy footstep. It’s a tall man in a black suit. I catch a glimpse of his holstered gun as he takes a badge out of his back pocket.

“Great, the hits keep coming,” I whisper.

It’s as if the universe has decided to screw us beyond repair, today of all days.

“Can I help you?” I ask the man as he comes in.

“I think I might be able to help you,” he says, a smile tugging the corner of his mouth. “Agent Dale Johnson, Federal Bureau of Investigation. The LA field office, to be specific. Sheriff Spencer reached out to us earlier this morning.”

Kai and Drake both look at me, understandably suspicious, but all I can do is shrug in genuine confusion. “Don’t even think about it; I didn’t say anything,” I tell them.

“The sheriff is concerned. He admitted that he and his deputies are overwhelmed and that we might be able to assist, given our track record with California’s more notorious biker gangs. I understand you fellas have a bit of a situation going on here,” Johnson says, motioning at the disaster around him.

“You’re quite perceptive; I’ll give you that,” I mutter, crossing my arms.

Kai exhales sharply and lowers his gaze for a moment. “Fine, Orry. Let’s try it your way. I’m tired, I swear to God, I’m so fucking tired.”

Drake nods at me. “Go on. Do your thing. You have our full support. We’re with you all the way, Orry, as always.”

I’m honestly thankful. I never would’ve considered collaborating with the Feds without my friends and partners behind me. We came into this together, and it’s only fair that we fight every battle together, all the way through to the best possible conclusion. I’m tired, too. I’m tired of the violence, of the drugs, and the gun running. I’m tired of constantly looking over my shoulder and ending up utterly disgraced after years spent in service to my country.

“All right then, I guess it’s time for the four of us to have a chat somewhere more private,” I conclude, giving Agent Johnson a confident nod.

I may not like what we have to do in order to protect ourselves and our future. I may not like that I’m having to break the bikers’ code for this, but it will save so many lives in the process. It will keep Nadia safe and out of harm’s way. It will save the club and give us a proper chance to really go legit with it.

We’ll have to pay a hefty price for this, but I am ready. I am willing. And I am too determined to survive Colton Harrow to let this opportunity slip through our fingers.