Isaac

 

TJ, Nick, and I barely got away from the desert clearing before the cops showed up. Fortunately, I navigated the way through brush and rocks, steering the van expertly around a giant hole in the ground and a hill that would have really held us back.

 

TJ and Nick were high-fiving in the backseat, whooping and hollering about how we’d escaped. I didn’t feel so fucking great, myself; even though we’d gotten away with both Kyle and the guns, it wasn’t really what I could call a success. After all, Stephanie had betrayed me. Or she hadn’t been able to convince that bitch in her club that my guys hadn’t been involved with the rape.

 

TJ had cut the ropes around Kyle’s wrists and ankles. Now he was sitting in the passenger seat of the van, rubbing his wrists and trying to get the blood flowing in his hands again. While he looked a little weak and hungry, I knew that he’d be just fine as soon as we got a beer and a cheeseburger down his throat. He was also being much nicer than he had before, as though the assault had taught him some manners.

 

“Thanks,” Kyle muttered when I passed him a big thermos of water. “Did you guys think they were gonna do anything to me?” He swallowed hard, making his Adam’s apple bob. “I mean, I wasn’t scared,” he added quickly in a casual voice. “I wasn’t really worried about what they’d do.”

 

I rolled my eyes. “You’re fine, Kyle, and that’s what matters,” I said as I reached over and cuffed him on the shoulder. “You made it through, man, that’s what counts.”

 

Kyle grinned at me. “You still mad, boss?”

 

I stared at him for a second, then shook my head. Clouds of dust were billowing around the van and making it hard for me to see out the windshield. I was glad for the distraction; I didn't want to keep staring at Kyle. I wasn't mad at him anymore, but I couldn't stop thinking about the Succubi and what they'd done to get us into this mess in the first place. After all, it had been Stephanie's fault.

 

Or had it?

 

“Kyle,” I said sharply. “When was the last time you heard from Alexa?”

 

Kyle swallowed hard. He took another long drink from the thermos and wiped droplets of water away from his chin. “It’s been a while,” he admitted slowly. “Maybe, like, two days before Sergey and his guys took me?”

 

I nodded. “We need to get to the Succubi,” I said sharply, grabbing the wheel and turning it sharply. I was maybe an hour’s drive away from their clubhouse, but I had the worst feeling that something had gone wrong. After all, I hadn’t heard from Stephanie since the previous day. If Val was really and truly up to something…

 

“Boss,” TJ said sharply as the van bounced over the roads. “What the fuck are we doing? Where are we going?”

 

“We gotta get to the Succubi,” Kyle said. He turned around in the seat and stared at Nick and TJ. “Boss thinks they know something about them cops who showed up.”

 

I shook my head, feeling sick. “Something’s going on with them,” I told the guys in a warning tone. “That Stephanie, she doesn’t trust about half of her girls. You’d better listen to her and everything she says, got it?” I glared at the side of Kyle’s head. “You’re not allowed to run off and fuck Alexa. I know you just got out, but you’ll have time to catch up with her later.”

 

The van sped through a sleepy desert town. My eyes ached from all of the warm, brown scenery around me. Suddenly, I wished that we were heading out of town. I wished that we were going towards a mission in the hills, or anything that would mean stepping away from the Succubi for a goddamned minute. I was still so angry with Stephanie, but I was starting to understand that in order to really fix everything that was going on, we’d have to put aside all of our personal problems.

 

“Kyle,” I said sharply. “Can you call Alexa? See what’s happening at the clubhouse.” I grimaced as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. Considering what Val and some of the other women thought, I knew that we’d probably be in for a fight when we rolled up to face the Succubi.

 

“She didn’t answer,” Kyle said. He dropped his phone into his lap and gave me a look of disgust. “You don’t think she found another boyfriend, do you?”

 

I laughed. “Fuck that, Kyle,” I said sharply. “Right now, we have to let them know we’re coming. Nick! TJ! Look at those guns we got—do we have any ammo?”

 

“Yeah,” TJ barked from the back seat. “We’ve got tons.”

 

“Good,” I said as I pushed my foot harder on the gas pedal. “We’re gonna need them.”

 

When we pulled into the Succubi’ clubhouse parking lot, I noticed a couple of things. For one, I didn’t see very many bikes. There were only two or three, but the parking lot was full of skid marks. I frowned as I got out of the car. Sergey had supplied us well—we had enough stuff to stay in business for maybe six months, maybe even a year if we did really well. TJ and Nick and I had armed ourselves to the teeth. Even Kyle had a gun stuck in the back of his waistband and a pistol in his hand.

