His voice rang out loud and clear. “Let’s load up.” I was half expecting him to grumble about how we were burnin’ daylight, but given it was night, he was probably pissed he couldn’t use his favorite saying. It felt odd to be leaving on a mission at such a late hour, but I laid a lip lock on my old lady and got myself moving towards the armory.
The armory was a large walk-in closet in our meeting room. Storm had unlocked it already and we began pulling out our gun cases and body armor. I started strapping my chestplate on first. They weren’t heavy or bulky, nor did they draw attention when worn under a cut.
Celt helped Thunder do a fit check on the newer brothers. Better safe than sorry, I guessed.
He stopped in front of a newer brother and gave the armor a sharp tug.
“Feckin’ hell, Hurk. Did you eat a second dinner tonight?” Celt asked, looking him up and down.
“It’s muscle,” Hurk replied casually.
“No, it’s feckin’ brisket,” Celt shot back, already adjusting the side straps.
I pulled the straps on my own rig tight. This was the moment when shit got real.
Celt stopped beside me while I was checking my sidearm and lowered his voice. “You good, brother?”
“Absolutely,” I told him. “Ain’t nothin’ but another mission, right?”
He studied my face for a second and then cut right to the heart of the matter. “Winter’s gonna be fine. Rosie’s got her, so don’t you be worryin’ about yer lassie. You just worry about riding hard and shootin’ straight if need be.”
“I always do,” I told him tightly.
By the time I made it outside, Jasper and Siege were already waiting with more brothers than I could count. The hum of idling bikes and brothers talking filled my ears. I was very much in my comfort zone, riding shoulder to shoulder with these men. I liked Siege and Jasper. They were very down to earth and bikers through and through.
Storm appeared at the front of the formation beside Jasper and Siege. He looked over the multitude of brothers and announced, “Bran’s text confirmed two AM. Tonight we stick to the plan. The Slayers will take Dead Man’s Pass and interceptViper’s slash and burn crew as soon as they exit the interstate and make a clean break with them.”
Jasper stepped up to speak. “The Sons of Rage will take Low Gap Road and head to the Desert Rats clubhouse. We’ll hang back out of sight until Viper’s men arrive. We’ve got time to position ourselves. We wait until the Rats give us the signal and then we surround them. Here’s a little reminder for those feral fucks who need to hear it, we aren’t killing anyone we don’t have to. The goal is to send one back to Viper with a message and the rest go before the regional council. If you’re good, you might get to kill them after that.”
Since his men broke out laughing, I decided to take that as him having a weird sense of humor.
Siege spoke up. “The Legion will take the interstate. Our job is to cover all the possible exits, so none of Viper’s men escape until we release them. Again, we’re not gonna shoot anyone we don’t have to, or run over them with our bikes.”
Both Storm and Jasper turned at the same time to stare at Siege. Siege’s eyebrows flew up. “Don’t tell me no one in your club ever fucking ran someone over accidentally.”
Jasper shrugged carelessly with one shoulder. “I might’ve done that once but it sure as fuck wasn’t an accident.”
My attention drifted away when they got into a disagreement. I put on my gloves first and then my helmet. By the time I finished, we were riding out, going in three different directions because anyone who saw this many of us in our place would know something was up.
I pulled out behind Storm and Celt. Thunder came beside me and we rode shoulder to shoulder. All thirty of us snaked around the hairpin curves of Dead Man’s Pass. There was nothing but the roar of our bikes and the full moon shining down from above. Everyone knew that the full moon caused people to act in unpredictable ways. I just hoped, with so many movingparts, that we managed it all without anyone doing something out of pocket.
We arrived early and moved into position. There was a nip in the air, and the moon was partially obscured behind clouds, making it hard to pick us out of the tree line. This was the best possible spot to catch them unawares. There wasn’t a car in sight either. Luck was on our side tonight for sure. I got off my bike and approached the club officers who moved over to make room for me.
“What’s up?” I asked, jerking my chin towards Storm, who was scrolling through his phone.
“Storm’s calling Bran to make sure the strike team left on time.”
Storm shushed us and put his phone on speaker. Bran answered on the sixth ring.
Storm asked, “Are they on the way?”
“Yeah,” Bran said hoarsely. After clearing his throat, he continued. “They’ll be approaching from the north access road,” he said quietly. “Six riders left out about thirty-five minutes ago. The plan is for them to get in fast, torch the place, drop a lighter with the Slayers’ custom engraved logo in an obvious place and get the hell out fast. It’s their MO and so far, it’s worked. Viper always says if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. They’re expecting the Desert Rats to be caught off guard.” He paused. “They won’t be expecting to run across your whole damn club in the middle of the night.”
“So their ETA is what, another twenty or so?” Siege asked.
“Yeah, no more than thirty minutes,” Bran responded. “You’ll hear them before they come. They swapped out their mufflers for stock ones to make them quieter for this job. Still, they’re not that quiet.”
Storm looked at Celt and across to the north access road. “Then we wait,” he announced as he put his phone away without telling Bran goodbye.
