Page 39 of Striker

My brothers and I wereall huddled around the table, making plans while the other brothers were down at the roadblock searching for Lilah. Moose flew through the doors, laptop in hand. “The tracker! I’ve got the tracker up!’ He slammed into his seat and placed the laptop on the table. We all gathered around the laptop, looking down at the map on the screen.

Moose pointed to a small red dot on the map, “That’s Lilah. It hasn’t moved so I think he’s hiding out, waiting for something.” He switched windows and pulled up a thermal map, one red and orange blob was pacing back and forth, another was still in the middle of the barn.

“That’s Lilah! She’s there!” I was standing up, hands gripping the table. “How are you getting this? Is it live? How long ago was this taken?” I gripped Moose’s shoulders, shaking him for answers.

“Pres, you need to settle down. I can’t answer if you’re shaking me.” Maverick put his hand on my shoulder and helped get me into my chair. “We’ll get her back. We have to.”

Moose plugged the laptop into the projector, shining the map onto the wall behind my seat. “This is a live feed. One of the brothers from the Idaho chapter has this thermal drone camera. He can remotely operate the drone, it's quiet and he can switch from this camera to a regular camera.”

I leaned forward, watching the small lifeless blob. My poor Little Lark was hurt, or even worse, dead. I scrubbed my hands over my face, trying to get the dark thoughts out of my head.

The double doors flew open, slamming against the walls. Bambi came storming in, dragging Tammy behind her by the hair.

“What the fuck is going on?” I was standing up, the chair on the floor behind me. Bambi’s platinum blonde hair was all over the place, her leather skirt and top were crooked. “What the fuck is going on, Bambi!” I was holding onto the table, screaming, my face bright red.

“THIS cunt...” She kicked Tammy with her six inch, black, thigh-high boot. “Helped that piece of shit grab Lilah!”

I picked my chair up and sat back down. “Alright, take a deep breath and explain what's going on.” Bambi took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair.

“I caught her trying to sneak in early this morning. We thought she was just trying to cause some trouble. The girls and I brought her down to the strip club since it’s not finished yet, we have our own justice system.” She smiled as she spit on Tammy, who was still lying on the ground. “Turns out, it was even worse than we imagined. She helped Lilah’s ex. Told him where there weren’t cameras, told him where to cut in the fence, even where to set the fire to cause a diversion. Tammy wanted Lilah dead so she could have you all to herself and that sonofabitch, Danny, promised her he would make that happen.”

I could feel my breath catch in my throat, I couldn’t live my life without Lilah. Bambi put her hands up in front of her, “Take a deep breath and keep listening, Striker.”

I sunk down in my chair and tried to breathe. It was so hard knowing my Little Lark was out there with this psychopath.

“He’s a rat, a cockroach. He lied to Tammy. Used her to get to Lilah. Now she all of a sudden wants revenge, but that ain’t gonna happen. Right, bitch?” She pushed Tammy with her heel, scooching her closer to me.

“Pull down your shirt and show them.” Tammy slowly got up, her fake hair was tangled and falling off of her head, makeup smudged and dry blood on her lips. She slowly pulled down her shirt, exposing her torn bra and a fresh tattoo. ‘TRAITOR’ was tattooed across her chest in midnight black ink, a red snake was twisted around the words. Now everybody would know Tammy wasn’t to be trusted.

“Bambi, good job. We’ll talk about your future with the club after we save Lilah.” I saw her face drop as I stood up. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, it’s a good thing. Plus Lilah would kick my ass if I didn’t help you girls more. She loves you.”

She smiled and looked toward Tammy.

“I would do it again in a heartbeat. Lilah is an angel, we all love her. Want me to call the Sheriff to come and take out the trash?”

I laughed and pushed my chair in. “You go ahead and do that. Thanks again, Bambi, this helps a ton.”

Billy came in as I was walking toward the door, the Sheriff behind him. “Well, well, well. Nevermind, Bambi. Looks like Moonshine was one step ahead of us.”

The Sheriff looked down at Tammy then looked around the room. “What’s going on here boys?” Bambi stepped up and spoke.

“She broke into our rooms, conspired with that shitbag and plotted Lilah’s death. Anything else you need to arrest her?” The Sheriff took out his handcuffs and helped Tammy up.

“No ma’am. Looks like she’ll be going to jail with the big girls this time. Let’s get you out of here and in the system. I don’t want to have to look at you in my jail cell for too long.” He turned toward me and pointed at the map projected on the wall, “You boys let me know if you need any help. Try not to make a big mess. Fishing tournament this weekend and I ain't gonna miss it.”

I nodded and tucked my hands in my back pocket, “Yessir. We’ll call you when we’re done.” As the Sheriff walked out, I turned back to my brothers and Bambi.

“Alright. Let’s send a message to the other guys and let them know where Lilah is. Bambi, thanks for your help there. Let the other girls know to be prepared for when we get back and we appreciate all the help. We’re gonna have a crowd, so go to the store and get enough food. Call Ellie Jo and have her bring whatever she can. Here’s my card, use it to get whatever you need. Make sure the rooms are ready for us and make sure you keep an eye out. I’ll have some guys around here and they’ll be fixing up the fence out back.”

Babmi grabbed my card and pulled me into a big hug. “Go get our girl, Striker.”

I smiled and turned to my Pop putting my hand on his shoulder, “You know that area best, Pop. Where’s a good place to meet and set up?”

He scratched his beard while the gears turned in his head, “Well, there’s another abandoned barn ‘bout half a mile from Lilah. We used to use it to store guns until an old bear broke in and tore everything up. It’s in decent shape and hidden behind big trees and bushes. Real overgrown so you barely notice it. Let the boys know to meet there, should be an old tractor sitting out front, that’s how they’ll know it's the right place.” We all nodded, Maverick took out his phone and stepped away to make the call.

My Pop turned to me and patted my back. “She’ll be okay, son. Your Lilah is a fighter.” I closed my eyes and let a few tear drops fall. I didn’t care if anybody saw. Right now I wasn’t Striker, President of the deadly Devil’s Highwaymen Motorcycle Club, I was Levi Walker and I was scared to death for my woman.

“Alright! Listen up, brothers!” Goose was standing on one of the chairs, a wild look in his eyes. “Grab some of the night vision binoculars, ammo, and whatever firearm you want. We don’t know if this fucker has backup or not. With connections like his, who knows. We roll out in ten, so get movin’ boys.” He stepped down and headed out the door. Everybody left the room to prepare for our raid.

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