Bess
I stayed put for about five minutes. I had a gun in my hand and I was going to do what Sawyer said. I didn’t want to shoot it but I would. I hoped I could shoot straight. I huddled in the bathroom but didn’t hear any more gunfire.
I heard sirens in the distance. I needed to get out. I needed to get to Sawyer. My mind raced. All I could think of was him.
In those thirty seconds from when I left the bathroom to when I found him outside, flagging down an ambulance, I knew one thing. I loved him.
I loved him completely even though this was the most messed up night of my life. There were things that could be unseen in that club, but I knew without a doubt, that I was supposed to be with Sawyer McCall.
Seeing him directing the ambulance let me know he was okay. He was not hurt. He didn’t die trying to protect Ridge or Steel, or any of the other crazy names I had learned.
Larry came up to me and put an arm around me.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine, can I help?”
“Nothing’s going to help Hagan.”
“Oh, oh my god. I’m so sorry. He’s your VP right?”
“Yes, he was.” The man’s eyes looked as though they had aged a decade since we had shared a beer earlier in the night.
The paramedics rushed passed us to the man I learned was named Victor. He was still alive but it was dire. Steel, this mountain of muscle, was applying pressure to the wound and was soaked in blood. As the paramedics took over, one tried to assess Steel’s condition.
“It’s not my blood it’s all Victor’s.”
I stood in shock for a moment at the destruction wrought in such a short time.
I needed to be with Sawyer. To just hold his hand for a moment. Anything. I could not imagine what he was feeling.
I walked up to him as he talked to the police, they were asking him questions, everyone in the club questions, trying to piece together what happened.
“So you’re not an eyewitness?”
“No, I was asleep. I came down after the shots woke me up. I live up there.” Sawyer pointed to the light above The Wolf Den.
They asked me a few question and my story was the same. I had no idea what had happened though I had a good idea who it was.
The police moved on to all the club members they could as the paramedics took Victor in an ambulance. They also loaded Hagen.
I looked back and several of the bikers dropped their heads as a yellow tarp covered their former VP. It was awful.
I reached out a hand to Sawyer and he pulled it away.
It hurt my feelings in a way that surprised me. It almost felt like being slapped.
But what did I know? It had been a violent and traumatic night. I just had to be there for him however he would let me.
Sawyer walked back to the Den and issued orders.
“Dusty, start clean up when we get the clear from the cops. Stone, if that shoulder is okay, we will head to the hospital for Victor. Larry, make sure everyone knows we are on lockdown. This might not have been the last of it. Have we heard from Ryder?”
“Ridge caught up with him. He’s standing down,” Larry answered.
“Okay, I’m heading to the hospital. Victor may not make it and he doesn’t deserve to die alone.”
“I’ll drive you to the hospital. I heard all the bike tires were slashed.” I put a hand on Sawyer’s shoulder. He turned and brushed it off.
“No, I’ve got a car here.”
“I’ll be right behind you then.”
“You’ll go home, immediately. You’ll stay away from here for good.”
“Sawyer let me help you.”
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this but we’re done.”
“What are you talking about? You’re in shock. Let’s just go help, Victor.”
“I said go home, you’ll not be hearing from me again. Goodbye, Bess.” His eyes, always warm and always connecting with mine were flat.
“Sawyer?” I felt sick and almost panicked. It was realer than the bullets we had awoken to.
“Make sure Ridge follows her home.” He turned his back. Sawyer’s long legs took him out of The Wolf Den and apparently out of my life.
What the fucking hell had just happened to the last eight hours in my world? Was this his reaction to the violence that we had just seen?
I really had no idea. An ache in my heart started to throb. The smell of blood began to sour my stomach.
Sawyer was gone in the same moment I knew I never wanted to live without him.
Sawyer
The cops would not let us bury Hagen until they did a complete autopsy. It could be more than a week.
The only good news was Victor. He was stronger than the bullet that sliced through his abdomen. Stone’s shoulder wound was a grazing. Thank God. As bad as it was, it could have been worse.
The doctors told me that Steel had in fact saved Victor’s life by staunching the blood.
The days that followed the Russian’s attack on The Wolf Den were filled with tough decisions, doctor reports, and police not believing much of what the guys said.
I sat at the table, now missing a VP, and laid it out.
“We are going to deal with this ourselves. We are going to do it smart. I don’t want small fights I want to wipe them out of Grand City.”
“So what do we know?” Larry asked. I asked Ryder to come to the table because he had followed the Russians out of the club.
“There were two of them that came in and shot the place up and one in the car they jumped into.”
“Was our Georgie one of them?”
“No,” Larry answered. The guys all agreed that they had never seen these particular Russians.
“And these aren’t the head of the Bratva, these are the guys they don’t really care it they get killed.”
“I can’t believe we didn’t kill them,” Ryder said. We had gotten a lazy about security. That was on me. The idea that we ran a bar and not an M.C. was dangerous to us. It had been late at night and no one had thought to lock up. The regular patrons were gone. That was the only good news. The casualties were all from the M.C.
“I want to keep the bar closed to the public for a time. I am not sure how long. But I don’t want to worry about customers in here.”
“What about revenue?” Ridge, the Treasurer, asked a valid question. We needed cash coming in.
“The Great Wolves Gym is doing fine. The Russians have actually helped business when it comes to Great Wolves Security.”
“Four new businesses signed on for protection,” Ridge said.
“How long can we be shut down here?” I asked.
“I’d say six weeks, two months tops,” Ridge said.
“Let’s do that then. Ryder, I want you to shift your focus from the auto body idea to clean up here. Dusty will tell you what we need.” We had broken windows, crushed tables, and a general feeling of death in the club. Not something anyone would want to be a part of. We needed to reset. We needed to get the Russians out of our town.
“Okay, Prez.”
“Now step out. We need have a vote.” Ryder got up and left me with the club officers.
“I need a VP. I want Larry to do it. You good with that, Larry?”
“If the rest of you are. We’re both from out of town.”
Larry and I were new to the Grand City M.C. but we had both been wolves for as long as we could remember.
The rest of the officers looked at each other and seemed to agree.
“All in favor of Larry as VP say eye.” Larry was voted VP unanimously. That was good. I needed complete unity for the next vote too.
“For now, Larry will do both secretary and VP. Now it’s time for another vote.”
“The Russians?” Larry asked.
“We’re going to war. The old way. I will do my best to be sure not to bring too much heat but there will be some. Great Wolves M.C. is going to kill every single one of those Russian bastards we find.”
“That’s the trick, finding them,” Ridge said.
“We’re closer than you think. As soon as I have more information, we will sit at the table again. I need to know we are all in for this plan. There will be blood.” I looked at each member to make sure that they understood.
“All in favor in declaring war on The Bratva say eye.”
“Eye,” said Larry.
“Eye,” said Ridge.
“Eye,” said Steel.
“Good, let’s be sure the rest of the club is up to speed. I’ve got some Russians to find.” I pounded my gavel and stood up.
I walked into the office and started going over everything I knew about the Bratva; every dirty thing they were into, and every method I had seen them use. I also had more information from my friends in France.
I had a message from Raleigh Gibson, my computer hacker, and I hoped it had the information I needed.
I also had several missed calls from Bess over the last few days. I wanted to answer them. I wanted to hear her voice. The farther she was from me, the safer she would be.
I had club members keeping an eye on her house, on her office, and I knew every move she made. I was making sure no one would get to her, least of all me.
She was safe as long as she stayed away. The pain of losing her in my life was bearable. The pain of losing her from this world was not.