MAESTRO
We waited until the women had walked away and were out of earshot.
Once they were clear, I turned to the boys, “Be careful. Hard-Drive has you covered. You do what you’ve got to do and get out. Nobody gets left behind, and you make sure you have each other’s backs. Robbie, you make sure your girl is looked after. Is she still good to do what you all have planned?”
Robbie nodded, “Yes, sir. She is. Jessie’s her best friend.”
“Okay then. Off you go. Make sure you’re back before sunrise.”
“Yes, Pres,” they said in unison before turning and walking away.
Watching them walk away to the sleds we were loaning them, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. Not a single one of them was my son but damn if I didn’t feel like they were. It gave me hope for the future of the club. As the sleds’ engines slowly died away, I turned to Blake, who, up until now, hadn’t said anything.
“Do I need to worry about my boy?” he asked, worry clear as day on his face.
“No,” I assured him. “Whatever happens tonight, the club will deal with the fallout. Come to my office, I have a proposition for you.”
It didn’t take us long to reach my office; most of the brothers knew what was going down tonight, and they were doing a good job of keeping up the party facade to the few outsiders we had at the clubhouse.
Entering the code to get into my office, I opened the door, walked in, and sat down behind my desk, motioning to Blake to take a seat.
“First things first. The boys are taking revenge on the four fucknuts that tried to do to my girl what they did to yours. That’s where they’ve gone. They’ll be looked after, don’t worry. I’ve got brothers watching and following. They’ll be on hand if things don’t go according to plan. Now for you. I understand that you’ve been blacklisted in town. What do you do? Kyle seems to think you’re a mechanic, but I have a feeling you’re more than that.”
Blake blew out a breath, then looked at us, “Can I trust you?” he asked.
“You can,” I replied. “Can we trust you?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed, standing up and pulling his shirt off before turning around. I wasn’t sure what the hell he was doing, but his next words cleared it up.
“I want you to know I’m not wearing a wire and that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to me,” he hesitated before continuing, stating baldly, “I’m ex-FBI. I’ve been undercover for the last ten years. My children didn’t know until Jessie was raped by the sons of the sick fucks I’ve been watching. I don’t know why they targeted her; as far as I was aware, my cover wasn’t blown. It was a perfect cover; nobody suspected me of being FBI.
“I’d probably still be with the Bureau if they’d been there for Jessie after what she’d been through. It was them that hid the paperwork of what had happened to her. I couldn’t continue working for them after what they did. My girl wasn’t going to get justice because it interfered with their agenda. Fuck,” he screams, lashing out in pain, punching the door. This was a man in agony, let down by the very people that were meant to protect him and his family. I was second-guessing myself and our FBI contact after hearing his news.
“Fuck,” he starts to pace, shaking out his hand. “I handed my resignation in as soon as I found out that they’d swept it all under the carpet. We’ve been living off my savings. But before I handed it in, I went above my team’s head and got in contact with someone that I know who won’t put up with shit like this happening to one of his agents. He tried to get me to stay, but I couldn’t, not when I didn’t trust my team. I don’t know if someone gave me up, but my family paid for it in the worst way. My daughter is broken and my son,” he sighs, wiping a hand down his face, “my son is so fucking angry, and I can’t say I blame him. My wife is probably turning in her grave at the way I’ve fucked up.”
There was no way I could let him continue blaming himself for something that wasn’t his fault.
“Your cover wasn’t blown,” I told him. “Kyle thinks Jessie was targeted because of him. You would have figured it out eventually, but you’re too close to it. Your fake employer fired you to protect their sons, but they haven’t killed you, which they would have done if your cover had been blown. My worry is I’ve been in touch with our contact at the Bureau and I’m not sure if I can trust what he’s told me.”
“You’re going to have to explain everything to me from the top and then give me the name of your contact,” Blake said, sitting back down.
I’d not ordinarily tell a stranger anything about our business, but I recognised a kindred soul when I saw one, and this man needed something to believe in. Between Cash and me, we filled him in on what we’d found out in a short period of time, and Blake filled in the blanks for us.
The relief on his face when he realised it wasn’t his job that had caused his baby girl to get hurt and the anger when we told him about how the boys had been targeting girls made me glad he was on board with us.
It turned out that his contact and ours were the same.
I let out a relieved breath when Blake told me, “He’s a good guy. He’s the one I mentioned going to when it all fell apart. If he’s bringing in the elite team that he mentioned, he’s pissed. Nobody knows much about them other than they are deadly, and if you are even a little bit guilty, you don’t live through their cleanse. He must have found out we have a mole. He’d only bring them in as a last resort.”
“Jesus, who are these guys?” Cash wondered.
Blake settled back in his chair, saying tiredly, “Nobody knows; they come in, do what they have to do, and leave. All we know is that they are massive, and they wear skulls over their faces to protect their identity. It’s what they’re known as The Skulls.”
‘Now why did that seem familiar?’ I wondered. Cash and I exchanged a look, but neither of us said anything.
It was a long night, and it was just edging on four in the morning when we heard the sound of sleds coming our way.
Walking out to the parking lot, we waited for Kyle, Ford, and Robbie with his girlfriend on the back of his bike to park before we walked to meet them.
“Everything go according to plan?” I asked, pulling first Ford, then Kyle, into a hug, relieved to see them unharmed.
“Yeah, Pres,” Kyle assured me. “We need to take care of the sleds, then we’ll be in to let you know what happened.”
“We’ll sort them,” Bolt said quietly, stepping out of the shadows with his brother, Nickel. “You go debrief Pres.”
Kyle hesitated, “Are you sure, Bolt? It’s a prospect’s job.”
“It’s all good,” Bolt answered. “You can make it up to us. Keeping you in the clear is more important right now.”
‘Well, fuck me.’ It seemed as if Bolt was finally growing up. Not that I’d ever expected him not to; it just seemed to be taking him longer than his brothers.
“Appreciate it, Bolt, Nickel. Robbie, let Nickel take your girl to my place for now. She looks done in.”
Robbie turned to the dark-haired girl whose hand he held, “You good with that, Raven?”
“Yeah,” she agreed, kissing his cheek. “You guys do what you need to; I’m going to shower and sleep for a week. Taking down dickheads is exhausting.”
We chuckled at her words.
She smiled, saying to Nickel, “I’m guessing you must be Nickel if he’s Bolt. Lead the way, sir,” she yawned wide on the last word, holding her hand to her mouth. “I’d apologise, but I’m too tired.”
Nickel sniggered, taking her hand, he wound it through his arm, “Come on, kicking ass is hard work; let’s get you to Pres’ house. I’m sure Kyle’s mom is up and waiting for you.”
“She’ll be okay,” I assured Robbie, who was watching them walk away with narrowed eyes. Waiting for his attention to come to me, I said, “Come fill me in so we can make contingency plans if need be.”
Turning, I walked back into the clubhouse with the boys following, Cash and Blake bringing up the rear.
It was a tight fit, but we managed to squeeze into my office.
“Fill us in, boys,” I ordered once we were all settled.
It was Kyle who took the lead, with Robbie and Ford filling in bits here and there.