Warlords MC: Book 1 – Ace (Truman) : Chapter 3

Ace pulled his bike to a stop at the front door of the old farmhouse. Turning off the engine, he stared at the simple two story house in front of him. The lights were on in the lower floors and that’s where he knew he would find Charli.

He almost smiled at her name, Charli. She sure didn’t look like any Charli he ever knew before. Then his hand reached up and touched the pair of necklaces he wore. He had put Joker’s on over top of his and now, he was here to get answers. Answers, he hoped she had. He swung his leg over the side of his bike and in mass…he and his brothers went to the front door.

They didn’t bother knocking, they just opened the door and walked inside. The first thing they noticed was the smell of hot food.

Ace rounded the corner first and stopped to take in the scene in front of him.

Charli stood while an old man in front of her sat. Neither of them were armed but it was clear they had been expecting them.

Ace took a step into the kitchen.

The old man nodded at them and motioned for the bunch of them to sit down.

Ace grabbed the chair next to the old man. “My name is Truman Bridges, most people call me Ace. Some people even call me asshole but only once.”

Ben nodded. “I’m Ben Braaken and this is my granddaughter Charli. I am also called an asshole but they just add Old to that name. Welcome to our home.”

At this bold response, Ace stared at him. Then he laughed.

King snorted and growled, “You might not be so welcoming if you knew what we were here for, old asshole.”

Charli walked over to him and jammed him in the chest with her finger. “Did your mother never teach you guy’s any manners at all?”

King looked insulted. “My mother taught us manners.”

“Then use them when you’re in someone else’s home.” She snarled back at him.

“Charli, settle down girl, that boy is three times your size!” Ben scolded her.

Charli snapped her mouth shut but glared at the men as she made it back to her grandfather. Then she went beyond where Ben was sitting and brought down two stacks of bowls, setting them on the table, she went back to the stove for the chili. Turning toward Ace she said, “I know this doesn’t make up for the steak you ordered but it’s all we got right now, and you’re welcome to it.”

Ace just stared at her for a moment then nodded. “It’ll do.” Turning to his men he said, “Let’s eat boys.”

For the next half hour, all you could hear was the sounds of hungry men enjoying the chili along with the ham and cheese sandwiches.

“That was damn good Chili,” Deuce said.

Ben smiled slightly. “Old family recipe.”

When Ace pushed his plate away, he gave Charli a look.

Charli nodded. It was time to face what happened three weeks ago. She got up and began clearing the table. She went to the living room, retrieved her grandfather’s pipe and tobacco then set it on the table beside him, along with an ashtray.

“Smoke if you gotta em, boys,” Ben told them. Looking over at Charli and seeing the look on her face he added, “I have a feeling you might not like how this story goes.”

She glanced over at Ace then asked, “Will you let me go and get something that belongs to you? I’ve been keeping it safe but it’s out in the barn.”

Ace narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a moment. He wasn’t sure if he trusted her to come back or not.

Charli could read what his thoughts were, so she squared her shoulders and stared back at him. Nodding toward her grandfather, she spoke quiet words, “You see that old man next to you?” When Ace nodded, she continued, “He means the world to me. He raised me since I was five years old and I lost my parents. He doesn’t know what I’m about to tell you because I didn’t want to pull him into this hot mess. I would take a bullet for him. I didn’t want him involved in this and he taught me never to run away from your problems. You can come with me if you like but I would never leave that man behind.” She got to her feet, boldly walked to the front door and went out.

Ace looked over at the old man and saw him smirk. “What?”

Ben just shook his head and kept his mouth shut. He didn’t feel he had to explain anything about Charli to this man. He knew that look in the other man’s eye. He would be the one man Charli would never fool, she just didn’t know it yet.

Suddenly, a shot rang out and a woman screamed. All seven men rushed to the front door. Just as Ace was about to push the door open, another shot rang out splintering the wood right beside his head. He ducked and drew his own weapon but as he didn’t see where the shot came from, it was a little hard to shoot back.

They were all looking out of the window.

Ace saw Charli laying on the ground halfway back from the barn. Her body was crumpled there and she wasn’t moving.

Old Ben made his way to the window. “Charli!” he called out.

Ace could hear the grief and the pain in his voice. Snapping his head around, he stared at Ben. “We’ll get her back, just hang on.”

“Well, what the hell are you waiting on?” Ben grumbled. “Go get her.”

“There’s a man out there with a gun.” Snarled one of the brothers.

Ben waved his hand in the air as if to dismiss this statement of fact. “Oh, the chicken bastard is long gone. He left right after the second shot.”

“How do you know that?” Ace raised a brow at him.

Ben turned his head slowly to give his a steady but intense gaze. “Young man, I know every sound of this place. I was born her and I will die in this house. My family is buried on this land and one day, I will be too. I heard the bastard running and I heard him get into his truck and drive away via the back pasture. Now I may be old but I know what I’m talking about. Go get my granddaughter and get her back into this house!”

