Page 11

CHAPTER 11

Kilo

“ Y o, Cynic, how’s it going?” I asked, holding my phone to my ear.

“Hey man, things are good. How about you?”

“Doing decent. I was wondering if I could bother you for a favor?”

I met Cynic on one of our deployments. We’d clicked right away and spent the whole deployment fucking off when we weren’t busy with actual work. We’d stayed in contact ever since. He was a part of the Berserker’s Rage MC over in Wyoming and was the one who’d introduced us to our new friends down in Tucson.

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Gotta piece of shit bothering a couple of friends down here. Any way you could have Glitch run a plate for me? Get me an address?”

Cynic’s chuckle was dark because he knew exactly what I needed an address for without having to be told. Glitch was their resident technological rain man. “Yeah, send it to me and I’ll have him send over the info.”

“Thanks, Bro. You coming down this way anytime soon?”

“Don't think so, Cypher’s keeping us busy.”

“Well, the next time I find myself up that way, I'll stop in.”

“You better, fucker.”

We both hung up with that. We didn’t need much more than an occasional check in between seeing each other. Cypher was the president of the Berserkers, and he kept them moving. They were like us, all former military, but some of them, like Cynic, were young. That’s because Cypher poached them away from the military and into his security firm. He had some of the best fighters, amongst other skills, in his club now. Those he could convince to move to that hellhole in Wyoming anyway.

No way I would ever go. Too fucking cold. I was a desert rat, through and through. The most we worried about was monsoons and heat, and that meant riding our motorcycle almost year-round. Those bastards up there dealt with subzero temperatures. No thanks.

The passenger door opened to the cage ride I was in, and I glanced over as Overdrive settled in the passenger seat. “We ready?”

“Almost,” I told him, texting over the plate I'd gotten off of Shawn’s car the other night. That was the only reason I hadn’t followed Camila home. The douche had still been there, working late. It was the perfect time to get what I needed.

I hit another button on the phone and waited.

“Yeah?”

“Hey Prez,” I said, looking at Overdrive. “You need me or OD tonight?”

There was a pause before Ruck spoke again. “No, there’s nothing going on.”

“Okay. We’ll be out of pocket for the night then.”

Another pause. “Something I should know?”

“It’s not club business,” I told him, “but some fucker put his hands on Camila the other day. Scared her a bit. I’m going to take care of it.”

“Need help?”

“Naw, we got this. It’s a no shovel job, so far. Thanks. Really, I’m only bringing OD to keep a lookout. I can take this fucker easy enough.”

Overdrive flipped me off, but kept scrolling on his phone, not worried at all about his part in tonight’s shitshow.

“Sounds good. If you end up needing anything, just give me a call.”

“Thanks, Prez.”

“Oh, hey.”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“You bringing Camila to the barbecue?”

I could hear the grin in his tone. Fucker. “Yeah,” I muttered. “I’m bringing her.”

Overdrive was staring at me now, a slow shit-eating grin forming on his face. I knew my president’s matched my friend’s smug smile.

“Good. Looking forward to meeting her.”

“Uh huh. Later.” I glared over at my best friend. “Don’t say a fucking word.”

“Who was going to say anything?” he inquired as though he wasn’t even speaking to me. “Not me.”

“Sure.”

My phone dinged and I glanced down at the unknown number. Opening the text, I grinned down at the address. “Got him.” I saved the contact as Glitch’s and shot him back a quick text before turning the SUV on. “Let's do this.”

It was ten at night, exactly three days after my date with Camila. I planned to give her a call earlier than this, but shit got busy with inventory at the shop and construction on the new clubhouse. Bolo was pushing us hard to get the framing finished up. Normally, I wouldn’t mind, but now that it was keeping me from seeing my girl, I was getting pissed. I was still texting her each day. Didn’t want her thinking I’d disappeared on her. Or that she could even think about going out with anyone else for that matter.

“You sure he’s home?”

I shrugged. “Let’s go see.” I drove across the city and looked around when we pulled into a subdivision. Everything was quiet. That was good.

“There it is. Car’s in the drive.”

“Good.” I drove past and parked down the block. We didn’t want some old lady peeking out her blinds and being able to pick out our vehicle. Which was the whole reason we drove the cage instead of our bikes. We weren't wearing our cuts either. No reason to advertise while we did this. This wasn’t club business; I didn’t need to rain any drama down on them.

Flipping my hood over my head, I got out of the SUV and met Overdrive on the sidewalk. We didn’t take much time getting to his place. Two men walking down the street in black hoodies when it was still over a hundred degrees outside was the epitome of suspicion. There was just enough of a moon outside to help see. The less time we spent on the street the better.

