Tease: A Kings of Korruption MC Novel (28 page)

Groaning, he pulls me closer and squeezes me tight, whispering, “Yeah.
 
I know.”

It’s hard to breathe as I drive in the line-up of motorcycles following the hearse to the cemetery.
 
My throat burns and my heart feels like it weighs a hundred fucking pounds after watching Gunner place Mouse’s fully-patched cut into his casket before they closed it, sealing him inside forever.
 
After all his loyalty and hard work, Mouse is finally a patched member of the Kings of Korruption, and he’s not even alive to enjoy it.

Laynie and Charlotte are riding with Bosco in the club van, making up the back of the line.
 
I just want to get there and get my girl.
 
Being separated from her, even if it is just riding in separate vehicles, has me fighting to stay calm.
 
Until those fuckers are dead, I don’t want to be apart from her.

As we pull up the cemetery road, our motorcycles drowning the silence, I notice a lone unmarked police car parked off to the side of the road.
 
Laynie’s brother Daniel stands, in uniform, against the side of the car, eyes pinned on me.
 
Fuck
.

After the shooting at the lake, the cops had been quick to swoop in.
 
Someone had called them, though we had yet to figure out who that someone was.
 
They’d detained a few of us, including Laynie, and questioned us all.
 
We told them the bare minimum – unknown people had swooped in, shot at us all and then drove away.
 
The cops had found bullet casings that Bosco had missed during his clean up sweep but have yet to connect us to any shooting.
 
We all told them that we didn’t know who had shot the two dead Devils that were lying up by the road.
 
They don’t believe us, but for the moment, their hands are tied.

Glaring at Daniel as I pass, I walk to the van and reach in to grab Laynie’s hand.
 
I help her down and hand Dexter’s harness to her, then lead her down to the cemetery plot where Mouse is about to be laid to rest.
 
I don’t bother telling her that he’s there.
 
She’s been a wreck since Mouse died, barely getting any sleep and crying often throughout the day.
 
If she knew that her brother had it out for me, it would break her already fragile heart.

We had decided to have a more casual burial for Mouse, with Gunner officiating.
 
Mouse wasn’t religious and aside from Sarah, we were the only family he had.
 
He would have liked this.
 
Sarah sits beside Tess, Gunner’s old lady, eyes covered in dark sun glasses, dabbing a tissue underneath them to wipe away the tears from her eyes.
 
She clings to Tess’s hand like a lifeline.

Gunner stands in front of the casket waiting for us all to get settled.
 
I look around.
 
The whole club is here, along with old ladies, whores, and friends of the club.
 
Mouse would be proud to know that this many people cared about him.
 
I just wish he’d known that before he died.

“Mouse came to me over a year ago wanting a chance to join the Kings.
 
The first time he came, I’d laughed in his face.
 
You could see the kid had a heart the size of Canada beating in his chest, and he wore that heart on his sleeve.
 
These aren’t good traits for a King.”

He shakes his head, a small smile forming on his face.
 
“We get kids like Mouse coming into the clubhouse all the time, wanting to be one of us.
 
Wanting to be a tough guy.
 
But they can’t hack it.
 
Mouse didn’t look like he could hack it, either.
 
Kid had a goofy fuckin’ grin on his face every time I laid eyes on him.
 
But he proved me wrong.”

Looking around at the rest of us, Gunner clears his throat.
 
“Every night he showed up at the clubhouse, and every time he had a new reason of why he would make a good biker.
 
That fuckin’ kid gave me every reason from being able to grow a beard since he was five to the last reason he ever gave me.
 
That reason was why I took him.
 
He was alone.
 
That was it.
 
He didn’t tell me out of pity.
 
He told me that so I would know that he was just like all of us.
 
Before we found each other, every one of us was alone in one way or another.
 
Mouse didn’t want to be a tough guy.
 
Mouse took one look at our family, and he wanted to be a part of it.”

I bite my lip, fighting back the fresh wave of sadness that washes over me and watch as Gunner places his hand on Mouse’s casket.
 
