Page 18 of Wire
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When we get back to the clubhouse Rhodie splits off to see his Ol Lady and I head to my room. I feel invigorated and make a vow to ride out more. Rhodie was right, getting out of the control center even for a short couple of hours has put me in a better mindset. Even the mention of what we survived hasn’t sent me into a tailspin like it used to.
Sinking into my chair, I try not to think about what happened when we were deployed. Working as the intelligence specialist in our squad meant all information came to me to disseminate. It was my job to discern what was a threat and what wasn’t.
I spin my chair for a moment and take a deep breath. I don’t think about those times very often. Not because I don’t want to remember, but because I’ve rehashed everything with my therapist so many times that I know now there was nothing more I could have done to stop what happened. No amount of intelligence collecting, eyes on, or comms could have changed the outcome that the enemy we were fighting was far more twisted than we could have ever imagined. Using children as weapons in your war is a type of evil that needs to be punished in the most painful way possible. Three months after we lost five brothers in arms, I helped Rhodie and what was left of our squadtrack down the devil and we made him pay. Not just for the lives of our fallen brothers, but for the terrified little boy he used to do his bidding.
That was the last deployment Rhodie went on. I should have gotten out then too. Instead I stayed in for longer than I should have, reliving that one pivotal moment over and over just with different teams in different places. The last time my papers came up for renewal I decided to follow Rhodie and get out. I’d seen all I needed to see to know that there was no future in that hellhole. Not one that I wanted a part of, anyway.
Do I still have nightmares about that day? Of course I do. I still wake up wondering if I had just looked harder at the Intel or from a different angle, maybe those men would still be with us. Survivors’ guilt is a son of a bitch. I may not be able to change the past, but I sure as hell can make sure that it doesn’t happen again in the future.
I pull up all my cameras, and as usual, I do my checks. I don’t tell anyone how many times a day I watch these cameras, but it’s for my peace of mind. I like to make sure I have eyes on all my brothers. Watching the cameras in the garages that we own in town, I count off the brothers I can see there. Glancing at the clock shows that it’s just past 5pm, so only Squeak and Judge are in. Sniper and Tank are on a call out in the tow truck. Pulling up their GPS, I see they’re on their way back. I take a quick note that their ETA should be two minutes. If they take any longer than that, I’ll follow up.
Changing to our clubhouse cameras, I watch Remy for a moment. Her head is tipped forward, hair covering her face as she concentrates on her laptop in the common room. She moves in her seat a little, stretching out her back, her full breasts straining against the front of the shiny blue blouse she’s wearing. My cock twitches at the movement and I have to will myself toconcentrate on what I’m doing, and stop perving at Remy. She’s my student hacker. She doesnt need a fucked up man like me lusting after her sweetness and yet I can’t quite tear my eyes away just yet. She tilts her head slightly and I watch as she side-eyes the bunnies with a small smirk on her face. Whitney and the other bunnies are huddled over by the couches, staring daggers at Remy but knowing full well that, as our guest, she is untouchable. Like a clever mouse teases the tom cat, it would seem Remy is purposely winding the bunnies up by staking out her place in the common room. Maybe she isn’t as gentle and innocent as she seems. I watch her for a little longer until I start creeping myself out. I think I need to get laid. Or have another chat with Retta. Obviously her last advice was shit if this …feeling is still hanging around.
Giving myself a shake and a pep talk to get it the fuck together, my eyes drift around my screens until I see that the rest of my brothers are in the garage out back with the Tombs family. They had some type of drama with Ana’s car, so I watch for a moment before noticing Marx on his phone. His head snaps up, he yells something, and then everyone scatters. What the fuck? Pounding footsteps coming down the hall have me spinning to the doorway in time to see Chewy and Remy come flying round the corner.
“Death Riders coming in hot, being chased. ETA 5 minutes.” Chewy barks out and I feel my lips curl as I think about how similar she sounds to Rhodie just now.
“Pull up a seat Remy, shit’s about to go down,”
Remy
The smell of antiseptic keeps invading my senses even though I’ve been sitting here in Switch’s medical room for close to two hours. I’m wondering how much longer I need to sit here before I get used to the smell. Closing my eyes, I try to erase the image of watching my dad and his brothers running for their lives on Wire’s surveillance. It was the one time I wished he didn’t have such high resolution cameras. Watching my dad flinch in perfect clarity, and then laying his bike down as soon as he made it through the gates, had my blood running cold. If it wasn’t for Ana stopping me in the doorway of Wire’s control center, I would have run out into the chaos to get to Dad. Instead, she calmed me down and Wire held my hand until it was safe.
Switch pulled the bullet from Dad’s chest, and now I’m sitting at his bedside, my hand gripping his much larger, rougher one. Switch said he should wake up any moment now and I want to be here when it happens. I don’t want Dad to wake up in a strange place all alone.
A groan fills the silence in the room, and his hand tightens around mine. I make sure the lights are down low, so when he opens his eyes, he doesn’t startle.
“Dad, Dad it’s me, Remy. I’m here. Just take your time.” Pressing a kiss to his knuckles, I lean forward and lightly rest my head on his beer belly.
I’ve been trying to keep it together, but hearing him groan and swallow and make noises after two hours of silence has the emotion welling up. The only place for it to escape is out of my eyeballs, it seems. His large hand comes up to rest on the back of my head.
“Shhh, it’s OK baby, I’m here. It’s all good. Shhhhh.” His voice sounds rough and I can hear him swallowing from the inside, which is a little weird, so I sit up, looking into eyes that look just like mine. “See baby girl? I’m alright. I hope you didn’t tell your sister. She’ll come all this way to kick my ass,” I snort a little and then wipe my nose on my sleeve.
“Savage called her to let her know but told her it wasn’t serious enough for her to come rushing. Although she said that if you don’t call her later, she most definitely will kick your ass.”
We both share a smile before worry sets in again. “Who was it Dad? Do you know?”
He sighs and tips his head for me to sit down. Grabbing his hand, I clasp it in both of mine while I wait for him to spill.
“I’m pretty certain it was Hammer. Didn’t see him exactly, but who else would start a nomad club in these parts?”
“Gus and Tav, Chewy’s brothers, wounded and caught one of the riders. Chewy is going to torture him for information but, this is only the beginning, isn’t it?” I slump a little, knowing that what I heard that day I was on the Death Riders compound all those months ago was just the tip of the iceberg.
“Hey, hey, Rem, it’s going to be OK. You’re safe here, remember girl? You can help Wire and that funny little lady figure out how to put a pin in all this auction shit once and for all. Once that’s shut down, Hammer will move on and leave us all the fuck alone to get on with our lives.”
Looking for the lie in his face, all I see is my dad’s bright, shining blue eyes and the smile he has always given me when I needed it. He shakes my hand back and forth, the strength in itsurprising given what he’s just been through. “Trust me, girl, it’ll all be fine. Now tell me what you’ve been learning.”
And just like that, Dad makes me forget all my worries. I chat to him for only a few minutes before he drifts off again. Switch told me this would happen. The painkillers will have him sleeping a lot, and that’s what he needs to do to heal. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I pull up my message thread with Mags. I need someone to talk to.
Beretta_Penn: Hey. You busy?
St_Margarita: Not for pretty girls.
Beretta_Penn: I’m rolling my eyes. Can you feel it through the Wi-Fi?
St_Margarita: Is that what’s making my balls tingle?