Chapter 25
Dash
Harley and I were just walking out of the bedroom when Oz and Kaya returned with Amanda.
“Mommy I got butterscotch!” she squealed with joy, rushing straight for her mother. Harley lifted her daughter up in her arms and swung her around. I watched them hug and it made me feel strange. Something like warmth. Something I hadn’t experienced a lot in my life.
Maybe it had something to do with the way I grew up. I’d never experienced affection in my childhood and it was nice seeing the bond that Harley and Amanda shared.
I was determined to make sure Amanda never lost that. I wanted her to have a happy and safe childhood. This kid was great. She deserved it. Just like Harley deserved to be happy too.
Oz caught my eye and nodded his head lightly and I knew what that was supposed to mean. We were ready to go.
Most of the other guys had said their goodbyes to their women and left already. And now it was time for Oz and me to join the crew.
While Amanda was in Harley’s arms I smiled at her. Harley could sense from the look in my eyes that it was time and her smile turned into a slow painful frown. Neither of us knew what the outcome of tonight was going to be. But I wasn’t coming back empty handed.
“Hey, you!” I said to Amanda, who leapt out of her mother’s arms and into mine. She threw her arms around me in that way which made me want to protect her even more.
“I had the yummiest ice cream ever!” she exclaimed and I beamed at her.
“I’m sure it was,” I said. “And now I’m going to have to leave.”
Amanda frowned too, even though she didn’t understand the weight of that statement.
“But when will you be back?” she asked pouting her lips.
“Very soon. Super soon. You won’t even notice I’m gone. And when I come back, we can have a few more adventures before it’s time for school again,” I said and Amanda continued pouting her lips.
“Pinky promise?” she asked and I laughed. She held out her little finger and I hooked it with mine. I couldn’t remember ever making a pinky promise, but now it felt like the most sacred promise I had ever undertaken.
I put Amanda down and stepped up closer to Harley.
“I know you’ll look after yourself,” I said and reached for her cheek. She covered my hand with hers and nodded her head gently.
“I’m going to try,” she said and I leaned forward to kiss her. She tried to hold on to me for a little longer but I had to pull away.
“I’ll see you soon,” I told her and she nodded and held back, grabbing Amanda’s hand for support.
Oz was kissing Kaya too and then when we were done with our goodbyes, it was time for us to leave.
“We better go make these women proud!” Oz exclaimed as we stepped out of the building.
***
Back at T-Bone, things were more charged up than I’d seen before. Everyone was on edge. Especially Lewis who was pacing up and down the bar with his hands behind his back.
“That can never happen again. They shot our clubhouse. Tried to kidnap one of our women from right under our bloody noses!” he growled and kicked a bar stool.
“Which means that now their clubhouse is fair game,” Girth spoke up.
“Their clubhouse has always been fucking fair game!” Lewis shouted some more. “We just didn’t know where the fucking hell it was!”
“But now we do. Harley told me,” I interjected and they turned to look at me.
Lewis walked up to me, his eyes narrowed and focused on my face.
“Good. So, what are we going to do about it?” he asked in a slow slithering voice.
“We gather all our forces and wage a shootout,” Rodeo suggested and Abe was shaking his head.
“Twenty of our best men are guarding the safe house. We need to keep the women protected. Which means our numbers have gone down significantly,” he explained.
“So, what do we fucking do?” Rodeo snapped. Girth grunted in response, clicking open his zippo to light the cigarette dangling from his mouth. That was when the idea struck me.
“Fire,” I said aloud.
“What?” Lewis snapped and I stood up from the chair I was sitting on.
“We blow up their clubhouse. Tonight,” I said.
Oz stood up from his chair too.
“Blow up their clubhouse?”
“They attacked our clubhouse. They attacked our women. They’ve been beating up a woman and threatening a child. They nearly killed some of us and are trying to take over our business. They imprisoned and tortured me. They have caused more bloodshed in this city in the past six months than any other MC in the past fucking ten years. Haven’t they?” I growled.
The others mumbled.
“So, we blow them up. They won’t be expecting it. They’re expecting a shootout. We don’t need many men for that. And that way, we get as many of them as we can, more than we can get in a shootout,” I continued.
Lewis was nodding his head now, which meant he liked the idea. This could work. This could really work. I could feel it in my bones now. I was ready for it.
Oz came up to me and thumped my back.
“Dash is right. It’s time we fucking ended this. Enough is enough. We’ve given them enough chances to straighten themselves up,” he said.
“Blow them up,” Lewis commanded and a cheer rang out in the bar.
“Blow them up!” we shouted together and knocked our bottles of beer together.
This was it. I wasn’t leaving any loose ends hanging around after tonight.
It was time that Harley got a good night’s sleep.