Chapter 4

Mace

A fter washing up, I headed to my room to contact Storm. I needed to tell him what had gone down. While it wasn’t club business, if someone was setting up camp near our cabin then it was rapidly becoming our business. Especially if that someone looked to be involved with the cartel.

He picked up on the second ring.

“Hello Mace. Are you have a nice time on your vacation?”

“No so much as you would think. Look boss, I ran into some trouble up here in the forest,” I decided not to beat around the bush, our president didn’t like wasting time.

“I’m putting you on speaker phone. What kind of trouble?”

“I was exploring near our cabin when I heard a woman screaming.”

“Shit, don’t tell me we have another guy taking women out into the forest and dropping them.”

“No, Prez. It’s nothing like that. I followed the scream and discovered she was scared by a snake.”

I could hear several of my club brothers chucking and Storm said mildly, “I hope you told her most snakes in the forest are nonvenomous.”

“Yeah, she knows that now. Here’s the thing. Her old man was there along with a crew of his own. I swear they looked to me like a Mexican cartel setting up shop in that old falling down cabin about fifteen miles from ours. One of the men threatened her, and long story short, I helped her get away from them.”

Suddenly, everyone started talking at once. Then Breaker’s voice rose above the others. “What were they doing out there?”

“Most of my attention was focused on getting the woman to safety, but it looked like they might be running drugs or guns. There were vans there and lot of men. Most were packing weapons. I might or might not have had to shoot one of them to get her out of there.”

Grit’s voice chimed in, “If you killed one of their men, they’re gonna be out for blood, Mace. Good job on saving the woman but you can’t stay at the cabin until this situation is sorted out.”

“That’s what I thought you were gonna say. I had thought of heading out to the bunker. At least it’s defendable if they find us.”

“Better yet, bring her to the clubhouse. They wouldn’t dare to come for her if she’s here.” That was Breaker talking and he wasn’t wrong about that.

“I don’t think she’s gonna want to do that. I barely got her to trust me by letting her talk to my freaking mom and gran. It was next level embarrassing, you know what those two can be like.”

Storm chuckled. “As long as she’s somewhere safe, it should be her choice.”

I hesitated for a moment before bringing up my own issue. “I have one more complication. You know I’ve been hunting down an old burial site for my people. I really don’t want these fuckers tromping around here without eyes on them in case they stumble onto the site. I can’t have them desecrating graves or carting off trinkets.”

There was a long drawn-out silence on the other end of the line. It took me a second to realize that I’d been muted. Finally Storm came back on the line. “We agree about the burial site being of extreme importance. We’re going to send out a team of ten brothers. They can help you guard the woman and gather information on those potential cartel members. You said the newcomers were camped at the old cabin. I’ll send up the brothers in a couple of pickup trucks with supplies. We’ll get them to take the back roads. They’ll be less likely to be seen that way.”

“Do you think we should head to the bunker now, while it’s dark? Or wait for sunup?”

Storm thought it over for a second. “If you think you can make it there safely, then go now. Once the sun comes up, they’ll be hunting you en masse because you shot their guy.”

“That’s what I thought as well. I’m going to get off here and get moving before it gets too late.”

Storm spoke up again. “Me, Breaker, Grit, and Celt will be amongst those coming out early in the morning. I want to talk to this woman myself and see what she knows.”

“She comes from abuse, significant abuse. She might freak out if a bunch of bikers start questioning her.”

Breaker interjected reassuringly, “Don’t worry, we’ll handle her with kid gloves. We’re not looking to traumatize her any further.”

“Alright,” I said reluctantly. “I’m just worried about her mental health.”

“You’re a good prospect, Mace. It’s high time we voted on you joining the brotherhood as well.” Storm’s reassurance made me feel better about the situation.

“Maybe after we get these fuckers out of our backyard?” I suggested.

After I got off the phone with my club brothers, I made a beeline for Alicia.

