Khan Part I (Midnight Syn MC Book 1) Read online

  “Ivy,” her words are soft, “god I look like such an idiot.”

  “Bil, trust me, you look nothing like an idiot,” I pause and look at her again, “that’s exactly what I made sure that he knew.” I can tell that she’s connecting some sort of dots.

  “Why did he say you wanted to fuck me?” every time she uses those words I can’t help but laugh. I think my face grimaces a little bit. “Dax.” she glares at me again. How do you tell someone politely that you indeed want to fuck them?

  I toss my hands in the air, “I told him that if he fucked it up, I’d be there waiting to make sure he never got you back.” The thing with women that I have learned over the years is that I never know how they are going to react to my comments and Billie Saxs is no different. She looks furious and then she gets into her car, starts it, and shocks me more when she peels out of the parking lot. Well, fuck.

  I put my hands into my pockets as I walk back over to my truck and Ella laughs, taking one of the headphones out of her ear, and asks. “Is she mad?”

  “No, kid, that’s how happy people leave an argument.” She rolls her eyes at me, placing her headphone back into her ear, and tunes me out again.

  …but explosives… I get them… they have a purpose most people don’t even have that.

  "Prez,” I hear Ace shout to me as I walk back into the clubhouse, “Dyno needs to see you in purgatory.” I nod to him. I’m not particularly a fan of purgatory, which may be why I don’t spend more time out there.

  “Let him know that I’ll head up there tonight.” I tell Ace, “I need you to check in on Ella while I’m gone.” He nods his head. I can’t help but think about the extra amount of work that has been put on the other officers since Oz has left. They insisted that I officially take over the president position we need to find another VP.

  “What is it, Prez?” I hear Fury as me.

  “We need to get the vacant seat filled soon. Since neither one of you,” I point to both of them, “wanted it.”

  “Fuck that amount of responsibility.” Fury mutters.

  “Yeah, I got it,” I mutter to them.

  “Plus,” I hear Ace mutter out next to me, “that’s a fucking reputation to amount to,” he says and I roll my eyes at him.

  “Don’t try and stroke my ego,” I mutter out.

  “No, he’s right. When’s the last time we had a new VP?” Fury asks me looking back.

  “Not quite as long since we had a new Prez,” I mutter and everyone then sits uncomfortably because as much as I may have run things for Oz over the last few years, the position was still his for the last 18 years.

  “You have nothing to worry about,” I hear Fury say to me. “Man you know what you’re doing. Oz has been grooming you to take over for years now.” Now I sit uncomfortably, I hate the term grooming.

  “We need to select a new VP this week… So if you two absolutely don’t want it, we’ve got to come up with someone. I’m getting ready to leave to go to purgatory you two put your skulls together and try to get someone who actually wants the thing, and who will actually be fucking decent. We’ll talk about it when I get back and then put it up to a vote within everyone else.” I know who I am thinking but if they don’t agree then I will not offer the suggestion. I could just be playing favorites.

  ❖

  The ride out to purgatory takes a little over 2 hours. It took us 6 months to build it. Oz was very impressed with me when I thought of the idea. Even more, impressed when we had actually completed it. As soon as I get to Joshua Tree, I pull off and grab my phone from my pocket, I turn it off, slipping the SIM card out, and slip the SIM card into my wallet and my phone back into my pocket. We started doing this to make sure it doesn’t ping off any towers. I start watching the area around me, making sure that I’m not being followed. It is late at night now, so I turn off my lights. The best part about the desert is that normally there are not many clouds in the sky so you can see in front of you without the lights on. I pull up to the entrance and take one last look around me making sure that no one is here and pull into the side of the mountain with the small opening. The opening is strategically is only as big for our Jeep Wrangler… with the mirrors folded in, but more importantly smaller than the black SUVs that cops use. Once you get inside of the opening it opens up a little bit more but not much. About 300 feet inside the opening there is a garage door, that sits behind the jeep which Dyno normally uses, I walk over to the soundproof lockbox that is attached to the wall when I open it I see Dyno’s sitting in there and wonder why he even has a phone. To see Dyno standing there, “Prez!” His arms are wide stretched as I walk up to him and hug him. “Congrats, glad to hear it finally happen,” he says nodding down to my patch on my jacket. I shake my head. Maybe I need to have more people come up here with him. The room that the door opens up too, is a large lab. He has all the chemicals, devices, anything that he needs anything he may need is either here or we quickly find it.

