SAVAGE HEART (Layne & Shelby Book Two) (A Devil Call MC Book) (5 page)

7.

(Shelby)

I left the clubhouse and went to
feed the dogs. AJ lumbered around slowly, no reason to move anymore. Sugar was
full of life. She jumped up on me, desperate to lick my face. She was a big
girl and I stood no chance trying to hold her up. I sat and she sat. She
pressed her body next to me, turning, falling to her back, wanting her belly
rubbed.

These were my moments of peace, for
now.

I needed a plan. I needed to find
out what was eating away at Layne. It went beyond the shooting. That kind of
stuff happened all the time. It was just sad that Pep decided to stand up and
shoot back. That
’
s what left
him with bullets and now in a hospital bed.

Maybe I could help.

I left the dogs and ran to my car.

Layne and Finn were gone. The rest
of the guys were in the clubhouse. Two prospects were at the gate but I could
get by them. I still had my keys. They opened the car. They started the car.

I put it in drive and crept
forward. The prospects looked at me and I hit the gas. They knew better than to
draw their weapons on me. One of the guys flung the gate open at the last
second, saving my car from getting smashed up. I cut the wheel to the right. My
tires squealed and the car started to spin. I fought with the wheel and managed
to keep from actually crashing.

I drove.

The open road scared me a little.
Layne had me convinced that I was a target. Christ, I knew I was, but I wanted
to refuse it. I wanted to chase it all away. Yet the Mountain Killers had come
after me. And I was somehow all tied into the mafia.

All I wanted to do was find my
mother. Get her side of the story in life.

I checked my mirrors every few
seconds.

In no time I was at Daddy
’
s trailer. Parked far off a dirt
road.

I approached with caution, knowing
he was trigger happy.

The last time I saw Daddy, he hit
me. That set Layne off, too.

The door to the trailer opened and
Daddy stood there, a white t-shirt tucked into his tan pants. His beer gut
pressed against his shirt. He looked tired and beat up. His gun was at his hip.
When he saw it was me, he crossed his arms.

He reached into the trailer and
brought out his rifle. He slept with the damn thing and never told me why. I
knew his hands were fast, physically and with his trigger finger, but I had
questions to ask.

I stood with my car door open as
though it were a shield. Like a bullet couldn
’
t
get through the window. Better yet, from my neck up I was exposed. I was a
sitting duck, waiting to be killed. That was, if my own father would do it.

“
Daddy,
”
I said.
“
I need to talk to you.
”

“
Where
’
s your boyfriend?
”
he asked.
“
He coming to take me out because
I made you shut up?
”

I shook my head.
“
He doesn
’
t know I
’
m
here. He
’
s going to be mad.
I have to talk to you about something.
”

“
What?
”

“
That
shooting in town.
”

“
The
bar?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
That
doesn
’
t matter. Bunch of
bikers trying to take each other out. Nothing more.
”

“
No,
it
’
s more,
”
I said.

Daddy started to sweat.
“
What the fuck are you talking
about, Shelby? You got that paranoid thing going on again? Just like your
mother with that. You going to take off soon?
”

“
Don
’
t say that.
”

“
You
find her yet?
”

“
Not
yet. Things have been happening. That
’
s
why I
’
m here. The shooting
at the bar.
”

“
Damn,
Shelby, let that the fuck go,
”
Daddy yelled.

“
I
can
’
t!
”

“
Why?
”

“
I
was there.
”

Daddy
’
s
face dropped.
“
What?
”

“
I
was there. Eating dinner. Having a drink. Layne saved me. He pulled me to the
floor and flipped the table up to block the bullets.
”

“
Jesus
Fuck,
”
Daddy said. He let
the rifle fall into the trailer. He ran down the steps and hurried to me.
“
Shelby, I didn
’
t know.
”
He looked around, paranoid.
“
I didn
’
t know.
”

“
I
want to ask you about something.
”

“
What?
”

“
Is
there such thing as the mafia?
”

Daddy put me at arm
’
s length.
“
Why would you ask something like
that for? Is he telling you to do this?
”

“
Who?
”

“
Layne.
The new guy. The President.
”

“
No.
But Layne told me I
’
m
connected to it all somehow.
”

“
He
’
s full of shit,
”
Daddy growled.
“
That son of a bitch knows
nothing. It
’
s all mind
games with Devil Call. You should know that. When they
’
re scared and feel weak, they go for the mind.
”
Daddy looked around again.
“
You need to be careful. You need
to take care of yourself. Maybe you should take off. Get the fuck outta here
and this goddamn state.
”
Daddy then sighed,
“
What am
I saying? There
’
s nowhere
to hide.
”

He looked at me and then cackled. A
scared cackled. His breath was rancid and stunk of whiskey.

