5246 Vance Ave, Phoenix, Arizona
Raven walks back and forth pushing the old-style lawn mower in her yard. The thing dated back to when her adopted father first moved into the place. She had put on her favorite sports bra and a pair of shorts that showed the curve of her firm buttocks. You could see how tone her tanned legs are. Her black raven hair was tied back into a high ponytail, which bounced every time she took a step.

A full-sized raven with red eyes with its wings spread out that touch both her shoulders looked like it was ready to jump off her back could be seen. There were several scars that covered parts of her upper and lower back, showing the wounds, she had received. Some of them looked like they had been made by bullets.

A Marine Corp tattoo could be seen on her upper right shoulder, along with a bulldog further down her arm. On her left forearm was a tattoo of a white playing card with the head of the grim reaper in the center of it. The number six could be seen in the upper and lower corners of the card.
Above on her left shoulder was a Grim Reaper tattoo. Both her legs had scars scattered on them. Some were faded, while others stood out.

She was wearing a pair of dark colored tennis shoes. No name brand, just some off the shelf no name brand. A pair of dark sunglasses covered her eyes. Parked over in the driveway was a custom-built Harley Davidson Fat boy. Its chrome was blacked out and looked like it was built for someone a lot bigger than the woman pushing the lawnmower back and forth on the lawn. It had custom made leather saddle bags draping it.

Raven finishes the front yard and stops to survey what she still had left to do. She takes a rag that had been hanging out of the back of her shorts waistband and wipes her forehead. She looks over towards her motorcycle and couldn’t wait to go for a ride.

She was thinking about going for a long ride later this evening when it wasn’t so damn hot and humid. The lawn had to be cut, and she still had to edge the sidewalk and driveway. The flower bed in front of her house has already been weeded and trimed. She could feel her exposed
shoulders being burned. She didn’t care it was nothing compared to what she survived in Afghanistan.

Raven pushed the lawnmower towards the open garage and grabbed a cold flavored water bottle from the refrigerator her adopted father put in the garage. It was an old model from the fifties that he refurbished himself. She looked around the garage as her sight lands on her father’s old motorcycle. She was reminded of him and the good times they uses to have before she joined the Marines.

He had died from cancer while she was serving in Afghanistan and surviving. He had survived some of the worse battles while serving in the Marines and the battles he got into defending the motorcycle club he belonged to and protecting his brothers. Only to be taken down by cancer. No matter what the doctors did to treat him, the cancer won out.

She didn’t know he had passed until a message was sent to her secretly by Wire, her father’s best friend and a member of the MC he belonged to. She had received the message just before going out on a mission that would change her life forever.

Raven continued to stare at her adopted father’s motorcycle. She was afraid to ride it, even though it was the first motorcycle she ever rode on. It reminded her too much of all the times she would ride behind her father when they went out with the club.

Raven finishes her drink and tosses the empty bottle into the recycling bin. She grabs the edger and walks back outside to finish the yard work. She wanted to go for a ride, before she turned in for the night. Not that she needs to get up early or go to work in the morning.

She walks towards the front yard to finish up the yard work. She starts edging the sidewalk and along the driveway. She could feel the familiar ache in her back where a piece of shrapnel had almost severed her spinal cord. The doctor who worked on her said it missed her spinal cord by a few millimeters. Any closer and she wouldn’t be walking right now.

Raven finishes the edging, just as the sun was going down. She puts everything away and grabs her helmet. Her helmet had a bunch of ravens in flight painted on it. She mounts her motorcycle and starts it. She rides further up the driveway and turn around, instead of backing out of the driveway.

Once the coast was clear, she turned onto the street and leaves her neighborhood. She knew her neighbors were used to the sound of motorcycles in the neighborhood. Her father always had the guys over for either cookouts or Friday night poker games.

During the football playoff’s the whole club would gather at the club house and watch the game on a huge blow up screen out back. That way they could make all the noise they wanted without their neighbors being bothered. A smile appears on her face when they learn what she did to her body. Only a few members in the MC knew about her secret.

Raven heads for the interstate, and then for the open highway. She knew this route very well, because she used to ride it with members of the MC. She wasn’t a patched in member, but she was under their protection and she considers all of the members in it to be her uncles and aunts.

She follows the familiar route for a while, until her stomach reminds her that she hasn’t eaten anything since this morning. She stops at Rosie’s Diner to grab something to eat. She notices there were several other motorcycles parked in the parking lot. She doesn’t recognize any of them, but then again she has been gone for almost six years.

She grabs a muscle shirt from her saddle bag and put it on to cover up her sports bra. She isn’t bothered by the shorts she was wearing. They were modest and showed off her long tone legs. She makes sure she has money in her pocket before walking into the diner.

Raven notices that the owners of the six motorcycles outside were all sitting in the back corner like her father’s MC uses to do when they traveled out this way. She doesn’t recognizes the symbol on the back of their cuts, but she does notice that the name of their club. It was at the top of their symbol. It said Iron Skulls MC, and just below it Phoenix.

Raven makes a mental note of the bikers and wonder if the MC her father uses to belong too knew about these guys. She seats herself and waits for the waitress to appear.

“What can I get you sugar?” Flo had spotted the black hair young woman who came in and sat in her section.

“A lime aide to drink and your house burger with onion rings on the side, please.” Raven noticed the name tag on the waitress said Flo.

“How you like your burger cooked dear?” Flo spotted all the tattoos Raven had on her body.

“Well done, please. As for everything else, lettuce, tomato, onions, cheese, and pickle please.” It’s been a while since Raven has had a decent burger since she has been back from Thailand.

“Coming up.” Flo turns and leaves Raven.

Raven turns her attention to the motorcycles outside. All of them were Harley Davidson’s of various models. Two of them were stock, while the others had been customized. She turns her attention to the bikers sitting in the back corner. Only two of them looked old enough to be around her father’s age. The other four looked to be six or ten years older than her.

She noticed that they were being very polite to their young waitress, who had to be at least eighteen years old or so. Raven noticed that one of the older bikers noticed her checking them out. He winks at her as he drinks his coffee. She tries to recall if she knows him, but nothing surfaces.

Also, there is no way he would recognize her anyway. She had a bunch of surgery done to her face while she was in Thailand getting her plumbing corrected.

One of the younger bikers get up to go to the bathroom and walks by her booth. She notices that he looked directly at her and smiled. She feels her cheeks blushed when he did that.

She spots the other bikers looking towards her with a smirk on their faces. She ignores them and waits for her lime aide and food to arrive. She wonders why they were taking an interest in her.

Greg had used the excuse to use the bathroom to get a look at the woman who was looking at them. When he walked towards her, he noticed how cute her face looked. It was her eyes that drew his attention to her. She had dark blue almond shape eyes and a small nose. It was also the way she was aware of her surroundings that caught his attention. It was like she was aware of everything going on around her. He also noticed the Marine corp. symbols on her upper right arm and the bull dog on her lower forearm.

He spotted the playing card tattooed on her lower forearm on her left arm. He noticed that it had the grim reaper with the number six in the upper and lower corner of the white background. He remembers hearing something about a Special Forces unit in Afghanistan that had gotten ambushed and their sniper and several others members of the unit had been killed from the ambush.

The thing was, he knew Special Forces unit wouldn’t have allowed a woman to serve with them. As for the unit itself, he couldn’t remember the name of the unit. The only thing he could remember was that there were only two survivors and they were seriously injured.

When he comes back from going to the bathroom, he notices the woman’s food had arrived and she was eating the burger first. He notices how pleased she looked eating the burger. He didn’t want to bother her while she was eating, so instead he drops a folded piece of paper on her table as he passed her.

Raven notices the guy who walked by her earlier drop a piece of folded paper on her table as he walked by. She puts the burger down and looks at the paper. Inside the paper were his name and a number. She looks up at him as he sits back down at the table with his buddies.

A smile appears on her face as she folds the piece of paper and tucks it into a pocket on her shorts. She had to give him credit for not interrupting her while she was eating. She picks the burger back up and bites into it.

