Break Down Read online

  Chapter 17

  Zeke

  I kiss the top of Asha’s head and reluctantly let her go; knowing I really need to make this meeting. Otherwise, the boys are going to have my balls. As I walk out, I look over my shoulder and say, “Bye, Sweetheart.”

  The cheeky woman gives me a wink and says, “See ya later, Hot Stuff.” I’m instantly hard. I make my way out to my truck as fast as I can, not wanting to run into any of the doc’s patients. I also need to get rid of this hard on before the meeting, so I picture buckets of freezing cold ice. Finally, by the time I make the drive to the clubhouse and park, my hard on is gone.

  Making my way into the office where church is normally held, I can hear the boys arguing about whether to ring me, since I’m late. As I walk through the door I say, “Hold up, fuckers, there’s no need to get your knickers in fucking knots. I’m here with five minutes to spare.” I take my usual seat, next to the head of the table. The boys are all in their usual seats, as well. Looking around the table, each of the boys are either grinning or scowling, so I ask, “Alright, Bullet, let’s hear it. What’s this secret squirrel information you’ve heard?”

  Letting out a grunt, he slaps the table and growls out, “This shit isn’t a fucking joke, Zeke! The shit has gotten deep, man, over our fucking heads deep. From what I’ve heard; if the blame for the car bombing falls back on us, mate, we’re royally fucking fucked.”

  Shaking my head I yell, “Just get to the fucking point, Brother I ain’t got all day.”

  I almost don’t hear Cash when under his breath he quietly says, “Fucking two days and she’s already got a handle on your dick, her pussy must be fucking sweet.”

  After hearing that comment, I see is red. Fucking dickhead always has to be the arsehole that riles everyone up, including me; fuck him, not this time. Enraged I stand up fast, knocking my chair back. In quick strides I storm around to where Cash is sitting, pull him up by his cut, and spin him around to face me. Spit sprays his face as I yell, “What the fuck? If you got something to say, then you better spit it the fuck out so that we can all hear you. I heard the comment, there was no need for it. I get it, really I do. It would have been fucking funny as hell if it weren’t her. So, either you repeat your little smart arse remark for all of us to hear, or you keep that shit to yourself. Got it?”

  Running his hand over his head, he shakes his head and says, “I was just fucking around, Zeke. Settle down would ya?”

  “Settle down? I’ll fucking settle down when you take what we have gotten involved in, and what we saw happen to those girls fucking seriously.” Cash’s face falls as he thinks about what I’ve just said.

  He looks down and then back up at me and says, “Fuck! I’m sorry, I didn’t think. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

  Letting go of him I step back and say, “Sit the fuck down and let’s carry on.” As I make my way back to my seat I say to Bullet, “Tell me what you know, we’ve stuffed around for long enough.”

  Letting out a long sigh, Bullet begins to tell the brothers in the room what he’s heard. “Right. Well, this morning about ten minutes after Cross called me to cancel this morning’s meeting, I received a call from our guy, Haze. He works with the cops as an informant, keeping an eye on the comings and goings of any paedophiles’ around the local areas. Anyway, he asked me if we’d seen or heard anything about the Chaos Princess. I told him no and asked him why he wanted to know. Haze heard from the cops he was chatting to, that the Chaos Princess was on a road trip with four of her girlfriends. They were supposed to arrive at the Chaos Crusaders new strip club, but never made it. He said some guy used a homemade explosive to blow up the car the girls were traveling in. The explosion seriously injured three of the girls. They were taken to a nearby hospital, but have now been transferred to a hospital closer to their homes. One of the girls was killed, she was the soon to be old lady of the Chaos Crusader’s sergeant, Saint – Leo Marks. Then, there’s the Chaos Princess, Asha. The cops searched everywhere, but she couldn’t be found, no trace. Then they received this.”

