Gunn

Sly was supposed to be flying out for his honeymoon. Instead, he put his new bride on a plane to accompany her murdered cousin’s casket. I couldn’t get the image of Emily Shaw out of my mind. She was young, pretty, smart. She had her whole life ahead of her but she made one wrong choice. She got too close to the Great Wolves M.C. I couldn’t let the same thing happen to Brenna, no matter how much it hurt to send her away.

“Your head straight?” Sly asked me. I sat on the back of my bike, the engine revving. He had a hand on my shoulder, his fingers gripping me hard as steel. His expression held a dead look I hadn’t seen in a long time. This shit got way too close to somebody he loved too.

“My head is fucking straight,” I assured him. He’d asked it of everyone. What happened to Emily shook the whole club to the core and nearly split us apart. Angel, Switch, and I wanted to bring a war vote to the table. We were outnumbered though. Dex, Sly, Tiny, Charlie, Marcus, Ford, Big John, Jake, and Curtis called for restraint. The numbers split along family lines. Angel, Switch, and I were the only ones without wives or kids. We had less to lose. At least, that’s what I told myself. Brenna was safe. In one week, she’d be on a plane out of the country. Safe. Gone. Now I just had to get her out of my heart.

“I don’t like it, Sly,” Angel said. Other than Scarlett, he was taking Emily’s death the hardest. He’d only just met her, but they hooked up at the wedding. An hour later, he held her after she’d been shot. Something like that is enough to twist a man’s head and heart. Part of me wanted to counsel him to sit this one out. I knew he’d try to break my jaw if I tried.

“You don’t like what?” Sly asked. There was an edge to his voice. He had to keep control of the crew or we were all fucked.

“Too much fucking around. I say we go in now. We go hard. We take out Kagan’s brother. They broke the code, Sly. We don’t go after families. It was your wedding, goddammit!”

Sly caught my eye then went over to Angel. He squeezed his shoulder hard, just like he’d done to me. “I told you. They caught the guy who shot Toby Barlow. Husband of a chick he was banging. There’s no connection to the Hawks. It was his own initials he carved in Toby’s face. Sick fuck. As far as the rest of it, we follow this lead on the shooter’s van through, Angel. Then we’ll take it to the table again. We clear? Security tapes showed the same fucking van that ran down Josh at Gunn’s shop the other month. Josh blew out the back window. The other night, it was fixed. By the end of the hour, we’re going to know what Dulaney’s auto-body knows. We clear?”

Angel blew a breath out hard through his nostrils. “Clear,” he finally said. Sly was done talking. He gave the go-ahead sign and climbed on his Harley. I was itching to go. I was itching to draw blood. If Sly didn’t get there first, I knew I’d get my chance.

I wasn’t there in the old days when the Great Wolves earned their patches running guns. Sly changed all that. He carved out a better future for us. And yet, no matter how far we ran, we seemed to end up back here, in the darkness. Today, that was fine by me.

Ed Dulaney never saw us coming. Sly had paid off the three mechanics working under him today. Angel and I took point. Guns drawn, we found Ed in his office, kicking back a brew.

Angel charged him, knocking the chair right out from under him. I grabbed Ed by the throat and backed him against the wall. His eyes went wide with terror. I knew his type. If he got through this without pissing himself, he ought to get a gold star.

Fresh rage came over me and I took the first shot. I landed a blow right on the bridge of Ed’s nose, breaking it. He spit blood but I kept him against the wall.

“What the fuck, man?” he cried. “I’ve got no beef with you.”

“Good,” I said. “So then I’ll make this quick, now that we have your attention.” Sly walked in and Ed lost his chance at a gold star. Sly had earned the right to avoid getting his hands dirty like this. But he wanted Ed Dulaney to know how much shit he was really in if he didn’t give us what we needed.

Sly had a grainy color photo from the security cameras outside the Den. They caught the back of the black van as it drove away from the parking lot.

“Recognize it?” Sly asked.

Ed shook his head. “I told you. I’ve got no beef with you. I seen a lot of vans like that one.”

