MICHELLE

 

The mood in the entire town was strange. Nate’s shooting and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it seemed to have everybody on edge. It wasn’t the first time that somebody died. Clubs in this town always had some beef they had to settle. But most of the time, it was settled behind closed doors or beyond city limits. The incident at Finn’s was so highly-publicized that everybody was asking questions.

The Grindhouse wasn’t free from the tension in Ivory. There weren’t as many patrons hanging around. Those who stuck around weren’t having the lively conversations that they usually had. No, this was serious and nobody was trying to hide it.

“You all right, babe?”

I figured the least I could do was console my man. It was all part of being an old lady. With Declan being the president, he had to shoulder most of the responsibility of finding out what happened.

“I’m all right,” he said. “All things considered.”

“How’s Nate?”

“Breathing. Doctors say it’s still a coin flip whether or not he makes it.”

Declan leaned up against the bar and stared off into the distance. I put a hand on his shoulders and massaged him. He closed his eyes and sighed. It felt good to give him a little relief, even if it only lasted for a few seconds.

“I’m gonna talk to Sutton,” he said. “See if anything has come up.”

“That’s probably a good idea…”

“…What’s wrong?”

Declan was always intense. That was the only way he knew how to be. But when he looked at me, there was still a kindness somewhere inside of him. Maybe I was the only one who was able to see it but it was there.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I just don’t like the feeling of knowing that one of the club members is in the hospital and you don’t know who did it.”

“Nate’s just a prospect,” he said with a slight smile.

“Oh, well, that makes it so much easier to stomach.”

I rolled my eyes at him. He put his hands up and gently caressed the sides of my face. He stared down at me and kissed me softly on the lips.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll do anything to make sure you and our kid are safe. Nobody is gonna come to Ivory and threaten me. Nobody.”

He leaned down and gently put a hand on my stomach. I was only just coming along but I swore that my belly was bigger than it had been my entire life.

“Brawn and Petey will be around,” he said.

“Why are you telling me that?”

“Just so you know that nothing will happen. The safest place in Ivory is The Grindhouse. It’ll always be The Grindhouse.”

He kissed me again and left me quickly.

It was the middle of the day and I had it all to myself. There wasn’t much business in the bar at the moment. Brawn and Petey were occupied in the back of the clubhouse. The bartender was trying to keep himself busy by arranging the liquor. The two customers we had were just relaxing.

I was thinking of what to do when the front door to the bar opened. I turned and saw Katrina walking in. She still looked as young as she was. A cheerful smile on her face made her look happier than usual. I liked to think that it was motherhood that put her in such a good mood.

“What are you doing here?” I said. “Who’s running the shop?”

“It’s a slow day,” she said. “It’s not like I’ll be losing any money. Besides, I wanted to show you something.”

She held the bouquet of flowers in her hand up. I was so distracted that I only just noticed them.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“What’s this?”

“It’s for the wedding!”

“Oh! Right!”

“Well, what do you think?”

I giggled softly to myself as I examined her offering.

“It’s beautiful,” I said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from a professional. It must be nice being a florist and being able to make your own arrangements. Makes me wish Declan and I weren’t married yet. We could do a whole big wedding with you doing the flowers.”

“Maybe you two can get re-married.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at her.

“Re-married? Is that a thing?”

“Sure it is! People do it all the time. Some people go all out. A wedding. The dress. The flowers. The cake. The reception.”

“I don’t think Declan would be too happy about springing for another wedding when we’re already married,” I said, trying to stifle my laughter.

“Declan seems like a reasonable guy.”

“Being reasonable is exactly the reason he wouldn’t be up for it.”

Katrina and I shared a laugh. Seeing her in the clubhouse made me forget about all of the drama surrounding the club at the moment.

“Come on,” I said. “Why don’t you sit down and have a drink?”

“Are you drinking?”

“I…”

The only people who knew were Declan and my doctor. I thought about springing the news but bit my tongue.

“Michelle?”