Ace glared at him for a moment. The old asshole had to be senile or brave, Ace just couldn’t figure out which it was. He got up from his crouch and went toward the door. Looking back at King he said, “Cover me.”

King moved into position with his gun raised.

Ace then burst out the door, running. He got to Charli and when he reached her, he found her gazing up at him with fearful eyes, her face scrunched up with pain. “That fucking little bastard. He shot me. He fucking shot me!”

“Where are you hit?” Ace asked gruffly as he knelt beside her.

“He hit me in the side.” Charli groaned as she rolled into the fetal position.

When she rolled to her side, Ace saw the blood stain on the ground below her. He knelt and scooped her up in his arms.

She reached out and grabbed the package she went to the barn to get and he carried her back to the house.

When Ace got into the living room, he yelled for his brother Jack.

Ben had disappeared down the hall and when he returned, he had a first aid kit with him. He passed it over to Jack.

Jack was tearing Charli’s shirt open to get to her wound. Using a wet washcloth someone handed him, he wiped the blood away and studied the wound on her side. Looking up at Ace he told them, “I don’t think the bullet hit anything vital. It was a through and through shot through the fleshy part of her side.”

“Does she need a doctor?” Ben asked worriedly.

“No, old man, I can fix her up. Doctors have to report gunshot wounds to the cops and that’s one thing we don’t need, getting the police involved.”

Ben snorted. “Especially around here,” he muttered under his breath. Motioning toward Charli, he grumbled, “Well then, get her fixed up. She’s bleeding all over my sofa.”

Charli began to laugh at her Gramp’s usual gruff no nonsense attitude but her laughter turned to groans of pain as Jack cleaned the wound and the area that was obviously still raw from taking a bullet.

Ben reached out and took her hand. Charli hung on tight as Jack probed and prodded the wound to make sure it was clean.

Ace walked over to the entertainment center and grabbed a bottle of whiskey he found there. Taking it over to his brother, he handed him the bottle.

Jack was almost done bandaging the wound but took the time to pour a little of the spirits over it to keep it clean.

Charli wanted to scream when she felt the whiskey hit her wound but she bit her lip, as her skin felt the burn. When she felt Jack wrap her side in bandages, she was helped to sit up. She grabbed her shirt and pulled the ends together.

She looked around and with a flaming face, she mumbled something about needing a clean shirt.

Ace rolled his eyes and helped her to her feet. “Which bedroom is yours?”

“First room top of the stairs,” Ben told him.

Ace swept her up into his arms and walked over to the steps. He took them two at a time and when he reached the top, he pushed her door open. The room looked like a bedroom. He looked around.

The walls were painted pale blue while the dresser, bed and nightstands were all dark wood. The room was tidy with everything in place. “Don’t most women like their stuff all over the place? Where’s the makeup and girly stuff?” He looked down at her to find her face bright red.

“Can you put me down now?” She glared up at him.

“Sorry, sweetheart.”

Charli whirled and glared at him. “I’m not some girl trying to get a man with makeup or anything else. So, no there’s no girly stuff.” Granted, she had to look way up at him but she still glared. “And I am not your sweetheart, so stop calling me that.”

Ace raised a brow at her sass but said nothing as he set her down on her feet.

Charli slowly made her way over to her closet and opened the door. She wished there was enough room to go inside and shut the door to change her shirt but there wasn’t. She grabbed the first shirt she found and keeping him to her back, she stripped of her torn shirt and lifted the new shirt over her head. Groaning, she hadn’t realized the wound in her side would hurt so much when she raised her arms.

Ace let out a huff of frustrated air as he stomped over to her and threw the t-shirt she’d grabbed from closet on the floor. Then he reached inside the closet and pulled out a button up shirt. He helped her pull it on, turned her around and buttoned the buttons for her.

“Just who the hell died and left you in charge anyway?” she mumbled under her breath.

Ace reached out and tipped her chin up. Looking into her eyes, he told her, “That’s just the way it is sweetheart. Get used to it because from this moment on, I am in charge until I get what I need from you and then I’m gone.”

“The hell you say.” She snarled.

Ace grinned. “If you say so, sweetheart. I can bring on the hell if that’s what you want.”

Charli grunted but just pushed him to one side. When he didn’t move, she stepped around him and made her way back to the open door. She walked out on her own two feet. Granted, it took her awhile to get down the steps but Ace was right behind her.

When they reached the ground floor, she looked up and found six men glaring at her. She gazed down at the floor and found the wrapping she had around the bundle in pieces.

King was standing in the front of the men and he was holding up a black duster jacket. He took a step forward and scowled at her. “You got some explaining to do girl.”

Ace’s hands fell on her shoulders and he pushed her gently forward. “Back off King, she’s got a story to tell us and tell us she will. I suggest instead of getting all pissed off, we listen to what she has to say.”

King swung his shocked gaze over to his brother. “Are you fucking serious? You taking her side against your own brothers?”

“I’m taking no one side here.” Ace glared back at him. “I want to know how the hell she got that jacket just as much as you do but she didn’t have to bring it out did she? She didn’t have to give us his necklace did she? She could have run away and left us high and dry but she didn’t do that. She came back here to protect her family same as you and I would do.”

