Chapter 15

Mary Jane tightened her hold on Wolf and watched Storm’s back. He rode at the front with the Skull. When she’d arrived at their motel room the night before, his belongings were missing, and he never returned to their room. Later, when she’d found him by the pool smoking a joint with another Mayhem Brother, Storm’s gaze slid by her as if he didn’t know her.

No way would she let him get away with that. Did he really think she thought less of him because of what happened to him in prison?

She walked up and politely said to the other Mayhem Brother, “Please excuse us for a minute.” The man looked toward his president. Storm nodded. She waited until they were alone. “Why did you move out of our room?”

“I left you a note.” He flicked off a piece of lint from his cut.

“Saying that you’re leaving the room to me. Why?”

She did her best to hide the hurt. He acted as if what she felt didn’t matter.

His eyes coldly looked over at her. “I’ve been told that there’s no sign of the Thirty-Second members hanging around. You’ll be safe alone for a while. Wolf is capable of looking after you.”

“I see. Does that mean I should fuck him too?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled in a long release. “Sorry. You make me so angry, I say things I don’t mean.”

“Fuck him or don’t, up to you.” He turned away and walked off.

Her anger disappeared. His words were filled with so much pain. Would giving him time and space help? She really didn’t know, but she knew she needed the break. She was allowing her emotions to get wrapped up in him too much. They were so different deep inside.

She squinted her eyes. For the first time in her life she understood the need to slap some sense into a person. She threw up her hands and turned away.

That had been the last she’d seen of him until they lined up the next day. Wolf had taken her to breakfast, but he wasn’t much for talking, except to convince her to stay with the group. His reasoning was, it would bug the shit out of Storm. She agreed. Then they ate in silence as his attention drifted off. She guessed he was still upset about seeing his brother the day before.

Water slapped her face, returning her attention to their trip back home. The weather hadn’t cooperated, and they had been sprinkled on a couple times; and once they’d had to find a spot to pull over while it poured. Wolf had kindly given her an emergency poncho he kept folded up in his saddlebags.

A few minutes later, a break in the clouds brought out the full force of sunshine, and within a few miles, everyone looked air-dried. The long line of bikes slithered through the heavy afternoon traffic. In certain areas, cars and trucks quickly moved to the slow lane to make way for the club. It was amazing how people stared and pointed. She noticed several of the Brothers stick out their tongues and wag them, making some teenage girls giggle and others pale in fright. Most of the Brothers ignored the citizens and followed close to the bikes before them.

By the time they exited the interstate, a few miles from the clubhouse, Mary Jane had decided she needed to go back to her place. If Storm wanted to continue protecting her, he could do it from her house. She needed her routine and her familiar surroundings.

Being with her mom and dad caused her to realize how much she missed the plain way of life. Maybe in a couple months, once things settled down, she would return. Maybe not to live all year long in the mountains, but for short stretches of time. In the time since Jimmy’s death, too much had changed and getting away from civilization helped center her.

And she needed rest from the intensity of Storm.

At the thought of her play on words, she smiled. Not for the first time, she mused that he was so aptly named.

The bikes passed a few warehouses and turned down the street that led to the clubhouse. Suddenly, the ground shook. Bikes scrambled every which way to avoid hitting other bikes. About a block away, a plume of black smoke billowed above the other buildings.

“What the fuck?” Wolf pulled off to the side of the road. Bikes passed them, everyone hurrying down the road to the clubhouse. “Get off and stay here.” He twisted on his bike, looking back. The road truck swerved as he waved it over. “Prospect, stay here with her.”

“But that could be the clubhouse,” the young man whined.

“There are plenty of fucking people checking on it. Do as I say now!” Wolf gassed the bike and took off with a squeal of his back tire.

The young man jumped out of the passenger side and then the truck driver burnt rubber following Wolf. He shot her an exasperated smile.

“Sorry,” she said. Then she started walking toward the clubhouse.

“Hey!” The young prospect grabbed her arm. “Did you hear what Wolf said? We’re to stay here.”

“Funny thing about that. He’s your VP, not mine.” Mary Jane headed toward all the commotion.

The prospect grabbed her arm. With a backward shove of her elbow to his chest, he fell to his knees and coughed.

Giving only a glance to ensure the prospect was okay, she continued on her way down the sidewalk. She only hoped Storm stayed where it was safe.

A chill ran down her back. Who was she kidding? He didn’t understand the word restraint. Not when it came to his Brothers.

Just as she turned the corner, another explosion rocked the ground. She lost her footing and landed on her butt. She jumped up and began to run. When she looked at the clubhouse, it was to see Storm running inside the burning building.

“No, Storm!”

Strong hands held her back.

No, no, no.

Storm needed to pull out everyone along with the piece-of-shit Thirty-Second asshole. Damn it! As he ran into the clubhouse, he didn’t worry about who set the explosions or how. Saving lives was front and center.

The majority of the destruction and fire appeared to be coming from the office area. He doubted anyone would be there, and luckily, their stash of weapons had been cleared out of the building two weeks earlier. A horrible image of a metal box sitting in the corner of the hidden storage room popped into his thoughts. Everything was cleared out except for the case of ammunition they kept in reserve. Shit!

“Ammo is about to go. Tell everyone to get back. Behind the other buildings. Let the fire department know,” he shouted at Cutter and Twofer who’d followed him inside.

Ducking low to avoid the choking smoke rolling overhead, he ran to the basement door. It was open. Two steps at a time, he stumbled on the bottom landing but caught himself. Angel Garcia and the prospect were nowhere in sight. Facedown on the floor in a pool of blood, Venom lay unmoving. Storm leaned down and touched his neck.

