Chapter 3

Jax

“It just doesn’t make any fucking sense, man,” Sabian muttered after polishing off the last three mouthfuls of his beer. “I’m telling you, there’s another club at play. It’s the only explanation. And it makes sense they’d move in on the Black Hearts when they’re leaderless. Easy prey. You know?”

I shrugged as a waitress swung by and planted another pitcher of beer between us. She had big brown eyes and soft brown curls that framed her pretty face. She had a nice ass, too, and I kept my eyes on the sway of her hips as she walked back behind the bar.

“Mhm.”

Sabian kicked my shin under the table.

“What the fuck?” I growled, my gaze swinging from the pretty waitress to my not-as-pretty friend.

His dark eyes were hard, and his eyebrows were drawn together. He looked almost menacing, at least, he would if he had another fifty pounds of meat on his bones.

“Did you hear a word I just said?” Sabian asked.

“Yes. Black Hearts are leaderless. Easy prey. Blah blah blah.” I waved my hand to punctuate each blah. “I can listen and admire at the same time, you know. It’s a skill.”

“Do you ever lead with your brain? Or is it always cock first?”

“What do you think?” I waggled my eyebrows.

Sabian shook his head as he filled both our glasses with fresh beer. I reached for mine and sipped the foam off the top before drawing the cool amber liquid into my mouth and letting it sit on my tongue. The first sip of a cool beer was always the best.

“Listen. I asked you here because I have more details of what actually went down at the mansion. But if you’d rather check out Katie’s rack—”

“Fuck off and quit playing games. I’m listening, and you know it. Just spill.” I wasn’t in the mood for Sabian’s attitude.

Sabian crossed his arms, knowing he’d been called out, and began telling me what he knew. “Seven bodies were confirmed. All male. All Black Hearts members. They were killed in the living room, apparently, and all the walls and furniture were full of bullets.”

“Tends to happen when two gangs go at it.”

Sabian shook his head. “That’s not the weird part, though. None of the guys were killed by bullets. All of them were killed with a machete. A fucking machete, bro. Dani said she got a look at the autopsy reports. Some of them had been shot, sure, but none of their injuries were life-threatening. Based on the crime scene, she says it looks as if they were shot to make them compliant. Most of them had blown out kneecaps. She thinks they were all subdued, lined up, and then hacked apart with the machete. One after another.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Tell me about it. I would not want to be the last guy in line.”

I grimaced at the thought of being on my knees waiting for death as I watched someone hack apart my buddies. Ryder, Axel, Sabian. The list could go on forever.

“Do the cops have any suspects?”

“Not yet, as far as Dani knows. Besides it being gang-related, of course. They still don’t know how many guys were responsible for the mess, but Dani is guessing around ten. She thinks they must have had the upper hand in numbers and firepower.”

“So all the cops have are suspicions and no actual leads?”

“That’s what it sounds like, yeah.” Sabian picked at a splinter of wood on the edge of the table. Both of us took a large mouthful of beer at the same time.

“Do we need to start carrying again?”

“Ryder doesn’t want us to. Not yet. Not until we have more information.”

I ran my hand over my face. “This fucking blows.”

“Yeah. Tell me about it. I keep looking over my shoulder like the devil himself is coming for my ass.”

I had to agree with him. Ever since Sabian called me the previous morning, I’d been feeling the same way. The ride home on my bike hadn’t been pleasant at all. I felt exposed and ripe for the picking. If someone wanted me dead, it would be easy for them to take me out while I was on the back of a bike in nothing but a T-shirt and jeans. My skin had prickled with the sensation of being watched, but I knew it was only my paranoia.

If another gang was involved, the chances were, they had a personal vendetta against the Black Hearts. No one came out of the gate swinging with that much violence if it wasn’t personal. Going through past conflicts in my mind, I couldn’t think of a single person, sane or insane, who might want to come out of my MC with as much viciousness. It just didn’t make sense.

“What are you thinking about?” Sabian asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“All of it.” I scratched the back of my neck and resisted the urge to look around the bar for potential threats. There were none. This was a safe place for us and all of the MC. It always had been. “I keep getting hung up on the motive, and I can’t tie it back to anyone who would make sense. Why would another group want to draw this much attention to themselves? No one does something this fucked up unless they’re trying to prove a point. So what’s the point, and who’s trying to prove it?”

Sabian blinked at me. “I don’t have a fucking clue.”

“Then, let’s talk through it.”

Sabian rolled his eyes but leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table anyway. “Okay. Talk me through it. I’ve never understood how that brain of yours works.”

