Rise to Power (Motorcycle Club Romance) (Dead Men Motorcycle Club) Read online

  Misty called upon herself to break the tension. She sat forward and cleared her throat before speaking.

  “Er, Leyla, this is Janie,” she said, motioning to the other woman. I’d barely even noticed her with how much I was focused on Gina. She was a little older than me, and I wondered if she was in the same boat as Misty – exploring her options and getting a feel for the club. I had an instantaneous moment of pity for her, knowing that her introduction to the club was going to be a lot more volatile than she’d expected. If there had been any way to do so, I would have warned her to just go home and try again in a few weeks – if there was anyone left to talk to.

  “Hi,” she said sheepishly. “I’m just visiting. My boyfriend is a member in Oakland and he told me that if I ever needed a place to stay I should just ask the Dead Men… so, uh, here I am.”

  “You’re always welcome here,” I told her. I could see Gina burning up on the couch. No doubt she’d already said the same words to this poor girl. I hope that coming from me, they seemed sincere. I’d never dreamed of being the queen bee that Gina was, but I was getting a rush at acting like it. In a motorcycle club, there’s more power than just what happens around the table. We act like we’re free from the way people in the rest of the world behave, but the truth is there are more hierarchies and cliques in an MC than you’ll find back in high school.

  Janie’s presence complicated the task I’d set for myself, but only slightly. I knew I needed to inform Gina and Misty about what was happening before the meeting room erupted. If I kept this from them, I’d never hear the end of it. Even Misty would hold that against me. Delicate as she was, she hated to be left out. Maybe it was her gentle way that caused people to disregard her so often and some part of her hated to be seen in that light.

  “Listen,” I said, sitting back as casually as I could against the couch. “Something’s going down and you all deserve to know about it before it happens.”

  I didn’t let Gina grab the reins of the discussion and pushed right into it.

  “There’s a deal with Mako – and it’s happening. The men will be hearing about it and discussing it right now. Mako’s going to get a share of the Dead Men and we’re finally going to have peace.”

  “That’s a hell of a fucking deal,” Gina said, unable to contain herself any longer. “How come this is the first I’m hearing about it? Jarhead would have told Ripper and he would have told me.”

  “They don’t know about it,” I said. “Martin made the deal and when all this is over, he’s going to be the one at the top of the ladder.”

  “WHAT?!” Gina screamed. I hoped that nobody would come checking on her and derailing whatever was happening inside the room. I had to put this fire out myself.

  “Deal with it, Gina,” I told her. “Jarhead is on his way out and you’ve either got to stand with the rest of us or take your leave with him. This is happening whether you like it or not.”

  “We’re all fucked is what’s happening, Leyla!” she exclaimed. “You’re going to tear this club apart when we all need to be standing together.”

  “Shut up, Gina!” I yelled, matching her volume and sitting forward. “Jarhead has almost killed this club and there’s nobody coming from San Viero to rescue us. It’s time for new blood at the top of the table and Martin is better than anyone for that job.”

  I could see her searching nearby tables for something to throw at me when the door to the meeting room burst open. It was Jarhead and Ripper, full of steam, charging into the room. They came straight for us and for a moment I thought Jarhead was going to attack me, but he stopped and let Ripper move forward.

  “Come on, Gina,” he said, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  “You’re not just going to let them –“

  “MOVE IT, GINA!” he yelled, hammering on the back of the sofa where she was sitting.

  Gina jumped up and they started moving to the door of the clubhouse before I even had time to register what was happening. Is this it? I thought to myself. I had been preparing for the worst – a bloodbath even – but they were just leaving? What had happened inside? Wide-eyed, I looked to the door of the meeting room and saw Martin appear in the frame. He was standing there with the bright light shining behind him, and I thought I was seeing an angel. If I thought I’d seen his true self before he walked into the room, now I was seeing some perfection of being that I’d never anticipated. He was the conquering hero and the stern protector. He was my knight in shining armor.