  Bullet slides a printed sheet of paper over to me. I pick it up, quickly look over it, and as I read down the page I’m just about to lose it. I realise the composure I’m trying to keep a hold on is slipping and fast. Seeing the look on my face Bullet says, “Hold it in, Brother, I know you’re angry, but you can work it out on the bag later on. We need to get our shit together, today. The sooner the Chaos Princess is outta our territory the better we’ll be.” Not for me it won’t, this Princess has gotten under my skin in such a short time. Every time he mentions getting her out of here, the muscles in my chest tighten. Shit, I need to get it together. Shaking my head and grinding my teeth, I give a quick nod for him to continue.

  “The paper contains a text message from Asha to Vince, with an attachment that Asha received from an unknown number not long before the car was bombed. Taking a guess, I would say it was received at the rest area when she came racing out of those toilets.” Passing out a copy of the messages to each of the brothers, the room is silent, for a few minutes, while they read through, taking in the seriousness of the situation.

  Unknown number to Asha Rowe

  *Unknown Number – YOU’RE MINE AND SO IS SHE, YOU FUCKING DOG. YOU’LL DO WELL TO FUCKING REMEMBER THAT. FUCKING MINE, NOW AND FUCKING FOREVER. YOU AND THOSE OTHER BITCHES ARE ALL GONNA PAY. TODAY WILL BE YOUR LAST.

  Asha Rowe’s to Vince Rowe

  *Asha – Hey Big Brother, I’m freaking out. I got this scary text, and I’ve attached it to this message. I think it has something to do with that guy that beat up Gwen, the cops never found out who he was and he skipped town. It’s come from an unknown number so I don’t know how you could trace it. We are stopping in forty minutes, I’ll call you then. Love u Xo

  Vince Rowe reply to Asha Rowe

  *Vince – WHAT?!! Fucking hell Sis, I’ve given the message to Saint, Dice, and Wizard, they are going to try trace your phone. I know you like your privacy Ash, but I need to know you and the girls are safe. The rest of the brothers are talking to the other chapters now, they’ll be on the lookout for anything suspicious as well. Fuck, be fucking careful, this prick sounds like he’s serious, so, fuck, just watch your back please. I’ll talk to you in an hour. Love u too Sis X.”

  The silence is broken when Cash whistles and says, “Holy fucking shit balls, so the sly motherfucker was waiting for those girls at the rest area. We didn’t catch a fucking glimpse of him, Boss? That’s fucked up! We need to find the piece of shit soon! If the text message Asha received was from him and he finds out that the explosion or the crash didn’t kill those girls, fuck. They could still be in danger, he could go after them, again. We need to warn Vince, so he can keep an eye on those girls.”

  Bonkers pipes up and says, “Fucking hell. Cash is right; they need to be warned and soon. Just thinking about this fucking sick, twisted psychopath is doing my fucking head in. He’s a fucking head case. What really worries me is that this looney is deluded enough to make and throw his own homemade explosive with the intent to KILL. Not just the one girl he is angry over losing, but ALL of those innocent girls. We have a serious problem, even bigger than the problem we’re gonna have if Vince finds out we have his baby sister. So what do you want to do here, Zeke? What’s the plan?”

  Cracking my knuckles I take a look around the table at each of the brothers. Bullet and Cash look like they’re about to tear the place apart. I can’t blame them, I want to do the exact same thing. Maps has his head in his hands, he looks upset and tired, but mostly upset. I don’t want to bring this up in a meeting, but I need all of my brothers with their thoughts out on the table. I’m still looking at him when I say, “Yo, Maps. What’s up, Brother?”

  Maps looks up and scrubs his hands down his face then says, “Just tired, Brother.” Nodding I say, “We all are, mate, but I need to know your thoughts on this new situation.”

  Sighing, he says, “I agree with Bullet and Cash, we need to
get in contact with Vince, so he can protect those girls. They’re gonna need guards while they’re at the hospital; then again, when they get out. Seeing what he has done, this fucker is gonna come back for sure. He wants those girls dead.”

  Slapping the table I say, “Right then, first order of the day is to get ahold of Vince.”

