Chapter Eighteen
King
“What the fuck does that mean?” Angel shouted. “Why would Chasm be coming after you?”
“I was supposed to be on that run with him. I should have had his back in that warehouse. He blames me.”
It killed me to put that out there, but there was no other answer. When Grace told me what Chasm said, I knew immediately he held me responsible. I only hoped he’d hear me out before he fucking killed me. He was still my brother, and I hoped to God that still meant something.
“He has to know Steele was the reason you weren’t there,” Blade reasoned. I looked at my brother, my family. We’d gotten closer since finding out we were cousins.
“We don’t know what he knows.”
“He still trusts us enough to tell Aspen to stay put,” Banshee stated.
“What?” Zombie asked.
“A few months back, Aspen and I were staying at a nearby ranch. Aspen got it in her head to run, and when she left, Chasm was outside the cabin. He told her to stay; that we’d keep her safe.”
Looking over at Venom, I could see the distrust on his face. I had to admit, something didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Nav. Knowing he was in Lincoln, I needed to take the call.
“I’ll be right back.”
I stepped into the main room. Seeing Zeus, I jogged down to my office before I answered.
“What’s up?”
“I screwed up,” he confessed.
“What the fuck did you do?” I asked, leaning against my desk. There was no point in getting comfortable; this call couldn’t last long, and knowing Nav, I would end up pissed off anyway.
“I let it slip in front of Sypher about Val’s death.”
“Fuck, Nav.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to stave off the beginning of a fucking migraine.
“I know, I know. I didn’t mean to, but we were talking about the table and who could sit at it.”
“Those fucking rules.”
“Yeah, but I have an idea. Whoever sits at the table has to be a descendant of the original five members of the Golden Skulls. They also have to be a president. Right now, there are only two if you take Val out of the equation. That leaves Reaper and Zeus. Reaper doesn’t want it, and we can agree we don’t want Zeus at the table. Kronos would be in his ear.”
I looked at my office door. No, we didn’t want Zeus at the fucking table.
“So what’s your plan?” I asked cautiously.
“Kytten.”
“What the fuck?!” I barked, standing up.
“We release the information about Val to the Nyght Nymphs, and Kytten can take over as president. Val raised her from a child; it makes sense she would take over. We put her at the table. Cash would be there with her, and possibly Mimic as well.”
He had a point. I thought about who sat at that table. Maxim would never hurt Kytten, nor would Sal. Cesar Vitale was another man I knew wouldn’t hurt her. I had a tentative truce with Garcia. The only wild card would be the Triad, but with the others there, they would protect her.
“I’ll talk to Cash, then talk to Kytten.” The line went silent, and I looked at my phone, wondering if we’d been disconnected. “What else?”
“Sypher wants to know what happened.”
I blew out a breath and rubbed the back of my neck. “Tell him the bare minimum, and he can’t tell Pippen until we say. I don’t want the information out and Amber learning about her mother from someone that isn’t us.”
“Got it.”
This time he did end the call. I sat there for a minute as I digested what Nav proposed. Cash was going to lose his shit, but Nav was right. Kytten was the best option for us.
I made my way back down the hall to church. As I passed by the kitchen, I looked in and saw Kytten and Sam sitting at the table with the kids. When I didn’t see Indie, I stepped inside.
“I thought Indie was in here with you?”
“She is,” Sam answered without looking up from the baby she was feeding.
“Where is she?”
“I’m right here.”
“Jesus fuck!” I jumped when I heard Indie’s voice behind me. “Where the fuck were you?”
“I was right there.” She pointed toward the coffeemaker on the counter. That was when I noticed the cup in her hand. How the fuck had I not seen her?
I walked out without a word. Shaking my head, I entered church and found Venom and Mimic standing toe to toe.
“What the fuck is going on? I leave you for two fucking seconds and everything goes to shit.”
“Zombie, pull your man back.”
“Can’t do that, Prez. This is something they gotta work out on their own.”
I scanned my men; Jingles sat in his chair watching the two enforcers face off. Jack had a grin bigger than the fucking state of Texas, and Cash was trying his best not to smile.
“What the fuck are they doing?”
“Staring contest,” Blade said without looking at me.
“What?”
“Staring contest,” Cash repeated. I stared at my VP.
“Children,” I muttered. “You’re all fucking children.” I walked around the table and smacked them both upside the head. “Sit your asses down.” I sat in my chair and looked around the table. “There is something I want to talk about before I invite Zeus and his men in.”
No one said a word as they waited for me to explain. I wasn’t sure how this would go over, but as the president of the Mother Chapter, I had the power to change the fucking rules. And it was far past time they changed.
“I want to extend an invitation to Indie to join the club.”
“You going to extend that same invitation to my old lady?” Cash asked.
I turned to look at my VP. I needed him not to lose his shit when I answered, but the look he gave me said that was unlikely.
“No.” I held my hand up when he opened his mouth to cuss me out. “I will discuss why with you later.” He pressed his lips together but nodded.
“Mimic, you have a problem with that?”
“No, but I still want my name on her back.”
“We can figure that out later.” I turned to the rest of the room. “Anyone else have a problem with that?”