Silently, Charli reached out and took the jacket away from King. He was so stunned he let her get it away from him. She crushed it to her body and everyone there saw the tears that fell down her cheeks.

“He almost died standing up for me that night,” she whispered. She fell to her knees and sobbed. “He didn’t have to do what he did, he could have ignored the whole situation but that isn’t what he did. As soon as Andy started hurting me, he got between me and Andy.”

Ace knelt beside her and assisted her to her feet. Leading her over to the sofa, he sat her down.

Ben came over to sit beside her and Charli looked up at her grandfather. “I’m so sorry I kept this from you. I just didn’t want Andy to come here and hurt you or maybe finish what he started that night three weeks ago. He told me to keep my mouth shut and you would be ok.”

“We’ll get to this Andy bastard later sweetheart,” Ace grumbled. “Just tell us what happened the night our brother died.”

Charli turned to Ace and nodded. “I said he almost died. He pushed Andy on the floor and they began to beat each other. Then Andy started yelling for his friends for help. There were three of them there that night, they grabbed Joker by the arms and held him in place. Andy got up and hit him a few more times. Then Joker called him a fucking coward and Andy lost it.” She shook her head and looked at her grandfather. “He just lost his ever lovin’ mind. I could see the change come over him. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out that damn knife he likes so much. He flicked the blade open and stabbed Joker. Not once but four times.” She brought the coat up to her face and sobbed into the material.

The big men in the room all looked tense and angry as they waited for the rest.

Charli dropped the coat to her lap and looked up at Ace and his brothers. “Andy’s friends couldn’t believe what had happened and they took off in a hurry. Andy grabbed me and told me I better watch my mouth if I didn’t want something to happen to me or grandpa. He said he would know and if he had to come looking for me, I’d be sorry. Then he left too.”

“What happened after that?” King demanded to know. His fists were clenched and his eyes weren’t dry but no tears fell.

“I crawled over to Joker and pulled him in my arms. I told him he was my hero and that he didn’t deserve what happened. He said he was no one’s hero. He told me his brothers would come and that I should tell them what happened. That his brothers would get revenge for his death. He also said to tell you he found Alex’s killer and that he’d killed him as well.” She looked around the room and had to ask, “Do you know what he meant by that?”

Ace curled his fingers into hard fists. His eyes glazed over, turning dark green with his rage and every pore of his body radiated with it. “Yeah sweetheart, we know what that means.” He looked over and found King and the others looking back at him. “We have to find this bastard boys. We’ll burn his world to the fucking ground.”

“What happened to our brother after that?” Jack asked.

“I brought him home with me and I was going to bury him.” She nervously glanced over at Ace. “He wanted you to have his bike, so it’s here. I hid it in the shed.”

Ace just stood there staring at her. For three very long weeks they had been looking for their brother and now they find out he’d been dead this whole time. Dead but not forgotten. How the hell had he let himself get jumped? Dammit…he knew better. When they got a text from Joker that night, he told them he was in a small town called Braaken Ridge. That he was stopping for something to eat and when they hadn’t heard from him again, they came looking for him. It took a bit to even travel here from where their club was.

“We need to know his full name. Who killed him?” Storm asked, as he looked a bit pale with the news that someone had killed his little brother. He hadn’t said anything all evening but he had to ask the hard question.

Charli began to shake and she held her grandfather’s hand tightly. She looked over at Ace and whispered, “He isn’t dead, well at least not yet. Andy was at the diner when you all came in. His name is Andy Chapman.”

“He’s the one who grabbed you and forced a kiss on you?” Ace growled.

Charli nodded her head and lifted her hand to wipe her mouth again, as if it still made her sick to think about it.

“And you think he’s the one who shot you, don’t you?” Deuce asked.

Charli gazed down at the floor and nodded. “Him or one of his cowardly friends at his orders.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police when this first happened?” King asked.

Ben scoffed and told them, “Andy’s daddy owns the town, same as he owns the police and the governor’s office. They would have turned the tables on Charli and made her out to be the one holding the knife.” He turned to look at her. “She did the only thing she could do. She buried your brother and waited for you guys to show up.”

Charli looked up at Ace and slowly looked around at the rest of them. When she got back to Ace she said, “And now Andy knows you’re here. He’s gonna bring hell to Braaken Ridge and there isn’t anything we can do to stop it.”

Ace knelt in front of her. He took her hand and stated, “Not if we bring it first and the only one to get caught in hell’s fire will be Andy and his friends. They’re just as much to blame for what happened that night. If Joker even had a chance, he would have survived. That much I do know.”

Ace stood up then looked over at his brothers and yelled, “Let’s bring down the rain boys. Let’s bring down the rain.”

All his brothers repeated his chant and for a few minutes, chaos ruled the Braaken house as the huge bikers stomped around and then stopped to check their weapons

“Wait just a fucking minute here!” King snarled as the chaos died down. “What the fuck do you mean Joker isn’t dead?” He roared. “Where the hell is he then?”