  This used to be an old mine… or that’s how it started. We reinforced the walls, and carefully, slowly opened up more spaces that we needed. The electricity is fueled from the solar panels that we have randomly placed around the mountainside making sure not to put them too closely together. In case the heat starts getting close to this place, by aerial surveillance, this place still looks like a mountain with nothing around it. We also found a lot of gold while building this… which was more of a bonus.

  “Dyno, How are things coming?” I ask him and he nods his head. Probably faster than it should be.

  He stands with his goggles on his head wide-crazed eyes and says, “Good, good… I have a new test I’m about to do. I have been waiting for you to come with me.” He suggests and I nod my head. As we walk back out of the door that I had just come from. He motions for me to get into the jeep and as carefully as I watch him pull past my bike sitting to its side. We pull out of the mountainside and down into the desert itself. And he drives. I don’t ask a word only wondering what this man is taking me to see.

  Dyno’s position here is to maintain the supply. The club has a pot farm in the state as well. We sell it legally and everything is buy the book, kind of. We account for the majority of it… what we don’t account for is for the club's use… which is technically more of a grey area… we count it as waste or bad crop. All of our legit businesses have civilian employees except for at Pistons, which is more of just a stop for our bikes… the only people allowed to work in there are from the MC. All businesses are technically the property of the LLC that the charter owns. We are each supposed to put in time at each business, I don’t spend too much time at the farm though… that shit gives me a headache. But purgatory, out here… this is where no one can find us… this is where technically the illegal activities begin. Our waste from the farm comes here. When we get our shipments everything is stored here… Dyno also makes some explosives and some other things. Dyno’s job is to watch over all of our contraband… but I think he’s starting to lose it a little. I need to pull him back in. Oz seemed to forget about him most days.

  He pulls the jeep over and we get out… he jogs ahead a few feet and he places down the object that he is carrying in his hand... and then he jogs back up to the jeep motioning for me to get back in and jumps in himself. He pulls the jeep back onto the road and begins to drive the road which winds up the mountain. When we get to the top he stops the jeep again and says, “Remember where we just put it.”

  “Yeah,” I mutter grabbing ahold of the bars on the jeep and lift myself up. Dyno is twitchy, well I should say twitchier than normal, as he presses the button in his head and an explosion happens which throws out fireballs to all sides… the fire spreads quickly, but since we are in the desert and there’s only dirt and sand it goes out almost just as quick. Also, Dyno is short for Dyn-o-mite. Dyno worked with explosives while he was in the military. He won’t tell us which branch, he also won’t tell us how long he was in, but by the way that he carries himself and his mannerisms, the only othe
r person I have seen that within is my father. Also, I’m pretty sure he dealt with some shit in the Middle East, his giant scar down his back leads me to believe that.

  “Man,” Dyno says as he looks back to it and says in almost a depressed tone, “stupid desert,”

  “Holy fucking shit, dude!” I shout at him smacking him on his shoulder, jumping up and down using the bar and causing the jeep to bounce as well, and looking over to him. Part of my animated act is to get him to realize how awesome that was and the other part is pure excitement of my own. “Did you make a fucking napalm bomb?” He nods his head, excitedly. I sit down quickly as he speeds back to our mountain. When we get to the opening he flips the car into reverse and like a champ parks it in the tunnel right between my bike and his without even coming close to touching either of them. We both jump out of the jeep and walk back in through the door. “How?”

  “Polystyrene.” He mutters

  “What?”

  “Styrofoam,” I nod my head again at him.

  “Seriously,”

  “Yeah, it works best if there isn’t any writing on it.”

  “Do you need more of it?” I ask him thinking about where we could get some from.

  “Depends on how many you want me to build.” We walk back into the lab and sit down on the couches in the room.

  “The way it’s made,” I pause and think for a second, “is there a way for anyone to decipher that it was made beforehand?”

  “Can they tell if it’s a bomb?” He asks me and I nod my head.

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, what it’s made out of right now, yeah, probably.”

  “Could you make it in a way which the casing would burn up as well?”

  “Yeah” he mutters. “How many would you need?” He asks me and I pause.

  “I don’t have a plan for them quite yet, but with the leadership transitioning someone is bound to try and test me.” He nods his head. “You think you could put together like 6 just in case.” He nods his head.

