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  “What exactly are you telling us?” Leon inquired as he sat forward on his chair.

  Deke shrugged then looked at his father, Sam. “That’s the part I don’t know how to explain. After I did paperwork this morning, I had to swing by the club to pick something up for the picnic. When I got to the club there was a man sitting on a cycle across the street. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, I mean people stare at us all the time but there was something about this guy that just didn’t sit right you know? I’d never seen him before but he kept staring at me. I could almost feel the rage in his look.”

  “How the hell do you feel rage?” Mountain wanted to know.

  Deke shook his head. “I didn’t think it was possible either but today proved that wrong. His eyes were hidden by sunglasses but I could feel his anger, even from across the fucking street.”

  “What did this man look like?” Sam asked. For some reason the nerves at the back of his neck were tingling.

  “He’s about my height and size, with long red hair and a grinning skull tat on his left arm. After a few minutes, he took off his sunglass and I was able to see his eyes.”

  Black Jack glanced over at Sam and then back to Deke as if they were having the same thought about this stranger. “What did they look like?”

  Deke shrugged. “That was the weird part, with his coloring you would think they would be green or blue but they weren’t, they were as black as coal.”

  “Sonofabitch!” Sam swore. He searched the park grounds but couldn’t see anything wrong. His young wife, Melora was playing with their son T-Bone on the swings while his older children were standing around talking with the others. Quinn was talking and flirting with Chance Morgan while Adriana was talking with Molly and Cricket. Sam searched the shadows but didn’t find what he was looking for.

  “Who is this man?” Leon turned to search Sam’s reaction.

  “He’s someone I prayed I’d never see or hear from again.” Sam ran his fingers through his longish hair and glared at Deke. “What you couldn’t see from across the street was the gold rim around the edge of his fuckin black eyes. It’s a trait he shared with his brother.”

  “What does he want here?” Deke asked his father.

  “Me or someone I love. But he’s here for twenty years of vengeance.”

  “For what purpose?” Leon asked worriedly as he searched for his own family in the park.

  Sam sighed hard and closed his eyes for a moment before he began to tell his story, “If it’s who I think it is his name is Ripper. I met him well over twenty years ago, well him and his brother Pitch. I was living in Maine at the time and just starting out with the Bastards. I’d been patched in a couple of years by then when Pitch pulled a robbery that resulted in him shooting the clerk. The clerk, he was just a kid all of seventeen at the time, died during the robbery and Pitch didn’t even care. He was just pissed that he’d only gotten four hundred dollars from the till.”

  “What does that have to do with why his brother showed up today?” Leon asked.

  “Pitch and Ripper had a party with the money they stole, laughing the whole time about the dumbass behind the counter. There were plenty of us sitting there that night that didn’t care for what they’d done. That they robbed a place didn’t really bother many of the guys, I mean back then we did what we wanted and no one ever called us on it. Clubs were different back then. Not something, I’m proud of but it was the times we lived in. But the clerk they killed was only a kid. He didn’t deserve to die like that. Robbery was one thing, but murder? That’s a whole other thing all together isn’t it?” Sam shook his head. “Pitch could see how mad I was getting and he didn’t like it. He kept asking me if I had a problem and finally, I told him, I did. I told him I had a young son at home and that if some asshat had killed him I’d be after the blood of the man who killed him. I was pissed and he knew it. Pitch laughed at me and asked me if I had a death wish. He told me to come get him if I didn’t like what he’d done. Hell’s bells, twenty years ago I was still a hot head and looking for trouble.”

  Deke chuckled and shook his head.

  Sam raised a brow at him but he continued, “I went after him to teach him some manners. I beat the hell out of him and his brother Ripper that night. It took both of them to hurt me but I wasn’t alone in my thinking. Some of the other brothers got in on the action and the fight didn’t take long at all. You have to understand something about Pitch and Ripper. Pitch was the worst kind of bully there was. He liked to stomp people into the ground and he often started fights over the dumbest shit to do just that. Plus, he never fought fair. He liked to cheat, to sucker punch people. Hell, he just liked to hurt people, didn’t matter the reason. It was some kind of power trip for him to be the last man standing. He’d pound the shit out of Ripper all the time then turn around and blame his brother for being so stupid he deserved the poundings to learn his how to protect himself.”

