Sons of Mayhem 4: Snakes and Angels (8 page)

Ja
se

Eag looked broken. He knew he had no logical choice but to do as Jase said, but he apparently also still felt he should put up some kind of resistance, no matter how ineffectual or pathetic.
“How can I know you won’t kill me?”

Jase just shook his head s
lowly. “We
trusted
you
, fuckhead. We all trusted each other. I have
never
betrayed that trust. What makes you think I’m going to start now? I gave you my word that if you helped me I wouldn’t kill you. And I also gave you my word what would happen if you ran off. Trust me or not, it’s your choice. I’m not going to make you come now. But you know what the consequences will be if you don’t.”

The other man - Jase would never think of him as a brother, or a friend, again - looked like he was about to cry. Like
a man condemned he climbed onto his motorcycle, perhaps, for the last time.

With a crush of his fist Jase destroyed the disposable coffee cup and tossed it into the trash can. With almost as much apprehension as Eag he climbed onto his motorcycle and start
ed her up. Even she sounded a little reluctant.

They glided out back onto the highway for the last twenty mile stretch back home.

***

They pulled into the compound and parked next to the line of bikes. It was quiet. Jase scanned the yard; apart from the
motorcycles of the club leaders, the panel van and the pickup truck there were no other vehicles. No one else was there.

Jase and Eag climbed off their motorcycles. Jase looked over at the former lawyer
— he looked like a ghost.
That won’t do
. Jase smacked him on the arm like old times. “I need a drink bitch.”

Eag smartened up.
“Me too, brother.” He wrapped his arm around Jase’s neck and yanked it into him, rubbing his fist on his head, as they headed to the front door. His touch brought a sick feeling to Jase’s stomach.

“
Don’t fucking move.” T-Bone and Gauge had stepped out from behind the panel van. Their expressions were unreadable as the two recent arrivals found a shotgun and a rifle pointed right at them.

“
What the fuck, boys?” asked Jase, his eyes wide.

“
Not a fucking word assholes.” Gauge’s voice carried the quiet menace of a mile-deep ocean current.

“
Hey, come on—” Eag’s words were interrupted by the stock of T-Bone’s gun smacking him solidly in the head. As the blood began to flow from the newly-created gash he clutched at his bleeding scalp. He shut up.

“
Get in the back.” T-Bone gestured toward the pickup truck.

Jase started to walk toward the pickup ahead of Eag.
“Where’s the Doc? What’s going on?”

T-Bone made to swing at Jase as Gauge covered him
. Not wanting a gash of his own Jase took a rapid two steps and jumped into the bed of the pickup.

The big man wheezed.
“I said,” he paused for breath after the exertion, “not a word.”

A moment later Eag was lying beside Jase, two hands clutched against hi
s bleeding scalp as Gauge pulled out the guns that had been tucked into the two men’s jeans. A moment later a heavy blue tarp was thrown over them.

Jase and Eag lay next to each other under the tarp breathing heavily, not speaking. They could hear the rope
being threaded through the eyelets and wrapped around the hitch-points on the sides and back of the truck. There was no way they were getting out without a sharp knife or someone letting them out and they didn’t have a knife.

In the darkness Jase could se
e nothing. He could smell the plastic of the tarp and years of oil, dirt and whatever else had been covered by it over the years. He heard steps outside as someone else approached.

There was the sound of a shotgun being pumped and then the Doctor spoke. It
was a voice that had once been familiar, but now seemed so foreign. He sounded like a lunatic. How had he never noticed before?

“
Why don’t we just blast them now?” The Doctor chuckled.

Jase heard a quiet chuckle from Gauge. He imagined the smile that was
on his lips. “Could do. But we don’t want holes in the bed of the truck, do we? Best to do it outside.”

The sound of T-Bone
’s familiar before-speaking-cough came next. “And I ain’t scrubbing it out either.”

The Doctor laughed. It was the kind of joyful lau
gh one would expect a party or a wedding, not at the execution of traitorous club members.
Surely someone else can hear how crazy he is?

“
Guess so. He should be with his bitch anyway.”

A chill ran through Jase.
‘
My bitch?’ Nicole? That’s not part of the plan.

“
Oh shit…” Jase whispered to himself as his mind raced.

Eag whimpered.

Nicole

Lucy leaned in conspiratorially. It was the first real chance we
’d had to speak since Saturday night. “Was it good?”

“
What?” I asked.

