agreement sound out around the room. Suzie runs for the door only to be stopped and thrown back into the middle of the room.
“Please! I’ll do anything.” Suzie falls at my feet, eyes downcast as she splays herself flat on the floor.
Crouching down, I sneer at her pathetic form. “Would you have let Lola live?”
“Y-Yes,” whimpers Suzie.
“You fucking lying cunt!” yells Tommy, spittle flying from his lips. “I was the only one. I let Lo escape, but she… she brought her back.”
Suzie goes up on her knees, tears streaming down her face. “N-No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t. Lo is my friend.”
“Then you’d know she doesn’t like to be called Lo,” I whisper.
I pull my gun out, flick off the safety, and put it to Suzie’s head, right between her eyes. Blubbering like an idiot, she keeps saying no over and over again.
Cutter comes up beside me and nods at her. “Let me, Prez. Don’t dirty your hands with this lot.”
“It’s my responsibility.”
“Nah, I’m the Enforcer.” Cutter scans around the room. “Besides, you’ve got nothing to prove.”
“And you do?”
Cutter smiles. “The difference between us? I know what type of monster I am.” He winks at me and nods at the other two. “The men are one thing but killing a woman will damage you in ways you don’t want to think about.” Cutter taps the side of his head with a finger. “But for me, I’ll sleep like a baby. My demons are bigger than that.”
I nod, not because I can’t or won’t kill Suzie but because he can, and he won’t care. And part of me knows he’s right, killing a woman will taint my soul. Cutter smiles at me then looks down at Suzie. His eyes change, and the smile turns deadly. Suzie crawls backward away from us as she too can see his monster that lurks inside.
Arrow steps forward. “I claim the right to end their lives,” he yells loudly as he points to Ben and Tommy.
“Arrow, I—”
“No, Prez. Please, let me. I was Smokey’s sponsor, but more than that, he was my friend.”
Taking stock of the room, most of my men are nodding. Everyone is staring at the two men. Tommy has his head down, eyes glued to the floor. Ben is shivering, clutching onto himself, oblivious to the conversations going on around him.
I hold up a hand and make a circle in the air. They all file out, leaving Arrow, Cutter, and myself with our prisoners.
Cutter has his gun out as does Arrow.
“Are you sure?” I ask both of them.
Neither man speaks. They both simply nod.
Turning, I head for the door. The cries for help and leniency fall on deaf ears as the first gunshot rings out before I open the door, followed by Cutter’s laughter, and then another gunshot pierces the air as I walk out into the fresh night air. Inwardly, I’m grateful that I didn’t have to personally end anyone’s life tonight. As president of the MC, I ultimately know their deaths will fall at my feet, but for tonight, I’ll tell myself my soul is intact.
Lola finds me through the crowd and stands beside me while Sean joins me on the other side. In the middle of the field, off to one side of the shed, is a pyre. Upon it is a body wrapped in white.
The MC surround it, forming a circle. Sean hands me a lit torch, its flames reaching up into the night sky. Holding it high, I take a step toward the pyre, and the smell of gasoline assaults my senses. No doubt, Sean made sure Smokey would burn by dousing him and the wood.
“You will not be forgotten. Your death has been avenged. You can rest easy, my friend, and enjoy the delight of heaven, knowing we will join you one day in your eternal rest.” I put the torch into the bottom of the pyre and step back. The flames quickly envelop the wood and the body. “Ride hard, ride true, and know your loyalty will always be remembered.”
As one, the men all shout, “Loyal Rebels forever!”
Many bottles come out and are passed around from man to man. Stories about Smokey circulate as we drink to him. Some throw booze and empty bottles into the fire, but me, I watch him burn. His death is on my hands. Smokey was one of mine, and I protect what’s mine.
Sean leans in. “It wasn’t your fault. The fuckers in that shed and Yvette Cartland did this. It’s on