I paced around the waiting area.
I knew I couldn’t call any of our other members. Abel and Crickett needed to know first. The death of a president needed to be handled very carefully.
Right as I was about to leave and drive to the bar where I knew Crickett was working the day shift, Raine was calling. I hesitated—Raine was Abel’s teenaged daughter. It wasn’t the way I should have handled it, but I did it anyway.
I answered just before the call went to voicemail. “Raine?”
“Hey, Holt. I am about to drop Collin off at your place. Dad said you’d be able to bring him to the bar when you went in for your shift, and it would really help me out. If I’m late for this study group again, they’re going to kill me.” Her voice was so sugary and innocent.
“Sweetheart, I think you’re going to be missing that group today,” I admitted without thinking it through.
“What’s wrong?” Raine was a smart girl; she would have known something was going on even if I had rushed to my place to meet her and lied through my teeth straight to her face.
“Rave was in an accident and your folks aren’t answering their phones. I need you to head to the bar and tell Crickett to get down here. Can you do that for me?” I did my best to keep my tone upbeat and calm.
“I-is ha-he…?” she stuttered before trailing off.
The crack in her voice broke my heart. I didn’t want to lie to her. She was like a daughter to me, and she was going to find out about her grandfather sooner than later no matter what I did to try to shield her from it all.
“Oh my god!” she shrilled, knowing what my silence truly meant.
“Raine, honey, I need you to get to your mom and dad and have them meet me at the hospital. Can you do that?” My voice was low and composed.
I heard her sniffle a few times before answering, “Yes, of course. We’ll be there soon.”
* * *
Raine ranthrough the front doors right into my arms with her parents and little brother following close behind her.
“I am so sorry, Abel.” My voice shook as I hugged Raine back with one arm and put my hand on my best friend’s shoulder with the other. I had helped Abel raise Raine until Crickett came into their lives; she was more than a friend, more than a niece, she was like a daughter to me, and all I wanted to do was comfort her and the rest of the family as much as possible.
“What happened?” Crickett cried as she gripped her husband’s and son’s hands as her body shook and all of the color drained from her face.
“He was run off the road. There was no way he was going to make it through that even if he had laid his bike down,” I explained.
“Do we know who did it?” Abel gripped his stepfather’s cut in his right hand, running his thumb over the patch that read President.
“Not yet. But don’t you worry, we’re going to take care of it.” I didn’t know if I was making empty promises, I just didn’t know what else to say.
Abel took a in a harsh, deep breath. “We need to have a meeting, now. Crickett, take the kids home. I need to take care of this.”
Tears were leaking down Crickett’s face as she grabbed my brother and Raine. “Come on.”
Abel put his hand on her shoulder right as she was turning to leave. The hollowing look in his eyes was bone-chilling. With a low voice he got close to his devoted wife, wrapping her up in his arms. “I will be home tonight babe.”
She kissed his cheek. “You better be.”
* * *
Rave was gone.Our president had been murdered. I sat in utter disbelief as Abel addressed the members of our club. He was sitting at the head of the table, his rightful spot—inheriting it from our fallen leader. Abel was poised and had never looked more in control.
“Men, it is with a very heavy heart that I have to tell you all this information and I thank you all for coming on such short notice. Sometime this morning, Rave was run off the road while riding up near Pisgah National Forest. There was nothing the doctors could do. He didn’t make it.” The water that welled up in Abel’s eyes as he told our brothers of the Unacceptables that their fearless spearhead had been taken out was not something I would ever forget. “Rave and I took a ride up there not too long ago and there aren’t any skid marks. Whoever caused this didn’t do it by accident. It was appears to be a deliberate attack.”
Rave’s cut was in the middle of the large oak table.
Standing, I did what needed to be done as everyone watched in horrified silence. I took out my knife and cut the president’s flash from the front of the weathered, fading leather.
“This belongs to you now, brother.” Handing the black and white patch to Abel, I sank back into my seat at his right.
