Devon

Hatch arrived around six, Badger was still in a medically-induced coma, so Hatch came straight to the compound. I’d finally managed another few hours’ sleep, but made sure I texted Poppy when I woke up.

I headed downstairs and grabbed a beer just as Hatch walked into the kitchen. “Hey, man,” I said.

“Devon,” he said slowly and studied me.

Shit.

“Good flight?” I asked.

“Couple a’ flights.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Stopped in to see Poppy.”

Shit!

“Yeah?” I said and took a swig of beer. “How’s she doin’?”

“We’re doin’ this, Dev?”

“Doin’ what, Uncle Con?” My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. You know, considering I was in the middle of a stare-off with my uncle and all.

“You gonna get that?”

“It can keep.”

“Might be Poppy.”

I sighed, pulling my phone out of my pocket. He was right. It was Poppy.

Hatch knows everything.

Shit.

I focused back on my uncle as I slid my phone back in my pocket. “What do you want to know?”

“Pretty sure she filled me in on everything I need to know.”

“I love her.”

He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “I know.”

“You got a problem with us?”

“Not anymore,” he said, and I relaxed.

“I’m gonna take care of her, Hatch.”

“Yeah, tryin’ to let her go, Dev. Gonna need to give me a minute.”

“I can do that.”

Hatch gave me a quick nod, then left the room and I pulled my phone out again. This time I called Poppy.

“Hi,” she breathed out, sounding relieved. “Is Sid there?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, baby. It’s all good,” I said.

“Is it good, good, or are you trying to keep me out of it?”

“I’m still alive, so I think it’s good, good.”

“Don’t joke about this, Devon. He seemed fine when he left here, but I don’t know if that’s just because he loves me, so he’s saving all his rage for you.”

I grinned. “He’s not ragin’.”

I filled her in on the conversation and she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh my god, he’s so awesome.”

“What could he realistically do, Poppy? We’re both consenting adults and we’ve been friends for a really long time.”

“I know, but I would have hated if I had to make a choice.”

“You really think he’d do that to you?”

“No, probably not,” she admitted. “But I would have chosen you, in case you were wondering.”

“I wasn’t.” I took another swig of my beer.

“Cocky bastard.”

I chuckled. “Glad to know you worship me, though.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s totally it,” she deadpanned. “How’s Badger?”

“The same.”

“Is he going to live?”

“Don’t know, baby. Doctors are optimistic, but you just never know.”

“I’m driving down.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I have nothing important going on this week, Devon. Finals and my thesis... that’s it. I quit my job to get ready to move, so those are the only two things on my plate.”

“Those are huge, Poppy, and they should take priority,” I said. “Wait until next weekend and I’ll pick you up.”

She let out a frustrated squeak. “I don’t want to wait, Devon.”

“Bab—”

“Don’t you dare use that placating tone on me, Devon Wallace. I want my arms around you. I want to know you’re okay. Feel you’re okay. See that you’re okay. And then I want to make sure Badger’s okay, because I adore that man. He’s one of my favorite people and someone hurt him.”

Fuck! She was crying now. Poppy never cried.

“I know, baby. It’s okay.” She continued to cry and all I wanted to do was hold her, but I couldn’t because I was stuck here like a fuckin’ prisoner. “Poppy, please don’t cry. God damn, baby, you’re breakin’ my heart.”

“I’m okay,” she said after a few tense minutes. She sniffed. “It just suddenly hit me, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you feel worse.”

I dragged a hand over my face. “I wish I was there.”

“Please let me come down.”

“No, Poppy. And don’t go around me, because Hatch won’t let you come either.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Is he or is he not paying your college bill?” I asked.

“Goddammit.”

“Just focus on this week and I promise, I’ll come down next weekend.”

She groaned.

“Okay?” I pressed.

“No.”

“Poppy,” I ground out.

“First, you’re not the boss of me. Second, that club is more my club than your club.”

“How do you figure?”

“Which part?” she asked.

“Both.”

“You’re cute,” she said. “But you’ve never been the boss of me, so I’ll address the second. I have been hanging out with them pretty much the entire time I’ve been in Georgia, so, that trumps you and your few weeks in their presence.”

