Dex
The idea of going nomad was the best direction for me. If I had stayed at the club, I would’ve been dead by now. The only time I have to answer my phone is if Cas or Sparky calls. I answer to them and since I left three months ago, I’ve only had to deal with Cas once a week during his check in calls like he promised he would make.
Being on the road is easy. Before I left, Cas sat me down and showed me the territories to avoid and the territories the Lost Souls own. I haven’t seen any trouble for three months and it’s had a positive outcome for me, mentally and physically.
When my phone rings, I pull over to answer. Cas calls on a Friday morning to check in. Today is a Monday.
Sure enough, Cas’s name flashes across the screen, I hit answer and press it to my ear.
“Yeah?”
“Dex, how are you?”
I look around my surroundings and see nothing but the open road and mountains. It’s peaceful.
“I’m doing good.”
“That’s great, look, I need you to ride up to our northern chapter in the small town of, Mercy. I got a call from Gabe early this morning and Cameron, our brother, has been taken out. By all accounts, they’ve got the girl who killed him.”
A girl? Great, more violence. Just what I fucking need. Our fight with Danny and the Devils Bastards took its toll on a lot of us, some more than others, especially me.
“If they’ve got who done it, what do you need me to do?”
“Gabe asked for help and I’m sending it, aka, you. Apparently, no one there will touch her. I don’t know why, again, that’s why I’m sending you. I told him you would be there by tonight, I know you’re in the area.”
“I’m hardly in the area, Cas. I’m five or six hours away.”
“Then get riding, call me when you find out what the hell is going on.”
The line goes dead and I slip the phone into my pocket. Cas warned me he’d call for favours every now and then, up till now, they’ve been nothing to deal with. Regardless, my president called and I’ll follow through and find out what’s going on. I rev the throttle and pull back out onto the road.
I make good time and arrive at our northern chapter just as darkness begins to fall. My back aches and my legs are stiff. It’s ridiculously cold up here and not many men are lingering around outside. Their clubhouse is lit up like a Christmas tree and it sounds busy inside.
My arrival brings out a tall guy, his head is shaved and is half covered by a woolly hat. A tattoo runs along his jaw, but I’m too far out to see what it is. I slowly climb off my bike and stretch my back out. It clicks in numerous places and doesn’t feel better for it.
“You must be Dex, I’m Gabe, the president,” he says, walking towards me holding his hand out.
I scan over his patches, and President sits pretty at the top. I shake his hand and we are joined by another brother.
“Zander,” he grunts, holding his hand out.
I shake it and give him my name, “Dex.”
“I’m glad you’re here. You can kill her, and we can move the fuck on.”
Kill her? Cas said nothing about killing a woman. He said they had the girl who took out a brother, he said nothing about me killing her. Or, is that why he sent me? Melissa’s giggle rings in my ears and I push her out. Cas and I sorted this out, he doesn’t think because I killed her I’ll be good to take out women when needed. I burn to get back on my bike and ride away but I’m frozen.
“You’ll have to forgive Zander, he’s a little overwhelmed at the moment,” Gabe smiles. However, there is no warmth behind it. I do not feel surrounded by brothers here.
The guy isn’t overwhelmed, he’s out for blood. I can see it rooted deep in his eyes, and the longer I look, the harder it is to look away. I can’t be here. Taking another woman’s life is not on my to do list and all I want to do is back the fuck out of here and ride hard and fast.
Before I can move, Gabe introduces me to brother after brother, each I’ve never met before and they all look at me like I’m their last and only hope.
“Get our brother a drink,” Gabe orders a cute brunette, slapping her ass as she passes us by.
“A beer would be good,” I tell her before she twirls on her heels and disappears towards the bar in the corner of the room.
Gabe leads me to a small round table by the fireplace. I welcome the warmth but not the upcoming conversation. I imagine putting my hand in the flames and watching the skin melt and drip down the floor.
It’s sick, and the kind of shit that keeps my mind from thinking of Melissa. I’ve been using this method, and I will until it stops working for me. As long as I don’t think of her perfectly smooth skin against mine, her crazy wild eyes drinking me in as I hover over her, or her tears as I point a gun at her head, then I’m fine.
“Cas didn’t say much, just that a brother has been taken out,” I say, wanting to start from the beginning.
The place goes quiet and my beer appears in front of me. Gabe ushers the brunette away and leans forward on the table.
“Three days ago, Baze called in to pick up Cameron. He liked a drink, it wasn’t uncommon for one of us to go pick him up. When he went inside, he found him dead with the girl still there.”
Girl, not woman? She sounds young and none of my business, but I ask, “How was he killed?”
“He was beaten with a fuckin’ frying pan and shanked in the neck for good measure,” Gabe tells me.
“Who else knows?”
“No one outside the club, and the girl is here where we can keep our eyes on her.”
Zander joins us at the table and his eyes shine bright as he looks at me.
“I’ll take you to her, the sooner this chitchat is over, the sooner you can end her, and we can move the fuck on,” he growls.
He doesn’t wait around, and I take the hint and follow him back outside with Gabe tailing behind me.
Every step I take, my heart plummets a little further to the ground. I’m being led to a small shack under a huge tree, yet all I’m seeing is Cas’s living room with Melissa lying on the rug in a puddle of her blood. I focus on her heels like I did that night, and look down at the tattoo on my hand to drill it in.
I’ve come to see past it all and get on with life, but when a guy who I’m supposed to call my brother unlocks the shack and steps to the side, I have to question if humanity exists anymore.
Do I possess humanity any longer? I have no fucking clue but what I do know is I have to get over my gut reaction to side with the small heap huddled in the corner.
A torch is passed my way and I click it on. Swinging the light around to the corner, my mouth dries at the sight of the girl, who is fucking really young and shivering under the coat that is clearly too big for her and not hers.
She doesn’t look big enough to swat away a fly, let alone kill a grown ass man with a patch on.
Shining the light on her face, her stark white hair is the first thing I see. Again, she looks so young, it’s freaking me out. No wonder nobody wants to be the one to take her out.
“Who is she? Was she fuckin’ Cameron or something?”
“It’d be fuckin’ disgusting if she was,” Zander snorts.
I look to Gabe and wait for him to answer, “She’s, or she was I should say, is his daughter.”