7. Arrow
CHAPTER 7
ARROW
I’ve spent all morning helping Kat get to know everybody here at the clubhouse. She seems to fit right in with the other guys’ women, which is a relief. Now, I can sit back, watch her smile and laugh over and over again at all the stories being told.
It's been a while since I've taken a break from constantly being on the hunt for Savage Bones. But this morning, making sure Katherine feels safe and at home here is my goal for today and more important. Plus, the Whiskey River Riders will be here soon to help.
For the first time in a while, I’m at peace. At least until my hacker friend, Timmy, calls.
“Hey baby, I’ve got to take this really quick,” I say, holding up my ringing phone. She nods and then turns back to her conversation with Ginger as I step into one of the empty rooms downstairs.
“Hey, Timmy, please tell me you have something,” I say as I answer the phone.
“I do, and you're not going to believe it.”
“Is this something that Atlas should hear?”
“It's something probably all your officers should hear.”
He waits while I gather Atlas, Thunder, Six, Bear, Priest, and Stone. We all crowd into Atlas's office before continuing.
“All right, we're all here. What do you have?” I ask.
“Okay, so someone was definitely siphoning some money. I was able to trace it to a shell corporation account, and after a bit of digging, I could track it back to a guy named Tommy Longhorn.”
“I have no idea who that is,” I say, looking around the room. Everyone's shaking their heads as well. “Neither does anyone else here.”
“You probably don't know him by that name. You probably know him as Fright,” Timmy says.
“The Savage Bones Treasurer?” The shock in Atlas’s voice echoes how we are all feeling.
“The one and only,” Timmy says.
“But how did he get access to any of that information to siphon the money?” Thunder asks.
“Well, there is one of two ways. One, they were able to pay off one of your men to get the information. I can look and see if any of your guys have received any large lump sums out of the ordinary lately. Or option two is they've planted someone as a spy, and you need to flush them out.”
He gives us a few more details before we hang up. Since all the officers are in here, I know Atlas is going to have something to say about this possible spy business.
“Our guys are loyal. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ve got a spy. It makes sense. Maybe it’s one of the newer guys,” Atlas says.
“I really fucking hope that it’s not Motor Mouth because he was there at Sturgis with us and was privy to our entire plan we set in motion,” Thunder says.
“Shooter is new too, and I don't think we should completely write off the fact that it could have been one of our other guys turning on us,” I say, which makes me sick even thinking about it.
“Until the Savage Bones situation is taken care of, I think we need to halt all new memberships. That way, they can't try to plant anyone else,” Bear adds.
“Yeah, but we need the numbers and the help. I think that until the Savage Bones situation is resolved, they won’t have access to the Clubhouse or any details,” Thunder says.
“But I agree, we need their manpower. Especially with going after Fright,” Atlas says.
“Well, we need to track Fright down...” Atlas starts working out a game plan, but Stone interrupts.
“Actually, we had eyes on him as recently as last night. There have been no reports of any movement this morning, so I'm willing to bet he's still in the same cabin. There are only two other low-level guys with him,” Stone says.
“Okay, let's get a team together and go after him before he's on the move again,” Atlas says.
“We were hoping he would lead us to the President and some of the other officers,” Priest says.
“I wish we could wait, but at this point, we can't take the chance of losing him. We need to start picking them off one by one. With their Treasurer out of the way, they will start to scramble and things will get a little messy,” Atlas says. “Arrow, head out with Timmy's information. Take Thunder, Bear, Priest, Crank, and Juice with you, at least if Crank is able to ride by now.” Atlas says with an eye roll that makes the rest of us in the room snicker.
“He can ride just fine,” Thunder says.
For the rest of the meeting, we go over the details of the location of where they're located, along with a rough plan of attack.
“Let’s meet at the garage in twenty minutes,” Thunder says, taking the lead as Vice President.
Using that time, I search for Katherine to let her know that I will be gone for a while.
I find her right where I left her in the living area on the couch, talking with Ginger and a few of the other girls who have joined her.
“Hey, Kitty Kat,” I say, sitting and pulling her into my arms.
“I have to get ready to leave, as we've got some business to take care of. But I want you to stay here at the clubhouse.”
She looks up at me nervously.
“I'll watch out for her,” Lightning says, and I know that means that he won’t let her out of his sight just like he wouldn't with his girl.
