Chapter Six

THE DUCHESS

Ghost rolled off me, scrambling to pull clothes on just like I was.

Rather than fighting with my dress though, I just stole his t-shirt and slipped on the shoes I always left by the door. Fortunately, the t-shirt was long enough that I wouldn’t flash the world. I even had a gun there that was already ready to go. “What the fuck was that,” I growled as I pulled the door open, running down the stairs.

I sprinted through the bar towards the garden, and was immediately confronted by the sight of one of the garages being on fire. The garage that had the entrance to the tunnels and rooms that formed part of our basement. The basement that had Blaze and co were locked up in it.

By the time I got there, a group of newbies had already gotten the hoses out and were dousing the flames. I heard sirens approaching, and absolutely did not want to be dealing with police right now. “Karma!” I shouted. “Get rid of the cops. We’ve got this.”

“On it, boss.”

“For fucks sake,” I growled. “Where is Rogue?!”

“Here, Duchess,” he replied, voice a little concerned. For his own welfare.

“If I find out you or your club had anything to do with this, Rogue, you know what will happen.”

“It wasn’t us, Duchess.”

“For your sake, I hope you’re telling the truth.” I scowled, before turning back towards the burning wreckage. “FISHNET! CCTV!”

“Already looking, boss.”

Now the fire was out, I walked towards the wreckage, a scarf over my mouth so I didn’t breath in too much crap. “Don’t…” Ghost’s hand appeared on my arm.

“Ghost. Not right now,” I scowled. “Move your hand.”

He let me go and I walked through where the garage door used to be. Fortunately this garage was just storage for spare bike parts, so it was a financial hit, but not as bad as it could be.

The entrance in the floor was damaged though, and could be a major problem.

“Ghost, is Karma back yet?” I called behind me.

“I’m here, boss.”

“Roundup Tequila and Shorty. Hornet stays with Rogue. Newbies around the perimeter.” I swore again as I kicked some of the rubble out of the way. “And grab torches.”

We swept through the chaos in the basement, and my worst fears were realised. Blaze, Speed and Blow had gotten out.

“Where the fuck could they have gone?! How the fuck did someone get a bomb in our grounds without us knowing?”

I stormed back up into the garage, heading towards the bar. I could feel just how pissed off I must have looked.

“HORNET! Anyone that’s a member of a club that isn’t Valkyrie, in the bar, keep them there. The rest of you, Ragnarök!”

GHOST

In how she dealt with the explosion, I could really see why the Duchess had the brutal reputation she did. I hated that I was cooped up in the bar with the rest of the external club members, but I could also see why she did it.

Not that I knew what was in that basement that pissed her off this much…

“Rogue, what’s happening, man?” I asked him.

“The Duchess had some issues with our Ashworth charter earlier today. It’s why the atmosphere here is so… tense.”

Blaze was an idiot, but not normally that much of an idiot. Surely he wasn’t stupid enough to cross the Valkyrie?

“That explains why she’s suspicious of us being here, then… What did he do?”

“He lost a shipment of cocaine, and of course wants to deal with that, but doesn’t have the firepower. Wanted to buy some guns on credit, but after a brief ‘discussion’ with his second and third… it became crystal clear that he had no intention of paying and would fuck her over at the first possible opportunity. I happen to know she had Blaze, his second and his third in the basement.”

Apparently he is that much of an idiot.

“Boss… why are we even here?”

He grinned. “Buying a fuck tonne of guns and weed, of course.”

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, that made sense.

KARMA

The Duchess was scary-pissed, but I couldn’t say I blamed her. Not only did someone just blow up one of her properties, but the three idiots she had in the basement somehow got away, AND she was mid-sex when this all happened.

“Fishnet,” she asked, voice low. “Did you find anything on the CCTV?”

“Still looking, boss… wait. YES!”

We all spun to look at her. “I have a face, and a bike reg.”

“Let’s see the face, Fishnet?”

She turned her laptop to show us, and immediately, the Duchess’ face fell. She swore under her breath. When Fishnet turned it more to show me, mine fell too.

“What the actual fuck?!” I shouted.

“Is anyone else here from that club?”

“Let’s go find out, shall we.”

THE DUCHESS

To say I was fuming would be an understatement.

The person we saw sprinting away after setting the bomb was someone Karma and I both knew from a previous life. Before I left, he was my dad’s Sergeant at Arms.

My fucking dad.

Archie ‘Pyro’ Hanes blew up my garage.

“Karma,” I called across the room. “Can you grab Rogue and Ghost, please.”

“Of course, boss.”

They were back in no time. “What’s going on, Duchess?” Rogue asked.

I leaned back in my chair, feet on the table. Fortunately I’d thrown shorts on.

“Answer me honestly, Rogue. Do you have any dealings with Thunderstruck MC?”

“No, I don’t…” Rogue replied. “Why?”

“My dad’s club.”

Ghost’s mouth fell open.

When it became clear they don't, I moved through the room, looking for the telltale lightning bolt patch that I designed back in the day. Two people. I motioned for Fishnet to round them up, dragging them back into Ragnarök. 

“Rogue, Ghost. I’d appreciate it if you could wait in the bar just whilst we deal with this bit.”

They both nodded. 

“Now then, what on earth were three members of the Thunderstruck MC doing in my bar tonight?”

They both just stared at me, not responding.

This is the one benefit of name patches. They might not answer, but I didn’t really need them to.

Instead, I just called my dad. Fortunately for me, but perhaps unfortunately for him, he answered straight away.

“Hey, dad.”

“Alex! Hey, little one. How are you all?”

“Dad, let’s just cut to it, shall we?”

He was silent. Suspicious, much.

“I had three members of your club in my bar tonight. Know anything about that?”

“I’m sure they were just there to drink, Alex.”

“You say that. One of my garages got blown up and three prisoners were taken away.”

“What?!”

Well that sounded suspicious.

“Is Pyro still your Sergeant at Arms?”

“Yes…”

“Well. I have him on camera blowing up my garage, dad.”

He was silent again.

“I also have Zodiac and Bull sitting right in front of me, currently with two guns a piece pointing at each of their heads.”

He was still silent.

“For fucks sake, dad, please tell me you did not order your Sergeant at Arms to bomb my fucking club.”

“I had to.”

My heart dropped.

“What do you mean you had to?!”

“I told him to make sure you and Erica weren’t anywhere near it.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck! Why are you blowing up my club?”

“I needed Blaze.”

You’ve got to be fucking shitting me.

“We could have had a conversation, dad. You know, like grown ups.” I sighed, rubbing my face. “Well then, I guess we’ll be seeing you real soon, dad. If you’re lucky, I’ll drop Zodiac and Bull back off to you alive.”

I hung up the call.

Now I just had to work out what to do about my dad ordering someone to blow up one of my club properties.