Saving Dallas 2 Making the Cut (23 page)

I saw Regg leaning against his bike with his
arms crossed, smiling that fucking smile and laughing that fucking
laugh that I loved so much. He had been with me since we left, but
fuck, I missed not talking to him. He sensed me looking at him and
looked up at me. He unfolded his arms, tucking one hand in his
pocket and throwing the other on the handlebar of his bike. I knew
that posture all too well. Regg wasn’t stupid, he knew what was
coming.

“You got something you want to say to me,
Pres?” he asked, silencing every biker in the lot. Everyone looked
at me, shaking their heads and pulling out their wallets.

“Yeah, I do,” I said, taking the stairs two
at a time-anxious to get this shit over with. By the time I made it
to the ground level, a circle had formed and Coon was gathering
money. Regg’s cut was off and his hat turned. I had never been toe
to toe with Regg and I was sure that it would get brutal. I had
seen the man fight many times, but I wasn’t nervous. I gave him a
smirk and pulled my shirt off. This was gonna be fun.

We squared up, Regg being such a gentlemen, I
knew he would let me make the first move. Pussy. I threw my hardest
right, hoping to connect with his jaw and throw him off balance,
but Regg was fast for a big guy and dodged my blow easily, bouncing
around like he was a fucking boxer or something. I could see the
laughter in his eyes, and I knew no matter how serious this fight
got, we would be good after this.

“You swing like a bitch. As a matter of fact,
I think your bitch has more skills than you.” While he was running
his mouth, I landed two blows to his face, smiling at the blood
that oozed from his lip. He was trying to get under my skin. Yeah,
that shit didn’t fucking work on me, but it did on him.

“I know your bitch does. Red has all kinds of
skills, if you know what I mean,” I said, wagging my eyebrows at
him. That big ass smile of his disappeared and the fight was on.
Nobody talked about Red. Not even me.

“Good to have you back, brother,” Regg said
from beside me. We sat on the concrete steps of the hotel, both of
us covered in blood. Mostly his, but to give him credit, he got a
few good licks in. “You know I don’t make decisions unless it is
for the good of club. I didn’t tell anyone else, because when shit
came to a head, I didn’t want anyone else to take the fall for it.
It was a stand-alone decision not to tell you and the best one, in
my judgment.”

“I know where you are coming from, but that’s
my woman, my property and my problem. I won’t allow it to happen
again.”

“And it won’t. What happened that day at the
hospital? I ain’t trying to get in ya business man, but Dallas is
ignorant to all of this. There is no way she knew what was going
on. You shouldn’t have said that shit to her,” Regg said, taking
that annoying step into my private life. Had it have been anyone
else, I would have ended the conversation and walked away, but not
only was Regg my Enforcer, he was my best friend.

“I lost it. I didn’t blame her, but shit just
wasn’t adding up in my head. I should have made the call to you,
but when I saw her- all I could think was that she betrayed me. It
had nothing to do with Jeff working for Frankie, it was that she
was with Jeff when she should have been with me.” I knew it sounded
fucked up to him, because it sounded fucked up to my own ears, but
what could I say? I was a possessive man when it came to
Dallas.

“So, what you gonna do about Jeff?” Regg
asked, silencing his ringing phone without looking at it.

“Nothing I can do. As long as he stays away
from Dallas, he lives. If I tried to take out everyone in Frankie’s
army, I would spend a lifetime doing it. I won’t make him pay for
being with my girl when she wasn’t even mine at the time.” Regg
clapped me on the back, proud of the fact that I was once again
thinking with my head and not my cock.

“I’m gonna call the ol’ lady then get some
shut eye. You better do the same, brother. We have a long ride
ahead of us tomorrow.” I nodded my head in agreement, not at all
excited about meeting with an old associate in the morning to gain
intel on Frankie’s whereabouts. I had a feeling it would be another
dead end. I was tired of my club swallowing pride and asking for
help. I already owed too many favors to too many people. This one
better have something, I was running out of patience.

