Devon
Hatch, Alamo, Doom, Dash, and I were stuck together in a room way too small for five n who couldn’t stand to be caged in.
"I hate all this waiting around bullshit," Dash said as he paced the floor of our cramped motel room.
"Try pacing so more, that should help." Alamo’s slow drawl dripped with irritation.
"Fuck you, Alamo."
"Both of you shut up, you’re giving a headache," Hatch grunted. He was lying on his back with a pillow pulled over his eyes.
Doom stood by the window as lookout, but he scowled at no one in particular as Dash continued to pace.
"It’s been a few hours since Doc replied to the eting request. How do we even know they got the reply or that they’ll even respond?" I asked.
"They’re businessn and blood is expensive. It’s in their best interest to make peace with the Dogs," Alamo said. "Plus, if they believe that we’re waving a white flag after what happened with Badger and the Club, they’ll be walking into the eting thinking they’ve already won, and that’s exactly what we want."
Just then, we heard a knock on the adjoining hotel door. It was Doc and Dalton (who was about as "G-Man" as they get). Apparently, he had a reputation among those he worked with to be a stand-up guy with an almost sixth sense about things. Doc, Alamo, and Hatch trusted him with their lives and that was good enough for .
"The eting is on," Doc said.
"Finally! When are you going?" Dash asked.
"Apparently they don’t want . They have soone else in mind." He raised an eyebrow and looked back at Dash.
"? Why ?" he asked.
"Hey, man, the word we got back is they want you. Apparently, you’re viewed as quite the "fly in the ointnt" of their organization ever since you went off half-cocked after the church shooting."
"Shit," Dash said.
"They know it was you that brought the heat down on them, and got half of their crew locked up. If we want to et with them, that’s their terms. It’s you and only you at the eting."
"Fuck that! It’ll be an ambush. We can’t let him walk in there alone," I protested.
"I’ll do it," Dash said.
"Whoa, hold on there a second," Doc said. "We need to think about this."
"What’s there to think about?" Dash demanded. "Clearly, I’m the one that started all this shit, and I’m the one they wanna see. If this is what it takes to make it happen then so be it."
Agent Moore spoke up, "Dash I appreciate your willingness to help, but we can’t let you go in there alone. We at least need to get you hooked up with so surveillance gear."
"Wear a wire? No fucking way," Dash said.
"I’ve gotta agree with him there," Doc said. "If they find a wire on him he’s dead for sure."
"When is this supposed to go down?" Alamo asked.
"Tonight at ten, at the private golf course near the river."
"Then it’s settled, I’ll be there alone, without a wire," Dash said matter-of-factly.
Doc, Hatch, and Dalton looked at each other.
"I’m not sure we have any other option," Doc said, followed by nods from the group.
"Alright, but I still can’t let you go alone," Dalton said. "Now that we have the location of the eting, and we know it’s outdoors, I’m going to set up sharp shooters around the area. They don’t know that we’re coming, and they’ll never know we’re there."
"They’d better not, or he’s a grease spot for sure," Doc said.
The next few hours were a flurry of activity. The FBI guys were busy calculating the best sniper locations and Doc, Hatch, and Dalton were trying, without success, to find out anything they could about who exactly the eting would be with. Everyone else had hit the streets in an effort to find out anything they could, which left Dash alone to pace the floor, and to watch him.
"Fuckin’ sit down, Dash," I snapped. "I can’t concentrate with you pacin’ like a pussy."
"Fuck you, Spark," he snapped back. "I’m the one marching towards God knows what, if I wanna pace, I’ll fuckin’ pace."
"You don’t have to do this, Dash."
"Like hell I don’t! You heard them. They want to et with , and only , or the eting’s off, and if it’s off, we can’t convince them of a truce."
"We can find another way. This doesn’t feel right to ."
"The only thing that doesn’t feel right to is being in this room. I’ve gotta get out of here. I need to take a ride and clear my head."
"No way," I ground out. "Doc was clear. We stay put until he gives the order."