  “Damn,” Mountain shook his head.

  Sam nodded. “Back then, Spider was in in charge of the Bastards. He didn’t want to have to kick them out of the club for what they did, so he made sure they paid for their fuckup. Spider and two others piled those two boys in the back of a truck and drove them into town where they turned them over to the police. They even still had some of the money from the robbery on them. And the money had the bank bands with the store’s name of it yet.”

  Deke sat down and reached for a bottle of beer looking very curious.

  His father continued with his story, “The police had the security tapes from the convenience store and when they found evidence of Pitch and Ripper robbing the place they arrested them on the spot. Instead of armed robbery the pair of them went to prison for premeditated murder.” Sam shrugged. “I heard through the grapevine that Pitch caught a blade in there. Apparently, the man just couldn’t keep his fucking big mouth shut and his nose clean inside the joint. He lasted all of two years. Ripper did his time and got out about three years ago. The state notified the club about his release and that was about the time I left to find you. I figured I wouldn’t make finding me so easy for him in case he was still pissed.”

  “Oh gee dad, why wouldn’t the man be pissed?” Deke asked sarcastically.

  Sam shrugged. “Well, I’m not the one who robbed the fucking place and I’m not the one who shot an innocent kid. He should’ve been man enough to take the heat for his own actions and not those of his brother. The club will stand behind you most of the time but what those two did wasn’t something most of us condoned anyway.”

  “So his a real threat not only to you but to any member of your family too?” Deke asked.

  “Probably.” Sam didn’t seem all that worried. “He won’t get that far though.”

  “Oh and why is that?” Dominic asked.

  “Because before I’d let anything happen to my family, I’d draw the man out and meet him face to face.” Sam stared at them with a steady gaze.

  Deke and everyone else at the table knew what Sam meant by this statement.

  Deke took a deep breath and shook his head. “Damn it Dad, this can’t happen, not again. I won’t let that asshole destroy my life and what we have here. If you meet him, you won’t fuckin be alone. I’ll be right beside you.”

  “As will I,” Mountain assured the two men.

  “Count me in too,” Black Jack added. “I may be new here but I belonged to the Bastards most of my life. I was one of the men who hauled those two jackasses into town that night. Never did care for Pitch or Ripper. They were both too mouthy and too full of themselves to suit me. Ripper had a young girlfriend at the time he went to prison, if I recall. She ended up being pregnant when he went to prison, right? ”

  Sam nodded. “Yeah, she was. She went to the trial every day just like the rest of us. She was there for him until the day they brought in the verdict. She begged him to tell the truth about what happened the night of the shooting but he never did. When he was found guilty, she vowed her baby would neve
r know that his father killed a young boy. I remember her telling him to break away from his brother and stand on his own two feet. Everybody there knew what she was saying except Ripper.”

  Black Jack nodded. “Yeah, I also remember the time she got jumped too. It was shortly after she begged him to break away from his brother. It was just before the shooting. She made the mistake of telling him that when Pitch was around to hear her. He looked pissed for a moment then got this look in his eyes. I knew it wasn’t the end of it.” Then he shook his head. “Two days later she was jumped. Pitch hurt her good, then he left her laying in the dirt. Ripper found her a few minutes later and got her medical attention.”

  “Did she identify Pitch as her attacker?” Mountain asked.

  Black Jack shrugged and looked like he wanted to say something but he never did.

  “What happened after that?” Deke asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

  Black Jack chuckled. “She started carrying, made no secret of it either. We thought she’d go after him but she never did, but after that beating, you never saw her without her gun. And man, there was no doubt she could shoot.”

  “Then what did she do?” Leon questioned.

