When Clubs Collide Read online

  Raze clears his throat, drawing the attention back to him and the tasks at hand.

  “With Ratchet gone, I’d appreciate all the help we can get, Thor. I hate to say this, but I think it’s time we prepare for war.”

  If it’s war they want, I’ll be ready with a smile on my face.

  It’s playtime, motherfuckers.

  Chapter Three

  Kane – Devil’s Crew MC

  It took us longer than I would have liked to get to California, but there was no way around it. If we rode with the throttle all the way down the whole way, we would have caught the attention of the local or state fuzz, and that’s not something we need right now.

  We also worried about other MC territories we’re passing through, and of course, where we’re going. Usually, we do our research and call ahead for permission. No reason to start a war if it’s unnecessary, but this situation is time-sensitive. And, we have no idea how far this Rex guy’s reach is. Ice Man said he knew of a few clubs he used to work with, but he wasn’t sure if that was still the case. So, we’re acting like every biker we come across is on the side of our wrath.

  Me, I don’t care. I’ll take out anyone who stands in my way of getting my baby sister back. It doesn’t matter if I have to take out a whole chapter of brothers to do it, or the whole state of California. Fuck, I’ll take on the devil himself if it means getting Mikayla back.

  Once we were about an hour away from Upland, CA, we separated from some of our group. Me, Ice Man, Rack, Reefer, and Axe continued heading west, while the rest of our brothers stayed in a dank hotel. They don’t mind, though. They’re going to be doing some recon around the area.

  G-Spot will be riding with us, but he’ll be in the background, doing his research on his computer. I have no idea what the fuck he does on that thing, or how he does what he does, but I do know he’s able to get us what we need when we need it.

  When we get into town, we stop at a bar named Red Rockets. It seems like a good place to start asking questions, but we don’t want to be too pushy and bring anyone’s attention to us. Although, if that’s what it takes to get my sister, I’ll call out to every motherfucker in this state and tell them to line the fuck up to be shot down, one by one.

  G-Spot is a block away in his van. It gives me the creeps when he rides around in it because it looks like something a child molester would drive around in, offering candy to little children. But, it offers him what he needs, so I keep my mouth shut and only give him shit every other week.

  He’ll be setting up his computers and running plates while searching the cyber world for any mention of my sister or this guy Rex. He’ll also be keeping an eye on us in case we need him.

  As we walk inside, Ice Man’s phone rings. I wonder if it’s G-Spot with some information. He’s been known to be quick in order to get what we need, but this would be record, even for him.

  Rack hangs back with Ice Man while Reefer, Axe, and myself walk into the bar. Inside, there’s an older man sitting at the bar, nursing a beer from the tap, and a younger woman is sitting at a corner table on her phone. She looks up at us with blank eyes, but as soon as she sees our cuts, her eyes dart around the room, nervously. I’m not sure if she’s looking for an escape exit or for someone specific, but I don’t waste my time on her.

  Sitting down at the bar, I rap my fingers impatiently on the bar top. No one’s behind the bar, which makes me worry about what we’re walking into, but I’m more pissed that no one seems to care that I’ve sat down. Shit, I could be just a regular customer, looking for a cold drink. And if I was, I’d leave and spend my money elsewhere since the service here sucks. But I’m not here for a cold drink; I’m here for information. Though a cold drink wouldn’t hurt.

  A few minutes after I sit down, an older man steps through a back door and into the bar. He does a double take at me sitting there; my stone-cold demeanor is giving off death vibes.

  The man looks over my shoulder and notices my brothers behind me. Following his gaze, I see that they’ve veered off and are now sitting at a table by the door, leaving me at the bar by myself. Not that I care. I’ll get what we need, one way or another.

  Making his way cautiously over to me, the man says, “Name’s Red.” When I don’t say anything, he asks, “And you are?”

  “Thirsty,” I respond.

  Red laughs after a few moments of shocked silence, then he turns his body a little and waves his hand across the bar with a smile on his face. “Well, son, you’ve come to the right place. What’ll it be?”

