My cell blared on my nightstand, waking me up at what felt like the ass crack of dawn even though it was nearly one in the afternoon. Working the late shift at the bar had started to really fuck up my sleep schedule and it had been taking a nasty toll on my body.

“Yeah?” I answered before hacking up a lung.

“Holt? It’s Sheriff Kelley. I think you need to come on down to the hospital. Rave’s been in an accident and I can’t get Abel or Crickett on the phone.”

“On my way.” I barked before hanging up and throwing the phone onto my bed.

I got dressed as fast as possible and was at the hospital within minutes, but I was too late. They had lost Rave. My heart broke into a million pieces. Rave had helped raise me, helped me when I hit rock bottom and brought me back to life more times than I could count.

I tried Abel and Crickett a few times each, but neither of them answered. They didn’t even answer the bar’s phone.

Fuck.

I paced around the waiting area.

I knew I couldn’t call any of our other members. Abel and Crickett needed to know first. The death of a president needed to be handled very carefully.

Right as I was about to leave and drive to the bar where I knew Crickett was working the day shift, Raine was calling. I hesitated—Raine was Abel’s teenaged daughter. It wasn’t the way I should have handled it, but I did it anyway.

I answered just before the call went to voicemail. “Raine?”

“Hey, Holt. I am about to drop Collin off at your place. Dad said you’d be able to bring him to the bar when you went in for your shift, and it would really help me out. If I’m late for this study group again, they’re going to kill me.” Her voice was so sugary and innocent.

“Sweetheart, I think you’re going to be missing that group today,” I admitted without thinking it through.

“What’s wrong?” Raine was a smart girl; she would have known something was going on even if I had rushed to my place to meet her and lied through my teeth straight to her face.

“Rave was in an accident and your folks aren’t answering their phones. I need you to head to the bar and tell Crickett to get down here. Can you do that for me?” I did my best to keep my tone upbeat and calm.

“I-is ha-he…?” she stuttered before trailing off.

The crack in her voice broke my heart. I didn’t want to lie to her. She was like a daughter to me, and she was going to find out about her grandfather sooner than later no matter what I did to try to shield her from it all.

“Oh my god!” she shrilled, knowing what my silence truly meant.

“Raine, honey, I need you to get to your mom and dad and have them meet me at the hospital. Can you do that?” My voice was low and composed.

I heard her sniffle a few times before answering, “Yes, of course. We’ll be there soon.”

Raine ran through the front doors right into my arms with her parents and little brother following close behind her.

“I am so sorry, Abel.” My voice shook as I hugged Raine back with one arm and put my hand on my best friend’s shoulder with the other. I had helped Abel raise Raine until Crickett came into their lives; she was more than a friend, more than a niece, she was like a daughter to me, and all I wanted to do was comfort her and the rest of the family as much as possible.

“What happened?” Crickett cried as she gripped her husband’s and son’s hands as her body shook and all of the color drained from her face.

“He was run off the road. There was no way he was going to make it through that even if he had laid his bike down,” I explained.

“Do we know who did it?” Abel gripped his stepfather’s cut in his right hand, running his thumb over the patch that read President.

“Not yet. But don’t you worry, we’re going to take care of it.” I didn’t know if I was making empty promises, I just didn’t know what else to say.

Abel took a in a harsh, deep breath. “We need to have a meeting, now. Crickett, take the kids home. I need to take care of this.”

Tears were leaking down Crickett’s face as she grabbed my brother and Raine. “Come on.”

Abel put his hand on her shoulder right as she was turning to leave. The hollowing look in his eyes was bone-chilling. With a low voice he got close to his devoted wife, wrapping her up in his arms. “I will be home tonight babe.”

She kissed his cheek. “You better be.” 

Rave was gone. Our president had been murdered. I sat in utter disbelief as Abel addressed the members of our club. He was sitting at the head of the table, his rightful spot—inheriting it from our fallen leader. Abel was poised and had never looked more in control.

“Men, it is with a very heavy heart that I have to tell you all this information and I thank you all for coming on such short notice. Sometime this morning, Rave was run off the road while riding up near Pisgah National Forest. There was nothing the doctors could do. He didn’t make it.” The water that welled up in Abel’s eyes as he told our brothers of the Unacceptables that their fearless spearhead had been taken out was not something I would ever forget. “Holt and I took a ride up there not too long ago and there aren’t any skid marks. Whoever caused this didn’t do it by accident. It was appears to be a deliberate attack.”

Rave’s cut was in the middle of the large oak table.

Standing, I did what needed to be done as everyone watched in horrified silence. I took out my knife and cut the president’s flash from the front of the weathered, fading leather.