She has always loved the burgers at Rosie’s Diner. It was one of the things she missed while she was overseas. After Raven finishes with the burger, she starts eating the onion rings. Raven watches as the bikers get up after paying their bill and walk outside. A few of them walk by her motorcycle and look at it. She could tell a few of them didn’t like that she blacked out the chrome on her motorcycle. She loved her motorcycle, but she wasn’t the type of biker that went into making her bike standout. She liked it to be quiet and stealthful like her. It was the sniper in her that didn’t like attention drawn to her.

Raven continues to eat her onion rings and finish off her lime aide. Afterwards, she pays her bill, leaving a nice tip. She walks outside and mounts her motorcycle. She inhales the night air before putting on her helmet and head back home.

Raven wakes up suddenly, with sweat running down her face. The covers drop and pool around her waist. She tries to get her breathing under control as she looks across the bed room at the huge mirror mounted on the dresser that was directly in front of her bed. She closes her eyes and tries to center herself like she was taught whenever she has these attacks/flash backs.

She slows her breathing and manages to get her body and mind under control. She slowly opens her eyes and tosses the covers aside and get out of bed. She had gone to bed wearing just her panties and one of her oversized t-shirts.

She shivers from the cool air in the house hitting her bare warm skin. She walks out of the bed room towards the kitchen. She stops in front of the liquor cabinet that her father kept stock and thought about grabbing the bottle of Jack Daniels in it. She wanted to grab the bottle and take a few drinks to help her forget what happened to her and her team. She knew alcohol wasn’t the answer to her problem.

She walks into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She looks at her choices and reaches for the pitcher of cold sweet tea instead. She pulls it out and get a glass form the cabinet and pour herself some cold sweet tea. She downs half the glass, before she refills it again. She puts the pitcher back in the refrigerator and walks over to the kitchen table and sits down with her glass of tea.

She takes another sip from the glass and looks at the time on the microwave sitting on the counter. No one ever warns you about the after effects of killing someone or being nearly killed yourself. She shivers from the thought of what had been done to her that day.

Her finger traces the scar on her right arm where a piece of fragment from a grenade had torn through her forearm, leaving a scar that would never heal properly. All over her body were reminders of the cost she paid to protect the innocent and the service she did for her country. She turns and looks back towards the liquor cabinet where the bottle of Jack Daniels sat.

She wanted to forget the things that were done to her and the ghosts that still linger around. How many of her unit died during that ambushed and how it had made her finally realize she wasn’t the person she was pretending to be?

She empties the glass of sweet tea and stands up from the kitchen table. She walks over to the sink and rinse the glass out and put it in the drying rack to dry. She looks at the time on the microwave again and notices it was four in the morning. She had only gotten five hours of sleep, since returning from the diner.

She was still feeling to awake to lie back down in bed. She walks back into her bedroom and grabs a pair of jeans out of the dresser to put on. She puts on one of her comfortable bras and put on her Marine Corp. PT t-shirt and boots. She quickly braids her hair and covers it up with a leather keeper. She grabs her old male wallet and slips it into her back pocket. She thinks about taking her handgun with her, but leaves it right where it was. She was just going for a ride to clear her head.

She grabs the keys to her motorcycle and lock the back door as she heads towards the garage to get her motorcycle. She opens the garage and back her motorcycle out. She lowers the garage door and put her helmet on, as she walks her motorcycle down the driveway. She doesn’t want to wake her neighbors when she starts her motorcycle. She walks down the street pushing her motorcycle, before mounting it and starting it. The noise from her motorcycle echoes off the houses on her street. She heads down the main street and loses herself in the ride.

Instead of grabbing her normal helmet that she has owned since she first learned how to ride. She grabbed her hi-tech helmet that had a hud system that told her in what direction she was going and how fast she was going. It had a three hundred sixty degree rear camera system built into it. It also came equipped with night vision and thermal capabilities. If that wasn’t enough, it had Bluetooth capabilities, which allowed her to answer her calls while driving.

The helmet had been a gift from a CIA friend she worked with while overseas. She had been a rider and the two of them had become close, like sisters. The last she heard from her, she was working undercover near the Pakistan/India border.

Raven increases her speed and just let the wind take her where it wanted to. The only time she felt free was when she was riding. She knew she couldn’t out race her ghosts, but at least she didn’t have to confront them while she was riding.

The fuel gauge indicator built into her helmet informs her that her fuel was getting low. It was linked to the fuel gauge built onto her instrument cluster on motorcycle. She had to change it out when she came home and wanted to uses her new helmet with her motorcycle. She still had the old one, it was still useful.

Raven pulls into a Philips 66 gas station that was opened and refilled her tank. As she stands there and watches the dollar amount clicks. She watches the sun as it begins to rise. How many times did she watch the sun come up while she was overseas and missed being home? How many times did she have to take the life of enemy soldiers? She knew her kill count was high, but what did it matter? Tears start to leak from her eyes as her ghosts finally catches up with her. She hears the pump click, letting her know it was done filling her tank.

Raven wipes the tears away and put the handle back in place on the pump. She mounts her motorcycle and grabs the receipt for the gas she purchased from the pump. She starts her motorcycle and head back towards her house. As much as she would love to spend all day riding her motorcycle, she had things she needed to do today.

One of those unpleasant things was seeing her psychiatrist for her PTSD. By the time Raven arrives back home, the sun had risen. She parks her motorcycle in the driveway and takes her helmet inside with her. She turns it off as she heads towards her bed to put on some light makeup. She double checks how she looks and wonders if she should show up wearing her PT shirt.

She takes it off and put a different shirt on and her leather vest over it. She checks her appearance one more time, before grabbing something to drink and a granola bar. She checks her watch and notices she has another hour before she has to be there.

Raven paces back and forth while she waits. There was nothing for her to do inside the house. She already cleaned four times already. The floors, carpet, and the rest of the house was so cleaned and organized, that you wonder if anyone lived there. She couldn’t wait any longer and head back outside and mount her motorcycle. She puts her old helmet on and drives towards the doctor’s office, taking the long way to kill time.

By the time she arrives, she still had twenty minutes before her appointment. She parks her motorcycle and head into the building. Instead of taking the elevator like a normal person, she takes the stairs up to the fourth floor. She takes a breath, before exiting from the stair well and into the hallway. She turns right and head down to the office and check in with the receptionist. There was another person in the waiting room, waiting to see the other doctor that shared the space with her doctor. The man gives her a glance and notices the tattoos on her arms. He spots the playing car on her inner forearm.

He looks at her and then back to the playing card and the grim reaper on her left shoulder. He shakes his head, because he knew no woman would have something like that. The military didn’t allow women to go into combat, especially with a special op’s group.

Doctor Moore walks into the waiting room and looks towards Raven. A smile appears on his face “are you ready, Raven?”

Raven stands up “yes sir.”

Doctor Moore leads Raven down to his office. He knew Raven was totally aware of everything around her. It was the first thing he noticed about her when she started seeing him. He waits until she sits down on the sofa in his office before sitting across from her.

“So, Raven how have you been doing since our last session?” Dr. Moore takes his legal pad out and prepares to write down his observation.

Raven looks at Dr. Moore “I’m doing okay, I guess. I had another nightmare last night about what happened to me and my unit.”

“Was it like the last one you had or was this one different?” Dr. Moore knew Raven has been suffering from nightmares from the ambush that took her units lives and almost killed her.

“No, it was the same. I keep asking myself, why I was given a second chance and the others weren’t.” Raven knew the only reason she survived
was because she had been found by an Afghan man and his son. They had hid her in their cave, while they tended to her wounds.

Her command didn’t know she had survived until three weeks later. They had presumed she had been taken prisoner or had her body desecrated like the Taliban did her companions. Even the Taliban who tried to kill her thought she had died from the RPG attack that hit her over watch position.

