CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

-:- ROCK -:-

Not being at Red’s last night showed me how much I miss her already. I’ve only stayed over at her house a few nights, but I’m committed and want her with me every night. If and when Garrett gets out of the slammer I’m going to miss Jessica too. She is such a clever child for her age that you automatically treat her as if she is older.

Red is clinging to Jessica more than usual, and I’m sure it’s because she’s worried about when she eventually has to let her go to Garrett. Specs is already gathering evidence against Jerica, so if she tries to get Jessica, we’ll have more than a little ammunition to show the court she’s an unfit mother.

The thing that started all of this was Jerica being attacked, and it has me wondering if she was pushing someone’s buttons at the time! It seems odd that Stone would try it on with her when her husband was only a few steps away! None of it makes sense to me, but Garrett is paying the price, and I hope Ryker is making Jerica pay it too.

Leaving the clubhouse this morning, I overheard Axel telling Mia he was going over to Nell’s to check out how many we took down last night, and what they know. That’s going to be interesting, and I’m sure we’ll be told later today or in church tomorrow. I just hope we have Stone or we can find out where the fucker is hiding.

Most everyone stayed at the clubhouse last night, as we didn’t get back until the early hours of the morning. Eden had Silver take her and Harrison home, as she couldn’t get Harrison settled in the crib in their room here. It is early days for them as a family and I’m sure it will take time for Harrison to get used to sleeping in different places, with unfamiliar noises.

Tilly and Hammer also took Quinn home, and I’m sure we’ll not see them again for a week. But who can blame them? They need time with Quinn and getting her into a routine. Tilly and Hammer more than likely won’t have any more children, but they’ll give Quinn the best life a kid could ask for.

I don’t know where Meat was this morning, but I didn’t see him in the kitchen. In fact, thinking about it, the Three Stooges were running around making everyone breakfast. That was odd, as he would normally have everything under control, but the kitchen had that feeling of everything being rushed.

By the time I arrive at Hot Hogs and Cages, Fist has the door open to the building and is working on the Shelby Cobra with Griff. That’s going to earn the club a lot of green, and I’m sure it’ll be a sight when it’s finished. I’m sure it will stretch them mechanically, because it’s a rust bucket at this point.

“Morning, Rock.”

Turning, I give Raw a nod in reply. He’s starting to work on the Apache Pickup Truck for Grease. It’s going to have a lot of new parts and will cost Grease some cash, but I’m sure he’ll think it’s worth it when Raven gives him his reward. “Get a list of what you need for the pickup, and I’ll make sure we have all the parts in stock,” I tell Raw, and he gives me a nod before turning to work. “Make sure Splash knows what Grease wants sprayed on it, and the colors are all stocked at the ready, too.”

“Will do, Rock. I’ll put the list on your desk once I get it done.” Raw moves away and gets his head back under the hood.

I make my way over to the Hog's side of the business and check Clay, Dice, and Krylon are okay and need nothing. Splash is sweeping the bay that we had for cages and it’s going to become another bay for a hog to be worked on.

“Splash, if you want to, give that bay a lick of paint to spruce it up a bit.”

“No problem, Rock. I can do that. It won’t take too long, and I’ll put the heater in here so it dries out quickly,” Splash replies, continuing to sweep.

“When are you planning on working on the doors?” I ask.

“Tomorrow, and Siggy is going to give me a hand. It’s gonna look awesome, I’m sure.” Splash is obviously excited.

My phone rings and taking it out of the top pocket of my coverall, I see it's Axel. “Yeah, Pres, what’s up?”

“Have you seen anything of Meat or Target?” Axel asks, and I frown while thinking.

“Not this morning I haven’t Pres, but I saw them last night when we returned to the clubhouse. They were both in the kitchen when I grabbed a bottle of water. Why is this a worry?”

“Well, Winter and Star didn’t return last night, and now Target and Meat are missing too,” Axel growls.

“If Winter and Star didn’t return, they’ve gone to look for them. Do you want me on my hog and over at the clubhouse? We can go over and to that fuckin’ town and look for them.”

“Leave it with me for now, but if I need to get all brothers out I will, so be on standby.”

