Hidden Secrets (Satan's Prophets MC) (30 page)

Jaz and JD woke up early the next morning. Jaz cocked her head to listen to the quiet. “Seems like everyone is still sleeping, honey.”

JD had to smile at her naivety. “Still passed out cold is more like it. I’ll be riding out today with Bubba’s crew. I’m going to show them around the outer areas of town. Striker is bringing Holly and his kid into the compound this morning. They’ll stay up here with you and Lori until we see this thing through.”

Jasmine started shaking in fear. “Come here, my Jazzie-girl.” JD pulled Jasmine into the comfort of his arms. “You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Jasmine looked worriedly into his eyes, “It’s not only me. It’s you and everyone else I’m putting in danger. Maybe Mick was right. Maybe I should leave town and when they see I’m not here, they’ll leave.”

“Stop talking like that! And what about Mick? They’re going to want him too, don’t forget. This isn’t just about you any longer. We need to finish this thing once and for all, or you’ll never know any peace. No, you’re staying here where I can protect you. End of discussion. Gunner and his men will be here today. I just want to give you a head’s up to stay hidden. These bros love a good fight but they also love a good time with women, as you saw last night.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not leaving this room.”

“Good girl. I’m sure Holly and her son will join you girls. That will help ease some of the boredom. I’m going to go get some food for you and Lori. Then I’ll be gone most of the day. Just promise me you’ll stay put.”

“After what I saw last night, you don’t need to worry about that. Just be careful today.”

JD went downstairs and saw Striker walking in with Holly and his still half-asleep son in his arms. “Meeting later when you all get back, time to get our plan in motion. When we’re all together, we’ll work it all out. I’m gonna get Holly and my son settled. Catch ya later.”

Gunner arrived with fifteen more brothers. Striker was glad to see they had no women with them. That’s all they needed were more dumb broads getting in the way, he thought. Even Bubba was wise enough to ship his whores back home on the first bus out of town that morning.

The prospects were kept busy in the kitchen for the last two days cooking huge pots of chili, beef stew and whatever else they could think of to feed the hungry members. JD returned not long after with the bros and they all settled down to eat supper. Drinks were rationed by Striker’s orders. He needed everyone to have a clear head.

The meeting was held right in the bar area being as it was larger and could accommodate them all. Striker brought his fist down to officially get it started.

Roach stood up and told JD and Striker about Susanna and Renee. “I tried to get them to come here, but they won’t. Said they’ll stay in the crowd and not wander off alone. I figure they’re safe, no one knows their faces. Besides, I’ll have four prospects keeping their eyes on them every minute.”

Striker nodded his assent and faced Bubba and the other members. “I got a phone call a little while ago when you were out riding, from your boy Rags, down in Blackwood. Seems Carlo heard about the Centennial—probably from his spy that was here—and wants to set up a meet outside of town. He’s demanding the money, the girl and Mick. He’s waiting for a call back with a location for the meet. He wants it for tomorrow, but I’m gonna try to stall him for another day. The celebration will be in full swing tomorrow and we’ll see what time they’re gonna be setting off the fireworks at night.”

“How ya gonna stall him?” asked Roach.

“Not sure yet.” Striker looked around the room. “Now’s a good time for suggestions.”

JD spoke up with his idea. “Tell him we have her hid out of town somewhere and we need time to bring her back plus get the money from where it’s hid. We can say that Mick took her away when he found out they were onto him.”

“Sounds good. Maybe he’ll buy it, maybe not…time will tell. Now for the meeting place, I was thinking about the mine shaft area,” Striker said.

“Good place,” Roach agreed. “We checked it out this afternoon and the shafts are pretty well concealed. Carlo and his men won’t even know the openings are there.” The brothers all nodded thinking it was a good place. “At least we won’t have to cart bodies anywhere. Hell, we can just throw them down the shafts,” Roach laughed.

Still thinking hard, JD commented, “Let’s not forget about the fireworks. Damn, it couldn’t have worked out better for us. They’ll cover up the gunfire. We just have to time it right, that could be a major problem. Looks like the saintly towns-people are helping us big, bad sinners without them even knowing it,” he smirked, while the rest of them burst out laughing.

“Yeah. Timing could be a major fuck-up for us,” Roach looked worried. “Bubba, your man Dyno here?”

Dyno stood up and flashed an evil smile. “I’m here bro and I always travel prepared. I brought enough dynamite and C-four to blow up this whole fuckin’ town if I have to.”

“Holy fuck, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Striker frowned. “Everything all set on your end? Let’s see what you’ve got for us.”

Dyno smiled proudly, clearly loving his job. “Okay everyone gather round. I mapped out where I planted the explosives this afternoon and I want everyone to get a picture of it in your minds.” He showed them his drawing of the main entrance to the mine and where he laid out the explosives to get a maximum impact. “All we need to do is get them close enough to that entrance right here,” he pointed his finger to a spot on the drawing. “And boom! Bye-bye, bad guys,” he said in a gloating voice, his eyes shining with malicious glee. “I’ll have the detonator plus extra dynamite on me, so I’d say we’re in pretty good shape.”

