Ryker by Jeneveir Evans
Chapter 15
To accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe.
~Anatole France~
Bane
October 16th, 1999
Dog had called Church for six tonight. I was clueless about what was going on now. I let Kenzie know that I had to go to this meeting. Dog had let me skip last night since Dad had arrived. As I got ready to leave, Dad and Tor followed me out the door.
“Dad, I’ll be back in a little while. Dog called Church,” I told him.
“Yeah, Bane, I know. He called it because of something I’ve asked of him,” Dad replied.
I looked at him sharply. “Dad, what’s going on?”
“Bane, I’ll explain it all at the meeting.”
I frowned when he said that. I fucking wanted to know what was going on. Why hadn’t he talked to me about this last night? I wasn’t some emotionally fragile man that problems had to be kept from. Even when the demon rode my back, I had still done my damn job and done it well.
“Son, I’m sorry. I can see this has upset you. I didn’t want to get into it last night. I just wanted to enjoy the evening not having to worry about the shit that’s waiting for me back home. If all your questions aren’t answered after Church, we’ll talk about it as long and as much as you want to. Deal?”
“I don’t really have an option now, do I, Dad?” I griped. Fuck, I sounded like a petulant four-year-old. I blew out a breath of air. “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just don’t want everyone to baby me because I had an emotional breakdown. I’m dealing with it. I’m doing good. It hasn’t stopped me from being a man who knows how to help his family.”
“I know, Bane. If it’s any consolation, Tor didn’t know about some of the shit we are going to discuss until yesterday either.”
I looked at the grim face of my younger brother and realized whatever was going to be discussed was going to be bad. I knew that I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear. We drove to the Clubhouse, went in and I headed to the bar. I’d actually had eight hours of sleep last night because Trina, Bronte and Dad had gotten up with Dane. I had a feeling I would need the beer that I was craving. Dad and Tor were behind me and they each got one too.
I led them down the hallway and into Church. Most of the men were already inside. I showed them where to sit then went and took my seat. It didn’t take long before everyone was in the room. Jace was the last in and he pushed the door shut behind him. As he sat down, he looked startled to see Dad and Tor here.
There was something going on with Jace. Everyone knew that but he hadn’t said a word to anyone. When asked, he would tell everyone that things were fine. I know that Dog and Vip were watching him, yet he hadn’t done anything for them to call him out on. From what I’d heard, he was doing his job and he was at every Church or club function. Other than that, he wasn’t at the Clubhouse. He was staying somewhere else.
Dog cleared his throat and stated, “Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Ryker and Tor. If it wasn’t already blatantly obvious, Ryker is Bane’s dad and Tor is one of his younger brothers.
“Ryker requested a meeting with Vip and me yesterday when he and his family arrived for a visit with Bane, Kenzie and Dane. He is here seeking protection for his family. Vip wants to say a few words then I’m going to give Ryker the floor. If at any time you have questions, ask them.”
~*~
Viper
I looked around the room at the men I considered my Brothers. Men I had total faith in and trusted completely. These were good men that could be hard when it was called for. They were willing to give to those that needed a helping hand. They had offered my men, my family, and me a chance for a better life. Then they had given me the ultimate show of faith, they had made me their VP. I wouldn’t do anything that would get in the way of that. This was my home and these men were my family.
Yet I’d always considered Ryker a very close friend. Maybe Dog was onto something. Maybe Ry and I were related somewhere down the line. After he pointed it out, I could see where we favored. All I know is that from the first meeting with Ry, I’d known I was looking at a friend.
I know that’s illogical because we were from completely different 1%’er MCs. While SoS did business with Hell’s Retribution MC, no outlaw club like the two of ours would ever completely trust each other. It had benefited both of the clubs to form a business alliance since neither club had sister chapters. Despite it being against all odds, it hadn’t taken Ry and me long to know that we could trust one another.
He had been my friend for twenty-three years. Never once during that time had he lied to me or tried to get anything over on me. Instead, he’d cautioned me about other clubs. About men who I needed to always watch my back around. He’d let me know when he heard that other players SoS had dealings with were out to try a hit and run during an exchange of merchandise. I know that King didn’t know he was warning me and I damn sure never told Satan, Dad or Devil that he was either. Instead, I’d proved to the bastards that their current business associates weren’t always going to play nicely.
