Duke (Aces MC Series Book 2) (6 page)

Duke

“Oh my fucking head hurts and my mouth’s as dry as a camel’s
arsehole.” I rolled over, covering my eyes as someone drew back the curtains
and opened the window to let in some air.
“And it smells like something died in here.” Amy said in a cheery voice as she
moved around the room picking up items of clothing from the floor.
How could she be so happy first thing in the fucking morning?
I leant
over grabbing my alarm clock that was positioned on my bedside cabinet to see
that it was well after 11.00am. I knew I was in the dog house if Ames was here.
We always sent for her when there was a problem that needed a female to deal
with and here she was fussing around and making a fucking noise.
“Can you keep it down, my fucking head hurts?” I said pulling the cover up over
my face.
“No I can’t. It’s self-inflicted so you’ll get no sympathy from me.”
She continued to walk around the room and eventually placed a glass of water
and some tablets on the bedside cabinet.
“The guys asked me to come and deal with you, like I haven’t got enough to deal
with. You’re thirty-five years old Mitchell, not eighteen. Don’t you think
you’re getting a little too old for all this shit?”
I pulled back the cover and jumped out of bed taking Amy by surprise by my
nakedness.
“Alright, I get it! I’m getting up now. Will you just fuck off woman, you’re
doing my head in.”
Amy smiled sweetly and walked towards the door, “That was the plan. The guys
are waiting for you in the bar, Mark is leaving in half an hour on a
reconnaissance run.” Amy left my room slamming the door behind her.
“Bitch!” I shouted as I made my way slowly into the bathroom.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. “How much did you
drink last night?” I said aloud leaning on the vanity unit to get a closer look
at my bloodshot eyes. I needed to get my shit together and fast. It had been an
emotional couple of weeks. Dealing with my feelings for Ash, the death of Jimmy
and the kidnapping of Ink were the final straw on top of the constant reminders
of how I let Viper down and the responsibility of this club. I needed to deal
with my shit and fast as my brothers were relying on me.

I stood under the hot spray of water as I lathered my body
as thoughts of Ash started to invade my mind. The way she felt under my body
and the sexual noises she made as she came around my cock started to make me
aroused. I placed one hand on the tiled wall in front of me, letting the water
flow over my body as I took my length in my hand. I started to move it
vigorously as I continued to picture Ash lying beneath me…
“EW! GROSS!” I turned to see Amy’s horrified face.
“Don’t you ever fucking knock?” Amy stood frozen by the sight in front of her
which I found hilarious. I continued to move my hand up and down my length, “Well,
if you’re not gonna join in Ames, can you close the door behind you.” I saw the
flush creep up her body before she turned on her heels and quickly left closing
the door abruptly behind her.
Ames never would have joined me and I wouldn’t have wanted her too. She was
like a sister and I’d become protective of her over the years. I just enjoyed
our banter as she could give as good as what she got but sometimes the only way
to shut her up was to shock her, which I did successfully.