“Around back,” he muttered. “He probably has a camera.”

Fucking everyone had cameras at their front doors these days. I looked around, then hopped the back fence. “Better not have a damn dog.”

“If he does it’ll be a Chihuahua or some shit.”

I chuckled as we rounded the corner and stopped at the back door. Reaching out, I tried the handle, and the door swung open without a sound. “Idiot,” I muttered under my breath.

The house was dark inside, but it wasn’t hard to navigate the small one-story home. The back door opened up into a living room which blended into the dining room and kitchen areas. There was a hallway that led to the back of the house and one that split off to the right.

“That’s gotta be the master,” Overdrive said, keeping his voice low as he motioned to the hallway next to us.

Nodding, I made my way back. The door was open and I could see a form underneath covers on the bed in the darkness. I grabbed Overdrive by the sweatshirt and yanked him close so I didn’t have to speak loudly. “Go check the rest of the house. Make sure it’s just him.”

He melted into the darkness while I made my way into the master bedroom. I went over to the tv and picked up a couple of movies he had lying there. Porn. I rolled my eyes and set them back down. Making my way into the walk in closet, I looked around under piles of clothes. I didn't see a gun. Not that it couldn’t be in that nightstand next to him, but I wasn’t checking that until Overdrive gave me the all clear.

When I came back out into the room and saw Overdrive standing there. He gave me a thumb’s up, then disappeared again. He was going out toward the front door to keep an eye out. I went over to the bed and slowly slid the nightstand drawer open. Nothing. Well, there was shit in there, but not a gun. Mine was a heavy weight against the small of my back, but I wasn't planning to use it tonight unless this asshole got belligerent.

I flicked the lamp on and grabbed Shawn. Squinting against the bright light after being in the darkness, I landed a solid blow to the fucker’s kidney before he had a chance to figure out what was happening. I dragged him out of bed, dropping his ass on the floor.

“What the fuck?” he howled in pain.

“This is your friendly evening wake-up call,” I told him. “And a warning that if you ever go near Camila again, I’m going to make you fucking regret it. And stay away from the dance studio.”

He blinked up at me, still fighting against grogginess and the bright light. “You think I’m going to listen to you? You’re nothing but a piece of shit-”

I let him climb to his feet as he spoke, but as soon as he got up, my hand shot out. His head snapped back. It was a damn satisfying to feel his nose break beneath my fist and to see blood gush down his face. “The quicker you decide to listen, the less damage I’ll do,” I told him. I threw another punch. This one was a body blow that had him grunting and sagging to the side. “Touch Camila again, and we’ll be having a much different conversation. Got it?” I tilted my head. “Actually, if you even see her, I expect you to go the other way. Same with Jess, Laura, and Sandy.”

He let out a sound that I imagined a pissed off bull would make and charged me. There wasn’t enough room to side step him so the shit head managed to wrap me up and slam me into the wall next to the door. He wasn’t a small guy, so his weight and momentum were on his side, but he wasn’t expecting my counter attack. It was clear he had no fucking clue what he was doing. Much easier for him to go after women than deal with men, so he probably never bothered to fight. Fucking dickhead.

I hit him in the side a couple of times, until he stepped back a little to try to get away from my swings. That was a mistake. The upper cut hit him right beneath the jaw and I stared at him as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He was lying in a heap on the ground when Overdrive came in.

“What the fuck shook the house?”

“Asshole charged me.”

Overdrive grinned. “He pinned you against the wall?”

“For a few seconds while I beat on him,” I replied.

He crowed out a laugh. “Shit. Guess he’s not such a pussy after all.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call him skilled,” I told him with a shake of my head.

“No, but I figured he’d curl in a ball and cry. Didn’t take him for the type to try to fight back at all.”

That was true. I hadn’t been expecting it either, which is why my head was aching a bit from where it’d slammed into the wall.

“What do you want to do now?”

“I warned the fucker. His next move is up to him,” I told him. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

We left the same way we came, careful to make sure no one was around by the time we got out onto the street. As soon as we were back in the SUV, Overdrive turned and grinned at me.

“So you’re bringing your lady friend to our barbecue?”

“Oh, fuck off,” I said with a chuckle.

He’d given me about an hour reprieve on giving me shit. It was more than I’d expected. And it was much more than my other brothers were going to give me. I’d need to call Camila tomorrow to invite her. Despite the epic shit I knew I was going to get from the others, I was looking forward to seeing her again.