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The roar of several bike engines caught Creature’s attention as they reached the light, and he looked right and saw Mark at the head of a pack of bikes looking to turn onto the road in front of them.

Flashing his lights, Creature let them take the lead, even after the light had changed.

Creature loved that Scout had been swift enough about giving him the message to allow them to catch up with the rest of the Jokers.

And he’d only had to glance down once. Creature was proud of him for knowing, right from the jump, that he’d need to take notes in order to convey messages correctly.

The last thing anyone needed in a situation like this was someone sending them in the wrong direction.

The moment they hit the city limits, they opened the throttles and tore off, wind in their hair, furious scowls on every face Creature saw.

Old Mill Road was a half hour out of town; they made it in less than twenty.

Five curves in, Creature spotted Duggan with a length of chain wrapped around his fist, squared off with a heavyset man in stained jeans and a white tank top.

In the distance, Creature saw the flatbed approaching, the bike Jake had been sent to pick up on the back, with Bruce riding shotgun, literally.

Creature could see the barrel of the sawed-off sticking out the window, which Bruce immediately withdrew when he saw reinforcements had arrived.

The guy was yelling about something, and Duggan was threatening to beat the living hell out of him as Mark stalked towards them, Saint, Wreck, and several others by his side.

Creature did a double take when he saw Cody and Wreck dismount Wreck’s bike wearing scrubs, having clearly come straight from the nursing home.

He’d have to find out later if they ducked out early or had already finished their shift.

They weren’t the only ones who looked like they’d come straight from work either. Creature’s coveralls were hot and itchy beneath the sun as he led his crew of mechanics down the rather steep embankment to where Rainy paced beside his bike, looking fit to be tied.

“That son of a bitch!” He snarled, heading their way as soon as they neared the bottom. “Someone help me to the top so I can kill his ass!”

“I got you,” Dupris said, the two of them struggling with the first steps and sliding back several times until Dupris got some traction and was able to help Rainy up the most difficult part.

As much as Creature would have liked to be on the top of the hill witnessing whatever was about to take place, there were more than enough guys to get the story from while they worked out how the hell they were going to get Rainy’s bike out of there.

Glancing around, Creature noticed that there was no part of the incline that was less steep than another, so that wasn’t going to help.

It was going to take a come-along and several long lengths of straps to help them muscle that machine to the top.

With the sun still blazing overhead, this was gonna suck for everyone involved.

All the yelling would make it impossible for Jake to hear Creature’s instructions if he hollered, so he pulled his phone out, grateful to see they had a signal out here.

Quickly he typed out his instructions and waited for Jake and Bruce to toss down the straps while Creature stood there hoping they’d be long enough.

They were.

Barely.

“Alright, let’s get her hooked up,” Creature told the boys.

Multiple hands meant they had her upright and secured in no time, but that was the easy part.

Creature positioned Pike halfway up the hill and saw that Sinn stood about a fourth of the way down, ready to relay his instructions.

Each time Creature called out push, Pike called out crank, and slowly, inch by inch, they got Rainy’s bike up the incline and onto the gravel at the top of the hill, where they could get it loaded up. By then, the pickup truck was gone.

“What the fuck was all of that about?” Creature asked Jake as they started removing the come-along straps.

“Fucker thought Rainy was sleeping with his wife,” Jake explained.

“Was he?”

“No, but someone in the club is,” Jake replied.

“Mark threatened to shoot the husband on sight if he pulled this shit again and told him he’d be coming around to collect on the bill for the bike repair and that the guy had better have the money or life as he knew it would come to an end.

He let Rainy get in a few shots on the husband before Duggan cracked the guy with his chain and busted two of his teeth.

The guy was still spitting out pieces as he staggered back to his truck. ”

“You best believe Mark’s gonna find out who the guy was really after,” Creature said as they got the first strap unwound.

“Yeah, and it’s not going to be a good day for them, either,” Creature said as they got to work on the second one. “You know how he feels about personal life spilling over into club business, especially when it gets other people caught in the crossfire. They better hope she was worth it.”

“They better hope Rainy doesn’t catch up with them first, or he’s liable to split their skulls open and leave ‘em for the buzzards to pick clean,” Jake replied as they freed the second strap and turned the bike over to Pike and Bruce to load.

“Hammer was pissed he couldn’t hop in with us,” Jake said.

“I promised to send Bruce back up, ‘cause there are a few things they could use some help with before that storm they’re predicting hits landfall at the end of the week. We hadn’t been there five minutes when Kat sent out a blast text to everyone. ”

“How’s my girl?” Rainy asked as he helped them push the bike up the ramp and onto the flatbed, where they knelt to get it strapped down.

“I’ll know more when we get her back to the shop,” Creature explained.

“Then I’m riding with her,” he said, heading around to the passenger’s side.

“How’s your machine?” Creature called to Duggan.