Raven continues talking to her doctor and by the time her time is up, she felt a little better. She knew there was no easy fix to her problem. That was the day she decided that she couldn’t hid who she was any more. Her father knew about her secret and he never made her feel bad about it.
The only reason she joined the military and pushed herself like she did, was to bury how she truly felt. She knew she wasn’t a man, but a girl. Everything inside her had fought with her ignoring how she felt.

After leaving the doctor’s office she heads towards Bully’s for lunch. She loved their steaks and home style meals. She pulls into the parking lot and parks her motorcycle in a parking space near the front of the restaurant.

When she walks into the restaurant she is greeted by the hostess.

“How many in your party, ma’am?” Debbie looks at the biker woman as she stood before her.

“Just one.” Raven looks at the young woman standing before her.

“If you’ll follow me, please. Would you prefer a table or a booth, ma’am.”

“Either would be fine.” Raven follows behind the young woman.

Debbie escorts the biker woman over to a booth near the window. She motions to the woman.

Raven sits down and accepts the menu as the hands it to her.

“Your waitress will be with you in a minute.”

“Thank you.” Raven opens the menu to look at what she wanted.

A few minutes later her waitress appears. Raven tells her waitress what she wants to drink and what she wanted to eat. She hands the waitress the menu before she walks off.

Raven watches as the woman walks off. She was totally aware of everyone around her. It was a habit she hasn’t been able to break since she came back from Thailand. She thought about getting her tattoos removed before she came home, but they meant to much to her. The playing card with the Grim Reaper head and Marine Corp. Bull Dog had been done by a member of her unit.

The raven on her back, was done by a member of the MC her father belonged to. It was her first tattoo and it represented her nickname. Plus, it was a rave of ravens that lead the MC to find her. She had been abandoned by her stepfather after her mother died from cancer.

According to what her adopted father and the MC found out about her abandonment. She wasn’t of her stepfather’s blood and he felt no obligation to raise her. Plus, he was hoping to cash in on the insurance policy he had taken out on her, like he did her mother.

Raven just stares out of the tinted window of the restaurant towards the parking lot. She has no idea what she wants to do with her life now. She wasn’t like most women who could blend into society easily. She didn’t have to worry about money, because of her disability check she gets from the military for her injuries and PTSD. Plus, she had her investments she started back when she had a paper route and the money she saved before entering the military.

Her motorcycle had been built from parts she collected while in the military. She would come home on the holidays and work on it with her father and other members from the MC. The frame had been built by a member of the MC. She was considered a member by default. They have been her family since she was rescued and adopted by her adopted father. She wasn’t a patch wearing member, but she was considered family.

Raven is brought out of her thoughts by the waitress setting her meal down in front of her. She looks at the waitress “thank you.”

“My pleasure, ma’am. Let me know if you need anything else.” Tammy smiles and walk away.

“Let’s see if the rumors are true about your steaks, Bully.” Raven cuts into her steak and take a bite.

“Mmmm!” Raven enjoys the buttery taste of the piece she was eating.

Raven and Amber stepped out of the house and walked down towards the driveway. A huge smile appeared on Amber’s face because both girls knew who the bikers were pulling up into the driveway. Both women wait until the motorcycles are turned off before approaching the riders.

Hammer and Spider spotted the two women walking out of the house toward the driveway. Both men recognized one of them, but didn’t recognize the taller, black-haired woman. Spider noticed her US Marines tattoo on her right arm and caught a glimpse of the full-length tattoo, which he figures was a ghost or something on her upper left shoulder.

As the two women got closer, Spider and Hammer watched as Amber walked up to them.

“Hi, Daddy!” Amber runs over and hugs her father. She hasn’t seen her father for the past six months.

Hammer couldn’t believe his little girl was home. The last time he heard from her was four months earlier. He hugs his baby girl and holds her against his body. He noticed she was wearing a skintight custom body suit. He doesn’t see her motorcycle parked anywhere.

Raven had stopped near the bikers and watched as her friend Amber ran up to her father, Hammer. She spotted Spider examining her with his eyes. She knew Spider was a very detailed person. He could look at something for just a few minutes and remember every detail about the object or a person.

“Hello, Spider, long time, no see.” Raven figures she would put her old teacher/friend at ease.

Spider looks at the black-haired raven woman who just spoke to him. There was something about her voice that was familiar. “Do I know you?”

“You should, Spider. You gave me my first tattoo.” Raven turns around and lifts her t-shirt so she can show him her Raven tattoo.

Spider watches as the young woman turns around and lifts the back of her t-shirt. As soon as the t-shirt was lifted high enough to see the tattoo. He knew immediately who it was. He knew that was Raven “Raven?”

Raven lowers her t-shirt and turns around to look at Spider and Hammer. She saw the surprised look on both men. “What? You guys look like you have seen a ghost.” A playful smile appears on Raven’s face.

“We were told that you had died, Raven.” Spider couldn’t believe that Raven was standing in front of him and Hammer.

“What happened?” Hammer still had his arm around his baby girl.

“Why don’t you guys come inside, and I’ll explain everything, after I check on Eddie.”

“Eddie is here?” Both men park their motorcycles and dismount.

“Yeah, but she is recovering from her injuries.” Amber looks at her father and Spider.

“You girls better start from the beginning.” Hammer walks towards the house holding his little girl’s hand.

“I want to hear why we were told you were dead, Raven.” Spider has always had a soft spot for Raven. He was one of the men who found Raven when she was little.

Raven, Spider, Amber, and Hammer walk inside the house and spot Eddie leaning against the hallway corner. She had her handgun in her hand.

“What are you doing out of bed, sis?” Raven walks over to her little sister.

“I heard the motorcycles outside and didn’t know if they were family or enemy.” Eddie was glad it was family.

Hammer walks over to Eddie and notices how badly she was hurting. He scoops her up and carries her over to Jake’s old recliner. He gently places her onto the recliner.

Eddie looks up into Hammer’s brown eyes, “Thank you, uncle.”

“You’re welcome, baby girl.” Hammer stands back up and looks at his daughter and Raven.

“I have freshly made coffee, or I can bring you, gentlemen, a beer.”

“Dad is going to have coffee.” Amber looks at her father and remembers that he doesn’t start drinking until later in the afternoon.

“How about you, Spider? Do you still drink coffee?” Raven looks towards Spider.

“You know I do.” Spider was sitting in the other recliner Jake had in the house.

“I’ll get the coffee, Raven. Why don’t you go ahead and bring Dad and Spider up to date on everything?” Amber turns and walks towards the kitchen.

“Amber, can you bring me some aspirin, please?” Eddie was still hurting.

“Are you sure you want aspirin, instead of moonshine?” Amber knew her uncle Morrison always kept some hidden moonshine in the house.

“As much as I would want to drink Dad’s moonshine. I'd better stick to aspirin right now. I have to call my boss in a little while and explain what happened during the op.”

“What's up, baby girl?” Hammer looks at Eddie with a puzzled look on his face.

Hammer considered Eddie like one of his daughters. She was born on the same night as Amber. Her mother was a childhood friend of his.

Spider looks towards Raven, “Why don’t you start, Raven?”

Raven looks at Spider and Hammer, “Here’s why you guys were told I was dead. My team and I were ambushed by heavily armed insurgents.
They were supported by state-sponsored militants from Pakistan. My team fought as hard as we could before we were overrun. I came under attack after the insurgents located my position. One of them launched a rocket-propelled grenade towards my location, and I got hit by shrapnel.” Raven stops and looks at her uncle and Spider.

“How did you survive, baby girl?” Hammer could picture the scene in his mind.

“I crawled over to the edge where my overwatched position was and climbed down on my bloody arms and legs. I got halfway down the mountain before I lost my grip and tumbled the rest of the way down like a sack of potatoes. I passed out and woke up days later in a cave. I was found by an Afghan father and son and was nursed back to health. Weeks went by before I was well enough to make it back to the base I was stationed at. My superiors thought my dead body, along with members of my team, had been taken and dismembered by the insurgents.”

“That’s why we were informed you were dead. They couldn’t find your body. Your father and the rest of us were told you had died. When did you decide to change your gender?” Spider looks at Raven.