  Clearing his throat, Bonkers pipes up and says, “Yeah, but what are you going to tell him about the girl? How are you planning on letting him know about those girls without him getting suspicious?”

  Scrunching my hands into fists, I rub them hard into my eye sockets. I take about thirty seconds to calm down; I move my hands and let out a loud breath when I say, “Now that’s the tricky part, Brother. I have a plan, but I need you all to back it. Otherwise, it won’t work and we’ll be back to square one.” All of the brothers nod their heads in agreement, sit quietly, and wait for me to let them in on the plan. I know my brothers are loyal and will go along with any plan I propose to them. They just agreed to kidnap an innocent girl because their club president said to. All because he wanted revenge and couldn’t let go of the past; stupid old fool!

  First, I tell the brothers about Asha’s condition and the memory loss. They are all shocked, but then nod because most head trauma can lead to memory loss of some sort. They are just happy that she’s still alive. Fuck knows what we would have done, handing back a dead body. After they are all caught up with Asha’s injury, I tell them about her thinking that I’m her boyfriend. For now, I’m not going to correct her. As soon as the doctor gives her the all clear, I’m going to be taking her out to my property, at least for a couple of weeks.

  Groans are let out around the table. They all have mixed feelings over this bit of information, but I just keep going and start to tell them my plan. “Listen she’ll be hidden away if anyone comes looking. Plus, we all know there are a lot of busy bodies in this town. All it will take is for a complete stranger to come into town and start asking questions. You all know what those old bats are like, they’ll talk to anyone who will listen.”

  I hear laughter from the other side of the table, so I stop talking and look over at Charge and Zoom and say, “What the fuck?”

  Zoom shakes his head and says, “Nothing, Brother, nothing at all.”

  Then, I look at Charge and ask the same question, shaking his head, he says, “You’re smitten with the girl, aren’t ya?” I start to shake my head no, but he puts his hand up and cuts me off mid -sentence when he says, “Listen, Boss, I get it. She’s a beautiful girl, but she’s out of your league, she’s not even on the same fucking planet. Firstly, there’s the shit between your old man and her dead father and now this.” Looking around the room, he spreads his arms wide and says, “Us kidnapping her. How do you think it’s going to end when her memory comes back and she knows you are the one that took her? I mean, she might not remember you taking her out of the car that day. But, she will eventually figure out that you are the vice president of the club her dad was on the outs with, man. As much as we try and hide our dirty laundry, man; the universe always has a way of airing that shit out for the world to see.”

  Slowly exhaling I nod and say, “Yeah. Charge I know you’re right; but I can’t fucking explain the feelings I have for this chick. It hit me like a fucking freight train, one look and I was a goner. All I want to do is take her home and look after her for fucking ever! How the fuck do I explain that to all of you and my old man? He isn’t going to understand this.”

  Zoom pipes up, all serious, and says, “We might not understand how you fell for the girl so quickly, Zeke, but we’ve all been there at one point in time. We will be there to support you in whatever happens from here on out. You don’t want to hand her back, just yet, that’s fine. As long as you know you’re playing with fire and will eventually get burnt, Brother.” I nod in understanding and he says, “Then, that’s good enough for me. It’s going to be one hell of a bumpy ride, but I’m in.” Looking around at all of my brothers I see they are all nodding in agreement with what Zoom said to me. Clearing my throat, I start to tell them what I want to happen.

  “Right. I will call Vince as soon as this meeting is over. I’ve decided to go the route of telling him one of the club’s informants has handed us the information. I’ll tell him Haze works for the cops, and thought it was best to let us know what had gone down. That way, we could keep our ears to the ground about any information we may come across. If we want to catch this scumbag, then we need to work together with the Chaos Crusaders on this. The only way that is going to happen is, him and me sorting out old shit. I’ve spoken to Pops about this plan and he is all for it. I want our clubs to be able to do swap meets, bike shows, get togethers, the whole lot. Like it should have been thirty years ago, but the Old Man let his pride get in the way, but no more. So who’s for it? Who wants to see the clubs on friendly terms?”

