Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
JD
After another night fixating on the traitor in our midst, I’d called an early morning meeting. For now, however, the clubhouse was quiet except for the sound of my gavel tapping against the conference table. Me, Axel and Tel were trying to piece together something from the evidence we’d spent the last month gathering.
Unfortunately, it had led to dick all at this point.
“I don’t know how this fucker has managed to hide so well.”
“Are you really that surprised?” I asked Axel. “We recruit the best of the best and so far he’s proven that we did our initial job well.”
“Yeah, except for making sure he was actually fucking loyal and wouldn’t turn on us,” Tel grumbled.
“And there’s nothing in anyone’s finances that even hint at something fishy?” More often than not, following the money trail led to the truth. It had been our best hope.
“Nothing yet,” Tel shook his head. “If the fucker was getting paid, he’s hidden that money better than Fort fucking Knox. I can’t find anything on anyone that seems out of place.”
“Then it’s not about money,” I concluded.
“So what else are we going to look for? What else would motivate this kind of thing.”
“Money. Power. Fear. Those are the three biggies,” I speculated. “I still bet it was one of those.”
“Well, let’s say money is out for now,” Axel said. “Which leaves power and fear.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think that Mazzeo bitch was in any position to offer any kind of power to our guy. He’d have to leave the club and either go to their organization or?—”
“Maybe the new club in Seattle?”
“You think someone would give up their spot with us with those fucking snakes? What the fuck?” Axel’s anger was growing with every new possibility.
“Has anyone reported anything about their club? Any new information on them? Their movements.”
Tel shook his head. “We could up our surveillance on them. It probably wouldn’t take much to at least get some eyes on them around the clock.” He punched in some information onto his iPad and he turned it around to show a video feed in front of their clubhouse. “Those idiots picked the worst spot for a headquarters. There’s a million cameras around their location and a fuck ton of traffic for a spy to get lost in.”
“I guess we can’t rule them out, although it does feel wrong. We’ll keep eyes on them and see what, if anything, they are up to.”
“So that leaves fear,” Tel mumbled. “But what could possibly make one of our own that afraid?”
Axel and I exchanged glances. “None of us are immune to fear, Tel. No matter how insulated or confident we are. Shit happens and if any of us have loved ones then we always have something to fear.” My mind wandered to Sasha and the very real fear that had stabbed into me the night of the fire. Her life had been held in the balance for a long while and I’d made some pretty gruesome plans for her killer if she’d died.
But the fact she wasn’t dead didn’t mean anyone was getting a pass from Wrath. The damage to our people and our club had consequences. Fatal ones.
“Then we have to dig deeper. We need to look for anything unusual on the home front. Any odd comings and goings that might point to someone’s loved ones in any kind of trouble. I refuse to believe there is no trail anywhere.”
Axel and Tel both nodded.
“In the meantime, I think it’s time to bring in the club and let them know what we are up to.”
“What? Wait. Won’t that tip him off that we’re onto him?”
“He’d be a fool to think we weren’t. The three of us have been meeting for weeks and all other club business has been put on hold. They are all getting suspicious and it’s going to be far better in the long run if we control the narrative.”
“I don’t know.” Axel sounded doubtful and I couldn’t blame him. But I had a feeling in my gut that wouldn’t let go.
“I get it, but I want this fucker to know we’re hunting him. If it’s fear that motivates him, then let’s scare the shit out of him. We can let the guys know we’re getting close and see what happens. Just make sure we have eyes and ears everywhere just in case.”
“I like it,” Tel said, his fingers flying across the screen of his tablet again. “I’m tired of feeling like we’re spinning our wheels.”
“Then let’s do this now. Call all the guys in and tell them its urgent and mandatory. I don’t give a fuck what anyone is doing. I want everyone but the prospects at this table. If we’re going to make an accusation, we’ll do it together. Our brothers deserve to know the truth.”
“If we scare him bad enough, we might be setting ourselves up for more trouble.” Axel looked concerned as he said, “I can’t afford trouble right now. I have too much at stake.”
“I think we have a better chance at finding this guy sooner rather than later if we draw him out. And I can’t fucking sleep at night knowing there’s a traitor living on my compound. I want him found and taken care of. In the meantime, we take drastic measures to protect the women. We take no chances.”
“Agreed,” both men said in unison.
“I’m sending the text out now,” Tel said. “We should have everyone here within the hour.”
“Good.” And then I could look each one of the fuckers in the eye as we broke the news. With any luck, I’d have my rat tonight.
One by one all the patched in members of the Sins of Wrath motorcycle club filed into the conference room. Bear and Zook had already been in the clubhouse so they were the first to arrive.
“So what’s going on?” Zook asked, taking a seat at my left. As my Sergeant at Arms he normally knew ahead of time when there was a meeting and what our agenda would be.
“Something’s come up that we all need to talk about—together.”
“Okaaay,” he said, looking a little uncomfortable at my harsher than normal tone. I had planned to keep my temper in check, but it was obvious that wasn’t going to be an easy task. “Is everyone coming in?” he asked.
“Yeah. The meeting text went out to everyone so they should all show. Especially since we haven’t heard from anyone who can’t make it.”
Zook nodded, looking down at his phone. “Cash and Cain are both working over at the casino area today so they should be here any minute.”
“How’s everything going over there? Any issues so far?” With everything going on with Sasha and this investigation, I hadn’t had time to check on the rebuild progress in a few days. But I also didn’t feel like I had to. I had a club of good, hard-working men that I trusted to get any job I delegated to them done.
