Rust: A Bad Boy Romance (Courage MC) (5 page)

W
ar
? Was he being serious? This was exactly the kind of thing we were trying to avoid. Violence for violence. Blood for blood. It was all so senseless if we could work together. This time, however, I couldn’t say anything. After all, it was one of our guys who pulled the trigger.

“We’ll get him.” I said. “He betrayed both our gangs. He means nothing to us anymore.” I said, hoping it was a smart choice. Ever since my father got sick, I had been given new responsibilities, but never was I given a task
this
dire.

“Alive. We need him alive. Otherwise, the deal’s off and you can kiss your little gang goodbye.” he said, looking out the window of the truck. Ralphie suddenly slowed the truck down and turned the lights off.

“Woah there.” Rust said. “What’re you doing?”

“We’re here.” Ralphie said, shaking.

“It’s better if I go in alone.” I said. “They’re my subordinates. They’ll listen to me.”

“No. We all go in.” he simply stated. There was no arguing with him when everything was on the line.

“Okay.” I reluctantly agreed. This wasn’t going to be good. If I knew my soldiers right, I knew they hated Courage. “Come on, Ralphie. You first.” All three of us got out of the truck and began walking to a set of houses in the near distance.

“Why’d you tell him I came to you with the information? Why didn’t you tell him about Ralphie?” I quietly asked Rust, while Ralphie walked ahead of us.

“I did?” he smiled. “Didn’t realize.”

“Come on. Why’d you do it?”

“Guess I thought I’d return the favor somehow. You know, for earlier. It was, uh, nice.”

“Yeah. I guess it was.” I said, nearly blushing.

“But I think we should move forward. You know, as business partners. We have to look to the future.” he said, stepping carefully into the darkness ahead. Our surroundings were quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were from the crickets and our footsteps.

“I agree.” I said. “It was probably a mistake on my part. I apologize.”

“A mistake? I wouldn’t go that far, lady.” he said. But before I could reply, he put his hand over my mouth. “Shh.” he whispered, ducking down. I followed suit.

In the matter of seconds, gunfire poured in from all around us. Ralphie fell forward, face first onto the desert floor. They killed him, shot him at least 8 times.

When the gunfire stopped, a voice echoed throughout the desert. “Come out with your hands up, Courage scum!” There were cheers all around us. They had us surrounded.

“Stay down.” I whispered. “I have a plan.”

“It’s me, you idiots! It’s Jackie!” I stood up with my hands over my head. “You make me humiliate myself like this again and it’s your head I’ll be keeping as a trophy!”

“Jackie? What the hell? Then who was it we gunned down?” the voice asked.

“You gunned down one of your own men, you
fucking
nitwit!” I grabbed my pistol from my holster and aimed it at the man. “What? You gonna gun me down too? Go ahead. Pull the trigger. I dare you.”

“I’m sorry, Jackie. I didn’t know. We have strict orders to take down any intruders. It’s pitch black outside.”

“Well then get some night vision goggles from the detective store down the way. God, you guys are like infants. I came with a prisoner. A man from Courage. Let us in.” I said.

“Let her in!” the man screamed. In an instant the nearly-invisible barbed wire fence opened up.

“Just follow my lead and you’ll be fine.” I said, putting my gun against his back. “Move!”

“What the…” he said, turning his head back at me and grimacing. “Never in my life has a…”

But I cut him off before he could even finish. “Shh. You don’t have time to argue. Just keep walking.”

The whole place was boarded up inside. There were about 20 of them or so, and they were all staring at Rust. Some were sitting on the couch playing cards and smoking. Others were in position, guns ready.

“It’s me.” I said. They didn’t even bat an eye. So much for respect.

“
That’s
your prisoner? How’d you manage to get him?”

“Don, you’ve caused something big to happen.” I said.