“We can do a mini spa day upstairs!” Piper says, and I'm grateful to her for the distraction.
“I promise I'll be back before you know it.” Then I place a soft kiss on her lips.
“Promise you'll come back to me in one piece,” she says.
With the look in her beautiful eyes and the tone of her voice, I can tell she knows this is a more dangerous job than I’m letting on.
“I’m taking some of the best guys with me. We will be fine.” I kiss her on her forehead, stand up, and go out to the garage area to join the rest of the guys.
“Arrow, why don't you take your truck, so we can add the supplies? They'll be easier to transport that way. The rest of us should be on our bikes protecting the truck,” Thunder says.
When I get to my truck that’s parked behind the garage, Hades is sitting there next to it, looking at me.
“I think he knows something's going on and wants to join in,” Crank says, walking up to him and petting him on the head.
Hades looks at me as if to agree with him.
After we load everything into the truck, I open the back door and ask, “Hades, will you be coming or not?”
At my words, he jumps into the back and takes a spot on the seat like he does this every day.
“I can't tell if he's more domesticated than wild or more wild than domesticated. I think it changes depending on the day,” Crank says, reaching into the back seat and petting Hades. After starting the truck, I roll the window down for Hades so he can enjoy the ride.
Thunder leads the group on his bike since he has the details of the location, and they all follow with me driving the truck in the center of all the bikes.
Not far down the road, we pull into the drive of an abandoned cabin, so we can hide the truck and the bikes on the off chance one of the Savage Bones guys happens to drive by.
“Can't believe you brought Hades along,” Thunder says, walking over and scratching Hades behind his ears.
“Pretty sure he knew something was happening because he was waiting by the truck when we got there,” Crank says as he pulls out some weapons and restraints from the truck.
“Remember, we really want to get the VP back to the clubhouse alive for some questioning, but any of the lower guys are fair game,” Thunder says, looking over at Bear and then at Crank, who both have an itch to have their way with a few of the Savage Bones guys.
Starting from the truck, Hades leads us through the woods. I’m happy to have his help.
Once the cabin is in view, we all do our best to stay hidden and watch for a while to see what we’re up against. With the sun just starting to fade, lights come on in the cabin and there’s movement as well. There are only three bikes outside, so the odds are in our favor. We outnumber them.
“Maybe we can use Hades to make some noise. They’ll hear and come to investigate. Then we could take them out right here,” I suggest to Thunder, who's crouched down next to me.
“Good idea. What do you think, Hades? You want to help us out?” Thunder reaches into his pocket and pulls out an unopened granola bar, one of Hades’s favorites. He takes the wrapper off and lets Hades sniff it. Then Thunder tosses it towards the front door of the cabin.
Hades seems to understand what we want and takes off running after his treat, barking the whole way.
Just as Hades reaches his treat, one of the low-level guys walks out the front door, slamming it open.
“What the heck do you want, mutt?” the guy says.
Thunder lines up his shot and the only answer we hear is the guy crumbling to the ground on the wooden porch.
There are some muffled shouts from the cabin before another man steps out on the porch to see what's going on.
“He was there when Lightning was shot,” Thunder whispers beside me as Bear lines up his shot.
That guy crumbles to the ground, too. Then Thunder gives the signal for all of us to move in on the cabin. I go with Thunder and Bear to the front as the rest of the guys go around the back.
Just as predicted, Fright is the last one sitting in the cabin. As we walk up, his back is to the wall and there’s a gun in each of his hands. One is pointing towards the back door, and one is pointing towards the front door. He’s swiveling, attempting to watch both of us.
With the lights on in the cabin, we can clearly see him, but we're slightly hidden by the darkness. Still, the guys that went in through the back make an appearance first, with Crank leading them. Fright takes aim at Crank and pulls the trigger, missing him like maybe an inch.
Crank hits the floor and retaliates by shooting at Fright and hitting him in the leg. Injured, he drops the gun he shot at Crank, but still has one pointed our way. While he tries to line up another shot, Bear shoots him right between the eyes, and he falls to the ground.
“What happened to bringing him in alive?” Thunder asks, shaking his head as we all holster our guns.
Bear doesn't even look sorry.
“Let's get these guys taken care of and search the cabin. Then we’ll go back to the clubhouse and update Atlas,” Thunder says, and we all get to work.