Page 65 of Ripper
Ripper came back over to me, wrapping me in his arms, and it was genuinely the only place I felt safe. My mind was reeling, and the longer I sat in that one spot, the more the anger started welling up inside of me. I wanted them dead. I wanted them to pay for what they did to Uncle Axle, what they did to me, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before we put an end to this. I wasn’t going to let them slip through my fingers again.
I must’ve dozed off for a few minutes because I heard the sound of someone calling my name, jolting me awake.
“Ronnie?”
“Hm?”
“He’s up, and he wants to see you,” said Ripper, softly.
“How is he?” I asked, gulping.
“He’s gonna be just fine. Like I said, he’s a strong one.”
My face lit up when I heard that. I leaped right off the couch, following Ripper into the small family room just across from the kitchen. I squeezed his hand tightly, feeling the comfort course through me, and just knowing that Uncle Axle was going to pull through gave me all the hope in the world.
“There she is,” he said, his voice deep and low.
“Uncle Axle.”
I rushed to his side without thinking, and I threw my arms around him. When I released, I saw that he was trying real hard not to wince from the pain.
“Oh my God. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Ronnie. I’m just glad to know you’re okay.”
“Me? You’re the one everyone needs to worry about. They had you for such a long time. I was so scared I was never going to see you again.”
“I was scared too, Ronnie. Look, the Kings are notorious for causing trouble, and they’re not gonna stop until they get what they want. They want the Rebels gone. They want you gone. I know you’ve got the right people looking out for you, but I still need you to be careful,” he pleaded.
“I will, Uncle Axle. They’re not going to get away with this. We’ll find them, and we’ll make sure they’ll never get the chance to pull something like this again,” I said, looking up at Ripper, who was nodding and smiling at me.
“We’re gonna take you home, Axle and I’m gonna tell Razor to stay with you. He’ll alert us if those fuckers try to come round again. Get some rest, okay?”
“Yeah, thanks, Tank,” he said, struggling to move, but he eventually got to his feet.
“Take care, Ronnie. This is probably the first time I’m ever gonna say this, but give those motherfuckers hell. Okay?”
“I definitely plan on it,” I said with a smile.
***
The clubhouse was bustling with people when we got back. Everyone gathered around in the living room waiting for Tank to address them all. Some of them had beer bottles in their hands, others with a few snacks they must’ve found in the cupboards. They all seemed antsy—like they were waiting around for a damn long time, and from the moment we sat down, I felt reinvigorated.
My mind was in overdrive trying to figure out how we were going to track down the two people that left me for dead, that were probably planning their next attack at this very second.
“Shit’s been getting real around here lately, and I know you’re all eager to get back out there to take those fuckers down,” said Tank, and everyone cheered.
“Half of you are gonna tackle looking for any one of those Freeway Kings that are left, burning through ’em until someone can tell you where Ray or Anna went. They fucked with one of our own. We ain’t got any more time to play this smart. We fight now, or we don’t fight at all. It’s time we put those fuckers in the ground.”
Tank started giving out orders to all the members. I stayed back with Ripper, Archer, Wrench, and Claymore while we tried to figure out how to get to Anna or Ray. I thought long and hard about every interaction I had with either of them, knowing quite well that Anna was going to be the easier one to lure out of hiding. She may carry herself around like she knew exactly what she was doing and like nothing bothered her, but she certainly had a weakness. That weakness was Ripper.
“I think I know how we can lure her out,” I said.
The talking died down, and they all turned to look at me, waiting patiently for what I had to say.
“The only thing that Anna wants more than power and control is for Ripper to pay attention to her. That’s why she’s been acting the way she did. That’s why she didn’t stay in the shadows when all of this was going on. If you two used to have a place where you used to go together, chances are she still spends some time there. Ray talked about how jealous she was, and I really think we can use that to our advantage.”
“No, it’ll never work. She figured it out the last time we tried to lure her out of hiding. She’ll see this coming from a mile away,” said Ripper.
