Twisted Pieces (2 page)

“
That
means dick to me.
”

“
Miller
knows.
”

“
Knows
what?
”

The guard smiled.
“
Tell you what. I
’
ve got some food in my pocket. I
was going to toss it to you before I left to make sure you had a little food
before they come get you.
”

“
Why
the fuck am I here?
”

“
Because
up there,
”
the guard
pointed.
“
With those
assholes? You
’
ll be done,
Jace. A war has started in here. I
’
m
on top of it though.
”

“
And,
again, who are you?
”

“
Let
me finish my point,
”
the
guard said.
“
I
’
ll give you a choice. You can
have the food in my pocket or the answer to your question.
”

“
So
now you
’
re tough? Playing
hardball?
”

“
Working
on it. I have to look the part, you know?
”

Jace shook his head.
“
I
’
d
rather know who you are.
”

“
Okay.
When I was younger, I witnessed a guy shoot my older brother between the eyes.
One bullet. Done. If I close my eyes I can still see it. The shot. His brains.
The blood.
”

“
I
get it,
”
Jace said.

“
I
was devastated, Jace. Seeing that kind of shit. But then Miller came around, to
take care of things.
”

“
Miller?
”

“
It
was someone he was after. I was just in the way, I guess. My brother had a drug
and gang situation going on. I was following in his path. I can still remember
the guy that shot my brother. This big freaking dude. Huge muscles, definitely
steroids. But still, man, he was scary.
”

Jace nodded. It made a little more
sense now. Miller probably going after someone in the Coast Road MC.

“
Miller
did me a solid. He started by killing the guy that killed my brother. But that
wasn
’
t the true solid of
it.
”

“
Then
what was?
”

“
He
showed me the body.
”

“
Of
the guy that killed your brother?
”

The guard laughed.
“
No. I didn
’
t need to see that. Miller
showed me my brother.
”

“
Your
dead
…”

The guard nodded.
“
Dug his ass up and took me to
see it. I
’
ll never forget
it. Miller grabbed me by the shoulder and squeezed so tight, I can still feel
the pain. He said to me,
‘
You
have a fucking choice, kid. You can walk on this ground or be buried in it.
Make the right fucking choice.
’
”
The guard let out a breath.
“
He then told me to say goodbye
and I did. Miller
’
s advice
took me here.
”

“
A
crooked guard in a crooked prison?
”
Jace asked.

“
Just
riding the best of both worlds, man. I get a steady paycheck, retirement, and
health insurance. On the side, I get to pay my respect to Miller and what he
did for me.
”

“
Christ,
”
Jace said.
“
What a fucking day.
”

“
It
’
ll get better. You
’
ll be out soon.
”

“
Yeah.
Thanks.
”

Jace backed into the cell and
started to look around. It was white. No windows. A small bed. It was a smaller
version of hell. No sense of time other than the fucked up sense of time in
your mind.

“
Jace?
”
the guard called out.

Jace looked. The guard pulled a
baggie of food out of his pocket. He then took out a bottle of water. He
dropped both on the floor and shut the door. It turned out to just be beef
jerky, but, damn, it was food. More so, it gave Jace a chance to sit alone and
eat and think. Something he hadn
’
t
done in a long time.

Maybe solitary confinement wasn
’
t all that bad. It kept the bad
shit out. It kept the secrets out. It kept the world away.

two.

When the door opened again the
first thing Jace asked was,
“
How
long has it been?
”
.
He wasn
’
t going insane, not
by a long shot, but he had tried to keep a mental clock going. He had it pegged
down to around four hours. The guard told him it had been about five hours.

Pretty close.

Jace offered his hands and the
guard swatted them away. It was a different guard than the one from before.
Jace knew he
’
d never see
that guy again. His story was a little too fucked up to deal with right now
anyway.

Jace walked back through the shit
smelling hall to the main population of the prison. Jace was taken to a room
where he was handed his clothes. His jeans. His chains. His rings. His fucking
leather cut. The bag was put on the table and then he was left alone. When Jace
opened the bag and took out the leather cut, he put it face down on the table
and looked at the name and logo on the back.

Back Down Devil

The most important thing in his
life. He put a hand to the leather and shut his eyes. He saw the yard again. He
could hear Paul laughing. That dry, frog-like laugh. All those cheap cigarettes
would have eaten his lungs away eventually. But ironically it wasn't the cigarettes
that killed Paul. It was two guards, each with a gun.