I called Dallas’s phone and Jenn answered,
letting me know that Dallas and Brooklyn were passed out drunk in
the living room floor, wearing nothing but smiles. Another fucking
night of visions of Dallas naked and nothing I could do about it.
It seemed Dallas had spent her time away from me getting drunk. If
I called too late at night, chances are she was already passed out.
Two brothers from Lake Charles were staying at the clubhouse to
look after the girls and I prayed that they didn’t walk inside. I
would never hear the end of it, if they did.

Morning came and we rolled out, Ronnie and I
leading the pack. We would be in Texas today, a territory I was too
familiar with. I had made the decision to call an old connection
and schedule a meet to see if I could get some eyes in the area.
This guy was old school, a friend of my Pops and he didn’t like
doing business over the phone. He didn’t too much like me either,
or the fact that I put a stop to my club making runs for him. The
money was good, but the risk was too high. When we had enough money
to invest in something legit, I pulled us away from the illegal
shit that was consuming our lives. So far, it was working, but I
knew this guy would want favors that I wasn’t ready to give.

Charlie Lott was a man you didn’t fuck with.
When in his presence, you didn’t speak unless you were spoken to.
He was the meanest, coldest, most arrogant motherfucker I knew and
could have a whole block wiped out with just a nod of his head. Me
and Charlie had an understanding back in the day. I did the dirty
work and he supplied the cash. When he asked me to do a hit and I
refused, shit changed. Charlie called me a pussy, and the two
little words ‘fuck you’ slipped out of my mouth before I could stop
them. I stood my ground, and for some reason, he let me live.
Asking Charlie for help was like asking the Devil for a glass of
ice water. You had to really want it and be prepared for an answer
that you didn’t want. But Charlie got offended if you didn’t come
to him, and nobody offended Charlie.

The meet was in a field off of a dusty road
out in the middle of nowhere. It was exactly the kind of place I
expected and the one that made me the most nervous. If ever I
doubted one of my brothers’ loyalties, I didn’t now. They all knew
what we were getting into, yet they rode behind me, ready for what
the fuck ever Charlie had to offer. MC’s were beneath Charlie, or
so he thought. He considered us his bitches, and I was okay with
that, if it meant he would lead me to Frankie, and hopefully the
whereabouts of War.

We pulled up and only one SUV with two people
inside was there. I knew they weren’t alone though. There was a
sniper somewhere nearby, maybe three or four of them that had a red
dot centered on my head. Charlie never travelled alone, and I
didn’t blame him. Killing a man like him would give you so much
street credit that you would never have to ask for anything again.
People would willingly give you anything you desired. Charlie
stepped out, looking just as I remembered him. He wore a suit that
I was sure was made by some fucking designer in some fucking
country that no one else had. His white hair was slicked back on
his head and a big cigar dangled from his fingers. The biggest
black man that I had ever seen stepped out of the driver’s seat and
joined him. He wore an earpiece like he was in the CIA or some shit
and a suit that matched the one Charlie wore. Some people would say
they looked sharp and intelligent. I think they looked fucking
ridiculous.

“Luke,” Charlie said, walking towards me and
putting his long, cold hand that had a diamond ring on every finger
out for me to shake. I nodded my head at him and shook his hand
firmly.

“It’s been a long time, Charlie.” Not long
enough.

“I hear you are looking for a man that goes
by the name of Frankie. I also hear he killed one of your men, put
one in the hospital, hung your woman in a barn and assaulted her
and kidnapped another one. Is that right?” I saw a glimmer of hope
in his eye that maybe his comment about Dallas would fuck with my
head. He wouldn’t get the pleasure.

“That’s right,” I said, my voice even and
holding no emotion. Charlie could read body language like a book
and I had learned to control my breathing and keep my stance casual
around him. The comment about War wasn’t proven true yet, but
telling him would be irrelevant. He was the type that would kill
him if he was alive, just so that his assumptions would be
true.

“Sounds like you and your club have a lot of
problems,” he said, taking a puff from his cigar. I didn’t answer,
because his question was rhetorical. I knew when to keep my mouth
shut. If I didn’t, he would make me look like an ass in front of my
club, and I didn’t like that shit.