  “If you’re worried about it not reaching all of the areas, pour some high-proof alcohol or gas … it will go up even faster.”

  “Okay, so how is everything out here?”

  “It’s good,” he says quietly.

  “Dyno, do you need some help out here. I can send some of the guys out to at least give you some company.” He laughs and shakes his head.

  “They’ll fuck up my formula.” Dyno is one of those people who are off the grid. He can come back to the clubhouse whenever he wants he just chooses not to.

  “You’re a weird fuckin’ dude, Dyno.” He pauses as he looks at me and nods.

  “Yeah, I saw some fucked up shit in Iraq,” he nods his head slowly, “couldn’t really talk to people when I got home. I don’t really get them, but explosives… I get them… they have a purpose most people don’t even have that.” Oh shit, profound. “Want to see how everything is out here.” I nod my head and he shows me to the stash of drugs and then to our room of weapons.

  …Who does Daxton fucking Wessex think he is…

  “Who does Daxton fucking Wessex think he is telling my husband that he will take me from him.” I shout to Lucy as she sits across from me at dinner.

  “Well, he didn’t actually say that, right?” She looks to me, tilting her head as to say that I’m overreacting.

  “He pretty much should have. His words caused Brad to react like that.” I mutter, not really eating my food, just pushing it around my plate with my fork.

  “Bil,” she snaps at me rolling her eyes, “Brad reacted like that because Brad’s an asshole.” She bluntly states for the hundredth time this week.

  “Brad has never done anything like that to me before.”

  “Okay.” He states as she picks up her cup and drinks from it. Her tone tells me that she’s annoyed with me.

  “What, Lucy? If you have something to say, just say it.” I mutter back to her.

  “Billie,” she pauses as if trying to figure out the right words to say, “Brad has been an asshole since the day you met him. The only reason why it’s taken him this long to become physical is that he has been gone for 6 months almost every year since the two of you got married. He controls you, even if he isn’t violent. He has told you where it’s acceptable for you to work. How to dress, how he expects you to act.” I start to object and she shakes her head, “I’m not finished. He controls the way you perceive yourself. I’ve watched you in the gym killing yourself trying to get into the shape that he wants you to be in which let me add is not achievable. He’s a fucking asshole and you deserve so much better,” She waits to see if I’m going to say anything else and then adds, “someone who knows your worth.” I quietly look down at the ground and begin to pick at my fingernails. “Stop doing that.” She mutters to me. “I’m not saying these things to make you feel bad. You separated from him. That’s the best thing that you can do. I’m telling you this mostly because I have never pretended to like him. I’ve also never thought that you loved him quite like you thought you did.” Many minutes go by before she speaks again, “You were such a spirited person when I met you, the whole time we were growing up. You had all these things that interested you and you surprised everyone by the things that you did. I’ve watched that person and that spark fall away, just think about who you want to be and who you want.” She then gets up and walks back to her bedroom.

  Almost as if he can hear us talking about him my phone beeps.

  Brad: I need to talk to you.

  Is all it says

  Me: No, Brad. I have nothing to say to you.

  ❖

  Monday morning

  I’m sitting in my office as my office phone rings, as I answer it I can’t help but look at the clock that reads 8:30, on my computer, just to make sure that I didn’t miss any scheduled calls.

  “Billie Saxs,” I say into the receiver but no one says anything. Yet, I can hear breathing on the other end. “Hello?” I say into the receiver and still no response. “Hello, is anyone there?” Once more, nothing in response, “Okay, if anyone is there I can’t hear you.” I wait for maybe a full minute just so that I’m sure no one is trying to say anything and has accidentally muted the phone. I have done that more times than I care to admit, so I understand. “Okay, I’m hanging up now.” I finally mutter out before putting my receiver back on the base.

  I mention the phone call to Lucy briefly when we get home and she laughs. “You’re too nice. I would have hung up the second no one said anything.”

  ❖

  Saturday evening

  I’m sitting in Lucy’s living room, reading a book, in front of the large bay windows. As I see headlights. They drive down the road and turn around in the cul-de-sac and then drive back to the end of the street again. Weird, I could have sworn last night when I was in this same spot another car did the same thing. In fact, that car seems very similar to this one.

  You’re jumping to conclusions, someone is probably considering moving into the neighborhood.

  I don’t mention the car to Lucy.

  ❖

  Sunday night

  My cell phone rings I look to my caller ID which reads, NO CALLER ID.

