Page 32 of His Flawed Ride (Sons of Lost Souls MC #16)
Chapter Thirty
Shane
A nnie was wrong. The Hades Hogs weren’t heading for the club. As we were leaving the cemetery, they showed up. Lost Souls drew their guns on sight, but Hopper held his hands up. It threw us off, but we didn’t show it.
Slade and Zachery didn’t give a shit if he was coming in peace, he was the man who had beaten their loved one and no amount of peace could make them forgive.
Leo told them to wait and left them with no choice but to listen or defy his order, they hung back and the Hades Hogs rode into the cemetery.
At first, he stood over Lily’s freshly filled grave with Leo stood opposite him.
The conversation though filled with tension remained threat free.
After he was done paying his so-called respects, he and Leo, against both club’s wishes, walked off and are now stood talking out of our earshot’s.
Lost Souls remain on edge not taking our eyes off of the enemy and vice versa. All it’s going to take is one wrong look or wrong word spoken and the fine line we’re all stood on will disappear.
I go to shoot Annie another text telling her she can head back to the club when Zach approaches.
“I couldn’t sleep last night so I checked out your baby momma. I have it printed out at the club, but the low down is, she’s a trust fund kid. Her parents were killed in a drunk-driving accident. She went to live with an uncle. She dropped out of college. She has a clean record.”
I frown. She made out her parents were still alive.
“Thanks.”
He clears his throat. “There’s nothing since she dropped out of college. Like, fuck all, brother. The only time you see that is if someone’s living off the grid. She has no credit cards, not even a checking account. No phone records.”
“How does she use her trust fund?”
He shrugs. “It hasn’t been touched.”
Then it strikes me. “She has a phone.”
“Must be a burner. If you get me her number I can check it out.”
After everything he’s been through over the last few days, I don’t want to pile on him.
“It’s fine. I’ll deal with her. Thanks again.”
“No worries.”
Suspicions spike and I wonder who the fuck is she. I can’t leave to go talk to her until this shit show is wrapped up. While things still look amicable, I dig my phone out and listen to her two voicemails.
“Hey, I just wanted to let you know I’ve found a house. The guy is going to sell it to us. It’s perfect for the baby, Shane. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
After the information Zach just gave me, how in the hell is she buying a house? Or is she expecting me to front the money? I mean, I have some savings, but it’s not lets-buy-a-house-savings.
Her second voicemail is her asking me if I’m okay and to call her when I can. I shoot her a text telling her I’m fine and that she should head back to the club.
What the fuck is happening? She could be on the run. It could explain why she hangs around biker clubs.
Hopper raises his voice and in seconds both clubs have drawn their guns and are all aimed at each other. Tension reaches peak levels, and it won’t even take one wrong look, we’re all waiting on that wrong word.
“It seems we won’t be able to reach a deal, so a fuckin’ war it is,” Hopper boasts.
“You wanna make sure that’s what you want, cause it’s not a war you’ll win,” Leo threatens.
Hopper’s manic smile returns, the one he wore when he came for Lily, and he suggests, “Why don’t we start it now, huh? Shoot out the weak links on both sides.”
My heart pounds, my eyes cutting from each Hog fuck to the next, trying to figure out which bullet is going to fire my way all the while keeping my aim on the Hog I have my sights on.
From the corner of my eye, I see Leo pull out his piece and aim it at the back of Hopper’s head.
“Take your men and live another day. As much as I want to end this right now, we’re on sacred ground of our loved ones and I won’t have your blood seeping into their graves.”
Hopper tuts. “There’s no room for sentiment in this fight, Jackson. You may as well save me the job of putting you all to ground and do it yourself if that’s the case.”
“Fuck you. The Lost Souls will destroy you and everyone you’ve ever fuckin’ loved. Leave now or you’ll be the second president I’ve shot dead…”
Police sirens disturb the resting place of Willow’s Peak. Most brothers keep their heads turned to their enemy but many eyes flick to the three cop cars coming toward us before settling back on their targets.
