Maddox

“So, how’s this puppy working out?” My sister Olivia was amused that I’d adopted Bella. Her lower jaw jutted out with the question; she was just waiting for me to say Bella was too much for me to handle. But I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. I loved my little bulldog, even though she was chewing all the shit in my house.

“Fine. She’s working out just fine.”

Olivia wanted proof that I couldn’t care for myself, much less Bella. And I wasn’t going to give it to her.

I didn’t see my sister as much as I should – my life was the club – but we made it a point to get coffee, once a month. No matter what.

And she made it a point to be an annoying little sister. It didn’t matter that we were grown.

“Did you talk to Dad this week?”

“No, not yet. There’s some club shit I want to run by him. I’ll call him tonight.”

“You know he’d like it better if you went over there.” Since our Mom died, my sister had taken on the main job of worrying about our Dad.

“Yeah. He knows what I’ve got going with the MC. He knows it’s a priority.”

“Fine. But I’m up at the house every day because he needs it. It’s way too big for him these days.”

I looked at Olivia and realized she really did get the best of our mom. Sometimes it made me happy to be reminded of Mom when I looked at her, sometimes it didn’t.

Today, it was just annoying. Dad did know the life; he’d lived it. Sam Maddox Senior founded The Dark Saints with Red Bullock. A Vietnam Vet, he was tough as nails and I was damn sure he’d be bristling more than I was to hear Olivia and her worrying.

“Dad may have a heart thing, but he’s rusty, not busted. Relax.”

“Yeah, sure.” Olivia lifted the coffee mug to her lips and drained the last bit. She nagged Dad and me, but she also knew when to stop. The Club came first for me and she knew it. I didn’t have a wife or even an old lady. Dad raised us to believe in the MC and to lean on it. It was literally in our blood, so Olivia didn’t push me any further about getting balance. I had Bella now. That was the most domesticated I was going to get.

“Okay, I need to get moving. You’ve quizzed me enough about my shit – what’s up with you, how about that?”

“Oh, you know what? Some asshole keyed my car!”

“Do they know who you are?” I was instantly on alert when it came to Olivia. She was a beauty, and too nice, too trusting.

“Uh, no. It was at the mall, and I don’t have a license plate that reads Daughter and Sister of the MC. It was annoying more than anything else.”

I put some money on the table. “Come on, show me.”

We stood up and I nodded to the waitress. I pushed open the door and let Olivia lead the way into the parking lot.

The Texas sun was already hot and it wasn’t yet nine in the morning. I looked up at it. My rounds for the MC were going to be steamy if I didn’t get that shit done before noon. But first I needed to see what was up with Olivia’s car.

I tried to blink the sunspots out of my eyes. I fished around in my jacket pocket for my sunglasses as Olivia took her typical long strides toward her car.

I heard the popping noise clear as day. It was a sound I’d heard before, more times than I could count. But this time it was out of place. It’s just someone’s tire blowing. That was my first thought.

The reality of that sound kicked in a second later, a second too late.

The diner’s glass window shattered next to me.

And in front of me, Olivia had crumpled to the pavement.

A blood red stain spread all over the crisp white blouse she loved. It was coming from her head.

It was all I could see.