“Good. I’m looking for one you might have fixed up in the last couple of months. Busted back windows. Think real hard, Ed. Angel and Gunn are in the mood for some fun. You look fun to them.”

Ed started to cry. “I don’t want in the middle of this shit.”

“Then pick a side, asshole,” I said. “But think real carefully. Cuz you’re looking at the winning team.”

“I don’t know, man. I swear to God. I don’t keep track.”

“Yes, you fucking do!” Angel couldn’t contain himself. He caught Ed right in the solar plexus. Ed crumpled in my hands. I eased up and he slid down to the ground.

“It was Kagan’s man, wasn’t it?” I asked. “Brian Kagan. Ring any bells?”

“Kagan?” Ed sputtered. “You fucking serious? I’m not suicidal. You think I’d touch anything he brings in here?”

“I sure hope not,” Sly said. “Go look up your records, Ed. I want them all.”

Ed collected himself just long enough to get to his feet. I scrunched my nose. The poor fucker reeked. His fingers trembled as he opened up the laptop on his desk. Angel stood over his shoulder.

“Hurry up,” I said. I didn’t like this. We were too exposed here. Sly wanted a show of force. It was a good plan, but it also meant we’d made a show. If the Hawks were out for blood, it wouldn’t take long for word to get to them that we’d all showed up here. Part of me wanted it. I wanted the simplicity of a straight-up fight. None of this drive-by bullshit. Fist to fist. Gun to gun. Blood for blood.

Sly was getting antsy too. None of us had drawn down yet, but it was getting close to that. Ed Dulaney was stupid, but he wasn’t an idiot. He had to know if Angel’s contact had already tipped him off about the repair work, there would no use to lie about it. It was the last small piece Sly wanted so we could be sure. We’d follow the trail straight back to the Devil’s Hawks M.C. and end this shit tonight.

“Yeah. Yeah,” Ed said. “2001 Chevy van. That’s what you showed me, right? DIY paint job. Black.”

“Sounding familiar, Ed. What do you have?” I asked.

“They’ll kill me, you know that, right?” Ed said. “You’re sure whoever this was is connected to Kagan? I swear to God, I didn’t know that. If I had, you know I would have called you right away. Like I said, I’m not suicidal.”

“Give me a name,” Sly said, with a hell of a lot more composure than I could have mustered.

“I can do better than that,” Ed said. “Looks like the fucker paid with a credit card.” Ed hit a button on his computer. He lifted his hands and pointed to a stand-alone printer on the other side of the window.

“Stay put,” Sly said. “Dex?”

“On it.” Dex stood close to the printer out in the main garage. The damn thing was ancient. It sputtered and coughed before the piece of paper finally came out. Dex tore it off and read it. His face changed. I couldn’t read him. He shot a look to Sly.

“We’ve got what we need,” Dex said. Sly nodded. Whatever was on that paper, Dex was right not to announce it in front of Ed. This was club business now. Ed Dulaney would get to keep his fingers. Part of me was disappointed. It wouldn’t bring Emily Shaw back, but it would be a start.

“Let’s go,” Sly ordered. Dex tucked the paper in the breast pocket of his cut. We fell into formation with me bringing up the rear. My engine rumbled beneath me. With every mile we laid down, the tension grew. Sly hadn’t discussed particulars yet, but I knew we might not all get out of this one alive.

We pulled into the clubhouse. The place was dark and quiet. Sly hadn’t opened it for business since the night of the wedding. He’d scattered everyone’s kids and old ladies in safe houses up and down the coast. All except for Ava and Scarlett. They waited inside. Dex’s little guy Declan had been sent to stay with Dex’s grown daughter, Tora.

We filed into the conference room. Dex handed Ed’s print-out to Sly. He read it then balled it into his fist. He sat down hard and stared straight at me as I took my seat. It felt like forever before the rest of the club got into the room and took their seats around the table.

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” Sly said. He handed the crumpled paper to me. I gave him a look and took it.

The light was dim in the conference room and it took me a second before my eyes adjusted. When they did, all the blood in my body turned to ice as I read the name on the sales receipt.

