Crystal stood with her head dipped, her face illuminated by the glow of the jukebox. She flipped through the choices, but her eyes didn’t see the song titles. Instead, her mind drifted back to the first night she’d ever laid eyes on Wolf. The first time she’d ever even been on Dead property...
Six years ago…
Crystal was standing at the stove stirring the goulash in the skillet that she’d made for dinner when the backdoor opened, and her man walked in. She turned to look, her eyes sweeping over him. His jeans and tee shirt were stained with grease, and his hands were almost black. Jason had converted the three car garage out back into an automotive repair business. He was good at it, a real gearhead.
He moved to the sink and hit the pump on the industrial strength orange hand cleaner, then he began soaping his arms to the elbows. He sniffed the air.
“Goulash again?”
“Yes, Jason, goulash, again. Our grocery budget is pretty tight this month. You know tips down at the bar have been shit lately.” Crystal bartended part time at a dive bar a few blocks from where they lived.
“Maybe it’s your attitude.” He looked over at her.
She gave him a death look and slammed the wooden spoon against the pan.
“Go get cleaned up. We’re going out tonight.” He dipped his arms under the faucet all the way to his elbows, and then grabbed up a dishtowel.
“Out? Where?” She frowned.
“Marnie says there’s a party up at the clubhouse tonight. We’re going.”
Crystal didn’t have to ask what clubhouse he was talking about. She knew he was referring to the clubhouse that belonged to the biggest, baddest biker club in town. The Evil Dead MC. They weren’t some riding club. No, these guys were the real deal. Bikers. Outlaw bikers. The biggest club in San Jose, and one of the biggest in the state of California.
Marnie was Jason’s sister, and she’d recently started seeing one of the members. Well, not just one of the members. Marnie didn’t do anything halfway. No, she couldn’t be content with one of the brothers, she had to go after the big fish. The MC’s goddamned President.
And since Jason was tight with his sister, he had started going up there with her. He seemed to think he was really something now that he was hanging around with the Dead. And ever since then he’d started to think his shit didn’t stink.
Crystal rolled her eyes. She knew this was going to end up being nothing but trouble somehow, but hell if he’d listen to her. Up until now, Jason hadn’t taken Crystal with him when he went. Which was fine with her. She was smart enough to know better than to think those guys were anything to mess with. Hell no, count her out. But even as she thought the words, she had to confess that a part of her deep down was just a little bit curious.
Crystal wondered if Jason hadn’t brought her around there because he knew she was just enough of a smartass to say something to get them in trouble. If that was the case, he was wrong. Crystal knew when to keep her mouth shut. If either of them were likely to do the wrong thing, she knew it was Jason. But the club seemed to not mind having him around, since he’d been going up there for a few weeks now.
“I’m going with you?” she asked to clarify.
“I just said so, didn’t I?”
An hour later, they were pulling into the lot. The Evil Dead’s San Jose Chapter clubhouse was buried back in an old industrial park on the seedy side of town. It was the last place on the dead-end street, its parking lot backing up to a set of railroad tracks, ensuring total privacy. Crystal couldn’t image anyone coming down here, unless they had a reason.
As Jason parked, Crystal took in the place. It was an old two-story red brick building that had once housed some sort of manufacturing company. There we
re dirty multi-paned windows up high in the walls.
Marnie was supposed to already be here. The place was packed. Bikes, mostly. The lot was covered with them. But there were cars, too, parked off to the side of the building.
Jason parked over near the bikes, like he thought he was something special. Like just the fact that his sister was their President’s current pussy was supposed to get him special privileges.
They climbed out of the car, made their way inside and fought through the crowd of people, working their way to the bar.
Crystal stuck close to Jason’s back, her eyes taking in the place. They’d walked into a big room with a high ceiling. The place definitely had an industrial feel with brick walls and grimy multi-paned windows set up near the ceiling. There were pool tables off to the left and hard rock music was blaring. Jason led her through a sea of black leather vests, all with the three piece patches on the back proclaiming the wearer as a member of the MC.
She noticed the men’s eyes touch on Jason, and then slide past him to land on her. None of them welcomed him or smiled. The most he got was a nod, but several, she noticed, shook their heads after he’d past as if he was a loser not worth their time. But it wasn’t so much the looks they gave Jason that worried her as it was the looks they gave her. They were intense, hungry, filled with more than a little interest, and these men didn’t have any problem letting her see it.
She and Jason made it to the bar on the right and sidled up to Marnie, who had a place of honor on one of the few barstools.
Marnie turned when she saw them and Jason leaned down, his head dipping to hear her as she grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him close. Whatever she yelled to Jason, Crystal couldn’t hear it over the blasting music. She let her eyes move to the man sitting next to Marnie with his hand on her thigh and his other holding a beer. He was older. Crystal figured he was maybe in his forties, which put him quite a bit older than Marnie, who Crystal knew was only a couple years older than Crystal’s age, which was twenty-two.
She studied him. His dark hair was graying at the temples, but he was still a very attractive man. Power radiated off him, something Crystal knew Marnie was drawn to. Yes, she could see his appeal. But at the same time, Crystal recognized the fact that he could be a dangerous man.
Mack was his name. Crystal had heard Marnie talk about him often enough over the last few weeks. Mack this and Mack that. That’s all she’d talked about.