I winced at my automatic faith in my club brothers, knowing one of them wasn’t what he seemed. The thought made my stomach burn. Not knowing which brothers to trust meant that doubt would poison everything the club did. How could I send anyone on a mission when I couldn’t be sure they all had each other’s backs? One call could put the whole club in danger.
The longer I sat thinking about this the more my patience slipped. Luckily, Cash and Cain as well as the rest of the patched in members all made their way into our meeting room. Prospects weren’t allowed in these meetings until they became full-fledged members—which was exactly why I knew they weren’t involved. They were not given the kind of access to our facility that could have allowed them to get past Tel’s security.
No.We’d disproven that theory week one and were stuck with the knowledge that one of the men now sitting around this table, all men who’d sworn their loyalty to me and this club, is our traitor. There was no getting around that. I only hoped we got this figured out and settled before it was too late.
“All right. Now that everyone’s here let’s get started. We have a problem. A big one. But before I get into the details, you need to know that the club will not tolerate anyone taking this information and going rogue. I shouldn’t have to say this, but the situation is fucked. Every one of you is going to be pissed and want to take action. But no one—and I mean no one—goes off book with this. We are a team. Got it?”
“Sure, boss.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“What the hell?”
Grumbling erupted around the table, and I fought the urge to pound the gavel. But I generally reserved that for formal voting and at this point we didn’t have anything to vote on.
“I know. It sounds a little too cloak and dagger to me as well. But it is serious, and before I got into it, I just wanted to set the club expectations. Nod if you are clear that no matter what you learn today it doesn’t leave this room—which is already standard. But I also won’t tolerate any retaliation.”
I glanced around the table as one by one every man nodded his head. I watched for any clear signs of stress that might give me a hint, but there was nothing beyond some normal discontent that comes with having to agree to something without all the details.
“All right. I won’t waste time recapping the shit that went down with Mazzeo since I’m sure no one here has forgotten any of it. But there is an element of the case that I’ve been reluctant to talk about for reasons that are about to become obvious. We have reason to believe that Mazzeo didn’t work alone. Someone helped him infiltrate the compound. To put it bluntly?—”
“We have a fucking rat,” Axel interjected, his face a twisted mask of barely restrained fury.
“What?” A chorus of fucking questions and general disbelief went off in the room like a fucking bomb. What I was suggesting was serious, and every man at this table knew that.
“Look. I know it sounds fucked. Believe me. I’ve had weeks to come to terms with it and I’m still wrestling with it. To think that any one of us would turn on our club is fucking unbelievable.”
“Are you sure?” Zook asked quietly. From outward appearances he appeared calm, but I knew him better than anyone and he was anything but calm. For a man who loved big machine artillery, he was generally the quietest of us all. But that also made him one of the deadliest. Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about him going off half cocked. He was methodical and when he went after someone it would only be after it had been thought out well.
Which, of course, made him a great candidate for a rat in hiding. He had the skillset that would make it possible. But that meant little. He wasn’t the only one. And based on the chatter around the fucking table, every man here was feeling as betrayed as I felt. I just hoped by the time this investigation was all over, I still had a club worth saving.
“Look, I’m not telling you this so that you can all start looking at each other with side eyes or to start shit with each other.”
“Then why did you tell us this? Because this is bullshit if I can’t even trust my club brothers.” I understood Cash’s complaints. We were all feeling it.
“Because we thought you had a right to know. I don’t like looking at each one of you behind your backs and running an investigation without full disclosure.”
“This is bullshit,” Bear grumbled, his face twisted in anger. “I don’t need anyone questioning my loyalty. This club is my life and I’ve sacrificed plenty for it.”
Everyone nodded their agreement and inside I wholeheartedly agreed. But I wasn’t going to announce to the whole table who was under investigation and who wasn’t. It was better to let them not know who I’ve been able to eliminate thus far. For now.
“It is fucking bullshit!” I yelled across the table, effectively shutting them all up. “If you think I am enjoying this for one god damned second you can all go fuck yourselves. But you have the right to know what’s going on so there it is. It’s a shit storm and I’m already sick of it.”
“So, Prez, what are we going to do about it? How the hell are we going to find a traitor standing right in front of us?”
“Good question. First, that’s part of the reason you are all gathered here. I’ve decided to make a one time offer.” A hush fell across the room. “If I get a confession before midnight tonight, the rat can live.” As to what conditions he would live under was still up for debate. I wasn’t letting his ass off scot free. Fuck no. There would be retribution and it was going to hurt like a mother fucker.
“Seriously? You’re just going to let him go?” Zook looked at me with disbelief and enough anger to almost take me aback.
I smirked. “Let’s be real. He got people killed and more hurt. There will be retribution for that, but I will let him live. That’s the only promise I can make. But I had a hand in recruiting each and every one of you and I fully believe that each one of you will do the right thing. Especially when confronted. If I have to go about this the hard way, then even death won’t be good enough.”
“You’re goddamned right because we aren’t a bunch of pussies,” Cain growled from his seat.
So far every man at this table had expressed his outrage at the idea of a rat amongst our ranks and I’d not picked up an ounce of deceit from any of them. No shifty eyes, no squirming in their seats. My rat had a stone-cold heart and the acting skills to pull it off.
Thus far I had remained in my seat, but I was getting as antsy and frustrated as the rest of them. So I stood, placing my hands on the table and leaned forward.
“One last thing before we break up this fun party.” I smirked. “The rat is running out of time either way. We’ve got a witness on the hook who wants to talk.”
The room exploded as I shoved off the desk, picked up the gavel and slammed it against the scarred wooden table with the Sins of Wrath logo burned into it.
“Meeting fucking adjourned.”
Axel stood too and took his time surveying each man in the room before he said one last thing. “Tick tock, mother fucker.”