~ Ryder ~
Riding twenty deep to the meet up with the Seven Devils, they kept to secondary roads in order to avoid being noticed. Ryder mentally ran through the details of his plan one more time. Confident that he’d covered all the bases on this one, he knew this could only go down one way. Even his old man and Hickory approved each and every action point. Feeling his rifle bouncing slightly against his leg, Ryder gripped his ape bars tighter.
Pulling up at the old warehouse, they waited for the Seven Devils to show up by boat. What kind of MC showed up to face off with a rival club on a fucking speedboat anyway? The thought of watching them crawl off their little boat instead of riding in like men on their hogs almost made him laugh.
It had been almost a full month since Darkness had been shot. Abby had lost what little was left of her mind more than once over her prolonged, uninvited stay. Sitting in that jail cell all by herself with only a pillow and blanket served her right, in Ryder’s humble opinion. It would teach the ignorant bitch not to come sniffing around the Blind Jacks MC next time her little Honey Bear was short of cash.
What the hell kind of man let his woman call him Honey Bear? Probably the same kind of ignorant fuck who thought it was a great idea for his woman to get pregnant by the president of a rival MC on the off chance it might get him a little leverage. Ryder was going to have a hard time keeping a straight face during the meetup, now that he knew just how ridiculous Devil really was.
Rolling onto the property, his brothers took up formation around the property. Cork dragged a kicking and screaming Abby out of an old, beat-up truck. No brother trusted the bitch on the back of his bike, and Ryder could hardly blame them. However, Cork was none too happy about being the one tasked with riding in a cage. Tossing her onto the gravel in front of them, he stalked back to his truck, pulled out his rifle, and took up a protective stance with the other brothers.
“Tell your ugly stinking men to keep their damn hands off me,” Abby snarled. “God, I hate your entire crew. If it were up to me, you’d all end up—”
Ryder hauled her up by one arm and peered into her face. “I hate to interrupt you during you’re crazy time, but we’re trying to work a deal here. Would you mind shutting the fuck up?”
“Your club brothers think they can do anything they want with me because I’m a woman,” she spat back. “I’m not here for their enjoyment.”
“Don’t know what kind of shit you think you’re starting, but you need to know your cell was wired and that truck you rode here in has a dash cam. We can account for every single minute you were with us and prove that you got fed three times a day and guzzled down water bottles right, left, and center. You were treated well by my club, and I know for a fact that no damn brother touched you.”
Staring up at him, she mumbled, “There were times—”
“No, there were not times when the cameras weren’t on you, so don’t go there,” he warned her. “I’d be happy to send all that footage to Devil, including the parts where you volunteered to blow your guards in exchange for treats.”
She stilled in his hand and turned away. “That won’t be necessary.”
Shoving her into Ace’s arms, he muttered, “You are a nasty piece of work, lady.”
Darkness listened to their conversation without once interrupting. His voice was low and calm when he finally spoke. “Keep your hands on her, Ryder. I don’t want any surprises. If she even looks like she’s going to cause any trouble at all, zip-tie her hands behind her and gag her.”
“You got it, boss,” Ryder agreed happily. He only wished she’d be dumb enough to push her luck. “This deal is going down just the way we planned it.”
Abby jerked to get closer to Darkness, spitting venom and spite. “You’d better have your quarter of a million or my Devil will tear this place apart.”
Without clueing her in to the change of plans, they watched Devil, Ratchet, and a dozen of his men step out of a large speedboat. They were dressed in faded jeans and wore Seven Devils cuts. They were heavily armed and glancing suspiciously around, as much as Ryder would be doing if he was in enemy territory.
“You making a deal tonight, Darkness?” Devil’s voice rang out in the cool night air.
Darkness stepped forward to greet the other man. “I don’t want to, but it seems you hold all the cards.”
Ever the narcissist, Ratchet spoke up. “Hard time calling on a man to make tough choices. Not many men would give up a child if it could be avoided.”
“Since I never thought I’d have a kid, you’d be right about that part.” Glancing over his shoulder at Abby, who was straining to get out of Ace’s hold, Darkness sighed. “The bitch I can live without, though. She ain’t nothing but trouble.”
Ratchet responded casually, “Most are. Let’s get on with it. I can’t say I like being on your turf.”
“We drop our weapons on the tarp before we go inside. Don’t need anyone getting a twitchy trigger finger during the deal.” Reaching up to touch the wound that was still slightly tender to the touch, Darkness frowned. “We both know how that turned out last time.”
“We took care of that little problem.”
Ryder nodded. “We saw the autopsy report. Fuckin’ addicts are always a liability.”
Darkness gestured to the tarp. “Unload, and we’ll sit down with my lawyers. You know how the straight arrows are. Most of them ain’t never seen a real gun before.”