“After I was medically discharged from the military. I made my way to Thailand and found a doctor who would do the surgery without a letter from a shrink. I used some of the money I set aside from my investments to pay for the surgeries I had to my body and to stay in Thailand for a while to recover. I still have problems with my shooting hand, but thank goodness I’m ambidextrous. I also suffer from PTSD.”

“After what you went through, baby girl. I think anyone would, but know you have the family to help you recover, sweetie.” Hammer stands up and walks over to Raven and hugs her.

Raven returns the hug and lets the tears that have been building behind her eyes leak out. She was feeling emotional right now. She feels Spider grab her left hand and squeeze it.

“So, that’s what happened to you.” Eddie looks at her older sister.

“Yeah.” Raven looks at her little sister.

“What happened to you, Eddie?” Spider looks at Jake’s youngest daughter.

“The task force I was in got suckered into a trap. We went after the Scorpion gang, and they were prepared for us. They had the front yard mine and set traps. The house they were in was reinforced with armor plating, and they gunned us down with a fucking minigun. All their guns had armor-piercing bullets that cut through our body armor like it was tissue. We didn’t stand a chance. I barely made it out alive. One of the Scorpions was careless and left his motorcycle accessible. So, I took it.” Eddie felt the aspirin kick in.

“What about you, baby girl?” Hammer looks at his youngest.

“I heard Eddie was back in town, and I wanted to see my sister. I’ve been out of the country for the past six months. I heard through the grapevine that she had been assigned to a task force and went to see if she was alright. That’s when I learned they hadn’t found her body. So, I knew there were only three places she could be hiding.” Amber looks towards Eddie, whom she considers to be her twin sister and best friend.

“Raven, how long have you been back home?” Spider looks towards Raven.

“Only two weeks. I came home in the middle of the night and didn’t want to tell anyone yet that I was home. I don’t know how the rest of the MC is going to handle the new me.” Raven was feeling insecure about how the other members of the MC would accept her.

“Baby girl, your family and nothing will ever change that. That includes all three of you.” Hammer looks at the terrible trio.

“Now the question is. Do we want to get involved with what the Scorpions are doing in our town?” Spider knew the MC would want to run them out of town.

“That might be a bigger problem, Uncle Spider. According to the intel that the task force has on them. They are being backed by several cartel families down in Brazil with connections to several US military suppliers near Washington D.C. Every lead or snitch we had on them ended up dead. We can’t even get anyone undercover into their organization. According to a snitch, I had before he was found chopped up by a wood chipper. They have someone in our intel community feeding them information.” Eddie felt bad about what happened to Benny Lucci.

“Do you think that is how they found out about your raid?” Hammer looks towards Eddie to see if she suspects someone.

“It’s possible, uncle. However, no one knew our plan or when we were going to strike. Everyone in our task force was hand-picked and clear. We kept the plan of what we were going to do under wraps.”

“I can tell you this, Daddy. Commander Hicks is worried that the MC and your connections to other MC’s might get involved. However, since sissy there was hiding out here. It might be a good idea to just inform the MC, but stay out until things turn bad.” Amber looks at her father.

“Sweetie, you know we can’t allow another gang in our territory.” Hammer knew their current President wouldn’t allow anyone else to trespass on their territory.

“Uncle, I agree with Squeaky there. But I’m not saying the MC shouldn’t do anything, but it might be best if you guys stay out of the situation. Having the MC as a backup plan would be beneficial and a surprise. You already know who you can trust and who you can’t trust.” Eddie didn’t want to get the MC involved unless it was necessary.

Hammer and Spider look at each other, and something unspoken passes between them. Hammer turns back to face Eddie, “Let's get you looked at and make sure you’re going to be okay.”

Spider starts dialing their new doctor’s number. Their older doctor, the one who delivered Eddie and Amber, along with several other children in the MC, had passed away from a heart attack in his sleep. Raven stands up and heads towards the front door. She steps out onto the porch and inhales the air.

“Are you okay, Raven?” Amber had followed behind Raven when she stepped out onto the front porch.

Raven turns around to look at Amber and wonders how she should answer her. She just looks at Amber and wishes she hadn’t gone through what she did.

“Not really, Amber. It was just getting too crowded in the house for me.” Raven felt like she was ready to panic.

Amber walks over and wraps her arms around Raven. She feels Raven shiver from being held. She has seen a lot of other members of the MC who suffered from PTSD.

“You're home and safe now, Raven. No one is going to hurt you.” Amber just holds onto Raven as she feels Raven shake, and finally calms down.

Raven hugs Amber back. The two of them stay like that for a while. She needed this and was happy she had family who understood her.

Morrison’s Resident:

When Marshal Van B. Duncan pulled up to Eddie’s childhood home, he noticed eight custom Harley Motorcycles parked in the driveway facing outwards. The last thing he needed right now was the MC, Eddie, who had ties to the situation with the Scorpions. He spotted two bikers standing outside on the front porch.

One was a young man with a military-style haircut wearing a patch over his right eye. He was wearing a leather vest with several patches on the front. He was also wearing black cargo-style pants and black combat boots.

The other biker standing on the porch was a man a few years older than the first. He looked like your typical biker, and Marshal Duncan noticed he was carrying a concealed weapon. A normal person wouldn’t have noticed the concealed weapon, but Marshal Duncan had years of experience dealing with criminals.

He gets out of his SUV and starts walking towards the house. He watches as the two men step down off the porch and block his way to the steps.

“I’m here to see Eddie Morrison. She knows I’m here to see her.” Marshal Duncan knew these men were here to protect Eddie.

Dutch hears Bandit’s voice in his earpiece. “Roger.” Dutch motions to Wind Cutter to step aside to let Marshal Duncan go inside the house.

Marshal Duncan walks up the steps and enters the house, where he spots two other women and six other bikers. The other bikers were older and had beards, except for one guy with a bald head and a bunch of tattoos. As for the other two women, one had dark raven hair and several tattoos on her arms. One of her tattoos caught his attention. It was a white playing card on the inside of her left forearm.

He couldn’t tell exactly what was on the playing card, but he could see the Grim Reaper's face on the front of the card. The other woman standing near Eddie, he knew. He spotted her once at Eddie’s apartment in Virginia. If he remembered correctly, Eddie called her her twin sister. Her name was Amber Vass. He didn’t know much about her, except that the two women were born on the same night. He spots the older biker, the one Eddie called her uncle. He was talking to another man sitting at the small dining room table.

Jacob “Junkyard Dog” Brodie watched as the US Marshal, Eddie, worked and entered the house. He had been brought up to date on the situation and didn’t like that Eddie preferred to have them stay out of the matter until they were needed. He also didn’t like the fact that the Scorpion gang was operating in his city either.

Amber was keeping an eye on Eddie. After Doc examined her and gave her some shots for an infection that had developed at one of the wounds, she let Eddie borrow her encrypted cell phone. She borrowed some clothes from Raven and changed into them. Her father had asked where her motorcycle was and went to retrieve it.

Hammer had placed it in the garage, where he saw the hi-tech-looking motorcycle Eddie had stolen from one of the Scorpion gang members. He also saw Jake’s custom motorcycle sitting in the garage. He knew the girls were afraid to ride it. The motorcycle was just too powerful for a normal rider. Not only was it too powerful for a normal rider, but it also held memories for the girls as well.

He was also getting used to the fact that Raven had changed his gender. He has known Raven since he was little, and he never realized Raven wanted to be a girl. Also, he was happy that Raven wasn’t dead either. He knew Jake would have been happy knowing his oldest was still alive.
Marshal Duncan looks at Eddie, who sits in the recliner. He noticed that she was bandaged and had an IV going into her right arm. “How are you feeling, Eddie?”

Eddie looks up towards her boss, “like I went twenty rounds with a freaking robot, sir.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you go to the hospital?” Marshal Duncan was curious why she came here.

“Members of the Scorpion gang have infiltrated the hospitals, police, fire departments, and paramedic services.” Eddie had a full report stored on a thumb drive hidden on her motorcycle.