She had a point, but I still had an admonishing tone when I said, “Poppy.”

“Devon,” she mimicked. “Look, I get that you’re all man. It’s one of my favorite things about you. And it’s no wonder I fell in love with you, since they say girls marry their father and you’re a mini-Hatch. But I’m not a wilting flower and I have my own mind, so if I want to fuck off down to Savannah for a day or twelve, I can and I will with or without your ‘permission,’ capiche?”

I bit back a laugh because, if I were to admit out loud how fuckin’ gorgeous and sexy she was with her bossy mouth, it’d set a precedence I didn’t want to encourage. So, instead, I forced myself to scowl since she could apparently tell when I was smiling and said, “I hear you, Poppy, but I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your university courses a priority since you’re so close to the end, and this is not something worth jeopardizing all your hard work for. Capiche?”

“You’ve got your eyebrows set purposely in a frowny expression so you don’t laugh, don’t you?”

“How the fuck would you know that?” I demanded, glancing at my phone to make sure I didn’t accidentally FaceTime her.

She giggled. “I know you, Devon. It’s a little disappointing that you still forget that.”

“Fuck me, I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, then sighed. “And I miss you. My vibrator just isn’t cutting it.”

“Poppy,” I growled.

“What? You got me off all of three times before you had to run back to the club. That doesn’t give me much in my spank bank to pull from.”

“You can’t call it a spank bank, Poppy, that’s a guy’s thing,” I whispered, checking to make sure I couldn’t be overheard.

“Well, then my Flick-Pix subscription.”

I laughed. “There should be a porn site just for women... it could be rated by bean flicks.”

“Oh my god, that would be awesome. Was it one bean-flick worthy, or ten? We should create it.”

“You don’t really want to get into porn, Poppy.”

I could imagine her wrinkling her nose as she said, “No, probably not. But I might give Mum the idea and she can pass it on.”

I shook my head. “I’m still processing the fact your mother was a porn peddler.”

Poppy giggled. “She wasn’t a porn peddler. She only sold toys and gag gifts... no pun intended.”

I felt myself go hard. “God damn, I wish I could gag you right now.”

“Go somewhere quiet and we’ll have a little fun.”

“No.”

“You are such a prude.”

I smiled slowly. “Just wait ’til Friday, Poppy. I’ll show you just how much of a prude I am.”

She groaned. “I can see your face in my mind right now. It probably looks exactly like you look right before you go down on me.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and dropped my head against one of the cabinets. “Stop.”

“Then when you do that thing with your tongue, your eyes go all gentle and—”

“Poppy, swear to Christ, you need to quit.”

“Hey, Sparky,” Doc said, walking into the kitchen.

I turned to face him, willing my fuckin’ hard-on to deflate, and gave him a chin-lift. “Poppy, gotta go.”

“Killjoy.”

“No doubt.”

“Okay, honey. Call me later. Love you.”

“Hmm-mm,” I hummed, and hung up. “Any news on Badger?” I asked Doc.

“No. Dash and Willow are there now.” Doc grabbed a beer from the fridge. “Dash’ll be here for the meeting, so he can fill us in on his condition then.”

“Cool.” I checked my watch. “Yeah, twenty minutes, right?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll be there.” I headed up to my room. I needed to take care of the Viagra-style hard-on I couldn’t think away.

* * *

The clubhouse was packed with both familiar and not-so-familiar faces; most of them wearing deep scowls. There were patched members from every corner of Savannah... and a few outside of Savannah. Whoever jumped Badger and burned down our club had declared war. It was as simple as that, and everyone in the room knew it.

What we didn’t yet know, was exactly who our enemy was, and how we were going to protect ourselves. Also yet to be decided, was the matter of retaliation. The Dogs were not typically a violent club and criminal activity was simply not in the club’s DNA. We knew how to handle ourselves and weren’t at all afraid to color outside the lines when necessary, but this was some next level shit and I had a feeling many members were gonna have to swing harder than ever before.