“Yeah? Big deal. ‘Bout time someone took charge around here.” he laughed, raising his gun in the air. Some of the men agree, saying, “Ay.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked him, finger on the trigger of my gun. Though it was aimed at Rust’s back, I was ready to kill everyone around us, given the opportunity. “Now before you speak, remember this. I’m the boss’s daughter. And soon enough, I’ll be the actual boss of this crew. I’ll be damned if I don’t get respect from the likes of you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He was mocking me. He lit up a cigar and puffed at it as if he were king of the fucking castle. He made me sick to my stomach. “All I’m sayin’ is this: It’s either us or them. And for some reason, it’s lookin’ like you’re siding with them. That’s all. If I’m wrong, then prove me wrong. Put a bullet in that man’s back and join us.”

“What are you talking about, Don?” My hand was shaking with rage and confusion.

“Don’t you know? It’s wartime, Jackie. And The Hell’s Wheels are suitin’ up to defend our territory.” he smiled and aimed his gun at Rust, laughing to himself. The men in the house all broke out into laughter and support.

“Shoot him dead!” one of them cried out.

“Yeah! Hang him til he chokes!” another one yelled.

“Gentleman, gentleman. Let’s hear what they have to say first. I’m sure our boss’s
beautiful
daughter already has a plan, don’t you?”

“We are not at war.” I found myself saying. “This is purely a business transaction, I…”

“Come on, Jackie. We all know it’s not just a business transaction. This is our territory we’re talking about. Our product. You don’t see America getting all buddy-buddy with Russia or Afghanistan do you? That’s because they are
enemies
, my dear. Now, as the Hell’s Wheels new acting commander, I declare you two as hostile combatants. I’m sorry, love. We’re going to have to take you away.” Two men had come up from behind and grabbed me.

“Wait! I am your leader’s daughter! You can’t do this!” I screamed, still holding tightly to my weapon.

“I beg to differ. Your father, unfortunately, has passed away, dear. My condolences.”

Everything suddenly slowed down. All was hazy in a fog of panic. “No. It can’t be. He was doing so well.” I said, as a tear fell from my eyes. From behind, Rust reached very slowly for his weapon.

“I’m afraid it’s true. That is why I’ve have decided to become your acting commander. From this day forward, we will be a force to be reckoned with. And we
will
demand our autonomy!” Cheers erupted from inside the safe-house.

“Yeah, but you’re forgetting one important thing.” Rust said smiling. That’s when the tone of everything had shifted in front of me.

“And what exactly am I forgettin’?” Don asked, puffing out his chest in a big display of dominance.

“Our weapons.” Rust had somehow grabbed his gun and, in the knick of time, had it aimed right at Don’s temple. In his other hand was a grenade. Of course, the pin had been pulled out. “Better run.” he laughed, grabbing me.

“What the—” Don exclaimed. He ran into the other room, diving out the window to the backyard.

In a matter of miliseconds, bullets had covered the entire living room. “Go!” Rust screamed, picking me up and busting through the front door. We were stuck in a hellfire of glory, as bullets whizzed by my face.

“That wasn’t exactly what I thought would happen!” I yelled.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan. And this time, it’ll work!” he yelled amidst all the gunfire. And as we were running through the desert landscape, he swooped down and grabbed Ralphie’s lifeless body. “You’re a heavy bastard, aren’t ya?” he said out loud to himself

Whatever the case was, I knew things had changed immensely. MY crew had turned on my father. No, they turned on
me.
And now it was a game of figuring out how to get them back. I shuttered to think of what that would entail…

“
G
od damn
!” I yelled out the window, racing against time. Behind us were lights of motorcycles. “They still on our tail?” I asked Jackie.

“Give it a second. I have a feeling they’ll turn back around.” she said, leaning out the window and squinting her eyes.

“I’d
love
to see them try and enter Courage territory. They’d get their limbs blown off within a second.” I laughed, shaking my head. “Damn, that was
one
close call wasn’t it?”

“I’d rather not talk about it.” she said, coldly staring at the fading lights behind us.

“Aw, what’s the matter, sweetie-pie?” I touched her shoulder. “You get scared of a little bullet-fire?” She didn’t look too amused.

