Page 64 of Gunner
I wasn’t Sadie, the rape survivor, or Sadie, the guardian big sister/mother. I was Sadie, the businesswoman, and I needed to tell someone the good news. On a spur-of-the-moment decision, I turned the van toward the Death Hounds clubhouse, hoping Piper was around to share in my happiness. It was her insistence on being brave that helped me land the job in the first place. She told me to bake my newest creation and show the owner what I could do, so I knew she would be happy for me.
I pulled up to the new gate, and a prospect stepped out of the small shack. He approached the window, and I rolled it down so he could see who I was. “Hey, Sadie. I didn’t recognize the van. What are you doing here?”
“Is Piper here?”
“She was in the clubhouse when I came down about an hour ago,” he replied and stepped inside the booth to press a button. As the gate slid to the side with a grinding noise from the wheels against the concrete, he asked, “When are you bringing more cupcakes over? I don’t want to miss out like last time.”
I smiled and reached over to the passenger’s seat to grab a box of extras I made in case any were damaged on the drive over. Opening it, I turned it to the open window, and his eyes lit up as he reached in and took one. Biting into the side, he smiled as I pulled through the gate. Glancing in the mirror, I saw him shove the other half into his mouth as the gate closed me into the compound.
I pulled the van to the small, paved area to the side of the clubhouse that was used for deliveries. I closed the box of cupcakes and climbed out of the van, balancing the boxes in my arms as I locked the door. My gun was slipped into the back of the waistband of my jeans, my hoodie covering it up. Old ladies usually didn’t carry, and not in the clubhouse, so I moved carefully into the building, making sure no one saw the handle sticking from my waistband.
A few of the brothers were finishing their breakfast in the dining room when I walked in, and when they saw what was in my hands, they all jumped up to help me with the boxes. I chuckled and patted Needles on the back as they dove into the cupcakes, each taking two.
Piper stuck her head out of the kitchen to see what the commotion was and shook her head as she watched grown men,outlaw bikers, shove sweet desserts into their faces like little boys at a birthday party. She pulled me into a hug as we walked into the kitchen, then she poured me a cup of coffee before joining me at the small table against the glass window.
“I haven’t seen you in a while. Is everything okay?” she asked, and I nodded with a huge smile.
“Things are great. I just got offered a huge contract for a standing order that will cover the bakery’s budget all by itself.”
She clapped her hands with a smile. “Congratulations, Sadie. I told you, your desserts are amazing.” She lowered her voice and asked, “Have you given any more thought to trying to buy out Ms. Yates?”
“I’d love nothing more than to buy the bakery, but no bank will loan me the money.” I shrugged like it was no big deal, when all I wanted was to own the bakery.
“Maybe the club can help with a down payment to show the bank you’re for real.”
I held up my hand and remarked, “I want to do it on my own, or not at all. I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think it’s in the cards for me.”
She and I talked for another few minutes before she got called away. I finished my coffee and placed the cup in the sink. Walking through the dining room, I saw two of the four boxes of sweets were empty. The room was also empty, and as I walked into the bar, I decided to walk over to Kade’s cabin. It had been a few weeks since we stayed at the compound, and I left a pair of blue jeans the last time we were here.
Gravel crushed under my tennis shoes as I left the side door of the clubhouse and meandered to Kade’s cabin. A few brothers were still on the property, but most were working their day jobs, either for the MC’s businesses or, like Needles, their own. Everyone paid their dues to the club, and in return, profits filtered back to them. Climbing the two stairs to the small front porch, I used my key to unlock the door and left it open to air out while I searched for my pants.
After finding them and my wool socks, I tucked them into a small bag and slung it over my shoulder. I grabbed a water from the fridge and placed the bag on the steps of the house before locking the door. No one would break in, but the lock provided some privacy when you were in your cabin. I knew the bag would be safe where it was, so I pulled my hoodie down over the gun in my waistband and set off on the path to the Death Hounds lake.
It was a ten-minute walk through the property, and as I traversed the well-walked path, I let the silence of the woods lull me into a calm state. I had been to the lake countless times with Uncle Mick growing up, and as my feet carried me further away from the clubhouse and cabins, I let my mind wander to him.
He wasn’t just my uncle, he was my friend, and some days, the pain of losing him sucks the air from my lungs. My mother was worthless, and if it wasn’t for him, Dalton and I would have ended up in the system, and we would have never known Jacob. I didn’t know how he managed to keep us out of foster homes, but he did. He paid the rent and made sure we had food, clothes, and a parental figure to seek advice from.
None of us knew who our fathers were, but we looked just different enough to know we each had our own. I’m sure my mother didn’t know who they were, so it never made any sense to ask her. Not that she was around very often. Most of the time, she was shacked up with some deadbeat loser who used her for her body and sometimes as a punching bag.
She stayed away from the MC after Uncle Mick dragged her out before I was born, and I think that was his only mistake. At least here, he could have kept an eye on her and the lowlifes she associated with. Instead, she kept her parties away from him and spent more time at the drug and sex houses in the Flats than she did with her kids.
Bitch.
The closer I got to the lake, the madder I became. If it weren’t for her selfishness, I wouldn’t have been in the position I was to be attacked. I should have been studying and hanging out with my friends, gossiping about boys and who likes who, instead of raising two younger brothers and dodging predators who lurked, literally, right outside the window.
A cold chill blew off the water, and I stepped off the path, maneuvering around the back side of the lake to a secret spot Uncle Mick showed me years ago. On the far side of the two-acre lake was a small area accessible only by foot. The water was too shallow for a boat to approach, and it was surrounded by trees on all sides but the water. From the front of the lake near the path, the secluded area wasn’t visible.
As I pushed through the overgrown bushes, I found the patchy grass area undisturbed. I sat with my back against a tree and stared out at the lake, thinking about when Uncle Mick brought me here while I was healing. He helped me to work through some of the initial shock and shame of what happened to me, and it was that day he gave me the gun. His words still ring in my head, as if he was sitting next to me, saying them for the first time.
“Sadie, if anyone tries to harm you again, you pull the trigger until they’re no longer a threat to you. Remember, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.”
I felt the steel pressing against my back, and I shifted to get more comfortable. The sound of snapping twigs, followed by mumbled voices behind me, drew my attention to whoever was approaching me. I was invisible out in the open, but I still tucked myself behind the tree and peered around the trunk to see who was coming toward me.
I could see Dalton and Kade walking through the dense trees, and Kade had a rope in his hands, pulling someone behind them. Terrified of what I was seeing, I shifted, and as they walked past my hideaway, I saw who was being led behind them.
The man from my attack,the sadistic fucker who told them to carve their tally into my back, was being dragged through the woods. He had a gag in his mouth, but I could hear him pleading with them as they led him deeper into the dense trees. The looks on Dalton’s and Kade’s faces were of pure rage, and I swallowed hard, realizing what they were doing.
There wasn’t anyone to hear you scream this far out on the property, and I slowly stood from my spot and stepped out, trailing fifty yards behind them. I didn’t know why I was following them deeper into the woods. I should have turned around and left them to do whatever it was they had planned, but a small part of me wanted to see it.