“She’s safer with us.” Jacob had stood up from the chair and walked over to where Marshal Duncan and Eddie were.

Marshal Duncan turns his attention to the man who just spoke to him and sees that the title patch on his old leather vest reads 'President'. He saw that the person's name was Jacob “Junkyard Dog” Brodie.

“It would have saved us some time knowing she was still alive.” Marshal Duncan looked at the old biker and saw that he had a salt-and-pepper military-style cut. His beard was the same color as his hair and came halfway down his chest.

“According to what I was told, Marshal. Eddie wasn’t in any shape to speak to anyone. She came to the one place she would be safe. Luckily, her sister was here to tend to her.” Raven had informed Jacob about the shape her sister was in when she found her.

“Her sister? Do you mean Ms. Vass there?” Duncan looks over towards Amber, who was standing nearby.

A Cheshire smile appears on Jacob’s face. He glances towards Raven and notices her shaking her head no. She wasn’t ready to come out to everyone yet.

“Yeah, I mean squeaky there.” Jacob knew Amber’s nickname in the club was Squeaky.

Eddie’s nickname was Hurricane, and of course, Raven’s was Raven.

Marshal Duncan looks down at Eddie. “What else have you learned about this gang, Eddie?”

“Besides being well armed and organized? They have connections inside our government, and someone is supplying them with intel.” Eddie had already explained everything to Jacob.

“Marshal, you know I can’t allow this gang to operate in my city. I know you and the local law enforcement want to handle this mess yourself, but it seems that you have leaks inside the police department and inside your own office.”

“What do you propose, Mr. Brodie?” Duncan looks at the president of the motorcycle club.

“Let me and some of my people do some snooping around and see what we can uncover.”

“You know I can’t officially approve that request, but if the information comes from someone else. That would be a different story.” Duncan knew he couldn’t deputize members of the MC, but he could use Eddie’s connection to them.

Amber was standing near Eddie, pretending to tend to her, but listening to Jacob and Marshal Duncan. She had avenues she could pursue outside official channels to get information.

Eddie noticed Amber listening in on what Jacob and her boss were saying. She knew Amber could help in the investigation to find and bring down the Scorpion gang.

“What are you thinking about, Squeaky?” Eddie looks at Amber for an answer.

“Oh? I was thinking about extending my vacation so that I can spend some time with my sisters and family.” A smile appears on her face.

“Will your boss let you?” Eddie knew Amber worked outside of the law.

“She won’t mind me extending it.” Amber was going to send her request in as soon as she could.

Duncan and Jacob talk for a while, making arrangements for their cooperation. Raven stood nearby, watching and reading their lips. She didn’t mean to, but old habits were hard to break.

Before Marshal Duncan arrived, she had explained everything to Jacob and was surprised that all he cared about was that she was safe and now home. He reassured her that he would explain things to the MC and that she was still family and nothing would change that.

After Marshal Duncan leaves, some members go out and buy dinner for everyone.

Dr. Stevenson’s Medical Office:
Raven looked at Dr. Steveson as she sat across from him on the sofa. She knew she couldn’t battle the PTSD trauma alone, and it was best that she talked to someone about the nightmares and uneasiness she was feeling. She was paying for the counseling out of her own pocket.

“How have you been doing lately, Raven?” Dr. Steveson looked at Raven as she sat across from him on the sofa. He noticed she was wearing a blouse and dress pants today, instead of her normal leather.

“The nightmares aren’t coming as often as they used to, but when they do show up, they seem so real. It takes me falling out of my bed for me to wake up and realize that I’m not back on that mountain.” Raven rubs her arm where her unit's tattoo was.

Dr. Steveson has noticed that when Raven does that, it is one of her nervous habits. He had observed several nervous tics she had during some of their sessions.

“Has anything changed in your life recently?” Dr. Stevenson has dealt with ex-service members.

He knew Raven was unique in the fact that she had undergone gender reassignment surgery after she was discharged from the service. They had talked about that when she first came to see him.

“Yes, but I can’t go into details about it.” Raven wanted to tell Dr. Stevenson about what was going on right now in her life, but she knew she couldn’t.

“Okay, has anything new happened that you can talk about, or what might be triggering your nightmares?”

“You could say that, Doctor.” Raven starts talking about her twin sisters.

The session with Dr. Stevenson lasted for an hour. Raven was emotionally drained by the time their session was done. She makes an appointment for next month before she leaves.

Dr. Steveson has renewed her prescriptions for her PTSD. She doesn’t like taking medication, but since she has to take estrogen for the rest of
her life. She can make an exception for the medication her doctor prescribed her.

Today, instead of traveling on her motorcycle, like she normally does. She borrowed her uncle Hammer’s beat-up, rusty old pickup truck. The truck might look ugly with its different-colored body parts, but it ran like a dream. She once asked her uncle why he did that, and asked her if she would steal something like his Frankenstein truck?

She carefully backs the big truck out of the parking spot and starts heading towards Fry's Food Store. She could do some shopping while waiting for her prescriptions to be filled. It doesn’t take her long to arrive at the store, as she parks the big, ugly pickup truck.

Most women carry a purse, but she doesn’t like having her hands occupied. She likes to keep her hands free so she can defend herself. She carries a leather wallet instead. She knows it isn’t ladylike, but she didn’t care. She would rather be safe than sorry.

She puts a quarter in the change device to unlock the shopping cart. Once she has the cart, she walks into the store and heads to the pharmacy to drop off her prescriptions for filling. Once that was done, she started her shopping. Since the guys have been coming over to protect her and her sister. She was going to stock up on beer and maybe some hard liquor. She also planned to cook on the grill, since it was easier to make big meals there. She goes up and down the aisles selecting ingredients for side dishes and other items she’ll need.

Her sister was doing better and was busy going over the forensic reports and photos from the site. It turned out some of the men who got shot might survive. Not all of them had been murdered, but if they do survive, they are going to be disabled for life.

When Raven hears her last name being announced over the store speaker, she heads to the pharmacy to pick up her prescriptions. When she paid for them, she couldn’t believe how much they cost. She finishes up her shopping and checks out. She bought more food than she planned on buying.

Raven stops by the ABC store and picks up a couple of bottles of booze and mixers. She needed to replenish what had been drunk at her father’s place. She knew that when members of the MC came by the house, they expected booze. Her father was famous for having a fully stocked bar and several jars of moonshine.

She knew her father didn’t make the moonshine, but he bought it from a supplier. She knew the supplier’s number and had placed orders for her father before. She sends a coded text to the supplier and places an order for ten gallons of moonshine.

As Raven is driving home, her cellphone beeps. She is given the price and where she can pick up the order. She acknowledges the text and receives the delivery time for the order.

She heads home after picking Amber up at her father’s place. She was sporting a black eye.

“What happened to you?” Raven watches as Amber gets into the truck.

“A snitch I knew, and got into it. The bastard thought he could extort more money from me. He even pulled a gun on me.” Amber couldn’t believe Eddie was so stupid as to extort her for more money.

“Let me guess, you gave him a beating he won’t ever forget?” Raven drives towards her father’s place.

“Let’s just say he isn’t going to be speaking any time soon. I broke his freaking jaw with one punch.” Amber rubs her knuckles on her right hand.

“You always did have a mean right cross,” Raven remembers the two of them playing around and Amber punching her.

The ride from Hammer’s house to her father’s house didn’t take long. She went the back way to the house. Only a few people knew it. Raven backs the truck up into the driveway so it will be easier to unload. She remembers doing the same thing with her mother when they went shopping.

The side door opens, and Eddie comes walking outside. She was wearing a sundress her sister had in her closet.

“What did you bring back, sis?” Eddie looked like she could use some sun.

“This one.” Amber points towards Raven.

A smirk appears on Eddie’s face, “She is like a bad penny you can’t get rid of.”

“If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be working around right now.” Raven looks towards her little sister.

“Maybe, but I am glad you were here when I broke in.” Amber grabs two bags and carries them into the house.