“Alright, listen up!” Doc shouted over the din. “We’ve got a lot of shit to talk about, so let’s bring it in.” The room was instantly silenced as Doc continued, “I’d like to start out by thanking Mack and Hatch for coming all the way from Portland, and also extend my gratitude to the rest of you who traveled here on short notice. We all know what a stand-up brother Badger is, and I know it’s gonna mean a lot to him that you are all here. How’s he doing Dash?”

Dash pushed away from the wall and addressed the crowd, “He’s pretty fucked up. He’s still in the medically induced coma, but the doctors are hoping to bring him out of it soon in order to check on his progress. Whoever did this to him left him for dead, and it’s a miracle he’s not.”

“Well, they won’t be so lucky when we’re done with ’em!” Bozo (one of the young recruits) yelled to a round of cheers.

“Stow that shit right now, Bozo,” Doc ordered. “This isn’t the time for macho vendetta bullshit. We have to be smart and careful about what our next move is. No one here is handing out one-percenter badges, so anyone thinking of doin’ in these scumbags when we find ’em better think again.”

“The Dogs have never sunk to the level of our enemies in the past and we sure as shit ain’t startin’ today,” Gator echoed.

“What the hell are we supposed to do, Prez? Just let these assholes get away with nearly putting one of ours in a pine box?” Bozo asked.

Doom reached over and slapped him on his head and several of the older guys laughed.

“No one’s getting away with a damned thing,” Doc said, his expression one of stone.

Since our club never went looking for trouble, we rarely found it, but sometimes, even I forgot how dangerous some of these men were. Most of the patients at Doc’s private clinic would likely be shocked to learn that he’d done four tours in Iraq and two in Afghanistan as an Army medic. They’d be even more surprised to find out that he had twelve confirmed enemy kills, and received the Silver Star for gallantry in action for defending a children’s vaccination station that had come under enemy fire.

Doc continued, “We’re still gathering intel on exactly who’s behind this, but we have some good leads.”

“Come on, Doc, we all know this is payback from the Raptors. We helped put Spike away for the church shooting and now they’re gunning for us,” Alamo said.

Doc nodded. “The Raptors were only acting as muscle for Dixie Mafia and the Torrance Group. Now that the Torrance Group has been exposed and gone underground, I have a feeling that the Mafia is calling all the shots. They may still be using the Raptors, we’re not sure just yet. As soon as we know, we’ll make our move.”

“And what exactly is our move?” Dash asked.

“We’re gonna hit ’em where it hurts the most. Right now, Curly, Rabbit, and Windows are finding out all the local businesses that have ties to the Dixie Mafia, and once we finalize our list and determine their weaknesses, we’ll start taking them down one-by-one.”

“How exactly are we going to do that without breaking the law, killing anyone, or getting killed in the process?” Dash asked.

“You let me worry about that, Dash,” Doc said. “You just stay frosty and be ready for when the time comes. That goes for all of you. Keep your phones charged and your ears to the ground. No one makes a move without permission from me and stay tuned for updates. Right now, you’re all in a holding pattern, but stay close and ready, because when this thing jumps off it’s going to be fast and loud. I’m not gonna lie, we’re in a shit ton of danger, so be careful out there.”

Doc filled us in on everything he knew about the Dixie Mafia’s current plans for expansion in Savannah. We had a man on the inside in the form of a mechanic named Lucky LaForte. Lucky was a lone wolf, but would often ride with the Savannah Dogs whenever they’d ride to Sturgis or Laconia.

Lucky had been serving as the fleet mechanic for some heavy hitters in the Mafia. His specialty was armor plating, and making vehicles bullet proof. His main job was to keep whoever was in his vehicles alive. However, he had no love for his employers, so was more than happy to divulge any chinks in their armor.

“The Dixie Mafia’s been in a state of chaos for the past few years. Constant FBI investigations and high-profile arrests have created power vacuums all over the south. The younger breed is starting to rise up to take their seat at the table, but a lot of the old dogs still have teeth. We’re caught right in the middle, and I can only assume they think we’ll be easy to get rid of. They have no idea how wrong they are,” Doc said, and then he doled out our responsibilities.