“Well, let’s say you’re the leader of a rival group. You have history with the Black Hearts. You’re back in town, you want to let them know you’re not fucking around this time, and you know they’re weak because they’re leaderless. Is that what you would do? You’d go into their clubhouse and hack them to pieces? One by one? It’s overkill, man. It doesn’t add up. Why waste so much time and energy when you could have just blown a bunch of holes in them?”

“They’re a bunch of sociopaths?”

“Sure.” I shrugged. “But that’s a cop-out. Someone was trying to send a message. It wasn’t us. I don’t think it was another group, either.”

“Then, you think it was an inside job?”

“It’s the only thing I can wrap my head around, yeah. With all that firepower, and all those men, how did the Black Hearts not manage to take down at least one guy with them?”

“They have shitty aim?” Sabian joked.

I shook my head. “No. They never saw it coming. Those Black Hearts boys were on their knees begging for mercy before they even knew they were being attacked.”

“And all the bullet holes Dani mentioned? Who fired all those rounds?”

“The ones left standing,” I said simply.

“So they shot up their own clubhouse to make it look like another rival gang came in and tore shit up?” Sabian asked.

“That’s my best guess.”

Sabian nodded as if he was impressed by my assessment. “Makes sense, bro. Maybe you should have been a cop like Dani. You should run some of this by her and see what she thinks. Maybe it will help their investigation.”

“Or it will draw attention to the MC.”

Sabian shrugged one shoulder and finished his beer. “The double-edged sword of being in a biker gang, I guess.”

“Cheers to that.” I polished off my beer too. “Have you talked to Ryder about this at all?”

“Only a bit, mostly to see what Dani knew. Ryder wasn’t too keen on me calling his girl for info so he told me to call him first and he’d be the messenger. Fine by me. I’m more afraid of Dani than I am of Ryder.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that.”

“Yeah, yeah. You talked to him about it yet?”

I shook my head. “No. But I’m going to call him. I think all of us should get together and get everything out on the table. I have a bad feeling.”

“Call him now. I want to know what he says.”

I did as Sabian suggested and called Ryder, who answered on the third ring.

“What do you want?” Johnny Moretti barked at me through the phone.

I smiled involuntarily. “Nice to hear your voice, too, Ryder. You sound pretty today.”

“Eat my nuts,” Ryder hissed. “Seriously. What do you need? I’m kind of busy dealing with this Black Hearts bullshit.”

“That’s why I was calling.”

“You know something?”

“No,” I said evenly. “But I think we should all get together and hash this thing out. Make sure everyone is on the same page and has all the same info. Things could get messy, Ryder, and no one should be in the dark. You get me?”

There was a brief pause on the other end as Ryder mulled over my words. “Yeah. I suppose there’s sense in that. Meet me at my place tomorrow night at nine. I’ll give Axel the heads up. You tell Sabian. He’s been on Dani’s ass about this whole thing, and I think it’s time I set him straight and get him off her back.”

“Will do.”

“All right. Nine. Don’t be late. And keep this between us for now, will you? We still don’t know who actually did it, and I don’t want word getting out to the wrong ears.”

“Got it, Ryder. See you tomorrow.”

Ryder hung up, and I slipped my phone back in my pocket. “Tomorrow at nine. Ryder’s place. If Dani’s there, avoid making eye contact. You’re right about him being miffed over all your calls to her.”

Sabian rolled his eyes. “I’m not trying to steal his woman. I’m trying to get information about a fucking mass murder for Christ’s sake.”

“I know. But you know Ryder. What’s his is his.”

“Don’t I know it. Insecure bastard.”

I widened my eyes. “Watch yourself.”

Ryder could be a royal asshole, but I’d follow him anywhere. He had my loyalty to the end, and I wasn’t foolish enough to risk speaking ill of the man, especially not out in public. Things had a way of always getting back to Ryder. He had connections, being the leader of the MC, and Sabian was a fool if he thought he was safe just because he was with me.

“So, this bad feeling of yours,” Sabian said in an effort to change the subject. “What exactly do you think is going to happen?”

I sighed and caught myself looking up at Katie, who was wiping down the bar while chatting happily with the other bartender. I envied her a bit. The way she was able to live carefree and separate from all the madness we contended with in the MC was something I would never have, something I could never deserve.

“When something this big happens, it’s always just the tip of the iceberg, Sabian. The more we learn, the messier it’s going to get. It’s only a matter of time before we get involved. The question is simply whether it will be of our own free will or not.”

“Fuck that shit. I don’t want to get involved with crazy fuckers hacking people apart with machetes. I’m not Chuck Norris.”

I chuckled despite feeling anything but amused. “You’re one of us, brother. If Ryder throws himself into this, so do we.” I met his eye. “Right?”

Sabian slumped back in his chair and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. He let out a long, aggravated breath and let his hands fall to his lap. “Flag down that waitress you like so much. I need another goddamn beer.”