After getting dressed, I stalked into the bar. At a quick
glance around the room, I could see that the majority of my brothers were here
apart from the exception of CJ and Spike who were working at our legit
businesses.
“Why did you let me sleep in so late?” I said casually as I sat at the bar. I
could see the guys look at each other from the corner of my eye not daring to
question me.
“Right if I’m not needed any further I’m gonna take off.” Amy said as she
grabbed her jacket from the hook on the wall.
I tapped my knee, “Don’t you wanna stay and have a drink Ames.”
The guys looked between us with questioning looks. Amy poked out her tongue and
stuck up her middle finger as she left the building to the sound of my
laughter.
“Right, what’s the plan Woods?” I said declining a drink from Buster who was
serving behind the bar. I needed to keep a clear head and was in dire need of a
strong coffee.
“In your absence, Diesel said to take Bear, Buster and Tyler on the
reconnaissance run. Is that okay?” I nodded my head in agreement. The journey
to Staplehurst should take just over an hour depending on the Dartford crossing
which is the route I would take but Woods was the road captain and I trusted
him to make the right decisions.
Woods took me to one side, “The most direct route is M25, M2 then the A229 past
Maidstone, although this may change tomorrow depending on what I find. They
want to meet in the car park near the nine acre wood. It’s secluded enough.”
Woods turned his back slightly to the rest of the group, “I’ll check out
possible hiding places and areas where we could possibly fall under attack.”
I slapped him on the back, “I can always count on you Woods. Cheers mate.”
I liked Woods. He had a lot going on in his own life but never let it affect
his ability to deal with club business. When his parents passed away, he took
on the responsibility of caring for his fourteen year old sister. He worked his
arse off providing for Lauren so she could achieve the education required in
order to have a fulfilling life outside of the club. Family meant everything to
him and I respected the hell out of Woods for this. His loyalty for his family
extended to the club and I trusted him to keep the proposed journey under
wraps. We were all Brothers but the less people to know of our plans the
better.
“Have a safe journey and keep me posted.” I said as the guys gathered their
things for their ride.
“I wanna see you three in my office.” I stated pointing towards Diesel, Justice
and Hound. They followed me towards my office muttering between themselves at
my clipped tone.
I stalked like a man on a mission and put the kettle on to make myself a cup of
coffee. The pain killers had just started to kick in but my mouth still felt
like a camel’s arsehole.
I rubbed my forehead, “Does anyone want anything before I sit down?”
The guys looked between themselves and started to laugh as Diesel walked over
to my desk and leant over opening my drawer to retrieve a bottle of Jack.
“We’d rather have one of these, than a cup of coffee!” He said pouring three
drinks to the chuckles from the guys.
I gingerly sat at my desk taking a sip of the hot coffee, letting out a loud
sigh as it slipped down my throat and warming me from inside. I opened my eyes
to see the guy’s staring at me grinning like Cheshire cats.
Ignoring their blatant amusement, “What are the accounts looking like?” I asked
trying to shift their attention to something else.
Hound placed his glass on the table and sat forward on the sofa. “They’re
looking healthy. The businesses are doing well and we’re getting regular
payments from all our charters.”
I nodded my head and took another sip of my coffee. I could see Justice
fidgeting, like he had something on his mind.
“Spit it out Justice.”
He stood and started to pace around the room finally stopping with an uneasy
look.
“What do you want to do with Jimmy’s life insurance?”
The policy would take a while to pay out but I wanted to invest it in something
worthwhile and not necessarily club business.
I let out a sigh, “I’ve been thinking about this and wanted to bring it up at
church but thought you would think I was being insensitive.”
Diesel started to laugh, “Like you give a fuck about our feelings.” He turned
towards Justice and Hound as they all nodded in agreement.
His words stung.
Was I really that insensitive and cold?
I’d done some
unthinkable things during my time at the club but they were done for my club,
for my family. Fucking hell, I’d pushed my urges for Ash aside as I thought it
was best for the club.
Is this really what they all think of me?
I stood and walked towards the window to the sound of the guy’s still laughing.
I pushed back the net curtain and stared out of the window at the passing
traffic.
“Duke is everything okay?” Diesel asked concerned.
“I want to invest the money in something worthwhile. I know Jimmy’s dad used to
beat his mum on a regular basis and my dad wasn’t much better.” I let go of the
curtain and turned to see the shocked expressions on the guy’s faces. “No woman
should ever have to endure that and no child should ever have to witness it
either. I want the money to go to the women’s refuge.”
Amy volunteered there when she had time and regularly mentioned about their
lack of funding. I’d just literally made the decision but was pleased that the
money would be put to good use.
Diesel walked towards me and perched himself on the edge of my desk.
“I’m proud of you man. Amy will be over the moon when she finds out.”
I grinned at the thought of her catching me in the shower this morning.
“See, I’m not always an insensitive arsehole!”   