As I approached the guest room, I could hear her talking on a phone. “I didn’t want to get out of there, I had to get out of there. I came within an inch of being raped. What about that don’t you understand?” I hadn’t realized she had a cell phone with her and for a moment I wondered why. But then I figured if she was stuck in that cabin with a bunch of criminals then she wouldn’t want to leave her belongings lying around.

There was a short silence. I lifted my hand and knocked on her door because eavesdropping on her conversation was a shitty thing to do and I typically thought of myself as a better human being than that.

I heard her say, “Sorry, I’ve gotta go.”

I stepped back and a few seconds later the door flew open and there stood Alicia. “What’s up, Mace. Do you need me to do something?”

“Yeah, I spoke to my club president and the other officers. They want us to head to the bunker just to be safe. They’re sending reinforcements and supplies out first thing in the morning.”

“Reinforcements? I thought you said we’d be safe there.”

“There’s more going on here than just you and your father’s men. I was out in that forest today for a reason. I have things that are culturally important to me and my people that need to be protected. My club brothers are coming to help me with that, as much as to lend a hand with your father setting up camp in our backyard.”

She looked really nervous, kept shifting her stance from one leg to the other and glancing away. “Okay, I’m sorry to assume that everything was all about me. I hope you find whatever cultural things you’re referring to. If I can do anything at all to help in that regard and make myself useful, I’d be happy to help.”

“I’d like for you to go fill one of the rucksacks in the bottom of the hall closet with clothing. Can you do that for me? Take anything you need in terms of hygiene supplies from the bathroom closet. The old ladies in our club keep it stocked with supplies for whoever needs them, the bunker has some stuff but it’s more for emergencies.”

She nodded, looking away. “I’m sorry to be such a burden to you and your people.”

I tried to lighten the mood. “You’re not. We get mixed up in other people’s problems with alarming regularity. It keeps us on our toes and things are never boring.”

She lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. “I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not right now. It’s hard to tell with you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, run and get ready so we can get out of here.”

I turned away when she headed to the hall closet and double checked my own bag. All of the brothers kept lockers in the basement with our hunting and fishing gear inside. I headed down and opened mine, retrieving a couple more handguns and extra ammo. I rummaged thought my supplies, taking only what I thought I would need because it was important to travel light and fast tonight. I knew that I was surefooted in the dark because sometimes I hunted and fished at night. I’d just have to be extra careful with Alicia.

Being around her was causing me to think thoughts I dared not think. I’d never really thought about settling down, I knew my mom and grandmother kept hoping that I’d find a woman and give them some grandbabies, I didn’t see that happening any time soon. But as soon as I set eyes on Alicia I was done for. I wasn’t thinking she’s my one or any shit like that, but fuck… she was one fine woman. Though after that snippet of conversation I heard, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could trust her. Who was she talking to? She seemed earnest enough but maybe everything with her wasn’t as it seems.

As I packed and threw a few energy bars and some chocolate in my bag, I couldn’t help but wonder how accurately she presented her situation. Maybe she was talking to her father, complaining about the guy he picked being rough with her and threatening to take her against her will. Maybe she just wanted a temporary out, until she could talk face-to-face with that piece of shit father of hers.

It could be that she was talking to her mother or some other family member who was questioning if she was really safer with complete stranger. I zipped my bag, looped my arms thought the straps and tightened it down before grabbing my rifle. I wanted to think she was dealing honestly with me, but I just couldn’t be sure at this juncture. I had to stay the course, get to know her better, and keep my eyes and ears open for any hint of treachery.

We met up near the front door and I had her wait for a minute before she came out, to give me a chance to walk the perimeter of our property and look for any signs of danger. It was nice and quiet with only the normal sounds of the night filling my ears. I heard a coyote baying in the distance. Nine came out to stand beside me, I saw him sniffing the air, but there was no sign of tension in his lean body. When he looked up at the rifle in my hand, he licked his chops because he thought we were going night hunting. I reached down and rubbed the top of his head. “Not tonight, my friend, but I need you to be on the lookout. No running off chasing possums or raccoons.”

