Driller: Dead Ringers MC Book 1 Read online

  Just as the taser hits Kid’s back he looks over at me and winks.

  I bend over and try to hold back the wave of nausea coming over me. Nobody told him to do this. He’s obviously on a suicide mission. Doing whatever it takes to protect the club from his dad, and, more importantly, himself.

  Fucking Kid. He probably is the best candidate for president. I try not to vomit on the floor as he lays there writhing, the taser finally taking him down.

  A police officer grabs me by the back of my shirt and I put my hands in the air. I didn’t sign up for this shit and I sure as hell had nothing to do with it. They could listen to the tapes. I was already patted down before I walked in the door. Hell, Kid was separated from me by a glass wall and was in cuffs the entire time.

  “I’m gonna need you to make a statement,” he growls.

  “Sure,” I mutter. I don’t even know what the fuck I could possibly say. Kid knew exactly what he was doing even if the rest of us couldn’t figure that out.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Pearl

  “Please don’t be mad at me. Don’t be mad at him. Ransom!” I shout. “There’s gotta be a rational explanation for this.”

  We’re standing behind the mall and he’s sucking down a cigarette with such velocity it disappears in three long pulls. He sent Red Eye off to the food court before dragging me down the long hallway where employees take their lunch break.

  “I didn’t do shit, Ransom. All I did was show up.”

  “You don’t get it, do you?” he asks. He taps another smoke out of his pack and offers me one. I shrug and take it, and he lights it for me. “He’s gone fucking rogue.”

  “I don’t get it,” I say. Like, I genuinely do not get why he’s so upset. I genuinely don’t understand anything about how clubs work or who answers to who. All I know is somebody is following us, or me, and it probably has something to do with my dad’s mysterious death.

  “Don’t play stupid. You’re not a stupid girl. There’s more to this shit than what you’re telling me.”

  He puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes it a little harder than necessary.

  “What, you gonna hit me or something? Driller said that’s not your guys’ thing, but if he’s going rogue maybe he’s making his own rules.”

  He lets go of my arm. “Not gonna fucking hit you,” he says in defeat. “I’m just so confused.”

  “Welcome to the damn club, Ransom. I came back home because my dad died. I didn’t ask for any of this. I don’t know what any of this is.” I don’t know if I’m going to laugh or cry. I finish up my cigarette and stub it out on the ashtray. “All I know is Driller is a man of his word. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I know how much he cares about the club. I know he’d never do anything to betray you guys. This is all my fault. He’s just trying to protect me.”

  “Don’t say that.” He shakes his head. “I’m not the kind of guy who throws around apologies, but I’m sorry, Pearl. Maybe I’ve been a little unfair to you. Definitely been a little weird to you.”

  “A little weird? In one breath you’re hitting on me, and the next you’re dragging me out back to yell at me. I don’t fucking get you one bit.”

  “You will eventually,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Driller might be my best friend but shit’s complicated. Hearing you stand up for him, though, makes me feel good. Makes me know you’re true.”

  “That might be the nicest thing anybody’s ever said to me. Now come on; we gotta keep moving. If somebody’s really following me I don’t want to stay in one place for too long.”

  “Babe, you don’t gotta worry about anything when I’m around. Any of us. You’re safe, alright?”

  I smile and nod and deep down inside I know it’s true. I didn’t just sign up for Driller. I have a whole family now. It feels kind of good.

  We go back inside, and I flinch when I catch Red Eye running down the hallway directly towards us. I look over my shoulder, but Ransom grabs me and pulls me tight to him.

  “It’s alright, it’s alright,” Red Eye shouts as he gets closer to us. “It’s not that. We just gotta get back to the house. Some shit went down with Kid. They got him in solitary. It’s not good.”

  “It was only a matter of time,” Ransom mutters as the three of us walk down the hallway. “I knew fucking around with a cop’s wife was gonna blow up in his face. He should’ve known better. Fuckin idiot.”

