Page 9 of Desert Rose

He nods. “It’s settled. We wait for Edge to clear it and then reconvene.” The Suarez crew is pissed as fuck, but the old warrior could care less as he lights the end of his pipe and takes a long drag.

“Come on,” Tate stands, and I nod over to Rage. “Time to babysit and kick some teenage ass. My cuz is in deep shit for not clearing this. She didn’t know abut the meet tonight. We like to keep everyone low key when potential trouble comes on the res.”

“I get it. If I had a women or kids to protect, I’d keep them home too.”

“Someday, we will.”

I feel the burn in my gut and the fire tear through the hole in my heart Mandy made. Every time I think of Tarak’s hands on her, my shudders in anger. I fantasize about cutting his hands off, just so I can have piece of mind they’ll never touch her again. But Tarak’s MC is strong, they just partnered with Creed MC in Northern Cali and Oregon while we’re still on our own. The Bloody Scorpions are thin in the alliance department; that’s why I can’t fuck up what we have going on right now. A war over Vegas with the Chinese will bury us. Tate leads us over to a barn. “We’ll take the four wheelers.” We each get one, starting them up. Tate knows his land as he guides up around deep canyons and dunes. In the distance the glow from a huge bonfire lights up the night. It reminds me of that night during summer solstice. I slam the door shut on the memory because that night fucked with my head in so many ways.

Tate pulls over to the side. “Stay here and keep watch. I’ll go down and disperse them.”

He hands me a pair of night vision goggles that were tucked into the storage compartment strapped to the back of his four-wheeler. I’ll watch your six,” Rage looks back at the trail we just rode up as I scan the horizon before turning over my shoulder. Skinny fucking Pedro is two feet away. He surprised me, but somehow, I manage to control my flinch.

“I thought you left,” I mutter gruffly, my hands itching to draw my gun.

“Heard there was a party.”

“They ain’t no party.”

“Doesn’t look that way to me.”

“Get the fuck outta here. The meet is over.”

“You’ve got nerve speaking to me this way.”

“Nah. Just balls. Big ones.”

The tip of his snakeskin boot kicks a pebble. It rolls past me over the edge of the rocky terrain and sails into the abyss below. I move left seconds before he lunges at me. The tip of his blade stabs empty air.

“Fast, eh.”

“As a rattler.”

“Come at me,” beckon with an open hand. We both have guns, but that’s not what this is about. He feels slighted. My words beat his in the meeting and it’s not sitting right with him. I’ve been coiled tighter than a ratter ready to strike since I climbed in the cab to drive out here.

We dance in the moonlight circling each other while each keeping an eye out for the cliff’s edge.

He’s half my weight but quick and dirty. He strikes low, launching at me feet and grabs an ankle, taking me down. We roll over jagged rocks; his arm raises but mine quickly slams it down. The knife falls from his hands. “Edge! Fuck, man! It’s an ambush!” Rage’s shout has me springing up and drawing my gun. I barrel toward him, raising to fire when all that registers is pain. The only quick thought to escape the coming darkness is: That fucker Pedro just bashed my head with a rock. Then the lights went out.

REAGAN

3

Something seems off. I can’t for the life of me figure out what though. The party is lit. The fire burning high. The guys are placing bets. Tonight’s entertainment choices including a street fight at the base of the canyon between The Navajo’s champ and the Apache. I take a small sip of the beer that was handed to me while my eyes stare at the burning flames. The sky is dark tonight—void of its usual map of stars. Edge hasn’t shown.Yet.But we overheard some of the other teens pissed that it’s not quite their turn to compete for a spot at the table. Personally, I think they are dumb as fuck. My brother hasn’t been the same since the burden of the patch was placed upon him. All he does is worry about the MC while trying to avoid jail and the biggest curse of all has been the lure his place in the MC has had on women. Specifically,her.

“Come on babe, the race is about to go down.” I roll my eyes as one of the council wannabes hooks his arm through mine. He’s harmless. Dorky… all half boy, half man. Robin is flirting with an Apache boy, I give her a smirk and knowing wink as we head out toward the desert road where money exchanges hands and stupid boys race in their junkyard fixer ups. I snort at the desperate show of testosterone. But as we get closer to the crowed surrounding the revving engines a shadow of foreboding falls over me.

A group of guys hang to one side wearing hoodies and jeans. Dark eyes inspect us as we come forward. A shiver runs through me as their gazes inspect me from head-to-toe. My arms cross over my chest. I long to hide into myself. But instead, I’m exposed; trying to trap a man who isn’t even here. The firing of a gun gives me an excuse to look away as the cars take off. Robin grabs my hand. “Come on. Kirk and his friends have a fire going around the hill.” She gestures over to the desert dunes to our left. There’s no smoke curling to the sky but I have no interest in staying and being the focus of intense stares but the gang in hoodies.

“Who are those guys, over there? They’re not with either Res?”

“Cartel crew. Came in for the council meet.”

“Fuck,” I breathe. Tarak would never have allowed me to come tonight if he knew there was a meet with them. Eager to get away from them, I up my pace. The Apache boys are still young. They are warriors not trained killers. I fight the urge to look over my shoulder as we hurry toward the dune.

“Robin,” I hiss. “Something isn’t right…” We reach the other side of the dune. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Around a group of large boulders is a small passage where the canyon and mountain creates a crevice large enough for a single file group of people to pass through. There’s no fire. A group of men dressed in black clothing emerge. Amanda grips my hand we turn but we are closed in. Rocks and men surround us.

“What the fuck?” I hiss.

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