Athena Sisterhood Read online

  “I got it,” said Jessica with a passive-aggressive tinge to her voice. She stood and took Annie’s hand. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s you and me grab a bite while Shea talks with her biker friends.” The two of them disappeared into the crowd.

  “Is that your daughter?” asked Orphan.

  “My niece. She came to live with Jess and me after my sister died.”

  “It’s tough losing family. I lost mine when I was eleven.”

  “You may have lost your folks, Orphan,” said Savage, walking up arm in arm with Indigo. “But now you have the Athena Sisterhood.”

  Orphan’s face brightened. “Hey, sisters!” she said as she gave each of the women a hug.

  Shea felt a twinge of jealousy at the women’s sisterly affection for one another. She missed being a part of the extended family of a motorcycle club.

  “You got some kickass bikes, Havoc,” said Savage, gesturing to some of the Iron Goddess motorcycles on display.

  “Thanks.” Shea keyed into Indigo’s somber mood. “You okay, Indigo?”

  Indigo shook her head and wiped a tear from her face. “You hear what happened to Pipes?”

  Shea sighed and raked her hand through her hair. “Yeah. It’s terrible.”

  “What happened?” asked Orphan, a worried expression playing across her face.

  Savage looked away. “Dead from a drug overdose. After five years of being clean, no less.”

  “Police picked me up this afternoon and questioned me for more than an hour.” Indigo’s eyes glistened with anger and hurt. “Treated me like I’m some kind of criminal. How’d they even get my number?”

  “Beats me.” Shea stared out at the crowd, feeling like the worst person to walk the earth. “They questioned me, too.”

  “You?” Indigo gave Shea a quizzical look. “You only met Pipes the other night.”

  “That’s what I told them.”

  Orphan’s lower lip trembled. “You sure it was Pipes? I mean, maybe the cops got the ID wrong. It happens sometimes, ya know?”

  “Naw, it was her,” said Indigo. “The cops showed me a photo.”

  Bile burned Shea’s throat as she recalled the horrific picture. She took another pull on her beer, but it was empty. When she grabbed another out of a nearby cooler, she caught Savage eyeing her and let it sink back into the icy water. “Cops said Pipes overdosed on hex cut with rat poison. Any idea where she got it?”

  Savage gazed out at the crowd. “Not from any of us.”

  “Really? ’Cause the cops thought someone in the club was dealing.” Shea realized too late that she was pressing too hard.

  Savage narrowed her gaze at Shea. “And why would they think that?”

  Shit. Don’t blow your cover, girl. “Hell if I know.”

  “I wanna go home.” Orphan pulled herself closer into her boyfriend’s embrace.

  “Don’t go, Orphan,” said Shea. “The night is young.”

  Indigo kissed Orphan on the top of her head. “And you got us here for support.”

  “Thanks, but I just don’t feel like being around people right now. C’mon, babe.”

  Savage patted her on the back. “Get home safe, Orphan. Take care of her, Richard.”

  “I will. Y’all have a good night,” said Richard as the two of them wandered off.

  Shea raised an eyebrow. “What’s with the sudden vanishing act?” Could Orphan be the one dealing hex? She didn’t seem the type, but Shea knew some people were good at hiding their dark side. Her father for one.

  “Pipes sponsored Orphan as a prospect in the club. They’ve known each other for a while. Orphan really looked up to her as a big sister.” Indigo let out a long breath. “First her parents, then her roommate, and now Pipes. It’s a lot for anyone to deal with.”

  “You don’t think Pipes got the hex from Orphan?”

  “Why are you so hung up on this idea that one of us is dealing?” Savage put her hands on her hips and glowered at Shea. “You a narc or something?”

  “No, of course not.” Shea looked from Savage to Indigo. Why did Rios push me into this situation? I’m no snitch. “My old man ran the Confederate Thunder when I was growing up. They were into a lotta bad shit. Drugs, guns, dogfighting. I didn’t want to hang around another club like them.”

  “The Athena Sisterhood is nothing like that bunch of misogynistic assholes you used to call a family, Havoc.” Labrys appeared next to Shea and put an arm around her waist. “We don’t deal drugs or any of that nonsense. We have one mission—to fight the patriarchy and make this world safer for women.”