  Looking around the room, all the brothers have their arms out with thumbs up. Nodding my head I say, “Good. That’s sorted, then. Cash, I need you to do your thing, get the minutes down, and then you can all go. I want you back here tomorrow morning, so I can let you know what’s happening with the Crusaders.” Cash does his job and then everyone stands up to leave. Once everyone leaves the room I pull out my mobile phone and dial Vince. Here goes.

  Chapter 18

  Vince

  It’s 10:30 on Sunday when I receive an unexpected phone call. I take a quick look at the phone screen and see it’s Zeke Cross, I don’t know what in the hell Zeke Cross, Vice President of Satan’s Scoundrels, could want. I’m intrigued to find out, so I answer his call. “What the fuck, Cross? What could be so important that you are calling me on a Sunday morning?”

  I expect to hear him laugh, but it’s the seriousness of his voice that makes me pay attention to what he’s about to say. “Vince, I hear that some serious fucking shit has gone down for your club, Brother. I’m calling to help.”

  Shaking my head; I can’t fucking believe this fucker. How the fuck did he even find out anything about Asha and the girls?

  “How the fuck do you know about it, Cross?” I growl out.

  “Calm down, Vince, and I’ll explain it to you. I got a visit from one of my informants late last night; he works for the cops, but not directly. He came across the information and thought that we should know; that way if we came across any information we could give it straight to you.”

  I exhale loudly and say, “Yeah. Righto, you got a point there. So have you or your club got anything to tell me? Did you find anything else out?”

  I hear him hesitate and then say, “Yeah. We have heard that there was a witness. The witness saw a man on a motorcycle speeding away from the crime scene, but he managed to get the bike’s licence plate. The witness also said that they couldn’t get a decent look at the assailant because his face was covered with a bandana and sunglasses. I’ve got no idea how to track the mother fucker down, but I’ll text you through the number plates; see if you can track it down. My informant also gave me a copy of the text message you all received. Got me thinking; I think you should put protection on all of the girls, man.”

  Nodding, even though I know he can’t see me, I say, “Fuck. That’s a start, man, thanks. I’ll have Wizard put it through his magic computer as soon as you send it through.” Scrubbing my hand over my Mohawk, I continue to say, “Is that it, man, that all the extra info you got for me?”

  “Yeah, Vince, that’s it for now, man. As soon as I find anything else out, you’ll be the first to know.”

  I hear Zeke pause again, and I get nervous so I say, “Spit it out, man. What else do you want?”

  Sighing, he says, “Look, I’ve been talking with the Old Man about our clubs. I don’t want to continue this shit of his and your old man’s for another thirty years. He was pissed as you would expect, but I told him straight up that he’ll be stepping down soon and any decisions will be mine soon enough anyway. He was still pissed until I said to him that the pussy they fought over di
dn’t fucking hang around, anyway. So, their whole vendetta was for nothing. They lost a good friendship over a piece of ass that took off once she screwed them both over. After hearing that out loud, I think he realised how stupid him and your old man were to keep up the silent treatment. He has agreed to whatever I think is right for the club to move forward. So, if you still want to bring our clubs together then I’m all for it. The bike shows and swap meets will be a lot less tense and strained now.”

  He laughs, and I laugh along with him because I agree our dads were fucking stupid, letting a stupid arse whore get between them and their friendship. “That sounds like a plan mate.” Getting serious again, I say, “We can organise a sit down once I find my baby sister, man. She needs all the attention I have at the moment. The longer she’s missing the more I fear that I’m never going to get her back. It’s a fucked up feeling, man. I pray you never have to go through anything like it. Look, mate, I gotta go. A few of us are going to ride down to the crash site and see what we can find. Shoot me through that number plate and I’ll get my man to search it. Let me know if you find out anything else. I’ll be in touch.”