Chapter 23 Oak
Oak
“You’re twenty minutes late.” Sticks voice as hard as steel and yet as calm as the sea is what I hear first as I enter the doors to Church.
My eyes take in account of everyone, even Crow, who sits beside Snake with hardened green eyes that hold back the fury I know he wants to unleash upon me.
“Crow,” I greet him through clenched teeth.
His eyes as hard as stone narrow on me. He nods his head slightly and greets me in a calm yet deadly tone, “Oak.”
“If I wanted tension I’d rather it be sexual,” quips Snake who is leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest and his feet on the table. Sticks gives him a disapproving look but he ignores it.
“You were twenty minutes late,” he repeats and I wait for him to reprimand me before we begin.
Arriving late to church and holding up everyone is a blatant sign of disrespect.
I’ve never done it before. Never would have dared to.
Especially being The Vice President. My brothers have to follow my command.
And if they see me disrespecting The President and not following club rules it gives them the right to.
But I don’t feel an ounce of regret. I would do it all over again if it meant having Grace in my arms that much longer.
Grace has me wrapped around her finger.
“Don’t let it happen again. You understand?”
I nod my head. “I understand.”
He nods his head back and only then do I take my rightful seat as Vice President.
“Sheriff Crow has news for us on the feds. And from what I’ve been vaguely told before he gives the intel to us all, not all of it is good and not all of it is bad.” Sticks then nods his head at Crow for him to share his intel.
Crow’s eyes fleet over all of us before they land on Snake.
“You’re in the clear with The Crowned Devil’s MC.
And therefore so is Alice. Due to the statement I had her give when it happened and the injuries you suffered along with medical documentation and continuous physical therapy the FBI have ruled what happened as self defense.
Thanks to Pax wiping the surveillance footage and somehow wiping it from existence,” he looks over at Pax who wears an incredibly smug expression, “they can’t charge you for shit with any member involved in that MC. ”
Snake’s smile widens until it stretches from ear to ear. His smile looks maniacal but from the light that reaches his eyes he’s experiencing pure glee.
Sometimes you can’t find justice in the court of law.
Something Crow struggles to understand.
He believes in the law yet it has let so many people down.
But Crow is righteous and he does what is always right. He does the good thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because he has to.
It makes me wonder how in the hell did he survive overseas.
But maybe that’s why he didn’t reenlist after doing three tours. Perhaps he was fighting a war that didn’t line up with his morale. Maybe the killing got to him more than it got to me. Maybe seeing his brothers die because they were a product of war made no sense to him.
Maybe Crow’s righteousness led him to believe that what he thought he was fighting for he wasn’t fighting for at all.
“And the bad news?” I cut straight to the point and I can’t hide the roughness in my voice.
“Two years ago there is surveillance footage of you, Dex, Snake and Pax leaving a warehouse in New York that was called in due to the infrastructure being burnt down. The fire investigator on the case was quick to declare the fire of no arson and that it was the faulty wires in the warehouse that caused the fire.” He gives us all pointed looks that tells us he knows the real truth.
Thankfully the fire investigator could be bought off, and we paid him with money we barely had at the time to not let it blow back on us.
“But there were human remains inside. And those humans were part of an organized crime led by Talon. The FBI had their eyes on The Moreno Family at the time but Talon was a little fish they were hoping who would squeal on the great shark. Talon would have immunity if he could strike a deal with Moreno with him being wired. Alas, it never happened because Haven killed him. That took the attention off The Moreno Family and brought it upon the people responsible for killing Talon. Which leads back to all of you. Since gaining that surveillance video that have enough to suspect you but not enough to charge you.”
“Then what’s the bad news?” Pax asks with his brows furrowed. “Because all I’m hearing is hearsay. If they don’t have actual evidence we’re good.”
“Unless they charge you for conspiracy of murder and charge all of you under the RICCO Act.”
I shake my head. “They would have already done that if that were the cards they were going to play. They either have something else or are waiting for our next move.”
“They do have something but it only involves one of you,” Crow tells us.
“Who?” Snake demands.
Crow lands his eyes on me. Titling his head to the side he says lowly, “Remember Chris Townsend?”
Chris Townsend.
Road name Stud.