"C’mon, man, I just need a quick fifteen-minute ride. They’ll never know I was gone. I swear to God, if I have to stay in this fuckin’ room for any longer, I’m gonna fuckin’ crack. Just cover for . Tell ’em I’m in the shower if they ask. I’ll stick right around this block, and be back in fifteen, I promise."
I sighed and shook my head. "Ten minutes."
"Thanks, Sparky, I owe you one." With that, Dash quietly slipped out the door with his helt in tow. I peeked out the curtains and could see him quietly pushing his bike out of the parking lot, towards the main road. I walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and closed the door.
With that, I was alone for the first ti in days. My thoughts imdiately turned to Poppy and I fought the urge to call her. I didn’t think I’d be able to hide the concern in my voice and I didn’t want to worry her any further. I also didn’t know what I’d tell her if she asked about graduation, which was less than a week away.
At this point, I still had no idea if I’d be there... or anywhere, for that matter. This simple assist job was getting more dangerous by the minute, and although I had confidence in Doc and in his plan, I was very aware of the real danger we were in. Especially Dash. I couldn’t bla him for needing to clear his head, and decided to use this ti to do the sa. I sunk down in my chair and focused on the white noise from the running shower. After just a few monts I fell into a deep sleep and was awoken ten minutes later to the sound of pounding on my door, and sirens.
"What the fuck!" I shouted as I sprang to my feet, still half asleep.
"Sparky! Get the hell out here!" It was Doc and he sounded pissed.
I opened the door to see not only Doc, but an ambulance, and two cop cars on the opposite side of the motel’s parking lot. I could also see Dash, on a gurney, being loaded into the ambulance, before it took off, sirens blazing.
"What the hell?" I snapped. "Dash!" I tried to make my way out the door, but Doc stopped cold.
"What the hell is right. More like what the fuck, actually!" Doc eye’s burned. I’d never seen him so angry. "As in, what the fuck was Dash doing on the road? Here’s another one. What the fuck were you doing when he decided to split?"
"He said he wanted to clear his head," I replied. The shower was still running, and steam poured out from underneath the bathroom door. "He was goin’ for a quick ride up the block and back, that’s all."
"Oh, is that fucking all? Well, at least that explains why a drunk as fuck soccer mom was able to plow into him on her way to hot yoga."
"Shit, is he okay?"
"No, he’s not okay. He’s smashed to shit. It looks like he’s got a broken leg, and who the hell knows what else. The dumb bitch blew out of the parking lot in her SUV and caught his rear tire. He must have a shamrock up his ass, because a split second earlier and she would have T-boned him directly and that would be all she wrote."
"Holy shit, Doc, I’m so—"
"Don’t you fucking say you’re sorry, Devon. You disobeyed and you left your brother out there alone in war ti. You left him alone, and he got hurt."
My spine stiffened. There was no way I could feel worse than I did already about Dash, and I sure as shit didn’t need a dress down from "dad."
"Hold on. He’s not a kid, Doc, and neither am I. Besides, I thought the whole idea of this club was to have the freedom to ride whenever we want."
"Grow the fuck up, Devon. You say you’re not a kid but then say stupid shit like that. It’s war out there if you haven’t noticed and we all need to have each other’s backs... at all fucking tis. Dash should have been here, and you should have kept him here. End of fucking story."
Doc was right. I was mad as hell that he was, but I couldn’t argue with him. I fucked up and now Dash was hurt, and tonight’s eting was in jeopardy.
"Is he going to be okay?" I asked.
Doc’s voice softened a little. "He’s a tough little shit, I’m sure he’ll live. Why don’t you ride to the hospital and find out? I’ll call Willow and let her know what’s going on. You et her there and run interference. She can’t know anything about what’s going down with the club."
"I understand," I replied.
"Good, because if you fuck up again, I’ll send you packing."
With that, Doc turned and was gone. I grabbed my keys and helt and made it all the way to my bike before turning back to the motel room and turning the shower nozzle off.
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