DORIAN

 

I never lost a game of cards to Needle. He might have lied and told people that he beat me but I could look into his eyes and read his mind. There was no chance I would lose my shirt at a poker table playing against him.

So when I finally lost so many hands that I couldn’t keep track, I knew something was wrong.

I tried to relax the best I could but the whole incident with Graham was bothering me. Ghost knew it better than anybody else, even though he never said anything.

I kept to myself in the clubhouse before I couldn’t take it. I left to see if I could figure out what the fuck was going on.

I didn’t have any leads. All of the evidence at Graham’s place was locked up by the police. The abandoned building where he stayed was taped off with investigators swarming all over the scene.

The only thing I knew for sure were the places he circled on the map. And the one place that stood out more than the others was the Winter Cobras storage facility.

The Cobras were a club in Ivory that was just as infamous as the Reapers. Everybody in town knew who they were. When they saw that Cobra patch, they knew exactly what club it belonged to.

It was no secret that the Cobras had a storage facility. The place was a massive warehouse that took up a big spot in the center of town. They claimed it was for storing all of the things that belonged to the club. Spare bike and car parts. Extra equipment and supplies for their clubhouse. But everybody knew that they were up to some shady shit. The cops were too busy with other things and they never had a reason to get a warrant so they could search the place.

If Graham had the place targeted and he had a vendetta against the Cobras, targeting the storage facility was a better idea than blowing up their clubhouse itself.

That shit was bothering me to no end. I couldn’t shake the fucking feeling. Even with Graham behind bars, something still felt off.

I got on my ride and headed toward the storage facility in the center of town. The sun was going down in Ivory with everybody out to get their evening started. I didn’t pay much attention to anything else and I arrived at the facility faster than I expected.

The place was nearly empty with a couple of vehicles parked outside. I parked a few blocks away so that nobody could see that I was there. As I looked at the facility in the distance, I realized what my next problem was.

I’m here. Now what the fuck am I gonna do?

The least I could do was warn whoever was in there. I made my way over to the storage warehouse and looked around until I found the entrance. I walked all the way around the massive building then got to the front entrance. I grabbed the door and tried to open it but it was locked.

“Shit… Nobody’s here…”

“You need some help, boy?”

I heard the voice and spun around to see who it belonged to.

Shit.

Shaved head. Tattoos up and down his arms and on his neck. Arms as thick as trees and a barrel chest. The man’s size didn’t intimidate me. I was never intimidated by another man. But the patch on his leather kutte was enough to tell me I was in a bad situation.

“I was just looking around,” I said.

“Looking around?” he said as he raised an eyebrow. “Looking around by going inside? What the fuck kinda business does a Reaper got at a Cobra storage facility?”

The motherfucker glared at me with his arms crossed. I knew I couldn’t reason with him. But I couldn’t start anything with him either. The last thing I wanted was to spark a war between two clubs that didn’t even like each other in the first place.

“Listen, I need to talk to a Cobra,” I said.

“You’re talking to one,” he said. “A pledge, anyway.”

“You’re a pledge… Okay… That’s good enough. You need to talk to everybody else in the club.”

“What’s this all about?”

“Did you hear about Amy’s Bakery? Did you hear about the fire?”

“I sure did.”

He looked down and shook his head. He couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.

“I loved that place,” he said. “Those donuts were better than anything I’ve ever had in this town.”

“You know they caught the man responsible, right?”

“Responsible? I thought the place blew up on its own.”

“No. It was a man named Graham. He made it look like it blew up on its own but he was behind it.”

“I hope they fry that motherfucker—”

“Look,” I said as I put my hands up. “They caught him and he’s behind bars. You don’t need to worry about him anymore.”

The bald man kept glaring at me with his arms crossed.

“What the fuck does this have to do with anything?”

“I was there when they caught him. I was in his room. I saw the buildings he was targeting. It wasn’t just Amy’s Bakery. He targeted spots that belonged to the Reapers and the Cobras.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you need to tell your club. Tell them that there was a guy out there who was trying to blow up your property, including this facility.”

“There was a guy who was trying to blow up our shit. You just said he’s behind bars.”

“Right…”

How the hell do I explain this?

He was getting more impatient as he waited for an explanation. I couldn’t tell him that I had a gut feeling about it. That wouldn’t make any sense. The guy already looked like he wanted to squeeze my neck off of my head.

“He wasn’t alone,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no way a guy like him could have tried an operation like this all by himself. That’s way too many explosives. And he was so sloppy that he got caught. Look…”

I took a step toward the Cobra with my hands in the air, trying to look as harmless as possible.

“…Just talk to your club,” I said. “Tell them to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Tell them to watch their backs.”

