The Rising Sons Motorcycle Club (5 page)

Raven’s head spun. She furrowed her brow and leaned in, putting both hands on the table.

She spoke too quickly, giving her emotion away. "Why him? Why did McFadden go after Bear? I'm the one that did it. I'm the one that kicked the shit out of him, so why isn't coming after me? If he wants to be a dick about the whole thing, stick me with assault and battery."

"It's not that easy, sis." Tanner shook his head, a dark and dismal smile on his face. "McFadden’s been trying to get in with the Sons for years. He's known Bear near as long as the club’s existed.
 
Don’t know why Bear always said no, but now there's bad blood between them. Bear doesn't talk about it, but they have a quiet, hateful relationship. Now, I know this wasn't on you, but Earl was looking for something just like that to bring the hammer down on Bear. For McFadden, it's not about a one-time assault and battery. It's about setting fire to the Rising Sons and watching us burn to the ground."

“What does this mean for the club?” Raven looked between all three men. She was worried that they weren’t angrier. She realized this wasn’t a fight with motorcycle chains and baseball bats. This was a fight with lawyers and courts. Raven hated using her words.

Tanner shook his head. “Not sure. He hasn’t been brought before the judge for bail yet. As soon as we know what it is, we can pay it and get Bear out. From there, we’ll come up with a plan.”

“Does this plan involve making Earl McFadden disappear?” Raven had heat in her words, spitting fire as she spoke.

All three of the Rising Sons looked at her. Gunner looked at her like she was nuts. “No. No, it does not. Earl’s big time in town. Kiwanis, small business council; that shit. He’s fighting us with the law, so this has to be taken care of politically.”

“Well?” Raven had jumped to physical intimidation too fast, and she knew it. “How do we take care of this politically?”

Trask looked from Raven to his two brothers. “That’s why we’re here. We tend to be the most diplomatic members of the club.”

“And me?” Raven knew the answer the second she asked it.

Gunner gave her a bitter smile, “Well, this is your fuckup, so you get a front row seat.”

The three men seen as the wisest counsel in the Rising Sons Motorcycle Club didn’t get anywhere over the next hour of discussion. Trask didn’t think there was anything that could be done before the bail hearing. Gunner and Tanner wanted to talk to a lawyer that they’d worked with a few years back on a contract to secure some land for a future clubhouse/dorm/garage.

Trask nixed the idea because the lawyer hadn’t been the most trustworthy, which was why they’d hired him in the first place. Trask thought they would need someone with some actual knowhow and experience dealing with the law.

As the three bikers argued, Raven tuned them out. It was her fault. She could have been more polite when yanking Earl off the other guy. That punch, though. It had triggered that instinct inside of her. It wasn’t fight or die. It was
pride
or die.

It wasn’t the first time that she had let her pride fuel a spontaneous act. She’d run from the cops more times that she could count as a teenager, and she even took some sardonic pleasure in the fact that she hooked up with a cop on the regular.

After an hour, all three men were talked out. Raven didn’t have anything to add. Politics wasn’t her thing. She hadn’t worked with many people outside of her brother, and when she did, she tended to take the lead.

Since no one had come up with a better plan, Trask offered, “Let’s just wait until we hear what bail is and go from there.”

Tanner and Gunner nodded. Raven’s thoughts on loyalty hit home now. Their president was behind bars because of something she had done. If ever there was a time to prove her loyalty and dedication to the group, it was then.

The idea hit her hard, but she managed to keep it to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was offer a solution only to have it pulled out from under her. It sounded like a surefire way to get the entire club to hate her, but if it worked, she’d be golden.

The four bikers closed up the bar and rode off in separate directions. Tanner was tasked with holding onto the cash that they'd need to spring Bear. Trask was riding to his mother's. Gunner was going back to bed, and Raven needed to do some thinking.

Instead of heading back into town, she rode south. At the rate she was going, she expected never to be voted into full membership. With little traffic, she let the bike take her away from her problems, as it often did. It gave her moments of peace, and sometimes moments of clarity.

Her French braid bounced against her back as she headed toward Allan’s place. Sometimes the wind carried it up to her shoulders before changing its mind and throwing it back again. As usual, the throaty exhaust was more calming to her than the waves of the ocean or a scented candle.

After filling up her tank in downing an ice-cold Coke, Raven headed back in the town. She hoped the trip would be long enough so that when she got back to Bakersfield, the club would have some news. She was well back into the city limits when she realized she wasn't driving to her house. Some part of her subconscious was taking her to Allan's.

