"You, again?"
"It's your fault we got to ride in this thing."
Cipher, our club Treasurer, slid up in the seat behind us. "I'm totally wasted."
I slipped him the cup of coffee I had in my hand and he lifted it in the air, before chugging it down. He exhaled with an exaggerated, ahhh, before wiping his mouth clean. "Let's go!"
I shook my head and slumped down in the seat. Fireworks filled the sky as we drove into town. In the distance we saw it, the flames were raging. The town's festival of lights in the park, has now become a raging inferno. I sat up in the passenger seat and looked out in shock. This wasn't something that just happened, this looked like a job.
As we pulled up, we all jumped out, stepping up to where Bulldog stood. "What the hell happened?"
"Bloody fucking Scorpions."
"Brewer?"
"Fucker got out early."
Brewer had been the club's VP at one time. When he left, Bulldog had me voted in. But ever since then, the fucker had been wanting to steal the territory, and he was doing it by destroying it little by little.
People started to come out, and sirens wailed in the distance.
"They're going to pay for this. The people aren't to blame." Bulldog clenched his jaw as the flames played on his angry features.
Helpless.
That's exactly how each of us felt as we watched the Christmas lights melt from the heat. The tree that stood in the center of the park caught fire and lit up in what seemed like seconds.
From somewhere on the sidelines a man pointed at us. As he got closer, I recognized him as the town's newly elected Mayor. Something Tannenbaum. He seethed in anger as he spit accusations at Bulldog.
"This is your fault! I knew as soon as you came into this town that you'd bring destruction. This," he pointed at the flames, "this is your doing!"
Firefighters fought to dissipate the flames as police maneuvered the people to a safer location. Bulldog held his ground, a snarl slowly forming along his upper lip, a sure sign he was on the verge of attacking.
"Mark my words, Paul Jameson, I will get you the fuck out of my town by any means possible."
"Are you threatening me, Mayor?"
"Take it how you will. But you will be leaving Port Townsend very soon."
"I don't think that will be necessary!" A familiar shadow emerged from the crowd. His blonde hair was practically black from the smoke and you could barely make his face out.
He greeted the Mayor and then looked over at Bulldog. "Prez."
Bulldog smirked and patted him on the shoulder. "Brim."
"No one's asking you, Firefighter!"
"Lieutenant." He corrected him and I held back a chuckle.
Mason Hudson, or Brimstone as he was known in the club, was our Tail Gunner. He was also the town's Fire Lieutenant. He’d been sworn in a couple years back when he helped up in the purchase of the bar we currently owned. He was loyal to the bone and had a good reputation in town which made him into the face of our operation. The fact that he was about to get on the Mayor's blacklist didn't faze him one bit. His father was the Fire Chief in Port Townsend and his family was rich as fuck and well respected. Nothing unsettled him, especially not over dramatic politicians.
"I don't care who you are! I want answers!"
Brimstone only seemed bored with the Mayor's outburst. "Mayor we were very specific on the guidelines that needed to be followed for this event. My Firefighters and I found several burnt out overloaded outlets which caused an electrical fire. You're lucky we were able to get here on time and contain it, if not it would have engulfed the buildings surrounding it."
The Mayor looked uneasy as Brim handed him a burnt outlet. He hissed, dropping it to the ground from the heat. We all chuckled around him and he narrowed his eyes on each of us.
"I'm not done with you yet. One of these days I will find a cause to take your land and throw you out like the garbage you are."
"No need for insults, Mayor. I don't think the people need that right now." Siege pointed at the crowd that was watching intently. The Mayor turned to address them, not without first giving us a look of hatred.
Bulldog turned to Brim, lowering his voice in case someone was listening in on our conversation. "Was it an electrical fire?"
"As far as I could tell. But there was some wire tampering as well that may have caused it. Witnesses saw a few men in leather jackets walking this way."
"Brewer?"
"Could be. It was too dark to make out a face."
"We're already in hot water with this new Mayor. Might as well lay low for now. We don't need heat on our backs, especially with the jobs we've got runnin."
Cipher leaned against the car half asleep. "Take him home. Night's over boys. Happy Fucking New Year!"
Revving up the bike's engines we made sure to make enough noise to drown out Mayor Tannenbaum's lies as we sped out of town and back to the clubhouse. I was tired and concerned about this oncoming shift in the air. Something was wrong and I sensed the heaviness. Brewer wasn't going to stay quiet. He wanted payback for being dragged into a cell and I had a feeling the Royal Bastards would be guarding against an all-out war.
As I leaned my head against the cool window shield thoughts of a pretty fairy fluttered through my thoughts. One that tasted like sugar plums and looked at me as if I were her savior.
I much preferred finding out how a good girl like got mixed in with a bunch of bikers and sheep. And why the fuck she was so adamant about keeping her identity secret.
I'd find out sooner or later, and when I do, you’ll be all mine.
Challenge accepted, my fairy.
1
Saddle
One year later...
"Larry Tannenbaum is a problem." Bulldog kept his head down as he spoke. "He's been snooping around the club and now has his dogs sniffing around."
Cipher nodded. "We haven't been able to do a job in weeks. There's money we need to move and quickly."
"We've got a run pending. If we don't get this asshole off our backs everything will be lost. This job could make or break us." Bulldog continued.
“What are we supposed to do?” Brim chimed in. “The guy is out for us.”
"We can't wait any longer, there's too much at stake." Cipher added.
The bar made good money, but if Bulldog wanted to expand and bring in new members, we needed to find a way to bring in more money. We were currently doing odd jobs on the side, making runs for the Fallen Kings over in New York and getting paid, but Bulldog had come across a much more lucrative investment.
We were being hired for security purposes. We’d be clearing the roads heading into Canada for a big investor who was transporting expensive goods. That's all the members were required to know. I, on the other hand, had been part of the contract. We were securing the transportation of millions of dollars, and the products were items sold through the black market. The investor was willing to pay a lot of money to get to the border of Canada. The job was solid, and it would finance us enough to expand. If this first run went smoothly, the contract could go on for years. The only one in our way was a small-town Mayor with a hard-on on becoming a powerful name and using us to do it.