“Okay, Pres, I’ll warn everyone here to be ready to drop all tools if needed.” I rub my forehead because that’s odd that nobody missed the women last night. But Meat lives on the compound, not in the clubhouse, and Target lives at the shooting range so it would be less likely to notice them missing.

Clay, Dice, and Fist I quickly alert to the situation, and make sure they will be ready to roll out of here if needed. The rest know they’ll have to keep the place running until we get back.

I’m pleased I spoke to Red first thing this morning on the phone because it’s going to be one hell of a busy day. If we get called out to help find our missing brothers, it could be a long day and night.

Hearing nothing throughout the day, I assume that the brothers were found, along with Winter and Star. My aim was to go straight to Red’s, but I think I need to check what’s going on first, so I head back to the clubhouse along with Fist, Clay, and Dice.

Parking our hogs, I frown when I see Wings digging a massive hole. Do I want to know what he’s doing? No, keep walking I think to myself, and make my way inside the clubhouse.

“What do you think he’s doing?” Dice asks.

“No idea, and I’m not getting involved.” Replying with a wince because it’s usually something he shouldn’t be doing, and I don’t want getting wrapped up in his shit.

“It was a fair size hole,” Clay adds, and Fist takes off toward Wings. I shake my head because Fist will never learn. He’s gotta know what’s goin’ on.

Axel, Drag, and Buzz are sitting at a table with Winter, Star, Target, and Meat. Now, I’m pleased they are safe, but it looks like a tense conversation.

“Okay, what do you think’s going on?” Fist asks as he steps up beside me.

“I’ve got no idea, but I’m sure we’ll find out,” Clay chuckles.

Walking over to the bar, I give Cork a nod to pass me a beer. Why he’s behind the bar I’m not sure? “Why are you not at the wine shop?” I can’t resist asking.

“I left one of the staff working and I’ll go over there once I know what’s going on.”

“What have you heard so far?” I ask. Fist, Clay and Dice take a cold one from Cork, then lean on the bar, waiting to hear whatever he knows.

“Okay, let’s see. Winter and Star took down three of the gang after we all left. They tasered the shit outta them, just for the fun of it, according to Star.”

“Fuck!” Dice grimaces.

“Well, Winter said they wanted to see how much they needed to be zapped before they pissed or shit their pants,” Cork laughs. “Meat thought that was hilarious and wanted to know the result of their experiment. Target just looked like he wasn’t surprised and Axel has that , ‘What…The…Actual…Fuck’ look on his face.”

“Christ, I’m fuckin’ pleased I’m on the side of the women,” Clay chuckles, before it turns into an actual laugh. “When I find my woman I hope she’s not timid, ‘cause man, can you imagine how the Ol’ Ladies would have her turned into a biker babe in no time? She’d end up needing counseling.”

We all laugh at that image because he’s right. Red is fairly calm compared to Winter, Star and even Raven, but I can imagine with her red hair she’d be a candidate for them to turn into an Ol’ Lady that gets into trouble.

“Anyone know what Wings is digging?” I ask, and get a shake of the head from each of them. “Oh, well, we’ll have to wait and see then,” I continue, but hope he’s not going to get himself into more trouble or he’ll end up being buried in the hole he’s digging.

Tapping on the table has us all looking over at Axel, who stands and gives us all a look that says, ‘Pay attention.’

“Winter and Star took down three of the gang members last night after we returned to the clubhouse. It seems one may be Stone, but until I’ve been over to Nell’s, we won’t be sure. Winter and Star are grounded and will stay at Meat’s property for the next week. They cannot leave the cabin, they are indoors only. If you see them outside, I want to know. You got me?” Axel states, and we all give him a nod and a ‘Yes, Pres.’

Winter, Star, Meat and Target leave the common room via the kitchen, and we all know they will settle into Meat’s cabin. But we all also know that Meat’s cabin is like Fort Knox and he has a fuckin’ armory, so there is no saying what they will get up to.

-:- AXEL -:-

After Buzz confirms that Meat and the others are inside his cabin, and reports back to me I walk over to Mia, who is settled with the twins playing in a corner of the common room, along with Bitty and Jo.

