Page 35 of Dozer

After I clipped my helmet, I adjusted the skull tube mask covering my mouth and neck and my black goggles. We were all in full gear. Our leather cuts and the rumble of our bikes sent a surge of power through me. At first, I hadn’t been sure I was ready to embrace what needed to be done.

I was now.

My old man had balls of steel. He’d die for the brotherhood. As a kid I thought he was full of shit, but then I’d never seen one of my friends lying in a bed with his face bashed in. Pike spit teeth and blood for this club.

Now, I understood. When shit was bad, Tank said he counted on his MC brothers. Pike was counting on us, on me, to make sure Hellers evened the score.

We pulled out of the club in a two-by-two formation. Blade and Rogue up front, Sully and I rode behind.

The steady growl of our bikes thundered down the street. Once we hit the highway, Blade opened thethrottle. We did the same to keep up. Wind whipped over me as I thought about what I’d face in the next few hours.

Something had changed in Blade after Rogue spoke to Pike. Blade had called for an emergency board meeting. Whatever happened behind those closed doors had changed the course of retaliation toward the Crawlers.

Bullet had disappeared, and Blade had ordered Hana to stay with Romeo.

Forty miles outside the city limits, we rode down a worn dirt trail toward the foothills.

A small house emerged in the distance. As the road faded in the reflection of my side mirror, a large barn loomed in front of me.

Dust and gravel billowed from our tires. I recognized Bullet’s bike in front of the house, but not the three other Harley cruisers.

I followed Blade’s lead and rested my bike on the side of the barn. Once I stored my helmet and goggles on my handlebar, I peeled the facemask over my head.

Bullet exited the barn wiping his bloody hands on a towel. Rogue strode toward him. They shared a few private words.

I popped a cigarette from my soft pack and clamped it between my lips. I tugged off my glove and dug my lighter out of my pocket.

“You ready for this,” Blade asked.

I lit the cigarette and inhaled. “I want to know what changed your mind.”

“Nothing changed my mind. Crawlers were always going to pay for what they did to Pike. Theywent after Pike to get to me. He was convenient. Not the one they want.”

“Hana?” I asked and took another drag off my cigarette.

Blade clenched his jaw. “They’re after me, and that puts Hana and the girls at risk.”

“Your old lady is going to want in on the fight.”

“That’s why we’re the only ones who know. What happens today stays here. I don’t trust anyone more than you and Romeo. If I’m in a fight, I want you next to me. That’s why I asked Romeo to stay with the girls.”

Romeo was with Pippa. My hands balled into fists. The thought of them together fueled the fire raging in my gut. I was ready for Crawler blood. Someone was getting fucked up.

“Wrench has a hard-on for Rogue. Night Crawlers want Heller Raiders dead.”

I climbed from my bike. “I’m in. I hope you have a way to get us out. This shit is going to get bloody.”

“Don’t worry. I learned from your old man. You don’t go to war without a plan to win it.”

“‘Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.’”I repeated my dad’s favorite quote.

“Sounds like Tank,” he said.

“Sun Tzu, actually.” I wasn’t sure about Blade as our president, not yet but I had faith in his ability to lead our club. As my best friend, I trusted him with my life. And he could trust me with his.

Coming in from the bright sunlight, it took my eyes a moment to adjust to the shadows of the barn.

What the fuck was this place? Ah fuck.Shit just got real.

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