Devil chuckled. “Ain’t that the truth. Ours acts like just lookin’ at a gun will brand him a criminal forever.”
Unloading the gun from his inside his cut, Darkness also pulled out his backup weapon and a couple of knives. Laying them in a neat little pile, he waited for his visitors to follow suit. They did so only reluctantly. As they stepped up, Ryder frisked everyone and gave the all clear.
Darkness led them to the warehouse. “We set up a desk inside with some chairs, so we can all get comfortable and read through the paperwork. My attorney is ready with a notary. Follow me.”
Devil and his father followed, with their men close behind. The entire group came to a staggering stop inside the building when they realized it was packed with brothers from other chapters and even allied clubs. The door slammed shut quickly behind them.
Devil’s shaky voice rang out, “What the hell is this, Darkness? We had a deal.”
Turning on his heel, Darkness faced off with his counterpart. “I’m modifying it. You are ape-shit crazy if you think I’d ever give your club a quarter of million dollars. I’d give the lot of you a dirt-nap first and just be done with it.”
“You are going to regret double crossing us, asshole,” Ratchet’s rough voice threatened with a level of certainty that didn’t even make sense in this particular situation.
Darkness jerked his chin to someone on the catwalk above. A single shot rang out from that direction. Everyone jerked, looking around to see who just took a bullet. As if melting, Ratchet slumped to the ground.
Devil shouted, “You are one stupid fucker! I can’t believe you killed our club president.”
“I didn’t,” Darkness drawled. “I just rotated the only Seven Devils president who makes any sense back to the head of the table. That crazy fucker was gonna get your whole crew killed, and you damn well know it.”
Bending down to look at his father, Devil cursed under his breath. “I told him this was a bad idea. He was so sure he had every angle covered in this stupid fucking deal.” Coming smoothly to his feet, he took a step toward Darkness. “The thing that he didn’t take into consideration is what an unpredictable fuck you are.”
“I’ve got a new deal for you.” Darkness was as calm and oddly cold as ever.
“I’m listening,” Devil said, his eyes shrewd.
None of his crew dared make a move. Everyone knew Devil had no other choice but to play ball. Otherwise, the lot of them were gonna wind up dead.
Clearing his throat, Darkness presented his new offer. “Abby signs divorce paperwork and custody of my daughter over to me, immediately. I give you fifty grand and let you all walk out of here alive.”
Devil immediately stated, “No, the deal was for five times that.”
“You got no cards left to play, man. Take the deal.” The cautionary tone of voice Darkness used was clearly evident.
Looking around at his men, Devil shook his head. “We’re between a rock and a hard place. I need at least a hundred grand for my club to survive the shit my old man got us involved in this time around.”
“Look, we don’t have that kind of cash lying around. My crew pulled some private stock together for you from our own armory. We’ll throw in thirty hot AKs and a couple dozen reliable semi-automatic handguns,” Darkness tacked on. “Fifty grand and flush armory. Fuck, I’d take that deal if someone offered it to me.”
“Yeah, how about if the crazy fucker just gunned down your old man? Would you still take the deal?”
Darkness scoffed. “Stop pretending there’s some kind of love lost there. We came up together, man. The best years of your life were when that vicious bastard was inside the joint. All he ever did was come out long enough to screw over your club and fuck up your life before ending right up back on the inside. I did you a fuckin’ favor, and we both know it. Now you get the gavel back.”
Letting go of that particular bone of contention, Devil asked suspiciously, “What did you do to my girl?”
“Not a damn thing. She sat in our basement, and we tossed her energy bars and bottled water for the last four weeks. She got a hot meal a day. All she did was bitch. We got the security feed for you if you want to have a look.”
“Ain’t nobody got time for that,” Devil said, waving the offer off. “Get her in here. We’ll do the deal.”
Ryder stalked outside to grab her from Ace.
Abby was fighting mad. “What the fuck did you do, Ryder? We all heard the gunshot.”
“Darkness is changing up the deal. Your precious little Honey Bear already accepted our counteroffer, so shut the fuck up and sign the paperwork they give you.”
“Devil’s still alive?” The hopeful look on the woman’s face was all kinds of nauseating. If not for the child she popped out for his friend, Ryder would have absolutely no use for her crazy ass.
“Of course he is. Our club knows this dumbass plan was Ratchet’s brain child. We got no beef with Devil. That shit’s water under the bridge, so try acting civil.”
“We still get the payday, right?” she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful, which just made him sick. Dumb bitch.