  Shea felt a wave of heat through her body. The familiar scent of Labrys’ perfume aroused her, but brought with it the anxiety of their contentious past. “Glad to hear it.”

  “If you were one of us, you’d know this.” Labrys planted a kiss on Shea’s cheek that would have landed on her lips if Shea hadn’t turned her head at the last second. “I really missed you, you know?”

  “What the hell’s going on here?”

  Shea pushed away from Labrys’ grasp as Jessica marched toward them with Annie in tow. “Nothing, sweetie! We were just discussing motorcycles.”

  “Oh, is that what we were discussing?” An evil grin played across Labrys’ face. “I thought we were discussing you and I spending more time together.”

  “What?”

  “She’s kidding, honey.” She reached for Jessica’s hand. “But I am considering becoming a prospect.”

  “A prospect?” Jessica stepped away from Shea. “Since when?”

  “Jess, this isn’t just about me.”

  “Damn right, it’s not just about you. This affects me and Annie.”

  “Lighten up, Jess,” said Labrys. “The Athena Sisterhood looks after its own.”

  “You need to mind your own business, lady.” Jessica got into Labrys’ face. “Shea and Annie are my family. Not yours.”

  “Really? I don’t see a ring on your finger.”

  Shea’s feelings of discomfort turned to anger. “Back off, Labrys.”

  “Aw crap,” said Indigo, looking out across the parking lot. “They’re here.”

  “Who?” Shea scanned the crowd and spotted several Thundermen on the far edge of the parking lot. “Motherfucker! I’ll deal with this.”

  Chapter 16

  Shea pushed her way through the crush of bodies and spotted Mackey straddling and punching Dragon, a member of the Sisterhood, in an attempt to steal her cut.

  “Leave her the fuck alone, Mackey!” Shea rushed toward them, but One-Shot blocked her path.

  “We warned you ’bout them outlaw patches,” he grumbled. “Now we’re taking your cuts.”

  “Like hell you are.” She tried to shove him out of the way. He grabbed her hoodie with one hand and drove his sledgehammer fist into her face with the other.

  Shea stumbled as everything went hazy and gray. A kick to her stomach knocked the wind out of her. She spit out blood and bile as she forced her mind to focus. Can’t let these fuckers win.

  As she struggled to her feet, One-Shot grabbed her by the back of her collar. She elbowed him in the solar plexus. He fell, grabbing his chest and gasping for air. She drove the heel of her palm into his chin, whipping his head back and sending him spiraling to the ground.

  Shea found Dragon lying on the ground, alone and missing her cut. She wiped blood from her face.

  “You okay?” asked Shea.

  When she nodded, Shea turned back to Mackey, who was now using Labrys’ face for a punching bag while holding her up by her hair. Shea kicked his legs out from under him, knocking him on his ass and away from Labrys.

  Shea pulled Labrys to her feet, blood dripping from her nose. “You all right?”

  “Look out!” Labrys pointed.

  Shea turned in time to see Mackey charging her like a bull. Shea hit the pavement hard, but managed to roll before he could pin her. She scooped up a helmet from a nearby motorcycle and brought it down on his head. He crumpled facedown on the
blacktop.

  A muscular arm locked around Shea’s neck and lifted her off the ground, jolting her so hard she dropped the helmet. She tried desperately to scratch her attacker’s face, but couldn’t make contact. She kicked at his kneecaps with the heel of her boot, but the beefy arm only tightened around her neck, cutting off air and her blood supply.

  Using her attacker’s arm for leverage, Shea swung her knees over her head, nailing him in the head. They tumbled backward. Shea landed on One-Shot’s chest. He wasn’t moving, his eyes closed. She didn’t know whether he was dead or merely unconscious. She didn’t care.

  “Get off me!” said Indigo as Monster was pulling at her cut.

  Shea looked for the helmet she dropped but it had rolled out of sight. She ran up behind Monster and kicked the inside of his knee. His leg buckled, forcing him to release his grip on Indigo’s cut. A haymaker to his temple drove him to the ground. Shea planted a knee on his chest and grabbed him by the collar.

  “This is why I refuse to let you see Annie.”

