Benz

“There they are,” I said and Kade nodded.

We’d found just them right where we expected.

When I was out on any run for The Saints, having Kade by my side was the way I wanted it. His history in Port Az was longer than mine and that was saying something. He knew every back road. He knew the trails. He knew the names of things before they’d gotten named.

In a GPS world, it was fucking useful as hell to know another way around like Kade always did.

He said he was part Comanche. But I knew he was all Dark Saint, and so was I.

“Yep, let’s go.”

Two fucking dirt bags were riding out of our town. They had no business being anywhere near Port Azrael.

Kade and I would be providing an escort out of town and sending a message.

They were stopped at County Road 96 and Old Split Rail Highway.

They heard our bikes first, of course, but didn’t have time to react. We’d penned them in.

“Get the fuck out of our way,” said the bigger of the two.

“We won’t be doing that.” Kade and I got off our rides and moved slowly toward them.

Their patches said ‘Skillex’ and ‘Taro’. But that was it. I suspected that they were Hawks, but they were at least smart enough not to make that known.

They were in our town, with some sort of MC, and they were going to learn a lesson about that.

Skillex made a poor choice and put a hand inside his vest.

Fuckers were both probably carrying. I reached out before he could draw and punched him hard enough in the face that he went flying off his bike.

I heard the bike crash to the ground as I closed in on Skillex, who was now trying like hell to figure out what to do next. He kicked at me.

Kade was handling the one named Taro behind me. I knew that without looking.

That’s how it was. I didn’t have to worry that Taro was going to put a bullet in me, because Kade had it handled.

I let Skillex stand up. It wasn’t any fun punching him if he lay there like a baby.

“Come on, you Mother Fucker.” The idiot took a swing at me. I tried not to laugh.

“Who you ride with? You probies? Cause you fight like fucking infants. I wouldn’t want my club to know if I were you.” I stepped forward, and before Skillex could try yet another stupid swing or kick, I grabbed a chunk of his shirt and flesh. I drew him in close to my face. He smelled like cigarettes and fear.

Just as it was supposed to be.

“You two are alive for one reason.”

Kade had relieved Taro of his piece and was now pointing it at the dude’s temple. Taro looked at me with hate in his eyes.

Hate and fear. Fine and dandy. That’s what Kade and I delivered on this day.

“Fuck you, Benz,” Taro said.

“You sure we shouldn’t just kill them?” Kade said. He knew, and I knew, our orders from The Saints.

It had been clear at Church that we were here to send a message and not make a mess.

“You head back to Abilene and tell your crew, I’m guessing you’re Devil’s Hawks, you have that smell. You tell them to stay the fuck out of Port Az.”

“We sure will tell him something,” Skillex said.

“Is that some sort of threat?”

“Port Az isn’t yours anymore, exclusive,” Skillex added.

“Oh, really?”

I shoved the fucker down to the pavement and put a boot to the back of his head. I heard a crunch. I was pretty sure hitting the pavement had broken the already ugly Skillex’s nose.

I crouched down. Skillex was getting the picture.

I didn’t have to do a damn thing to keep him on the ground now. He lay there and Kade had Taro nice and quiet too.

“Fine. We’re going,” Taro said.

“I’ll be keeping this.” Kade put the piece in his jacket.

“That’s fucking bullshit,” Taro said, but he got back on his bike.

“Get up,” I said to Skillex.

“Asshole,” Skillex growled at me as he lifted his hand to stop the flow of blood from his nose.

He looked good and roughed up. Exactly my orders from Bear, our Prez. Bear could count on me to do exactly as the club needed.

“We see you again anywhere near our county, we’ll break more than your goddamn noses,” I said quietly, taking his gun. We’d dispose of them in the usual place later.

The two of them righted their bikes and we stood back.

“We’ll escort you,” Kade said. They both headed North on Old Split Rail Highway. Kade and I followed until they got to Highway 37 and then we peeled off.

It was a good day’s work.

Kade and I stopped on the overpass for a moment and watched their bikes fade over the horizon.

Port Az was Dark Saint’s territory. There was no place for the Hawks, if they were Hawks. Or any other crew. Running them out was the goal. Mission accomplished.

“I really like what you did there with the nose,” Kade said.

“Yeah? It was an improvement.”

“For sure. You think that’ll be it?” Kade said. Exactly what I had been thinking.

“For now. For a while. But people are gunning for action in Port Az. Hawks, Mexicans, maybe more.”

“I think you’re right on that one, brother.”

I didn’t want to think what that would mean. Most likely I’d be busting up more than noses.

We fired up our bikes again and headed back.

Port Az was getting bigger and harder to control. But part of the reason it was getting bigger was us, The Saints.

The Hawks wanted to come in and bring in worse shit than we ever allowed. It was going to be trouble.

Half the town had no idea why this was a good place to be. The other half knew exactly why and they stayed out of our way because of it.

