Falcon
We lost the firehouse, our headquarters. A piece of history, gone up in flames at the hands of Leo Richards. The explosion and fire that had destroyed the building had his name all over them.
I woke up in the street. Two paramedics knelt over me. I looked around the scene to see what else was going on. There were firefighters still working on the blaze, trying to keep it contained. Most of the building was already gone.
“Hey, take it easy,” one of the medics said as I tried to get up. “You need to sit back for a moment longer. You’re not missing anything. Let the fire crew do their job. We’ve got your guys out here. It looks like everyone made it out just fine.”
Nathan walked over and grabbed my hand to give it a good shake.
“Good to see you, brother,” I croaked, realizing they also had me hooked up to oxygen to help me breathe. I wasn’t mad at it. It felt good to have some fresh, breathable air.
“You, too. I got Thomson and a few guys on the way to my place across from the warehouse,” he told me.
“Good. We’ll meet up there when we’re done here, I guess. Everyone make it out all right?” I asked.
“Looks like it. I’m sure they’ll dig through the rubble to see if there’s anyone trapped, but one of the benefits of downsizing is not having as many people to worry about when shit like this happens, huh?” he joked.
“Yeah, I guess so.” I coughed as I tried to laugh.
“Take it easy,” the paramedics reminded me.
The scene was surreal. The road was blocked off with emergency vehicles. There were two fire trucks parked in front of the smoldering building. The lights of the ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks lit up the night all around. Rough and tough bikers were laid out behind the ambulances while people tended to them.
“You know who started this, don’t you?” Nathan asked quietly, looking around the scene with me.
“Yeah, I know, but where are Zeke and Collin?” I tried to sit up on my elbows. “Seriously, I don’t see them anywhere.”
“Neither do I,” Nathan said.
“Do we need to let the fire crews know that people are missing?” one of the medics asked.
“Yeah, two guys so far. It looks like everyone else is out here,” I told them.
“Don’t even think it, brother,” Nathan said as one of the medics got up to let the firefighters know someone was missing. He knew what was already on my mind.
Collin and Zeke were, at best, missing under my watch. That was at best. In reality, we were more likely to find them underneath the rubble in what was left of the firehouse.
“It’s not your fault,” Nathan said, as if he could read my mind.
“You don’t understand leadership,” I said, perhaps a little rougher than I intended, but I didn’t need anyone trying to tell me what to think or not think at the moment. Regardless of how spineless they had become, we were talking about my men, members of my MC, my brothers. No, I didn’t think Nathan did understand leadership.
Once it was all said and done, I was seriously going to consider moving Thomson into the VP spot of Rogue Demons. He at least had the balls to call me out on my bullshit. Nathan just wanted everything to be easy. Nothing about this was ever going to be easy. He needed to get used to that idea. Hell, we all did.
“Where’s Clementine?” I asked him. I vaguely remembered seeing her face before I blacked out, but I couldn’t remember the details.
“The guys Zeke and Collin brought in took her away in a black SUV,” he said flatly.
I groaned. I knew where they were taking her.
“Hey, do you mind if we talk in private?” I asked the medic who was left with me.
“Sure, just don’t go anywhere,” he said, getting up and walking off to leave me with Nathan.
“Get me the fuck out of here,” I told him as soon as the medic was out of earshot. “We need to get to that warehouse and take Leo out.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea, Falcon? I mean, right now, is that a good idea? Have you looked at yourself? You look like hell,” he chickened out.
“I feel like hell, but I’ll feel a lot worse if Leo hurts his sister and I could have been there to prevent it. I’m already looking at the possibility of losing two of my guys in the rubble over there. We aren’t even a hundred percent sure if everyone else is accounted for, Nathan. What the fuck is happening to my MC?” I snapped.
“Your MC?” he asked.
“Yeah, my MC. I’m the president, and you’re skating on thin ice as VP right now. This is a crisis. My prison sentence was a crisis. And what are you doing? You’re over here talking about easier, safer ways to do shit. Safe gets us attacked, Nathan. Safe loses our men.”
“So does reckless, Falcon,” he argued.
“Not if you know what you’re doing, kid.” I pulled the oxygen out of my nose and got up. I took a couple of good, deep breaths to make sure I could breathe fine without any assistance. It was good.
“Falcon, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Nathan protested.
“You know what, Nathan?” I threw my arm across his shoulders. “Stop thinking. It’s time to do.”
“Hey, hey! Hey!” a paramedic called as he ran over and grabbed my arm. “You need to sit down.”
