Road from Ruin

Chapter Eight

RED
This fucking girl. She infuriates me, intrigues me and turns me the fuck on. No one has ever talked back to me the way she does. She's a spitfire and it fucking guts me to think that a man ever made her feel less than the perfect that she is. But that's the thing about my angel. She's too good for this town. Too good for this club. Too good for me. She's finally free from her shitty family and abusive fucking twat of a husband so she deserves to run free. I wish I could take her on the back of my bike and show her the world. But I can't leave the club. Those guys are my family and I swore on my life to stick with them till I die and that's exactly what I plan to do. Never had a woman on my bike before either. I built that thing from scraps with my pop, it means more to me than anything or anyone else in the world. Ever since my pop died I've been alone and that's the way I like it. Don't like people in my space and don't like people knowin my shit. I know deep in my gut that my angel has to leave as soon as possible to get on with her life but hearing her talk about never getting into bed with me again and gettin out of town as soon as possible fuckin destroyed me.

So I have to just keep her at an arms length. Fix up her stang and keep her safe in my place then set her free. I'm going to have to avoid her somehow though because as soon as I smell her sunshine or hear her laugh I know I'm gunna be fucked. I'm already doing a bang up job by being a total asshole. I might has well have pissed all over her to mark her as mine in the middle of the shop with my stupid declaration that no one could ever look at her.

My phone rings in my pocket so I step into my office to take the call. I look at the caller ID and see that it's Buck.

"Sup Buck."
"Got an issue Red. Grab Decker and that prospect and come to the club. There's somethin u gotta fuckin see." Buck spits out before abruptly hanging up.

Fuck sakes this can't be good. I round up the boys before heading upstairs to let my angel know I'm leaving. I can hear music coming from my apartment as I enter and fuck if my heart doesn't stop. There's an angel singing God Only Knows by the Beach Boys in my kitchen. This apartment has always been a shell. Just a space where I escape the noise to sleep, eat and store my clothes. This is the first time I've ever thought of it as a home. I give myself a moment to watch the most beautiful woman in the room dance and sing while I compose myself. Keep her at an arms length Red. Don't get used to seeing her like this. I clear my throat to announce my presence. She spins around and laughs and I feel my heart squeeze. She didn't jump or scream in fear. It's been two days and she's already getting comfortable with me. I can't help but smile back at her.

"Sorry to interrupt....whatever it is your doing." I say with a laugh. "But there's some club business so I gotta head out. I asked Buck's old lady Mama to come by to check in on ya later I won't be back till late." I explain while I watch her face fall.

"Oh. Yeah that's cool. I don't need Bucks...sorry old lady? His grandmother coming to check on me? I'll be okay I'll just make something to eat and get some sleep." She says as she jumps up on the counter.

"Old lady's means his girl angel. His wife. And she wants to meet ya anyways. She's a cool chick, said she'd bring over some dinner and keep ya company. Don't be nervous angel. If you wanna be alone I can call her off." I explain as I move towards her. God this woman is like magnet. Whenever she's in the room I find myself being pulled into her atmosphere.

"Ah that's okay. It'll be nice to have a woman to talk to. Thanks Ben." She says without looking at me. She gulps audibly and finally meets my eyes. "I'm not sure what club business means but uh, just be careful okay?"

"Always careful angel. You don't have to worry about me. Have fun tonight, and don't let Mama give you any hooch. There's beer in the fridge if you want a drink but her hooch is fuckin deadly. Knocked me on my ass once or twice." I say with a wink as I turn to leave as quickly as I can. Hearing her voice filled with worry made me want to wrap her in my arms and make sure she knew everything was okay. 

I leave the shop and hop on my bike. I hear the thunderous sounds of Decker and the prospect Chucks bikes following behind me as I head towards the club. Set in the back of the bar the club is a big open room with a pool table, a couple couches and a few bedrooms in the back. Our Freedom M.C. decal is plastered on the back wall, made out of stainless steel by a member named Iron. The guys mean as fuck but great at welding. I sit beside Decker on the couch and prop my boot covered feet up on the coffee table. Buck comes in from the bar entrance with a huff and sits in the chair across from us.

"Thanks for comin boys. Take a look at this horseshit." He drops a pile of 10x10 glossy photos down on the coffee table. I pick a few up to check them out. What I see fuckin makes me sick.

"Three fuckin kids. All under 18. Guessing Fentanyl overdose. Over in Freeport. Worked for fucking years keeping the hard stuff out of our district. Dont know who's dealing but we gotta cut this off at the knees. Could be another club or just some stupid fuckin kids that bought bad product but somethings off here. With the business we've been losing to a nameless club and now this, something fuckin stinks." Buck emphasizes his point by throwing the pictures back down on the table.

"Yeah something's off. We should send some boys to Freeport to check it out, and some boys to the warehouse outside of Portland. See if we can get someone to talk about who the fuck these guys are." Decker grunts in agreement.

"Alright Red you run this. Send whoever the fuck you want but make it quick. Not having any more kids die and not losing anymore money." I stand and clap Buck on the back before he leaves.

I turn to Decker. "Let's head up to Freeport now and check around. Prospect you can come with us, prove yourself fuckin useful yeah? And call Jones and Hunter, tell em to head to the warehouse now. Let em know to call Buck or me if they get anything." I explain as I head out the door. Whoever's responsible for this is going down. Cops never figure this shit out, always falls on us but I don't care. No more kids are dying on my watch. No one disrespects my family.