The man I brutally killed for raping Nora.
“There’s evidence that can gain footing that you were the one who killed him. There’s motive, a questionable alibi, and several witnesses have said you were the last one to see him.”
The only witnesses that would have been brave enough to come forward are the members of The Nightcrawlers MC who remained but we forced to flee town or family and friends of Stud.
Either way I feel no guilt for his blood on my hands. In fact I think the fucker got off easy. I didn’t make him suffer long like I had wanted.
“I don’t understand,” comes from Dex who is genuinely confused, “since when did the feds take murder cases the police department can handle?”
“They can take on murder cases for a number of reasons but in this case they’re investigating because they believe the purpose of this murder was to promote a criminal enterprise,” Crow explains.
“That’s bullshit,” Slater mutters, his face getting heated. “This club doesn’t run like that. Why would they believe that for Oak?”
Fuck.
I know why.
I glance over at Sticks whose facial expression mirrors my own. He grits his teeth as his brows are furrowed with silent anger.
“I was only a prospect at the time. And after his death Sticks patched me in as a member,” I tell them.
I still remember being patched in. At the time the only other members were Dex and Pax with a few older men who wouldn’t be able to ride anymore.
There were a few other prospects but none of them had made the cut.
Sticks eyes cut over to Crow as he asks him lowly, “What we say stays here do you understand? If you have a wire I want you out. If you’re secretly working with them I will gut you like the pig you are. Do you understand?”
Crow remains unaffected, as always. “If I wanted to turn on you and your club I would’ve done it the moment my father died two years ago. My position remains the same. As I told you almost a year ago I want us to work together. You and your club are the ones who are making that difficult.”
“You burned one of my men, Crow,” Sticks reminds him not lightly. “And if he hasn’t forgiven you then none of us will.”
Crow snorts. “I have a better chance of getting cold water in Hell.”
“It’s where you fucking belong,” I mutter under my breath.
Of course he catches it and narrows his eyes at me. “One mistake and you’re damning me for it? Have you never made a mistake before?”
“I didn’t fuck another man’s woman,” I bite.
Crow looks genuinely tired of this, as if he’s heard it a million times. But I don’t give a fuck. He doesn’t understand that whether he knew or not he made me feel less of a man. That him and Lana took my broken heart and shattered it.
“I didn’t know, Oak. If I had it would’ve never have happened. Don’t you think I regret it?”
“I honestly could give a fuck less what you think, Crow. You’re here helping us and that’s great. Good for you. But I still don’t respect you and I still don’t fucking like you.”
“I’m not asking you to like me. Hell, I’m not even asking to be your friend.”
“Then what do you want? My forgiveness?” I laugh darkly. “Well I’m not a priest and this isn’t a confessional.”
“Your forgiveness would be nice but I’m not seeking it. Not no more. You’ve already made it clear that you are in no way capable of moving on from the fucking past. And honestly, Oak, that makes me pity you.”
My jaw ticks as my finger twitches in my lap.
“Gentlemen, that’s enough,” Sticks says firmly.
“I’m tired of having to prove myself to you and your club.
I made a mistake. I’ve owned up to it. I feel remorseful because of it, but I’m not going to have it constantly thrown in my face,” Crow defends himself in a lethally calm voice.
“And if I thought like all of you then none of you would be sitting here. Your actions and leaving my father in the dark cost him his life. My father died for your fucking cause. And you’re going to sit here and tell me my mistake, my honest fucking mistake is more irredeemable?
” Crow shakes his head in utter disbelief as he lets out a long sigh.
“Fuck all of you.” No one else catches it but I do, the slight hiccup in his voice. The vein pulsing in his throat.
“Your father was Sheriff, Crow. He signed up knowing his life would be on the line. Same as you,” Dex says and if I was him I wouldn’t have said shit. Those two small details are the most I have seen of a reaction from Crow. And that means he’s holding on by a frayed thread.
His eyes cut to Dex and me almost fear for the man’s life.
“You’re missing the point. If your club would have told him in advance of the feud with Talon, of your plans, he could have called for backup.
He could have been more prepared. But that mistake on all of your parts cost him his life.
The point is he had a chance to survive and you guys not telling him lessened it. ”