Marcus

 

We hit the road at two am, wanting to beat the rush hour traffic and we travelled for thirteen hours before pulling over and deciding to not push through for the entirety of the trip. I texted my woman to let her know, she was disappointed, but understood. Even with us taking turns driving, we wouldn’t have made it home in one day like she was hoping for. We pull into a motel room and call it a night. It’s a long trip and I’m anxious to get home, but first thing when I get into town, I’m stopping at the Rage Ryders compound for a sit down with Tic and Wasp. I need to inform them that their family may be in danger for having associated with me.

Meaning Carson and Levi, since they are in a relationship with Emory’s sister, Rainey. I don’t know how far Branson’s retribution goes, but I know he’s wiping our families off the map, and that’s inexcusable as far as I’m concerned, he also will be crossing the wrong people when he finally decides to come after me and mine. Once my head finally hit the pillow it was lights out, and darkness took over.

 

 

The following afternoon I pull into the compound, my eyes are gritty from lack of sleep, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I need to get home to my girls as soon as humanly possible. I wipe my hands over my face and get rid of the exhaustion pulling on my body. I look over and see Jensen waking up from the passenger side of the truck. He stretches and notices where we are, we both look up as we hear the door to the compound slam open. It echoed throughout the compound walls, immediately drawing our attention. I see Tic and Wasp standing there with their legs spread apart and arms crossed over their chests. I’m guessing they’re anticipating what it is that I want to talk with them about.

Taking a deep breath, I unbuckle my seat belt and climb my way out. I walk up to them and shake both of their hands in greeting. “Tic, Wasp, thanks for agreeing to meet with me.” Jensen walks up and I introduce them.

“Let’s head inside and talk in my office,” Wasp says to us. We follow him dutifully into the building and fall in stride behind him. I always look on the walls of the hallway as we walk through. There are member photos hanging in honor, both past and present. Some have passed away and some have just retired as they’ve aged. I see King’s photo in the middle, and a memorial for him on one wall, it’s not surrounded by anything other than photos featuring him standing with either family or club members. He was such a great man, he was a big presence in our small town, and he was admired and feared by everyone. At least that’s what I’ve been told by Carson, Levi and Dillon when they speak about him and the club. This is the first time I’ve been able to put a face with the stories.

“He was such a great man, too bad you didn’t get a chance to meet him.” I look over and see Kori standing there with tears in her eyes. “My father had a hand in his death, and I hate that with every passing moment I live. It should’ve been my father who died, not King. I loved him very much, and always wished, from the moment I met him, that he’d been my father instead of the man who sired me.”

“Angel,” Tic comes up behind her and pulls her into his arms. “How many times do I need to tell you, his death was in no way your fault. You tried to protect us, you left, I’m the one who didn’t give you a choice but to be mine again. You have to move on, baby, let the man rest in peace. We have Lila and Kingston to love and raise in his honor. He would’ve rather those two have their parents, then one of us to be six feet under. He loved you just as much as he did Kid and Skylar. We were all his children, in one way or another.”

“I know,” she says, and he whispers something in her ear, that causes her to smile.

 “Now, go check on the rug-rats and see what kind of trouble they’re findin’,” he smirks at her.

“Sir, yes sir,” she says saluting him and turning around, causing him to smack her on the ass during her retreat. She squeals, jumps and practically runs down the hallway. You’d never know that they had to live through the ordeal they did or that they were separated for any amount of time. Their love is solid and impenetrable.

“Alright, now that that is out of the way, let’s get back to the business at hand,” Wasp says. We follow him into his office, Jensen and I take the seats in front of his desk, and Tic purchases himself on the corner.

“Now, tell us what all this urgency is about,” Tic says.

“Well,” I say clearing my throat, “I have a situation that not only puts myself and Jensen here in jeopardy, but one that puts a target on Emory, Shyann and has the possibility of trickling down the line of sisters and their men.”