Taylor

It was great catching up with Sophia last night. We’d been
close growing up but had slowly drifted apart in our adult life which is
something I wanted to rectify.
I had a busy day planned in the salon and was dreading Savannah coming in later
to have her nails painted.
What would I say to her if she asked me about
Duke?
We had mind blowing sex but he left without saying good bye and I
haven’t heard from him since which was three days ago! That about summed it up
but how embarrassing to admit the rejection at the grand old age of twenty six.
Don’t get me wrong I knew it was just sex and I wanted it as much as he did but
it was the way he left that was humiliating. He could’ve at least said goodbye
so it wasn’t so awkward next time I saw him at the club. I’m not a bunny
boiler!

The morning dragged as I was clock watching, counting down
the hours until Savannah’s appointment. I turned to the sound of the chimes to
see her flounce in looking as beautiful as ever. “Hi Taylor.” She said as she
came towards me and air kissed at both sides of my cheeks.
“Hi, please take a seat.” I said directing her to the nail table.
Savannah selected a lovely shade of pink and I went about my work gently
removing her old acrylics and replaced them with the liquid monomer and powder
polymer to create the hard protective layer. I kept the conversation light and
focussed on the job at hand.
“Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room or not?”
I stopped what I was doing and slowly looked at Savannah’s sympathetic
expression.
“There’s nothing to say.” I said as I shrugged my shoulders leaning over to
grasp her hand which she retracted.
“So why was he getting shit faced earlier on in the week at the club, babbling
about how you probably won’t talk to him again?” she looked at me questioningly
waiting for me to respond. 
“I honestly don’t know Savannah. Did you ask him?” I said clearing away some of
the cotton wool into the bin, trying to look nonchalant.
“I would’ve but he passed out, he was in a foul mood. Did you two have a row?”
she crossed her legs placing her hands gently on her thighs mindful of the acrylics
that were still drying.
I looked up into her caring eyes. I didn’t know Savannah well but she seemed
genuine and I could tell that she cared deeply for Duke. They were close and I
knew he didn’t suffer fools gladly.
I let out a loud sigh and leant on the table resting my chin in the palms of my
hands.
“He came over to mine late on Sunday evening.” Savannah raised her eyebrows up
and down taking the piss. I glared at her and she stopped with a huge grin on
her beautiful face.
“Duke had something on his mind, he didn’t share what it was but I could just
tell. We had sex, rough fantastic sex.” I could feel my heart rate increase
just thinking about the way he touched me.
“We later made love, well it wasn’t love but more sensual like we connected. Well
I thought we did.” I was now stammering like a fucking idiot.
Savannah moved closer and was listening intently. “So what happened next?” she
asked almost pleading for more information.
“I woke the following morning to find an empty bed. The connection that I
thought was there between us must have been in my imagination.”
Savannah shook her head, “I just don’t get it, and from his reaction at the
club I thought you two must have had a row.”
I took Savannah’s hand and started to shape her nails.
“Look it’s no big deal. We’re both adults and we hooked up, I’m not complaining
because it was great. It’s not my first one night stand and I don’t suppose it
will be the last.” I continued to work on her nails.
“And I suppose by the look on your face this conversation is over.” Savannah
said with humour in her voice.
I smiled sweetly indicating that this conversation was definitely over.

Duke

I woke up with an uneasy feeling this morning. It wasn’t
like me to get all worked up about a situation but so much was riding on this
meet. I fucking hated Rev with a passion. Years of torment and suspicion had
eaten away inside me, as I just knew he was responsible for the death of Viper.
CJ and his contacts had investigated this over the past few years but
everything was just a hunch or a coincidence and we had no solid leads. Still,
I had to meet him today and knew that I really needed to hold it together in
front of the group.
I didn’t know too much about the plan today. Woods being the Aces road captain
was always responsible for planning the journey. He’d completed a successful
reconnaissance run yesterday and I was pleased with his findings and happy to
act on his advice.

