Chapter 9
Flint
Saturday morning church starts at nine sharp.
Jules and I roll up to the Sons compound at eight thirty on my bike, which is the first time she has been on the back of it for any real distance.
She’s wearing my spare helmet and a leather jacket she brought with her.
She teased me about being so obsessed with safety, but I didn’t mind.
I drop her off at the bar and head for the chapel.
Brothers are pouring in from the parking lot.
Some wave at me or jerk their chins at me in acknowledgment.
And they notice that Jules is sitting there with no property cut on her back, looking all smiley and beautiful.
Sure, she’s wearing jeans and a fitted T-shirt and a stunning black leather jacket, making her the prettiest thing any of us have seen in a nice long time, but that’s no excuse for the way they can’t take their fuckin’ eyes off what’s mine to protect.
I turn and stalk into the chapel, making a mental note that I might have to crack a few heads later.
Church goes the way it always does. I listen, the way I always do, waiting to hear if anything applies to me or if I can be of assistance to my club in any way.
I may not always agree with the decisions my club officers make, but I understand it’s not up to me to second-guess their decisions.
I am and will always be a loyal brother.
I’m worrying about Jules rather than paying attention to the meeting. I realize this when Jasper says my name and I have to ask him to repeat the question.
“I asked if you had anything to bring up today.”
“Not today, brother. Maybe another day. I’m grappling with something I might need help with later.”
“Alright. We’re here for you if you need us. Anyone else?”
A few minutes later, he bangs the gavel and church is over.
I come to my feet, intent upon getting back out to the bar to check on Jules.
I am heading for the door when Rock catches my eye from the head table and jerks his chin in the small motion that means he wants to talk to me.
I’ve been avoiding my uncle since he vetoed Tommy’s plan to patch in. But I can’t ignore him forever.
I hang back as the room empties. Jasper gives his old man a look on his way out that seems like pure exasperation. Slate and Onyx file out behind him. The door closes behind them, and it’s just me and Rock.
I walk over to him and ask, “You wanted to talk to me?”
“Have a seat, Flint.” His voice is deep and a little hoarse, like a man who’s spent his life chain smoking, though he never smoked a day in his life.
Rock is over sixty. His hair gets grayer every year, as does his beard, but it’s his eyes that capture everyone’s attention.
They’re a startling ice blue and can be cold and calculating or warm and approving, depending on his mood.
I pull the chair out across from him and sit down.
The minute my ass hits the seat, he asks, “You got something to say to me?”
I frown at him, trying to work out what this is about. “About what?”
“About your friend.”
“You really want to hear what I have to say about Tommy?”
“I want you to say whatever it is you have been chewing on. Spit it out, son.”
I take a breath and let it rip. “Since you asked, I think you’ve lost your damn mind to use your power as founder of this club to vote him down.
He was a solid prospect, dedicated a goddamn year of his life to this club.
He did everything that was asked of him and more.
If you had a grudge against him, you should have spoken up instead of having him waste a year of his life working his ass off to prove he was worthy of a patch you had no fuckin’ intention of givin’ him. ”
“Alright, are you about done mouthin’ off?”
“You asked. I sure as fuck didn’t volunteer.”
“That’s true. Now it’s my turn to talk. Are you gonna listen?”
“You know that I’m a reasonable man. Say what you want to say.”
He leans forward and folds his hands on the table.
“Tommy not only has a patch, he ended up with an officer’s position in Mica’s club.
He’s currently sittin’ at a table that didn’t fuckin’ exist six months ago.
He’s a respected decision maker in Raging Vultures MC.
None of that would have happened to him if he’d patched into the Sons of Rage. ”
“He wanted and worked for a Sons patch,” I remind Rock.
“Yeah, but he would have spent the next fuckin’ twenty years being just another brother in a legacy club where every officer’s position is filled by my blood. That is the truth, Flint. You know it is the truth.”
“I never said it wasn’t. Tommy knew what the deal was with the Sons when he signed up to prospect for our club.”
“You’ve been working alongside that man for a decade. He’s too fuckin’ smart and ambitious to spend his life being just another brother. You know that as well as I do.”
