We get to the meeting point a few hours in advance, and the waiting passes with hardly any conversation between any of us. Every single one of us wants this over, and the only time I talk is to give Blaze an assault rifle from our weapons cache and tell him to wait in the woods next to the rest stop to keep an eye out for any trouble from the Death’s Disciples. I don’t doubt that Dread has given his club strict orders to stay in line, but I also don’t doubt that motherfucker Switchblade is just the shithead to pull something. And I won’t fucking have that. There’s not a damn thing on earth that I’ll allow to derail this deal.
The Death’s Disciples arrive five minutes early to the meet. There are six of these bastards on motorbikes, all carrying, plus a sedan being driven by another Death’s Disciple, Switchblade, with Kendra in the front seat, bound and gagged.. They form a semi-circle around us, guns in hand, and Dread maneuvers his bulk off the bike.
I have my gun out, as do Mack and Snake, and I keep the barrel of my gun squarely in the ribs of Julie Deacon.
“You must have a fucking death wish to touch my wife, you punkass cocksucking cunt,” he growls.
“Nice to meet you, too, Dread. Let’s skip the small talk and get down to business, shall we? Unless you want to see what your wife looks like with a few extra holes in her? Might make an interesting sight to see before my brothers shoot your fucking head off.”
“Suck my dick, you piece of shit. You know if you try any shit, my boys will blow every one of your motherfucking heads off.”
“Sounds to me like you’re not here for business, you just want to see your wife die. You know, if you’re that desperate to get rid of her, you could just hire a divorce attorney. That way your life as a single man will last longer than the few seconds it takes to put you in my sight and pull the trigger after I finish putting a few slugs in your wife’s head.”
“Roger, will you stop trying to measure dicks with this guy and get me the fuck out of here?” Julie says, her voice a shriek of desperation.
Dread’s face softens, and he motions to Switchblade, who exits the car and drags Kendra into the semicircle.
“Here. Take this stupid cunt and get the fuck out of here,” Dread says.
I shake my head. “No, I want more than that.”
“Don’t get fucking greedy, you piece of shit,” Dread says.
I shove my gun between Julie’s ribs, and she yelps in pain. “Unless you want to watch her bleed out, you will listen to what I have to say. Got it?”
“Roger, please,” she yelps.
Dread nods.
“You will hand Kendra over, and you will promise me you and your club will stay away from Violet, away from Josie, away from Kendra, away from Teddy, and away from anyone who fucking works at the fucking Timberline Tavern, or else my brothers and I might find our way back to Carbon Ridge. You understand me?”
Dread glares, his gun shaking in his hand with rage.
I’m walking a fine line here. This isn’t how I normally do business — I keep emotion as far away from this shit as possible — and it’s clear that one wrong move could turn this meeting into a bloodbath; but the second I see Switchblade and the look on his face — a sly smile, like a fucking wolf eyeing a herd of sheep, just waiting for the guard dog to turn its fucking back — I know I can’t let that shit lie. I have to do something to keep Violet safe. Even if it means risking everything.
“Fine. Just give me back my wife.”
“Then we have a deal,” I say, and I let Julie go and she sprints toward her husband, tossing herself into his arms. They hug, kiss like fucking teenagers, and then he waves for Switchblade to do the same and release Kendra.
She’s a lot less quick to come over to our side, though I don’t blame her, she hardly knows who the fuck we are, and the only memory she has of us is that night of the bar fight when her almost-boyfriend Teddy got stabbed.
“Who the fuck are you?” She whispers as she walks past me.
“Violet sent us,” I say, and it hurts to even say her name aloud. Even now, I can’t bite back the pain in my heart that surges every time I think of her. She was special, a rare woman that comes around once in a lifetime. But it was being with her that threw everything I have with the club into chaos and, it’s because of that, that I have to leave her behind. I love her, I’ll always love her, but my loyalty belongs to the MC. Shaking my thoughts clear, I hand the keys to the van over to Kendra. “There’s your ticket home. Don’t stop until you get to Carbon Ridge. Go.”
“Thank you,” she says as she takes the keys. “I really don’t know how to repay you.”
“It’s just a job. I’m only doing what I had to do. You want to repay me? Get back to Carbon Ridge and keep yourself, your daughter, and Violet out of trouble. You’re OK to drive, right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Good. Then you get home and you watch out for everyone. You’ve got something special there, and your little Speed Demon is the coolest kid I’ve ever met. You need to keep yourself safe and enjoy just how damn good you have it. You hear me?”
