Savior Ch. 14

I pulled out of his arm. "Yeah," I said softly.

"Good," he said firmly. "Think about all the times he made you work while he was off somewhere jerking off. How he cheated on you and couldn't even give you a fucking orgasm. How he didn't care about his own son. How he took Garrett from you, and how he beat you when you tried to get away from him. Think about that, then stick a fucking knife in his back and twist it, you hear me? Make him fucking pay for what he's done to you!"

As he rattled off the litany of complaints I had about Carl, his voice hard, guilt was replaced by anger, then rage. How dare that asshole take my son from me!

I glared at him and he smiled before lowering his lips to mine for a brief kiss. "There she is," he said softly. "That's the Hanna I know. You ready to go fuck up some Orcas?"

His gentle words of support dulled the edge of my wrath, but then I thought of Carl riding Garrett on his motorcycle, or leaving him alone in a room somewhere, and my fury returned. "Yeah," I snapped.

With a small smile, he placed his hand in my back and escorted me to the door of OSB.

"Rand, how are you?" Bryan said as he extended his hand. OSB was our first stop of the morning.

Rand shook his hand. "Good, but we need to talk."

Bryan nodded. "Sure. Right this way. I'm sorry, but I've forgotten your name."

"Hanna."

Bryan snapped his fingers. "That's right, Hanna. I must be getting old to forget the name of such a beautiful woman," he said with a grin. "Can I get you two anything? Coffee?"

"No thanks, Bryan. We just had breakfast," Rand replied as we entered Bryan's office and Rand shut the door behind us.

"Uh-oh. This can't be good," Bryan said.

"It's not," Rand began. "As I mentioned Saturday, the Orcas are going to try to move into the area. The BRMC and the town have a pretty good relationship and it works for everyone. If the Orcas move in..." He let the sentence dangle.

We hadn't rehearsed this, but I recognized my cue. "What they typically do," I began, taking over the narrative, "is they'll come into town and throw a lot of money around. They'll either try to buy out an existing business or, failing that, set one up. Then they'll try to drive the competitors out. They use the business as a cover for other, less legal, operations such as drugs, guns, whatever. They'll likely start trying to charge protection money by demanding a cut of your business, and if you refuse to pay it, you'll see a rise in vandalism and theft. Trust me, you do not want to do business with them, no matter what they promise you. They're nothing but thugs, you can't trust them, and the moment you're no longer useful, they'll knife you in the fu... in the back."

"How do you know all this?" Bryan asked when I paused.

"I used to be married to one, remember? He liked to brag about how they'd do just what I described. They don't have to make money on the business because they're making it on the back door dealing until they've pushed everyone else out."

Bryan's face hardened. "And you think they've targeted me as the takeover?"

Rand shrugged. "Makes sense. You're the biggest of the three shops in town. If you fall, the other two won't be far behind."

"I'm not selling. I built this business from nothing and I'll be damned if a bunch of jackbooted thugs are going to take it away from me."

"I'm glad you feel that way. When we're done here, I'm visiting Bill and Greg, and telling them the same thing. We don't want the Orcas in town, and we don't want the guns, drugs, and violence that follow them. We have a plan to deal with them, but it all depends on you three hanging tough and trusting us."

"What's the plan?"

"A united front. They need a toehold, and I think it's obvious they're targeting the speed shops. Makes sense because unlike a restaurant or motel, the clientele is self-selecting for what they really want... the special event. Anyway, if you, Bill, and Greg refuse to budge, that'll mean a total freeze out. They'll have to start from scratch, and that'll give us time to fuck them over and convince them we're more trouble than we're worth. The BRMC will watch your backs to make sure nothing happens to you. We're also passing the word in town the Orcas aren't welcome here, if you know what I mean."

Bryan nodded. "I can't speak for Bill or Greg, but I'm on board. You've never given me a reason to not trust you. You keep the special event out of the town and make sure those here for it understand the town is off-limits for that type of hooliganism, and you help enforce it. It's been good for everyone."

Rand nodded. "We live here, too, and we don't want trouble any more than anyone else. What we do out of town is our business, but we don't shit in our nest."

Bryan nodded. "If you need any help persuading Bill or Greg let me know, and I'll try to help convince them."

"Thanks, Bryan, I'll do that. One other thing. If those assholes show up here again, give them a nice long, in-depth, tour of the place... after you call us. We want to have a word with them, alone."

Bryan chuckled. "I can do that. We might have an all hands meeting about then, too. The shop will be empty, and that'll be a good place to talk to them."

Rand grinned as he rose and extended his hand. "I think we understand each other."

Bryan also rose and shook Rand's hand, then mine. "I'll call if they show up again."

"Thanks. I'll talk to Doug about maybe having someone keep an eye on the place. Maybe we'll put a word in Chief Buckley's ear too. Let the cops earn their pay for once," Rand said with a grin.

Bryan snickered. "The Chief and I are fishing buddies. I won't tell him you said that, but I might mention it, as well."

Bryan escorted us out as he and Rand talking about inconsequential stuff. I found it surprising that Rand, and the BRMC in general, commanded as much respect as they did. People feared the Orcas, but they didn't respect them.

"That was easier than I expected," I said as I buckled my helmet.

"Bryan's a smart guy. He knows a good thing when he sees it, and he knows bringing a bunch of drugs into town is bad for business. Part of the draw of Bayport is the racers can come here, spend a few days, bring the family if they have one, and everyone has a good time. It's a good, clean, family friendly town."

"And Bayport doesn't know what the Bayport Riders do?"

"They know we help keep the bikers in line, ask them to quiet down if they get too loud or rowdy, and will chase them out of town if they can't live with our rules. But the special event? No, for the most part, nobody knows, and we want to keep it that way."

I found it interesting that the race was always referred to as the special event, at least in public. "Not even the police?" I asked as I climbed on his bike behind him.

"They know, but they have no proof, and we're very careful to make sure they never get proof. To be honest, I don't think they try very hard to shut us down. So long as we keep it off the public streets, and confine it to the Hell, they tend to ignore us. Maybe they figure what happens on the Hell is the county's problem."

"How do you do that?"

"What?"

"Keep the ra—the special event off the streets."

He smiled. "Easy. You get reported racing, doing wheelies, speeding excessively, anything like that, you're banned from the special event. We make it very clear that stuff won't be tolerated because it brings down the heat on all of us."

I nodded as the Harley rumbled to life, still amazed at the differences between Carl and the Orcas, and Rand and the BRMC. Both clubs were engaged in illegal activities, but the BRMC made sure to protect the community from their actions. Not shitting in their nest, as he said. As the bike rumbled away, I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him.

I was feeling upbeat, and a small smile touched my lips. It'd felt good knifing Carl in the back and him not even knowing it. He fucked me with Garrett and our marriage, and now I'm turning the favor by fucking him with the Orcas.