“Duke!” Woods greeted me with a nod of the head as he
entered the bar.
“Morning, is everything in place?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.
“Sure is. The van is loaded with the goods. The prospects have washed it and
there’s nothing wrong with the vehicle to arouse any suspicion.”
Woods joined me at the table, turning the chair around so that he could
straddle it and lean on his elbows.
“Great! So I can just enjoy the ride this morning without having to worry about
anything?” I asked sarcastically as I propped my feet on the nearest chair to
get comfortable.
Woods smiled showing his set of perfectly lined white teeth as he poured
himself a cup of coffee. I sat there observing him. He was a good looking man
and looked like a fucking model with his fitted Versace jeans, Stone Island
navy fleece and black Caterpillar boots. I shook my head as I started to
snigger.
“What’s up man?” He asked looking up from stirring his coffee.
“You walk in here like you’re on a catwalk in your fucking designer clothes.
People will think the clubs gone soft!”
“Ah fuck off! There’s nothing wrong with looking good. It’s not my fault that I
look like this.” He stated modelling various catalogue poses.
I laughed, “So how come you’re still single, with those pretty boy looks?”
Woods stood and continued to flex his muscles, “Once Lauren’s off my hands,
there’ll be time for romance.”
I continued to laugh as Diesel walked in with a confused expression.
“What the fucks going on here? You auditioning for Britain’s next top model or
something?”
Diesel joined us at the table, taking a swig of my coffee.
“Yuck! Put some sugar in it man.” Diesel said pulling a disgusted face.
“Or get your fucking own! Anyway we need to make a move, it’s just gone 9.00am.”

Buster and Tyler had the responsibility of driving the van
containing the drugs. This was normal protocol and helped us to see their
loyalty for the club because if they got stopped by the authorities, they were
the people doing the time at her majesties pleasure. They gave Bear their cuts
as they weren’t allowed to wear them on illegal runs to try and distance the
club if they were caught.
“You ready for this boys?” I asked, as I walked between them patting them both
on the back before resting my arms across their shoulders.
“Born ready!” Tyler said confidently with a broad smile on his face. I looked
towards Buster who didn’t look as self-assured but he hadn’t been with us as long.
“Well, keep it up Tyler and it won’t be long before you’re patched.” I walked
away knowing that statement would give him a confidence boost and he’d do
everything within his power to make this ‘meet’ run smoothly.

We travelled down the M2 in the direction of the meeting
place. The journey itself was a straight run and at this time of day we
shouldn’t encounter much traffic.
The four of us on motorcycles rode in front of the van. This was standard
practice and the van was behind at such a distance that it wouldn’t arouse suspicion
or link it to us but we were there never the less to protect the goods if
required to do so.
“There’s a white Ford behind the van. It’s been tailing us for a while. Not
sure if it’s anything to worry about but do you wanna take a look?” Tyler said
calmly down the mic.
“Yeah, Bear and I will take a look.” We moved in unison over to the slow lane,
allowing several cars and the van to pass us. The white Ford Focus was coming
up beside us in the middle lane at a steady pace. I was closest but as to not
look too suspicious Bear looked over.
He started to snigger, “Unless a seventy year old couple are a threat to us these
days I think we’ll be okay.”
We picked up our speed and joined Woods and Diesel further down the road. I
noticed that we were just passing the turn off for junction 2 towards Strood
and Rochester and was mindful of the traffic joining the M2 on the other side.
My attention was drawn to a silver Vauxhall Insignia with two men inside which
joined the motorway at speed. They were staring at us and I knew that we were
in trouble.
The sound of sirens sent shivers down my spine and the feeling of
disappointment sunk to the pit of my stomach. Two more fucking weeks and we’d
be totally legit. Just two more fucking weeks.
“What’s the plan of action boss?” Tyler asked across the mic as he pulled up on
the hard shoulder.
“Sorry boys, you know the drill. Call Joe when you’re allowed your phone call
and I’ll see what I can do.”
Joe was the solicitor we used when any of the guys were in trouble and worth
her weight in gold. She did a fucking good job but with the amount of drugs in
the back of that van, we wouldn’t be seeing the boys for a few years.

