Page 77 of Road to Absolution

Tuck was right. The world we had lived in was in the middle of a much bigger one.

Getting out of the car, I grabbed my bag, then faced club members—my new brothers. And damnit, I actually scanned them to try and figure out who the rat was—who had leaked information that put my wife in danger, and who had changed my life irrevocably.

Was I appearing as a bull deciding where to charge? Not one of the men approached me.

The only one walking toward me was Chains, my VP. “They’ve watched over you for years. They’re feeling you’re a perfect addition to the family. They also understand how overwhelming this can be. They’ve had their share of scary times that rattled them.”

Each and every one of these men had brutal pasts or a terrifying night they had survived. Some still suffered from the experience. I was relieved that’s what I now saw when greeted by smiles, a few low-key cheers, and some dipping chins. I didn’t see one trace of guilt—a rat—in the crowd.

Movement off to my right caught their attention, too.

A collective low growl exuded from the pack of wolves greeting their leader.

As Diesel headed toward them, he laughed. “That’s right. Big Papa is home.”

Even though I was joining this club, I was still the stranger. I was able to see these men with wide-open eyes. Besides being told they had dark pasts, I had no other history to judge them from. Nothing to cloud an inspection.

The admiration and respect on each and every face, while smiling at Diesel, was profound. So much so, that I suspected the ‘rat’ to not even be among them.

Just then, a bottle of beer was tossed into the air.

One-handed, Prez caught and opened it on an opener screwed to the building he had parked by. He lifted the bottle toward me from across the long gravel driveway. “Go. See her. Meet you in the Cave, if she lets you go tonight.”

The crowd of men chuckled as if not believing I would resurface.

Acknowledging everyone with a nod, I then followed Chains to the entrance of the building. Again, no window. Just a big ass metal door.

Once inside, we walked down a long hallway. To my left, I saw nothing but concrete. I guess my expression of shock was seen because Chains said, “Yeah, the windows on the front are fake. They used to be to lure drive-bys, to give a heads-up, but now no one can even get to our road without being noticed.”

To my right were mirrors, one after the other, each approximately 4x6 feet tall and long. I was positive we were being watched or recorded.

Chains explained, “If still infiltrated, we can quickly establish how many and what weapons.”

My stomach turning, I snarled, “So comforting.”

He laughed. “Even before updated outside security, no one had ever made it in.”

Jesus! How many times have they been invaded?

Then we stepped into a room that had my jaw dropping.

Chains said, “This is the Cave.”

No one was there, but this massive room carried the charcoal grey walls well. Décor was all about grey and black with perfect amounts of chrome to break it up. Then there were some red pieces that popped, like the leather tops of the at least thirty barstools to my right, standing along a bar so big it belonged in a huge restaurant. Beyond the end of the bar, farthest from the entrance, there was a big hallway that was a much lighter shade of grey.

In the center of the room were two enormous L-shaped couches, spread apart enough to have a bunch of captain’s chairs and theater-looking chairs all facing where I was standing. I turned to see a movie-sized TV screen on the wall behind me. “Jesus Christ.”

Chains laughed as he walked toward the light grey hallway. “Yeah, movie night ain’t no joke around here. Plus, we love the DIY channel.”

Picturing a bunch of leathered men sprawled about, watching a “Do It Yourself” TV show had me chuckling while I kept looking around, following Chains.

“I’ll give you a tour later, but,” he pointed behind the bar, “kitchen is back there if needed.” On each side of the crazy amount of booze on wall shelves, were two sets of swinging doors.

To the left, I quickly scanned to see a bunch of high-top tables and bar stools with backs. Pool tables. Foosball table. Dartboards on the walls. Basically, an assortment of entertainment, including stripper poles.

Down the one long hall of closed doors, there were more shorter halls that veered off to the left and right. At first, the doors, in all hallways, were closer together. Then, the doors started getting farther apart, telling me the rooms were getting considerably bigger.

Chains kept us going deeper until the second to the last hallway where there were only four doors all together. Pointing forward, he said, “Prez is back there to the left.” He walked to the right, saying, “The members who actually live here, or stay often, or are simply high up in the ranks, don’t stay in smaller rooms close to the Cave. There is no soundproofing great enough to block out some parties if too close. Feel me?”