“
You know. The makeup sex!”

One track mind.
I smacked her on the arm. “No, we—”
That was a weird night. Finding out about Eag, and the Doctor. And Lucy doesn’t know anything. Should I tell her?

“
Bullshit! I know he came over.” She raised her eyebrows at me. “I told him to.” She giggled.

“
Thanks.” I
was
thankful, of course, but not exactly for the reasons she thought. I guess my appreciation didn’t seem heartfelt enough though.

She frowned at me.
“What’s the matter with you? Has the sheriff been bothering you again?” She sounded exasperated.

“
No it’s not that. It’s just… I’m still going through some stuff. Look, I’ve really got to hit the books.”

She sighed.
“Yeah, I should be in the library anyway. You coming?”

“
No. I’ll study here.” Whenever we studied in the same place we never ended up getting much done. It was best if one of us stayed in the library and the other in the room. She knew that, but she always asked anyway.

“
Later.”

“
Later.”

***

Just as I sat down I was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“
Who is it?”

“
Lonnie.”

What is he doing here? Did Jase send him?

I banged my head on the desk and sighed. “Come in.”

The door handle twisted and in a moment he was inside. He smiled at me, his face beaming. I barely recognized him. He was wearing khakis and a buttoned shirt, an
d his hair was neatly combed and parted. He could have passed for a student, and a preppy one at that. “You busy?”

What does he want?
I gestured at the stack of books on my desk. “Yep. Finals are coming…”

“
Can you come down to the clubhouse?”

Uhoh. This do
esn’t sound good.
“Why? What’s going on?”

A look of consternation flashed across Lonnie
’s face before rapidly being replaced with his good-natured grin.

“
Jase needs you.”

I raised my eyebrows at him.
“Yeah? Why?”

He leaned in to me, as if someone could be
listening. “I don’t know, but he said it’s important.”

“
Does it have to do with the Doctor?”

Lonnie gave me a quizzical look.
“I think so.”

Maybe he needs me to explain what Eag said. Testify.
A shiver of excitement ran through me.
What’s wrong with me?

Al
right, “Give me a couple of minutes to get ready,” I said, sighing as I looked at my books on the desk.
This better be important, Jase.

He frowned.
“Five minutes. Let’s go go go!” He stood there looking at me expectantly.

I raised my eyebrows at him.
“Do you mind? I’m going to get changed…”

He grinned back at me.
“I don’t mind at all.”

My eyes flared and he reconsidered.
“I’ll be in the hallway.”

After he’d left the room I quickly began to get dressed into something less collegy and more bikery. Off came the sweats, and on with the tight jeans and slashed t-shirt.

Moments later we were scampering down the stairs.
I hope this doesn’t take too long. I’ve got a paper to write.
Thoughts were running through my mind a mile a minute. Had they ‘arrested’ the Doctor, or whatever it is outlaws do? Would I have to swear an oath on a bible? I giggled at the possibility.
You’ve lost it Nicole.

Outside was a run-down looking panel van. I wrinkled my nose at it. Four-wheeled vehicles had lost a lot of their charm lately,
and a rusty-looking van that looked to be older than me was most definitely not the kind of vehicle I wanted to be rocking these days.

Lonnie pulled open the back doors.
“Get in.”

“
Can’t I sit in the front?” I asked.

“
It’s full of shit. Sorry.”

I began to
climb in. It was filthy. I stopped for a moment. “Surely there’s room—”

The Englishman
’s cold voice cut into mine, stopping me in my tracks. “I said, get in the fucking van.”

What the hell?
My head whipped back sharply, incredulous that he’d spoken to me like that. My rapidly turned head was met by an equally rapid slap which set my cheek burning and my mind reeling.

“
What the fu—” My words were interrupted as his hand covered my mouth and he pushed me hard in the stomach, shoving me into the back.

“
Hey!”

T
he van doors slammed shut.

I considered trying to rouse attention by screaming and smacking the back of the van, but in seconds the engine had shuddered to life and it wasn
’t quiet. There would be no chance of anyone hearing me.

Shit. Is Lonnie in league w
ith the Doctor? What the hell is going on? Is Jase okay?

Jase

The pickup finally pulled to a stop. The ride had been bumpy and despite the protection offered by his leather jacket Jase knew he he’d be bruised tomorrow. If he lived that long.

Jase heard the two front doors of the pickup open and then slam shut, followed by the crisp steps of biker boots stomping across the ground. The footsteps came closer and then stopped.
Uhoh.