Damn, damn, damn.

No way would he leave a Brother to burn. Placing a shoulder against the man’s stomach, he lifted him and carefully maneuvered the steps. Sirens echoed into the warehouse as he topped the stairwell and turned toward the front door. Thick smoke blocked his view. The only way to avoid the smoke would be to crawl. That would be difficult while carrying Venom’s body. Determined to make it out alive and with his burden, he raised an arm over his mouth and nose and closed his eyes, heading toward the door.

“There he is!” Shouting competed with what sounded like a hundred sirens as he staggered into the fresh air.

The load was lifted off his shoulder and he fell to his knees coughing up his lungs. Damn it to hell! His chest burned and his throat ached.

Strong hands pulled Storm to his feet and dragged him away from the building. He blinked and blinked, trying to clear his vision. His eyes burned so badly, he wasn’t sure if he would see again.

“Sir, lean back, and we’ll wash out your eyes while you take in the oxygen,” a man said as hands pressed his shoulders back onto a soft surface. Storm was too weak to fight the touch.

“Storm, oh, my God!” Mary Jane’s anxious voice soothed his nerves to the point he actually smiled beneath the oxygen mask. “Will he be okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. I believe so.”

Fingers held his eyes open and a cool liquid squirted into his stinging eyes. The relief was instant. He blinked and Mary Jane’s sweet face came into view.

Before he could move the mask, the EMT leaned over and flashed a small light into his eyes.

He jerked.

“Looks good.” The man nodded. “Let’s keep the mask on for a little while longer. You’re breathing smoothly. You’re not coughing anymore. All a good sign.”

“How’s he doing?” The deeper voice was one he’d been expecting.

“Deputy Jameson, please go and ask someone else questions. He needs to rest his throat. He has smoke inhalation from trying to save a man,” Mary Jane said with a hint of reproach.

Storm squeezed his eyes shut. He hadn’t been able to save Venom.

“Yeah. They say he’s in critical condition. The bullet ricocheted off his hard skull.”

Storm pulled the mask away. “Venom? He’s alive?” he croaked.

Jameson carefully moved Mary Jane to the side until Storm could see his face.

“Yeah. Your boy has lost a lot of blood. So it will be touch and go for a while,” the deputy said.

Then someone shouted for Jameson, and his face was replaced with Mary Jane’s. A much better view for sure.

Storm swallowed, trying to clear his throat. “I touched his neck. No pulse.” His throat was still a little sore, but much better.

“With a head injury and loss of blood, his heartbeat could slow down enough for an untrained person not to detect it,” the EMT piped up as he moved the mask back into place.

“You saved Venom, Storm. If you hadn’t brought him out, he would’ve died for sure.” Mary Jane’s hand covered his.

Before anyone could say more, a popping noise came from inside the warehouse as if someone was shooting off firecrackers. It went on for several minutes. Then it was quiet. He knew it was the ammo. His next concern was to find out what happened to the prospect he’d left behind to help Venom, and of course, their prisoner, Garcia.

Just as he closed his eyes, a small distance away he heard Speed holler, “Fuck it, Jameson, we didn’t have anything to do with the fire. Hell, it’s our clubhouse. It was a damn fine one at that. Shit, we’ve been in Tennessee and North Carolina for the last four days.”

Storm couldn’t hear the deputy, but he imagined the man was giving him hell back. It felt good letting someone else deal with the locals.

More shouting in the distance brought Storm to the end of his patience with the EMT’s fidgeting.

Jerking the mask off again, he sat up. A wave of dizziness slowed him down.

“Hey, careful, buddy.” The EMT held Storm’s arm.

Storm turned and glared at the offending contact. The EMT held up his hands in surrender. Head cleared, Storm turned to Mary Jane.

“Where the hell is Wolf? I told him to guard you.” Storm moved out of the back of the ambulance, holding on to the open door until he was sure of his balance. His weak knees locked and held him up, barely, but still without help.

“Here I am, boss,” Wolf said.

“What the fuck is going on over there?”

Most of the shouting came from the direction of the parking lot in the back. The crowd surged and two men moved toward Storm. The missing prospect had an arm across Cutter’s shoulder as he was helped over to the ambulance.

The EMT directed the prospect to sit on the bumper while he examined the bump on his head.

“Prospect, what happened?” Storm asked. He tried to keep his tone even in an effort not to frighten the man.

“It was the Thirty-Second. They broke into the clubhouse and took Garcia. They shot Venom. Fuck! They shot him in front of me.” His voice broke. Eyes wide, he looked around. “They started beating the shit out of their own guy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Garcia. The bastards, the Thirty-Second, started slapping and hitting him. They were talking in Mexican. I couldn’t understand anything, but I could tell they were mad as shit at him. What do you think it means, boss?”

Storm shook his head. “That’s Spanish, Prospect. And who the hell knows?” He looked skyward for a second. “They probably thought he’d spilled the beans or something.”

Another blaring fire truck pulled up and people poured out to help the group trying to control the fire. Storm watched as everyone tried to save the building and protect the other warehouses nearby. His chest tightened as an upstairs window exploded and flames licked the outside wall. He had to remind himself that it was just a building and that the Brothers of Mayhem would continue on. They would move their operations to the Skull and Bones Bar and Grill until they found another place.

That left the question of where he would live.

“Storm.”

He turned toward the sweet voice of Mary Jane. The concern he saw on her face gave him a feeling of elation mixed with regret. His arms itched to clasp her close. What if he’d left her behind with Venom or another Mayhem Brother to watch over her?

She wasn’t safe around him. Could he give her up? That would be the best solution.