The ride back to Tyler did nothing to calm my nerves and the bad feeling that is nagging me. The scenarios of what could’ve happened to Faith keep playing on a reel through my head, just like a damn movie. I know I am more invested in Faith than I should be. She’s not my concern but I can’t just stand by and let her get hurt either. I park my bike in front of our clubhouse and the place looks deserted. More of the brothers must have been at the Quitman ceremony than I thought. The damn gate was manned by two prospects. I need to talk about that with Shine. The Demented Revengers MC is still at war, we can’t just leave our clubhouse unprotected. I walk into the clubhouse and I see four patched members, but they’re being entertained by Sizzle. Sizzle is one of our newest club girls. She was a stripper at Peek a Boo, one of our strip clubs until she hooked up with Slinger, one of the brothers at the bar enjoying the show. She’s riding that pole like it’s the last cock in fifty miles and she is a bitch in heat. Any other time I would take in the show, but it isn’t any other time. I see the rest of the club girls spread around the room. It seems like there are more hanging around these days. I’m not sure I like it. The more strangers around the clubhouse the more chances of us being betrayed.

I make eye contact with Red and nod my head towards my room. A smile appears on her face. Red is the woman here that is most unlike Faith in any way. Her double Ds, thanks to a boob job, and plump ass are to my liking. The deep red hair, that I’m sure is fake goes along with the fake eyelashes and nails and she is barely wearing clothes. That’s the kind of woman that I’m drawn to, normally. She knows the score and has been around and educated on the way our world works here. She doesn’t have a shy naïve bone in her body. Not that I hold it against her or any of the club girls. Everyone serves their purpose and Red has done her due diligence in servicing me many times, along with many of the brothers. Red is my plan to get my mind off Faith, but club business comes first. We need to protect our family always. I turn back toward the bar.

“Slinger go stand guard at the front gate. We don’t leave prospects to guard the gate alone. Lantern you take one of the prospects and walk the perimeter and leave the other one with Slinger. Are there any other prospects here beside the one behind the bar?” I wait for the brothers to look at me and nothing. Sizzle is eying me with a smile on her face. There has been a problem ever since Cap stepped down as President of the mother chapter of the Demented Revengers. The brothers have always known Shine would be our President when Cap stood down, but for some reason the older members still don’t look at me as Vice President. I know to keep this position that I need to earn their respect, but what I won’t tolerate is disrespect, and this is blatant disrespect. I look at the old jukebox in the corner that we always get our music from. We’ve had it worked on more than a dozen times in the last year but like Cap, it’s part of the club and always will be. I don’t think another minute I take my 9mm out from its holster and I fill the jukebox with bullets until it quits playing. I’ll have to fix that or get my ass handed to me by Cap and Shine. Every eye in the place is on me. I eject the clip and replace it with one of my spares. Never taking my eyes off the men at the bar. “I said to move and that means now. I will no longer take any disrespect from anyone of you and this is the last time that I will repeat myself and we will be talking about this in the morning.” Each of the brothers is trying to measure my determination. I’m the jokester of the club, but this is damn serious. Our clubhouse has been attacked twice in the last two years, and the clubhouse in Quitman has been attacked too. If we want to come out of this war alive then we all need to take our jobs seriously. Slinger is the first one up on his feet and Sizzle has gotten herself down from the bar top. I have half a mind to take Sizzle in my bed with Red. It’s not like Slinger would object except for the part where he doesn’t get to watch. Sizzle and Slinger aren’t exclusive and half the time Slinger, acts like he doesn’t even like the female except she is down for anything and that includes to let Slinger watch while she fucks any of the brothers or two or three.

“We were just trying to let off some steam, Con. We haven’t had any downtime in a while. We need a party to lift this damn shit away from us.” Slinger has always been a slacker, but this shows how stupid he is. Then an idea pops into my head and I know I need to talk to Shine and to Red Cap. Red Cap is our intelligence and communications man. The bright red hair that hangs out of his cap explains everything.

“If our clubhouse is bombed again there will never be another party in here, and since you slackers are inside of it, you will be going down with the clubhouse. Does that open your eyes?” I see when the light come on in Slinger’s brain. I look to each of the brothers and they have the same expressions on their faces. Slinger and Lantern both walk out the front door without another word. I look at the club girls sitting around. “Get this place cleaned up. There’s no reason for Katie to need to clean up after everyone in the morning.” Shine and I are both sick of the way Katie cleans when she comes to the clubhouse. Katie and Shine both devote their selves to this club. Katie was an outsider who Lil took in and then the club adopted her even if she was a full-grown woman. She is sweet, kind, and everything good in this world, and Shine claimed her before anyone else could get any ideas and then he did it right by putting a ring on her finger and a baby in her belly. I have never heard them argue after Katie got used to the idea of being claimed. It took her a minute, but she is all in now, and they’re having my niece or nephew soon. Katie is everything that Shine needed but I think Katie needed Shine just as much with no family. They get each other, and all Shine has ever wanted is a woman to share his life with and start a family with. The thought used to be something I couldn’t even think about without getting a chill, but Faith makes me wonder for about half a second and then I know I’m no good for Faith.

The things that I witnessed on the streets when I lived there growing up and things I had to do to survive is only the tip of the iceberg of reasons I’m no good for Faith. I shake my head to try to empty my head, so I can get done what needs to be done before I get back to my room. I reach in my pocket and send Shine a short message and then head up the hall to Red Cap’s office.

It doesn’t take but a few steps when I hear the front door open and I turn, and all hell breaks loose. I see Lantern’s body pushed in the front door, but I hit the floor and roll to my side trying to avoid gunfire. I still have my phone in my hand, so I send out a 911 to anyone available. Damn, it’s happening again. I push my phone in my pocket. and have both my 9mm and my 380 in my hands and start shooting and then everything goes black. Red Cap must have shut the electricity down. I crawl towards Shine’s office. I hear a female scream and then three gunshots. I stay low but get on my feet and open Shine’s door. I know this office like the back of my hand and I make my way to the gun cabinet. I hear shots going outside. I take my keys out and unlock the cabinet. I get an AR 15 and a set of night goggles, which I put on, and I turn to leave but the door opens and Red Cap walks in. He has his own rifle and night goggles. Neither one of us, say a word but leave the room and make our way to the front room. I go right, and Red Cap goes left. No one is in our sight. I just hope Shine doesn’t have Katie with him when he arrives. I hear Red Cap shooting off rounds and I make my way into the kitchen. I haven’t caught sight of any of our men or the club girls. I think the room is empty when I hear whispers coming from the pantry. I open the door slowly and I don’t even think before I fire off round after round and men fall. I look at each one and they all have Hell Keeperz MC cuts on. I don’t recognize any of them. There are no officers here just three members and one prospect. I don’t know what their plan was in a pantry but then I see it, I take a step back. There’s enough C-4 there to blow this building to rubble. The cavalry better arrive soon.