Silence. Jase
’s heart raced. Was the Doctor standing above them like an executioner, about to end them before he had a chance to act? He’d already agreed not to shoot them in the back of the truck, hadn’t he?
But he’s fuckin’ deranged.

Next to him Eag was breathing hard and fast with shallow breaths. He was terrif
ied. But of course he should have been, there were a lot of people who genuinely wanted him dead right now.

“
Alright fuckheads. I’m going to undo this tarp. Gauge is gonna tape you up. One move and I’ll turn your heads into a fine red mist.”

Psycho.
The sound of the rope being untied and pulled through the eyelets of the tarp was soon followed by blinding light as it was lifted away.

“
On your knees.”

The two men rose to their knees and shuffled to the back of the pickup truck.

Gotta play the part or he’ll get suspicious.
“Doc, please! I don’t know what’s going on, but—”

“
Shut the fuck up!”
The Doctor turned his attention to Gauge. “Tape their motherfuckin’, brother-killing mouths shut.”

Jase looked into his friend
’s face as he offered his wrists forward. Gauge’s face didn’t flinch as he first bound their wrists, and then wrapped the tape around each of their heads several times, sealing their mouths shut.

He knows I didn
’t do it right?
Jase looked into Gauge’s eyes and could detect nothing.
He’s going to go through with the plan, isn’t he? The Doctor didn’t get to him did he?

“
Up, bitches.”

Getting out of the bed of a pickup track with your hands and arms immobilized is just as tricky as it sounds. After watching Eag tumble out and avoid eating dirt only becau
se the generous amount of tape wrapped around his head stopped it entering his mouth, Jase carefully climbed out, managing to stay on his feet as he did so.

“
Walk.” The Doctor punctuated his command with a couple of hard jabs to the back from the business end of his shotgun.

They headed around to the back of the trailer. A chill ran down Jase
’s spine as he saw the familiar oil barrel ahead. The one they’d used for target practice before their assault on the Mexican house, and the same one they’d later secured Carlos to.

“
Sit down fuckheads.”

They were directed to the oil barrel, and when they got to it the Doctor gave them each a firm shove. As he fell to the ground Jase saw a mad glint in the eyes above him. He made some sounds from behind the tape as if he
was protesting. In fact he was saying
just you wait fucker.

The Doctor and Gauge walked back a few yards. Gauge unslung his rifle and shouldered it pointing it right at them.
I hope he’s aiming at Eag.

“
Not yet Gauge. Wait for the boys.”

Gauge spoke softl
y, but his voice still managed to exude menace. “I know. I know. Just making sure they don’t decide to go for a run.”

The Doctor patted him on the shoulder.

They didn’t have to wait long. Soon the distant sound of motorcycle engines could be heard. A surge of excitement ran through Jase as he heard the rolling thunder approaching. The Doctor was pacing up and down in nervous excitement behind Gauge who stood steady as a rock.

Jase shook his head to himself.
He looks like a school kid who’s just been told that today, instead of his normal allowance he gets $200 to spend in the candy store.

Soon the motorcycles came into view, a trail of dust surrounding them as they slowly growled their way down the unpaved track that led to Gauge
’s patch of land. Ahead of them, seeming to lead the cavalry, was the old panel van.

The two captives sat in the dirt watching as what was left of the biker gang after their recent misfortunes pulled up. T-Bone and Bottle dismounted from their steeds, and a moment later Lonnie jumped
out of the van. His face looked grim.

Nicole must be inside.
This was a problem. As Eag had explained to him earlier, he hadn’t had a chance to tell Lonnie what was going on. The night before Eag had gone to the clubhouse with an important message from Jase, explaining what was going on. He’d handed over hand-written letters, not wanting to risk causing a scene with the Doctor present. Jase himself had gone to the club Gauge was working security at; he didn’t think Gauge would believe anyone but him.

But Lo
nnie hadn’t been around, no one had known where he was. He’d been fully taken in by the Doctor’s plan.

Jase winced when the Englishman yelled into the back of the van,
“Get the fuck out.”

A moment later a scared looking Nicole climbed out, blinking as she
looked around stunned. Her eyes caught his.

“
Jase!” she yelled.

He looked on wide eyed, unable to do anything as Lonnie
’s hand swung through the air and smacked her across the face cutting her yell short.

“
I told you before. Not a fucking word.”

Fuck.