  I feel a chill running through my body. It can’t be. Riley knew better. She’s grown, she has kids, she seems to have her shit together. I’m afraid to ask because I don’t want to know the answer.

  “It wasn’t that from what I gather,” Red Eye says. “He just went fucking nuts. I’ll tell you about it in the car. Driller was there. He saw it all.”

  “Is he okay?” I ask. Jesus Christ, what was he doing there? He didn’t say anything about going to visit Kid today. He was supposed to be at work.

  “I’m sure he is,” Ransom says. He grabs my hand and squeezes it. “Our boy knows how to hold his own.”

  Betty already has her car pulled out front and the three of us hurry and get in. Nobody has much to say on the ride home, and I kind of miss the casual banter, but all I can think about is if Driller is actually okay or not.

  “Is someone going to tell me what actually happened?” Betty asks, pushing her foot down so hard on the gas pedal I feel like we’re all going to go flying out the windshield.

  “I have no idea,” Ransom says.

  “I don’t know much. Cubby called me and told me to get back to the house. Apparently Kid got himself in some trouble at the jail. They tossed him in solitary for now, but I heard it’s worse than that.”

  “What a fucking idiot. That boy has less than a month. What did he do?”

  Red Eye shrugs.

  “I swear there’s never a dull moment with you guys.” Betty lights up a cigarette but keeps her hands gripped tight on the steering wheel as she speeds back to the house. I have my seatbelt buckled tight but it doesn’t stop me from bouncing all around. “Did you at least have time to find yourself a dress for tomorrow?”

  “Something like that,” I say. “I’m not worried about tomorrow. I’m just worried about Driller. What else did Cubby say, Red Eye? Is he going to be okay? What happened?” I plead.

  “You can ask him yourself at the house,” Ransom says.

  I feel something poke me in the side of my leg, and I look down and see Ransom’s phone sitting there on the car seat. There’s a text from Driller up on the screen. “9PM, the spot. Gonna fix this. Keep on the DL.”

  I slide the phone back to him as casually as I can. My heart is pounding. Something big is going down. Something bigger than my dad. Something bigger than me. Something bigger than Driller and I. I feel like I’m suffocating in this car. Feel like the air is being pressed out of my lungs.

  We get back to the house and Red Eye and Ransom take off towards the garage. Driller is standing out front and he waves at me and blows me a kiss. I stare over at him for a second before Betty wraps her arm around my shoulder and walks me inside.

  “Did you get anything good?” she asks.

  “What the hell is going on, Betty?” I ask, feeling like I’m about ready to scream. “Is this normal? Is every day around here some sort of epic struggle to stay alive and stay out of jail?”

  “Come on,” she says, grabbing my bags.

  We go in the front door and there’s a girl standing behind the bar who I haven’t seen before. She definitely doesn’t look like she belongs here. She has her laptop open and a stack of what look like medical textbooks are sitting next to it. She’s young and gorgeous with hair so red it’s almost white.

  “Why don’t we get Pearl a little shot of calm the fuck down,” Betty says with a wink.

  “I don’t drink,” I say. “Not starting today, especially not with whatever the hell is going on.”

  “Well that explains a lot.”

  “Lis
ten, Betty, I love you. You’ve always been nothing but kind to me and my father. You are gorgeous and sweet, and I admire you, but you gotta stop this hiding shit from me. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I need to know what the hell is going on!” I plead. “You’re not protecting me by keeping me on the outside. You’re making me weak.”

  “I like you,” the girl behind the bar says. “I can tell already.” She grabs a bottle of water and passes it to me.

  “I like her too. Which is why I am trying to ease her in. Most sane people take off running when they figure out what we’re all about.”

  “Are you trying to call me insane?” the redhead asks, picking up a knife off the bar and teasingly pointing it at us.

  “I know who your father is. You’re definitely not a hundred percent sane.”

  “And you know who my father is too, Betty. You know how I was raised. You know that nobody protected me from anything when I was a kid. And now suddenly everyone wants to treat me like a child?”

