Piston by Andi Rhodes
Chapter Twenty-Two
Next time lives will be lost. Back the fuck off or else.
Piston
“That’s the last of it, P.”
Fender sets the box on the floor of Holland’s new home. Not for the first time, I wish we were standing at my place, moving her in with me, but she refused. I managed to convince her to rent a house rather than looking for one to buy, and for that, I’m grateful. Leases are easier to break than mortgages.
“Thanks, bro.”
“Hey, is Holland doing okay? She’s been really quiet since we left her father’s house.”
“Her dad died, dude. Of course she’s not okay.”
“Yeah, I get that, but it just seems like…” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know, this seems different.”
“She told me she loves me.”
“That must be it,” he teases.
“Fuck you, asshole.”
“Seriously, though, that’s great.” He narrows his eyes. “You do love her, right?”
“Yeah, I do.” I grin. “And as far as why she’s upset… she found letters from her parents. They were emotional. She’ll be fine.”
“Good. I’m glad. I like her,” Fender says. “You did good with that one.”
I arch a brow. “Even though she’s a reporter?”
“Even though,” he agrees. “So far, her articles have painted the Soulless Kings in a pretty good light. Shit, as far as the public is concerned, we’re paragons of virtue. She’s a damn genius.”
“It doesn’t hurt that business at the shop seems to have picked up a bit. And Grizzly is still adding fighters to his tournaments, so no issues there.”
“Yep. It’s all good.”
Holland breezes through the front door and stops short when she sees us talking.
“Everything okay?” she asks, her eyes darting from Fender to me and back again.
“Absolutely, sweet cheeks.” I close the distance between us and wrap an arm around her shoulders. “We’re done unloading everything. I’m gonna stay and help you unpack, but everyone else should probably get back to the clubhouse. Is there anything you need from them before they leave?”
“Nope.” She glances at Fender. “Thank you so mu—”
“Fuck,” Fender mutters and pulls his cell phone out of his pocket. He lifts a finger. “Hold on a sec. I gotta get this.”
Fender walks outside, but we can still hear him talking. Especially since he’s shouting. My senses go on high alert and tension stiffens my shoulders.
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I agree.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to have to leave?”
I press a kiss to Holland’s forehead. “Because I probably will. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Piston.”
“See, that is just one reason I lov—”
“We gotta get to the shop, P,” Fender hollers as he jogs to his Harley.
“Go.” Holland steps back and smiles. “It’s fine. Just text me later so I know you’re okay.”
“Promise.” I start walking backward. “Love you.”
I turn and race after Fender. He’s already tearing out of the driveway, and I’m not far behind him. I signal to Trainwreck, who’s sitting in the U-Haul, and he fires up the engine. As the sound of our bikes reverberates through the air, I mentally thank Holland for renting a house where she has no neighbors that we’ll be pissing off.
It takes twenty minutes to get to the road Infinite Motors is on. Normally, it’d take thirty, but speed limits don’t exist when we’ve got trouble. Sirens wail in the distance as I round the corner and that’s when I see it.
Flames and smoke.
My heart races as I pass the trees blocking a complete view of the building. It doesn’t stop racing, even when I see that it’s not the shop on fire. It’s a vehicle in the parking lot. Granted, the vehicle is parked right up against the sidewalk in front of the shop door and there will no doubt be damage to Infinite Motors because of it, but we won’t lose the business entirely.
I skid to a stop next to Fender and the heat from the blaze is almost unbearable.
“What the fuck happened?” I shout to be heard over the crackling.
“Fuck if I know. But I promise, I’m gonna find out.”
A fire truck pulls into the parking lot and Trainwreck pulls in with the U-Haul behind it. The firemen quickly get to work and Fender and I move out of their way. Trainwreck jumps down from the cab of the U-Haul and meets us in the middle of the parking lot.
“Who would do this?” he asks.
Fender glares at him. “That’s what we need to figure out. I’d be inclined to think it was an accident or totally random if it weren’t for the fact that the car is so close to the building. Add in the vandalism to Holland’s car a few weeks ago and it seems we’re the target for someone.”
