Crash (Black Ice MC Novella Book 2) (2 page)

A few minutes later, Mercer made a few turns.
 
At a stoplight, he turned back to Danni.
 
“Clubhouse is just around this corner.”

They waited for the green light, and when they turned the corner, Danni was shocked at what she saw.
 
It was a large building, split into a couple of sections.
 
The front end was similar to a log cabin with large windows in the font, each one smashed.
 
The door had been busted off the hinges and was laying just inside the clubhouse.
 
Attached to the rear was a larger structure, like a giant garage.
 
It had no windows, but if the front clubhouse section was any indication, it was just as busted up.

They parked the bike and got inside.
 
The external damage was just the tip of the iceberg.
 
Inside, the tables had been smashed, glass was all over the floor, and the TV and stereo in the corner were actually bullet holes

The glass crunched under their boots as they walked in.
 
Mercer held his hand up, telling Danni not to go too far inside the clubhouse in case anyone dangerous was still around.
 
Mercer hadn’t picked up another gun since leaving Calumet, and now he was regretting it.
 

“Damn shame, isn’t it.”

They turned towards the voice.
 
Standing in the doorway was a thin man in his fifties.
 
He had long gray hair with salt and pepper stubble.
 
He wore a leather jacket that had been beat to Hell and back.
 
He reminded Danni of a cowboy, not in the way he dressed, but purely in attitude and swagger.

“Doc!” Mercer cried.
 
He rushed over and gave the man a big hug.
 
They clapped each other hard on the back.
 
“Come here, I need you to meet someone.”

They walked over to Danni and the older man stuck out his hand.
 
“Hiya, Darlin’.
 
My name’s Doc.
 
Pleased to meet you.”

Danni shook his hand.
 
“I’m Danni.
 
Mercer’s said a lot about you.
 
Good to see you here.”

“Doc, what the hell happened here?” asked Mercer.

“You were away too long, kid.
 
Once you killed Tank and the others in Tennessee, everyone took off for greener pastures.
 
They were a bunch of assholes, really, and I was glad to be rid of most of ‘em, but without a club to protect our territory, the Rattlers just rolled into town and took over.”

“The Rattlers?
 
They’re nothing but a bunch of punks,” said Mercer.

“Yeah well, a bunch of punks is still more than I can fight off by myself.”

“The great Doc can’t handle a few teenagers on bikes?” Mercer joked with the man.

Doc knew Mercer was joking with him, but didn’t return the smile.
 
“Don’t underestimate these fuckers.
 
They got muscle now, and somehow, they got a big hookup for weapons.
 
Getting them up from Mexico somehow.
 
But I ain’t worried.
 
You’re back.”

“Damn straight I am.
 
We’ll get our club and our town back.”

“Where do we start?” Danni asked.

Mercer looked around at the damage to the clubhouse.
 
“Right here.”

Danni swept the glass from the floor while Mercer and Doc hauled the busted tables and door out back.
 
The TV and stereo were next while Danni carefully collected every busted bottle from behind the bar.
 
Then she mopped up the sticky, dried liquor while Mercer and Doc hammered boards over the busted windows.
 

At first, they thought the power had been shut off or even the lines cut, but Doc went into the basement and found that the breaker had been tripped.
 
Danni flipped the switch for the lights and several bulbs popped, but half the lights came on, giving them just enough light in the dark room.
 

They’d been working so hard, Danni didn’t even realize how hungry she was until Mercer came back in with a pizza and a twelve pack of beer.
 
She scarfed down three slices in record time, then popped a can and drained half of it.

“Got a hell of an appetite on you, Darlin’,” said Doc.

“We’ve been riding a long time.
 
I’m just glad to eat something other than diner food.”

“I’ll bet.”

Mercer turned to Doc. “Tell me straight.
 
What are we up against?”

Doc finished his bite and took a drink of beer.
 
“The Rattlers have gained a lot of power since Black Ice fell apart.
 
They’ve got twelve guys in their club and a direct pipeline to all the guns they need.
 
They run firearms and drugs all the way from Mexico into Canada, and make a hell of a lot of money doing it.”

“Great,” grumbled Mercer.

“I’m not done yet.
 
Before Tank took over, Black Ice more or less had a truce with the police, but that went away when Henry died.
 
The cops don’t want us coming back.”

Danni wasn’t sure how a motorcycle gang pulling illegal jobs could have a truce with the cops.
 
She asked, “The cops are on your side?
 
Did you pay them off or something?”

Doc shook his head.
 
“We didn’t pay them off.
 
The police are way too uptight for that.”

Mercer explained, “The cops aren’t on our side, but they know we don’t pull any jobs in town and actually kept other criminal elements out.
 
We don’t allow drugs in schools or anything else that could harm the kids. Because of that, the police turn a blind eye to a lot of what we do.”

“Correction, they
used
to turn a blind eye.
 
When Tank took over, all those rules went out the window.
 
He brought drugs and prostitution into Rawlins.
 
Even got some high school kids to start peddling shit during lunch.
 
That fuckin’ guy would do anything to earn a buck.
 
Didn’t matter to him at all.
 
Anyway, since then, the cops haven’t treated us kindly.
 
