Chapter Ten
Raider
“It’s been four motherfucking days. What the fuck are we missing?” I explode, slamming my fist on the table.
“Who are Shea and Anastasia to the club outside of Auntie Lynn?” Rhino throws the question out I’ve been waiting for.
I lock eyes with Remedy and Pope because this is as much their story as mine. I get subtle head nods from both. Leaning back in my chair, I lace my fingers behind my head, staring up at the ceiling. The guys sit waiting for me to tell them something.
“I’ve known Tasia and Shea since we were kids,” I finally decide on where to start.
“I was maybe nine or ten when Relic started prospecting for the club. One day he finally had time to hang out with me, so he took me to the pond on Auntie Lynn’s land to fish.
While there, he got a call that an unexpected shipment had shown up and he needed to help the other prospects with the delivery to the farm.
I followed him back to the house, and sitting on the porch glaring at us was Tasia. ”
“Wait, if you were there as a kid. How long was Auntie Lynn involved with the club?” Token cuts me off.
I smile to myself because this is one of the club’s longest-kept secrets. “We’ve been doing business with Auntie Lynn and her family since the club rolled into town. The deal was set and ready to go for us. It was all set up by the Italians and Auntie Lynn’s family.”
“Ummm, again, who is Auntie Lynn’s family?” Blitz snaps. “When we voted you in, you said no more secrets. Currently, you’re still keeping fucking secrets.”
“Careful, brother,” Terro snarls, unusually on edge.
I hold my hand up. “That’s just it, Blitz. I can’t tell you what I do not know.”
“What the fuck do you mean you don’t fucking know?” Blitz roars, pushing to his feet.
Token does the same, speaking over him. “You cannot tell me we work that closely with Auntie Lynn and don’t know who the fuck we’re working with?”
“That’s exactly what I fucking expect from you all,” I shout, standing to my feet. “I do not know when, where, or fucking how we came to work with Auntie Lynn and her family. All I can tell you is what has been passed from the presidents and elder members to us.”
“What exactly is that?” Token crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at me.
Hermes speaks up, still clicking away on his laptop.
“When the club rolled into town, there was already a trade treaty in the works between the Italians and Auntie Lynn’s family.
We were able to offer our services to them with only three rules.
One, we ask no questions about the shipments—not where they come from, who they belong to, or about the Italians.
Two, we keep nothing on any club-owned properties that could point to either family.
Three, we happily take our percentage and pay, or the money as well as our share of the product will be kept. ”
“And we’ve just accepted it?” Rhino spits.
“What we did was be smart. It was the very first deal that gave us what we have as a club. It is the reason we run this territory and are doing as well as we are,” Terro throws out.
“The deals have changed and grown with the Italians, and Auntie Lynn’s family has done well for us as well. No one has had an issue until now. So, tell me, what’s the real problem here?” I stare each of the growling assholes down.
“There is something going on here we’re missing. I’m fucking tired of being one motherfucking step behind everyone else,” Blitz finally gets to the point of his issue.
“Tell me about it,” I agree with him. “The hope is with the boy here that he may be able to give us some answers as to why Auntie Lynn’s house was burned down.”
“What is it we hope to find out?” Pope speaks up for the first time since Tasia was taken.
“At this rate, our main goal is to find out why Auntie Lynn’s house was burned down,” I tell them. “Hermes, have we gotten the fire inspector’s report back?”
“I just got it pulled up,” he answers, putting the report up on the screen as he reads over it.
“So according to this report, it is being labeled as arson. They found large amounts of accelerant around and even inside the house. So much so that it took them nearly two days to put the fire out completely. The crazy thing is, they didn’t find a body. ”
“So, what if it was all a setup? An act to get into the club? Anastasia could have been making it all up,” Mercy shrugs like he didn’t just drop a bomb on things.
“The fuck did you say?” Remedy snaps. “Shea may be a lying cunt. Tasia, on the other hand, couldn’t lie if you paid her.”
“How do you know? She isn’t the little girl you grew up with,” Token throws out. “I mean, fucking hell, have you seen that fucking kid? He is Raider’s fucking twin and yet the man swears he never touched her.”
“It doesn’t add the fuck up,” Blitz agrees.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Anvil murmurs thoughtfully.
“Thinking about what?” Terro turns, looking at him.
“What if he isn’t her kid?” Anvil throws out.
