Page 6 of Rodeo (Marked Skulls MC 2)
“She wouldn’t let me in so I broke down her door. I couldn’t just leave her behind. She’d be a sitting duck to another shootout since she’s the witness,” Rodeo explained. There was silence in the bar for a few seconds, before the men suddenly exploded in laughter.
“You broke her fucking door?” one of the guys said, walking up to Rodeo and thumping him on his back. I watched with a smile flickering on my face while the others pulled his leg. They were making fun of him, and for the first time, I was seeing the lighter side of Rodeo and his lifestyle.
“Everything Rodeo touches, he fucking breaks,” one of them said and Rodeo looked over sheepishly at me. I could see that he was embarrassed by his friends.
“What else did you break in her house?” another one asked and they all kept exploding in laughter.
I was standing to the side, watching the scene, till the older man turned to me and made me self conscious again.
“So, Jordan. Are you offering us anything in return for Rodeo’s protection?” he asked. I stuck my chin up, offended slightly by that question. I didn’t ask for Rodeo’s protection, he had offered it to me and I wouldn’t have needed it if he hadn’t broken my door! Before I could say anything though, Rodeo spoke up again.
“She’s told me everything she saw,” he said and there was a silence in the bar again. All the men in the room were watching us both. I could feel the electricity in the air. Fred had clearly meant something important to each one of them.
“She saw the shooting. He was planning on going into the building. A biker rode by and shot him in the chest,” Rodeo explained. The shorter guy, who the others had been referring to as Abe, growled and punched his fist into the palm of his hand.
“Motherfucker. Which one of the bastards was it? Was it the guy who tried to kill Lila?” he growled and Rodeo looked at me and then back at them again.
“No, it wasn’t. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t anybody from the Dark Legion. Fred was shot and killed by a guy from Hell’s Drifters,” Rodeo informed them. There was silence in the bar again as they all glared at us.
“Hell’s Drifters?” the older guy stood up from his stool. He had his brows crossed, he looked just as confused as Rodeo had been when I described the patch to him.
“Yeah, a bald guy with a black beard. Jordan described the patch to me. It’s definitely the Hell’s Drifters,” Rodeo said. The men were looking at each other blankly. It was obvious to me that this was something that none of them expected.
“What the fuck was Fred doing getting shot by someone from the Hell’s Drifters?” Abe grunted.
***
There was an argument building up in the bar around me, and I was beginning to feel nervous again. It was obvious that the men weren’t happy with the news that Rodeo had just given them.
“I don’t know what the fuck the Hell’s Drifters are doing! All I know is I’m going to find this bald bastard and kill him!” Rodeo growled.
“What does Fred have to do with them? What do we have to do with Hell’s Drifters?” another guy barked and the older man was running his hands through his hair repeatedly.
“Things are not going to look good for us if we get into shit with the Hell’s Drifters, man,” one man said and Rodeo whipped around to him, his eyes were bloodshot. I was seeing Rodeo in his fiercest element.
“I don’t care what shit we get into with the Hell’s Drifters! All I fucking care about is getting the guy who killed Fred!” Rodeo was bursting with rage. His face had turned red and he was lumbering over the guy who was glaring back at him.
The tall muscular man who was sitting at the end of the bar with the girl stood up.
“Do you fucking hear me? I don’t care how big Hell’s Drifters are and what beef they have with us. Don’t fucking tell me to scurry into a corner. They killed Fred!” Rodeo was still yelling, till the tall guy went over and placed a hand on Rodeo’s shoulder.
Rodeo whipped around to face him, primed for a fight.
“We hear you man. We’re going to get to the bottom of this. We’re going to avenge Fred’s death,” he said in a deep grunt, and his words seemed to calm Rodeo down.
“Do you see this? Girth is the new guy and even he gets it. I’m not going to sit back and let Fred’s death go unchallenged,” Rodeo hissed.
I had backed away from the group, feeling chills run down my spine. I hadn’t known what to expect when I first walked into the bar but now I was afraid of the kind of trouble I had gotten myself involved in. I was afraid of this new side to Rodeo that I was seeing.
