/> The brothers had bedded down for the night on any available furniture sturdy enough to hold their weight. Several had even thought ahead, bringing a sleeping bag and finding an open piece of floor to crash on.
The figure methodically came down the steps, careful not to make a sound to alert anyone they were all about to be killed in their sleep. Shade, who had a keen sense of sight in the darkness, saw he held something in his hand as he headed for the door.
Shade flipped the switch, the sudden burst of light blinding the brother he was staring at coldly.
Memphis paused for a second, their gazes meeting. Shade let him see the death in his lethal eyes. Startled, Memphis spun around to see Viper, Razer, and Cash standing by the door.
“Hey, man, you’re going to wake everyone. Douse the lights.” Shade’s lips twitched at Memphis’s attempt to squash any suspicions.
“Everyone is already awake. What are you doing awake? Last I saw, you were upstairs with Evie.” Viper’s harsh voice belied his casual stance.
Memphis shrugged. “She’s asleep. I thought I’d go for a ride.”
“Sounds good; care if we join you?” Viper asked.
“I was wanting some alone time, if you don’t mind?” Memphis started to move forward, but the three men blocked his path.
“We do mind.”
Memphis turned to leave through the backdoor yet found his way blocked by the members he had thought were sleeping. Outnumbered, he tried to brazen his way out.
“What’s up, Viper? Since when does me going for a ride become club business?”
“It becomes our business when you’re planning on blowing us to smithereens on your lone ride.”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Memphis’s eyes darted back and forth between the brothers, making sure he didn’t meet Shade’s again. The fucker knew he wouldn’t find any sympathy from him.
“Search him, Razer,” Viper ordered.
When Razer stepped forward, Memphis bolted, attempting to force his way through the men blocking the door. However, his face was quickly shoved into the wall and his arms held high behind his back. When he tried to fight free, Viper smashed his face into the wall using his hair.
“Stay the fuck still.”
Cash searched Memphis clothes. “Well, look what I found.” He pulled the detonator out of Memphis’s pocket, lifting it where all the members could see.
Razer flung Memphis across the room, and Knox grabbed him then threw him down on the couch.
“It took three fucking years of my life to figure out who betrayed my brother. You sorry piece of shit, you killed him for fifty grand. I would have given you the fucking money if you had asked, you motherfucker.”
“I would have done it for free.” Memphis shrugged, showing his obvious death wish.
Viper lunged at him, but Razer and Cash held him back while Shade merely shook his head at the prick’s stupidity.
“He’s just trying to piss you off so you’ll kill him quick. Find out your answers first,” Razer reasoned.
“First, answer my question then I’ll answer yours. How did you finally figure it out?” Memphis questioned, now trying to delay the inevitable.
“Sam. We promised protection and no jail time if she told us who her father paid to kill my brother,” Viper answered.
“She didn’t know. Bedford swore he wouldn’t tell. He was scared enough of me to keep his mouth shut.”
“Sam followed her father to one of your meetings. She recognized you when she started hanging around the house.”
“Damn slut,” Memphis muttered.
“I answered your question, now answer ours," Viper demanded.
“I killed Gavin because he was a pain in my ass. I was dealing drugs on the side, and he was going to tell you at the next meeting. I would have been out. I couldn’t have that going down. I had a plan and was going to stick to it no matter what happened. Him being dead distracted everyone enough that I was able to move a lot of the patents to my name, and with the money I made off them, as well as the insurance policy on everyone, I would have been a rich man.”
The insurance policy had been taken out between the eight friends when they had started their survival business. That way, if anyone was killed, the business would not be affected because the insurance was made out to the surviving group members. The bomb he had planted and planned to detonate would have killed a large number of them, including those carrying the larger chunks of stock.
“What did you do with my brother’s body?” Viper braced himself for Memphis’s answer.
“I buried him behind the Road Demon’s clubhouse.”
Viper struck out at Memphis, no one trying to stop him that time. He pulled back and landed a final jab to his jaw which sent Memphis down to the floor, groaning and curling into a ball.
“Tomorrow, I’ll ask for a meet with the Road Demons to try and get Gavin’s body. If it’s not there—”
“I’m telling the truth. What are you going to do with me?”
“Keep you alive long enough to bring Gavin home. After that, the club will deal with you one by one.”
