The Junkyard Boys (16 page)

I knew it was time to call Buck home even as I thought of the many reasons why it was a bad idea. I didn’t want him to think I was weak and couldn’t handle things on my own. He taught us how to use force when defending ourselves, or someone else for that matter. Sebastian never liked the feel of a gun in his hand, but for some reason the use of a bow came natural to him. All us boys would tease him that he would get his ass shot off one day, trying to shoot someone with that thing, but over time he became as deadly with it as I was with a nine-millimeter. I shouldn’t have expected Clover to understand these things. Hell, half the time I didn’t understand them, but it was up to me now to make sure she stayed safe and out of harm’s way.

I kneeled down in front of her and took both her hands in mine. She looked so lost with her swollen eyes and runny, red nose. This was all my fault and I had to assure her everything would be ok. The sad look on her face broke my fucking heart, and I wanted to kick myself for acting like a dick to her.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you, tootsie baby. I was just upset about the shooting, and then to find out that that asshole was near you, I just wanted to rip his balls off. Do you forgive me?” She took a moment to consider my apology.

“I don’t understand what’s going on here, Range. How do you guys know how to use those weapons? When did you start carrying a gun?”

I couldn’t lie to her anymore. Too much had happened and she needed to understand the situation we were in. I looked to my two brothers and they gave me a head nod in understanding as I thought about how I was going to answer her.

“Buck taught all of us boys how to defend ourselves. Max was a natural with a shotgun, Sebastian a bow, and I was good with a hand gun. I started carrying it a few days ago after I spoke with Fox at the tattoo shop and he told me that biker was asking questions around town about…us.”

“What do you mean ‘us’? Was he asking questions about me?”

“According to Fox, yes.”

All the color drained from her face and she looked like she might be sick right on the living room floor. She lowered her head between her knees and took a few deep breaths as she calmed herself.

“Max, get me a class of water, yeah?” He rushed off into the kitchen and came back with a bottle of water from the fridge and handed it to Clover. She took a healthy gulp of the cool liquid then reached up to hold me close while linking her fingers around my neck. She was shaking like a leaf, and I could hear her start to sniff again as warm tears ran down my neck, where her face was buried. I rubbed her back in a soothing motion, trying my best to calm her fears. I would never let anything happen to her as long as I lived.

“Shhhh, its ok, baby, everything’s gonna be fine, I promise you.” It was an easy promise to make while I was holding my nine, still warm in my hand from firing it.

“You don’t know that, Range. What if something happens to you? I would never forgive myself if I could have prevented his somehow.” And that right there was why I loved this girl so much. She was always thinking of others instead of herself.

“Nothing’s going to happen to me, babe. Buck is on his way, and we’ll figure out what to do about this mess when he gets here. I don’t want you to worry about a thing, ok?”

Shelly wasn’t having any of this shit, still clearly pissed off and not giving an inch. She jumped up from the couch, grabbing Ashley in the process and yanking her across the room toward the front door.

“I don’t give a fuck who’s coming. I won’t have my sisters put in any more danger because of some bullshit you’re involved with. Until you get your shit sorted don’t even think about seeing my sister again. Clove, get your shit. We’re leaving.”

Clover was whimpering in my arms, squeezing my neck so tightly I thought she was going to choke me until I passed out. I understood Shelly being upset, but there was no way in hell she was gonna stop me from seeing my woman. Fuck that, she needed to back the hell off right now.

“You need to calm down, Shelly. There is no way in fuck I’m letting you stop me from seeing my woman, so you can get that outta your head right the fuck now.” I had to hand it to her. She was not put off by my tone of voice or by my threatening words. She marched right up to me, stuck her finger in my chest, and met me head-on.

“You think you’re the only one who can get a gun? You come near my sister again and I’ll blow your fucking head clear off your shoulders and won’t think twice about it.” Clover released the death grip she had on my neck and stood between Shelly and I. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she could hardly speak through her sobs.