From the first moment that he had burst into my apartment, Rodeo had been nothing but kind to me. He had tried his best to put me at ease and make me feel safe around him. Now I was seeing his violent side. I could see the kind of rage he was capable of when he was in a bad mood. He was definitely a strong man, he was a brave man—but I wasn’t sure of the place I had in this bar.
“Rodeo, calm the fuck down, brother,” Abe spoke up and patted him on his back.
“We need to figure out what Hell’s Drifters have against us, why they shot Fred. In the meantime, Rodeo, you have my permission to go after the guy who pulled the trigger,” the older man was speaking now.
I was confused and afraid, and feeling like an outsider. I wasn’t even sure if Rodeo remembered that I was in the bar. How well did I really know him anyway?
“Hi,” I heard a girl’s voice behind me. I turned to find the pretty woman standing there, with a kindly smile on her face.
“I’m Lila, I’m Lewis’ daughter,” she said and extended her hand to me. She seemed out of place here too, in the middle of these rowdy rough men. She was wearing a beautiful lacey white dress, and looked too pretty to be in a place like this.
The fact that she was the older guy’s daughter, was even more surprising.
“I can see that you’re a little taken aback by all this,” she said when I finally shook her hand. I gulped and forced a weak smile on my face.
“I don’t exactly know what’s going on,” I said meekly, and Lila nodded her head and then placing a small hand on my back, she led me towards the bar—away from the rest of the group.
“I can sympathize. I grew up around these guys and half the time, even I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve learnt to stay out of it as best as I can,” she said and we both sat down on bar stools. The men were behind us, still being loud and arguing amongst themselves. Lila was talking to me over their voices.
“Listen, I hope that you can stop worrying. I can understand that you might be scared, I was in a similar position like you not too long ago,” Lila said and then she looked over her shoulder at the tall guy who was trying to keep peace in the group.
“All I can tell you is that these guys are men of their words. I have known Rodeo for many years, he is like a brother to me—he is a player and he’s tough and he likes to believe that he has nothing to hold him back, but Jordan, trust me, if he has promised to look after you, he will,” Lila was speaking softly to me, something about her made me trust her instantly.
I looked over at Rodeo who was barking at some of the guys. I felt Lila’s hand on mine as I watched him.
“You can trust him with your life. I can see that he feels a sense of responsibility towards you, and he’s going to keep you safe,” she said. When I turned to look at her, Lila was smiling at me wholeheartedly.
“Besides, I have never seen him walk in here with a woman before. You must be something special,” she added and I could feel the tops of my cheeks flushing. I didn’t want to admit that I was flattered by that statement. I didn’t want to admit that it was more than just sexual attraction that I was feeling for him.
Chapter 7
Rodeo
After Church at the bar, after we had all vented our pent up frustrations; I found Jordan sitting at the counter with Lila. I hadn’t forgotten about her, she was always there at the back of my mind; but talking with my brothers had distracted me.
We stil
l hadn’t come up with a solution on how to deal with the problem of the Hell’s Drifters, but we were all in agreement about one thing—that no matter what the risks involved were, we were going to have to avenge Fred’s death.
I walked over to Jordan and Lila, and the two girls looked over at me with faint smiles on their faces. I was grateful to Lila that she had kept Jordan company while I was busy.
“We weren’t talking about you, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Lila joked and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. I knew she was probably just as upset as I was about Fred’s death. He had been a part of her life since she was a kid, way before I was even in the picture. He was like an uncle to her.
“Don’t know if there’s anything to talk about me,” I said and when I looked at Jordan, I saw that she was blushing again. It was quite obvious that they were talking about me, but what could Lila possibly be saying to her?
“Rodeo, I think you should fix Jordan’s door and give her a chance to rest at her home a little,” Lila tilted her head to the side to say. I nodded my head and slipped my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
“Yeah, I’ll get to it. I had to come here first and talk to the guys,” I said.
Lila looked at Jordan and smiled.
