BROKEN ROAD (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novella) (2 page)

BOOK: BROKEN ROAD (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novella)
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two.

 

Keira topped off all the shot
glasses on the bar. Five big hands grabbed the small glasses and threw them all
back at once. The five men turned the shot glasses over and slammed them down.


Now,
let

s talk,

Apollo said in his rough voice.

He was the President of Rusted
Devil MC. When he spoke, everyone listened.

Keira

s
stepbrother, Kami, was the VP. He was next to Apollo and remained standing as
the rest of the guys took a seat.


What
do we have?

Apollo asked.


Clean
up crew is north,

Kami
said. He folded his arms.

The
rest of it is a goddamn mess. This was a blatant attack. Well planned out.


Six
months?

Hale asked.


If
it was the cartel, why not?

Kami asked.

They do shit
like that, man. That

s the
risk of it all. You start playing with fire and you get burned.


How
poetic,

Hale said.


Hey,
go fuck yourself.

Hale stood up. Before another word
could be spoken, Kami dove at him.

Keira watched as Kami hit Hale
three times in the face before someone stopped the fight. It was Apollo,
grabbing Kami by the shoulder and ripping his back.


Jesus,
you

ll kill him,

Apollo said.


Good,

Kami snapped.

All you fuckers wanted to vote
this shit. Now we have a supply warehouse in ashes, half our crew dead, and no
fucking cash.


Calm
down,

Keira said.

Please, Kami.


Listen
to your sister,

Apollo
warned.

Kami shook Apollo away and stormed
out of the bar.

That

s
what that MC had left. A little bar with a few rooms attached to the back. It
used to be a place where the guys would come, drink, take a woman to the back,
and do whatever. But the last few years had been rough. Keira watched it all
crumble. Bad deals and attacks stripped Rusted Devil down to bare bones. Now
the latest attack took even the bones away.

The club looked ready to implode.

That would send a lot of guys out
on the street to do what?


They
think they have us,

Apollo
said.

They don

t have shit. We can rebuild
easily.


How?

Pitt asked. He gripped a beer
bottle so tight it looked ready to explode in his hand.


We
attack,

Apollo said.

We go rogue. Take what we want.
Fight for what we need.


Fight?

Petey asked.


That

s right. Place all our bets down
at the
snake pit
.

That put the bar in silence.

Keira slipped away from the bar and
went outside to find Kami. He was pacing back and forth like a rabid dog. His
hands tight into fists.


You
need to go back inside,

Keira said.


Fuck
Apollo.


You
can

t say that,

she said and grabbed Kami

s arm.

He stopped and stared at her.

I know. It

s been hard.


He

s doing what feels right.


A
cartel?


You
guys have the land and chance,

Keira said.

I

ve been listening to it for a
long time. Something went wrong and they made a statement. The club needs to be
in a stronger position before dealing with them again.

Kami grinned.

Look at you. My little sis
making decisions.


I
just listen.


You

re smart, Keira. You should go
somewhere else.


I
know,

she said.

They talked about it all the time.
But Keira had no place to go. Her life was lived on the road. Always on the run
to get by. To escape pain, abuse, anything that tried to hurt her. As
dysfunctional as Rusted Devil MC was right now, the MC was her protective
blanket.


I
better go in there,

Kami
said.


Go.
I

m going to stay out here
and catch my breath.

Kami went back inside.

Keira took a seat on the side of
the building. The truth was that she was simply hiding. From a man who wanted
nothing more than to see her finally die. All because of one night and one
really big mistake.

But he hadn

t made contact in a long time.

If he ever did again, he

d have to face the MC.

Something had to give with Rusted
Devil MC though. The drug running and arms dealing had taken a big toll on
everyone. A lot of guys put on their leather cuts, took the road, and never
came back. They were so depleted now that Keira figured Apollo would open
membership.

A new slew of guys? Prospects?

That was a ton of work.

That meant personalities, fights,
drunks, and lots of new guys to grab ass at Keira. Of course, that meant a
whole new bunch of guys for Kami to get pissed off at and want to fight.

I should just sneak away while I
can
.

Keira told herself that thought
time and time again. She knew it would hurt Kami, but he

d get over it. He

d
find comfort in booze and women and eventually she would slip to the back of
his mind.

Keira heard voices and the bar door
opened. She hurried to her feet and rushed to see two more guys fighting each
other. Hale and Pitt were pushing and shoving, Hale

s face looking really bad because of Kami.

Apollo came out last, walking slow.
He reminded Keira of the boss guy in mafia movies. Apollo took out a gun and
pointed it into the air. Two shots fired and everyone stopped.


You
have goddamn orders,

Apollo yelled.

We

re down to the wire. You all
want to fucking end up pumping gas for a living?


I

d rather die,

Hale said.

Apollo walked right to Hale and put
the gun to his chest.