  “She stayed with Ripper but wanted nothing to do with Pitch at all. If he came around, she left. She tried her best to separate the two brothers but Ripper never did leave his brother. She never said anything but she made her feelings known in other ways. She didn’t liked Pitch but then none of us did. Spider asked her once if she knew who ambushed her but she never would say. After Ripper went to jail as an accessary to the murder of that kid, she went to the jail only one time. She begged him to tell the truth and stand on his own instead of with his brother but Ripper told her he couldn’t do that. That was the last time she ever saw him once he went inside. She walked away and never went back. Instead, she stayed away and raised her son in the MC but I don’t think she ever told Ripper he was a daddy.”

  “What’s that got to do with Ripper tracking you down now?” Deke slammed his beer down on the table.

  Sam glared at his son. “We were just telling you Ripper’s background, so you could see what kind of man he was when we knew him. God only knows what prison did to him. He worshiped his brother, either that or he was afraid of him and once Pitch was gone, his rage was allowed to build on his own account.”

  Deke gazed directly at his father. “We need to take a stand on this and the quicker we get everyone involved, the better chance we have no one will get hurt. I think you can count the rest of the men in as well. This is a threat to all of us, not just you.”

  “Do you need any help with this matter?” Leon asked.

  Deke shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  Leon glared at Deke. “Well, just remember something, Cassie is part of our family as well. If something happens to her, Peaches could get caught in the blowback and that would just piss me off to the limits. I know Calderone would feel the same way, so count us in regardless.”

  “Izzy is part of this too,” Dominic stated. “Mountain may be her husband but I’m also her father. I won’t be pushed aside, not when her life could be in danger. He may be first defense but I’m right there in second place.”

  Mountain gave him a penetrating look then slowly nodded in agreement.

  Deke stared at both men and sighed as he gave his nod.

  The men then sat around the table using hushed tones while making plans to neutralize this man who threatened their family.

  Chapter Two

  Cassie stood under a tree with Peaches and Izzy. Cricket, Adriana and Molly were close by as well as Melora and Reva. They were watching over the children and their men.

  “Now, what do you suppose those guys are talking about that’s so serious over there?’ Peaches asked her friend causally as they watched the table where moment ago the men were all smiles. That was until Deke joined them, then the mood changed dramatically.

  “I’m not sure,” Cassie replied. She wouldn’t admit it not even to herself but there was a tension at the table that hadn’t been there before.

  Cricket shook her head. “Knowing those six, it could be anything from catching mice to hunting down a rabid dog.”

  Molly, Black Jack’s old lady looked over at her husband across the way with a worried look on her face. “Oh, I don’t think it’s all that common,” she whispered softly.

  Cassie glanced over at the older woman. “What do you mean?”

  Molly shrugged. “When you live with a man for as long as I’ve lived with Jack you learn to read him. I may not know what they’re talking about but I know something is very wrong.” She shivered, “Something is very wrong over there.”

  “Oh god,” Cassie murmured. “I hope not. We just got things going on a smooth path for once. We could use a time of peace for a while before things heat up again.”

  Cricket nodded. “That would be nice. I’m so sick of all the drama I’ve lived with all my life.”

  Molly shrugged. “Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. I just hope whatever it is isn’t going to be so bad to weather.”

  Cassie stared at Deke for a moment then turned her head to find her children. She couldn’t bear to lose either of them, the man or the children she loved more than her own life.

  Iceman, Raine and a couple of his brothers joined the women and asked without saying a word what was wrong.

  Molly nodded her head over at the table when the six men still sat talking out plans.

  Cassie was getting nervous now. She called the children over and began setting out the food they’d prepared for supper. Calling out to Quinn, Chance and Gator they began gathering the kids together and herding them to the tables.

  Cassie watched and began counting off the kids, as they got closer. When she counted everyone there, she breathed a tiny sigh of relief then got herself together and began serving the meal.

  Darting glances every once in a while over to the table Deke and Sam were at, she couldn’t concentrate on what she was doing. She almost poured Kool-Aid into the bowl of potato chips instead of a glass.