“Agreed. I think it’s safe to say that Soulless Kings were the target as far as Holland’s car is concerned.”
The thunderous sound of Harleys cuts through the chaos of the fire. The three of us turn to see no less than a dozen bikers driving down the road. Fender must have sounded the alarm.
Riker rushes toward us, a piece of paper in his hand.
“You need to see this, Prez,” he says and shoves the paper in Fender’s direction. “Found it on the gate when we left.”
Fender snatches it from Riker and reads whatever is on it. He crumbles the page in his fist and throws it to the ground.
“Motherfucker!”
I bend to pick up the discarded paper, and my blood runs cold when I read the words.
Next time, lives will be lost. Back the fuck off or else.
“Back the fuck off,” I say. “Back the fuck off of what?”
Fender scans the faces of the Kings who are present. “We’ve got enough to vote. All in favor of an emergency church session right here, right now…” He pauses, no doubt realizing the same thing I do. There’s nothing to thump on. “Fuck, all in favor say ‘aye’.”
“Aye.”
“Thoughts or ideas on what the hell is going on?” I bark, not wanting to waste any time.
“Retaliation from another MC,” Flash suggests.
“For what?”
He shrugs. “Hell if I know. As far as I’m aware we haven’t pissed anyone off lately but ya never know. Doesn’t take much for some.”
“He’s right,” Fender snaps. “This doesn’t feel like an MC attack though. They’d go straight to the clubhouse. What purpose does setting a car on fire serve?”
“What about Holland’s articles?” Gibson asks.
“Have you read them?” I snap. “Because if you had, you’d know it isn’t that.”
“Definitely not the articles,” Fender agrees. When Gibson opens his mouth to protest, Fender holds up a hand to silence him. “We don’t have time to argue about that. Read the articles and you’ll see. For now, you’re just gonna have to fucking trust me.”
Gibson nods but his posture is rigid. He’s not happy.
“P, what about those potential runners from the woods?” Trainwreck asks. “Sorry, I know I don’t get a vote and I shouldn’t even be here if this is being considered a church session, but I’m here and—”
“Shut the fuck up, Trainwreck,” Joker snarls.
“No,” Fender interjects. “He’s right. I don’t appreciate the interruption, but he’s right. He has an idea and it’s one worth exploring.” Fender looks to me. “P, I know things went haywire that night, especially with Des and Devin, but what about the other two? Anything go down with them?”
I think back over the scene in the woods and shake my head. “Nothing that would incite this.”
“But we didn’t take them on,” Riker observes. “Maybe they’re angry about losing out on income.”
“Maybe. Squirrel, can you dig into them and see if there’s anything I missed?”
Squirrel is the resident tech genius and if anyone can find buried secrets, it’s him.
“Sure thing. Soon as I get back to the clubhouse, I’ll get on it.”
“Sorry to break this up but…”
We all whirl around to face the man who interrupted. I catch a glimpse of the firemen putting gear back on their truck and realize that they snuffed the fire.
“It’s fine, man,” Fender assures him. “What can you tell us?”
“Fire’s out.” The fireman chuckles. “Obviously. It was definitely deliberately set. I’ll write up my report and give it to the fire chief. He’ll investigate, see if he can figure out by who.”
“Any chance this can stay out of the news? Maybe even stay off the chief’s desk?” The man glares at Fender, but all that does is make Fender bristle and itch for a fight. “We can make it worth your while.”
“Are you seriously trying to bribe me?”
“Bribe? Of course not,” Fender says with mock indignation. “What do you think I am, some sort of criminal?”
The brothers snicker at that and Fender glares at them to shut up.
“Now, am I trying to make sure that you and your family have everything you need?” Fender shrugs. “Sure. I’m being a good Samaritan. Helping out first responders and all that. That’s not a crime, now is it?”
“No, it’s not, but—”
“Listen,” I grip his shoulder and squeeze hard, as I drop my gaze to read the name on his jacket. “Mack. Your family is more important than some stupid report, isn’t that right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I suggest,” I pause for dramatic effect. “For your family’s sake, of course… I suggest you forget about the report.”