“Drivable,” he said. “I’ll follow the truck to the garage.”

“Alright, Bruce, find someone to take you back to Hammer’s. See if anyone else has time to help,” Creature said. “The rest of my crew, mount up; we’ve got some extra work to do, so let’s get cracking.”

Creature was just turning to head to his bike when he spotted Cody heading his way.

“Can I ride back with you?” He asked. “I can help at the shop. Wreck’s going to take Bruce up and help with whatever Hammer needs. Bellamy will pick me up when he and Night take their break at six.”

“Yeah, come on,” Creature said, appreciating the offer.

While Cody wasn’t as proficient with the inner workings of a bike as Bruce, Dalten had taught him a lot so far and was still working with him on bike building and understanding what gave each machine its distinct personality.

There was plenty he could do to lend a hand while Bruce and Wreck helped out Bruce’s sister and brother-in-law.

The ride back was at a much slower pace, and things were finally beginning to cool off as the sun dipped low in the sky. Jake and Cody started unloading the bikes after Creature unlocked the bay doors and immediately spotted Scout in the doorway, giving him the once-over.

“Barely got my hands dirty,” Creature told him, pleased to see Scout’s look of concern morph into one of relief.

“Do you want me to switch the sign back to open?” he asked as he stepped into Creature’s embrace and pressed his cheek against his chest.

Sighing, Creature breathed in the scent of saltwater and seaweed clinging to Scout’s hair and immediately felt the last of his anxiety settle into calm resolve.

“Naw, leave it closed, and mark two of the motorcycle bays full through next week,” Creature said.

“I’ll get you a parts list as soon as I have one put together.

Rainy’s bike got beaten up pretty bad going over the embankment.

We’re probably gonna need some help from your old man to track down a few things since Sawyer is still laid up. ”

“Axel’s off tomorrow; if you have your list ready by then, he and I can head up and help Pops track down what we can,” he said. “I’m sure Mark won’t mind me postponing my surfing lesson.”

“Not in the slightest,” Creature said as he carded his fingers through Scout’s hair, thinking about the restore Jake had initially been sent out for.

“Why don’t you guys take Sinn and the SUV?” Creature suggested, testing the waters to see if Teddy’s issues with Sinn had rubbed off on Scout. “Will make it easier to bring back bigger pieces, which I’m certain we’re gonna need.”

“No problem,” Scout replied, immediately laying Creature’s fears to rest. “You can always shoot me a text if you come across anything else you need us to look for.”

“Thank you,” Creature murmured as he pressed a kiss to the top of Scout’s head.

“I’m off tomorrow; I can help too,” Cody offered.

“Perfect,” Creature said. “The more, the merrier.”

Cody had proved to be a big help with gathering parts for the build they’d set up for Dalton, but just as importantly, he worked well with Sinn and took direction beautifully now that Wreck and Bellamy had tamed much of the defiance and arrogance that had made him difficult to be around for the past few years.

Creature knew Mark would be pleased at the way he was jumping in to help in whatever way he could, and Creature would be sure to tell him, since he knew Cody wouldn’t.

“Alright,” Creature said as he stepped away from Scout and turned him loose to resume his work in the office. “Anyone who needs to clear out at six, make sure you clock out and go. Anyone who has time to stick around, I’d appreciate it; now let’s get back to work.”

Sinn had already headed back to finish up the bike they’d been working on, but Creature knew he’d heard the conversation and would be ready to get in the SUV in the morning.

Detouring, Creature decided to get a look at Duggan’s bike, since, as far as he could tell, it would be the easiest to deal with.

Sure as shit, it was mostly cosmetic. The problem was gonna be the airbrushing.

Lucky had done the original paint job back when he was still a part of this chapter.

Creature would need to get Lucky on the phone and see when he’d be free to come down and redo it once Creature had replaced the side panel and rear fender.

“How’d she feel when you were riding her back?” Creature asked.

“Solid as ever, nothing out of sorts.”

“I’d like to get these damaged pieces off and take a look beneath them, just in case,” Creature told him. “You got some time to hang around?”

“If it means I get to drive her home tonight, I’ll just park my ass in the office and wait for you to give me the go-ahead.”

“Pretty sure you’ll be able to.”

“Then I’ll wait.”

“Grab something cold from the fridge if you need it,” Creature told him. “Pretty sure there’s a six-pack shoved in the back of the middle shelf if you need something harder than water or pop.”

“After the afternoon I just had, I might just drink two.”

Creature waved him on before grabbing his tools so he could assess the situation.

Jake passed him a water a few minutes later and crouched behind the bike to work on the fender, while Cody helped Sinn on the old Indian, retrieving things for him as he asked for them.

Meanwhile, the rest of Creature’s crew got back to work.

One thing about his crew all being club affiliated was the way everyone was willing to go above and beyond for a club brother or sister in need.

They might be a maladjusted bunch, but they were also family.