“On second thought, it’s too early to be drinking. Maybe we should just relax and enjoy the day.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Katrina rested her bouquet on the bar counter. She took a seat in front of it. I moved to the seat next to her.

What is that?

Before I sat down, I noticed something strange. I’d been around the club long enough to know what it was.

The rumble of an engine. There wasn’t just one of them though. The sound grew louder and louder to the point that I couldn’t ignore it.

“Michelle?” Katrina said. “Is something wrong?”

“Do you hear that? It sounds like there’s someone right outside—”

Crash.

Gunshots filled my ear as the mirror and bottles of liquor on the bar shattered suddenly.

“Ahh!” Katrina screamed out.

My instincts took over. I grabbed Katrina and tugged her to the ground.

I stayed on top of her as the gunshots continued.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Glass shattered. Wood splintered. The other people in the bar had all hit the floor and listened to the destruction.

Just as quickly as it started, it ended.

“Katrina… Katrina, are you all right?”

She slowly rolled over and looked up at me. Her hair was messy over her face. Her eyes were filled with a concern that told me this was real.

“I’m okay,” she sighed. “I think.”

I looked her over but she didn’t appear to have any injuries.

It had all happened so fast that I was still having trouble wrapping my head around it.

“Let’s go!”

Brawn and Petey made their way out of the backroom and rushed through the front entrance of the clubhouse, their pistols raised up. They were gonna find whoever did this but right now, my priority was making sure that nobody was hurt.

I slowly started moving back up to my feet but Katrina grabbed my wrist.

“Wait!” she said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you sure it’s… safe?”

“Petey and Brawn know what they’re doing. It’s okay, Katrina.”

“Right…”

We both stood back up. The bartender was bleeding but it was mostly small cuts from the broken liquor bottles. The customers were away from the gunshots. They looked distraught but didn’t appear to have any injuries.

Seeing that everybody was all right, I pulled my phone out and called Declan. I was doing my best to remain calm.

“Come on… Pick up…”

“Michelle?”

“Declan! Someone just shot up the clubhouse! Petey and Brawn are going after them! I—”

“I’m on my way.”

I didn’t have to say anything more. Declan knew that I would never mess around with something like this.

Katrina didn’t have as much experience as I did. She kept looking around the devastated clubhouse. I was having trouble myself trying to take it all in.

“Katrina.”

I put my hands on her shoulders to get her to look at me. When she finally did, she snapped out of her trance.

“Yeah?”

“Call Blake. Make sure he’s all right.”

“Right.”

She was a little frantic as she dialed on her phone. She held it up to her ear. We both waited for a response but Katrina didn’t say anything. She just kept dialing over and over, trying to get through, but there was no response.

“Dammit,” she muttered.

She put her phone down then started dialing again.

“What is it?” I said.

“I’m gonna call my brother.”

Katrina’s brother was Jordan Harris, president of the Winter Cobras. The Cobras and Reapers never got along very well. Katrina was the only reason the two clubs weren’t at each other’s throats. Even though there was no beef between them, they weren’t exactly friends either.

“Jordan,” Katrina said. “I’m at The Grindhouse. Someone just shot the place up… Yeah… I’ll be here… Don’t worry about me…”

Katrina hung the phone up and let out a sigh of relief.

“Jordan’s on his way. He said—”

Katrina’s phone started ringing in her hand again.

“Blake!”

I just stared while she listened to the voice on the line. I couldn’t make out what was being said.

“I’m all right,” she said. “I’m safe.”

She didn’t say another word before lowering the phone back down from her ear.

“What is it?” I said.

“It’s Blake… He’s with the others. They were able to ride up and catch the men who did it.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “They’re still trying to figure it out.”

I sighed a deep breath of relief.

“I guess that means we can relax a little bit,” she said.

I looked around the clubhouse. The walls were destroyed. The floor was covered in broken wood and shards of glass. It was like a hurricane had swept through and destroyed everything in its path.

“Relax,” I sighed again and shook my head. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to relax for a long time.”