Stone (Highway Jokers #1)

CHAPTER 10

STONE

It had been two weeks since I had been back to the club. We had all been planning and scoping The Devil's Riders and The Broken Hitchmen out. But it seemed as if we had a snitch in the club. Thrasher and I had caught on when we made our usual rounds to get more intel and things started going wrong. Things had gotten so intense and I worried about Lolita more and more now that there was a traitor. She was now in danger in the one place that I had told her was the safest for her. She wouldn’t forgive me if she ever found out.

I sat at the bar drinking a beer with Thrasher when an angry Lolita stormed downstairs screaming my real name which she knew I didn’t like. “DANIEL, ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?” I looked at Thrasher in confusion causing him to shrug his shoulders before I turned around to face Lolita.

“Don’t fucking call me that and stop making a damn scene woman. What is this shit about?” I asked her with my arms spread out.

Smacking me with an envelope, I grab it and look at her. “What the fuck is this?” I asked her.

“Open it you piece of fucking shit. I wanna see your damn face when you see what the fuck you have done.” I opened the envelope and my eyebrows knitted together.

Handing the envelope over to Thrasher I showed him the pictures of two nights before I ran into Lolita on the street. We were in Margaret River at another club. I had a sweetbutt in one of the dorms while everyone else was partying. “Are you serious? You hand it to him?” she shouts.

“That picture was taken two days before I stumbled into you on the fucking street. We were not even together. I fucking showed him because it’s damn club business. I didn’t cheat on you. If I were gonna cheat I wouldn’t have made you my fucking Old Lady.” I stepped to her as she scoffed and crossed her arm over her chest.

I went to speak when I happened to look behind Lolita for just a second and saw Connor pull out a gun. Before he could pull the trigger the clubhouse doors flung open and shots were fired. I caught Lolita’s falling body as Skitzo tackled Connor and shots flew through the room. I covered her body with mine as I pulled my gun from my pants. Hitting two of the men coming through the door as Thrasher and the rest of the guys took care of the others. Soon the shots stopped and I scrambled up and looked down at Lolita. There was blood everywhere.

My eyes went wide and immediately filled with tears as blood pooled around her body. “Poet, baby wake up. Please, wake up.” so much blood was everywhere as Thrasher called Saw over and he immediately analyzed her as she lay limp in my arms.

“We need a hospital. It’s bad.” Saw said.

“Then call the fucking ambulance!” I shouted throughout the clubhouse. I brought my shaky bloody hands to her face as I pushed her fiery red hair out of her face. Saw tried everything he could to stop her from bleeding out but it wasn’t enough. It took the ambulance forever to come to the compound and when they had loaded her inside they wouldn’t let me go. Thrasher and Gravel had to hold me back when I tried to fight the paramedics to let me go.

“They need to go, mate.” Gravel said to me but I shook my head. “They need to do their job, once we deal with shit here then we can go and see if she’s okay.”

I stopped fighting when I saw the paramedic's driveway. I nearly dropped to my knees but Thrasher and Gravel held me up before helping me inside. When I saw Skitzo holding the skinny prospect in a headlock with a knife to his throat, I started to shake more in anger.

“We need information before anything else,” Thrasher said to me. “Skitzo, take the prospect to the basement!”

“No!” I yelled out as I shrugged Gravel off me and locked eyes with the prospect as he struggled in Skitzo’s hold. He was a dead man. Once you crossed your club colours there was hell to pay and everyone knew it.

“Fuck I’m so sorry. I fucked up and now they’re gonna kill her.” Connor started to panic. “Fuck they will torture her and kill her.” Skitzo bent down to his level.

“Who will kill who, kid?” Connor looked over to Skitzo who now held a gun to the prospect's head.

“My mother. They will kill her because I didn’t go through with it.” Connor cried. He looked towards us but I was full of rage. I just wanted to throw punches.

“Who will kill her?” Thrasher stepped towards him.

“The Devil Riders and The Broken Hitchmen…” he cried into his hands.

“Why didn’t you come to us, we could have helped you and your mum?” Mase asked him.

“I...I was afraid..”

“You piece of shit! My Old Lady is in the hospital and might die, because of you!” I yelled, making the prospect jump. Gravel held me back before I could grab him.

The prospect looked from Skitzo who held the gun to his head to Thrasher. “Get him downstairs,” Thrasher said before turning to Mage. “Get his mother here.” Mage nodded his head and left with Redback. I pulled out of Gravel’s arms once Skitzo and Mase took the prospect downstairs. I ran my blood-stained hands through my hair before I turned and punched the wall beside me. I yelled in pain, not because of my hand but because this situation happened right under our noses.

How could we let someone slip past us? How could we be so stupid?

The thought of Lolita standing in front of me right before I saw the prospect pull out the weapon haunted me. She was mad… mad about a few photos of me with another girl… but did she believe me when I said it was before her?

I fell to my knees and cried into my hands. The thought of losing her when I only just got her had me broken. It was like I couldn’t breathe.

I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder before they crouched down next to me. “Come on, man. Let’s get cleaned up then we can go see how your old lady is doing.” I looked at Saw. I saw that his eyes were red from crying. When I looked down at myself I knew what he meant, he helped me stand before we left the rest of the guys to deal with the cleaning up.

Dressed in clean jeans and a clean shirt, I grabbed a wet cloth and wiped the blood from my kutte. My room was intoxicating with the smell of Lolita’s perfume. I sighed and threw the cloth in the bin before I washed my hands. Once I was ready, I stood at the door pulling on my leather kutte. I looked over my shoulder and saw a photograph of Lolita and me smiling at each other. Vikki, Mage’s old lady, had taken it one day and got it framed for us.

Now I couldn’t help but feel guilty that Lolita was in this mess. She had gotten shot because of me. She was in the hospital, fighting for her life because I put her in danger. I never wanted this to happen…

Her smile could light up the room, stopping people in their tracks. I just hope I can see it again. I just hope it’s not too late.

I tore myself away and headed downstairs where Saw, 8Ball, Gravel and Thrasher were. I couldn’t bear to look anyone in the eyes, so I just kept walking until I was standing on my motorcycle. I saw Saw walk over to his bike, I pulled on my helmet and climbed on my bike before I rode out of the compound.