 

“Come on,” I said as I directed the guys closer to the building. “Come on, come on, we gotta get closer to the inside.”

 

TJ and Nick glanced at each other. “Boss, isn’t this dangerous?” Nick asked. “Didn’t they just call the cops on us? What the fuck are we doin’ hangin’ around here?”

 

I shook my head impatiently. “They didn’t,” I said. “They had a member who did, and she’s fucking crooked. I have to tell Stephanie what happened, I have to get to her as soon as possible.”

 

Nick and TJ stared blankly at me. “Man, I don’t know if this makes sense,” TJ complained. He kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. “I mean, man, I wanna help and all. But what if they just get angry, like they did when we showed up for that party?”

 

“Yeah,” Kyle said. He rubbed his arms with his hands and looked dour. “I mean, I wanna see Alexa. But I don’t know what her deal is, and I don’t wanna go barging in.”

 

I sighed. "Come on," I said, gesturing for Kyle to follow me. After a few seconds, he walked closer and knocked on the door.

 

There was a lapse of about ten seconds until it was opened by a brunette girl. She was glaring at me. “What the fuck are you doing here?” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t wanna see you around.”

 

“Alexa!” Kyle exclaimed. He pushed past me and wrapped the surly-looking girl in his arms, pressing his mouth against hers and shoving his tongue inside. She squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close and pressing her tight body against his. “I’m so fucking glad to see you,” Kyle murmured into Alexa’s neck. She pushed away from him and then looked at me.

 

“I’m Isaac,” I explained. “I lead the Jungle’s Thorns. I need to speak with Stephanie. There’s been…well, there’s been some kind of accident.”

 

Alexa frowned. “Stephanie’s not here,” she said softly. “She just left.”

 

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I reached down to pull it up. “Hello?”

 

It was Stephanie. But when I answered the phone, I didn’t hear her voice. There was an odd ringing sound, like someone had picked up her phone from the ground and called my number. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Before I could even hang up, Alexa and Kyle pounced on me.

 

“What happened?” Alexa was looking at me with big, scared eyes. “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” she said, swallowing hard. “Stephanie came and we talked and, um, we cleared some stuff up. Then when Val showed up, Stephanie made her promise that she wouldn’t call the cops. They fought about it but Val lost, and she and Jessica left.”

 

I frowned. “Who the fuck is Jessica?”

 

Alexa blushed and glanced away. She got up on the tips of her toes and leaned towards Kyle, whispering in his ear.

 

“She’s the girl who was attacked,” Kyle said blankly. “She was the one who was raped.”

 

A sick feeling settled in my stomach and I clenched my teeth. "And she left with Val?"

 

Alexa nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “And now you’re getting creepy calls from Stephanie’s phone? Did something happen?”

 

I nodded. “Something must have fucking happened,” I growled. “I don’t understand what, though.”

 

"Val's trying to ruin the club," she said. "Oh God," she added, her cheeks turning white and bloodless. "Do you think she tried to hurt Stephy?"

 

My hands made fists at my sides. “Probably,” I muttered. “Hold on.” I pulled my phone out, examining the call. It had only lasted for thirty seconds. I wondered if Stephanie was in danger, if somehow she’d gotten stuck in the desert. I wondered if she was alone, or if that snake Val had found her. Most of all, I hoped that she would be okay. But I had no way of knowing.

 

“Man, look,” Kyle said. He pointed down at my hand. My phone was vibrating with a call coming in from an unknown number. “You should answer it.”

 

I glared at him before swiping my phone open and holding it up to my ear. “Hello?”

 

There was a dark female laugh that made me shiver. “Hello, Isaac,” the voice said. “I bet you know who this is.”

 

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. “Val?”

 

There was another laugh. “You got it, baby,” she growled in a low tone. “And I bet you can guess why I’m calling?”

 

“Because you want my MC fucking ruined?” I snapped into the phone. Anger coursed through my veins and I found myself feeling more vulnerable than I had in a long time. “What the fuck do you want?”

 

“I have Stephanie,” Val said. “And unless you give up all of the weapons you just bought—every single one—I’m not telling you where she is.”

 

“Fine,” I snapped. And that was it; in a moment, in an instant, everything that I’d worked to build for years was gone. The profits that Jungle’s Thorns would have made over the next year, gone. Money and repairs for our clubhouse, gone.

 

Everything was gone.