Renegade Path

Ulfric was waiting by the van and approached as soon as he saw me. “What happened?”

Heart hammering, I took a moment to catch my breath. “They fucking shot at me.”

“Shit. You all right?” he asked, looking me over for fresh blood, I guessed.

“I’m fine.” I shook off the fear and sucked down a lungful of air, willing myself to calm down and act cool. No need to prove I couldn’t handle myself in front of these guys.

“Motherfuckers,” Merlin grumbled. “Let’s go. Right now.”

“Calm the fuck down,” Ulfric urged. He lifted his chin at me. “How many?”

“Big dude, their SAA, answered the door. Saw about four other bikers in the main room. But they didn’t let me in and I don’t know who was upstairs or anything.” I squeezed my eyes shut, replaying the last few minutes of my life. “Twelve bikes in their parking lot.”

Whisper and Ulfric shared a look. Ulfric nodded and Whisper pulled out his cell phone.

“They’ve got cameras all over the place,” I added.

“Hudson’s got that covered.” Ulfric jerked his thumb toward the van. “He’ll jam the signal or whatever the fuck he does to shut ’em down. Park your ass inside the van. You did good, kid.”

I hoisted myself into the driver’s seat and stared out the windshield. We were maybe fifteen miles away from the drive-in, but I might as well have been on another planet.

Not even ten minutes later a horde of Wolf Knights MC brothers rumbled down the street.

Nothing like announcing your presence in another club’s territory.

“Let’s go get our shit.” Merlin jammed a pistol in the back of his pants and zipped a plain, black sweatshirt up over his cut.

No one bothered to introduce me to the new arrivals but I didn’t take offense. I was too busy rethinking a lot of my life choices. Making new friends was low on my list of priorities.

The entire neighborhood remained eerily silent. I studied the dark, shadowy buildings around us. The curtains in one of the windows rippled. “Guys, even if you cut the cameras, people are watching. Someone’s gonna let them know we’re here,” I said.

Ulfric grunted at my warning but everyone else ignored me as they slipped on sweatshirts and tight-to-their-skulls knit caps.

“You got this?” Merlin slapped me on the arm.

My gaze strayed to Ulfric. “I’m ready.”

“Just back the van down the alleyway like I taught you,” he encouraged in a paternal sort of way. Well, paternal for an MC president.

I should’ve known all those driving lessons would serve a purpose one day.

“Put that on.” He flung a heavy vest against my chest. “Keep the van running and pay attention to your surroundings. You see cops or more Vipers coming, hit the horn.”

“Got it.” I shrugged into what I assumed was a Kevlar vest and zipped it to my chin. Would’ve been nice to have this earlier.

Ulfric and half his crew jumped in the back of the van. The rest of the brothers thundered over the sidewalk, running toward the front of the clubhouse.

I climbed into the driver’s seat and adjusted my mirrors. Last thing I needed to do was announce our arrival by backing into the damn clubhouse.

“We ain’t got time for ya to fix your makeup,” Merlin shouted.

“Fuck off,” I grumbled.

Ulfric told him to shut it, then leaned over the seat and clasped my shoulder. “You got this, Roman. Ease it in nice and slow.”

Beads of sweat popped on my forehead as I turned the steering wheel and guided the van into the narrow, trash-filled alley.

“Keep going,” Hudson murmured.

With painful slowness, I continued until the chain-link fence of the Vipers’ parking lot appeared on my left.

“Little closer,” Ulfric said. “Closer. Okay, stop.” He reached over and patted my shoulder again. “Stay here. Keep it running.”

For a big guy, Ulfric moved with extreme stealth, silently hopping out of the back of the van and landing on the pavement without a thud. The rest of the guys filed out behind him. They left the wide doors open, but it was too dark to see much. I slid my window down so I could hear what was going on and kept my eyeballs glued to the wide side mirror. Hudson and Whisper wielded what looked like a large black log, slamming it into the back door with a thundering crash.

Well, they’re gonna know we’re here now.

A similar crash came from the front of the building.

Ulfric used two fingers to motion his guys through the door. He followed right behind them.

Gunfire exploded through the air.

Are Kevlar hats a thing? I should probably invest in one if they exist.

I slid down in my seat but kept watching the mirror.

A shadowy figure darted out of the back door and ran in a crouch toward the van. Something scraped over the metal cargo area and the van rocked. More guys scurried out of the back of the clubhouse, each one sliding heavy barrels into the back.