  Knowing I need to keep a level head, I order a beer for myself, and one for each of my brothers as well.

  After Red sets the drinks down, he leans against the counter. “You new in town?”

  Now would be the time to start spilling our lie and asking questions, but I can’t seem to remove the red haze from my vision. It’s remained there ever since I found out about my sister, and now that I’m in a situation where I need to act polite and not look like a raging murderer, I can’t seem to do it.

  Thankfully, Reefer and Axe make their way over, just as Red finishes his question.

  Sitting down beside me at the bar, Axe takes a drink of his beer, while Reefer smiles and extends his hand. “My name’s Reefer, and this is my brother, Axe.” He motions to his right where Axe is currently downing his beer, and then to me. “And this is Kane. You’ll have to forgive him. He’s not much for talking.”

  Red returns the smile and shakes Reefers hand. “I’m Red, and this here is my bar. It’s nice seeing a few new faces around here.” He says the words, but I don’t believe he means the last part. It looks like he’d love to throw us out on our asses if he thought he could. I’d like to see him try.

  “You boys new in town?”

  Reefer finally sits down and continues on with his casual conversation with Red, giving the lie that I know is coming. “Yup. We’re from down south and thought we’d see about buying some land around here.”

  Nodding, Red reaches behind the bar. My eyes zero in on his movements, and at the same time, my hand reaches into the inside pocket of my cut for my piece. Before I can make a move, Red pulls out three more bottles of Bud. “Well, consider this my welcome gift. And if there’s anything else you boys need, just holler,” he says before going through the door he just came out of moments earlier.

  If it wasn’t for the look on his face as Reefer told him what we were doing, and his phony welcome, I’d think he was just getting back to work. But there’s something up with that man. I should follow him though, and make sure he’s not bringing fire down on our asses.

  Just then, Ice Man and Rack walk in and spot us right away. They stride over with purpose, halting my plan to follow Red. The look on Ice Man’s face is full of anger and uncertainty.

  “What is it?” I ask as soon as he’s in earshot.

  Sitting down, he lets out a sigh. “That was Torq,” he states, not elaborating further. We all know who he is, though. We met him a month ago when he killed our club’s last president and elected Ice Man to take his place. Not like I minded. I never liked Dino anyway. I was only here for Ice Man, and what I had hoped to be a brotherhood of loyalty and respect.

  Leaning against the bar, he continues. “I’d called him before we left to see if he’d be willing to help us out since they’re not far from here. Turns out, his woman was also taken about a week ago.”

  “What the fuck? We thinkin’ it’s the same guy?” Reefer asks, maybe a little too loudly. But thankfully, the girl is no longer sitting at the table, and is nowhere to be seen. The old man doesn’t look like he could hear a shout in his ear, let alone us talking halfway down the bar.

  Ice Man gives him a warning glare before answering. “No, we don’t think it’s the same guy. His woman was taken by someone who crossed him in Illinois, and has no connection to Rex or California. I sent him everything we have on our guy and he’s going to send over everything he has on this Georgie asshole. He’ll keep his eyes and ear
s to the ground and keep us posted on anything he finds out. In exchange, we’re going to do the same for him with his situation.”

  I get what Ice Man is doing, and I know it’s our best course of action, but I don’t want to be spending time asking questions about some guy that we know doesn’t have my sister. We need to be focusing on Rex, and not some asshole from Illinois.

  One look at me and Ice Man knows what I’m about to say, but before either of us can open our mouths, the door to the bar flies open and in walks two men, their cuts showing them as members of an MC, Heaven’s Rejects.

  Fuck, things just got a whole lot more complicated, but it won’t stop me from doing what I came here to do.

  Chapter Four

  Thor – Heaven’s Rejects MC

  It doesn’t take long for Hero and I to mount up and hit the road toward Red’s bar. The entire ride, I think about Raze’s words of caution and the implications on the club should this situation get out of hand.

  “Recon only. Don’t start shit unless you can finish it and not land in jail. If this goes south, we need every man on deck until reinforcements can arrive.”