“Devil agreed to fifty grand and a load of guns. It’s a fair trade.” Reaching into his pocket, Ryder pulled out a thick envelope. “Darkness instructed me to give you this. It’s a little bonus for you. There’s fifteen grand in this envelope. You can keep it secret for yourself or hand it over to Devil. We don’t particularly care, but there ain’t gonna be no more where this came from. Between this and the fifty grand, our club is all tapped out. Don’t come sniffing around for more.” Ryder didn’t even feel guilty lying about his club being tapped out. Whatever kept her from stupidly trying to wring more money of them was the correct option.
Grabbing the envelope, she opened it and flipped through the bills. “I won’t ask for anything else, I promise. I just want to go back to the Seven Devils.”
“Get your pretty little ass in there and sign your shit. You can be riding Devil’s big, glorious cock within the hour.”
Abby rushed into the warehouse so fast that Ryder almost couldn’t keep up with her. Thank God his crew had covered the weapons they’d thrown down with a heavy tarp. God knew the attorney didn’t need to see that shit. He whistled for Cork to bring the legal eagles.
By the time they arrived, the room had been cleared of dead bodies, and the desk had been shoved over the pool of blood. Sweet Jesus, it was nights like this that made Ryder hate his work. Literally, the only silver lining was that his brother didn’t end up in a firefight with the Seven Devils. The loss of life would have been high.
Abby jumped into Devil’s arms the moment her eyes landed on him. Ryder always thought it was good when crazy people hooked up with each other and left normal folk alone. Abby and Devil being together had a certain symmetry that he could really appreciate. She slid her envelop immediately into his hand, like any woman in love would, earning herself a hot kiss.
Ryder stood shoulder to shoulder with Ace and watched her sign off on the divorce and custody paperwork. When Darkness pulled out the cancelation for the insurance policy they had taken out on him, neither of them had the decency to even act embarrassed.
Some of the tightness in Ryder’s chest loosened once he knew they could no longer benefit in any way from his friend’s untimely demise. He’d thought Abby would kick up a fuss about visitation or something, but she didn’t mention a thing about it. It was just as well because Darkness had a sister moving back to help out with his little one. She was likely his only living relative. It would do him good to have some family around, assuming she was remotely sane.
Once the legal eagles took off, Darkness made his payout to Devil. The money was duly counted, and Darkness pulled out the guns. They went through the entire case, checking that each worked and firing off some shots. It was a regular, run-of-the-mill gun trade. This particular set of stock had been sitting in the basement for a long time. His club had stopped moving hot guns a while back. It was risky and not worth the markup.
The Seven Devils didn’t give a good goddamn if they were hot or not. It fell in the category of trading something the club valued very little to a person who valued it a great deal. Devil would consider the weapons a force multiplier in dealing with the numerous gangs that inhabited his territory.
Normally, his club would party and smoke a little weed with MCs if they were on friendly terms, but the Seven Devils didn’t fall into that category. They were the kind of men that you couldn’t really be nice to or you might wind up with a knife in your back.
Heading outside once again, Ryder realized it was well past sunset. Floodlights illuminated the small dock area as the speedboat rocked gently in the water. Standing beside his club president and close personal friend, Ryder watched the Seven Devils load the last of the weapons onto their little boat. Together, they stepped out face-to-face with Devil for the final phase of their plan. This was the part where they made sure the Seven Devils understood they were not welcome in Blind Jack’s territory.
Darkness was the first to speak. “We both made out on this deal, Devil. You wound up with an injection of cash, your woman free and clear of me, and nice little bonus cache of weapons. I ended up with a daughter and that damned insurance policy cancelled. This makes us square, but don’t think for a fuckin’ minute it makes us friends.”
Devil smiled indulgently. “It ain’t gotta be that way, Darkness. Now that my dad’s outta the picture—”
Interrupting before Devil even got the words out of his mouth, Darkness brought him up short. “Your old man’s only been out of the slammer for three months. You sent your old lady to me over a year ago. I don’t have to be a fuckin’ brain surgeon to recognize a head job when I see one.”
Staring at him for a brief moment, Devil took a step back. “Not that it worked particularly well, but I get where you’re coming from on this one.”
“Good. You’re in Bind Jack’s territory right now. Don’t ever let that happen again. The next one of your crew we run across gets a dirt nap, and that goes double for you.”
Devil’s anger flew hot and fast. “Think you fuckin’ rule the world, don’t you?”
Darkness sucked in a disgusted breath, clearly deciding he’d had enough of the whole situation. His voice was calm and deadly. “Just like you, I rule my own little corner of the world. I won’t come sniffin’ around your territory, and I don’t wanna catch you or yours crawling around mine.”
“Waterways are neutral territory. Nobody can claim the ocean, my friend.”
“Or the tributaries that eventually empty out into the ocean,” Darkness added. “I know the rules, Devil. You fire one shot toward the shore, and I won’t be givin’ a big shit about the rules.”