  Raine and Chance glanced from one woman to another. Then they’d look at each other. Finally, Raine leaned over and asked his mother, Molly in a low voice, “Ma what’s going on?”

  Molly looked at her son then allowed her eyes to wander over to her husband. When she looked back at Raine she said, just as quietly, “We’re not sure but we think there’s something going on over there.”

  ~* * * *~

  Raine stared at her for a moment then got up and joined his father. He caught the tail end of a conversation that confirmed his mother’s greatest fear.

  “We need to watch over our families,” Deke stated. “Maybe keep everyone at the clubhouse until we can run down this guy.”

  “Who exactly are we looking for?” Raine asked quietly as he came to stand behind his father, Black Jack.

  Deke swung his gaze over to Raine. “We have a new threat to our family. We’re calling a meeting for later at the clubhouse. What you tell your women is up to you but I don’t want to scare the kids.”

  “Ok.” Raine nodded.

  Deke glanced over at the table of women and children. “Let’s get through supper then we can go back to the clubhouse. I need to make a call to Zipper and have him do a security check before we go back there. I don’t want any surprises waiting for us.”

  Raine nodded and went back to the table. Sitting near Cricket, he made sure his arms were around her tight enough to keep her safe. He looked over at his mother and nodded slightly.

  Molly looked worried for a moment then glanced at her husband.

  Raine followed her gaze.

  Concern showed in Black Jack’s gaze, but there was resolve too.

  Moly’s posture seemed to relax and suddenly, she stopped looking so worried.

  She’d told Raine once that of all the things she knew about the man she married almost forty years ago, she knew she he would always keep her an
d their family safe, he always had in the past, and he always would in the future. That wasn’t because he was part of an MC it was just the way Black Jack was. If she didn’t have faith in anything else, she had faith in that.

  ~* * * *~

  Later that same night after the kids were settled and the women reassured, the men of the MC met in the main room of the clubhouse. When Deke got to his feet to address the new concern, he noted a few extra people in the group.

  Dominic, Leon and Calerdone were sitting at a table. They didn’t look like they were going anywhere either. These men were leaders of other men, just as he was. They could be ruthless and cold blooded, but here, they were concerned parents and grandparents.

  He frowned slightly but all three met his gaze steadily. They thought they had just as much a right to be here as everyone else did. Deke gave them a slight nod in acknowledgement then turned to his men. Zipper had been busy running down the man they called Ripper and he found and passed along a shit ton of information on the man.

  He finally addressed the group in the room, “I have to advise you all about a possible threat to our family. We all need to watch over not only our families but also the club and each other. There is a man out there with a vendetta against Bones…Sam. We, as a club may end up taking the hit for what happened more than twenty years ago to another club. Most of you know Sam belonged to the Satan’s Bastards in Maine before he came here. I’ll let him tell you his story.” Deke sat down.

  Sam got to his feet. “It was twenty years ago and we had a couple of hot heads in the club at the time. They were brothers and they went by the road names of Pitch and Ripper. Pitch was the crazier one of the pair, it was as if the man had no fear and no conscious either but Ripper wasn’t that far behind his brother. One night they decided to hit the local 7-11. The kid behind the counter turned over the money to them without hesitation and he didn’t do anything wrong. As they were leaving the store Pitch turned back to the kid and just fucking blew him away. There was no rhyme or reason for what he did. He didn’t give that seventeen year old boy a chance.” Sam shook his head. “Anyway, Pitch and Ripper were drinking heavily later that night. Pitch was bragging all night about what he’d done and plenty of us were getting sick of it. There was no honor in that shit at all. I told him that it was just flat out murder. Pitch took exception to my remarks and it was on, we had it out and the brothers ended up laid out on the floor. Spider, our president back then had the boys loaded in a truck and driven to town. They were dropped off at the police station. When the boys woke up, they were behind bars. They faced a jury and when all was said and done, they were sentenced to prison for premeditated murder. Ripper got a lighter sentence than Pitch but he still spent the last twenty years behind bars.”