“This is what I can do. I’ll tell you where
you can find Frankie, and in return, you give me Dallas.” The hair
on the back of my neck stood up and I could feel the air shift
around me.

“That ain’t gonna happen,” I said, wondering
if I moved my stance fast enough could I put a bullet in his skull
before the sniper could retrain his sights on me.

“I think that’s a fair trade. If Frankie
leaves, your problems go away. Does some woman mean more to you
than your club?” He was testing me. Calm down, Luke. He is just
seeing how far he can push you.

“My family is what I want to protect. That
includes my club and my woman. I’m not separating the two. They are
one in the same.” Charlie nodded his head and looked at the black
man smiling.

“I always liked this guy. He would have your
job, if he would have stuck around.” The man didn’t say anything.
Just kept his eyes trained on me. Charlie met me with his piercing
stare once again. His eyes were cold and lifeless. “Frankie is back
in your hometown. His guys are taking over your club house and your
home right now. They have nine women tied up in your living room.
Two of your men are being held at gunpoint in your club house.
There were ten women, but one left before they got there. By the
look on the man to your left’s face, I would say it was his wife
that managed to get away. Every woman there belongs to a man behind
you, except for sweet Maddie. You all have something to lose and I
have something to gain.”

My mind tried to tell me that he was fucking
with me, but my gut knew he was telling the truth. This man had my
family captured and I didn’t know why. Two brothers, Dallas, and my
sisters were being held hostage, probably scared out of their
minds, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

“What do you want?” I asked, tired of playing
his bullshit game.

“I want to own something of yours. I want to
have it to treasure and hold. I want to be able to look at
something every day that reminds me of you,” he said, talking in
riddles just to put me even more on the edge.

“Why?”

“Because I can. I don’t like being told no,
Luke, and you are the only man I have let live that has.”

“You can have me,” I said without hesitation.
I heard feet shuffle behind me and held my hand up to tell everyone
to stay where they were.

“You had your chance. I want you to wake up
every day for the rest of your life and know that I own you.”

His words cut me deep, and I knew there was
no getting out of this. Someone was going to get hurt, and I prayed
like hell that it would be me.

“Hang on, Luke. My cell is ringing.
Hello?”

I watched as he answered the phone and talked
to the person on the other end as if it was a normal, daily
conversation. I turned my head to look at my brothers. They stood
tall, with faces of stone. Not one gave the slightest hint of the
turmoil that was going on inside all of them, just as it was for
me. They were waiting on my cue, ready to die to save their
own.

“Well, the decision has been made. As
promised, Luke you can have Frankie. Everyone is alive and well.
They are being held hostage. Once my men have gathered what belongs
to me, they will release them and turn Frankie over. If you follow
this road, you will find a cabin at the end. You can stay the night
there. When my package is delivered, you can leave.” He turned and
got back in the SUV, leaving us standing there with nothing. When
he was gone, I turned to see everyone still in the same position as
when we pulled up.

“Snipers and cameras are around. Get them on
the phone, now,” I growled. There was no point in calling Dallas; I
knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they had taken her. When the
phones were connected, you could hear the women screaming and I
closed my eyes, thanking God that they were okay. Ronnie was on the
phone with a brother from Lake Charles getting the rundown on what
took place. I turned and walked away from them, brainstorming about
our next plan of action.

My cell phone rang in my pocket and I saw
Dallas’ name flash across the screen along with a picture I took of
her while she was laughing. I almost lost it when I answered.

“Babe?” I asked, trying to stay calm. If I
acted like everything was okay, maybe she wouldn’t be so
scared.

“They have us, Luke. They have me and
Maddie,” she said, her voice a little shaky, but more controlled
than I could have hoped.

“Are y’all okay?” Get the facts. Assess the
situation. Figure out a plan. That was the job.

“Yes. He is gonna make you choose, Luke. If
you love me, if you have ever loved me, then tell them to let
Maddie go.”

“Dallas,” I interjected, ready to tell her
that wasn’t going to happen, that I would get them out of this.