“Okay, so that’s the plan.” Striker sat back and lit up a smoke. “We’ll leave enough men here guarding the clubhouse just in case Carlo decides to fuck with us. The rest, we’ll just have to play by ear and be prepared for anything that could go wrong. I’ll make the call back tomorrow and see how it goes.”

JD stood up and addressed the room. “I think we’re missing one important thing here. No way I’m letting my old lady anywhere near those mine shafts. What about when Carlo doesn’t see a woman there?”

“Well, now,” Striker stood up, looking around the room, “let’s see…who here can fit into a dress?” They all looked around in horror. “JD, you hit the salon in town and find a wig to match your old lady’s hair. Roach, you work on getting a dress big enough to fit a man. Any volunteers to become a woman?”

“I’ll do it,” JD announced. “It’s my problem, I’ll take the risk.”

Drifter stood up and looked at JD. “Nah man, not you. You got your old lady to look after.” Drifter swallowed hard and grimaced. “I’ll do it but I’m not walking around with big tits and those high heeled shoes.”

Striker figured he made them sweat long enough. “Neither of you are gonna do it. JD, they get their hands on you, no telling what your old lady will do to fuck up our plans to get you back. Besides, I need both your guns. I’m gonna let a prospect prove his worth.” Every member in the room let out a sigh of relief.

The meeting ended with a serious vibe. The bros hung around drinking sparsely, shooting pool or just talking about the upcoming confrontation. The clubhouse was quiet for a change, that night.

When JD entered Jasmine’s room, he found her sitting on the floor playing with Striker’s son. They were building a fort out of blocks and Jasmine was smiling tenderly down at the little guy. He stood there watching for a moment, just taking it all in. Striker walked in a minute later, his eyes filled with pride as he lifted his son up into his arms, nodded to Jaz and walked out. JD picked up Jasmine and laid her down gently on the bed. No words were spoken as he shed his clothes and joined her in bed. They fell asleep wrapped up in the comfort of each other’s arms.

The next day, Striker made the call. Carlo was pissed about the delay, but he bought Striker’s story. He gave the club until dusk the following day to hand Mick, the money and the girl over to him, or he was riding into the clubhouse lot with guns blazing. Striker assured him, his demands would be met and they set up the meet. He gave Carlo directions to the old mine shaft area and Striker also told him that he expected a cut of the money for his delivery fee. Carlo wasn’t happy about it, but gave in. Striker knew at this point it wasn’t about getting his money back at all, it was revenge. Carlo needed someone to pay for making him look like a fool.

“Tomorrow, we meet at dusk. Let’s see how our girl looks.” Striker yelled for the prospect that was getting ready.

Digger came walking in with the dark blonde wig on, and a long-length dress with long sleeves, to cover his hairy legs and hide his tattoos. The only thing showing were his feet that had sandals on. He even painted his toenails a bright pink to look more convincing.

“Hey, come on, do I really need to shave? Why can’t I wear a veil or something over my face?” Digger wasn’t happy about shaving off his beard, but he knew he had no choice if he wanted to become a patched in member of the club. He turned around and showed Striker and the bros what he did. “I made a slit in the back of this dress so I can get to my gun, if I need to. Fuck Roach, did you have to get such an ugly dress? I do have some class, you know.” They all laughed and JD was glad to see Digger was taking it all in stride.

JD walked over to where Mick was sitting, deep in thought. “Mick, you got the money bag ready to go? What did ya stuff it with?”

“Enough newspaper for weight in between the bills.”

There was still one loose end that needed to be taken care of. JD asked Mick, “Don’t you think it’s time to say where you got the money stashed? If something goes wrong, it may be our only bargaining chip left.”

Mick motioned JD closer to sit down. He leaned in and spoke quietly. “It’s in a safety deposit box at the bank over in Pine Brook. I have Jaz’s name and mine on the paperwork, I filled out at the bank. I meant to tell Jaz before now, but somehow the time never seemed right and she never asked. If something happens to me, tell Jaz where it is and she can get it out.” JD and Mick did a fist bump and looked into each other’s eyes, both of them silently vowing to have each other’s back.

That night JD; along with Drifter, Mick and Roach went to the town’s celebration. They didn’t mingle with any townspeople, just walked around the fringe of the crowd keeping an eye out for any suspicious characters. Susanna and Renee were working in a booth near the center of town and Roach was glad to see the four prospects standing guard, close by. When the first firework shot off, JD checked his watch. Nine-o-five. They hung around to see the finale and JD checked his watch again and saw it was ten o’clock. Information had, they wasted no time getting back to the clubhouse.

Jasmine was sitting alone, in the dark, when JD entered the room. He turned on the light and Jasmine flew into his arms, clinging to him tightly. JD felt her whole body trembling. “I don’t know how I’m going to make it through tomorrow night.”

“Shh…baby, shh…it’ll be all right, I promise you.” JD hoped that was one promise he could keep and he knew that he’d fight to keep Jasmine safe or die trying.