Blade

 

“That’s Ghost territory,” Liza said when I told her where the abortion clinic was. “I’ll have to talk to them and make sure it’s not going to cause any problems for you guys to move in on that clinic.”

 

“Look, let me talk to them with you. I want them to know I don’t mean them any disrespect by bringing guys into their area to handle something like this,” I explained. There was a code. No matter how wrong this doctor was, if we made a move in another MC’s territory without getting the all clear to do so first, we opened the door for retaliation. At the very least, we had to let them know what we were doing and why.

 

“Also, I know Ace, their president. You might want to get Brick to talk to him for you. He’s going to wonder why you’re talking instead. He’s going to think something’s up, Blade, and you don’t want him breathing down your neck,” Liza explained.

 

It struck me that for a lawyer, she was very involved in MC politics and business. I figured that was what made her effective as a lawyer for us outlaws.

 

“Got it. I’ll let Brick know,” I conceded. I had to remind myself sometimes that I wasn’t in a position to handle every situation. I wasn’t even our spokesperson.

 

“Okay, I’ll give Ace a call and have him reach out to you,” she said.

 

“Great. There’s something else I need help with,” I said quickly, trying to keep her on the phone long enough to make sure we covered the real reason I called.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“We can’t count on local law enforcement with this. As we’ve already seen, Mr. Smithfield is paying off the local guys. He’s got them in his pocket. If we try to call them and let them know what’s going on, all they’ll do is let him know we’re on our way. That could really put Lucy in danger.”

 

“Not to mention what that could do for the Vicious Thrills and the Ghosts,” Liza added. “I’ve got some connections at the state and federal level.” She paused for a moment, and I could almost hear her thoughts as she considered other options. “I think I’ll do better to call my FBI contacts and see if anyone is in the area.”

 

I sighed. This all sounded like it was going to take too long. “Look. We’re going to start moving,” I told her. “How quickly can this happen?”

 

“I don’t know. It could take ten minutes, could take a couple of hours, depending on how available everyone is,” she explained.

 

“Fine. We’ll get in position, and I’ll put everyone with me on standby,” I said. I knew moving ahead wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had, but I really didn’t give a shit. If everything on Liza’s end didn’t work out, I would just have to be prepared to ask for forgiveness instead of permission.

 

“I’ll leave that out when I talk to people on this end,” she said, and I could hear the smile across her face. “A lot of guys would write people off for this sort of thing. I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

 

“Thanks. I’m already in the middle of it, though. I’m just trying to get out,” I told her and hung up.

 

“Hey, brother, we’re ready,” Robby told me.

 

“Okay, let’s get into position. We’re going to surround the clinic, and we’re going to wait for word from the Ghosts. We’re going into their territory with this. Also, Liza is calling the FBI to see if we can’t get some agents on Lucy’s dad and the doctor agreeing to do this procedure,” I explained.

 

“How do you know the doctor’s agreeing to it?” Robby asked.

 

“I’ve learned a little bit about our boy Bryan Smithfield here lately. That doctor’s going to agree to it, one way or another. Money or force, just like with us.” I patted him on the back and sent him back to the main room with the guys on their bikes while I went back to get Brick.

 

“Is everything good to go?” Brick asked.

 

“I need you to come with us,” I told him. “We’re going into Ghost territory, and Liza’s trying to get ahold of their president to make sure we don’t have any trouble, but he’s going to want to talk to you.”

 

“All right. I’ll ride,” he said. Brick took a very comfortable role as president. He wasn’t as active as he had been when he started the MC, and no one blamed him for it. He’d seen a lot of things go wrong in his time, so he sat back and sort of guided us like an elder most of the time. Hatchet was pretty lax as his VP most of the time, too, leaving most of the MC functions to myself and Robby.

 

We didn’t mind handling business – shit, that was why were there. But when I saw the tired look on his face when it was time to ride out, I wondered why Brick didn’t just step down and hand his and his son’s positions over to us. Hatchet wasn’t old enough to be VP. He didn’t know how shit worked. Robby and I had been in the thick of it since day one.

 

Everyone looked to us for guidance before they went to Brick anyway.

 

We walked out to find Robby and a handful of guys ready to go. We knew we didn’t need many. It was going to be a small, quick job. We were hopefully going to have some sort of law enforcement to back us up. And to top it all off, I was sure Liza was going to get us in with her guys in the Ghosts so we would be likely to have backup from them, as well.

 

We rode out on our motorcycles, knowing the noise would alert Lucy’s dad to our presence before we even showed up at the clinic. I hoped it instilled in him a sense of fear to hear us coming.