Tyler

I pulled over on the hard shoulder. I knew the protocol but
it didn’t make the realisation any easier as I saw the four of them speed off
down the motorway. I knew better than anyone as to what was involved in being a
club member. I saw my dad come home in an array of different moods over the
years from excitement to torment depending on what type of day he’d had.
Mum didn’t want to be a civilian and got involved in the club as much as possible.
I think the main reason being that she didn’t want dad running off with the
latest skank but she also wanted to protect us from the club as much as
possible. We would attend the family parties and gatherings and the club was a
big part of our lives but she tried her best to shelter us from the dangers as
any mum would.
Out of the four of us, only Paige and I were involved in the club. The other
two chose a more righteous path of being in the army and working at the salon.
Not that I’m to judge, each to their own!
I knew by the age of twelve that I wanted to join the club, much to my dad’s
annoyance but what did he expect, I didn’t know any different. I understood
that it wouldn’t be an easy ride for me. I had seen first hand, how hard Duke
had to work to earn respect because he had family members in the club but I
could do it. I would prove my worth to the club and especially to Duke.

The police officer indicated for me to get out of the
vehicle. I waited for the traffic to clear before exiting the van taking all of
my documentation with me. Walking casually over to the police officer I stood
beside him on the hard shoulder of the motorway.
“Is there a problem officer? I asked.
“You tell me son. Why do you think I’ve pulled you over this morning?” He
stepped forward removing his sun glasses so that he could eye ball me.
This was a common tactic of the law enforcement, trying to goad people to get a
reaction but I wasn’t giving them anything today.
“No officer, I don’t. Do you wanna enlighten me?” I said as I continued to make
eye contact with him.
“You have a broken brake light.” He stated pointing towards the rear of the
vehicle.
That was bullshit, I knew he was lying as we always made sure our vehicles were
road worthy before we went on a job. He must have seen the confusion on my
face.
“Follow me.” He instructed.
I followed him to the back of the van to see that both brake lights were intact.
Turning towards him with a look of confusion, he smirked before smashing the
left rear light with his baton.
I wanted to call him on his shit, he could see that I was losing it as I stood with
clenched fists.
“You got something to say boy?” He asked leaning close to get in my face.
I shook my head from side to side trying to gain my composure. Losing it now
wouldn’t do me any favours.
“What’s in the van?” He asked pointing towards the door.
“Nothing that you’d be interested in.” I stated coldly still staring at the
arsehole in front of me.
“I’ll be the judge of that, get it open.” He screamed.
His colleague had now joined us after speaking to Buster. I took the keys from
my pocket and turned so that I was looking at the officers to see their excited
faces.
Had they been tipped off?
I’d given them no reason what so ever
to pull me over. The van was legit and I was driving under the speed limit,
there had to be a reason for them to pull me over. They looked like kids at
Christmas, rubbing their hands together excitedly as I turned the key in the
lock.
They both moved closer to get a better look at the boxes inside.
“Would you please do the honour of opening one of the packages?” The taller officer
asked eagerly.
“Sure.” I jumped into the back of the van and used my key to tear through the
parcel tape and open the first box.
“Give it here.” The second officer shouted as he leaned closer to retrieve it. “What
the fuck is this?” he asked rummaging through the box.
“Car and motorcycle parts. Like I said nothing that you’d be interested in.” I
smiled at the police officers as I handed them the paperwork from my back
pocket.
They flicked through the documents several times as they muttered between
themselves with pure anger registering on their faces.
“Get that fucking brake light fixed.” The taller officer stated as he pushed
the paperwork into my chest.
I stood there silently watching the two men get back into their vehicle with a
smug look on my face. Once they’d pulled away into the moving traffic, I
quickly secured the open box and closed the doors.

“Why haven’t we been arrested?” Buster asked almost
relieved.
“Because we haven’t done anything wrong.” I said smugly as I inserted the ear
piece and turned the mic on.
“Woods. All clear, I’ll meet you at the next services.” I started the engine
and pulled into the slow lane, to the cheers and whoops from the mic.
“You did good Tyler, you did good!”
Duke didn’t give words of encouragement often so when he did, it made them all
the sweeter.