When I’d heard anything through the grapevine that concerned his club, I made sure that Ry knew what I had learned. Over the years, we’d had three different drops with potential buyers that both clubs were involved in that had turned into shit shows. Ry had saved my ass at one of them, I’d saved his at one, and the other, we’d both saved the other from meeting our Maker.
It didn’t matter that he was eleven years older than me and we didn’t belong to the same MC, we were still Brothers. We always would be too.
I looked around the room at the men who were my family and began speaking, “When I came to the first meeting with ARMC, none of you knew me. You didn’t know the type of man I was. The caliber of man I was. All you knew was what you had gleaned from Reb and Pred during their visits here. You had decided that from the way my sons conducted themselves that they had to come from a man who loved and cared for his family. A man who taught his sons what to cherish and protect in this life.
“My sons gave you a little information on what I was facing in my MC and that led you to learn another side of me. A side that showed that I would enter the realm of the devil himself and fight any evil that was trying to destroy my family.
“When I sat before you during that initial visit, you all heard the story of the hell my family had been enduring at SoS. You learned about the battle I had been fighting for years. It was a fight I was determined to win one way or the other. I laid my soul bare to you. I told you more about me than I’ve ever told anyone.
“Ry knew I was fighting a battle at SoS. He knew the majority of what was going on with me. Yet I kept some of it back. Not because I didn’t believe I could trust him, because without a shadow of a doubt I trust him with everything I have. I didn’t tell him because I knew he’d feel helpless knowing he couldn’t find a way to help me with my situation.
“I told you all earlier when Bane came home that there was more to Ryker’s story than you knew. There are times when you have to look at the bigger picture in life beyond what is right in front of you, just like you did with my situation. I’m asking you to look at the bigger picture here.
“I never told you all the shit I had to do when I was with SoS. I can assure you that I wasn’t a choir boy just like Ryker isn’t. We have both had to do things we didn’t agree with to keep our families safe.
“I haven’t said all of this to make you pity Ryker. I’ve said it because, just like with me, sometimes decent men have to do bad things in order to survive.”
I looked at Ryker to see him staring intently at me.
“You know I would have done what I could to have helped you out, Vip.”
“Yeah, I know, Brother. I couldn’t draw you into my conflict when I knew you were facing your own.”
“Just remember, fucker, I’m always here for you,” he uttered. “Don’t do that shit again. Brothers always have each other’s backs.”
“Hear ya, Ry. Make sure you understand it goes both ways.”
He tilted his head toward me acknowledging what I said.
~*~
Mad Dog
I continuously looked around the room as Vip talked. Brothers were listening closely to what he was saying. Vip was usually a man of a few words, but when he spoke his words had a wisdom that far surpassed his age. I saw men nodding here and there at a point he’d made during his passionate speech.
Vip had not only considered his family but also his Brothers when it came to keeping them safe. I’d known from the moment I met him that it had to be a hard thing for him to come before us and lay his troubles out for all of us to see.
Vip was a strong man. A proud man. An honest man. A loyal man. And a humble man.
For him to fervently stand up for Ryker, he was letting us know that the man we saw seated before us was of the same caliber of man that Viper is. Listening to their exchange at the end of Viper’s dialogue showed the club the ilk of not only Viper, but of Ryker too.
After they finished speaking, I let Ryker know that the floor was his.
~*~
Ryker
Fuck, listening to Vip talk about me to his Brothers caused a lump to settle in my throat. From the first time I’d met him, when he was still just a newly patched member, I’d recognized myself in him. His old man Serpent hadn’t been a bad man, just one who was easily manipulated. Serpent’s misfortune was to have Satan as a friend. Satan was a master manipulator and had been able to get Serpent to do damn near anything he wanted him to do.
When I’d met Viper it had been readily apparent from the get-go that he wasn’t a man who would let anyone lead him around by the balls. Even at nineteen there had been a fierceness, a determination to take care of those he considered his. That had only intensified over the years. I’d known instantly that he and I were extremely alike, we’d both go to the ends of the earth to protect those we considered our family.
That’s why I was here. I needed to keep my immediate family safe while I tried to get the rest of my family out of the shit King was trying to suck us into.
I looked around the room at the men sitting before me. These men all gave off the same vibe that my guys did. They were good men and loyal to a fault.
Inhaling a deep breath, I started speaking, “I asked Vip to get me a meeting with Dog so that I could ask a favor. One I might add that you don’t owe me. I’m asking this partially because of what Bane’s said about ARMC. He’s told me the kind of club you are. He’s bragged about the men of this MC. He told me that he’d been the only Brother who had ever turned against another member. My son let me know that he regretted hurting Eagle. He was afraid that he’d never have the same level of closeness he valued so much in his friendship with his best friend.