The three of them managed to unload the truck and put everything away. Eddie spotted her favorite ice cream among the groceries, along with fudge brownie mixes.

“Oh, this should be fun. Brownies and ice cream.” Eddie loved brownies with ice cream on top, especially when the brownies were still warm.

After all the groceries are put away, and what beer can be stored inside the house refrigerator. It is taken out to the garage and placed in there. Normally, Eddie and Raven’s father kept beer out in the garage. When he and other members of the MC were working, they would have something cold to drink.

Eddie looks at Raven, “I need to go by the hotel I was staying at and get my things.”

“No problem, sis. We can stop at El Taco Loco and pick up some tacos.” Amber liked the tacos from that place.

“Sounds good to me.” Raven grabs the keys to the truck, and all three ladies head out to the truck.

Raven was scanning the road, making sure there was no danger, and she noticed Amber doing the same thing. Eddie was between the two of them. The three of them got into the truck, with Eddie in the back seat.

The first place they stop is El Taco Loco, where they order a twelve-pack of tacos, chips, and two different types of dip. When they went into the restaurant, they took a corner table. They wanted to protect their backs and see everyone coming and going.

The three ladies enjoyed their lunch and made small talk. Raven contributed to the conversation every so often, but listened to her sisters.

Gunny's Indoor and Outdoor Firearm Range:
Raven rides her motorcycle from the house towards the rifle range. She had her helmet on and her gun cases secured in the saddlebags. She hasn’t been to the range since she arrived back home.

Amber had gone with Eddie to the nearest Marshal's office. Eddie was asked to come in and give her account of everything that happened. Amber had gone with Eddie to make sure nothing happened to her twin sister.

As for getting Eddie’s things from the hotel she had been staying at. It went without any problems. Between the three of them, they managed to protect Eddie and carry her things down to Hammer’s truck. Raven noticed that Amber was extremely alert, like she and her team were when they went into areas controlled by the Taliban. She had never noticed that about her little sister before.

Raven arrives at the gun range and notices several other motorcycles parked there, as well as several pickup trucks. The motorcycles looked like the ones you would buy at a dealership, whereas hers was custom-built. She takes her helmet off and shakes her hair free.

Raven takes her weapon cases out of the saddlebags and the rifle she brought with her. The rifle she brought with her wasn’t the custom sniping rifle she used. That rifle was at home, secured in the gun safe.

The one she did bring was built a little like the sniping rifle she used. It used the same load and had the same range as her custom rifle. When Raven stops at the counter, she looks at the young man with brown hair standing behind the counter.

“How can I help you, Mrs.?” Darrel looks at the woman and sees the exposed tattoos on her body.

“I would like two boxes of forty-five caliber ammo, two boxes of nine-millimeter ammo, three boxes of .308 Winchester ammo, and two boxes of
.338 Lapua Magnum ammo.” Raven knew what she wanted to use for practice.

Darrel was impressed by the request. He didn’t think someone like her would know anything about ammo.

“I also would like lane five if it is available.” Lane five was the lane her father and uncles used back in the day when she was little.

“Lane five is available. What targets would you want?” Darrel gets the ammo and stacks it up in front of Raven.

“Give me seven, number fours, and five, number twos.” Raven knew she was a little out of practice.

Darrel places everything down on the counter. He starts ringing everything up. He looks at Raven, “That will be two hundred, fifty dollars and thirty-three cents.”

“Okay.” Raven pulls her leather wallet out of her back pocket and hands Darrel ten twenties, five tens, and a one-dollar bill.

Darrel double-checks everything and puts the total into the register. He pulls out the change and hands it to Raven.

“Here you go, ma’am.” Darrel hands the change to Raven.

“Thanks.” Raven dumps the change into the change bottle sitting on the counter. She picks up everything and heads towards the door that exits to the outside gun range.

Raven walks down to lane five and sets everything up. She was going to start with her handguns first. It’s been a while since she has fired her handguns. She puts one of the targets up and sends it down to the fifty-foot mark.

She opens her gun case and looks down at her Glock 19 and Sig Sauer. Both of them were Marine-issued and used by her. She was lucky that she didn’t lose her Glock 19 when she went tumbling down the side of the mountain.

She takes the Glock out first and ejects the magazine currently in it. Raven takes an empty magazine and starts loading it. After loading that one, she loads three more magazines with ammo.

Once the four magazines were loaded, she put her shooting glasses on and took aim. Her shooting hand shakes a little, but she manages to get it under control. She takes a slow breath and lets it out slowly. She pulls the trigger and puts two rounds in the target.

Raven fires again, but this time she aims for the head. She puts one round right in the center of the head. She fires again and puts another round in the same hole.

“That’s pretty good shooting.” Alan had just stepped outside the gun store when he spotted the black-haired woman and how she handled her weapon.

Raven turns around and takes her eye protection off. She looked at the man who had just spoken to her and noticed he was watching her. She was normally aware of anyone being near her.

“Thanks.” Raven changes the magazines in the Glock.

“You’re welcome. Is that the Glock 19?” Alan noticed the customized Glock the woman was holding in her hand.

“It is. I’m used to using it and my Sig.” Raven chambers a round and turns back around to face the target.

Alan walks a little closer and notices her stance. He has been teaching gun safety and other people how to use a weapon. He notices that her stance is the same one most military people use.

He watches Raven as she shoots and could tell she was having trouble with her right hand. He noticed she had a slight tremor when she gripped the gun or was about to pull the trigger. Once Raven was done firing her gun, “You seem to be having problems holding your gun.”

Raven turns to look at Alan, “I injured my hand some time ago.”

“Sorry to hear that. Did you serve in the military?” Alan noticed the tattoos on both of Raven’s arms.

“Yes, I served in the Marines.” Raven has the target come forward so she can replace it.

“Mind if I look at your weapons?”

“Sure.” Raven ejects the magazine and the round in the chamber.

Raven hands the gun to Alan so he can look at it. He could tell it was well-maintained and used. He saw the notches in the grip.

“It looks like you have had it for a while.” Alan hands the Glock back to Raven.

“I have. By the way, my name is Raven Morrison.” Raven accepts her weapon back.

“Alan Halsey. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Morrison.” Alan smiles at Raven as he hands her weapon back.

“So, how long were you in the Marines?” Alan noticed the Marine tattoos on Raven’s arm.

“For a few years, I was just recently discharged.” Raven wasn’t going to tell Alan why.

“Do you mind if I show you a few things?” Alan noticed that Raven did a few things that you could tell were military-trained.

“Sure.” Raven steps aside to let Alan get close to her weapons.

She watches as Alan shows her what she was doing wrong. After showing Raven what he was talking back. The two of them compete in shooting at some targets.

Raven and Alan spend the rest of the afternoon at the gun range. She allows him to use her rifle and the rounds she bought. She was impressed by his accuracy as she bought more targets to shoot at.

Near the end of the afternoon, Alan helps Raven pack up everything.

“Are you hungry?” Alan looks at Raven when he asks that question.

“I could go for a burger or pizza.” Raven was feeling a little hungry.

A smirk appears on Alan’s face at the response.

“Good, because I know a place nearby that has the best burgers and pizzas around. Plus, the owner is friendly towards the biker crowd.” Alan knew Mario had the best food around near the firing range.

“Lead the way.” Raven picks up her gun cases and targets and carries them out to her motorcycle.

Alan follows behind Raven, admiring her cute ass. He helps her secure everything on her motorcycle.

“Just follow me.”

“Okay.” Raven mounts her motorcycle and puts on her helmet. She watches as Alan walks over to his modern Chevy pickup truck.

Alan gets into his truck and starts the engine. He backs out of the parking space he had been parked in and heads towards Mario’s restaurant. He looks in his rearview mirror and spots Raven following him on her motorcycle.

He wonders why Raven's motorcycle blackens out. He had observed from their friendly shooting competition that Raven avoided some of his questions. He also observed that sometimes, she reacted when other shooters started shooting their guns. He has seen reactions like that in other vets who have witnessed or been part of something so traumatic.