“We’re always watching our backs.”

“…I guess you’ve got a point.”

I looked back at the storage facility and realized there wasn’t much more I could do.

“All right,” I said. “That’s it.”

I started walking away when he called out to me.

“Hey!”

“What?” I said as I turned around.

“How do I know this isn’t some trick? How do I know you’re not just trying to spook our club and have us on edge? With the feds in town, you know shit is already getting serious.”

“…You don’t know. You just have to take my word.”

“I’ll never take the word of a Reaper. The only club that matters is this patch right here.”

He tapped the patch on his kutte proudly. I sighed as I started walking away, knowing there wasn’t much more I could do.

I wasn’t any closer to getting any leads and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

I felt the Cobra’s eyes on me as I started walking away. I kept moving until I eventually got back to my bike. Even from so far away, the Cobra still stood there with his arms crossed and his eyes locked on me. I revved my engine to get ready to leave.

“Asshole,” I muttered to myself.

I didn’t have much else planned for the evening. The only thing left for me to do was head back to the clubhouse.

And then there was Gina.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I sent her a message.

“What’s up? Busy?”

She responded a few seconds later.

“Not really. Just finishing with Lydia. You?”

“I don’t got shit planned tonight. You feel like hanging out?”

“I’ll be ready and waiting at my apartment. :)”

I smiled at the thought of it. I was just about to tuck my phone away when a picture followed. It was a selfie of Gina with her shirt and bra raised. Seeing her topless made me forget about everything else that was on my mind.

I couldn’t fucking wait.

I started to drive off when I noticed something strange. I looked out into the parking lot of the facility in the distance. There was another car there. A red pickup truck. And there was someone inside of it.

“What the…”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to see the person inside. Even though I was so far away, I swore that they were looking back at me.

Without warning, the truck started. It backed out of the parking lot and immediately started driving down the street.

“Shit.”

I revved my engine and peeled off down the street. That’s when I heard it.

Boom.

I’d been in war zones I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies. But nothing was as loud as the sudden explosion behind me.

I nearly fell off my bike as I slammed on the brakes. I turned around and saw the facility up in flames.

“Holy shit…”

My eyes wide and my mouth half-open, I shook my head as I regained my senses. I looked down the street and saw the pickup truck continuing to disappear down the road. But I knew I couldn’t follow him.

I raced back to the facility parking lot. The warehouse was a giant ball of fire.

I saw the Cobra I was just talking to lying on the ground. The blast must have knocked him unconscious and sent him flying.

“Come on… You’re all right…”

I turned him over onto his back and checked his pulse. It was still there. He was barely breathing but his eyes were closed.

“Freeze! Don’t move!”

I was so distracted by trying to deal with the Cobra, I didn’t hear the police sirens.

I looked up and saw a cop pointing his gun at me.

“Keep your hands where I can see ‘em! Now!”

His eyes widened the same as mine when we both recognized each other.

“Dorian? Dorian, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“Sheriff Sutton…”

I tried to search for an explanation for the old cop. But what the hell was I going to say to him?

I saw a pickup truck and the next thing I knew, the whole warehouse exploded. That shit sounded unbelievable when I said it in my head. There was no way Sutton was going to believe me.

“I can explain,” I said as I put my hands up. “It wasn’t me.”

“What are you doing here, Dorian?”

“It wasn’t me. It was… Shit, it was a guy in a pickup truck.”

“A pickup truck?”

“Yes! A red pickup truck!”

“Did you get his plates?”

“He was too far away.”

Sutton put his gun back in his holster and rested his hands on his hips.

“I’m gonna have to take you in for questioning,” he said.

“You can’t. If you take me in for questioning, you know Agent Lieberman will do everything she can to paint me as guilty. Plus the Cobras will want to get their hands on me.”

“Then what are you suggesting?”

“Let me go. I’ll find the man responsible for this.”

I pleaded with him. Shit, if the other members saw me trying to bargain with a cop, they would have laughed at me. But this was the one time I had to work with him.

“You’ve gotta trust me,” I said. “I can find the guy who did this shit.”

Sutton sighed as he looked down at the Cobra lying on the floor. He grabbed the radio on his shoulder and started speaking into it.

“This is Sheriff Sutton. I’m at the storage facility on Broadway. I need an ambulance. Now.”

Sutton stopped paying attention to me long enough for me to get to my bike. The sound of sirens filled the air as they approached the facility.

I wouldn’t have much time until everybody started looking for me. The Cobras were out for me. The cops were out for me. My own club would wanna wring my neck for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

With the black smoke billowing into the air, I realized there was only one person I could turn to.