  Raze has always been—from what I can tell, with only knowing him a few months—a cold and calculating man when it comes to war. For fuck’s sakes, he had his former old lady offed when she betrayed his club and Hero’s wife, Dani. She didn’t bother to stay dead, but the trip to Mexico last year made sure she wasn’t coming back this time. It also made me realize that loyalty ran deep in this club, and to tread on it with ill intent was enough to sign your death warrant.

  Hero and I pull up to the dive bar and pop our kickstands near the side entrance. With Raze’s request, we have to play this out the right way. Storm in with guns blazing? Yeah, that’ll start a war before we ever get the chance to say hello. This entire situation is basically a powder keg with a hair trigger timer. It’s just waiting to explode in our faces.

  “How we doin’ this, VP? Slow and steady, or like Fast and the Furious?” I question.

  Hero smirks at my attempt of a joke to diffuse the situation.

  “Red’s supposed to be waiting in his office for me. You stay out front and assess the situation there while I talk to him. Play it cool if one of these motherfuckers approaches you.”

  With a nod, I slide off my bike. Just before the door, I plaster my mean fucker game face on and step inside, hot on Hero’s heels. The room is dim as I scan, looking for our bike riding intruders, and it doesn’t take me long to spot them at the bar, throwing back a couple brews.

  Hero stomps off toward the office and doesn’t even glance at the men. I slide into one of the corner booths and wave to Bren to grab me beer. She saunters over with an added sway to her hips before setting it down in front of me.

  “Thanks, Bren.” I smile, knowing that I’m being watched. She flirts as I take a swig, but I don’t hear a thing. My eyes are trained on the men behind her as she jabbers on and throws her ample tits in my face. The guys at the bar are definitely MC guys, and not the weekend warrior types. Their cuts read Devil’s Crew, but it doesn’t ring a bell. The only guy I can make is a pretty big fucker with a Mohawk.

  “You listenin’, sugar?” she coos.

  “Of course I am,” I reply, as she continues on with her mindless banter.

  “Bren,” I snap, stopping her chatter. “How about you go over to the bar and grab me another beer.”

  “Sure thing, sugar,” she says before swaying her tight little ass away from my table. Girl may not have the brains to escape a paper bag, but the outside décor is pretty nice to look at.

  Bren slides behind the bar and stands on her toes to reach my brand of beer on the top shelf. Every pair of eyes shift to the hem of her short skirt and off of me. Sliding my phone from my pocket, I snap a quick photo of the men and send it off to Voodoo while they’re distracted.

  Just as the sound of shattering glass from a dropped bottle hitting the floor damn near silences the room, Hero appears from the back office’s doorway and slides into the booth.

  “What intel did Red give you?” I inquire with a raised brow. “They gonna be a problem?”

  Hero glances over his shoulder toward the men, checking to make sure they’re not in earshot.

  “Red hasn’t a damn clue who these guys are. Never heard of them or seen them before, which leads me to believe they’re not local.”

  I side-eye the men, then return my gaze back to Hero. “Red have anything else to say?”

  “He said that one of his regulars was outside smoking and overheard one of them on the phone. They’re here looking for someone.”

  “Interesting,” I reply. “But I call bullshit. Why come into another club’s territory without making introductions?”

  “It’s definitely suspicious and problematic, for sure,” Hero retorts before taking a swig of my open beer.

  I watch as one of the men slides from his barstool and heads toward the can, giving me a glimpse at the sidepiece under his cut.

  “They’re armed,” I declare. “Another strike against them.”

  Hero begins to slide out of the booth when my phone chimes, stopping him dead in his tracks. Unlocking the screen, I see a text from Voodoo. Opening it, I find a link attached. “Looks like V got a hit on our guys.” The document opens and my eyes scan the words on the page.

  “What did he find?” Hero asks, staring at the device in my hand.

  “We were right about them not being local. Club calls Texas home. Pretty big organization, and they have connections with other larger clubs. Typical rap sheets on these guys, though. Guns and drug charges, with a few battery charges thrown in.”

