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“Well, come on, River, might as well get comfortable.”
I walked forward, slipped out of my shoes, and crawled onto his bed.
FOURTEEN
WES
AGE 18
The leather cutfelt like a brand, as if I’d inked the laws and vows of the club onto every inch of my skin, so everyone could see that I had finally succumbed to the patch. Even as I rode toward the Death Raiders club under the cover of darkness, I knew the colors and words sewn into this vest would define the next chapter of my life. I only hoped Callie would understand and decide to keep me, regardless of doing the one thing she’d asked me not to.
If she was alive.
The thought sobered me and had me pushing the bike faster. No one had told me where to go or confirmed who had done this, but I knew enough to realize this was a tactic from the Death Raiders. They were the only other club that had been battling with the Stone Riders since I had started hanging around the clubhouse and began picking up on conversations. It was how I knew where to drive. The location of the Death Raiders clubhouse was something the Stone Riders joked about frequently.
Down past Pyle, that old mill would go up in flames within seconds.
That was something Brooks would bellow when he was drunk. I knew Pyle well enough to have an idea of where to go, which was proved correct as I pulled off a side road leading past the old mill. I slowed my speed, coming to a chain-link fence, and there, about fifty feet down the length of it, were rows of parked bikes. I continued until I saw five members patrolling, likely to keep them safe from sabotage.
I parked alongside theirs and dismounted.
“The fuck?” I heard Giles, one of the newer members yell, as he noticed me.
With a harsh rasp, Hamish limped over to me. “Oh no…no, no, no. What have you done, son?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Everyone knew what wearing this leather cut meant. You didn’t wear it unless you meant it for life.
“I need to know where she is.”
Hamish gave me a sympathetic look that was saturated with pity. It made anger twist my insides uncomfortably.
“Don’t fuckin’ look at me like that, just tell me.”
Hamish let out a resigned sigh, “They’re inside, talking to Dirk.”
I recognized that name as the president of the Death Raiders. He was a sick man, from what I had heard, which was why Simon was at war with him so frequently. The Stone Riders were careful of what sort of illegal activity they got into—so far it was just running alcohol and cigarettes—but they found out the Death Raiders had started trading harder shit, and there was even a rumor about a woman they had trafficked.
Simon wouldn’t stand for that shit close to his home, or his daughter.
It was another reason why my stomach was twisted into a tight knot, the fear of them doing something to her or taking her somewhere…I couldn’t even process the thought.
Hamish warned in a low tone. “You head in there, and it might make everything worse.” The other members were smoking, talking to each other while eyeing me nervously.
I hated that he might be right, and I could never live with myself if I did make things worse, but I had to get in there.
“There a back entrance to this place?”
Hamish tilted his head, but I already saw the light in his eyes, as if he’d had the same idea.
“Take me to it, and I’ll sneak in. You can go back to your post. I’ll deal with Simon.”
Hamish shook his head but pointed his finger past my face.
“Your bike will be too loud. Walk the perimeter, and after you pass an electrical grid, there will be a two-by-four with white paint on it. To the left there’s going to be a keypad, as if you can’t get in without using it, but it’s a decoy. Squeeze past the fence and keep walking. There will be a door at the bottom of the stairs directly to your left. Knock four times. When it opens, you need to let them know that Hamish sent you.”
How did he know how to get in? If he had this sort of access, I didn’t understand why they hadn’t led with this. Hamish must have read the question on my face because he let out a long exhale and slapped my back.
“There’s a kid your age in there, he’s the son of one of my friends. We kept our friendship quiet because of our different affiliations, but his son is a good kid. He’ll be the one to open the door and lead you to Callie.”