“The day I told that kid he was our newest prospect, the crazy bastard hooted and hollered like a fuckin’ lunatic.
 
Almost broke my goddamned ribs when he hugged me.
 
I thought for sure this kid would fail.
 
There’s no way a kid like him would make it in a world like ours.
 
But I was wrong — Mouse was the most faithful, lovin’ kid I ever met.
 
No matter what task I gave him, or how much I rode his ass, he did his job, and at the end of the day showed back up at the clubhouse with a smile on his fuckin’ face.
 
There was no breakin’ Mouse.”

“Like Mouse, there is no breakin’ the Kings of Korruption either.
 
His death is gonna be hard on all of us, but it won’t go unpunished.
 
Mouse will be avenged, if it’s the last fuckin’ thing I do.”
 
He looks to Sarah and places his hand over his chest.
 
“Sarah, know that Mouse loved you and the very idea of that baby you’re carrying made him the happiest man in the world.
 
Know that Mouse was family to us, and that makes you and your little girl family too.
 
We will always be here for both of you.
 
Mouse wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Sarah sobs and clutches Tess tighter as she nods at Gunner, clearly thankful for his words.
 
I look down at Laynie, finding her clutching onto Charlie with one arm as she holds tightly to my side.
 
Sniffing, she wipes at her tear streaked face with a soggy tissue and smiles in my direction.

“You OK?”

“I’m OK, babe,” I whisper.

She rests her head on my shoulder and sighs.
 
“Good.
 
Now lead me to the whiskey.”

Shaking my head, I chuckle.
 
Nut.

GUNNER HAD LAID OUT the plan for us before we’d hit the road for the five-hour trek to Toronto.
 
We will go to the Devil’s Rejects clubhouse, take out whatever sorry excuse for a prospect they got standing sentry at the gate and walk right in, shooting every fucker we see along the way.
 
Our main target is the President of the Devils himself, Deed Landry.
 
When all that’s done, we torch the fucking place.

After a long history with Deed and his Devils, we had finally been starting to develop a friendship between the two clubs.
 
Running Laynie and me off the road had severed that friendship, and killing Mouse had been the final nail in that motherfucker’s coffin.
 
He doesn’t stand a chance.

This whole plan is crazy – straight out of a fucking gangster movie – but it’s crazy enough that it just might work.
 
The Devils aren’t going to be expecting us to walk in, bullets flying.
 
They won’t be ready, and that gives us the element of surprise.
 
The Devil’s clubhouse is an old warehouse on the outskirts of Toronto, far from the busy residential and high traffic streets.
 
They’re going to hear us coming, so we have to move fast.
 

Pulling to a stop several blocks from our target, Gunner turns to address us all.
 
A fluttery feeling takes over my chest, and every muscle in my body tightens as he nails each of us to the spot with his eyes.
 
“I hate this shit as much as you do.
 
The truth is, I don’t take killin’ people lightly.
 
But these fuckers killed Mouse.
 
The next time, it could be any one of you.”
 

His eyes dart to Ryker.
 
“Or Charlie.”
 
He looks to me.
 
“Or Laynie.”
 
My jaw clenches.
 
It almost fucking was.

“Wait!”
 
As one, we all turn to Ryker in surprise.
 
“Are we really just gonna go in there, like a bunch of cold-blooded killers and kill these stupid fucks?”

Gunner steps forward and glares at Ryker.
 
“The plan is set.”

Ryker nods.
 
“I know, but hear me out.
 
If we follow through with this plan, we’re no fuckin’ better than they are.”
 
He flings his arms out and looks around.
 
“Can all of you really live, knowing we just walked in and killed a bunch of men?
 
Do you really think the fuckin’ cops aren’t goin’ to track this back to us?
 
That we aren’t going to get caught?”
 
He spears his hand through his hair.
 
“One man ordered that drive-by.
 
One man is behind those bastards comin’ in and killin’ Mouse.
 
Let’s play this shit smart and get rid of that one man.”