“This belongs to you now, brother.” Handing the black and white patch to Abel, I sank back into my seat at his right.

He gripped it in his hands. “I will not put this on until we find the fucking sons of bitches responsible for this. Mark my words, retribution will be fast and sweet.” His declaration boomed throughout the large room.

All of the men remained taciturn, and it wasn’t the reaction I had expected. I was used to rage bellowing out, yelling with fists slamming, bloodlust emanating from every pore. It didn’t happen this time, though.

“How’re Crickett and the kids taking it?” Red asked from the other end of the table.

Abel pursed his lips. “As good as you could expect. Crickett is strong, and we’ll make sure the kids get through this all right.”

“If you need anything, you let us know.” Red was gnashing on a plug deep in his jaw as he leaned back in his chair. “I know you’ll make this right. We’ll make this right.”

Red was one of the old-timers, one of the few we had left in the organization. He was weathered, mean as fuck, and scary as hell, but he had a heart of gold—just like most of the men I had the pleasure of sitting at that table with.

The other guys nodded in agreement with Red as they offered their help and condolences.

“For the time being, keep your families close, and no one goes anywhere alone. We need to ride in at least twos until this threat has been eliminated.” Abel slammed down the gavel. “I think we all need a drink.”

Pulling Abel to the side, I spoke quietly. “Don’t you think we should go on lockdown? I mean, this could be the beginning of a war.”

Abel shook his head. “We’ll keep the guys on high alert, but I don’t want whoever the fuck did this to think we’re rattled and weakened. We’re going to have to smoke them out, and hiding in this clubhouse is not going to get that accomplished. We’re going to have to be smarter than them.”

“Where do we even start?” I asked. It seemed like a dumb-as-hell question, but it needed to be addressed.

Abel rubbed the back of his neck as he thought for a few seconds. “There was a guy in the bar today. He was sniffing around, said he was looking for his old man. I smell a mole, if you ask me.”

Sitting on my front porch with a can of Busch in hand and my sawed-off to my right, I burned cowboy killers, one after the other like a goddamn chimney. I was pissed. I hated sitting on my hands not knowing who was out for us.

Just as I was about to open a new pack, Crickett’s truck pulled up into my drive.

I hurriedly trotted down the steps, meeting her in my front yard.

“Hey, hon. To what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked, offering her the fresh pack.

She took it, ripped the plastic off, and waited for me to light her cigarette in rapid succession. “Have a minute? I need to run something by you and I didn’t think I should do it over the phone.”

Crickett’s cheeks were puffy and her eyes were bloodshot. Pain weighed her entire body down as she trudged closer to my side.

“Sweetheart, I have all the time in the world for our queen.” I put a hand on her shoulder as her sunken eyes met mine.

We ambled up to the rocking chairs on my front porch. She sat there chewing on the filter for a few seconds, staring off at the dusk-covered mountainside off in the distance.

“How’re you holding up?” I asked after lighting yet another for myself to choke down.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It ain’t real yet…but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Then what’s going on, darlin’? I know you’re not here for the riveting company or to steal my smokes.” I tried to laugh but it was futile.

“Do you have a son?” The question took me by surprise—smacking me in the face.

“Fuck no.” I didn’t skip a beat. I hadn’t spent more than a couple nights with a woman since I was fifteen, and I always used protection. With how shitty my childhood had been, I didn’t think I would be a good father and didn’t want to risk being a deadbeat dad and ruining some innocent kid’s life.

“A guy came into the bar today, said you were his daddy. Just thought you needed the heads-up.” Crickett looked over at me with a hallowed stare.

“What a fucked day.” I pulled in a sharp breath. “How old do you think he was?”

“Too old to be your kid, that’s for damn sure.” She started laughing a little. “I knew it was weird, but he knew your full name, so I had to ask.”

Every hair on the back of my neck stood on end. There goes sleeping tonight. Maybe Abel was right about the dude that came into the bar. It wouldn’t be the first time an enemy sent in an infiltrator to try to pinpoint a weakness in our organization and a false claim of paternity would be a clever way to do it.

“What was his name?” I ask before taking the last swig of my beer.

She crushed out her cigarette in the ashtray. “Only got a first name—Ryder.”

“What in the hell kind of name is that?” I chuckled a bit.

Crickett laughed along with me. “Fuck if I know. I should probably get home before Abel has a shit fit about me being out alone with all this crap going on.”

“I’ll take you. It’s not smart to be out on the roads alone right now.” Abel would have had my head if I let Crickett out of my sight at that point.

“You’re sweet, Holt. Thanks.”