  “You know the rules, Shea-Shea.” He looked up at her, eyes struggling to focus. “No new clubs without the Thunder’s permission.”

  “Your rule. Not mine. Not the Sisterhood’s.”

  Multiple police sirens pierced the noise of the melee. Thundermen scrambled for their bikes. The air shook with the roar of multiple Harleys starting at once and disappearing into the night.

  Shea’s grip on Monster’s shirt tightened. “Stay away from my family, my shop, and the Athena Sisterhood. Or I will burn your club down like Sherman torching Atlanta. You got me?”

  “I know you killed Hunter.” Monster’s face twisted into a smirk. “I kept it to myself. Till now. Whaddya think the boys will do when they learn you murdered their president.”

  Shea’s heart pounded. “What makes you think I did it?”

  “Security camera on the back of the Jaguars’ warehouse. Recorded the whole damn thing. I grabbed the computer with the recordings before we left that day.”

  “Then you know I only shot Hunter in self-defense.”

  “You think Mackey and One-Shot will see it that way? What will Annie think?”

  “You best destroy that video if you ever hope to see Annie again, asshole. Wendy shared a lot of the club’s dirty laundry with me before she died. I could send every member of the Thunder to prison for years.” It was a bluff, but she didn’t have any other cards to play.

  “You a snitch now, Shea-Shea? Working for Buzzkill?”

  Shea winced at the accusation. Monster blindsided her with a right cross and scrambled to his feet.

  “This is Thunder territory. We will not be disrespected. We’ll plant the Barbie Sisterhood in the ground if we have to.” He brushed himself off and vanished into the crowd of attendees fleeing the party.

  “Keep on yapping, old man,” Shea muttered to herself as she dabbed the blood from her split lip. “We’ll see who gets buried.”

  Shea found several members of the Sisterhood gathered under an abandoned vendor tent, nursing wounds and commiserating. “Y’all all right?” she asked.

  Labrys looked up at her ruefully, holding an ice pack to the side of her face. “They got Dragon’s cut. Raven’s and Fuego’s, too.”

  “I’m real sorry that happened.”

  Terrance offered Shea a damp shop towel. “Here. Clean yourself up.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I told you letting the Athenas wear their cuts was a bad idea.”

  “T, now is not the fucking time for I told you sos.”

  “Everybody freeze!” Deputy Aguilar and several of Sheriff Buzzkill’s goons had their weapons drawn and were waving them back and forth at the Athena Sisterhood.

  “Well, if it isn’t Deputy Commando. Put away your dick, Aguilar,” said Shea. “You missed the party again.”

  “We got a call that a biker club was causing a disturbance,” said Aguilar, refusing to lower his weapon as his fellow deputies reholstered theirs. “I’m guessing by the looks of things it was the Athena Sisterhood.”

  “It was the Confederate Thunder, you idiot. Not the Sisterhood.”

  Jessica ran up to Shea, a worried expression on her face. “I can’t find Annie.”

  Shea’s heart thudded. “I thought she was with you.”

  “She slipped out of my hand,” said Jess, shaking her head. “I lost track of her in the chaos.”

  “Wait a minute. Who are you? And who’s Annie?” Aguilar slipped his service weapon back into his holster.

  “Annie’s my niece.” Shea stepped away from Aguilar.

  “Hold on a minute, Stevens. I still have some questions for you.”

  “Fuck you. I got an eight-year-old to find. You wanna stop me, you’re gonna have to shoot me.” Shea searched through the parking lot, looking around the remaining motorcycles and anywhere else she might hide. “Annie! Where are you?”

  Shea’s heart pounded in her chest, echoing in her ears. Did Monster grab her on his way out? “Annie!”

  Others joined in the search, filling the air with the girl’s name. Shea reached the edge of the parking lot where the pavement ended at the base of a steep hill covered with brittlebush, cholla, and prickly pear. In the sandy ground, she found a series of small shoeprints.

  “Annie? You up there?” The echo of her own voice was the only response.

  The dark was too deep and the hill too treacherous to try without a light source. She tried to use her phone as a flashlight, but it wasn’t bright enough. “Annie, if you’re up there, say something.”

  There was no reply.