All the brothers knew what that meant. Each of the original members would stand in a circle with Memphis positioned in the middle. The members would then each have the opportunity to give him a killing blow. It wouldn’t matter if he were dead after the one chosen to go first. In that case, because it was Viper’s brother, he would be allowed the first strike. After each had their turn, he would be disposed of just as he had with Gavin. The only difference was Gavin would finally be coming home to a proper burial.
“We’re going to show you the same mercy that you showed my brother.” Viper’s promise was deadly accurate.
Shade and Cash took Memphis to the basement and chained him against the wall in Shade’s bedroom where they would guard him until they found Gavin.
* * *
Shade stood in the junk-heaped backyard with its broken-down motorcycles, glad they had waited to kill Memphis. Shade hoped there was a piece of him still alive when it was his turn.
A large black Suburban rolled to a stop and a tall, muscular man climbed out, going to the back and raising the hatch to let a massive German Shepherd jump out.
Shade saw the looks the Road Demon brothers gave each other.
“The dog’s being given Gavin’s scent. We’re not here to get in your business,” Shade assured the brothers who were worried about their own dark secrets being exposed.
Their postures relaxed as Cash greeted his friend. The two men shook hands before Colt pointed to the backyard.
As the nose of the dog was rubbed with Gavin’s colors, Shade recalled the day all the original Last Riders had gone to the leather shop to pick up their individual vests.
“Seek!” The dog took off, going to several parts of the backyard.
Shade had worked with cadaver dogs before and recognized the signal each time the dog smelled a body, but it didn’t bark to show this was the one they wanted. It took twenty minutes for the dog to find Gavin and sit down on top of an old couch cushion.
Viper nodded toward Train and Rider, who moved forward to dig. Even Shade, despite the numerous lives he had taken, felt a momentary twinge when they pulled Gavin from the hole that had been dug.
As Viper walked over to his brother’s body, more than one brother had to blink back tears when they heard his words before the medical examiner team came in to transfer the body to the morgue.
“It’s time to come home, brother.”
Chapter 11
“She still there?” Shade questioned Razer as they sat on their bikes at a red light in town.
The club had already buried Gavin, but The Last Riders had gone to Ohio to declare Gavin dead and take care of the legal bullshit needed with his part in their survival business.
Finally, they were back, and Razer had called Lucky to ask him to get Beth to the diner, figuring it would be easier to talk to her without her being able to slam a
door in his face.
It was just getting dark when they rode their bikes into the diner’s lot. They watched as Beth didn’t hesitate in her footsteps as she crossed the parking lot, walking with her head down until she almost ran into Razer’s bike.
Shade blocked her retreat, pulling in behind her and pinning her between the two bikes. Shade and Evie each gave her a nod as he and Razer cut their motors. The sudden silence was a relief.
“Beth.”
“Razer.”
“How have you been?”
“Good.”
“You don’t look so good.”
Beth shrugged. “Appearances can be deceiving.”
Razer nodded while Beth stared at her car parked behind him. When he cleared his throat, Beth’s head snapped back to him.
“Yes¸ they can. That’s why I want to talk to you. Can we go somewhere to talk? I would like to explain some things to you.”
“No explanations are necessary. You got your message across clearly the last time I saw you.” Beth took a step to the right, trying to get to her car.
“Beth, let him explain. I want to tell you how sorry I am for the way things went down. If you would listen…” Evie trailed off as Beth stopped and turned, meeting her eyes. Shade felt Evie flinch at his back.
“I don’t need explanations, Evie. I provided employment for you until the factory opened. It’s not your fault that I misinterpreted it and thought we had become friends.”
“We were friends … No, we are friends. Beth, listen to me—”
With a sad smile, Beth shook her head as she spoke over Evie once again. “No, Evie, you are no friend of mine. You left me in that hospital to wake up alone, scared and not knowing what had happened. I kept thinking you would come by and bring me a few magazines or a couple of things I could have used. You never did, though. Then, when I came to the club and was humiliated in front of everyone by a man I cared about, did my friend stand by me? No. She ignored me and cut me deep by quitting when I needed her the most. Did my friend come by and see me to let me cry on her shoulder? No, you didn’t. A friend would have been there for me. I would have been there for you.” When Beth finished in a soft voice, Shade squeezed Evie’s hand, knowing she would be hurt by Beth’s justified outburst.