“Shelly, please don’t do this. I love him. You don’t understand.” Clover was pleading with her sister to listen to her side of the story, but Shelly would not be swayed.

“Fuck loving him Clover. He’s gonna get you killed, and I love you too much to stand by and watch it happen. Now, let’s go.”

Clover turned to face me with defeat in her eyes. I knew she didn’t want her sisters to worry about her. She was in a tough spot and didn’t want to choose between us. She didn’t have to. I already chose her and I’d be damned if I lost her now. She was my always and I would never let her go. I grabbed her behind her neck and focused in on her puffy eyes as I leaned my forehead against hers.

“You go home with your sisters now, baby. I’ll call you later to check on you. Don’t worry about anything. I promised to keep you safe.” She sniffed and shook her head in understanding. I leaned over and gave her a bruising kiss that left us both breathless before I whispered in her ear the words I had been holding in my heart for too long now.

“I love you too, baby.”

She gave me a timid smile and gathered her things to leave with her sisters. I walked them to the car and watched as they made their way down the street and out of sight. My chest was so tight with stress and anger that if I were an older man, I’d be looking for an Aspirin to take. When I returned back inside, Max and Sebastian were huddled together talking quietly amongst themselves, probably trying to gage my mood before hitting me with the heavy shit. They knew me well enough to know I was a volcano just waiting to erupt, killing everything in sight.

“What you wanna do, man? No matter what, I’m with you. I’ve been acting like a dick lately, too self- absorbed by my own shit to realize that shit was going down, but I’m always here for you, brother.”

Max gave me a tentative pat on the back. He’d never know how much I needed my brothers with me today of all days. We’d have plenty of time to deal with our shit once we took care of this biker bitch. He was my brother, my friend, my family, and he always would be. We would have to wait until Buck arrived so that we could formulate a plan of attack. Knowing your enemy was only one of the rules he taught us when dealing with an opponent. Never going in half-cocked without thinking things through was another, and we certainly had no idea what we were dealing with.

“We wait for Buck. He should be here soon. Then we’ll plan. For now, let’s get this window boarded up and this glass picked up.”

We set out to complete the task and waited for Buck silently, knowing that things were about to get bad and we had to be ready for them. No matter what.

Range

We heard the chopper pull up in the driveway just as we were finishing boarding up the window. We took our positions with our weapons pointing directly at the door and the approaching intruder. We knew that asshole wouldn’t be stupid enough to come back after I fired off a few rounds at his ass, but Buck taught us to always be careful and ready. This was something we’d practiced a million times and knew what was to be expected of us.

The front door burst open to a gun-wielding Buck, who pointed his own nine-millimeter at each of us as he took in his surroundings. A momentary look of pride crossed his face, quickly being replaced by concern. He slowly lowered his weapon, and we did the same as Buck entered fully into the house and locked the door.

“Glad to see you little fuckers didn’t forget the shit I taught ya.” I slid my nine into its holster and greeted Buck with a handshake and a manly pound on the back. Sebastian and Max followed my greeting the same way, and Buck rounded the corner to survey the damaged window. Since it was boarded, there wasn’t much to see, but I was sure he used his imagination to figure out what had happened. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t happy.

“The fuck happened?

“We think it was that biker that was asking questions about you, but we’re not sure. I got off a couple rounds but missed him as he got away,” I answered quickly. Buck was not one for beating around the bush, especially at a time like this.

“Anybody hurt?”

“No, but my woman and her sisters were here and it scared the shit out of them. There’s something else you should know; he visited her at her work and home.”

“The fuck you say? You shoulda called me sooner, Range. You know better than to let some biker fuck run up on your woman.” Yeah, I knew better, but she didn’t.

“I didn’t know until today and by then it was too late. That’s why I made the call.”

He blew out a shaky breath, running his hand over his too long beard, which looked to still have the same rubber band on it he had when he left. With heavy steps, he took a seat on the couch and we followed suit, waiting for our instructions. I knew it would take some time for Buck to absorb the scene and run different scenarios in his head until he was certain his next steps wouldn’t get anyone killed. I sat quietly in contemplation, just going over everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. What was forefront in my mind wasn’t the danger we may be facing but the fact that Clover had declared her love for me. The thought alone bought an inappropriate smile to my face that Buck quickly picked up on.