“Unfortunately, as I’m sure he’s told you, his depression is hereditary. But throughout everything he’s gone through, he said he never once blamed any of his Brothers for getting mad at him. He said if he had been in your boots, he’d have felt the same way. The one thing that stood out in my mind was the level of respect and love he felt for his MC.
“That’s something I’ve only had with a few men. If my dad had lived, I believe our MC wouldn’t have turned into the vile, savage club it’s become.
“I grew up in HRMC. The things I thought of as the normal way of doing business didn’t start hitting me as wrong until I was in my middle twenties. By then it was too late to do anything about it.
“I’ll admit that I’ve done things I’m not proud of. I’ve run drugs and guns. Our Prez runs a prostitution stable. He’s had us make businesses that are owned by honest people pay a protection fee. It doesn’t matter how I feel about this or what I’ve said to King, he doesn’t listen to anything I have to say.
“My old man was killed when I was twenty-one. I’d been patched for three years and King promised the brothers that when I had some years under my belt that he’d make me the VP. Those men had respected my dad enough that they held King to his word. Despite promising the brothers that I would do all of the jobs of a VP, he’s managed to limit what I did. I’m merely his token attempt to appease the men, his way to keep the brothers under his thumb. Like I said, there are a few duties I perform, but he keeps my involvement in running the club to a minimum and me often out of the clubhouse. This allows him to keep me excluded from his decisions for the MC.
“King’s endgame of promising them I’d one day be VP worked. Now the majority of the men are loyal to him. He keeps them that way with money, drugs, booze and women.
“I tried once to get out of the club when my son Tor was born. King let me know the only way a man gets out of Hell’s Retribution is through old age or death, that’s it. I knew then I was trapped.
“I’ve done what I could over the years to make the best out of a bad situation. When Tor wanted to prospect, I pleaded with him not to, as you can see he didn’t listen. I know he regrets that now.
“I have eight men who are loyal to me. One of those is a man who had been fairly loyal to King until King violated his sixteen-year-old granddaughter. Now the man wants King dead and he is making sure that I know everything that has been going down at the club. Two of my other men let me know as well. King thinks they are in his pocket too. So I’m not just depending on just one man’s word.
“I had thought that King didn’t know any of the other men that were in my corner. I’m afraid now that he suspects four of them. A couple weeks ago, King sent three men on a drug run and another one with me to check out a warehouse. While we were gone, he held a ‘secret’ meeting where he discussed his latest idea for a business venture. A venture that there is no way in hell that I’ll ever do, he’ll have to kill me first.” I grimaced before continuing, “His new plan is to involve the MC in human trafficking.”
I watched as the men around the table straightened up and various levels of anger showed on their faces.
“Not only my son, but six of my other men came to me and said no way in hell they would be a part of that. Now I have to find a way out of this situation. I’ve managed to live with King’s shit since I joined as a teen. This I can’t live with.
“I know you’re probably thinking that I lived with the prostitution angle and that is basically the same thing and, you’re right, to an extent it is. While I know it was wrong of me, I reconciled myself to it by thinking that all of the women were of age and most were already providing services before they joined King’s stable.
“But the kidnap, torture and rape of any child, regardless of age, I can’t and won’t look past. Fuck, I’m not down with rape period, man, woman or child. What sickens me is that with the exception of my men and several of the old timers, the rest of the men in the club are excited about this prospect.
“Somehow, someway, I have to stop this. The only thing I’ve been able to come up with is trying to take the men out when they hold another ‘secret’ meeting. Yet I have two men inside those meetings, men that there is no way I would ever consider killing.
“I need to be able to focus with no distractions on the war that is heading in my direction. To do that, I need to know that my family is safe. My kids are my everything. I’m selfishly asking if my daughter Bronte and two youngest sons along with the boys’ mom Trina can have asylum at ARMC.”
I leaned back in my chair. I felt like I had just been put through the wringer. It was now in the club’s hands. If they won’t let them stay in the compound, then I’d find a house nearby to rent and pray that King never finds out that Bane lives in Arkansas.
I’d already had the kids leave their phones at home. The ones they were using now were disposables. They knew not to contact anyone. All of them were aware how serious this situation was.
~***~