CJ

Locke and I were standing in knee high grass on the
outskirts of a deserted carpark in the middle of the nine ache woods.
How
did anyone even know this place existed to even suggest it for a drop?
It was now starting to drizzle and I was getting colder and more irritable the
longer we stood here. There was no point talking to Locke, he was having one of
his moments so I was better with my own thoughts, I’d probably get a better
response anyway.
Rev and three members of the Kent charter stood over to my left and the guys
that we were delivering to, were sitting nice and warm in their vans. I loved
my Harley but on days like this, what I wouldn’t give for a nice warm car.
“Looks like Duke and the guys aren’t coming.” Rev said almost looking pleased
with himself.
“They’ll be here.” I stated, trying to sound more confident than I was
currently feeling. I looked at my watch again to see that they were now twenty
minutes late. I was about to give Woods a call when I heard the sound of a vehicle
approaching. I let out a sigh of relief as I looked over to Rev and winked to
try and wind him up.
Rev ignored me and stalked into the middle of the carpark to greet the
approaching van with myself and Locke following closely behind him. We were all
surprised to see Justice and Ramsey in the front of the vehicle and I looked
around quickly to see if any other club members were with them.
Justice got out of the van, “Sorry we’re late. It took us fucking ages to find
this place.”
“Not a problem man, I’m just pleased you arrived.” I shook his hand and patted
him on the back with the other.
“Where’s Duke?” I whispered so that Rev couldn’t hear.
“Long story, I’ll explain later.”

We were introduced to Jace and I slowly stepped back letting
Justice run the show as he was the highest ranked member of the club and
obviously knew more about this operation than Locke and I. Once Jace had taken
a look at the contents of the van, he removed two tablets and called over Simon,
the smallest member of his gang.
“Try these.” He handed the young lad the tablets and Simon swallowed with no
questions asked.
Jace told Ramsey to back up the van so that the drugs could be transferred into
their vehicles which would take around half an hour, just long enough to see
that effectiveness of the drugs we were selling.

“Simon, you alright man?”
The group looked over at the lad who was standing in the middle of the car park
with his arms stretched wide, looking up at the sky as he rotated in circles.
He glanced at us quickly to give us a thumbs up and continued to spin.
“I think we’re good to go.” Justice said as he zipped up the holdalls full of
cash and shook Jace’s hand.
“Nice doing business with you man. See you in a couple of weeks.” Jace walked
over to Simon and directed him towards the van clearly getting annoyed at the
attention he was receiving from Simon as he stroked Jace’s hair.

“Thanks for sorting this out Rev. Duke sends his apologies
for not being able to make it.” Justice walked over to shake Rev’s hand and I
saw a flash of something on his face. Was it resentment, anger, I wasn’t sure
but I planned on finding out where the rest of the guys were and why I wasn’t
informed of the change of plan.
Rev smiled tightly as he accepted Justices hand. “Tell Duke I’ll be in touch.”
Rev quickly turned mounting his ride along with his three goons and left the
car park quickly followed by Jace. We waved to the toots of their horns.

“What the fucking hell has gone on today?” I asked Justice
as he started to divide the money evenly between three rucksacks.
“Woods only informed us of his plan this morning. Said it had to be that way in
order for it to work.”
“Why did he have a plan in the first place? What’s gone on?” I was now starting
to get concerned about the rest of the guys and a little annoyed at not being
informed. I was well aware that I was the last patched member but I’d earned
respect over the past two years. My surveillance and communication skills
learned in the army had been needed on numerous occasions but I was now feeling
that I was being left out of the loop.
“The other convoy got pulled over by the police, just after the Strood and
Rochester turning. If we hadn’t of switched the drugs to this van, Tyler and
Buster would be at her majesties pleasure, serving between five to eight years
at best.”
I let out a loud whistle understanding the severity of what could have
happened.
“Where are they all now?” I asked confused about what had gone on this morning.
“Eating at the Medway Services. Come on, I’m starving. Let’s grab some food
before we head home.”