 

He’d fucked up. A lot. And it was time to pay for what he’d done.

 

The clinic was a small, squat building. It looked closed as we made our first pass, but I caught a glimpse of a black SUV, like a Suburban or something, sitting out behind the building. As we passed the first time, we saw two men dressed like Secret Service agents stepping out of the back door and pulling guns out of their jacket pockets.

 

I laughed to myself. They thought those little pea shooters were going to intimidate us. We had guys behind us with fully automatic assault rifles strapped across their backs. Those kids had no idea what they were doing, waiting for us with little handguns.

 

They knew we were there, though, and that was good. We pulled around the block after assessing the perimeter. It looked like the only people were there were Mr. Smithfield and the doctor, Dr. Snyder.

 

We pulled into the parking lot. A few of the guys parked by the main entrance to the parking lot and pulled out their rifles to cover the rest of us as we moved to the back, in case the lackeys came out with their guns drawn on us.

 

We pulled to the edge of the parking lot, with Mr. Smithfield’s goons training their guns on us. They hadn’t fired, and they surely could have squeezed a couple of shots off before anyone got them. We weren’t ready to drop them, not like that. I still wanted to give Ace a chance to call us.

 

We parked, killed our bikes, and waited. I held my hand up to hold everyone back. The suits looked at each other as if they were confused about what we were doing.

 

My phone rang, and I pulled it out to find a number I didn’t recognize calling me. I handed the phone to Brick and swiped to accept the call.

 

“This is Brick,” my president said. He sat and listened quietly for a moment with a contemplative look on his face.

 

Then, he looked at me and nodded. I got up with the other guys, and we walked toward the door with our guns drawn, aimed at the two men guarding it.

 

“Put your weapons down,” I said calmly, shifting my gun to reinforce what I was telling them to do. They dropped their weapons and kicked them our way. They put their hands up after they did.

 

“Turn around,” Robby said as he reached down to grab their guns.

 

Roach popped them in the back of the head with the butt of his riffle, knocking them out. We didn’t want to have to kill anyone if we didn’t have to, especially if we were waiting on some sort of law enforcement backup.

 

Brick walked up and handed me the phone back. I took it and checked the screen.

 

“He said to do whatever we needed to do and to let him know if we need any help,” he told me.

 

“Good.” I nodded. Liza had come through.

 

Just then a text came through on my phone from her. Got a few FBI field agents on their way. Get in and out. I showed the text to Brick.

 

“All right, guys, look, we need to make this quick,” he announced.

 

Everyone looked up and turned to him, nodding in agreement. They looked surprised to hear him taking charge the way he was, but that was what he did sometimes. He’d just suddenly become our president again.

 

While he explained his plan, I texted Liza back. Got an ETA?

 

5 min.

 

“You’re shitting me,” I said aloud.

 

“What?” Brick asked.

 

“We gotta cut it short, guys. We have to get in there now and get Lucy. Liza says they’ll be here in about five.”

 

Brick looked at me and almost looked horrified.

 

“We got it, man,” I told him. “Hop back on the bike and wait for us.” I turned to the other guys. “We’re going in,” I told them, holding my gun back up.

 

“One problem,” Robby said with his hand on the door.

 

“What’s that?”

 

“It only opens from the inside apparently. Or with a key,” he told me, pulling on it.

 

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” I laughed hoarsely. “This is too much. Back up.”

 

I aimed at the door as he stepped aside, figuring I’d try to shoot the lock off so we could get in. I pulled the trigger and hit the lock dead on. Robby tried again, but it still wouldn’t budge.

 

As he stepped back and I took aim again, the door flew open. I immediately lowered my gun, not knowing who was going to head out that door. I held my hand up to hold everyone else back and to keep them from shooting. There were only three people I knew it could have been.

 

Then, the strawberry waves and blue eyes I’d been waiting to see came out. I slid my gun under my belt and caught Lucy in my arms as she fled the building, crying.

 

“It’s okay,” I told her, smoothing down her hair.

 

Then, from within, we heard a gunshot, and she flinched. I waved my hand to signal to everyone that we were done and needed to get on our bikes before things really got ugly for us. The FBI was going to be there any minute, and we had to hit the road before we were spotted. The last thing we needed to do was answer any questions.

 

Still, it felt wrong leaving the scene without a fight. It almost felt like we were fleeing ahead of Lucy’s father. Really, we were getting out of the way so law enforcement could handle its job without any of us getting in trouble.