  CHAPTER 8

  I WAS STILL STANDING there next to the couch, staring blankly at the door which Jarhead, Ripper and Gina had walked out of when Martin came up behind me. He put his hand on my shoulder and I could feel the stress escaping my body as soon as he touched. It’s over, I thought to myself. I knew that wasn’t really true, but I could feel like it was for a moment of pure relief. Then the questions started to hit me, and before I knew it they were pouring out of my mouth at Martin in an inescapable flood.

  “What the hell happened? Where are they going? Did Rik talk to the others? What’s going on?”

  Martin put his other hand on my open shoulder and I tried to calm myself down. He was smiling and it did almost as much to soothe me as it had in that field.

  “Rik talked to everyone,” he said, nodding across the room to Rik – who was chatting with Misty. “He even tried talking to Ripper, but that didn’t fly at all. Ripper told Jarhead and they were all screaming about it when we came in. I laid it on them right away and everybody did just what they said they would.”

  “That’s amazing!” I exclaimed. “I can’t believe they just left.”

  “Honestly, neither can I,” he said. “Jarhead was spitting blood in there, saying we were going to all get killed for this. I didn’t know if he was talking about Mako or himself doing the killing, but I didn’t think he would give up so easily.”

  “So why did he?”

  “I told him he had to choose, and he chose.”

  My heart swelled with pride in my man. I’d never felt more happy to be with him than at that moment. He had proven himself ten times over, and it was finally time to reap the rewards. Some part of me was still worried about Jarhead – and about Joseph – but for the moment, we could celebrate. With no attack on Mako, there would at least be no retaliation that night. At least, that was my hope.

  “This calls for something special,” I said, holding up a finger before his face and slipping away from his powerful hands. I made my way behind the makeshift bar and pulled out a bottle of thirty year old Scotch that I knew Jarhead had been saving.

  “Spoils of war,” I explained as Martin stood grinning at me. Within a few minutes, everyone in the place was gathered around the bar. Rik had switched to talking to Janie, and I overheard him explaining a small piece of what was happening. I caught her eye and smiled, knowing that she’d have even more questions for me later. I poured a round for the club and called for their attention.

  I raised my glass and pronounced, “To Martin and to the Dead Men – may they never die!”

  There was a cheer and all of the glasses tipped back. The Scotch was so strong and so smooth it was easy to forget how powerful it was. If it wasn’t for the spin that fell upon my head as soon as I swallowed it, I would have forgotten entirely.

  The next hour was a blur of cheers, toasts and celebrations. I hadn’t seen the club this lively in months at the very least. There were so many things to consider, but all of them could wait. Whenever Martin came over to talk to me, I steered him away from conversations about the transfer of power.

  “We’ll call San Viero tomorrow,” I said. “And later tonight, we’ll call Joseph to tell him the good news. I’m sure he’ll be happy to not have to put his guys into action.”

  Martin finally accepted that everything had gone according to plan and spent the rest of the evening kissing me and smiling and laughing with his friends. Every rider in that club – a small number without Jarhead and Ripper – made
sure to congratulate him. Even Rik, who we’d feared would try to steal the power for himself, was congratulatory and in high spirits. The way the situation had so suddenly deflated put me on edge. I’d spent so long feeling that there was a sword hanging over our heads that the thought of true freedom from Mako and Jarhead both was too good to be true. Martin and I kissed and danced and laughed with the rest of them, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the other shoe was going to drop soon.

  In the middle of all the celebration, I spotted Janie sitting alone at the edge of everything. I figured that in some sense I owed her more of an explanation. After all, if this club was going to get its feet back under it, we couldn’t turn away anyone who wanted to support us – even if they were just a visitor. I made way over and sat down beside her.

  “Hell of a night, isn’t it?” I asked.

  “Yeah, heh.” Her chuckle was insincere, but I didn’t fault her for it. If I’d been in her position, I wouldn’t have known what to think, either.

