Page 40 of Vapor's Blaze

“I didn’t know what else to do. I can’t leave my friend to fend for himself. He’s too old and sick. All I want to do is talk about what it would take to get Jamus released, and then I’ll be out of your hair for good.”

“You can’t just walk in and out of an MC clubhouse anytime you please,” one of the other men counters. He’s massive and built like a house.

“Maybe that’s how the Hounds do it, Tank,” another man adds. “Their clubhouse is like a fucking crack den.”

There was a rumble of laughs at that. Despite my hatred of my grandfather, I feel the need to jump in, and defensively spit out, “Jesus, Jamus is an old man. Why don’t you just let me take him with me today? Don’t you have any basic human compassion?”

“Don’t play games with us. King sent you, didn’t he?” The big man who I now know is Tank, states.

“What? No, of course not.”

“I’m in no mood for a bunch of lies.” The man glares at me angrily then turns to the club president. “You hearin’ all this bullshit, Siege?”

“What’s with all the paranoia? It seems like you’re looking for an enemy behind every tree. You guys need to grow a backbone. I’m a woman who weighs maybe a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet. What kind of threat can I possibly pose to a whole clubhouse full of big strong bikers.”

Siege tilts his head slightly as if trying to figure me out. He huffs out an exasperated breath. “I’ll make this simple. What do you want?”

Clearing my throat, I repeat my demands. “I’ve already told you what I want, Jamus.”

“Not gonna happen, sweetheart. Now get the hell out.”

This man was absolutely insufferable.

“I can always call the police,” I suggest just as menacingly.

With that, Siege starts laughing. I sit there for five minutes waiting for him to stop. Finally, he speaks, “Seriously, you come here asking for favors and threaten us if we don’t give you what you want? You know King, I don’t know how fond he is of you—Vapor’s been telling me all about what happened and I’m guessing as he had you thrown into their cells, then you ain’t on the top of his list of favorite people—but even if you were, you think he’s gonna be happy if you get the cops involved? That is not smart of you.”

Vapor finally speaks, “You want Jamus. What about the others?”

“I already told you, I only want Jamus. I don’t care about the others they can rot in hell for all I care.”

Vapor turns toward me and the look in his eyes was unfathomable. “What if we gave you the opportunity to save them all? Would you take it?”

I gaze at him, not sure where he’s going with this. When he came out to fetch me, I got the feeling he was spitting mad at me for turning up at the clubhouse without telling him what I was doing. Maybe he wasn’t just sitting around on his ass these past few days, but had been trying to figure out how to save me? I think about the other men in the cell with Jamus, they’re human beings—maybe not very nice ones but they don’t deserve to die. “I don’t like them, but they have families who want them back. If there were a way to save them all, I’d probably take it.”

“Even if you had to sacrifice yourself?” Their club president’s question takes me by surprise.

“It depends on what you mean by sacrifice.”

He just stares at me, making it clear that I had a bit of a credibility problem. I mean, what was I supposed to do? Jump up and down shouting yippee, and agreeing to whatever they said? “Look, I’m trustworthy. You can ask Vapor.”

Their club president gazes at me steadily. “We already spoke with him about you, and he did believe you could be trusted. He said you have problems of your own that you’re grappling with. We’re prepared to work out a solution that solves both our problems, but you are not to leave the clubhouse until that solution is found. Am I making myself understood?”

I nod. Given that my grandfather, the Hounds, and maybe even the Grave Diggers, all want my head on a plate, being at the Savage Legion clubhouse is probably way safer than a motel on the outskirts of town. “Of course. I guess, I’ll just go sit out in the bar until you and your club make a decision.”

“A solution won’t be found that easily or quickly. You might be here a few days.”

“And you can guarantee my safety?” I feel my mood lighten at that prospect. I’d barely seen daylight since escaping from my grandfather’s jail cell. While I’d been free to go wherever I wanted to, I couldn’t risk being seen.

“Of course. We have several suites in the attic. Vapor will take you to one. He’ll return to this meeting and then fetch you when the meeting is finished. You cannot be out of the room without a proper escort and I’m assigning Vapor to be your protector for the duration of your stay here.”

“I agree to your terms. Would it be possible to see Jamus? I brought medication for him,” my eyes briefly went to Vapor, I saw a flash of annoyance cross his face. He might have vouched for my trustworthiness earlier, but given I ignored his advice to stay at the motel room, and now have pretty much doubted his word, I guess he has reason to be pissed.

“Medication? Is this something else? Vapor told us the man had health problems, so we got our doctor to sort everything.”

My eyes went back to Vapor, I’d half expected a told you so, smirk. But instead, he just glanced back at me calmly. I felt bad for not believing him. “He has high blood pressure and is an insulin dependent diabetic so if that’s all in hand then great.” I fish around in the bag, bringing out a red tube, “He’s also got arthritis in his fingers, he won’t tell anyone about it because he thinks it makes him look weak. He uses this heat rub in the evenings.”

Siege takes the tube of ointment from me and says gruffly, “We’ll get it to him.”

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