Chapter 16
Onyx
We move from the chapel back to our main meeting room.
I walk with my arm around Emily. Normally, old ladies aren’t welcome in our meetings, but she has a right to know what is said and to have her say, because this is her life we’re talking about.
I want her to know everything we know, so she can be as safe as possible.
As the brothers file in, Jinx rolls out a dusty old map from the physical copies of the area Rock always insisted upon keeping.
They look like old logging maps to me. Striker opens his laptop and pulls up topography prints and rough aerial views that he found online.
They get busy marking up the Sliverwood area into a grid search.
We don’t know the fuckin’ area, and no one wants to ride in blind.
Jasper’s expression is grim, as it always is when we’re rounding up brothers for a mission.
While Jinx and Striker divide up the map, the last brother takes his seat and Jasper steps up.
My brother has come into his own as Prez.
He faces every threat and crisis like it’s the only thing in the world that matters.
Protectin’ my old lady is our order of the day, and Jasper doesn’t shy away from it.
He steps up and gets right down to business.
“You all know why we’re here today. The fucker that forced his way into Emily’s cabin, held her hostage, and terrorized her jumped bail and is on the loose. We need to hunt him down once and for all.”
My old man chimes in. “The plan right now is to turn him over to our contact at the Cedar Falls PD, so don’t get trigger happy when you find him.”
Looking none too happy, Jasper says, “Yeah, keep that asshole alive if you can. Emily remembered something he was rambling about, and we think we have a good lead on where he might be hiding. We’re going to split up into two-man teams and do a thorough grid search.
If Brennan is there, we’re gonna find him. ”
Striker announces, “We’re breaking up the target area, but Sliverwood is not only huge geographically, it’s a bigger mess than I thought.
The whole area’s broken into weird, disjointed parcels, and the terrain is rough.
Legally, it’s hard to tell who owns what.
Some parcels have gas wells running on hundred-year leases.
There are a multitude of hunting leases, failed development deals, and private plots with no listed dwellings. ”
“Sounds like a good place for this fucker to hide,” I say.
Jasper nods once, his eyes still glancing down at the map. “Bet that area has a lot of secrets, and they’re all fuckin’ buried deep.”
Striker snorts a laugh. “For sure, Prez. There’s no telling what we might bump into once we’re boots on the ground. There could be more meth labs that no one knows about or even drug smuggling operations in that area.”
Jasper delivers a stern warning to our crew. “That’s all the more reason to tread softly and look before you leap.”
Striker speaks again. “I should warn you that there’s no cell phone coverage in the area. That means we’re gonna need to break out the two-way radios. I shouldn’t need to remind you that whatever you say over the airwaves is not private communication.”
Jasper grumbles, “Ain’t that fuckin’ great.
” Turning to look at the brothers again, he wraps up the meeting.
“Brennan’s out there somewhere. We don’t know where he is or what he’s up to, but we do know he held Onyx’s old lady hostage, burned her cabin to the ground, and his girlfriend is still MIA.
” After a slight pause, he adds, “It would be fuckin’ nice to recover her as well. ”
Slate speaks up. “If she’s still even in the area, you mean.”
Jasper jerks his chin at our brother. “Slate is right. She may be long gone. We’re here to find Brennan. That’s our priority right now.”
“From your mouth to God’s ear, brother,” I mutter under my breath. I’m sick and tired of my Emily not being able to leave the compound. This fuckin’ monster has stolen her peace and made her fear going out alone. That pisses me the hell off.
Jasper raises his voice in order to be heard more clearly. “Let’s gear up. By the time we’re ready to tear outta here, Striker and Jinx should have our grid assignments ready. Don’t forget to grab a two-way radio.”
Just as we’re walking away, he adds, “And those of you with hounds need to bring them.”
I throw him an annoyed look because he knows I hate it when people refer to my German Shepherd as a fuckin’ hound.
Forge is a highly trained purebred tracking animal who’s earned her place in our kennel over and over again.
Jasper just gives me a feral grin because he knows he’s being a bit of an ass.
I don’t let him get to me, though. I escort Emily out so we can talk before I leave.
She walks out to the kennel with me, looking worried.
“You okay, Em?”
“Yeah, I’m just worried about so many of the brothers being in harm’s way because of me.”
“It’s not because of you. It’s because Brennan is a dangerous criminal and on the loose in our town.
You didn’t do anything wrong,” I tell her as we approach the kennels.
Mica is already there and lets Forge loose for me before turning his attention to his own dog, Sable.
Forge runs to me and does a happy dance.
She’s well trained, so she doesn’t jump all over me the way some dogs do.
She does sniff Emily and then shoves her wet nose into Emily’s open palm.
Smiling, Emily drops to her knees and pets Forge.
Something about her open acceptance of my beloved pet hits me right in the feels.
I squat down to pet Forge as well. Emily’s next question catches me off guard.
“Can I come with you?”
My head jerks up and I stare at her because she acknowledged the mission was dangerous. I’m shaking my head before I realize it. “No, and hell no. I don’t want you tromping around in the wilderness with that asshole on the loose.”
She frowns. “I thought you were going to say that. But I wanted to ask anyway. It seems wrong to ask the brothers to risk themselves while I stay safe at the clubhouse.”
I’m honestly bewildered by her whole train of thought on this issue. “Are you trying to get me a beatdown by the brothers? Because I guarantee that if I tried to take my old lady on a fuckin’ dangerous wilderness hunt for a fugitive, they would beat my ass in a fuckin’ heartbeat.”
She rolls her eyes. “Dramatic much?”
I come to my feet and whistle to get Mica’s attention. When he steps closer with Sable pawing at his leg, I tell him, “I’m thinking about letting Emily tag along. What do you think of that idea?”
His expression closes down in a heartbeat and he responds tightly. “I think you’ve lost your goddamn mind. Do I need to call Jasper and Slate, or do you think you can get your head out of your own ass long enough to protect your old lady?”
I turn to Emily and raise both eyebrows in an expression that says I told you so.
“Fine, I’ll stay at the clubhouse. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
When she walks off, Mica comes to stand beside me, and we watch her walk back to the clubhouse. “The fuck was that?”
“I don’t know. If you ever figure women out, let me know.”
“We don’t need to figure them out, just give them what they want and need.”
A twinge of guilt builds in my chest. This is the way we were raised. My old man taught us to give our ma whatever she wanted, to make her happy. It was no great hardship because she never demanded more than we could comfortably give.
I rub my chest with one fist. “Telling her no doesn’t sit right with me, you know?”
Mica doesn’t answer, likely because he doesn’t have anything to say on that issue. Instead, he stoops down long enough to clip a leash on Sable. I don’t need to do that with Forge because she’s the best girl and trained to stay right at my side.
Mica comes to his feet and glances towards the garage. “You can think about that while we ride. We should attach the sidecars, so we can hit the ground running when we get our grid assignments.”
Damn, he’s right. We stalk into the garage and get busy. Those sidecars enable us to transport our trackers, and riding in the sidecar is Forge’s favorite activity, so she’s happy, jumping around and wagging her tail.
When I’m finished, I stuff my pockets with treats and make sure I have her bowl, a gallon of water, and a couple servings of food.
Once Forge is strapped in, I quickly gear up at the armory and jump onto my bike.
Mica comes out, and shortly after our phones buzz with messages from Striker with our grid assignments.
We strap our handheld radios to our shoulders and take off.
As we ride away, I hear engines turn over one by one behind me. I’m proud to be leading the pack today. I remember how Emily’s grandfather used to say the early bird gets the worm. My old man used to joke back that there’s plenty of worms for everyone, so we don’t need to compete for them.