  “Listen,” I told her, “Things aren’t usually this bad around here. I know you’re just passing through, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Those guys in Oakland need to know we’ve got things under control here.”

  “You’re worried I’m going to go running back home and telling them there was some kind of power grab up here?”

  I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. I erred on the side of her being a good neighbor though. What other choice did I have?

  “I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea,” I told her. “Martin is a really great guy and he’s going to do great things with this club, too.”

  “I believe you,” she said finally. I could tell she was about to say something else, when suddenly she looked startled.

  “What was that?” she asked. I hadn’t heard anything, but I spun around in my seat anyway. We were sitting on a couple low stools on the edge of the lot. There were only trees behind us. In this part of town, the forest crept right up against the property in a lot of places. I strained my eyes to look into the darkness, but couldn’t see anything.

  I turned back to her and said, “It was probably just an owl,” though I was sure of no such thing.

  “Leyla, you really don’t have to worry,” she assured me. “From what I saw of Jarhead, he wasn’t much of a leader. To tell you the truth, I’m feeling a lot more comfortable knowing this place isn’t getting ready for a war.”

  “I’m glad,” I told her. I smiled easily at her and took another sip of my drink. It seemed like everything was going to be alright for once. That’s when I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head. After that, there was nothing but darkness.

  CHAPTER 9

  I CAME TO MY senses mostly due to the dull throbbing pain that seemed to run from my head all the way to my toes. It was dark and I felt immediately that my wrists and ankles were tied. At first I thought I must be blindfolded, but soon realized that it was dark because I was in the back of a truck. I could feel the road beneath me and every so often a shaft of light would pierce the darkness when the rear door lined up with a street light just perfectly. In the dim conditions, I could barely make out that there was someone else beside me, slumped over in the dark.

  I got to my knees and worked my way over to whoever it was. Anything would be better than sitting there and working myself into a panic. Clearly someone had knocked me out and taken me. I thought about what the last thing I remembered was. I remembered just as I reached the other person – it was Janie. She wasn’t moving.

  I crouched down low next to her and tried to push her with my knees while whispering her name. If someone in the front cab of this truck was listening, I didn’t want them to decide to pull over and silence me. Whoever was in charge, they meant business. The zip ties that were pulled around my wrists and ankles were so tight that my fingers and toes were tingling.

  “Janie… Janie…” I whispered, but there was no response from her. I bent down low to get my ear next to her. I nearly shrieked when I realized that I couldn’t hear her breathing.

  I scrambled across to the other side of the truck and the sound of my own panicked breathing soon filled the back of the truck. Janie was dead. That poor girl had come up here on vacation and we’d failed her. Now she was dead and the blame fell squarely on the shoulders of those who started this whole mess – Martin and myself. If I got out of this, we’d have to answer to her boyfriend and the Dead Men out of Oakland. I put that thought in the back of my mind and concentrated on the present. I was a captive and I was being moved somewhere. And from the looks of it, my captors weren’t overly concerned with the condition I was in.

  I sat silently in the darkness, trying as best as I could to calm down. Every time the truck went over a bump, my nerves shot through the roof again and I nearly screamed. In the end I had to close my eyes and count sheep to calm myself down. Tears were streaming down my face and I couldn’t even reach to wipe them away.

  I was sure that was going to be the end of me. I was sure that I was going to be killed here and I’d never know if justice was served in my name. The Dead Men aren’t known for backing down from a vendetta, but what would they do this time? If Jarhead was behind this, he might end up taking the club back and my death would be seen as just an act of war. If Joseph had chosen his moment to attack me, then Mako still far outnumbered the Dead Men and they’d never get close enough to do anything about it. The way I saw it, I was doomed to die without so much as an angry letter being written on my behalf.