  It didn’t make sense. So many nights I ate microwave popcorn for dinner because that’s all we had in the cupboards and I was too scared to walk to the store for fear my dad was going to die in his sleep from being passed out drunk. So many times I witnessed things in the shop that nobody my age should’ve seen. I had access to guns, drugs, alcohol, you name it within arm’s reach probably since I was fresh out of the womb. Nobody intervened then.

  What was happening now?

  “I’m just trying to be decent, Pearl. I don’t know the whole story. I am only privy to a very limited picture. It’s not like I sit in on church. I only know what I observe, but in all my years of hanging around I’ve come to the conclusion you can’t always believe what you see.”

  I wrinkle my nose and wave her off. I’m starting to get tired of her cryptic bullshit. All I want is answers, and all I do is get fed little breadcrumbs that don’t seem to lead me anywhere productive.

  “I can tell you one thing for certain; Driller is batshit crazy for you, girl. You want to know something, I’m sure he’ll tell you in a heartbeat. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

  “She’s not lying,” the redhead says. “I’m Ashley by the way. I haven’t had a chance to formally meet you, but I’ve heard so much about you. I’m so sorry to hear about your dad.”

  She rolls up the sleeve of her floral blouse and shows me a little feather on her wrist.

  “It’s cute,” I say with a smile. “I bet he loved doing that.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” She bursts out in laughter, and so do I. “He made me feel like I was desecrating my body by wanting something so basic.”

  “That’s Vinnie for ya. I personally like it. And I have plenty of tattoos I got just because I liked how they look. They don’t all have to have some deep underlying meaning.” I show her the rose on my bicep. I show her the dreamcatcher on my hip. The feather on my ankle. “He can’t even talk. The man had a Popeye tattoo that said I yam what I yam on his forearm. That’s some basic shit right there.”

  “I can’t wait til you get your shop open. I’ve been dying to get one of these jobs,” she says, holding up her boobs and pointing at the area underneath. “Just never felt comfortable going to a guy for one.”

  “Your dad will fucking kill you, Ashley,” Betty says, raising her eyebrows.

  “My dad shouldn’t have any interest in my underboob at this point in my life, wouldn’t ya say?”

  “I would love to do that for you,” I say, and I really mean it. Having the shop open is going to be so nice. It’ll give me something to focus on other than the chaos that is becoming my life with Driller. If I’m going to have to be in a constant state of worry, I might as well put it all into my art. Art makes everything feel better. When I’m all wrapped up in my art, nothing else matters. It’s my escape. My freedom. My passion.

  I hope Driller is strong enough to understand that sometimes work will have to take top priority. I guess I’m being kind of unfair myself, not letting him have the same luxury, not trusting that whatever is going on with the club isn’t really important, not trusting that he’s great at what he does, whatever that is, and he can handle himself.

  “I’m gonna take your word for it, Betty,” I say. “And yours too. It was nice meeting you, Ashley. I’m gonna go draw for a little bit.”

  Betty follows me down the hallway, like she’s scared to let me out of her sight.

  “I mean it,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “We failed you,” she mumbles. “It just hit me now. We failed you when you needed us, when you were just little, Pearl.”

  “Get the hell out of here with that,” I say. “Nobody failed me. I wasn’t yours to keep track of. You weren’t my dad. You weren’t my mom, whoever that is, were ya?” I knew her and my dad were close, but I highly doubted that was the case, even though things lately are never as they appear.

  “Oh God no, child. I am the most barren broad that has ever walked the face of the planet. That’s alright, though. I’ve got to use my maternal instincts since the day I met these guys. To me it’s better than being an actual mother. I get the satisfaction of knowing my children love me and respect me not because they have to, but because I make them want to.”

  I give her a big hug. “You’ve always been the sweetest, Betty. I don’t think any of us deserve you.”