It was a long shot, and she knew it. She knew it would test her fragile relationship with Allan, and it would put her in debt to a powerful man on the opposite side of the law. He wanted something she wasn’t willing to give. Regardless, there was no other option. Raven hated owing people, but sometimes to solve an immediate problem, you had to schedule another one for down the road.

When Raven killed the engine in Allan's driveway, she could hear him working in the backyard. The rising and falling revs of a weed eater led her back and through a gate.

Allan wore only athletic shorts as the midday sun coded his well-tanned skin. With his back to Raven, she guessed he hadn't heard her pull up. She savored her last few moments of peace, taking in the hot police officer’s body.

She watched the muscles of his back twist and contort as he worked the yard. Just a year older than her, Allan looked like he was in his mid-thirties. Already a hint of gray at the temples, he passed for an older man. When she chose to let her guard down with him, she poked fun about that.

As he trimmed around a tree, he saw her and throttled down the small motor. Giving her a nod, he sat down the weed eater with the engine idling. He walked toward her and wiped sweat from his forehead.

"You ran off in a hurry this morning," he said. "What's up?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. Raven’s pride was screaming inside her, but practicality screamed back. There was no other option. "Allan, I hate to do this. I need a favor."

They didn't have a “trade favors” type of relationship, so Allan motioned toward the house with a curious eye. "Sure, sure. Tell me what's going on."

"How in the hell would I do that?"

Raven took a drink of iced tea. "I have no idea. That's your area of expertise, not mine." She tried to keep the poison out of her words, but she was fired up. Allan was the only idea she had, and she knew that she had to play her cards right.

"I can't just let someone go. He's probably already been before the judge, got his bail decided, and they've scheduled pre-trial."

"I don't just need you to let him go, Allan. I need the charges dropped. No bail, no pre-trial, no trial at all. I need it erased." It was a huge ask. Raven knew it. She also knew she didn’t have much to offer him. She didn’t know if sex would be enough to get this done.

“There’s a lot of people involved in this. It’s not as simple as hitting a delete key.” Allan hated mixing his personal life with his work life. Raven was already problematic enough, running with a club that was known to be corrupt, violent, and filled with scum. The co-workers that knew about Allan and Raven’s friendship had warned him often. He heard them, but he did nothing. There was something about her that he couldn’t resist. She was magnetic, and he wanted what he couldn’t have.

She smiled. It was in his voice. His argument was faltering already. “What do you need from me? What do you need in return?”

“Fuck, Raven. I don’t know.” She could hear his gears turning. “I
could
make this all disappear without anything pointing back to me right away, but I’d need something big to make it worthwhile. Something to make all of this worthwhile.” He mused for a moment as Raven watched.

She knew what he meant.
 
She knew it, and it ate her up inside.
 
Raven swallowed hard, “Get it done, and then we’ll talk.”

Trask was at his parents’ house. His mother, Faith, had made tea for them, but it was sitting in the kettle between them untouched and cooling in a hurry.

Over the years, Faith had done a great deal to keep the aging process at bay. She looked ten years younger than her age anytime she stepped out the front door. As she sat with her son in the dining room, however, it was as if the years caught up to her. Crow’s feet and lines on her forehead seemed to have grown overnight. Her roots were showing, and she hadn't run a brush through her hair.

For more than twenty years, Faith remembered Bear’s time in prison with vivid clarity. She remembered the empty feeling, the empty bed, everything about her life done solo.

When the sheriff's department burst through the door into their bedroom to pick Bear up, she had screamed. They had been in a deep sleep, and she thought at first it was a nightmare.

Bear had lain a hand on her cheek and with a gentle voice calmed her down. Tears streamed down her face, but her expression turned to stone. They were taking her man. That was the only thing running through her mind. She would stay by his side forever; against the police or anyone else that came between them.

As Trask watched her, his phone chimed. He pulled it out and checked the message. "Fifty grand. What a fuckin’ joke.”

He slammed his hand down onto the table, rattling the tea kettle. His mother seemed to take no notice, so he reached across the table and took one of her hands. "Faith, it's all right. We've got the cash. We'll get him out as soon as we head to the courthouse. Gunner and Tanner are already looking for a better lawyer, and will get this all cleared up. Bear’s not gonna serve time. He’s gonna be home tonight. Trust me.”