You
ready?


I

m always ready,

Hale said.

Keira crept forward and into the
fold.

You

re a fucking idiot, Hale.

That got everyone

s attention.

Kami laughed.


Say
that again,

Hale said.


You
heard me. The club is almost wiped clean and you

re
acting like this? If you can

t
handle the cut, give it to me. I

ll
fucking wear it. I

ll die
for the club.


I

ll smack you, bitch,

Hale growled.

Kami lunged but Apollo grabbed him.


Let
her go,

Apollo whispered.

Hale stepped toward Keira. Her
heart raced.

What did I just do?


You
think you can survive this life?

Hale asked.

Keira didn

t answer. Instead, she wound up and slapped him
right in the face. Right where Kami had hit him. Hale let out a scream and
reached for his gun.

Apollo stepped in and stopped
anything else from happening.

Keira felt the emotion catch up to
her. She turned and ran. Part of her wanted to just go. Be gone for good.
Instead, she stopped at the back of the bar.

Kami appeared a minute later with a
towel.

You have blood on
your hand.

Keira looked and realized she did.


It

s Hale

s,

Kami said.

He

s fucked a lot of weird chicks,
too. You never know what he

s
carrying.


That

s really disgusting,

Keira said.

Keira wiped her hand and dropped
the towel.


Apollo
is opening membership,

Kami said.

He

s also looking for a fighter or
two.


A
fighter?


Yeah,

Kami said.

He wants to earn down at the
snake
pit
. We can

t go down
ourselves after what happened. Plus, none of the guys could handle the
pressure. And we can

t
afford to lose anyone else.


So
send someone down there to fight? That

s
a trap.


Oh
well. It

s not me.

Keira just shook her head. The
snake
pit
was a bad place. It stripped men - and women - of their souls.

Of course Kami didn

t want to go there. None of the
guys in Rusted Devil wanted to go either. It took a really tough man to go in
there and come out alive and the same.

And that was just something Keira
hadn

t seen in a long time

a real tough man.

 

three.

 

Miller threw a bottle at the wall
and walked away. Gaige and Blaine put their hands out, letting it known to just
leave Miller be.

Jake sat with a few other patched
in members. They were in a corner of the clubhouse, having a drink, trying to
unwind from the day. There had been a weird attack in town earlier in the
afternoon. A couple assholes from another crew came into town. They were from
some MC two hours away. Part of the Rusted Skull MC. They had gone right down
into the shit hole area and were shaking people down for drugs and cash. Just whipping
out their guns like they owned the town.

If that wasn

t enough, they had the balls to pull guns on Gaige,
Blaine, and Jake. Blaine took a shot and got one of the guy

s in the shoulder. The other guy
quickly took off.


Is
he alive?

Jake asked.


Not
anymore,

Blaine said.

We got enough out of him.


Rusted
Devil MC has been fucking around with a cartel,

Gaige said.

They

ve been bringing us some heat
indirectly, and now they tried to fuck with us here in town. That doesn

t fly.


So
what do we do?

Jake asked.

Retaliate?


Can

t,

Blaine said. He grabbed between his legs and adjusted himself.

Hey, is it true that if you don

t come, it backs up? Like it
just collects and makes everything heavy?


What?

Jake asked.


Bro,
listen to me,

Blaine said.

I

ll show you my balls if you want.


No,

Gaige said.

Nobody wants to see your balls.


When
was the last time you had sex?

Jake asked.


When
did I eat breakfast

,

Blaine asked and rubbed his
chin.


Christ,

Gaige said.

You had sex today?


Yeah,

Blaine said.

Just once. Quick too, because of
the mess in town. I had to hurry up and get it going.


Wow,

Jake said.

I

m
glad we

re talking about
your balls, Blaine.


Sorry,

Blaine said.

I need to drain these boys out.


I

ll fucking shoot them,

Gaige said.

Back on track here

there

s something the guy said to us.


You
got him to talk,

Jake
said.


I
put a blowtorch to his dick,

Blaine said with a grin.

Soon
as I started hitting the spark, his mouth went wild.


Damn,

Jake said.

Gaige grabbed a chair, spun it
around and straddled it.

Here

s what we know. Something big
and bad has happened with Rusted Devil and some fucking cartel. They

ve been pushing at each other.
The cartel scheduled some kind of pick up and it was a set up. They blew up
some facility and took out a lot of the Rusted Devil guys.


So
what?

Jake asked.


I
agree,

Gaige said.

Another crew? I don

t give a fuck. I

m in the business of making
friends. But the thing is this

if the cartel has access and movement, we don

t
need anything happening here. The fact that Rusted Devil even came near Frelen
means there

s eyes on us.


Wait
a second, bro,

Blaine
said.

Could this be
related to the Coast Road shit? To what happened to Nate?


Maybe,

Gaige said.