  Well, I’m not going to answer that.

  I think as I click on the side buttons to silence it and send the call to voicemail. A few minutes later the notification that I have a voicemail pops up and I listen to it, but it’s just breathing.

  That’s really weird.

  ❖

  Monday

  I have a repeat phone call from last Monday. At the same time as it was last week. 8:30.

  “Billie Saxs,” I say into the receiver, but again like last week there’s no answer, “Hello.” No answer again, “Can you hear me? Did you butt dial me?” I ask but still no answer. “Okay, I’m hanging up.” I nearly whisper into the receiver, before hanging up the phone.

  ❖

  Thursday

  I come home from school and feel weird. I instan
tly get that strange feeling like someone has been in my room. Nothing has been moved, but everything just feels like something, but I can’t put my finger on it.

  “Lucy,” I say as she walks out of her room, “did you have someone over today?” She shakes her head

  “Why?”

  “I dunno,” I pause as I look around, “it’s just in my head.” And I walk to the kitchen to get something to eat.

  ❖

  Friday

  Lucy and I go out to dinner. We have some drinks.

  I drink way more than I ever intended to. So, Lucy drives my drunk butt home.

  She’s the best, I think as she puts me to sleep.

  I swear I woke up in the middle of the night to see someone at the end of my bed just standing staring at me, but when I wake up on Saturday morning I know that I was just dreaming. That whole living in a new house, thing. Even if it isn’t technically a new house, I’m just a little uneasy since I have never really lived here.

  ❖

  Sunday

  I get the same call from the no caller id and again send it to voicemail. Ending up with the same voicemail as I got last week. Just a voicemail of weird breathing.

  ❖

  Monday

  On the first day of school as I am grabbing my bag out of my car, I can’t help but notice a very familiar truck pulling into the parking lot. I try not to look over to it to see who it was, but instead, I walk straight ahead. Not breaking to look for even a second. Yet for some reason all I can hear is Lucy’s words about figuring out who I wanted, echoing in my head… which seems crazy since I don’t even know Dax. Also, including that whole issue of him being a criminal.

  I should have known before it happened that it was going to but somehow it still surprises me when not even ten minutes later there is a knock on my office door.

  “Billie,” my name comes out of his mouth, rugged. “I had to wait for Ella to walk into the building before I could come in.” He chuckles, I can see him look into the lobby of the office and walks in closing the door. “People were coming in…” He trails, “didn’t know if you wanted them all to see me in here with my cut on.” He reminds me of when I said that to him a few weeks ago before he pauses waiting for me to say anything. “I’m sorry for what I said.” He mumbles out walking towards the desk and sitting in the chair. “Ugh,” he tosses his head back, “you’re really good at this silent treatment, you know,” but I still don’t look up, “fine, I’ll talk.” I can see his smirk out of my peripheral, “Ella is doing better.” He says almost like he’s trying to fill up time trying to wear me down until I say something, anything, “I think finally found someone to replace my old position. It’s actually my mentee. Is that the right word mentee? I guess, I should say one of my mentees since apparently the majority of the club I have brought in out of tough spots.” I try to hide my smile but I see a smile pick up on his lips so I know that he saw it. “Yeah, known him since he was like 13. He’s a good kid. Super young though, which also kind of sucks.” I’m curious how much he’s going to tell me trying to get a reaction from me. “Actually, I’m sure it’s probably similar to your job. When someone new comes into power and people start seeing how much they can get away with.” My smile grows before I can pull it back into my stoic stare at my computer. “Especially, depending on their looks, but I guess when I think about it I was around the same age when I took over as VP.” He looks off like this is the first time he has realized it. Then he turns to me seriously, probably assuming that I’m going to have to start doing actual work for my job. “Billie, I want to be completely honest with you. I want to tell you exactly what I said to your husband,” I stop typing on my keyboard and let my eyes look up to his. “He threatened to punch me in my club, I told him that if he punched the owner in his club that was pretty much an automatic ban for life, or maybe that was just my own rule.” I smirk to him, “He said I was a thug trying to go around a fuck every woman I meet.” I lifted my eyebrow as to say, are you? “I told him that I didn’t need to try to fuck women it just happens and at least I wasn’t like him running around in my club whispering into some sluts ear while I had a sexually frustrated wife at home,” the last part comes out with a grimace because he knows that I will not like it, but I don’t let my expression falter.