“Yes, he has brains and ambition, but he never once complained about having no chances to move up here.”
“You gotta know that was because he was happy with the idea of sitting next to you. The reality of never getting an opportunity to move up would have eaten away at him, and you know it.”
I open my mouth to object but close it again because Rock ain’t wrong about any of that.
“Here’s where I am with this situation, Flint.
I have four boys. One just defected to start his own club.
He’s struggling to find enough good men, willing to start at the ground floor and build something solid.
You’re so fuckin’ right about Tommy being solid.
He’s dedicated, loyal, and has his head screwed on straight.
I saw how two pieces of the puzzle could fit together to both Tommy’s and Mica’s benefit.
They’re stronger together than either of them is separately.
So I did what I did and don’t fuckin’ regret it. ”
“You voted him down, so he had a chance at something better?”
“Yeah, I’m the one who called Mica. I told him what I was gonna do and why.
I told him that if he wanted Tommy for a club officer’s position that he should get to my compound right fuckin’ now.
Mica jumped at the opportunity because, like me, he recognized that Tommy has balls of fuckin’ brass and the drive of a founder. ”
“I thought it was strange how he just happened to be outside near our bikes.”
“Mica was in desperate need of good men for his club officer’s positions.
He could have filled that seat with one of his existing brothers and made it work.
He took Tommy because he’s a cut above the rest.” Rock lifts his chin defiantly.
“The only way Tommy was gonna end up in a Raging Vultures patch was if the Sons door closed on him first. So that’s exactly what I did. ”
I nod.
“The Raging Vultures is an affiliate club, and Mica is my son. He might be too smart and independent to suit me, but that’s exactly what makes Tommy the perfect match for his club.
And I didn’t cost him a year of his life prospecting, because Mica took him straight into an officer’s position without making him prospect all over again.
What do you have to say to all that, son? ”
I sit there for a long time before responding, “I think that you could have told me.”
“This wasn’t about you, Flint. This was a chance for Tommy to be reborn in a crucible fired with pain and come out on the other side a stronger man for it. His journey is not your journey.”
I’m not sure what to think anymore. Words slip out before I can censor myself. “You are a piece of work, old man.”
“I know right from wrong, and this was the right decision.”
“Did Jasper know?”
“Jasper does now. At the time, he thought I’d lost my damn mind.”
I sit there a beat longer before it occurs to me to ask, “Why are you telling me now?”
“Because you’ve been carrying it and letting it eat away at you. I can tell by the look on your face. Right now, with everything going on in your life, you need to stay focused on what matters, not feeling some kind of way about the things that happened in the past.”
“What do you mean by everything going on in my life?”
He shoots back without a hint of animosity, “You tell me, son. You are the one who’s been making phone calls to salvage yards all over LA.”
I freeze, trying to get my head around how he knows that I’ve been trying to find the dark sedan that tried to run Jules off the road.
Maybe Jinx or one of the brothers who went on the salvage run mentioned it to him.
I haven’t spoken about it in church because I didn’t want the club to weigh in until I know what I’m dealing with.
I should have known better than to think Rock wouldn’t find out.
“You knew.”
“Yeah. I know everything that goes on in my club. I figured you’d bring it up when you were ready.
Whatever this is, the club is going to back you.
But I am going to say the woman you brought to my clubhouse this morning is gonna need to be inside this club’s protection sooner rather than later.
Whatever drove her out of LA is gonna follow her here eventually.
So we’ll need to work together to make sure she’s safe. ”
Stretching my arms over my head to relieve some pent-up stress, I tell him, “I get what you’re laying down, Rock.”
“Good.” He stands up. He puts his hands on the small of his back and stretches out the way men do when they get old. “I’m glad we had this talk, Flint. You go take care of Tommy’s sister and let us know when you need somethin’.”
Rock has been three steps ahead of me this whole time, and he just told me about it because he needs me to be alert and focused for whatever I’ve gotten myself mired in. The investigation I thought I was conducting on the down low has drawn the notice of the founder of this club.
Hearing that Rock planned the whole thing throws me into a bit of a tailspin.