“My father died, Rust. I know your
thing
is to be an asshole, but maybe you could show me a little compassion, okay?” A single tear came down from her eye. I would be lying if I said it made me sympathetic to her cause.

“You’re speaking to the god damn choir.” I said, getting angry. “Both my parents were shot dead. Right in front of me. Bobby Farole marched right into our kitchen. Without a word, he shot them right between the eyes. Do you see my cryin’? Do you hear me braggin’ about it? Asking for sympathy? Hell no you don’t. That’s because I’m a
real
rider. I’m in it for life.” I grabbed a cigarette from Ralphie’s pack. I assumed he wouldn’t mind now that he was dead and all.

“Well aren’t you just a regular old badass.” she sighed. And then the rage built inside of her like I knew it would. “You know what? I’d like for you to just be on my side for once. Is that too much to ask for? It’s like ever since we met, things have gone completely wrong. Can you just shut up and be nice for once?”

“Me? What about you? I don’t know what planet you’ve been on, but I kind of saved your life back there. I think you owe me an apology and a thank you.” I said, taking in a long, hard drag. “Listen, honey, and listen good. Death is all around us. You ain’t special just ‘cause it finally caught up to one of your own.” In the near distance was the hospital where Johnny was being taken care of. Sure, he was my best friend. But I wasn’t about to cry like a little girl about it.

“Fine. I guess we can agree to disagree then.
Give me that.
” She reached and grabbed my cigarette, tossing it out the window.

“Hey! What the hell?” I hit the steering wheel out of frustration. If I could just get this broad off my back, everything would be fine. Because right now, it felt like she was the start to all my problems.

“Finally. We’re here.” she said, looking back at Ralphie’s dead body. “Why the hell did you pick him up? There are cops everywhere.”

“Part of the plan. You know how you said I’m never on your side? Well here’s one time I am.” I stepped out of the truck, making sure his body was on the floor and covered with a large blanket I found in the back.

“What do you mean?” she asked me.

“This is the man who shot Johnny. For now, Don the commando chief, or whatever he wants to call himself, doesn’t exist. We can’t let him know about that just yet. If he were to find out, he’d kill you right in that hospital. So I’m going to need you to play along. Got it?”

“You’d do that for me? After everything I said?” she asked in disbelief.

“I’m not just a bad guy, Jackie. If you catch me in the right light, you can see just how good I really am.” I winked, knowing full well I was as bad as they came. Well, almost. From what I could tell, that Don character wasn’t so nice either.

We made our way into the hospital, walking past the checkout area with haste. A nurse working yelled at us, “Excuse me! You have to check in!”

“Piss off.” I said, pushing past the emergency room doors. “We’re here for Johnny.”

When Bruce saw us, his face lit up. “Rust! There you are, dammit. The whole gang is here. Come on, sit down.”

I ignored him, looking in each room for Johnny. “Where is he? Where’s Johnny?” I asked. “Bruce, where the hell is he?”

“Settle down, brother. He’s in that room over there. Doctors are doing an emergency surgery as we speak.” He grabbed at his cigarette pack and sighed. “Always forget you can’t smoke these things in here.”

“How’s he doing?” Jackie interjected, looking concerned as ever.

“My guess is that you’re Lane’s daughter?” he asked, barely even facing her.

“I
was
Lane’s daughter. He passed not too long ago.”

Bruce finally gave her some respect and looked her in the eye. “
Shit.
Lane too? My condolences, darlin’. Lane was as good as they come. A real stand up guy.”

Jackie looked at the sterile ground of the hospital and took a deep breath. “Yeah, well. This is the life we chose, right?”

“Right as ever.” he said. “Anyway, we’ll grieve later. Tonight we need to stay strong for Johnny. He ain’t doin’ too good. That’s just between us, got it? I don’t want word getting out that The Hell’s Wheels are attacking our men. We gotta’ make sure we don’t start a war.” he said. This had me pretty concerned. On the one hand, I wanted him to know we should be on guard from now on. On the other, I didn’t want him to go crazy and kill Jackie for her men’s crimes. It was a tough dilemma. I chose to keep my mouth shut.