“That son of a bitch. He couldn’t ... how could …”

“You wanna fucking fill us in?” Angel said. I looked up. Dex and Sly had their heads together, whispering something.

“Tim Rose,” I said through gritted teeth. “The van belongs to Brenna’s dad.”

“The fuck?” Switch said. He walked into the conference room just as I read the name. He was still too wobbly to ride after the bullet he took last week. He’d been one lucky fucker. The shot had missed just about everything important. A rib had punctured his lung and he bled a lot, but he was on the mend.

“Tim Rose,” I said, still trying to convince myself of it. White heat poured through me.

“This changes things,” Dex said. “Gunn, I know what this means for you on a personal level. But that’s just it. It’s personal. This isn’t the Hawks. I mean, we can’t be one hundred percent sure of that. I suppose he could have hooked up with them.”

“No.” Sly and I said it together. The Hawks were a lot of things, careless wasn’t one of them. There’s no way they would hook up with a lunatic like Tim Rose hellbent on revenge.

“Let me handle this,” Angel said. “I’ll put him in the ground by the end of the night.”

Dex and Sly exchanged a look, then Sly fixed his gaze on me. “He blames this club for what happened to his son,” he said. “And he blames Gunn for hooking up with Brenna.”

“It’s my fault,” I said as the reality sank in. I’d been too blind to see it before. Josh got hurt. Switch got hurt. Emily Shaw got killed. He’d ruined Sly and Scarlett’s wedding, all just to get back at me. “I should have seen this.”

“Don’t,” Sly said. “You can’t blame yourself for this crazy fucker. I mean it. But we need to put this to a vote. Tim Rose is off the streets within the next twenty-four hours. The only thing we have to decide is how.”

My head was spinning. I’d sent Brenna away because I thought the club was about to go to war. I’d believed everything happening, all the danger, was because of the club.

“Okay,” Angel said. “So, I’ll say it again. We need to put this fucker in the ground.”

“He’s Brenna’s father,” I said. It just kind of came out of me. He deserved to die. For everything he ever did to Scotty. To what he’d done to Emily and Switch. For Susan Rose. For Brenna.

“Will it be enough?” I looked at Sly. He knew exactly what I meant.

“I think so,” he said. “Ed’s given us the VIN on the van. It’ll match. I know guys like Tim Rose. He won’t hold up to a real interrogation. Hit and run is how he operates. Face to face, and he’ll fold.”

I nodded. “So, we do it right.”

“We put it to a vote,” Dex said. He was right. But in the end, it wasn’t even close. Only Angel voted the other way. Later, I knew he and I would need to have a reckoning. I’d find a way to make him understand.

One by one, we voted to spare Tim Rose’s life. I did it for Brenna. I did it for Scotty’s mother. That bastard had caused her too much pain already. And he’d made me turn my back on Brenna.

After Church was over, I went out to the bar and had Ford pour me the stiffest bourbon we had. Sly came up to me and patted me on the back.

“You did the right thing,” he said. “We all did. That fucker has taken enough. He doesn’t get a piece of your soul too, no matter how good it would feel in the moment.”

I downed my shot then took two more. “It’s too late,” I said. “She might never forgive me.”

Sly smiled. “She might surprise you.” His cell phone rang. He took it out and answered. His face stayed stone cold. He gave one-word answers then hung up and motioned for Ford to pour him a shot too.

“That was my contact at the G.B.P.D. They’ve already picked Tim Rose up. The idiot’s still staying at Susan’s. There’s a crew out at Ed’s. He’s turned over the same info he gave us. I know this guy, Gunn. He’ll cop to all of by the end of the night. Trust me.”

We clinked our shot glasses together, even though it didn’t feel like a victory. We’d lost way too much. Now I had to find a way to tell Brenna.

“Cheer up,” Sly said. “And have one of the probies drive you. She’s staying at Kinsey Hall on the north campus.”

“What?” I asked. “How do you know that?”

Sly gave me the smile that earned him his road name when he was a kid. “Remember,” he said. “The girl might surprise you. She’s made of steel.”