When no one spoke up, I hit the gavel on the table. I grinned at Banshee and ordered, “Banshee, go get your brother-in-law.”
He raised his hand and flipped me off as he stood and moved to the door. He held it open for Zeus and the Gods of Mayhem to enter.
“Mimic, do you want to bring Indie in or fill her in later?”
“I’ll fill her in.”
I knew he wouldn’t want to pull her away from Sam and Kytten. “Don’t mention the other thing. I want to talk to her myself.”
He nodded, and once the Gods of Mayhem had spread out around the room, we began.
“Banshee, what do you have?”
“Pepper ran his mouth, no surprise there. Found out why they moved up here.”
“Why?”
This had been the burning question. Each time I’d talked to Skinner, he’d never mentioned Aspen. He wasn’t here for her. And he didn’t know Indie was here until Sting attacked her at Gunner’s shop. So, we were flying blind.
Until now.
“Skinner’s got a backer. Someone with money. Someone who wants to control the Federation.”
“So, he’s a biker. That’s the only way to be a part of the Federation,” Zeus chimed in.
“How do the Death Dogs fit in?” Zombie asked.
Banshee looked up at the new president of the Arkansas Chapter and grinned. “He seems to think he’ll patch us over.”
“Fuck that,” Zombie spat.
“I told him King would never go for that.” Banshee turned back to me. “He said Steele was the man in charge and anyone who didn’t patch over was dead.”
Venom cackled out loud. My brothers muttered to themselves as I sat back and stroked my beard.
“Skinner won’t be too happy when he finds out Steele is dead,” Blade said with a smirk. “He’ll have to come up with a new plan.”
“Why us?” Ace asked.
“What?”
He looked over at Gunner. “Why us? There are hundreds of small clubs he could take over and build a fucking army. Why start with us?”
I looked at Angel, then Blade. “Location,” I said.
“A little map dot town in the middle of nowhere?” Zeus asked.
I shook my head and glared at my cousin. “A little map dot town in the middle of the fucking country.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Apollo remarked. “Lebanon, Kansas, is the middle of the country, and that’s hours from here.”
“The Lincoln Chapter of the Golden Skulls would make more sense,” Jingles added.
“The Lincoln Chapter was abandoned decades ago. And Reaper is the president of the Mother Chapter of the Golden Skulls. He isn’t easily swayed the way Steele was,” Angel explained. “It makes sense.”
I nodded. Angel was right. It did make sense. Steele had used my club as a bargaining chip. I looked at Banshee. I understood he’d needed to take Steele out for what he’d done to his sister, but I’d wanted to put him in a cell and ask him questions.
That was exactly where Freeway was now.
As soon as I knew Steele was here, I’d had Big Ben and Jonah lock his ass up. Knowing he was a plant, I couldn’t let him contact Stone. I knew Steele wouldn’t be leaving my clubhouse.
He wasn’t smart enough to have been involved, and reporting to the club president wasn’t a big enough offense to warrant killing him. Especially when we fed him the information to report. He was safe for now. He just couldn’t pass on information.
“Once he finds out Steele is dead, he’ll have to come up with a new plan,” Colt pointed out.
“Yeah, one that doesn’t include patching us over but still includes getting this land,” Gunner said as he watched me.
“We need to stay vigilant. No one goes out without at least two brothers. Zombie, you and your men need to get back and take care of the other problem.”
Zombie nodded and turned to Angel. “You staying?”
“I have to, Prez. Unless you really need me?”
“Fuck, we don’t need him,” Venom scoffed. “He’s a pussy. Couldn’t even manage to get one tiny woman upstairs last time we were here,” he teased.
“Too fucking soon,” Blade snarled. My lips tipped up at the corner when I remembered how quickly Angel went down when I hit him last year. Venom lifted his hands, but he had a grin on his face that said he didn’t give a fuck.
“Meeting adjourned.” I hit the gavel on the table and said, “Cash and Mimic, hang back.” Mimic kept the blank look on his face, but I saw the question in his eyes. I shook my head and waited until everyone had left and the doors had closed before I shared Nav’s plan with my VP and my enforcer.
“Is he out of his fucking mind?” Cash bellowed. Mimic didn’t have to say a word; the expression on his face told me he agreed with Cash.
“I want you both to think about this rationally.” I explained what I’d worked out earlier, how Sal would be there and protect her. I’d make sure of it. And Cash would go with her every fucking time. And most likely Mimic as well.
“If the two of you aren’t able to go for whatever reason, Indie will. It’s partly why I want her to join the club.”
“You know when Freeway hears about that he’ll be pissed,” Cash said with a chuckle.
“I don’t give a fuck. The only reason he’s still alive is because nothing he’s done so far constitutes betrayal.” I leaned forward and placed my arms on the table. “I need you both to think about this objectively. If we have someone at the table, it gives us an edge.”
I looked over at Mimic. “Think of how Montana will react when his position is taken over by a woman.” That had Mimic smiling. He didn’t do it often, and when he did, it was fucking scary. You could hear the thoughts running through his head.
“I know you’re right, but I fucking hate this,” Cash whined.
“I know, but she’ll be protected. There isn’t another president out there who is as levelheaded as she is.”