He saw Paul stabbing Nicky. He
could hear the
slosh
sound of the wet blade sliding in and out of Nicky
’
s body.

That was the power of the MC.
Everything was always part of another plan. What Jace didn
’
t quite understand was why he
had been forced to sit in prison for weeks. And the only answer he got from the
lawyer was that they were working on it. That the evidence was looking pretty
serious. At the last meeting his lawyer had the balls to suggest that maybe
Jace was safer in prison, and that he should just let time work things out.

But that
’
s not what Jace did.

He didn
’
t wait around and
just let time work things out
.
That was the shit pussies did. Jace wasn
’
t
a pussy. He liked pussy. Speaking of which, going two months without it felt
like years.

Jace opened his eyes and closed his
hand on the leather cut. He lifted it. Looking around the room, Jace knew if
anyone was in there or was out there somehow watching him, he was going to look
like the biggest pussy ever.

Jace hugged the leather cut. He
smelled it. He let out a sigh of relief. Then, right there in the middle of the
room, Jace stripped butt ass naked. He left the orange clothes on the floor. He
stepped back and gripped himself. With a huge grin on his face, Jace started to
piss on the clothes he had worn for weeks.

Once he finished, Jace properly
dressed himself in what he was meant to wear and then walked to the door and
knocked on it. It opened a few seconds later. A guard stood there and his nose started
wiggling.

“
Smells
like piss.
”

Jace laughed.
“
Sorry. Had a little accident.
”

“
Oh,
fuck, man,
”
the guard said.

Jace threw his right shoulder into
the guard and sent him stumbling back. Jace walked down a narrow hall and saw
the door to freedom. He kicked it open and walked down a sidewalk that was
lined with barbed wire fences on either side. None of that mattered to Jace
though. His focus was forward and what waited at the end of the sidewalk.

Already clapping and cheering were
Miller, Gaige, Griffin, Landon, and Blaine. The only guys missing from the main
table were Nate and Shay. Jace
’
s
eyes first went to Gaige. The VP of Back Down Devil wasn
’
t the greatest guy in Jace
’
s book. Their history wasn't great either,
especially since Jace recently took a beating to protect Gaige's girl, Emily.
Businessman slash asshole, Robert Strokner, had been poking around the MC since
his daughter, Emily's best friend, was killed while in the care of Back Down
Devil. So Gaige made a peace offering by killing the man who killed Strokner
’
s daughter and then sent Strokner
the man's eyeballs. It was a mistake, because it gave Strokner a false sense of
power and now he was stirring up all sorts of danger.

Fucking Gaige.

Jace approached the crew and when
Miller opened his arms for a hug, Jace froze. He put his hands out and shook
his head.

“
What
the fuck took so long?
”
he
asked.

Miller nodded and put his arms
down. He slipped his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans.
“
I guess that
’
s a fair question. I mean, you
were taken away out of nowhere. Transferred to this hellhole. Then left.
”

“
Left?
”
Jace asked.
“
I fucking fought every day. To
only have the same amount of questions as the day before. And the fucking
lawyer told me nothing.
”

“
Because
that
’
s all we have,
”
Miller said.
“
Nothing. And with nothing
…”

“
Don
’
t give me the pep talk. Where
’
s my ride?
”

Gaige and Griffin stepped aside and
pointed.

There she was.

Beautifully mixed with black and
chrome, the motorcycle was pretty enough to almost get Jace hard.

He slowly walked forward, eyes on
the ride. He touched the seat and swallowed. He reached for the handlebars and
felt relief flow through him.

“
Fuck,
”
he whispered.

“
Hey,
bro, let me ask you something,
”
Blaine said as he approached.

“
Blaine,
”
Jace said.
“
You still look like the same
mess of hell."

“
He
’
s only showered once in the
meantime,
”
Miller said.

Blaine smiled and shrugged his
shoulders.
“
I like a good
layer of pussy all over me. Keeps me fresh. And it drives women wild. They can
try and be tough all the want, but they get jealous. Crazy fucking jealous.
”

“
What
’
s your question, Blaine?
”
Jace asked.

Jace was already feeling annoyed.
He had the slight sting of betrayal in his heart and wasn
’
t sure if that was right or not.
More than anything else he wanted to get on his motorcycle and ride the open
road. Feel the power of the ride. Hear its thundering cry. Feel the wind beating
against his face. And know he was speeding the fuck away from this damn prison.

