Edge of Chaos (11 page)

“I’ve killed him,
Kayla.”

That single,
simple statement wakes Kayla from a deep sleep and she knows immediately that
Luke has returned to the precipice. Her mind scrambles as she tries to think of
something to say that will bring him back from the edge of madness.

“I know… You may
have pulled the trigger, Luke, but you’re not the one responsible for his death
and I think you know who is.”

He raises himself
up on one elbow and stares at her intently before finally answering.

“Yeah… I do.”

“Then you can go
to the police and tel—"

“No! That’s the
last thing I can do. I don’t have any proof and I would just be putting the
heat on myself. No… this has to be handled the Suicide Kings way; it’s the only
way.”

“But… wouldn’t you
like to put an end to the violence, Luke. You can make a difference in the club.
Don’t let it be your father’s motorcycle club; make it your own.”

Kayla has no idea
where that just came from, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say at
the moment.

“Ah, but it is my
father’s motorcycle club as long as he wears that president patch and I wear
the vice president one.”

“Can’t he be voted
out or something?”

“This isn’t
exactly like a democracy, Kayla. He’s president until he quits in shame or dies
either by his own hand or that of someone else’s. It’s blood in blood out,
Kayla.”

“So what are you
going to do then?” Kayla asks, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“He has to die.”

It was a simple
statement loaded with implications and Kayla has no doubt in her mind that he
is planning his father’s death right now.

“Do you really
want your father’s blood on your hands, Luke?”

“I can’t afford
not to. Not everyone knows just how bad it is between my father and I, but
those who really count do. The only way I can retain my VP patch is by revenge.
People will see me as being weak if I take this lying down. No one wants a weak
leader even if he is just the vice president. Others will move in to take me
out so that the patch will go to a stronger, more deserving brother. Kayla, you
have to look at the club like a…a…pride of lions. The minute the alpha male
shows any weakness, the younger, stronger males kill him and one of them
becomes the leader of the pride. Either I fight to become leader of this club
or I quit or die by the hand of another brother. That’s the way it is and I
have always known that, even as a boy.”

Suddenly, a bout
of the chills assaults Kayla and she pulls a blanket up over her body. She had
hoped that what just happened would have been traumatic enough to get Luke to
abandon the violent ways of the club and seek to change it for the better. Now
he’s just back to the old Luke, only much more determined.

“But it’s your
father, Luke…”

“Yes, he’s my
father, but he was never a dad to me. Let me tell you another story about him.”

His face takes on
a hard expression as the memories flood his mind.

“It was Christmas
Eve and I was 9 years old. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep. My father
came by my room and saw the light was on. He burst in and found me reading a
comic. He tore my comic in pieces and took my blankets away. I was left to
sleep in a cold room without a cover. After a while, I started looking for
something warmer to put on. My father heard me rustling around in the room,
came in again and emptied my drawers. He made me lie down in my underpants.
When I started crying and shivering from cold, he got furious.

“You little baby!”
he had said. “You can’t even stand a little cold.”

“I hate you!” I
had shrieked back.

“How dare you talk
to me like that, you little shit,” he had replied and I had really thought he
was going to strike me again, but he only shouted, ‘Christmas is cancelled’
then. I had tried desperately to apologize to him and I promised to go to sleep
at once, but that seemed to infuriate him even more.  He marched me downstairs
to the Christmas tree, opened every one of my presents and proceeded to smash
them to pieces in front of me. He even forced me to clean up the mess and throw
away every last remnant of my gifts. When my father wasn’t looking, I did
manage to save one, though. I hid a tiny little Lego Mini pirate figure. It was
the worst Christmas of my life.”

Luke turns his
gaze back to Kayla. “I still carry it around in my pocket. It reminds me of how
much I hate my father. ”

Kayla’s face is
streaked with tears. “Why was your father so cruel to you? How could he do this
to his own little boy?” she asks in a trembling voice.

Oddly enough it’s
Luke who comforts Kayla.

“I’m used to it,”
he explains. “I have lived with that memory for twenty-one years and it doesn’t
bother me like it used to,” he lies. “But I can understand that it’s a bit of a
shock for you.”

“I will never get
used to that,” Kayla declares. “Before today, I could not have imagined hating
my father, but now…I understand. Your father is a beast. He’s inhuman…”

Luke smirks. “You
barely know him and already you declare him a beast. I’ve shared one or two
stories with you and you hate him. Now you have a faint idea of how I feel
about him.”

“You never speak
of your mother. What happened to her?”

“She died when I
was very young; I only remember a few things about her.”

“I’m sorry, Luke…”

“It’s okay.”

“Did your father
remarry?”

“Yeah, but it
lasted only 9 months and I couldn’t stand her either. Eventually, my father
decided to give up on the institution of marriage and long term relationships
and instead he just has lots of girlfriends who come and go.”

“What about you?
Has there ever been a girl you loved?”

A curious thing
happens. Kayla could have sworn he was about to say ‘you’, then he stops
himself and just shakes his head. She’s about to pursue their current theme of
love and relationships when he suddenly sits up and his face is all business.

“Kayla, there’s
some things I have to do now. I really can’t stay here any longer. Can I ask a
favor of you?”

Kayla’s heart
sinks. It was nice while it lasted… “What do you need?” she asks.

“I need a ride
back to my house. My bike’s there and I need a fresh change of clothes and then
I need to take care of club business.”

“Sure, I’ll take
you, but you can’t go out like that. You left a shirt here the other day. I’ll
get it for you. That other stuff should be burned.”