He saw the scars on her hands and a nasty one going up her right arm. He wonders which unit she was part of. He saw the white playing card with the number six and the Grim Reaper's head. He also noticed the bulldog and the Marine tattoo on her left arm.

After ten minutes of driving, Raven and Alan arrive at an outdoor shopping mall. But instead of heading towards the strip mall, Alan leads Raven to a building that looks like it started life as an Olive Garden. It was now an Italian restaurant called Little Italy.

Raven saw the building and wondered if they really served hamburgers. The name itself gave away that it specialized in Italian food. She parks her motorcycle in the parking spot next to Alan’s truck and shuts it down. She takes her helmet off and secures it.

As Raven dismounts, she looks over towards Alan as he exits his truck and walks around the front of it. “I thought you said this was a burger joint.”

“It is, it also serves ribs, steaks, and other homestyle meals, including Italian food. Trust me, you’ll like this place.” A friendly smile appears on Alan’s face.

“I’ll trust you.” Raven follows Alan into the restaurant. He holds the door open for Raven, like a proper gentleman.

“Thank you.” Raven walks by Alan as he holds the door open for her.

“You’re welcome.” Alan watches as Raven walks by him.

They enter the restaurant together and are immediately welcomed by a middle-aged woman with a heavy Italian accent. She was wearing nice clothes and looked very professional.

“Welcome to Little Italy. How many in your party?” Erika looks at the couple standing before her.

“Just us two,” Alan answered for them.

“If you’ll follow me, please.” Erika leads Alan and Raven over to a nice corner table.

Raven and Alan follow Erika and sit down at the corner table. They watch as the hostess leaves two menus with them. Alan and Raven look through the menus as they wait for their waitress.

Raven notices that Alan was telling the truth by what they served here. She spotted several specialty burgers that no one else would have. She also noticed they had American ribs and barbecue.

A young woman in her twenties approaches the table. A smile appears on her face, “Are you ready to order?”

“I am, how about you, Alan?” Raven looks towards Alan when she asks.

“I’m ready.” Alan closes his menu and looks towards the young woman.

Alan orders first, getting the lasagna, small salad, and sweetened iced tea. He looks towards Raven, “Let me guess, you’re getting the personal supreme pizza, salad, and sweetened Iced tea.”

A surprised look appears on Raven’s face. She looks towards the young woman as she hands her the menu, “What the gentleman just said, please.”

Once the waitress writes everything down, she walks away. Raven looks towards Alan, “So, tell me a little about yourself, Alan.”

“Well, I served in the Army and attained the rank of Sergeant. Before I got out, I trained recruits, served three tours in Afghanistan, and was there on the final days as we withdrew from the country. I feel we should have stayed and backed the democratic government we helped put in power, but we didn’t.”

“I know what you mean. I feel we abandoned the people there and should have done more.” Raven felt like they should have done more by eliminating the Islamic insurgents.

“Speaking of being there, what unit were you in?” Alan has been puzzled by the tattoo on the inside of Raven’s left forearm.

Raven looks into Alan’s eyes, “I can’t tell you. That’s how classified my unit was.”

“But you have a tattoo of your unit on your forearm.” Alan looks at Raven with a serious look on his face.

“True, I do. However, my unit is no longer alive. I’m the last remaining member.” Raven puts her fork down on her plate.

She closes her eyes and tries to keep the memory of what happened that day from surfacing. Raven takes several short breaths and manages to get her emotions under control. She slowly opens them and looks towards Alan.

Alan noticed how Raven reacted to his question and now knew why she had reacted. He reaches across the table and grips her hand. “It’s alright, Raven. You’re safe.”

A cold shiver travels throughout Raven’s body as she squeezes Alan’s hand. She concentrates on him and his voice. After a few minutes of doing everything she can, she manages to get her emotions under control.

“I’m sorry I brought it up.” Alan knew people with PTSD, and figured Raven was still fighting hers.

“It’s alright, my doctor said it was going to take time to recover. At least I haven’t lost the fight to the bottle yet.” Raven knew she could drown
herself in booze and feel nothing. However, she wasn’t going down that path. Her father always told her the bottle never helped anyone.

They spend the next few hours talking and eating. By the time they left, Raven and Alan exchanged numbers and made a date to meet at the gun range next weekend.

Raven wakes suddenly when she hears movement in the house. She has never been a sound sleeper, and after what she went through overseas, she has only become more aware of her surroundings. She grabs her gun from under her pillow and slides out of bed.

Raven listens as the people move around in the living room. She moves quietly towards the bedroom door and opens it slightly. She could see
two figures dressed in full blackout gear. Their heads were covered, and they moved quietly down the main hallway towards her.

She looks around the bedroom and decides not to do what she was thinking. She aims for their kneecaps and fires at them. The bullets don’t even penetrate the bodysuits they are wearing. She moves as they fire their guns towards her, hitting the door.

“Shit!” Raven looks around the room and looks for a weapon. Her gun was useless against their body armor.

The door to her bedroom burst open as the two guys entered the room. They start spraying the area with submachine guns. Raven grabs the shotgun from under the bed and fires it at one of the guys.

She had changed out the standard shotgun rounds with solid slugs. She aims at the guy’s legs from under the bed and fires the shotgun. One guy falls as the other guy fires toward Raven’s hiding spot.

She rolls out of the way just in time and fires the shotgun at the second intruder. He moves out of the way just in time. He returns fire towards Raven and misses.

Raven fires again and hits him. The solid slugs from the shotgun send the person flying backward out the side window in the bedroom. Raven’s shoulder was hurting because she didn’t brace the shotgun right.

She looks over towards the one she shot in the legs and puts a tourniquet on both his legs to keep him from bleeding out. She uses some of her old military belts to apply the tourniquet. She could hear police sirens approaching.

Raven looks out the window towards the backyard. She notices the other person isn’t moving after being blasted in the chest by the solid slugs. She searches the body to see if the person has any identification on him, but doesn’t. She finds a hard, black metal credit card with a gold-embossed scorpion image.

Raven hid the card before the police arrived at her place. She knew they were going to come in hard because of the gunshots. She grabs her house robe and puts it on to cover her naked body. No sooner does she get her robe on than a knocking sound comes from her front door. She sets the shotgun down and answers the door.

Officer Miller looks at the woman with black hair standing before him. She had her hands up, and he could see she had tattoos on her arms.

“Ma’am, there were reports of gunshots coming from this address.”

“I had two intruders who broke into my home and tried to kill me. One is lying on the floor of my bedroom, and the other is outside in my backyard.” Raven steps aside to let Officer Miller and several other cops inside her house.

This isn’t the first time someone has broken into the house and ended up dead. The house has been shot up before by members of a rival motorcycle gang. Raven watches as the police are then followed by a forensic team, who are called in to photograph the crime scene. An old detective and his partner show up and ask her a bunch of questions.

Eddie and Amber show up an hour later. Most of the police and the detectives had already left the house. The forensics team was wrapping things up by the time they arrived.

Eddie looks at her older sister. “So, what happened?”

Amber was behind Eddie as they walked into the house. She saw the blood stain on the floor of the bedroom and the broken window. She walks over to the back door and notices that they have cut the lock with a laser.

“Two guys from the group you are looking for decided to pay me a visit.” Raven looked at her sisters as they stood in the kitchen for some privacy.

“It’s a good thing you heard them, sis.” Eddie figures her sister was barely asleep.

“I don’t sleep as heavily as I used to.” Raven takes a sip from her coffee cup.

“My question is, why did they come here?” Amber was curious why they came to the house.

“Properly, looking for me.” Eddie knew her childhood home was listed in her file. How they got access to it is a question she needs answers to.

“Well, if you need help. I’ll help you.” Raven wanted to arrest these assholes.

“Well, we need to do something about the missing glass in your bedroom window.” Amber saw the broken glass.

“I’ll call Jacob in the morning and have a new one installed.” Raven gets a heavy blanket and tacks it up in front of the window.

“Oh! I have something for you.” Raven grabs the credit she found on one of the assassins.

