Page 110 of Road to Absolution

Diesel asked Tucker, “Who are you texting, Prospect?”

“No one.” He nervously slipped the cell in his front pocket.

“V ain’t gonna el help-o you. She’s sick of it, too.”

Pissed, Art replied to me, “I was scared for her, okay?” Due to how we were being handled, his shoulders were up to his ears. “I had just been taken by these assholes, and I knew what they would do with her, if-if—” He blew out a stressed breath.

“Oh.” Well… shit.

Slap! Diesel smacked me upside the head.

With my arms somewhat in front of me like a mummy due to my restricted cut, I didn’t bother glancing at him behind me. “Sorry.”

Stepping into the Cave, the Old Coots took one glance and busted out laughing.

Prez grumbled, “These three fight like fucking brothers from the same mama.”

One of the old men waved it off. “That’s a good thing. Don’t you remember fighting with Legend like that?”

“Shut it, Old Man.”

Bahahaha… They laughed in unison.

Cautiously, Tucker asked, “Since you were once like this, Prez, does this mean we get to live?”

No Ryders, nor Diesel replied.

I knew we weren’t truly going to ground, as did my young brothers, but we definitely knew we had pushed Diesel too far. This was going to cost us. We needed to face it like men.

Like I needed to face the fact Art was never going to try for my wife. “Thank you for watching over her while I couldn’t.”

I saw our reflections in the hallway of mirrors. He was full of fear. “We can’t let them get her, Mav. The things that happened to Justice—” In the mirror, I saw his eyes close.

“Hey, no one will get her. She has us, right?” I tried to reach out to him but was slightly challenged, my arms held awkwardly in the air.

He laughed, trying to reach me also, but looked like a drunk Frankenstein’s monster.

Once outside, the three of us were shoved forward. Hard.

Stumbling, we each tried to catch each other.

Diesel pointed to three shovels leaned against the outside wall. “Grab them and let’s go.”

It was hot as balls as we dug and dug, all the bikers watching. The three of us were dripping with sweat when we heard Viola walking up behind us, laughing her ass off. “Are those crosses at the head of their graves?”

Diesel, standing right behind the wooden crosses, proudly pointed. “That’s right. We have ‘Rest in peace, Dumbass One’. Here’s one for ‘Dumbass Two’, and then we have this one for el ‘Dumbass Three.”

Crossing her arms, she asked, “Are they almost done? Maverick has a delivery gift to buy.”

“What the fuck for?” asked her brother.

Still shoveling dirt for his own grave, Tuck peered up from his deep hole and shook his head at Diesel, but the damage was already done.

Vixen—Queen Mary—went on to tell a dark tale of childbirth. Like a creepy old witch, she hunched over and spoke to all the bikers with a shaky old lady voice. “The reason we pay patronage to the mother-to-be is that the delivery day is the Hail Mary of all Bloody Mary days.”

Tattooed men cringed.

The creepy witch nodded. “That’s right. A little creature is going crawl down the channel men usually like to fuck. That tunnel of love is now dripping and pulsing with blood, like a ruby slip and slide of horror. And then this creature is going to come to the opening.” She evilly peered around, her witch fingers flittering together as she nodded. “Oh yes, that opening that you like to lick.”