“The fuck you smiling at? Something about this shit you find funny?”

“Ah…Range here is in love and completely pussy whipped,” Max offered.

“Shut the fuck up.” I would not have him ruin my thoughts of Clover with his bullshit commentary, although I could tell he was completely amused by my outburst.

“In love?” Buck had a far-away look on his face as if he was remembering the emotion that had long been denied to him. I knew he’d loved his wife and son with all his heart. Since his son’s death and his wife’s departure, he hadn’t taken another woman into his life. He told me once that you only get one true love in this lifetime and he lost his long ago due to his actions. He resigned himself to believing that love in this lifetime was over for him, his penance for mistakes made, and he could only wish for it again in the next life.

“I’m happy for you, boy. Just don’t fuck it up doing stupid shit.” Buck announced with a hard slap to my back that would have made me wince, but I couldn’t be a pussy in front of my boys.

“Now, enough of this male bonding bullshit. Let’s get down to business so we can figure out what the fuck’s going on. You said this guy was young, around your age, sportin’ my old crew’s cut? What did he say when he came to the yard?”

“He asked to see you. I told him you weren’t here and wouldn’t be back any time soon. He said he was an old friend of the family, which I knew was complete bullshit, then he just took off.”

I thought back on that first time that asshole showed up at the yard. I should have asked him more questions, but I couldn’t take the chance with Clover in the car waiting. What if that fucker had started shooting or something? I hadn’t been carrying my piece at the time and had no way to protect her if shit went bad. My only thought had been to get him the fuck outta there and fast. I saw now that was a big fucking mistake on my part.

“Don’t worry about it, boy. Stay focused. What else we got?” Buck must have seen the regret on my face, knowing I felt responsible for the whole mess. If I hadn’t been so intent on spending time with my woman, I could have ended this shit long ago.

“Clover said he told her you had something of his and he wasn’t leaving until he got it.” Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Buck accusingly as he mentioned the conversation we had when the girls were here. Buck didn’t appreciate the tone or the stance Sebastian was taking with him, evident by the way his chest expanded as he rose from his seat to face him head-on. Buck never tolerated disrespect from any of us, and that hadn’t changed with time and distance. His menacing features didn’t diminish with old age and Sebastian knew he had overstepped his bounds.

“I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re talkin’ about, boy, but whatever that fucker thinks I have of his is either long gone or I never had it in the first place. Now, you best remember who you’re talkin’ to or I’ll take your ass out back and give you a little reminder.”

“Sorry, Buck, I’m just…” Sebastian immediately dropped his stance and shuffled over to the couch to take a seat. We knew better than to raise up on Buck. Sebastian must have temporally gone brain dead to think he would let him get away with standing over him with a fucked-up attitude. Buck returned to his own seat, still scowling at Sebastian as he tried to calm his rage. It was time to refocus and stop all this fighting amongst ourselves so we could handle this shit.

“Is there anything you can think of that might be something this guy wants? Any small thing from the past he could be talking about?” I sighed heavily, frustration clear in my voice.

“No. I’ve been out the game a long time, and when I left, I left it all behind. There was nothing I wanted or needed to take with me that held any value to me. I was done.”

I knew this to be true. Buck had been so devastated by the loss of his son, he simply hopped on his bike and drove away from it all, leaving his brothers and his former life to start over. Whatever this guy wanted, it was a mystery, one we had to figure out and damn quick if I had any hopes of keeping Clover safe. Another stupid mistake on my part could cost her life and I’d be damned if I saw that happening. I loved her too much to ever let her get hurt.

“We need to find this guy and end this bullshit fast. I think we should ask around at the local biker bars and hangouts, local gangs, anyone who would have noticed a lone biker in town asking questions.”