  I unlock the door to Driller’s bedroom and instantly feel that strange “home” sensation again. Maybe it’s the way he smells. Maybe it’s the way he made the bed up nicely, the way he moved all his clothes over in the closet for me. It’s weird. Little things. Like he made room for me in his place just like I made room for him in my heart.

  “I need to ask you something,” I say as she turns to walk away.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “What’s this claiming business all about?”

  Her face turns a shade of red that I didn’t think a woman like her was capable of.

  “Tell me! Every time I ask someone they change the subject. The only person who seems to have any interest in explaining it to me is Ransom.”

  “That’s because Ransom is the one who serves to benefit from all of it.”

  “Well now you have to tell me,” I say. “Obviously this is something you know about. Firsthand experience?”

  “Oh hell no,” she says. “I’ve never been claimed. Never something I was interested in. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise you’re going to keep an open mind.”

  “Oh Lord.” She steps into the room and I pull the door closed behind her. She starts pacing around, her red high heels click-clacking furiously on the hardwood.

  “If you want to know one thing about the MC, it’s that these men take their bylaws very seriously. Without rules and regulations, people get greedy, shit goes sideways, human nature kicks in and things start falling apart.”

  “Betty, enough.” I can’t help but roll my eyes. “I get it. The club has rules.”

  “Rules, and a rich history of rituals and traditions that the outside might not understand.”

  “It’s a sex thing isn’t it,” I say, only half kidding.

  “I don’t know if I should be having this talk with you. Driller hasn’t said anything?”

  “He said he wants to claim me, but with the chaos and my dad’s funeral he just doesn’t want to overwhelm me. I don’t know, I can’t help but think that, in spite of the chaos, it might just be the best possible thing. I want to do this for him, but I want to do it for me, too. I need this right now. I’ve never wanted to be with someone more in my whole life. I know this is real.” The words fall out of my mouth so easily, and I feel my eyes growing wet with tears. I don’t care what I have to do, I want to officially be Driller’s old lady. I want to give him that gift. I want to be bound to him forever.

  “You love him?”

  I gulp. “I love him. I need him. I can’t imagine a day of my life without him. I feel this sadness in my heart about my past, that we didn
’t get together sooner. I don’t want to let any more time slip away. It’s how things are supposed to be, Betty.”

  “I know, child,” she says. The smile on her face lights up the entire room. “You’re probably going to want to sit down. Are you sure you don’t drink? Now might be a good time to start.”

  “Lay it on me, Betty,” I plead, flopping down on the couch. “How do I get this man to make it official.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Driller

  Church yielded a whole lot of nothing. Not much we can do at the moment til we figure out what the damage is with Kid. I can’t help but admire him more in this moment than I have in the entire time I’ve known him. I’m not saying that cop deserved to get shanked, I really hate to get civilians involved in our shit, but I’m sure Kid had his reasons for choosing that specific one.

  It was all so calculated. He went into warrior mode. He did what he had to do to make sure his club was taken care of. With him locked up for at least another five to ten years, there’s no reason why we can’t shake up the bylaws and get Stoney out of here before he can make things any worse. The clock is ticking. He knows it. We know it. Nobody wants to say it, though.

  I haven’t got a chance to smooth things out with Ransom yet, but I’m hoping tonight I can make it right. He’s my best friend in the whole world. I trust him with my life and I’d take a bullet for him. I hate what I did to him last night, leaving him in the dirt to save face for Stoney. I’m hoping tonight I can have a face-to-face with him and we can start setting things right. He only wants what I want after all. Safety for our club and family. Prosperity for our brotherhood. Keeping the tradition alive. Truth.

  I can’t wait to get back to Pearl. There wasn’t a second I stopped thinking about her today. Hell, I can’t stop thinking about her right now as I walk back to my room. Wondering what she’ll be doing. What she’ll be wearing. Hopefully not much. I love the way she looks in nothing but a t-shirt and a smile. I get painfully hard, adjusting my dick as I gently knock on the door.