Ten minutes later,
they’re both dressed and getting into her car. Luke is silent and refuses to be
drawn into conversation the whole time. Kayla gets the idea that he is steeling
himself for the next days ahead when he has to deal with his father and other
club business. No wonder he’s in no mood to chat if he’s thinking about killing
his father. Kayla drops him off at his house in Oakland and they say a brief
goodbye. Luke has returned to his normal Suicide Kings biker self and her… Well,
it’s time to get some real rest before she has to go on shift tonight at the
hospital.

After Kayla drops
Luke off at his house, confusion reigns over him. Their lovemaking was amazing.
He felt things he’d only dreamed possible and for the first time he truly cares
about a woman. He wants to know how she feels and what she thinks of him. That
is really weird because Luke has always prided himself in the fact that he
could give a shit what anyone else thinks about him, least of all a woman. So
how did this one get under his skin, and how’d she manage to burrow so damn
deep? He also realizes that this is not a good time to be feeling this way. He
stands up and begins pacing back and forth across the living room.

“Focus…focus…”

And then it comes
back. The burning rage that keeps Luke focused and on task and that laser focus
is aimed squarely on his father’s forehead. No one is going to derail him now;
not even Kayla.

Tonight is poker
night at his father’s house and a number of the older brothers that are loyal
to his father will be there. They’ll be drinking and betting and the last thing
they’ll be focused on is security. If there ever was a time to do this, it’s
tonight. All he needs is a few brothers that were close to Carter. They’ll be
up for anything as long as it means getting revenge for Carter’s murder and it
is common knowledge that Luke’s father set him up. After tonight, Luke will
regain control as the club’s president. He’ll have to pick a new VP, a new Sergeant
at Arms, and a new Secretary. Those last two positions are held by his father’s
most loyal brothers and they’ll be at the poker game.

As Luke gathers
his weapons of choice and makes the calls, he finds himself constantly reminded
of Kayla. She will not condone what will happen tonight and that actually
bothers him. She is strong-willed and refuses to change her point of view. She
has taken a stand and no one can make her compromise her principles. He admires
that on her.

By 9:45 his most
loyal brothers are gathered around the table looking at a diagram of his father’s
house. Using chess pieces Luke shows each brother where he will wait. When Luke
gives the signal, they will breach and attack. Tonight’s players are Don,
Mitchell, LJ, and Stephen, Ryan, and Corey. Not a lot, but with the right
weapons and the element of surprise, seven is all they need. Each brother is
carrying a silenced 9mm and Luke has his H&K as well as his Mossberg in
case things go bad. LJ has the other shotgun but has strict rules about using
it. Luke wants to keep the attack as quiet as possible and then sneak out and
rendezvous back at Luke’s house at midnight.

At 10:30 everybody
is in position. Each brother is carrying a cell phone and at the precise moment
Luke will send out a simultaneous message. The instant the buzz happens each
person will open fire from their location. In the space of five to ten seconds
everyone sitting at that poker table will be dead; end of story.

Luke takes a deep
breath, and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He’s just about to start typing
when he hears a soft pop, pop, pop followed by breaking glass.

“What the hell?”
Luke hisses under his breath.

Luke is positioned
at the back door in case someone tries to run for it. From his position he
can’t see what is happening but he can hear. Soon after the silenced shots from
one of his guys start, he hears the heavier, loud cracking rounds from
un-silenced weapons, and more breaking glass. Almost immediately, he hears a
scream that is cut short by another round of fire. Luke does something he never
does. He abandons his post to try to find out what’s going on and where he is
needed the most. Turns out that was a very bad move. Right after he leaves and
goes around the corner of the house, three armed brothers come out the back
door and go around the other side of the house where they ambush Don and Ryan.
They go down instantly in a hail of bullets. Not ten seconds after the initial
shots by one of his team, there is chaos everywhere. There are fifteen to
twenty armed bikers running around in the dark, trying to determine what’s
going on. Are they being raided by the police, or attacked by the Harbingers.
It doesn’t take Gunnar long to figure out that the attackers, at least some of
them are Kings. That causes the bad situation to become an epic fail; a
complete clusterfuck!

The darkness
around Luke is punctuated by muzzle flashes and screams, breaking glass and
slamming doors. Luke ducks behind a tool shed and sends another text. According
to plan, if the members receive another text, that means it’s time to retreat
and meet back up at Luke’s house. With all the noise and action, Luke seriously
doubts anyone is going to realize he’s just texted them; but it’s worth a shot.
Luke steps out from behind the tool shed just in time to see two brothers come
up on each other in the dark. The brother on the right opens fire, while the
one on the left drops into a prone position before returning fire. That would
be his guy. It’s the way he taught them to shoot so he fires with his own
weapon at the guy standing. He falls to the ground riddled with bullets.

 “Is that you,
LJ?” Luke says to the stocky guy on the ground, trying not to be too loud.

“Luke?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

LJ gets up and walks
to Luke. “What the fuck happened?” he asks.

“One of our guys
fired early and gave away our surprise,” Luke replies.

Just then another
person steps out from the corner of the house and pops off two rounds. Luke
flinches automatically as he gets a spray of hot blood in the face. He hits the
dirt and returns fire but the guy disappears around the corner of the house.

“LJ,” Luke
whispers in his ear. “LJ, you okay?”

Luke feels for a
pulse but cannot locate one. LJ is dead.

“Fuck!”

There’s still
sporadic fire, but for the most part it’s over. As Luke is sprinting through
the neighborhood to where his bike is hidden, he hears sirens coming from
several directions. If he doesn’t get out of there fast, the whole neighborhood
will be sealed off and he’ll get caught.

A couple of
minutes later Luke reaches his bike. He’s pleased to see that some bikes are
gone too, so at least three of guys have made it out so far. He starts his bike
and peels out of there. When he pulls into his driveway, he is greeted by his
crew. They’re sweaty, tired, and more than a little spooked, but they’re alive
and that’s all that matters right now.