Hammer

19 - To kill one of our own

Hammer

“So, you’re telling us that if we strip Ghost of his patch, Vidal will deal with all this shi.t for us?”

“No, Stryker. What I’m saying is...” Prez pauses, scratching his jaw while looking like he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders.

It’s been a week since any of us saw Ghost. We’ve all tried to call him, of course. Even been to his house to see if he’s there. He hasn’t been. He usually stays at the clubhouse, but as there are no whore.s here right now for him to stick his dic.k in, he won’t stay here.

We don’t have club whore.s hanging around when we have shi.t going down. It’s not safe for them to be here, and as we don’t take whore.s to the safe house, we send them home.

It isn’t like Ghost not to check in every day. Shi.t, even without whore.s here, there’s no way he wouldn’t be here during the day.

We’ve all been worried that something terrible had happened to him, that one of those motherfucker.s had gotten to him. Naturally, we were all riled up and wanted to kill every last fucke.r, and now. But Shepard assures us that’s not the case. Ghost is alive and well for now.

It’s been a long fuckin’ day. I haven’t been at the safe house in days. Willow is going to start thinking I’ve abandoned her!

But we need to deal with this fuckin’ threat from the dumbass Razor Hogs and the drug ring they’re running once and for all before we can have any normality back around here. We can’t leave anything to chance.

It would help if we could find the bastards doing this, killing innocent people and leaving our stamp all over it.

Shi.t. We don’t kill the fuckin’ innocent. Not that the fuckin’ cops believe it right now. They can’t prove anything, but it won’t stop them from coming around. The only reason they haven’t arrested one of us is because the Prez is tight with the sheriff, and he knows it’s not our style. Prez had to promise he’d find out who was doing this and hand them to him on a plate.

It won’t happen; we’ll kill them all before that happens.

The trouble is, I’m worried the pathetic gang who are doing this will somehow plant DNA on a body, and one of us will fall into the trap of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the whole MC will come crashing down around us. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before to others.

We all know it’s the Razor Hogs doing this, but we can’t prove it. Those fucker.s have paid someone to do this shi.t to us.

What better way to get rid of us than to frame us for crimes we didn’t commit?

We’ve found a handful of the fucker.s over the past couple of weeks and got little to no information out of them. Loyal fuck.s, even torture didn’t make them talk. The rest of them are hiding like cowards. Not one has been back to their clubhouse. Trust me, we’ve had men ride over and check the place out. It’s been empty since this whole thing started.

Prez might have to think about calling in other charters to help us deal with this, to find those fucker.s. But I don’t like the thought of being in the damn Mafia’s pocket. Not one little bit.

Are we really supposed to believe Draven Vidal can find out what we can’t?

That’s a really stupid fuckin' question. The man owns the whole of fuckin’ Tennessee. What we can’t find out, he can. Bigheaded prick.

But are we really supposed to sell out our own brother to do that?

Are we supposed to throw him out of the MC in order to save our families?

I don’t think there’s much of a choice. But I don’t like it one little bit.

Whatever happens, we will find the cunts doing this. We will put them down like the dogs they are. There is nowhere they can hide from us forever.

But will it be too late?

Is Vidal really our only choice?

Back to Ghost.

“Vidal wants to ensure Ghost never goes near his cousin again.”

Ghost is such a fuckin’ idio.t! Of all the girls in the world, for him to fall for, it had to be a Vidal. The fuckin’ Mafia Don’s cousin!

Did Ghost honestly believe he could fuc.k around with her without Vidal finding out?

Come to think of it, how did Ghost get away with sneaking around with her for as long as he did without someone finding out?

Vidal keeps both his sister and cousin on a tight leash. They can do nothing without him knowing about it. It’s well fuckin’ known.

“And how does Vidal suggest we do that?” Jett asks.

Every fucke.r in the room is silently waiting for the Prez to tell us what the fuc.k is going on.

“I ain’t gonna sugarcoat it, boys. What Vidal is askin’ ain’t somethin’ I wanna do, but the fact is, Ghost went against this club and Vidal. There ain’t no comin’ back from this for him.”

“You’re gonna kill him?”

“I don’t have a choice, Gunner!”

Ah, Fuc.k!

“Vidal wants Ghost dead for daring to touch his cousin, for disrespecting him and his family. We do this, Vidal will sort this whole problem.”

“You sold out our brother for help from that cunt!?!”

Shepard is on his feet, fists slamming down on the oak table, eyes boring into Gunner. “You think I’d sell any of you out, you little fuc.k?! There is no choice here. Ghost went against this club and Vidal. Either we deal with this, and Vidal sorts this shitstorm, or he kills Ghost himself – and believe me, he will leave nothing left of Ghost for us to bury – and he fixes nothing. Meaning our women and kids are stuck at the safe house for God knows how long before Vidal decides to take them out to get back at us. You really want war with the Mafia?!”

I watch Shepard sink into his seat, deflated.

