Chapter 2 Crypt
“You still lookin’ for Rachel?”
“Yeah,” I answered as I shut the door to my hotel room, shoving the key inside the pocket of my cut. I became a nomad years ago and never thought I’d want to put down roots for anyone, anywhere. That changed when I met a woman.
Well, therightwoman. Two years into my five-year stint, Rachel showed up at Ely State, and I haven’t stopped thinking of her since.
“What if she don’t want ya, you ugly fucker?”
“Fuck off, Skinny.”
Skinny had been my cellmate for four of the five years I spent inside. He got out a year before I did and was the only person waiting for me when I finally got cut loose. There was a time in my life when I wouldn’t have given a shit, but now it was different. I had held onto a tiny flicker of hope that maybe Rachel would show up and be waiting for me with my Harley.
She wasn’t there.
Didn’t stop me from carrying through my plan.
“I’m checked in. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“Best of luck. You’re gonna need it.” His laughter ended as he hung up.
He might be an asshole, but he was one of my closest friends. A brother who took me in when I had nowhere else to go, and I wouldn’t forget all he’d done for me.
It took three weeks to finally get a message to Grim and ask to meet up. I wasn’t stupid. If I wanted to get close to Rachel, I needed to befriend her father, and that meant having a meet-up with Grim and the club. They finally agreed to meet me atthe rodeo in Vegas. Apparently, Hannibal knew guys who ran the circuit, including a few bullfighters.
I got invited to tag along with Grim, Mammoth, Hannibal, and a few other club members. I’d gotten ready early and rushed down to the hotel lobby, walking to the pavilion where the rodeo was being held. I’d chosen the same hotel as the competitors, which meant I didn’t have to go far. Fate must be on my side because I snagged the last available room. The whole weekend was booked solid because of the rodeo.
I reached the entrance and stood to the side, watching for Graven Bastards MC cuts. I was thirsty as fuck since I didn’t have time to do more than check in to the hotel before the meeting. My throat was dry, but it wasn’t the issue. I didn’t know how Hannibal would react when he saw me. Would he remember me from three years ago and how I saved his daughter’s life?
We never saw one another much in gen pop. He kept to his group, and I stayed with mine. That was life inside. You learned real quick how shit went down, and loyalty was one of the few things that kept you safe.
Hannibal didn’t spend long behind those bars. A year, if I remember right. Just long enough to have one birthday and a visit from his daughter. It must be fate that I met Rachel that day. There was no other explanation.
She was meant to be mine.
But there was another reason I wanted to look up Grim and the club in Tonopah. I had a connection to them, one I’d kept a secret until I could meet them face to face. I wasn’t a stranger to these men. At least, not when I was a kid.
My old man used to ride with the Tonopah GBMC. Back in the day, he’d been known as Lockjaw. I never knew what happened to him other than that he died before I was born.My mother moved out of Tonopah and relocated to Carson City, where I grew up, never knowing my biological father or his past.
I only learned about the truth from one of my mother’s letters. She wrote to me every week while I was inside, never once believing I deserved to be arrested. She was wrong. I beat a man within an inch of his life and shot him in both knees and his groin. The fucker deserved it for raping my sister. Michelle still struggled with the aftermath of that assault.
Trey Burrows wouldn’t be raping any other women, and now he was maimed for the rest of his pathetic existence. Someday, I planned to finish the job when the law couldn’t pin it on me.
But that was something I would focus on another day.
Today, I was anxious for numerous reasons, but I’d never let that show. Weakness wasn’t something I could afford. Not when my future depended on the Graven Bastards MC and their response to my proposition. I wanted to prospect for them and hopefully find a place in the club my father loved. More than that, I needed to be close to Rachel. I couldn’t think of a better way to get her attention than by becoming a club brother to Hannibal.
Sweat was already appearing on my brow and the back of my neck as I stood under its bright rays. It was hotter than I expected today, though with Vegas, even in December, the temps could reach scorching levels.
I scanned the crowd, wondering when I’d see Grim and the others. Just when I thought they might not show up, I sensed a shift in the air. It almost felt like an electric current buzzing over the bare skin on my arms.
My head swiveled to the right. They were here.
Grim, his V.P. Mammoth, who I’d heard stories about, Rael with his freaky black and white themed face paint that made him look like a skeleton, and Hannibal.
Grim walked right up to me, stopping only a few inches from my face. It was intimidating as fuck, but I didn’t move. “You didn’t tell me who you were, kid.”
I blinked.How could he know?
