“Ride?” I asked.
“Business,” he said. “Like I just got done telling you. I have to do things, sweetie. I can’t talk about this right now. I need you to go into the clubhouse and get a couple drinks and find Eden and Harlee. Hang out with them. Stay the hell away from Cash.”
“Am I in danger here?” I asked.
“No. I was kidding about Cash. These guys are my brothers. Nobody is going to hurt you. But you’re better off in my room. I’ll be back before you know it.”
I clutched at Duke’s leather cut. “I don’t…”
In the lot a motorcycle engine started. Then another. Their rumble carried up to the roof and out to the night. The sounds stole my words, not that my words mattered all that much. Duke had to do what he had to do, right?
The rumbles were like thunder as I stared into Duke’s eyes.
Slowly, I nodded.
Go. I love you, Duke. Go.
The goodbye then had an eerie familiar feeling to it. So much so that I broke down in tears after he left.
The last time he left to go fight a war he never came back to me…
chapter twenty-seven.
(duke)
I dropped the blade of the shovel into the ground one last time. We needed the scene to look like a sloppy one. Enough to give authorities a chance to investigate and enough to send a clear message to the Hell Five.
Trent and Kye dragged the Hell Five prospect to the shallow grave and plopped him inside. I threw some dirt on him and then looked away. Sometimes the job and the life were hard to deal with. But it was the way of war and the way of survival.
“Now what?” Kye asked.
“We fucking leave,” Trent said. “Make sure our tracks are covered and that this falls somewhere else.”
“They’ll come right at us,” I said.
“Then we fight,” Trent said.
I looked across the land and saw the faint outline of Belle’s house. It was all so fucked up. I couldn’t even dare myself to think about how many times me and Jim had been on this very spot of land. Blowing shit up. Riding dirt bikes. Bringing cute girls through here to get to the creek with the hopes of making out and touching a tit.
“Let’s ride,” Kye said. “I don’t want to stay too long here.”
One thing about Trev was that he knew how to be thorough. We were well equipped with gloves, boots, the shovel, all of which would be destroyed except the boots. Those we hand delivered to the Hell Five clubhouse, sneaking them into their lot.
That was a tricky move to make, considering what we were up against. Lucky for us, they didn’t have the security we did at our clubhouse. They must have been really thin on prospects because nobody was watching their rides. There was no one in the clubhouse and nobody came out. Kye was like a fucking ninja, crouched down, sliding his way to the front of the clubhouse. He planted the boots and then came back to us. The hope there was that once the investigation stalled the sale of the land, Carlo and Durango would push hard. That would then lead the authorities to the footprints and boots at their own clubhouse. Since it was their prospect buried on what was going to be their land, the connection all made sense.
Maybe it was a long shot but it was worth trying.
The key from there was to get to the fight, let Jim win, pay back Ivan with his fifteen-thousand-dollar interest charge, and then everyone move on. Jim would keep his land. Belle would have her house. And for me? I’d have Belle. That was all I could ever ask for in my life. And if by some chance Jim lost the fight… then I’d have to come up with my own side plan. The only choice there would be to give up my leather cut, take Belle’s hand, and run outlaw for the rest of my life.
Back on our rides, we took the midnight ride back to the clubhouse. There, a handful of prospects and members were outside, playing cards, drinking, laughing. That’s where I broke off with Trent and Kye. I went inside and found Trev and Jasper waiting at a pool table for me.
“All set, Prez,” I said.
Trev hugged me and said he’d drop a few hints to Chief Danielson to check out that land.
Jasper then sank the eight ball, beating Prez for what I was told the second time that night. Apparently his focus wasn’t in the game. After downing a few more beers and burning through most of the night with stories and conversation, Trev asked to see me in the conference room. It was rare to get a call for a one on one, especially in the middle of the night. The hours were cooking right by and before long it would be another sunrise in Daurian.
Trev leaned against the corner of the table and stuck out his beer bottle. I offered mine and we smacked glass together.
“You did good,” he said. “It’s hard to follow your heart and follow your club. What do you really think about Jim?”
“For this fight?”
“Yeah.”
“Why are you asking?”
“I’m wondering if I need a backup plan,” Trev said.