CHAPTER NINETEEN
Iron
A few days went by. The mood of the club was still heavy.
Petra had gone back to her place, and after checking for herself, let me know that everything had been cleaned up. I didn’t have to question if there was any evidence left behind because I knew Petra.
Connor stayed good on his word and Dade’s death went down as an accidental death. The story they’d come up with no less gruesome than what had really happened. And as I shared the false cover story with my brothers so we were all on the same page, I didn’t feel any better about it.
Dade had been out for a ride and lost control of his bike. His front tire hit the curb, launching him over the front handlebars, where he was then impaled by a tree branch.
I understood the reason behind it but it was still horrible.
It would do well enough to explain the hole in his chest to anyone that didn’t know what they were looking at, had they looked.
Mullins either hadn’t gotten word about Dade’s death or believed the story enough to not go looking.
That was good enough for me.
We were laying Dade to rest today and I knew after that there would be nothing that connected him to what happened.
There was a casket that carried his body for now. Later, after everything was over, he would be cremated. This was simply a show for Abigail since she had started shaking and freaking out when we told her that was the plan. She didn’t want his body burned up because she wasn’t ready to let him go. I would have never gone against her wishes and I hated that there would be this huge lie there, but it had been Dade’s request. One he made while he was lying in that hospital bed right after he lost his leg. He told me that if anything ever happened, he wanted me to do what I had to do in order to save the club.
I’d been torn on the decision, but remembering those words made it clear in my mind. The club was everything to him and I would give him this last wish to set him free.
That was what I told myself anyway. Choosing to believe that this was what he wanted while I was doing it to cover all our asses.
It was a heavy burden to carry but I had to.
Dade and Abigail’s parents flew in last night. This was the first time I’d ever seen them. And truth be told, I hadn’t heard much about them before either. I felt a slight flicker of guilt that I was meeting them for the first time at their son’s funeral. Then again, since they pretty much ignored me, I supposed I hadn’t reallymetthem yet. I knew that Dade didn’t have much to do with them and Abigail didn’t seem like she wanted to move back home once she was here.
Watching them sitting next to Abigail and the way she seemed stiff made something kick in my gut.
The preacher went on talking some shit that didn’t really have anything to do with Dade. It wasn’t like the man knew Dade. But once his parents found out we were handling the funeral, they somehow finagled this part into it. I’d overheard Abigail on the phone arguing with them about it but it looked like she had given up the fight.
My hand went to my beard as I watched them.
A moment later, Petra’s fingers were tugging at mine until my hand was resting on my thigh. Her hand covered mine to prevent me from thinking again. I cut my eyes over to her and she gave me a look that told me she knew what I saw and now was not the time.
She was right.
So I sat there with the warmth of her hand soothing me as I listened to the preacher man go on.
Eventually, we had the floor. A bunch of the brothers had plans to speak. One by one, they rose from their seats and went to say a few words.
Petra released my hand after Mason stepped down.
With a deep breath, I got to my feet.
I couldn’t say what I really wanted to with ears that we didn’t trust around and all. I couldn’t tell everyone how brave he’d been. I couldn’t give honor to his death by telling how he’d saved my life. Petra’s life. Midori’s life.
Not that the important people didn’t know all of that already.
“Dade once said to me that you have two choices when a car is comin’ straight for you, you can either run from it or run toward it.” I paused remembering that moment like it was yesterday.
We were sitting on one of the couches in the clubhouse. Both of us enjoying a beer. It was a few months after he’d gotten out of the hospital and he still had bad days when it came to his leg.
“I remember thinking that was a horrible analogy to how you could face life. But lookin’ back, I realize that Dade wasn’t ever afraid. He didn’t run from shit. He went all in no matter the danger or the hardship.”