  I can almost see the wheels turning in his head as the guy who took off to the bathroom returns to the group. Hero finishes off his beer and slides out of the booth. I follow as he heads over to the group of men still taking up space at the bar.

  Each of them posture up as we approach, knowing shit may just hit the proverbial fan. The dude with the Mohawk doesn’t even turn around to see us coming, which I make a note of. The ones who pretend to be fearless always have the worst intentions.

  “Care to tell me why you’re in our city?” Hero asks gruffly.

  The men look to each other before the one with the Mohawk answers.

  “Grabbing a brew with some friends. Is that problem?” he growls, turning around on the barstool.

  “Since we don’t know who the fuck you are, I’d say it is a problem, son.”

  “I ain’t your son, pal,” Mohawk responds.

  Hero outwardly laughs as I step closer, sensing the upcoming fight brewing.

  “Well, son,” Hero mocks. “I’m the VP of the local club who rules the roost around here, and you seem to be in my kingdom without a hall pass.”

  Mohawk grimaces, his teeth visibly grinding.

  “Listen, man,” one of the other men starts. “We’re here on business. As soon as it’s done, we’ll be out of your hair.”

  I audibly growl as Mohawk starts from his stool and goes nose to nose with Hero.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, kid. Hero here isn’t the kind of man you want to provoke,” I declare, keeping my eyes trained on the other men surrounding him.

  “I don’t give a shit who either of you are. I’m here on club business, and I’ll take down anyone who gets in my way.”

  “Listen, you little shit—” Hero starts, then Mohawk spits in his face. Instantly, Hero rears back and punches the fucking kid right in his nose. He stumbles back, and his men all jump from their stools to rally around him. The kid wipes the blood from his nose and smiles at us like a fucking lunatic. Mohawk starts back toward us with his fists in the air, ready for a fight.

  “You wanna dance, boy?” Hero says. “Then let’s fucking dance.”

  Chapter Five

  Kane – Devil’s Crew MC

  As soon as the words leave his mouth, I give him what he wants.

  Pulling my arm back, I let loose with a growl, hitt
ing him square in the jaw. But he’s one tough fucker. His head barely moves an inch before he answers back with a bone-breaking hit. If I was a normal guy, he probably would have broken my face, but I’m not some average Joe. It’s going to take a lot more than that to break me. Plus, I have rage on my side and I feel no pain. I’ll give just as good as I take.

  After that, everything’s a blur of flying arms and angry, garbled words. My brothers jump in without hesitation and the battle is on.

  You’d think with them being outnumbered we’d have them backing down, or at least beat down, but these assholes aren’t budging. Not that I mind. The back and forth of blows only feeds my anger and determination to find my sister.

  I’m not sure how long we go at it, each of us delivering one brutal blow after another, but soon, we’re all bloody and our stamina is wavering. Our arms are moving slower, and it feels like we’ve run a hundred miles.

  The man I’m squaring off with takes a step back, but he’s not withdrawing. More like, taking a small breather before coming back for more. Me? I’m winded and tired, but I could do this all fucking day. I move in to hit him again once I’ve caught my breath, but he’s not as winded as I thought he was. Before I know it, he has me in a headlock. I struggle to get out, but holy shit, the fucker’s strong.

  My throat hurts from the pressure, and my chest is burning from lack of oxygen. “You had enough, son,” he asks, with what sounds like too much fucking glee for my liking.

  “Fuck no,” I force out.

  Having had enough of this back and forth, and knowing if I don’t do something soon, I’ll be passed out on the floor at this fucker’s feet, I pull out my gun. I never said I fight fair.

  His arm tightens even more around my throat, just as I cock the gun back. And even though the sounds of the scuffle are loud, the sound of my bullet rolling into the chamber can be heard over it all.

  Everyone quiets, looking around for who just took the advantage. I know that the man whose life is in my hands knows what’s going on, but surprisingly, he doesn’t let go of his hold on my neck.