“
Are
you drunk?
”

“
What
do you mean?
”

“
It
’
s a simple question. Are you
drunk?
”

“
I
may have had a zip or two in my cereal,
”
Daddy said. He then laughed. It was a weird, maniacal laugh.
“
It
’
s
the only way to function in this damn town.
”

“
You
’
re the sheriff.
”

He waved a hand at me. I jumped
back, wondering if he was trying to smack me. He stumbled forward, trying to
grab at me. But I kept moving. There was no way he was going to be able to
touch me.

Daddy picked up speed and I turned
to run. He got a handful of my hair, but it was enough to snap my head back. I
threw my hands out and braced myself, knowing that if I fell something bad was
going to happen.

I spun and the back of my right
hand slapped Daddy
’
s
scruffy face. It was like hitting a cactus. But it was effective. Daddy tripped
and went down to his knees. He looked up at me, reaching with one hand. Snot
dripped from his nose as he yelled for me.

“
Something
is wrong,
”
I said as I got
to my car.
“
Something is
really wrong. The shooting. The mafia. Everything. You need to be ready. It
’
s going to get worse now. And it
’
s not my fault.
”

Maybe it is your fault, Shelby.
You just don
’
t
know it yet.

“
Wait!
”
Daddy yelled.
“
They
’
re
…
it
’
s
…
oh, shit. Did you hear a car? A horn?
”

Daddy then turned and crawled like
a child, hands and knees in the dirt. He scrambled back to his trailer and
climbed up inside.

I watched the door shut. My hands
on the steering wheel. Daddy used to be a big, tough man. I always remembered
him worried though. The years of that definitely wore on him, but something
else was there. Something he wasn
’
t
telling me.

I started the car and grabbed the
shifter to put it in reverse.

“
Where
’
s the fire?
”
a voice asked.

I screamed and jumped.

I turned my head and looked up. I
thought it was maybe one of the deputies, someone coming for orders from Daddy.

It wasn
’
t.

It was a man in a suit.

I checked my mirrors.

There was a black car behind me.
Two men stood at the hood, wearing suits, arms crossed.

8.

(Layne)

Brett and Hawke stood there, hands
cuffed in the front. Brett
’
s
lip was bleeding. He sucked on it, his eyes burning with rage.

I looked at the two officers, one
with a gun drawn on me.

“
What
the fuck are you doing?
”
the guy bellowed at me.

Clean cut, cleft chin, defined jaw,
nice hair good boy. That
’
s
what he was. Mommy and Daddy probably had the perfect marriage, even if Daddy
was fucking two other women on the side. Probably took the badge with a sense
of entitlement, thinking it added a few inches to his dick.

The difference?

I was the one who was free. He was
bound by the justice set forth through the legal system.

I stepped toward the gun.

“
I
bet you
’
ve never fired
that,
”
I said.

“
Fuck
you.
”

“
Or
when you do go shooting, you flinch each time you pull the trigger. Because you
’
re afraid. Because you thought
it was going to be like a TV show. But it
’
s
not.
”

“
Get
on your fucking hands and knees.
”

I looked at his shirt.
“
Officer Jenning.
”

I reached forward and pulled at the
name tag. He brought a fist down and then tried twisting my arm. Pain shot
through my shoulder as I turned.

“
This
is our bar,
”
I said.
“
Belongs to the MC. I have every
right to be here.
”

“
You
have no rights,
”
Officer
Jenning said.
“
I
’
m taking you in.
”

“
For
what?
”
I asked.

“
Trespassing.
Didn
’
t you see the caution
tape?
”

“
It
was on the ground. I thought you were protecting the ground.
”

“
Smart
ass. Fucking punk.
”

“
You
’
re younger than me, brother,
”
I said.

Officer Jenning twisted my arm.
“
Hey. I
’
m not your fucking brother. I
’
m not your anything.
”

I twisted back at the young officer
and broke his hold. He hand came back up. His finger was on the trigger. I put
my hand to the top of the gun and fought to keep it pointed down.