“Even if I did, what about the others?” He hitches a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m not the only one on scene.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” I tell him. “For your family’s sake.”
The resignation on Mack’s face tells me all I need to know. He’s going to forget about the report and convince the others to do the same. Smart man.
“Fine. I’ll handle everything in house, but I have no control over anyone outside of the station. I can’t stop gossip.”
“We’ll take care of that. You just worry about you and what you can control.”
Mack turns on his heel and storms off. We all watch him go and we don’t stop watching until he, along with his fellow firefighters, and the fire truck are gone from the scene.
“Okay, where were we?” Fender asks, returning our focus back to the bigger issue.
“Squirrel is going to check into the runners,” I remind him.
Joker rubs the side of his nose, a pretty good indication that what’s about to come out of his mouth isn’t going to be liked by everyone.
“We can’t discount Des and Devin,” Joker says.
“Are you kidding me?” I bark. “There’s no way they’d do this.”
“We have been letting them into the clubhouse,” Joker reminds me. “They’d be able to put that threat on the gate. They also do work here, at the shop.”
“It’s not them.”
“P, I agree,” Fender says, clasping a hand on my shoulder. “But we’d be stupid if we didn’t at least consider it. Do some more digging. Just to be sure.”
“I’ll check into them too, and also the parents,” Squirrel speaks up. “Just to cover all of our bases.”
“Good.” Fender looks from one brother to the next. “All of you, reach out to any and all of your contacts, see if we can’t shake some information loose. Between that and Squirrel’s deep information dive, we should be able to come up with a more substantial suspect. We’ll meet tomorrow night at the clubhouse to discuss.”
“Anything else before I adjourn?” I ask.
They all shake their heads.
“Church adjourned. Get the fuck outta here.”
They disperse, some getting on their Harleys and riding out, others walking toward the burned-out vehicle.
“I gotta get that U-Haul back,” Trainwreck says. “I don’t want Holland to be charged because it’s late.”
“Thanks, man.” I slap him on the back.
Trainwreck starts to walk away and then Fender calls him back.
“Prez?”
“I want you at church tomorrow night.”
Trainwreck’s face lights up like a kid in a candy store. He really needs to work on that.
“Yes, Prez.” His grin slips. “If you don’t mind my asking, why do you want me there?”
I glare at him. “Does it matter?”
“No, VP, it doesn’t. I was just curious, is all.”
“You had an idea and you spoke up,” Fender informs him. “If you ever interrupt a meeting you’re not supposed to fucking be at again, you’ll be booted from the club so fast your head will spin. But, other than that, good work.”
“It won’t happen again.”
“It better not. Now get the fuck outta here.” He points toward the moving truck. “And if they try to charge you, pay the fee. It’s not Holland’s fault we ran into issues.”
“Uh, Prez, how do you want me to pay the fee? Is there a club credit—”
“Use your own fucking money, Trainwreck.”
The prospect nods and rushes to the U-Haul. He’s out of the parking lot so fast and no doubt it’s because of the money he may now have to fork over.
“Jesus, that kid is dense,” Fender mutters.
“One of the dumbest we’ve ever had.” I grin. “But also one of the craziest and most loyal. He’s not a bad dude and he’ll make a damn good King. Just gotta work a few kinks out of him.”
“Or as Widow would say, ‘get him housebroken’.”
“Truer words.”
Fender shakes his head and starts toward his bike. “I’m heading home to Charlie.” He tips his head toward the vehicle remains and brothers. “They can handle that for now. I suggest you go help Holland unpack. Who knows what’s coming our way? Enjoy the time while you can.”
I follow him to where we parked. “I’m not gonna argue with that.”
“Figured you wouldn’t.”
“Call if anything comes up, otherwise, leave me the hell alone.”
Fender shakes his head as he chuckles.
“P, I’m gonna be doing the same thing you are, so if the boys know what’s good for them, they’ll leave us both the fuck alone.”