One of them even pulled me over the other day just to give me shit and tell me I’d better not be thinking of bringing this club back from the dead.”

They were all silent for a moment.
 
Then Danni raised her beer and said, “Fuck ‘em.”

They toasted their beers, and all three of them repeated, “Fuck ‘em.”

“We’re coming back.
 
Hell yeah.
 
We’re coming back,” promised Mercer.

The next few days were a blur of activity.
 
Mercer and Danni didn’t get to see a lot of each other since they were both so busy.
 
While Mercer and Doc got the clubhouse fixed up, Danni went to work finding a place for them to live.
 
Mercer had originally thought they could stay in the clubhouse temporarily, but there wasn’t a room in good enough shape to house them, even for a few days.
 

Danni used a small hatchback that technically belonged to the club, but no one ever used, and went off looking at places.
 
Rawlins wasn’t a major city, but it was big enough that she had a hard time finding something decent, in their price range, and near the clubhouse.
 

After a morning of fruitless search, Danni grabbed lunch at a deli.
 
She took a seat near a window and let her mind wander as she watched the traffic go by.
 
This was the first meal she had eaten by herself since leaving Tennessee with Mercer, and she was surprised to miss his company.
 
It was strange, she’d lived alone for years, occasionally going days without speaking to anyone.
 
She had thrived on her independence and never felt like she needed people around her, but there she sat, eating a roast beef sandwich and feeling lonely.

It was just the situation, she told herself.
 
Mercer was busy getting the club in order and she was getting used to a new town.
 
She had lived in Calumet her entire life.
 
She’d barely even been outside of the city limits and had never traveled so far before.
 
It was natural to feel out of place.

She wished Mercer was there with her.
 
She could tell him how she was feeling. He would reassure her that everything would be OK once they were settled, and that would take care of it.
 
She’d try to talk to him tonight back at the hotel room.
 
Or, hopefully, their own apartment.

“You mind sharing a table?”

The voice caused Danni to come out of her haze.
 
She looked up and saw a tall, very handsome, man in a leather jacket standing over her.
 
His square jaw had several days of stubble and she could see flecks of gray in most of his dark chin hairs.
 
His short hair was a mess and his eyes were bloodshot.
 
He looked like he had been riding for days.
 
Danni wondered if she’d looked like that when they came riding into town.

When Danni saw there were no other seats available, she offered the seat across from her and he sat down.
 
He took a big bite from his sandwich and took a long drink before saying anything to her.

“Thanks,” he said.
 
“I’ve been riding for hours and was starving to death.
 
I’m new to town and don’t know anything about anything here.
 
This is the first place I’ve found that looked like it would pass a health inspection.”

“I’m new here too.
 
Picked this place pretty much for the same reason you did.”

He took another bite.
 
“Pretty good, actually.
 
I been eating in diners along the highway.
 
Pastrami on rye hits the spot.
 
Name’s Cruz.”

“Danni,” she said.
 
They almost shook hands before they both saw their fingers were covered in mustard.
 

“Here’s to life on the road,” he toasted, and took another drink from his cup.

“You passing through or staying?”

“Can’t say just yet.
 
Got to talk to some dudes and see what the score is.
 
And I got to see if I can get used to the cold.
 
Sunny California is a lot warmer than this place.”

Danni nodded.
 
The guy’s deep tan made sense now.
 
“I know the feeling.
 
I’m from Tennessee.
 
Sixty degrees doesn’t feel too bad right now, but this winter is going to be a big change.
 
How was it, riding a bike from SoCal?”

“How’d you know I was on a bike?” he asked, a little suspiciously.

“Let’s see.
 
Leather jacket, you obviously see a lot of the sun, and your name is Cruz.
 
You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to get it.”

A smile broke over his face.
 
“You’re right.
 
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be a dick about it.
 
It’s just that some people don’t trust bikers.”

“I got a lot of experience with them.
 
I came here on the back of my boyfriend’s bike.”

“Boyfriend?
 
Damn, and I thought we were getting to know each other.”

And older man interrupted them, asking if they were done eating and if he could take their table.
 
They cleared their dishes and took them to the bin next to the trash.
 
They stepped outside and Cruz took a cigarette out his pack and lit one up.
 
He offered one to Danni.
 
She accepted and he lit it for her.

“You said you been here a couple of days?
 
You know a good hotel around?
 
One that’s not too expensive.”

“We’re staying in the Sunset Inn.
 
It’s a few blocks over.
 
Not the greatest place we’ve stayed along the way.
 
There’s got to be a better motel.
 
We’re only staying until I find a place.

“Thanks.
 
Listen, it sucks being the new kid in town, and since we’re both the new kids, we should hang out if I stick around.”

He wrote his number on the back of his deli receipt and handed it to her.

“And what if you don’t stick around?”

“Then you have to be the new kid in town by yourself, I guess.
 
I get the feeling I’ll be sticking around anyway.
 
I got a call from my Uncle Larry to come out here, and he wouldn’t call me if he wasn’t serious.”
 
He walked to his bike and climbed on.
 
Just before he started the engine, he called out, “Don’t leave me waiting, beautiful.”
 
Then the bike came to life and Cruz was around the corner and out of sight.