"We got trouble!"
I snapped my head in Cole's direction. He was sitting next to me, his head bent as he frowned down at something on his phone. His expression looked grim. "Just got a message from Bull." He got to his feet before he finished reading. "Their clubhouse was hit!"
"Fucks" exploded throughout the room as my brothers and I jumped to our feet to head out.
"How bad?" We were running shoulder to shoulder toward our bikes.
"Didn't say, just that the place was fucking shot up."
Brothers reached for their helmets and jumped on their bikes, their swift actions revealing their eagerness to take off. They revved up the powerful machines between their legs, forced to wait for Demon to take the lead. It sounded like thunder and the ground shook as we got in line and followed behind him through the gate. I was directly behind him, followed by Cole, and then the others. As we raced away from the clubhouse, I wondered what we were going to find at LD's.
I hadn't been there yet, hadn't had a chance. We went full throttle where we could. Once we reached the outskirts of Boulder City we jumped on the interstate to go the rest of the way. Now wasn't the time to take the scenic route. It didn't take long before we reached the exit and got off, and then we rode through parts of busy Vegas before winding up on a quiet road that took us the rest of the way to the clubhouse.
The first thing I noticed as we pulled through the gate and rode past the prospect who was manning it was that the clubhouse was in a good location. It was dark, so it was difficult to make out how much damage had been done to the building, but the broken windows were evident. There were a couple of wounded bikes in the front, if the way their riders were swearing and looking them over was any indication. I frowned, wondering where the rest of them were. I shut my bike down and shot a look toward Cole. "Did Bull say they went after the shooters?"
He shook his head as I brought my leg over my seat to get off. "They park behind the building for this very reason."
"Doesn't make for a fast getaway." Loco had obviously overheard.
"No, but it saves a fuck-ton of money on replacing bikes and bike parts," Oz quipped as we headed toward the door in a fast pace. "Think of how many bikes could have been crippled."
"Always a fucking pain in the ass," I agreed.
Demon burst through the door and the rest of us followed. I immediately scanned the large bar, taking in the slight chaos that still filled the room.
"Where the fuck is LD?"
The room quieted. Demon's shout drew everyone's attention to where he'd come to a stop.
Bull came out from somewhere in the back. "Gone, Prez. After the shooting died down he took some brothers after them."
"Did you see who the fuck did this?" I snarled.
"It was too dark to see, Brother."
"A fucking drive-by." The man who'd come to stand next to Bull had a patch that revealed that he was the secretary. "They hit fast and didn't hang around for introductions."
"What's the damage?" Demon asked.
Bull motioned to a brother who was sitting at one of the tables with two women fussing over him. It was obvious from the way they were dressed that they were club girls. Taking in the location of the blood on the wounded man, it looked as if he'd taken a hit to the arm and the leg.
"The prospect at the gate took a couple rounds. He heard them coming but didn't realize they meant trouble till shots were fired."
I nodded. "Good thing it was dark, or their aim would have been better."
"And we'd be planning a funeral," Bull said with a twist of disgust on his lips. "Had enough of that shit the last year."
No one said anything in response to that.
"Is Doc on the way?" I questioned, looking around.
"Yeah, I called him as soon as I heard gunfire." The secretary held out his hand. "I'm Blade, Brother." I grasped his hand. "Don't think I've met you before."
"Sax." We shook hands briefly. "I was away until recently." Normally I wouldn't have explained myself to anyone, but I felt it was necessary, considering that he was a brother and a patched officer to LD.
"Anyone else hurt?" Demon's gaze moved about the room, as if looking for the answer for himself.
"No, thank fuck," answered another brother whose name I didn't know.
"Fuck!"
"Oh, stop being a baby," a feminine voice scolded. I glanced to where the girls were trying to staunch the flow of blood running out of the prospect.
"What's your name, kid?"
He glanced up, his eyes wild and glossy from pain. "Morgan."
"Could you make out anything?"
He shook his head, his lips turned down at the corners. "Everything happened too fucking fast. Once they started shooting, I started shooting back and took off for cover. I can't even tell you how many there were, but I do know this--they were fucking bikers. I couldn't see their colors, but I recognized that at least."
I cut my eyes to Demon. "You think some of us should go after LD and the others for backup?"
"Yeah. This could have been a plan to get some of our brothers away from the clubhouse to ambush them."
I headed back toward the door. "Loco, Reid, Colton--you brothers are with me."
I knew that whoever had hit the clubhouse wasn’t heading back to Vegas because we would have met them on the road. We took off in the opposite direction, racing blindly in the night down a road that didn't have street lights, just the occasional reflector.
It wasn't long before we came upon LD and the rest of the brothers, heading back in our direction. We simultaneously slowed down and came to a slow crawl when we met up on the road. The savage look on LD's face revealed his anger and frustration, the brothers riding with him wearing the same tight-jawed expressions. They looked ready and geared up for war.
"Lost the fuckers!" LD shouted over the rumble of our bikes. "Too much of a head start!"
I gave him a chin lift and turned my bike around to head back to his clubhouse. It took us no more than five minutes to get back. "You think it was the Knights?" I asked as we headed inside.
"They're the only ones causing shit right now," LD snarled in a tone that said he thought so.
He nearly tore the door off the hinges when he snatched it open hard enough for it to slam back against the wall. I knew what he was looking for when his head snapped to the side, but Morgan wasn't there. Just some bloody rags.
"The girls are taking care of him in one of the rooms 'til Doc gets here."
I had a call coming in, and when I pulled my phone out, I saw Morty's name flash across the screen. He ran the tattoo shop for us. My first thought was that he must be working late tonight. "Yeah?" The first thing I heard in response was his rapid breathing, and a feeling in my gut told me that I wasn't going to like what he had to say.
"He's dead! He's dead! B-Bikers just sh-shot up the p-place!" He was tripping over his words in an effort to get them out. It was obvious he was scared shitless.
"Fuck! Calm down," I ordered. "Who's dead?" The sudden silence in the room revealed that everyone had stopped what they were doing to listen to my conversation.