  With that thought echoing in my head, I sobbed quietly in the back of that truck. I’ve never been one for prayer, but even I begged a greater power for salvation that day. Mostly I just rocked back and forth whispering Martin’s name. He had to come. He was my protector – my guardian. If I couldn’t count on him to save the day, then what did any of this mean?

  I felt the truck slowing down and coming to a stop. The loud clunk of car doors closing told me that we had reached our destination. I blinked my eyes in the dark, trying to get the tears out of the way, expecting to finally learn who my captor was.

  The doors split open and I could barely make out a dark figure silhouetted against the bright lights shining down at the van. I tried to stare and discover their identity, but my ears worked faster than my eyes after my ordeal.

  “Hope you’re comfortable,” a voice snapped at me. It was Gina. Of all the people I expected to see at the rear of the van, she was one of the last. I had little doubt that this meant Ripper and Jarhead were ultimately responsible for my kidnapping and for Janie’s death, but that they’d managed to rope Gina into this was beyond my comprehension. It was one thing to stand by your man, but she was now party to murder. I never thought she would go this far.

  The door opened wider and the increased light allowed me a better look at Gina’s face. Her eyes were reddened and her hair was a mess – something that was a bit of a rarity with her. Beside her stood Ripper, muscular and bulging as he always was. He’d gotten his nickname for a time when he supposedly tore apart a piece of thin sheet metal with his bare hands to get at a brother who’d been trapped in a collapsed shed. That’s what I’d heard anyway. The hard look in his eyes and his fierce musculature left me no choice but to assume the stories were true.

  “Get them out of there,” a third voice barked at them. It could only be Jarhead, directing things without getting his hands dirty as usual. Ripper and Gina advanced towards the hold of the truck.

  “Janie’s dead,” I whimpered from the corner of the truck. This gave pause to Gina, at least, who stopped moving forward and turned back to look at Jarhead. With no further instructions forthcoming she turned back to me and I saw in her eyes that the true horror of the situation was finally dawning on her. Ripper continued towards me though.

  His meaty hook of a hand grabbed my wrists and dragged me to my feet. Rather than be dragged along the bed of the truck, I cooperated, moving slowly out of the truck as he led me. I spared one glance backwards t
o where Janie’s body laid and tears flowed down my cheeks greater than ever before.

  We climbed out the back of the truck and I looked around, but couldn’t guess at where we were. There were trees all around, and a small cabin that looked like it had been falling apart since before I was born. Jarhead sometimes went on trips to the woods, but I never knew where. Now I could see for myself. I only hoped that the rest of the Dead Men were better informed than I was about where he took his vacations.

  “You’re never going to get away with this,” I said carefully to Jarhead. Anger was beginning to replace fear in my mind, and the peril of my situation simply didn’t matter anymore. I thought of Janie and that I could easily be next, but I couldn’t feel more fear. Something inside me hardened and there was nothing left but pure rage.

  Jarhead turned to me slowly. His greasy beard and battered jacket made him look more like a bum than a leader of men. Somehow, without the trappings of the Dead Men surrounding him, it was hard to believe he’d ever inspired anything more than contempt in the club.

  “Let me explain something to you, Leyla,” he said, cracking his knuckles one at a time. “Your boyfriend is dead and if you don’t want to join him, you’re going to do exactly what I say. The club is mine and I’m not giving it up to you or Mako or anybody.”

  He was standing right next to me, and reflex overcame every instinct for self-preservation in my body. I spit hard and it landed just under his left eye. He winced back from it for just a moment before his fist came crashing in against the side of my head. I was still foggy from the knockout I’d suffered earlier and had no time to react. I dropped to the ground in a pile of angry snarls and tears, my head feeling like it had been crushed all over again.

  “Get her up,” he barked at Ripper who lifted me up roughly by the zip tie that was binding my wrists. I was sobbing, because there was nothing left to do. I’m usually so careful to present a solid front. I usually make sure that nobody sees me in a compromised state. There was no chance of that now. They were seeing me raw – seeing me at my very lowest.