"What do you wanna talk about, kid?"
Beast waited until the door was firmly shut, indicating to everyone outside that he didn't want to be interrupted, and we both sat before he asked, cocking one bushy eyebrow.
"And," he continued, nodding toward the door, "now I've seen that little blonde piece of ass out there with you, I'm thinking it's probably not to do with custom work."
The chair creaked as he sat back in it, watching me, and I clenched my jaw, thinking. I had this all planned out in my head, what I was going to say, but, now that I was sitting here across from Beast, I had no idea where to begin.
"Jenna's on the run," I finally answered. "She's got some guys after her, and, if they find her..."
I shrugged, figuring he could guess where I was going.
Beast didn't seem surpirsed. His expression stayed blank, he didn't even blink.
"What's she running from?" He asked, still mutual. "She fuck up?"
"No," I said quickly. "She's done nothing wrong-"
"That she's told you," he put in.
I hesitated, then nodded. He had a point, not that I believed for a second that she was lying, but I could understand that some people would be skeptical, considering what she told me had happened to her. I know I didn't want to believe that sort of shit really existed in the world, but Jenna was the living, breathing proof.
"I was thinking that you might be able to help us," I told him hopefully, cutting straight to the chase.
"I need some context, kid," Beast said, his expression not giving anything away, promising nothing. "Her reason for running, the kind of people she's running from..."
He paused, watching me, and I began biting my lower lip, trying not to fidget.
"I've got no problem helping you out, Ace, I owe it to your family," he told me, and I frowned, not sure what he meant, but he continued before I could come to any sort of conclusion. "But I can't send the boys to take down just anyone. I need to be sure that there won't be any repercussions, and that we won't bring any shit down on the club."
I nodded. I totally got it. I didn't know who these guys were she that was running from, what they were capable of doing, how powerful they were. I just knew the sort of sick shit they were involved with, and I knew they had to be wiped out.
"I think that they're human traffickers," I told him, watching for a reaction from him. "They were holding her there against her will, with some other girls and hired them out to people, like forced prostitution, or something."
"How did they get her?" Beast asked.
"Her mother sold her, because she owed them." I had a sudden idea, and decided to explain about the drugs, hoping that it might help to persuade Beast into agreeing to help Jenna, tempting him with the possibility of wiping out the competition.
Then, it occured to me that the drugs and shit the Specters distributed could even come from Lucas. I didn't know the ins and ojts of the club. They had all sorts of connections, and, if they were associated with him, then they'd probably already know about the human trafficking, and would just as quickly take Jenna back.
But he knew who she was, there was no denying it. He'd known that I didn't want to see him about the work we were doing on his bike. Why else would he have guessed what I wanted to see him about? If they were going to take her back, they'd had plenty of chances to.
Half of the Specters had families themselves; wives, girlfriends, daughters, sisters. I just couldn't see them involving themselves in something like that. I decided that I could trust Beast.
"She told me that her mother run drugs for him, and that she sold it to some rivals for protection."
Beast nodded slowly, encouraging me to continue.
"She had a week to pay back what she owed, but she couldn't, so she offered her daughter instead."
"Amelia," Beast muttered, and I stopped dead.
"You know about her," I realized.
"And that son of a bitch, Lucas," he smiled, though there was nothing friendly in that look.
"We were looking to take him down," Beast told me, lowering his voice as though he thought someone might overhear. "We had a lead, but then, the trail went cold."
I waited for him to go on, holding my breath, but he slapped his hand down on the table and stood up.
"Leave it with me, kid," he said as I got up, too, following him to the door. "I've gotta make some calls."
***
I could hear the laughter the minute I turned off the engine and climbed off the bike. I recognised Marcus and Clyde right away, but the third voice was strange, yet familiar at the same time.
Sure enough, as I entered the shop, walking through to the garage, I saw them all there. Clyde was leaning against a white four wheel drive, the bonnet propped open, while Marcus lounged in one of the two chairs he'd brought out from the office, a beer in his hand.
In the other chair, was an older, rougher, more tattooed version of him, and I stared rooted to the spot, recognising my old man.
"About time you showed up, you lazy shit," Clyde laughed, the first to notice me, tossing a filthy, grease stained rag in my direction.
"Shut up," I countered, catching it and tossing it back at him. "At least I'm not hungover."
"At least I turn up when I'm hungover," he retorted.
"At least I don't have a face like yours."
"You sound jealous, Acey," he smirked, and Marcus and Axe both laughed when I had no comeback.
"Ladies, you're both very pretty," Axe grumbled. "Now, quit fighting."
"Should hear them when they really get going," Marcus smirked. "They're worse than even we were."
"As bad as brothers, huh?" Axe answered, and I laughed.
