Chapter 22
LYRIC
It’s been a week since Mellie’s fight with Peach, and the atmosphere at the clubhouse is… off. I can’t put my finger on it, but Mellie’s acting strange, and Sawbone has been avoiding me as much as possible. As for the others, it’s like everyone is walking on eggshells.
“Yo, Lyric,” Zombie says, pulling me out of my head. “We gettin’ started or what?”
I called church out of desperation to figure out what the fuck is going on, but I don’t even know where to begin.
“Right, church.” I shove a hand through my already messy hair. “What’s the latest on Peach?”
Zombie grins wickedly. “As we’ve discussed, she was dealt with and transported to Mount Rainier. She was ordered to stay away from Tacoma if she found her way out of the mountains, and there’s been no sign of her since.”
“And there’s nothing to trace her back to us if she is found?”
“Nope,” Undertaker comments. “All of her belongings that she had here were incinerated at Death’s Door.”
“I scrubbed every trace of her online, too,” Scrubs adds.
As our cleaner, both physical and digital, I trust him to get the job done. If he says there’s no trace, there’s no fucking trace. “Good. What’s the latest on Cray Cray?”
“He’s gone to ground,” Trick says. “The last time anyone saw him was the night Death’s Door was ransacked.”
“What are the Shadow Sixes saying?”
“Not much,” Quake admits. “Those at the bottom of the totem pole don’t know shit, and the higher-ups won’t talk.”
“Make them talk,” I snarl.
“Trick and I have already eliminated seven of their players,” Quake says. “If we kill many more, we definitely won’t get info.”
I pound the table, rattling everything sitting atop it. “I don’t give a shit who has to die. Cray Cray took Rowdy out, almost took Mellie, and he won’t stop until he gets what he wants.”
“Which is?” Copper asks.
“If I knew that, none of this shit woulda happened!” I shout.
“Lyric,” Zombie says, settling his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t take your anger out on us. We’re on your side.”
I heave a sigh. “I know. It’s just…”
“Mellie isn’t safe until we sort this out,” Pastor comments, finishing my unspoken thought.
“It’s not just her,” I tell them. “None of us is safe as long as Cray Cray is among the living.”
“I’ve sent Marlene to her parents’ place in Seattle,” Pastor informs.
“Becs has been working crazy hours at the hospital, but I’ll get her set up at a hotel so she’s not here in the line of fire,” Copper says. “I tried to talk to her about leaving, but she refuses to take off work.”
“We’ll add extra security at the hospital for her,” I say. “If shit gets worse, she’ll have to leave, Cop. I won’t give her a choice.”
“Better you than me,” he says, only half joking.
“What about locking shit down?” Goose suggests.
“I don’t think we’re there yet.” I glance around the room. “Thoughts?”
“I agree,” Pilot says.
“Me, too,” Romeo and Boondock add simultaneously.
“We’ll revisit lockdown at every church meeting and decide as a club whether or not to move forward with it.”
“And in the meantime?” Zombie asks.
I huff out a humorless laugh. “In the meantime, we hunt Cray Cray down. Club business continues to proceed as normal, but there will be little to no downtime because it’ll be focused on that Shadow Sixes prick.”
“I’ll be flying out tomorrow,” Pilot states. “I shouldn’t be gone more than a day, but the cartel isn’t too keen on putting off the meet.”
“That’s fine. Take someone with you,” I order. “No one conducts any club business alone.”
“I’ll go,” Goose says.
“Thanks.” I turn to Undertaker. “Death’s Door back up and running?”
“Aw, Pres, you know it is,” Scrubs whines.
“I know you cleaned it up,” I say. “But that doesn’t nece—”
“It’s up and running,” Undertaker barks. “In fact, we’ve got a funeral scheduled for the end of the week.”
“Who?” Zombie asks.
“One of the Shadow Sixes we killed,” he replies with a sadistic chuckle.
“Who set that up?” I demand.
“It was the guy’s sister,” he explains. “None of the other funeral homes would take her calls.” He shrugs. “Felt bad for her and figured we could kill two birds with one stone. Help her out while making a little money.”
“Let’s not forget that it sets us up to potentially interrogate other gang members and relatives,” Zombie drawls.
“Yeah, it does,” I confirm. “But we won’t do it during the funeral. I’m not that cold-hearted. Wait until the casket is removed from the building at least.”
“He’s actually being cremated,” Undertaker says.
“Then wait until the fucker’s family is out of the building. We won’t harass them, but everyone else is fair game.”
“This should be fun,” Quake says, rubbing his hands together.
“That’s what worries me,” I mutter.