Devil (Savage MC--Tennessee 1)

Right now it’s taking too much effort.Dodger“I still say you shouldn’t do this, Dodger man,” Wolf growls. Frustration is thick on his face.

Wolf is my right arm. I trust him like he was blood. Fuck, he’s the only man I can trust right now. I had to tell him about the note I found on my bike today. I rode into town to see if I could call some markers in and get some help. I’ve been going crazy trying to find a sign of Torrent. Getting the note saying they were willing to make an exchange—me for Torrent—was like an answer to a prayer. I’m not coming out of this alive. I’ve already accepted that. It doesn’t matter. As long as I can save my daughter that’s all I need. Wolf is going to help me do that. He’s all I have. At least I know he loves Torrent. He’s been in love with her for years. He’ll protect her with his life. That’s all I can concentrate on now. I can’t be here to watch her spread her wings and find her way in life. I can only trust my best friend to make sure she’s happy and I know he will.

“I don’t have a choice, Wolf. They got my girl.”

“So we go in there and get her—together.”

“They know what I’m doing before I fucking do it. I can’t trust my own club.”

“We need another day or two, damn it. We’ll find the mole and get it taken care of.”

“What happens to Torrent while we’re here playing with our dicks and—”

“They’re not going to do anything with Torrent. They want to use her to get you, Dodger. We—”

“And they’re getting me. I can’t risk not falling to their demands. They want me to meet them out at the Watershed.”

“The Watershed?”

“The old closed marina out on Route 38.”

“Shit, that place has been closed for twenty years. At least let us—”

“Exactly. I go in defenseless as fuck and give them exactly what they want—”

“You can’t…”

“And while I’m doing that, you come in with the three men of our club that we can trust and you get my girl.”

“Damn it, Dodger. You’re asking me to help you die.”

“I’ve lived a good life. I don’t give a fuck about dying—not if it means my girl will live.”

“How do you think Torrent will like the fact that you’re trading your life for hers?”

“She will understand in time.”

“Bullshit.”

“You’ll make her understand,” I tell him finally, looking up into his face and stopping just short of pleading for him to understand. I’ve never begged a motherfucker for one thing in my life, but I need Wolf to not fight me on this. I need him to make sure that Torrent not only survives this, but that she comes through it stronger and happier. Wolf is the key to that. My daughter is headstrong. She’s like me in that respect and she will blame herself for my death. She’s tried to fight having a life in the club, but in time she will see that the club is her family and that Wolf is strong enough to let her spread her wings, but make her happy too. They will be a good match.

“You’re putting a lot of faith in me. Torrent hasn’t ever listened to one thing I’ve said, Dodger. There’s no guarantee she will in this either.”

“When I’m gone, she’ll look to you. She has trust in you, Wolf. My daughter might be stubborn, but she’s smart.”

“Hey, Dodger. You asked me to let you know if I saw anything funny during our lockdown,” Big Tom says, opening the door, his face somber.

“Yeah?”

“Oh sorry. Didn’t know you were in here, Wolf, but this can’t wait.”

“What is it?” I ask Big Tom. Tom stands about 6’4” and he weighs about three hundred fifty pounds. He’s bald on the top of his head and his salt and pepper hair on the sides is cut short. I trust him almost as much as I trust Wolf. He and Wolf alone have been with me from the beginning. They’re the only two left that I’m comfortable telling my plans to. There’s two other men I feel are relatively safe, but the truth is when it comes to Torrent, I can’t truly trust anyone but Wolf.

“Crash snuck out of the club a couple of hours ago. I did as Wolf ordered and I didn’t stop anyone from leaving, so when Crash snuck out of the bunker, I laid back and followed him.”

“Where did he go?”

“He drove out to the old marina. The one that—”

“Fuck! Crash is the mole?”

“It makes sense,” Wolf says. “He’s a transplant from another club. His loyalty wouldn’t go as deep.”

“I gave him a fucking home here. I let him into our lives,” I growl, betrayal sitting deep in my gut, burning like a damn knife stabbing into me with a death blow.