"He's like the brother I never wanted," I agreed. "Or, the sister, even. Sometimes, it's hard to tell with that pretty long hair."
Clyde muttered something about my sexuality, and focused his attention on the car once more.
"You gonna say hello to your old man?" Axe said, his voice at lot more rough than I remembered. "Or are you gonna just keep insulting your girlfriend?"
I grinned and went to him as he stood, making his way toward me.
"Hey, dad," I said, still smiling, taking the hand he offered.
He pulled me into a hug, slapping my back, then held me out at arms length, studying me.
I studied him too, noticing that his hair was greyer than the last time I'd visited him, the lines in his face a little deeper. But, his eyes were brighter, more alive than ever.
"You're a bloody big bastard, aren't you?" He observed and I laughed, shrugging.
"Don't you reckon he looks like our old man, back in the day?" Marcus commented, and Axe laughed, punching my shoulder.
"Yeah he does," he agreed. "You poor bugger."
I didn't remember my granddad all that well. He died when I was eight, but Marcus had photos. My favorite one as a kid had been of the three of them, in the early eighties, all wearing the Hell's Reapers patch. Dad had been a member for a few years, and Marcus had just been patched in.
Granddad had greying hair down to his shoulders, his smile nearly obscured beneath his mustache. He did look kind of like dad and Marcus, but I didn't think we had much resemblance.
"Maybe if I grew the seventies porn star mustache," I shrugged, and Axe and Marcus both burst out laughing.
"Wait," Clyde glanced at me, turning back from the four wheel drive, looking bewildered. "Dudes actually grew them like that?"
"Absolutely," Marcus responded.
"I feel sorry for the chicks back then," he muttered and I grinned at him.
"I'll have to show you the photos."
Because it was a short day, we only had the one car booked in for a service. It was in top shape, and didn't need any work done on it, so we tidied up early, and sat around, talking shit until the owner of the car turned up.
Clyde and I had decided to do some more work on the wide glide for Beast, so, when the car had gone, we brought it in from where it was locked up in the shed.
Axe whistled his appreciation when he saw it, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood and admired it.
"That is spectacular," he said, his voice full of awe. "1980 model, Harley? You don't see these babies much around here, anymore."
"Yeah," I nodded, grinning up at him. "It's sweet, right?"
"You boys doing her up?"
"Yeah, just a side project, like the last one."
"Who's this beast belong to?" Axe wondered, and Clyde and I both laughed.
"The man himself," Clyde said.
"Who's that?" Axe seemed confused for a second, looking beween us.
"It's Beast's newest baby," I explained. "He said he liked the work we did on his chopper, and wanted us to do this one, too."
I was going to go into detail about it, but I stopped short when I saw Axe's dark expression. His mouth was pursed in a thin, angry line, frowning. He looked pissed, and I almost heaved a sigh of relief when he looked away from me, directing his anger at Marcus, who crossed his arms defiantly.
"What's he want with my boy?" He demanded, but Marcus shrugged, his expression mutual.
"Nothing," Marcus reassured him, jumping to my defence. "It's just business."
"Bullshit," Axe grunted, glaring at Marcus. "Plenty of his guys do bikes, why would he bother to ask my son?"
"These two did good work last time," Marcus continued, staring back at Axe. "It's good for them; they hardly ever get to work on bikes in this place."
I stood up from where I was crouched beside the bike, looking between my uncle and my father.
"It's alright, Ace," Marcus reassured me. "You keep doing what you're doing. Axe, can we discuss something?"
The two of them left, and, slowly, watching them as they went, I knelt back beside the bike, glamcing at Clyde, who looked as lost as I was feeling.
"Is everything okay, man?" He wondered, looking concerned.
"I have no idea what that was about," I admitted. "I know that there's bad blood between them and Beast, but other than that..."
I shrugged, and Clyde frowned.
"That's weird," he said, taking apart the engine. "You think he's jealous, or something?"
"Of what?" I wondered, cocking an eyebrow.
"I don't know," Clyde shrugged. "Maybe he thinks you and Beast are real tight, like he's your daddy figure, or something."
I laughed.
"Dude, my dad isn't jealous," I insisted. "Something just went down a long time ago, when I was just a kid."
Clyde was about to respond, when Marcus and Axe came back inside, both of them seeming normal again, like nothing had even happened
"Two chickie babes are here for you two," Marcus said, right as Bonnie and Jenna followed them into the garage.
"The best chickie babes these two could ever hope to find," Bonnie declared, squealing as clyde grabbed her, tossing her over his shoulder.
"Dream on, woman," he told her as she squirmed in his grasp.
Axe glanced across at me, seeming kind of bewildered, and I laughed, shrugging helplessly.
"They're a breed of their own," I told him.