“Am I under arrest?” I asked.
“You can be if I need to go that far with it,” he said back.
“Fine, then. I’ll sit.” I shot Nathan a nasty look. I knew he was pleased that I had to chill out and take my time getting up. I was not pleased, on the other hand.
“All right, let’s get you hooked back up to the oxygen,” the medic said as he started taking my vitals again.
“Go check on everyone else,” I told my VP, and he actually did it without whining.
“So, you guys got the shit kicked out of you today, huh?” the medic joked.
“It would seem that way, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, the asshole who did this doesn’t realize he just kicked the shit out of himself. As soon as I’m good to go, I’m going after him,” I said.
“Shouldn’t you let the authorities handle something like this?” he asked.
“You aren’t from the streets are you?” I laughed. “We handle our own business around here, so I would greatly appreciate it if our conversation stayed between us. The authorities don’t need to know anything, and they aren’t going to learn anything when they start asking all their stupid little questions about what happened here today. Got it?”
“Yes, sir. Got it,” he answered.
“You don’t have to clam up on me completely, man,” I told him, laughing again. It felt good to laugh without coughing. It felt good to be able to breathe again.
“No, it’s cool. We should probably keep things professional and leave the small talk out. What do you say?” he asked.
“Whatever works for you, buddy.” I leaned my head back and closed my eyes again. I breathed the pure oxygen and gave my body a moment to relax.
When we were released from this mess, I was going to chase Leo down myself if I had to. He was going to pay dearly for what he had done here tonight. He had cost us our headquarters and cost the city a piece of her history. Then, to top it off, that motherfucker kidnapped his own sister.
Despite the fact that I had used her to get to him, I didn’t like the idea that he was putting her between us. Just as I had used her as a weapon, I was sure he was going to try to use her as protection. Regardless of what he thought he was doing, I was going to kill him.
I was going to murder him the way he had murdered Alan at the pawn shop. I was going to brutally kill him the way he had killed Zeke and Collin. I still didn’t know if they were alive or not, but I assumed they were dead if they were underneath he rubble inside what was left of Hellions HQ.
I was going to take down his whole operation, starting with him. Anyone who didn’t abandon his operation after his death would suffer the same fate he did. I didn’t care how many people we had to kill to get the point across that we didn’t play games. And if anyone in my MC had any problems with what we were doing, I was prepared to let them go, even if that meant killing them, as well.
Leo probably didn’t realize it, but he had effectively started a new chapter for Rogue Demons by burning down and destroying our headquarters and clubhouse. We were going to chase him down with hell at our backs. His days were numbered, and we were going to take him down. It was over for him.
I smiled up at the darkened, smoky night sky. I had a plan in place, and I had men waiting for me to show up to lead them to victory. I just had to figure out a way to get out of here before Leo figured out how to get away.
“Everyone else is accounted for, Falcon,” Nathan said, snapping me back from my little fantasy. “We’re just missing Collin and Zeke.”
I opened my eyes and squinted at him as he stood above me. I was not pleased.
Then we heard a bunch of shouting coming from the building. They had found something, or someone, in the rubble.
I sat up on my elbows.
“Go see what it is,” I told Nathan.
“On it.” He ran over with everyone else who was gathering around the entrance to the building.
Both of my medics had run over there. I already knew what they were going to find. They had found one or both of my missing men, and they were probably already dead. While everyone else was distracted, I pulled the oxygen out and got off the ground. I wanted to run. I wanted to meet up with Thomson and the other guys, but I couldn’t bring myself to abandon my guys, even if they were dead.
I joined Nathan and everyone else standing around the rubble. They had floodlights pulled out and shining down on the concrete, dust, and debris. I couldn’t see what they had been yelling about when they called everyone over to help, but the firefighters believed they had found something, no matter what the rest of us could see.
I put an arm on Nathan’s shoulder to support myself. I was still weaker than I felt comfortable admitting. We watched as they dug through the debris to pull out the first body. It was Zeke. He wasn’t breathing. Once they pulled him free, the paramedics rushed him back to one of the ambulances to try to resuscitate him, but we all knew it wasn’t going to work.
“There’s someone else,” one of the men said. They kept digging, and soon, a second body came out—Collin.
“I’m going to kill Leo myself,” I said under my breath to Nathan. “With my bare hands.”
I knew he heard me even though he didn’t say anything in response.
“Once this is over and we’re given the all-clear, we’re going after him. I want him dead,” I said, turning to walk away.
That was when my phone buzzed. It was Leo. I didn’t answer.