“
My
question
…
I mean, you
’
re in there, right? There
’
s no women. What do you
…”

Jace curled his lip.
“
That
’
s what you wanted to ask me?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Maybe
I used my hand,
”
Jace said.

“
That
’
s all? Fuck. I mean, you could
have ripped a hole in your pillow or something. Or the mattress. Oh, man, check
it out. Roll up a blanket and squeeze it real tight around the head of your
cock
…
right?
”

“
Jesus,
”
Miller said.

“
Blaine,
”
Landon said.
“
Get on your bike. And don
’
t talk.
”

“
What?
I
’
m just curious. I mean,
what if we all end up in there at some point? What do we do? I can
’
t survive without pussy, man.
”

“
I
did,
”
Jace growled.
“
For months. So let it go.
”

“
Not
anymore though,
”
Blaine
said with a grin.
“
I
’
m going to take care of that,
Jace. I have it all worked out for you man. Just get to the clubhouse.
”

“
I
want to know what
’
s going
on first,
”
Jace said.
“
I want a table meeting.
”
Jace looked back at Miller.
“
Right now.
”

“
Jace,
”
Gaige said.
“
Take it easy, bro
…”

“
If
someone tells me to calm down or take it easy one more time, I
’
m going to fucking kill whoever
it is.
”

“
Gaige,
”
Miller said.
“
Lead the way back. Jace and I
will catch up soon.
”

“
You
sure?
”
Gaige asked.
“
Two isn
’
t safe.
”

“
Not
safe?
”
Jace asked.
“
I thought this shit was done? I
that it was over when Shay
’
s
brother was taken down.
”

“
Go,
”
Miller said to Gaige with a
head nod.

Gaige gave the orders and soon
there were motorcycles rumbling to life. Jace turned and crossed his arms,
looking at the President of Back Down Devil MC.

“
You
know, it
’
s easier now to
just fucking give me a hug, man,
”
Miller said.

Miller approached Jace and stood
there. Jace finally opened his arms and hugged Miller.

“
You
did good,
”
Miller said.
“
Keeping cool in there. Earning
respect. I
’
m sorry for what
you had to go through and what you had to see.
”

Miller backed up.

“
What
was the shit with Paul?
”
Jace asked.
“
Why didn
’
t you ask me to do it?
”

“
You
saw the bullshit,
”
Miller
said.
“
We had someone
recruit that other guy.
”

“
Nicky?
”

“
Yeah.
Fuck that guy. Fuck Nicky. Piece of shit."

“
I
don
’
t understand it,
”
Jace said.

“
I
know you don
’
t. We
’
ll get it all sorted out soon. I
promise. The shit with Shay and his brother, that
’
s
all dead. But now we have eyes everywhere, Jace. Keeping tabs on Strokner. And
then there
’
s the judge who
fucked around with you getting released.
”

“
That
’
s what did this?
”

Miller nodded.
“
Yeah. Bound by the goddamn law.
It pained me each day and night you weren
’
t
at the table. It doesn't feel right to have that chair empty. I hate that
fucking feeling.
”

“
Yeah,
I had a few feelings I hated too.
”

“
Look,
Jace, we
’
re working on
this. But there
’
s an
accusation out there that could destroy this club if it isn't handled properly.
If things push forward and the wrong people start digging in the right places
…”
Miller pointed back to the
prison.
“
We
’
ll all be sharing life sentences
there.
”

“
Yeah,
I get it. What
’
s the
evidence?
”

“
Alleged
photos,
”
Miller said.
“
I think it
’
s bullshit, but someone is
really pushing for it to hold up. Just to fuck with us.
”

“
Strokner?
”

“
Maybe,
”
Miller said.
“
Maybe it
’
s something Caius called in before we got to him.
Shay
’
s brother was smart
enough to have contingencies in place. I don
’
t
know. You
’
re out now. You
can ride. We still have a lot to deal with, but it
’
ll work out. Goddamn, I hate saying this, Jace, but
Strokner has helped us. His shitty connections sometimes work out.
”

“
I
hate that fucking guy.
”

“
I
know. We all do. He
’
s got
himself a new assistant too. Some pretty little thing. Poor woman has no idea
what she
’
s doing getting
involved with him. I can only hope she isn
’
t
fucking him.
”

“
I
don
’
t care,
”
Jace said.
“
I just to know I'm not going
back to prison and I want to ride.
”

“
You
are out right now,
”
Miller
said.
“
And your two wheels
are waiting.
”