Diesel didn’t react. He’d learned long ago that most reactions were wasted energy.

Biggs looked around the bar. “You helped get her there, son. We all did in our own way, but you’ve played the biggest part here at work. Even if you scared the shit out of her for the first few months, it was your presence, your unspoken promise to keep her safe, that allowed her to grow into the confident woman she’s become.”

Diesel shoved that praise down deep. He wasn’t a man who needed praise to feel good about himself, but Biggs didn’t dole it out often or lightly, and because of that, his words carried extra weight.

“By taking over for Bullet and taking on the drive-bys at the women’s shelter for the club, you’ve given my family a chance to grow, too.” The Dark Knights watched over the women’s shelter, and they drove by at various times to show their presence, so gangs, drug dealers, and other troublesome folks would know not to mess with the ladies at the shelter. Diesel coordinated those efforts and took his turn driving by a few times each month. “We’ll miss you when you’re gone, son, but I know what it’s like to crave the open road. I was never a lone rider, like you. I’ve always needed the anchor of family. Tiny used to ride with me, and when Axel got old enough, he came, too.”

Biggs was the oldest of his siblings, followed by his brother Tiny, sister Reba, and his youngest brother, Axel, who passed away a few months before Diesel’s mother. Diesel had never met Axel, and he’d met Reba only a handful of times, when he was visiting the Bayside chapter of the Dark Knights in Cape Cod, which was run by her husband and brother-in-law. But he had great respect for Tiny, one of the founders of the Hope Valley, Colorado, chapter of the Dark Knights. Tiny ran Redemption Ranch, a horse rescue that also gave troubled souls a second chance. They hired ex-cons, recovering addicts, and people with social and emotional issues, all of whom worked on the ranch as part of their therapy program, while undergoing traditional therapy from psychologists on the ranch like Tiny’s wife, Wynnie, and a host of other medical professionals, mostly composed of Dark Knights and their family members.