I whistled and Alicia stuck her head out the door. I motioned for her to join me. Her eyes got big as she walked up to me. “You okay?”

She nodded and pointed to the full moon. “Is it just me or is that moon huge?”

I turned and admired the full glowing moon that did look much larger than usual. “Scientists call it the moon illusion. My people think it’s a lucky moon. If you’re out and about on a night like this something magical might happen.”

Her expression turned skeptical.

“We’re going to go a roundabout way to get to the bunker. Don’t worry we won’t pass by your father’s camp.”

I took her out to my canoe and helped her get settled before stowing our bags and stepping into the canoe myself. Then I whistled for Nine to join us, the canoe rocked alarmingly for a few moments until he got himself situated by Alicia’s feet.

“Are you sure this is safe,” she asked hesitantly.

“Well, we don’t have alligators or crocodiles in this area, and I can’t think of anything else that could upset our canoe. I’ve fished all my life at night. We’ll be fine. When you’re with me, you’re safe.”

Something about the decisive tone of my voice seemed to calm her down.

I shoved us back from the bank and put my paddle in the water. Before she knew what had hit her, we were gliding out and down a part of the river with virtually no rapids. Those were upstream a few miles. Alicia’s eyes were as big as saucers, like she hadn’t gotten to enjoy nature very much in her life. That broke my heart because everyone should be able to get out and do basic shit like this.

***

It took about twenty-five minutes to get to the point that was closest to the bunker. The spot didn’t have a dock, but I pulled the canoe up onto the bank and covered it with some branches. If her father and his goons saw it, it might clue them in that we were hiding somewhere close. The last thing we needed was them swarming the area looking for us.

I picked up her bag and led her carefully along a path littered with pinecones and sticks. It’s not an obvious path, more a track used by animals and I was careful to make sure we kept to the edges—walking on the bumpier grass so as not to leave footprints. This woman was not used to walking on a rough surface. I had catch her a couple of times when she stumbled. Eventually, she just hung onto my arm like I was a lifeline. I liked that far too much, considering how little I knew about her and how little I trusted her in this moment.

When we got to the underground bunker, I keyed in the security code that every member of our club had memorized by heart. Then I popped the round hatch and tossed her bag down. “You’re gonna have to go down first because I need to go last in order to shut the hatch.”

She approached the opening and groaned. The ladder was straight down into a dark void. “Is this the only way in?”

“At the moment, yes. There’s another exit, but we don’t use it at night, because the lights are visible for miles. I’m gonna let Nine in that way, because he’s not good with ladders.”

“Can I not wait with him?” she asked.

“You have two legs and opposable thumbs. Come on, you can do this. I know you can. I don’t want to leave you alone up here. I’ve already seen you be brave once today when you got away from that asshole. Compared to that, climbing down a ladder into the dark unknown is a cakewalk.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she said, “You added that last part on purpose to scare me.”

I grinned. “Maybe I don’t think you’re quite as easily scared as you think you are. Come on, where’s your sense of adventure? The ladder is only thirty feet, once you get to the bottom feel to your left and there’s a light switch. Bet you never thought you’d be riding in a canoe under a starlit sky, but you did it with no messing about.”

She reoriented her body and started descending the ladder. She was slow and kept making little sounds of displeasure, but she made it down. My chest swelled with pride for her.

I told Nine to wait and hold tight then closed the hatch and climbed down with no problems. When I got to the bottom, I turned on the light because Alicia had clearly been too distracted to do it.

As she stood there looking around, I slid off my backpack, pulled out a bar of chocolate and said, “Head’s up. Treat incoming.”

She turned just in time to catch it, and her eyes lit up. “If I’m getting rewards, it’s gonna make me wildly more adventurous. You know that, right?”

The teasing quality of her voice made me think it wasn’t going to be as easy as all that.