No one is speaking. I don’t think any one of us can believe their ears.

What the Prez is saying is true. If we don’t do this, Vidal will destroy everything that belongs to us, even our families, as punishment. He’s an uncaring cunt.

But if Vidal thinks it would end so easily, he’s wrong. There are things he loves, things he’d want to protect. It might take a while, but I’d ensure he lost everything he loves in return.

But Shepard is right; we don’t want a war with the Mafia. It doesn’t matter how angry we are right now; going up against Vidal would be suicid.e for not only us but our women and kids, too. Nothing means more to any of us than them. We have to keep them safe no matter what.

Ain’t that why we’re doing all of this?

Besides, I would never risk anything happening to Willow, not again. I don’t want to do this, but there is no choice.

“The last thing I want is to do this, boys. I’ve mulled it over and over, tryin’ to find another way. Fuc.k, I even forced Ghost to stay away while I tried to sort this. But there is no other way. Vidal won’t back down. I could put Ghost into hiding, but I think you all know what that would mean for the rest of us.” Shepard sighs.

Death.

That’s what it would mean.

“I’ve spoken to Ghost; he knows what will happen. He chose his fate. He wants to die by our hands. The hands of his family.” Prez’s voice cracks a little. He’s like a father to most of us, the Prez, a brother to others. This can’t be easy for him.

My eyes catch Red’s. He’s hurt by this. Ghost is like a son to him. Red was the one who found Ghost when he was just a punk kid with no family and no one to care about him. Both Red and Tammy love Ghost; they’d do anything for him. He’s a big brother to their kids. They’re the only family he has, and I can see Red wants nothing more than to save Ghost from this. But I can see he knows there’s nothing he can do.

What a fuckin’ shitstorm of a cluster fuc.k!

How the hell are we meant to kill one of our own like he was nothing to us?

And for what?

Because he fell for a woman he shouldn’t have even looked at once, let alone touched?

“Why couldn’t he just have stayed away from her!” It’s not a question, Red’s pissed. We all are in our own way. Ghost is a little shi.t most of the damn time.

But does he really deserve to be cut down like a dog for this?

What choice do we have?

I can’t let Ghost die if I can help it. He was there for me when no one else could be. He helped me seek out The Exorcist. He came with me to meet Nova, even if we didn’t know it was her we were meeting. He kept it to himself, even when Shepard threatened to gut him like a fish if he was lying. He was loyal to me when he should have been loyal to the club.

Hell, he’s as loyal as they come to all of us.

Red is pissed because he can’t save the boy he’s looked out for since he was nineteen. Roman was with Red the night he found Ghost, but Ghost was always closer to Red because Red taught him everything there was to know about being a biker, including how to build his own bike, take care of the woman you fall in love with, any kids you might be blessed with. He taught him the rules of our club and how to be loyal to it. Never attack an innocent, no matter what. Never to hit a woman. And how to belong to a family.

This is going to break Tammy when Red tells her.

“Does he love her, Prez?” I ask.

He must do.

Why else would he do something so fuckin’ stupid?

“He does.” Prez scrubs his hands over his tired face. “Never thought I’d see that boy fall in love with anyone. But when I looked in his eyes, there was no denying he loves her.”

“Think she loves him?”

“Enough to beg Vidal not to kill him, at least.”

“And he didn’t listen?” I don’t know why my brother is asking. Obviously, Vidal didn’t listen. If he had, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Now, would we?

“He heard her, Tank. But he didn’t care. He told that girl that if she truly loved Ghost, she wouldn’t have gone near him to begin with. She had to know it would end in his death.”

Fuckin’ Mafia prick!

I know we don’t fraternize with them, but I know Ghost, there’s no way he’d have given into what he felt for that girl unless he’d really fallen hard for her.

I know what it’s like to be in love with a girl you’re not supposed to fall for. I know what it’s like to not be able to walk away from her when you know you really ought to.

I just can’t believe he met her, started seeing her, fell for her, all without one of us finding out about it.

How the fuc.k have they both been keeping this a secret?

When would Ghost even have the time to meet this chick?

When he was supposedly going home at the end of the day, obviously.

“Vidal is giving us three days, which he thinks is pretty generous since he’s already given me a couple weeks. He’ll keep the cops at bay and make the evidence against us so far disappear. He’ll deal with any threats we get until that time is up. He’ll also find the rest of the Razor Hogs and hold them for us. But he won’t let us finish it completely until then. If any of you want to say goodbye, you should do it soon.”

“Prez. We aren’t gonna be there when it happens?”

“No, Stryker,” Each brother moves awkwardly in his seat. “Only myself, Hammer,” I fuckin’ knew he was gonna say that! “Jett and BlackJack. The rest of you will go about your business. We still have family to protect. Until this is over, and Vidal comes through with his side of the deal, no one will slack on protection. Do I make myself clear?”

There’s a collection of pissed-off Aye’s before Shepard calls the end of Church.