The sheriff climbs out of her cruiser but stays behind her door. “If you’re not a Lost Soul, I suggest you lay your weapons down and put your hands up.”
Hogs look to Hopper and wait for his command. Leo keeps his gun on Hopper and none of the Lost Souls drop theirs.
“I will not ask a second time,” the sheriff hollers as her deputies use their cruisers as shields and aim their guns in our direction. I hope they have orders to only shoot the enemy, or Leo won’t be paying her next month.
Hopper gives the nod, and they start to put down their guns, but they don’t lay them on the ground. They back away and slowly they head for their bikes. Lost Souls keep our guns up, just in case, and wait for Leo to lower his.
“Come on now, Jackson, you’ve had a lucky break with your sheriff showing up. Take the luck and I won’t have to blow your brains out over your graves.”
Leo lowers his gun. “This ain’t over.”
Hopper loses his amusement. “You’re fuckin’ right it ain’t.”
He strolls over to his bike. He lights a cigarette before starting his engine and with a cold smirk for Leo, he rides out of the cemetery with his club following him out.
Without a care for the sheriff, Slade storms over to Leo. “What the fuck, Leo. We should’ve killed him and every one of them motherfuckers while we had the chance!”
“And we will, so back off!”
“You saw what he did to my sister and then you let him roll up at her funeral? I don’t understand you.”
Leo steps closer to him and leans into his face. “You don’t need to understand me, Slade. You need to fuckin’ listen.”
“She was family.”
“She was your family.”
Slade sucks in his breath and the brothers move in closer. “Fuck you. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve nearly died for your family. I expected little in return.”
The heavy step from the sheriff is the only thing to make Slade back off. “Care to explain why you were on the verge of reenacting an old western movie in the middle of the day?”
“No,” Leo grunts then signals for us to leave.
I always know when tension in the club is bad because I can feel it when we all ride together. Slade’s glare bores into Leo’s back as he rides up front of our formation. Slade is not going to let this go.
I ignore my brothers when we ride into the club.
I climb off of my bike and go to jog over to the main house when Leo calls for us to get our asses in the back room.
Annie will have to wait. Brothers file into the bar and then take their seats in the back room.
Once the door is closed, Leo slams the gavel down and I glance across to Slade, who sits with his head down and his focus on a ridge in the table.
“Today shouldn’t have gone down like that. Regardless of personal feelings for Lily…”
“Don’t fuckin’ say her name. Just tell us what Hopper said that made him look like he walked all over you,” Slade spits out.
Mason and Myles widen their eyes at each other and I wish I had grabbed a beer on the way in.
Leo’s jaw ticks and he runs his teeth over his bottom lip. “If that’s what anyone thinks, they can shove their guns up their ass and pull the trigger. I allowed him to talk so I could get a better gauge on him. Until now I didn’t have a clue who Hopper was and what he was about, after today, I do.”
He drags his narrowed eyes away from Slade and tells the rest of us, “He’s a fuckin’ lunatic. He went from discussing territory to Lily to other shit that had no relevance to us. It’s like he’s on drugs but he wasn’t. He’s unpredictable and has balls the size of boulders.”
“What did he have to say about territory?” Cas asks.
“That he’s branching out, which we already knew. He wanted to make a deal that if we forgave and forgot about Ricky and his boys picking up Myles and Aspen, that we could work together.”
“The fuck?” Mason grunts.
“He was full of shit. He was sizing me up as I was him.”
“He rode a long way just to fuck about,” JJ points out.
“You think I haven’t worked that out for myself?
” Leo snaps. “Under no circumstances will we allow him to take any of our territory or gain more than he already has. You all heard it, we’re at war.
If the sheriff hadn’t have shown up when she did, today would’ve ended a lot differently than it did.
We no longer move on the defence. From now on, we make the first moves and the last.” Brothers, me included, pound our fists on the table in agreement.
“We’re going to end the Hades Hogs Motorcycle Club. ”
He slams the gavel down and is the first one out of the back room, no doubt not wanting to deal with Slade. Cas and Sparky hang back with him as I leave. Annie comes to mind but I need a fucking drink before I deal with her.