She hands it to Eddie, who hands it to Amber. Eddie looks at Amber. “Do you think you can crack it?”

“Are you kidding me? I can break any code.” Amber looks at the card.

“What is so special about that card?” Raven had kept it, hoping it would prove important.

“It’s how they transfer money between members and can get access to any government computers and databases.” Amber has been tracking these people for a while. It was just recently that the situation brought her into contact with her childhood friends.

“How does this gang have such ability to do all of this?” Raven refills her coffee mug.

“Unlike most gangs, this gang doesn’t bother with stealing money the old-fashioned way or have other avenues of bringing in cash. They specialize in stealing high-tech devices & weapons, unique technologies, and cryptocurrencies. Lately, they have been expanding their operations and going into new fields?”

“Oh? Like what?” Eddie was curious to hear what her twin knew.

“Drone technology and artificial intelligence. They already have several smart AI weapon systems at their disposal and artificial beings working for them.” Amber was surprised when the team she worked for encountered them.

“Are you sure about that?” Eddie looks at her twin.

Even Raven looked as well. She was just as curious as her little sister.

“Yep, I’m sure. I haven’t witnessed it myself, but according to recent reports. There have been several sightings of artificial people helping the
Scorpions.” Amber couldn’t believe it when she heard the rumors either.

“How is that possible?” Raven and Eddie were both curious.

“Don’t know.” Amber wasn’t sure how any of it worked or what was truly going on.

After the girls finished drinking coffee, they returned to work, securing the house and repairing the damage the intruders had caused.

Over the next few days, Eddie and Amber stayed at the house. Amber brought her custom-built laptop with her. The laptop itself was thicker than current laptops. Amber told them that she could hook up a portable cooling system to the laptop to increase its processing speed.

Amber was currently breaking into the credit card Raven had taken from her attackers. So far, she has managed to break through the four firewalls it had. She was currently working on breaking the protected code it used for the two-factor authentication process. She was amazed at how simple but sophisticated the coding was. It was taking everything she ever learned or developed to break the code.

“How much longer is it going to take you, sis?” Eddie walks over and stands next to Amber.

“Hard to say; whoever wrote this code was a freaking genius. It’s so simple in its structure, but so complex in how it protects the information on this card. That I would love to meet the person who designed this code.” Amber had no idea how much longer it would take her to crack it.

“Well, I’m going to go for a jog. I need to clear my mind and burn off some of this stored-up energy I still have.” Raven was still juiced, even after repairing the damage to the house.

Eddie looks towards her older sister. “I’ll stay here and watch over Amber while you’re gone.”

“Okay, the code to my weapon locker is Mom’s wedding day.” Raven figures no one other than family would know what their mother’s wedding day was.

“Okay, and thanks.” Eddie had forgotten the day their mother got married. It’s been so long since her death that they hadn’t celebrated it.

Raven steps into her bedroom and changes into her jogging clothes. The sports bra supported her breasts, and the shorts showed off her long, shapely legs. She puts on her favorite running shoes and leaves the house. She had the one-piece hearing piece in her ear, while leaving her other ear empty.

Raven knew she needed to stay aware of her surroundings. She jogs down her driveway and out onto the sidewalk. She waves to her neighbors and wonders what they thought of what happened the other night. It was a good thing that they managed to get the repairs done.

Raven concentrates on her jogging as she heads down the street. She continues for five blocks before turning left at the fifth block and jogging towards the playground. She had fond memories of that particular playground. It was where Scott Cummingham kissed her when she thought she was gay. It was also where she had her first sexual experience with an older gay guy.

She jogs past the park and heads down towards the baseball field, where she played tee ball, softball, and baseball. When she was doing terribly in gym class, her father made her jog around the baseball field until she got better. Several of the guys from the motorcycle club came and helped her. They pretended to chase her, on foot or on their motorcycles at low speeds.

Raven jogged past the baseball field and straight towards Flower Street and then turned onto Tulip Avenue. By the time she got home, she had jogged six miles. She headed into the house and saw that Eddie was on her cell phone. Amber was still sitting at her laptop, working on the card.
Raven walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cold iced water bottle from the refrigerator. She opened it and drank some of the water. She wonders who Eddie was talking to.

Eddie noticed her older sister walking into the house from her run. The head of the task force wanted her and Amber to investigate a suspected warehouse where a bunch of drone parts were being kept. She figured her sister would be the perfect overwatch to protect them. She needed to run the plan by Marshal Duncan before she approached her sister with her request.

By the time she finished the conversation with Marshal Duncan. He gave her the okay and approved the plan she came up with. Marshal Duncan did tell her that this is only a recon mission and that they aren’t to get into any firefights.

Once Eddie finishes her conversation with Duncan, she ends the call. She looks towards Raven before speaking; she hopes her big sister will agree to be her overwatch on this recon job.

“Hey Sis, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me on a job?” Eddie looks at her big sister.

“You do know I’m not law enforcement, don’t you? I’m just an ordinary citizen and don’t have any legal reason to be there.” Raven didn’t want to get into any legal trouble.

“You have permission from my boss to help us. Marshal Duncan is temporarily deputizing you to help Amber and Amber.”

“How did I get dragged into this?” Amber stops what she is doing to look towards her twin.

“I need your technical expertise on this recon. I’m nowhere in your league when it comes to drone technology or hi-tech weapons.” Eddie knew she wasn’t as talented as Amber.

“Fine, by the way, I managed to crack this card.” Amber looked at all the detail she was recovering from the card.

“Can you duplicate that card to give us access to any scorpion location?” Eddie walks over to look at the information on Amber’s laptop screen.

She knew some computer language and had done some coding before, but what she saw on the screen was beyond her. She felt Raven’s presence next to her and wondered what her big sister thought about it.

“I can’t believe what I am seeing. This coding is of government level and better.” Raven has seen some extensive computer security and coding before.

“Well, they might be extremely talented, but I managed to crack it. I can also give you universal access to everything they have.” Amber walks back over and sits down at the table.

“Do you want to use this card or program a new one?” Eddie wanted to keep the original under wrap if she could.

“I’ll make a new one. I’m going to keep this one safe for future use.” Amber reached into her reinforced computer case and flipped through the stuff she carries.

She finds the perfect one and goes to work to make a universal one. Amber was going to make sure this card gave them access to anything the Scorpion owned or operated.

Raven turns to look at her little sister. “I’ll help you. What do you need me to do?”

“I’m going to need you to be on overwatch while Amber and I go inside a suspected warehouse and look around. I don’t want any surprises.”

“When?” Raven didn’t mind protecting her sisters.

“Tonight. Hopefully, it’s not another trap like the raid was.” Eddie was still recovering from her injuries.

“Alright, let’s do a recon of the area today, before going in tonight.” Raven wanted to know the area and didn’t want any surprises.

“All right, let’s go.” Eddie heads to get her keys.

“Hold on, Eddie. Let’s go as biker women. It will be less suspicious.” Raven knew no one would suspect two biker women.

“I’ll stay here and continue working on this card.” Amber had work to do.

“Okay, but be careful.” Eddie looked at her little sister when she said that.

“Aren’t I always?” Amber had a playful look on her face.

“No!” Both Raven and Eddie answered at the same time.

Eddie and Raven changed into their old biker leathers and headed outside to get their motorcycles, instead of Raven taking her fat boy. She mounts her father’s motorcycle.

Eddie looks at her sister. “Why aren’t you taking your motorcycle?”

“Because it sticks out being all blacked out. I’m the only biker in this area with a motorcycle like it. Dad, on the other hand, hasn’t been out that much, and not many people will recognize Dad’s.”

“Good point.” Eddie mounts Amber’s motorcycle. It wasn’t as recognizable as her own or Raven’s.

“Let’s ride.” Raven kicks over her father’s big, powerful hog and drives down the driveway to the street.

Eddie follows her older sister. They haven’t ridden together in a long time, but it all came back to her. A smile appears on her face as memories of her father’s motorcycle leading them surface.