  Shea raced back across the parking lot, calling for Annie the whole way. “Any sign of her?” she asked Jessica as she passed her.

  Jessica shook her head, tears in her eyes. “No.”

  “I’m gonna grab a flashlight from the workshop. I think she ran up the hill.” Shea opened the back door and stopped short. “Annie?”

  Annie sat on a creeper stool next to Switch, who was repairing a motorcycle on one of the lifts. “Hi, Aunt Shea. What was all the noise outside?”

  Shea swallowed the urge to yell, not wanting to trigger Switch’s freak-out mode. Shea took a deep breath and let it out. “We been looking for you, Doodlebug. ’Fraid something mighta happened to ya.”

  “I’m just in here, talking to Switch.”

  “Hey, Switch. Whatcha working on so late?”

  Switch looked up with her usual emotionless face. “Turn signal’s not working.”

  “Oh.” Shea nodded. “How long you planning on staying?”

  “I’ll lock up when I’m done,” said Switch, her attention almost entirely on her work.

  Deputy Aguilar burst through the back door, followed by Jessica.

  “Oh, thank God,” said Jessica.

  “She was here the whole time.” Shea put an arm around Annie.

  “Annie, you scared the hell out of us!” Jessica’s voice reverberated off the walls.

  “Shhh.” Shea put a finger to her lips.

  “Don’t shush me! This is important!”

  Switch turned, a hint of panic in her expression.

  Shea held her hand up to Jessica and looked at Switch. “It’s okay, Switch. Jessica was just worried about Annie. No one’s in trouble.”

  Switch’s eyes moved from Shea to Annie. “Annie is a good girl. She helps me.” The wire cutters in her hand trembled.

  Annie reached out and took Switch’s free hand. “Switch is good, too.” Annie smiled.

  The wire cutters stopped shaking. Switch’s eyes relaxed, her expression softening. “Annie is a good friend.”

  “Sorry,” said Jessica. “Forgot about Switch’s…issues.” There was still tension in her voice, which Shea knew she would have to deal with once they were out of earshot of Switch.

  Shea nodded. “Tell you what, Annie. You hang out and help Switch while the rest of us clean up outside. Okay?”

  Annie nodded.

  “And don’t go nowhere else.
Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Aguilar stepped up to Shea, a notebook and pen in hand. “Now that you found your kid, I need to know what the hell happened.”

  Shea gestured toward the door. “Let’s take this outside.”

  The three of them walked back out to the parking lot. Terrance was giving an ice pack to Labrys, who winced as she put it to her face. The other deputies were interviewing the few remaining Athenas.

  The instant the door closed, Aguilar stepped in front of Shea, a scowl on his face. “So what happened here tonight, Stevens?”

  “Iron Goddess was hosting a bike night for women when the Confederate Thunder showed up and started attacking my guests.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “Because they’re assholes.”

  Aguilar glanced over at Labrys and a few other Athenas, then turned back to Shea. “So this isn’t a gang war between the Athena Sisterhood and the Thunder?”

  Shea balled her fists. “If it is, we didn’t start it.”

  “We? So you’re a part of the Athena Sisterhood, too?”

  Shea caught a terse look from Jessica. “I’m just a woman who likes to ride, same as the Athenas.”

  Aguilar scoffed. “You know, word on the street is that the Sisterhood is trafficking hex.”

  “That’s bullshit!” Labrys appeared next to her, holding the ice pack to her face. “Just rumors spread by the patriarchy to shut us down. We don’t allow drug use in our club.”

  “And you are?”

  “Labrys, president of the Athena Sisterhood. You cops should be out chasing down the Thunder instead of harassing us. They’re the ones that attacked us.”

  “You want to make a statement? Fine, let’s start with your legal name. None of this biker nickname nonsense.”

  “You want my statement? Here it is. We were here having a good time. The Thundermen showed up, attacked me and several other Athenas, and only left when they heard your sirens. End of statement. No one else has anything else to say.” Labrys gave a stern look to Shea and to the other Athenas who had gathered around. “Now go arrest those sexist fuckers.”

  Labrys walked away, followed by the rest of the sisters.

  “Now, hold on,” said Aguilar, following after them. “If I don’t get names and contact information, I’m going to haul you girls down to the station.”