But we need someone to take this
on.

Jake felt the eyes on him.

You want me to do it.


They

re broke,

Blaine said.

That

s why they were shaking down
guys in town. Probably going town to town doing it. There

s a fighting ring down there.
Other crews, gangs, fallen fighters, bodybuilders, whatever, they all go there
to bet big money, man. And it

s
not usually the crews that do it, Jake. It

s
politicians. Businessmen. Rich fucks.


Christ,

Jake said.

Sounds dirty.


It

s call the
snake pit
,

Gaige said.


I
saw it once,

Blaine said.

It

s

even for me
…”


That
bad?

Jake asked.


They
have a collection of bones, man. Bones. Some guys get out. Some guys don

t. It

s hidden enough that nobody gives a shit about it.


You
could make money there,

Gaige said.

Big money.


And
you

re telling me this

why?

Jake asked.


I
called in a favor,

Blaine
said.

Some chick I fucked
has a brother who has a cousin who has a best friend who has a sister that I
also fucked who has a dog that gets walked by some other chick that I really
fucked who knows a guy that

s
friends with someone in the Rusted Devil MC crew.

Jake laughed and shook his head.

The crazy part of that thing,
Blaine, is I believe everything you just said.


I
have no reason to lie,

Blaine said.


Get
to the point,

Gaige said.


Rusted
Devil MC has an open membership going,

Blaine said.

And they

re looking for a fighter. They
want someone to go to the
snake pit
and earn big.


You
want me to go into the
snake pit
and earn big,

Jake said with a grin.


Yeah,

Gaige said.

For us. For the MC. To find out
what the fuck they

re
doing. Who their enemies are. We can

t
have a cartel coming anywhere near us right now.


So
I

m going undercover,

Jake said.


You

re the best fighter in this
club,

Blaine said.

The only one with some real
experience.

Jake couldn

t argue that. There was a time in his life when he
was a legit fighter. He won, made money, even had a couple chances at
sponsorships. It was before fighting became such a mainstream sport with
pay-per-views and major contracts. Still, Jake had made a decent enough living.

Until he got into a fight outside a
bar and


What
are you thinking, brother?

Gaige asked.


I
don

t want to leave my cut
behind,

Jake said.


That

s your biggest worry?

Blaine asked.

You might be fucking crazier
than me.

Jake stood up and put a hand to
Blaine

s shoulder.

No, man. Nobody in this world is
crazier than you. Now go find yourself something to fuck.

Blaine looked at Gaige and Gaige
nodded. Blaine walked away. Jake then looked down at Gaige.


Are
you asking or telling me?

Jake asked.


Does
it matter?

Gaige asked.


No,

Jake said.

We

ll
need a drop spot. That

s
where I

ll leave my cut.
Then we communicate through there. Dig holes and bury notes. Go back and forth.


Jake,
you understand what this entails,

Gaige said.


I
become a fucking rat.


That

s heavy.


It

s okay. You guys have your hands
full here. We

re not going
to ride out there and start another war, right?


Exactly,

Gaige said.

They

re going to have their eyes on us because we took
one of their members. So you need to give us a heads up if they want to attack.
Mostly, man, just get in there. Have a couple shots, talk big, whatever. Ask
questions about membership and be blunt. Someone will talk about why they need
bodies. And anything you get
…”

Jake put a hand to Gaige

s shoulder.

Hey, I wear this cut proud,
Gaige. You guys took me off the street and off trial. I lost everything until I
found Back Down Devil. I

ll
leave my cut in the ground and I ask one thing.


What

s that?

Gaige asked, looking up at Jake.


When
they make me and I get killed, I don

t
want a dark ride. I don

t
want to be praised or remembered. I want you to just bury my cut and let me
find it on the other side.

Gaige nodded. He put a hand to Jake

s and squeezed.

Thank you, brother. From myself,
Miller, the entire
…”


Save
it,

Jake said.

Don

t give me the speech, Gaige.


I

ll personally sponsor you to get
at the table,

Gaige said.


I
don

t want to be at the
table,

Jake said.

When I do leave for this little
mission?


Tomorrow
morning. You ride alone and we

ll
have a ditch spot for your ride. Then you walk. Hitchhike your way to Rusted
Devil. Go right to their bar and make your move.

Jake let go of Gaige and walked for
the door. Outside, it was calm and clear. A beautiful night. Hooking his thumbs
into the pockets of his jeans, Jake looked around the lot.

This wasn

t a rat thing. This wasn

t a loyalty thing. This wasn

t a mission. It was about information. It was
suicide. Some men would take a bullet and be gone. Some men would live to be
old and riddled with cancer. Everyone was chased down by death.

Jake accepted that a long time ago.

His eyes scanned the lot again.

It

s been nice knowing you.

BOOK: BROKEN ROAD (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novella)
7.81Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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