“
I
am something. Your worst enemy and best friend.
”

A second later, Finn came out of
nowhere. He tackled the other officer to the ground.

“
Jesus
Christ!
”
Officer Jenning
yelled.

He reached for his radio and I
grabbed it and tore it from his body. I kicked at him, sending him flying back
and down to his ass. His gun ended up in my hand. I opened the chamber and took
the clip, tossing it aside.

“
Don
’
t reach for anything else,
”
I said. I pointed to the
officer.
“
This is my
fucking town. This is my fucking crime scene. You
’
re
not going to fucking do a thing about it. I know how this works. You
’
ve been waiting for this. The bar
shot up. Now you
’
ll leave
it like that. You have no fucking idea what this bar means or the man who owns
it.
”

I reached for Officer Jenning and
he flinched. He turned his head, waiting for me to hit him.

“
Christ,
”
I said.
“
Your old man used to beat you.
”
I grabbed the keys to the cuffs
from his belt.
“
How bad was
it?
”

“
Bad
enough,
”
the officer said.

“
That
’
s why you wanted to be a cop? To
help people. People who can
’
t
help themselves. Because your mother never had the nerve to stand up for
herself.
”

“
Fuck
you.
”

“
No.
Fuck you.
”

I threw my head forward and smashed
it against the bridge of his nose. It exploded. Office Jenning fell to his back
and groaned.

I took the cuffs off Brett and
Hawke.
“
You okay?
”

“
Great,
”
Brett said.

“
What
happened?
”

“
They
rolled up and we fought.
”

“
You
lost,
”
I said.

“
They
had guns.
”

“
So
do you.
”

“
They
’
re cops, Layne,
”
Brett said.
“
There
’
s a line
…”

“
Fuck
the line,
”
I growled.
“
This is our goddamn town.
Everyone needs to understand that right now.
”
I got nose to nose with Brett.
“
Mountain
Killers think they can roll through here? I
’
ve
got suits after me. Local PD. Heat everywhere. And you
’
re worried about some punk cops?
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Brett whispered.

“
Fucking
right you are.
”

I walked to my motorcycle and got
ready to ride.

Finn, Brett, and Hawke hurried to
follow me.

I left the bar behind me for now.
There was nothing there. Maybe there would eventually be something there. It
would take time and money to patch up the bar. Christ, and it was up to Pep and
his will to fight to live to get back to his bar.

The throttling thunder was a loud
relief to my mind.

We cruised through Oakville. I kept
my eyes open, always looking. We needed a business meeting as soon as possible.
The bottom line was that our enemies weren
’
t
going to come to us. We were going to go after them. One by one. Making our
fucking statement as we went along.

The piece of paper with Shelby
’
s mother
’
s name and info was in my breast pocket. That was a
mess too. I had to kill her. The mother of the woman who I gave half a shit
about. Shelby had been looking for her mother, thinking she would find an
escape.

Good luck.

Back at the clubhouse, I pulled
into the lot and saw a barrage of damage.

The gates were open. The prospects
were basically hugging each other, rubbing their faces and eyes. There were
motorcycles tipped over. Finally, Ransom was on his hands and knees, rocking
back and forth.

I hurried to stop and jumped off my
ride.

“
Layne!
”
Brett yelled.
“
Let me go first! You
’
re President!
”

“
Fuck
that,
”
I said.

I wasn
’
t going to hide behind anyone or anything. I
’
d jump into the fire for the
cut. That
’
s what it all
meant to me. My job was to fix Oakville, not just hide out and get my dick
sucked.

“
Are
you okay?
”
I asked Ransom.

He gave a thumbs up. There were
tears streaming down his cheeks.

“
What
happened?
”
I asked.

“
Inside
…
Don
’
t
…”
Ransom groaned and slid forward.

I looked back and Finn was running
after me.

I charged toward the clubhouse. I
kicked open the door, no idea what the hell to expect. There was no blood,
which was good. But that didn
’
t
mean shit wasn
’
t waiting to
go down.

The bar was empty. The place
silent. I had different groups of guys out on different runs. I was trying to
keep our presence known around Oakville, no matter what the fuck was happening.

I heard a creaky footstep.

By the time I turned my head, there
was yet another fucking gun pointed at me.