We didn’t wait long to come down the stairs with breakfast for our prisoners. Usually, we fed them much later in the morning, but they had no idea what time it was, which worked to our advantage. I was the one to go in and “find” Octavius. I yelled for help, telling the other brothers to get Patch. I left the door wide open so the other prisoners could see me trying to hold Octavius’s body up. Carbon rushed in to help me while we waited for Patch. He flew down the stairs with his medical bag, acted like he was checking Octavius over, then shook his head and told us he was gone. We cut him down and placed him back on his bed. Hector and the other men were screaming and yelling, some angry, some sad, some silent with shock. Whatever, as long as they bought it.
We made a big show of “calling the authorities” to report the death. Two guys that Phoenix got from who knows where came in dressed in cheap suits, asked some questions, jotted a few notes in little notebooks, told us to call the funeral home, and left.
Phoenix’s contact at the funeral home came over to pick up Octavius’s body. He loaded his limp, seemingly lifeless body onto the stretcher and wheeled him away. Instead of putting his body in the hearse and taking him to the funeral home, he pushed the stretcher into an empty room near the back of the clubhouse. Carbon and I followed him into the room to handcuff Octavius’s arms and legs to the stretcher, as well as place a gag in his mouth in case he woke up. Patch stayed there to monitor him and make sure he stayed alive.
Once everyone had finished their assigned tasks for the morning, we all gathered in the common room. Phoenix clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “I’m going to place a call to my buddy down at the police department so we can get those fuckwads out of my clubhouse and finally put an end to that damn farm. We’ve been over this several times, what to say and what not to say. If any one of you feels like you can’t handle this, speak up now.” He paused and made a point to meet each and every brother’s eyes, even the prospects’. “Good. Let’s get to it.”
***
There were freaking pigs everywhere, crawling all over the clubhouse, trying to get statements from everyone, including our captives. Phoenix suggested they move the party down to the police station, but they were having none of that.
Slipping quietly from the room, I grabbed Carbon and hoped our exit went unnoticed. I grabbed a large laundry bin that we used for the general clubhouse laundry, like towels, dishcloths, and shit. I pushed it as quickly and quietly as I could to the room we had Octavius in. Patch jumped to stand in front of him when I opened the door. “It’s just me and Carbon. We’ve got to get him out of here before they find him. They are coming up with every excuse in the book to enter the bedrooms.”
“His vitals are coming back up, so I don’t necessarily need to watch over him anymore. He’s not in danger of dying from an overdose, but he shouldn’t be waking up anytime soon either,” Patch informed us.
“Good. Let’s dump his ass in here and move him to the shed furthest out. Maybe even the one by the lake if we can make it that far without being discovered,” I suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Carbon agreed. The big bastard removed the cuffs from Octavius and tossed him into the bin as if he weighed nothing. He didn’t even break a sweat. Carbon grinned at me, flexed his arm muscles, and said, “I drank my milk and ate my vegetables.”
“Shut the fuck up, man. We don’t have time for this right now.” We covered the top of the bin with a fitted sheet and discretely wheeled it out the back door. We did have an industrial sized washer and dryer in one of the sheds out back, so I headed in that direction in case we were spotted.
We made it to the laundry shed without incident. “You think we should put him in here or you want to try to make it out to the lake?” I asked. I would rather have him farther away, but we would have to risk being seen to do it.
“I think we can get him to the shed by the lake. Move out of the way and let me push that thing. Try and keep up, junior.”
He wasn’t kidding. The big beast of a man should not be able to move that fast. I had to jog, at a fast pace, to keep up with him. When we reached the shed, Carbon repositioned Octavius, cuffed his arms and legs to the bin, pushed it inside, locked the door, and dusted his hands off. “That’s how it’s done.” The cocky son of a bitch.
We returned to the clubhouse to find that even more officers had arrived. I made my way over to Phoenix, “Got started on some of the laundry that was piling up since it looks like we won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. It was starting to stink and I figured you didn’t want the whole clubhouse smelling like it. What did I miss?”
Phoenix didn’t miss a beat. “Good thinking, brother. I like my clubhouse fresh and clean. You didn’t miss much. As I expected, this is too big for the local boys to handle. The ones that have just gotten here are federal agents from one or more of the three-letter agencies.”
“Shouldn’t they be heading out to the farm instead of hanging around here?”
Phoenix sighed, “They want to get all the info from us and the local officers and formulate a plan before they go out there. That one right there,” he pointed to a well-dressed man in his early forties, “is the one in charge. That’s Luke Johnson, served in the marines with him. He asked if they could set up a makeshift command center here in the common room. I’m not happy about it, but I couldn’t exactly say no either. You, Carbon, and Byte go make sure shit is locked up tight and do it without drawing attention to yourselves.”
“Got it. You need anything else?”
“Yeah. When you’re finished with that, wake my daughter up and let her know what’s going on. They’ll want to talk to her at some point. I’m surprised they haven’t asked for her already.”
***
Finally, the clubhouse was free of anyone related to law enforcement. They stayed all day. I think they would have stayed longer, but Phoenix plainly stated that his daughter’s safety was his number one concern; therefore, the gates would be locked at 10pm and would not open again until the morning. If they didn’t want to be locked in for the night, they needed to pack up and leave. They gathered their belongings and scurried off to the only motel in Croftridge.
I sat back on one of the sofas and put my arm around Ember’s shoulders. “How you doing, sweetheart?”
“Okay, I guess. None of this stuff bothered me, but I’m still worried about Reese and I’m also worried about my dad. He’s doing too much. He just got out of the hospital yesterday.”
I kissed her temple and pulled her closer to me. “He’s a grown man, darlin’. He can handle himself.”
She rolled her eyes, “That may be true, but he’s still my dad and I’m allowed to worry about him.”
Phoenix hobbled toward one of the couches, looking very unstable. Ember jumped up and grabbed his hand. “Daddy, let me help you. You need to sit down. Please!” she begged. Phoenix looked down at Ember and reluctantly allowed her to help him to a seat. He pulled her in for a hug and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and quietly left the room.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Phoenix ordered, “Somebody go get that cockwad and put him back in the cell. We’ll figure out what to do with him in the morning if they come back.”
A loud commotion at the back door drew everyone’s attention. Carbon entered the room like only a muscled ball of fury could. “He’s fucking gone!” he roared.
Everyone in the room jumped to their feet, loudly voicing their disbelief. Every single person, except Byte. He remained relaxed on the sofa, legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. He waited until it quieted down enough for him to be heard. He rubbed his fingernails on his shirt over his chest as if he were buffing them without a care in the world, “Relax, would ya? I’ve got this under control.”