“We think we got the guy who did this.” I said. “Only thing is, he opened fire on us. I couldn’t help it. I had to kill the son of a bitch. He’s downstairs, hidden in a truck, right now.”

He threw his pack on the ground and stomped down loudly. “God dammit, Rust. You serious right now? I told you I wanted him alive!”

“It couldn’t be helped.” I simply stated.

Bruce looked at the rest of the guys and laughed. “You always
were
a trigger happy son of a bitch. Well, shit. Anyone else from Hell’s Wheels see you? Do I need to be worried?”

“There was one guy, but we’ll find him. Don’t you worry about that.” Jackie looked worried. She knew the truth and the truth was one scary reality. Still, I believed we could win this. It would just take some time.

“You got one week to find him. You hear me? One week. And if you don’t complete this job, I’ll demote you.” he was speaking so close to me, he was practically spitting on me.

“Yes, sir. I expect no less.” I said, looking him straight in the eye.

“Good. Have one of the guys grab the body for me. I want to see him for my own eyes.” He walked away. He was too angry and distraught to listen to any more of this.

We followed suit, joining the rest of the Courage men. But when we sat down, they scowled in our direction. “What’s the matter with you?” I said, looking at one of our runners. “Aren’t you gonna’ show me some respect? I’m your captain.”

The young man had a thing of dip inside his lip. He spat in his cup and clenched his fist. “Since when do captains fraternize with the enemy?” he asked me.

Was he really talking back to me? That was a fuckin’ first. No subordinates talked back to captains. Not in the Courage MC. “I’d suggest you watch your tone, boy.” I said, knocking his cup out of his hand.

We both immediately jumped out of our seats, fists ready to punch. “You want to fucking go?” he asked.

“Give me your worst.” I said through clenched teeth. “I’ll knock your lights out,
kid
.”

“BOYS! BOYS!” Bruce broke us up. “Settle down.”

The kid was fuming, tryin’ to grab at me. “He’s a traitor!” he cried out. “We oughta put him on trial! Look at him. He’s with the god damn enemy!”

That was it. I wasn’t about to let some young punk ruin my reputation like that. He didn’t know me. He didn’t know my struggle and he sure as hell didn’t know how much I loved Johnny, how I’d die for him.

“Boy, you listen up and you listen good. Johnny was a brother to me. He’s saved my ass more than once and I’ll be damned if you try and take that away from me.” Unable to contain myself, I punched him in the face. “While you were sitting here and cryin’ about what happened, me and Jackie here went out and found the shooter. We blew him to bits. You go downstairs and look for yourself if you need to.”

The kid felt his nose. It was bleeding pretty bad. He looked up at me with rage. But instead of fighting back, he simply ran out of the building. The doors shut behind him with a heavy thud, and all of a sudden a loud beeping sound went off in Johnny’s room.

“What the hell is going on?” Bruce yelled.

A nurse walked out of the room as the doctor closed the curtains and locked the door. “Sir, I’m going to need you to step back, we’re taking care of the situation.” she said.

“Like hell you are! Let me in there, god dammit!” he screamed. And for the first time, I saw Bruce’s eyes fill with pain and sorrow.

“Security! I need security!” the nurse yelled. Four security guards came running in to subdue Bruce.

“No!” Bruce swung at one of them, knocking the guy down and shattering his own hand in the process. “Fuck!” That’s when all hell broke out. Our whole gang was up and ready, fighting off the security.

“Let’s get out of here.” I said, pulling her outside. “I know of a good burger place not too far from here.”

“What about Johnny? And Ralphie?” she asked, hesitating to leave. “Let the boys get their anger out. There’s more pressing matters to take care of, like how we’re going to end this war within a week. The doctors will take care of Johnny.”

“And if they can’t?” she asked me.

“Then Hell’s Wheels are in for a load of pain.” I admitted.