“Always got to be a hardass, don’t ya?”
“Goodbye, Devil. Safe journey back to where you came from,” Darkness said dismissively.
“Fine, catch you on the flipside, freak.”
Watching the now angry man climb onto his boat for the last time, Ryder noticed how disorganized their crew was. They were undisciplined, practically tripping over each other and fighting over who was going to drive the speedboat. Devil wasn’t a strong leader, and it was a constant source of amazement how the man managed to hang onto the gavel.
Ryder just shook his head. “I think we should have put that money in a college fund for your little one and give the lot of them a dirt nap.”
Darkness nodded. “I considered that option but decided it was a bit too risky. Cops investigate missing persons. They might not give a good goddam about bikers in general, but if that many turn up missing along with a woman, they’ll come poking around. What with the kid, the insurance policy, and me filing divorce papers, it wouldn’t take even a stupid cop long to put the pieces together.”
“Yeah, I know the paper trail was pretty tricky on this one. Devil got off easy.”
“Ain’t never easy when you gotta drop a body. Tell me Ratchet’s body is gone,” Darkness said, his dark eyes fixed on the water.
Mirroring his stance, Ryder said, “He’s in the cage we used to bring Abby. Cork’s standing guard.”
“You know how I feel about killing.”
“Don’t start getting superstitious, D. The guy was not going to stop, and he had it coming a thousand times over. You know his corner of the world is better off for having him out of it.”
Shoving his hands though his hair, the man practically vibrated with anxiety. “It worries me that Devil wasn’t more freaked out about us dropping his old man. He didn’t even ask for the body.” Swiveling his heated stare at Ryder, Darkness’ lips drew into a firm line. “Wanna take a guess about why that was?”
There could only be a couple of reasons for that. One, in particular, worried him. “Shit. I’ll double check the body for tracking devices.”
“See that you do, Ryder. All in the hell we need is for Devil to figure out where we’ve been dumping bodies. He could blackmail the shit outta us.”
“I’d never let that happen,” Ryder said firmly. “That’s the thing with Devil. He may not be all that smart, but he is sneaky as hell.”
Darkness shrugged. “If you don’t have brains, you gotta compensate. I tend to let my paranoia run wild where that man’s concerned, and I have to say that I ain’t been disappointed yet.”
Ryder sucked in a deep breath, done with this conversation. “Let’s get the hell out of here. You head back to the clubhouse, and I’ll take care of this situation with Ratchet.”
“I trust that you will, brother.” Staring at him, Darkness lifted his chin. “Can you believe I have a daughter?”
“Only because I saw her with my own eyes.” Slapping his president on the shoulder, he grinned. “She’s the cutest baby I ever saw. Best get home to her and put this night behind you.”
“It feels strange to have someone special waiting for me.” Darkness swallowed thickly, and Ryder watched his Adam’s apple slide up and down his long throat. Darkness was twitchy and nervous as hell in general, but the look on his face was a new kind of anxiety. Sure enough, when Darkness spoke, his voice was filled with down-to-earth, old-fashioned worry. “It makes me wonder what’s gonna happen to her the night I finally get my card punched.”
“I see what you’re driving at,” Ryder said. “We lead a life rife with danger. I reckon you gotta pick godparents.”
Darkness stared at him blankly. His brows slowly creased as the silence spun out between them, as though he was trying to work out what godparents were. Was it even possible that his intelligent club president didn’t know about things like that?
“You know, someone to look out for her in case anything happens to you,” Ryder clarified. “It’s a big decision. Think about it for a few weeks. Any brother would be proud to raise your little one.”
Pulling back a little, his expression disbelieving, Darkness spoke candidly. “You think so? Kids are a huge responsibility.”
“Hell yeah. I gotta say, it’s my job to keep you alive and coming home every night, so hopefully, she’ll never need them to take over for you. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“I know that’s true. The people we deal with can be volatile.”
Walking over to the tuck, Darkness watched while Ryder fished through the dead man’s pockets. He pulled out a wallet with no money, a keychain, pocket change, and a rock.
Darkness suggested, “Check his keychain.”
Holding up a key fob, Ryder looked it over. “They normally have the brand name of an automobile inscribed on them.” Pulling out his pocket knife, he punctured the seal, separating it into two parts. Son of a… “Yep, it’s a tracking device.”
Darkness nodded as if he’d expected nothing less. “I’ve seen them advertised before. Destroy it, along with his other personal effects.”
That wasn’t going to be enough for Ryder. “I’m thinking of giving him a special spot far from our normal site.”
“That’s a smart idea,” Darkness agreed. “You’re a cautious man, Ryder.”
Ryder considered how much shit they’d dealt with recently and suddenly grew tired. “I just want to slam the damn door shut on this mess once and for all.”