“Let’s meet up with Zig at Woody’s,” Kade said. That sounded just right.

“We earned it.” Nothing like a shot or two after a hard day’s work.

At Woody’s Lounge, in the old section of Downtown Port Az, you could have a drink, play some pool, and be left alone. The newer places in Port Az had a college element. Or for fuck’s sake, hipsters. We were glad those businesses were thriving – it put money in our pockets – but we sure as shit weren’t going to drink in ‘em.

Woody’s Lounge was old and gnarly. Zig was already in a booth at the back.

He greeted Kade and I with a shoulder bump each.

“How’d it go?” Kade sat down and looked around.

“Went fine. Rearranged some faces and escorted them straight out of town,” I said.

“Where’s the drink you promised?” Kade said to Zig.

“I’ll go. Fill him in,” I said to Kade. My adrenaline was still up from kicking the shit out of those two asshats.

I felt restless. I knew we’d done our jobs, but I also felt something more was in the air.

The booths were private here, they had high backs. It made for a good place to have a meeting you didn’t want other people to see. And Woodrow didn’t dilute the booze, so we made it our off-site meeting place. If we didn’t head to the clubhouse, we came here.

A lot of things were going through my mind, mainly, how many other MCs were we going to have to run off? I was thinking about that and maybe that’s why I didn’t see her when we came in.

But I saw her now, on my way to the bar, because I nearly knocked her to the ground.

We collided. I was quicker than a big man should be, I suppose, and I caught her by the shoulders.

“Whoa, sorry miss. You okay there?” I said. I was more interested in getting drinks for my crew than getting her answer. But I didn’t mean to knock a woman down. I may have done a job on that fucker, Taro, but I’d never hurt a woman. Never would. And I’d practically flattened this one. Shit. What was a woman like this even doing in this dive?

“I’m fine, it’s me. Totally a klutz. I’m the one who’s sorry.” Her voice grabbed my attention and shifted it away from my guys waiting for their shots.

She wore her dark hair in a ponytail. She was taller than most; she had to be, because she came to my chin. Most women stared straight at my chest.

She had on a yellow dress. I noticed the yellow. I liked the yellow. She had heels on. And she didn’t have any makeup on that I could tell. Yet she was prettier than anyone I’d ever seen. Her eyes were the same color as the whiskey in the bottles behind the bar.

I kept my hands on her shoulders and took a good long look to be sure she was balanced and steady on her feet. I had nearly knocked her over.

“I, uh oh.” She’d dropped her bag on the floor. I bent down to get it.

“Here you go.” I handed it to her and she looked away from me.

“Thank you.”

“You probably shouldn’t be in this place. It’s not really for nice girls,” I told her.

“Well, Woodrow and I are friends, and I needed tea. But thank you for the advice. I’m Jenny Guffy.”

“Jenny, I’ll walk you out.” I gave a hard look to Woodrow Trudeau, the owner, and bartender. He knew she shouldn’t be here either. This place was shit and a remnant of Port Azrael’s worst days. Woodrow shrugged at me and went back to his work behind the bar.

I focused back on Jenny. For some reason I couldn’t take my hand off her. I wanted her out of this shit hole and safely to wherever the fuck she was headed. I also didn’t want to stop touching her.

I opened the door and ushered her out into the bright sunlight.

“There you go. Again, there are a few nicer places in town. Where you won’t run into bad guys.”

“Are you a bad guy?” she asked. The innocent way she looked was in direct conflict with her low voice, which had a bit of gravel in it. Who was this woman?

I felt a tightening in the leather pants I wore. That voice in this pretty package had my complete attention. I stepped closer to her and leaned down so she would hear me nice and clear.

“I am the baddest of men. Best stay away from me and places like this, Jenny.”

She blinked. I noticed her lush eyelashes. I also noticed the pulse in her neck and the hollow at her collar bone. Normally I noticed tits and ass. What the fuck was my problem?

“Bad maybe. But polite for sure,” Jenny said in that sexy as hell voice. This time I noticed her lips. Jesus. I decided to give hanging with her just a little longer a shot.

“Can I walk you to your car?”

“I – no. I’m here, right across the street. Next time you’re in the library come say hi.”

She turned and walked across the street – jaywalked I might add. I swear a car nearly hit her. Her skirt blew up in the aftermath and I got another nice look. Fucking A. She was a damn disaster wrapped up in sexy. And not sexy like anything I’d ever seen.

I watched, couldn’t help it, as she walked up the steps to the Port Azrael Library and into the building. She didn’t look back at me.

The library, how the hell was I going to find a reason to go to the goddamn library?

I’d have to think about that one. I knew for sure that I’d like to see Jenny in the yellow dress again. And out of it.

It was enough to almost make me forget my worries about the Devil’s Hawks and whoever else was trying to encroach on Port Azrael.