“You tellin’ me that my brothers are in danger?” Tic asks, raising his eyebrow at me. I squirm in my seat uncomfortably, I can’t believe I have to tell this man that he could potentially lose one, or both of his brothers.

“Why don’t you start at the beginnin’,” Wasp intervenes.

“I can help with that,” Jensen says. “There was a guy in our unit, his name is Augustus Branson. He always put out that creepy vibe, but none of us would’ve ever expected he’d eventually go off the deep end. We were part of the firefighter crew, we put out all kinds of fires and investigated them. We are trained not only in fire control and protection, but each and every one of us took courses to become certified in investigation. We had to learn where the fire began, what may have caused it, and types of accelerants. Anyhow, you get the picture. So, it was year two into our tour that fires began breaking out left and right. None were the same, there was no signature to say it was one individual starting them.”

“Signature, what’s that supposed to mean?” Wasp asks, and I answer the question.

“Each arsonist has a signature, a tell sign that lets you know it was them. It could be the way they make a bomb, a certain type of accelerant they use to start a fire. If it’s one person, there is always one certain thing that will point to them. It becomes a signature mark, a way to tell if it’s an arsonist, or faulty wiring, that sort of thing. In the cases that Jensen is talking about, we would’ve never put one and one together and figured it to be the same person. He never set the fire the same way twice, leaving us confused, thinking there was more than one person involved. Or that they could’ve been random acts of violence. We weren’t sure, so it became a full-fledged investigation. We finally got a break about six months after the first fire was set, when Branson messed up and left evidence behind in his bunk house that our Commander found on one of his inspections.”

“The jet fuel that he stole from one of the hangers was left in his locker,” Jensen explains to them. “So, he became the main suspect in our investigation. We started following leads that one way or another came back to him. Small things at first, matches purchased, cigarette butts left that were the same brand that he smokes, and so on.”

“It wasn’t until he was caught red-handed that everything came out. He had been put under surveillance by our MP’s, unfortunately they had to let him start that fire in order to arrest him. Until then, all they could charge him with was leaving the premises without authorized permission,” I tell them.

“Luckily, they had called in his suspicious activity and no lives were lost that night, but every one of us involved in his take down are now being taken out. Literally, there’s only the two of us left, most of the families are gone as well. Shyann wasn’t supposed to make it out of the fire that was set to get rid of her and her mother,” Jensen says, causing Tic and Wasp to let out some cursing that is fit for a sailor.

“So now, he’s taken out just about everyone, except you two and your families?” Tic asks.

“That about sums it up,” I tell him.

“Get the boys in for a meeting,” Wasp tells Tic, “looks like we’re going hunting. I need a picture of this guy to pass around, anyway you can get that for me?”

“I have a case file that our Commander gave us, let me run out to the truck and grab that for you,” I tell him as I stand from my seat. As I walk out of the room, I can hear them asking questions about Branson to Jensen, and I pray with everything within me, that they manage to find him before he can inflict any harm to my family.

 

 

On the way home, I call Carson, Levi and Dillon so we can have our own meeting and I can let them in on what’s going on. Carson and Levi tell me they have an emergency meeting at the clubhouse and aren’t sure when they can make it. I guess they’ll be getting the memo and I won’t have to explain it to them, I can’t even imagine how Dillon is going to react. It wasn’t that long ago that his woman was in danger and now I have to tell him that even though he thought she was safe, that is no longer the case. And it’s all my fault, guilt slams into me.

“Hello,” Dillon answers the phone.

“Hey, man. I’m a few out from my house and I need you there. There’s something important I have to tell you.”

“Would it happen to be the reason Levi and Carson went running out of here like their asses were on fire?”

“The one and the same,” I answer sullenly.

“Would it also be the reason two Rage Ryder prospects just pulled in front of the shop?” I can hear the aggravation in his voice.

“I can only assume,” I tell him honestly.

“I’ll be there soon,” he tells me before he disconnects the call.

“Well, that’s going to be a fun conversation,” Jensen says, making me want to smack the shit out of him, but he’s right, this is one meeting I’m not looking forward to.