“I’m going over to Nell’s. You stay inside the compound with all this shit kicking off. I don’t want to take any risks with you or the boys.” I squat down and give Mia a kiss and run my hand over my boys' heads, before giving Bitty and Jo a small chin lift.

“Be careful, Axel.” Mia blows me a kiss and I catch it and place it in my pocket, along with all the others she’s blown to me over the years we’ve been together. The softening of her eyes always shows me how much she loves me doing that.

“Come on. You are truly pussy whipped,” Buzz says, but he is chuckling while saying it, or I’d beat him to a pulp. Instead, I shrug my shoulders as I walk out of the clubhouse to my hog. Buzz, Drag and BS are with me and all four of us are ready for anything.

Arriving at Nell’s, I’m not surprised when Graham opens the front door before we’ve switched off our hogs. “You ready to see some shit?” He asks as I walk toward him.

“I’m ready to see whatever happens with the fuckers. They are not men, that’s for sure. It’s something I’ve never been able to stomach, trafficking, child abuse, rapes, all that shit turns my guts. I have no issue with giving the fuckers a bullet, and I mean women as well as men,” I reply as I step into the boarding house.

“You gotta see what’s goin’ on. It’s fucking hilarious.” Graham chuckles, and I’m not sure what he’s talking about, but I follow him through the house and to the cells.

Standing outside a cell, I’m surprised to see Vincenzo inside with three of his men. One is young and looking decidedly green. Nell is smirking as she walks over to us.

“Vincenzo asked if I had anyone in the cells, and when I told him we had, he asked if he could bring three of his soldiers who need to learn more torture techniques. Well, I didn’t see it as a problem because he can get the answers we need without us getting blood on our hands, clothes, hair, you know, all over.” Nell is teasing, and I know she’s saying this loud enough for the poor fuckers being tortured to hear.

“Cut off his little finger. That’s the way to start, then you move on to the next until you take his thumb. I know he ends up with a stump on the end of his arm, but that’s his problem, not ours,” Vincenzo tells the man he’s teaching how to torture.

You can smell the fear and panic in the air. It’s like a living thing. But we need answers, and we need this gang taken down. I have no sympathy for any of them. “If they give us Stone, then it’ll be less torture for them,” I say loudly, and see one of the men’s head shoot up and turn to face me.

He looks familiar, but I’m not sure where I’ve seen him before. But he’s sweating at the thought of being tortured. “Maybe Vincenzo can get him to talk,” I state, pointing at the poor fucker looking at me.

“We can do him next, Axel,” Vincenzo says and gives me a wink before turning back to his man and explaining how to cauterize.

“I picked up three from Winter and Star last night. They are in the cell at the end. I think the one you are looking for is one of them, but you need to look.” Nell walks over to the end cell and stands with her arms crossed.

Standing next to Nell, I wait until all three have looked up, and that’s when I notice the one in the middle is none other than Stone, the fucker we’ve been after. Turning my head, I look at Drag, “Get Forest here. He can decide if he wants to arrest some of these fuckers or not. The ones ‘not’ Nell can use as fodder for you know what. Stone, however, is not going out of here alive. He needs to die.”

Four hours later, Forest has eight arrested and the rest he said get rid of. Nell, Graham and Tank, who were standing waiting for his decision, give a nod of understanding.

Vincenzo now has three more men who can torture with ease. I grin when I see the bucket with fingers, toes, ears and even notice a nose among them.

“You can’t just kill us all,” Stone says as he steps up to the cell door.

“Yeah, we can, and we will. You’re nothing but vermin, preying on women and children. The world will be a better place without you in it,” I snarl.

“We deserve justice. Being arrested and going to trial,” he continues.

“You deserve nothing,” Drag replies, stepping up to the cell bars, grabbing Stone by the front of his shirt and slamming him headfirst into the bars. “Scum is what you are, and you deserve what’s comin’.”

Now we know Stone is off the streets, his gang of merry men are done with. We can head back to the clubhouse and think it’s a job well done. Now I need to speak to Death again and see if he’s found the truck that had taken the women to Nevada.