“He calls her mom and protects her like she is his son,” I counter him, “and if he isn’t her son then how else would she get her hands on a carbon copy of me?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Anvil shrugs thoughtfully.
“I don’t give a fuck who the kid's mother is. What I care about is how this all ties to Relic and the fucking sex trafficking ring,” Blender announces, flipping a throw star between his fingers.
We all sit stunned. Blender doesn’t speak or give his opinion unless it’s to give another brother shit or to be an asshole.
I finally find my voice when there are three sharp knocks at the door.
Blender goes to the door seeing as he is the one standing up already.
He pulls it open to find Twitch standing there red-faced.
“You know better than to interrupt us in the middle of fucking church,” I say dangerously.
“Which means I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t important,” Twitch looks around at us all nervously.
“What was so important that it couldn’t fucking wait?” I demand.
“You had me follow the SUVs that left here a couple nights ago. I followed them to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I’ve been watching over them for the last few days.” Twitch starts pacing in the doorway of church.
Being a prospect, he isn’t allowed in church.
“Twitch, get to the fucking point,” Terro waves him on.
“Right, right,” he nods. “I know you are looking for the guys who are trafficking women in the area. As I was watching them, I noticed really beautiful women coming in and out of this house. Well, several houses, the first couple I didn’t think anything of them because they are large fancy houses but what I found strange is the fact some of the woman would go into the big fancy houses and either never come back out, get carried out, or look a mess when they stumbled out.
So, one night I followed a woman leaving the house to this run-down crack house. ”
“Holy shit! You found the stupid motherfuckers?” Mercy stands, storming over to him and slamming him against the wall just outside the door.
“I don’t know. Let me finish.” Twitch stares the man down unflinchingly, and I give him credit for it.
Mercy lets him go, taking a step back to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Blender, blocking the doorway.
Knowing that this can get out of hand quickly, I stand, pushing past the brothers.
Walking into the great room, I check who’s in there.
Charlie and Ainsley are sitting on the couch together watching TV.
There are a couple of club bunnies playing pool and drinking at the bar.
Pecker Head is drinking at the bar, glaring in our direction.
I don’t see Rusher anywhere, and my chest grows tight with concern.
“Where is the boy?” I demand.
Charlie looks back at me with a sad, soft smile. “He is in his room. Has been since he got back from practice.”
The squeeze in my chest loosens just a touch. “Clear out! We need the room.”
Charlie and Ainsley grin at each other before standing. Ainsley smiles over at Mercy, whose only acknowledgment that he saw her is a slight softening of his eyes. The club bunnies all perk up at the sound of my voice, turning to strut toward us.
“I said clear the motherfucking room,” I roar, not in the mood to deal with their shit today.
Charlie grabs Ainsley's hand, smiling. “Let’s get Rusher and go for a swim. I know he could use some air and relaxation.”
“Oh, that would be amazing!” The women wave to us, making their way down the hallway toward Rusher’s room.
I see Pecker Head sitting but not moving. “Pecker Head, do you think you don’t have to do what I fucking tell you?”
He spins around on his seat, leaning back with his elbows on the bar. “Well, seeing as you’re moving church into the open, I thought I could join too.”
“Unless you have a fucking member patch on that cut that I don’t know about, get the fuck out of my club,” I growl beyond over all the fucking disrespect in my fucking club.
He’s glare sharpens as he pushes to his feet. “Relic really did see the bigger picture.”
His words are the match that lights the fuse.
I explode, rushing him and landing a solid punch to his face.
The hit connects, and he drops like a stone, cupping his nose as blood sprays everywhere.
When he hits the floor, landing on his knees, I place my boot square in his chest. The man splays out on his back where I apply pressure to his chest, leaning down close to him.
“This is my motherfucking club. You can either fall in line or you can get the fuck out. Just know that when you abandon the club, you will never be allowed to return. You will decide right now—what is it going to be? Are you fucking staying and working to be a brother or are you leaving your cut here to never fucking return?” I hiss as I apply slow, steady pressure to his sternum, where my foot is squarely placed.
I watch the same hate fill his eyes that I had seen that day in Relic. No matter what this man says right now, he will never be one of us. A puzzle piece finally falls into place.
“You,” I ground out, standing to my full height with my foot still on his chest.
Looking around the room, I realize it all adds up. “It’s this motherfucker. He is the goddamn reason that we cannot find the fucking ring. He’s a fucking rat.”
“He was vetted after Relic’s death. That man holds no ties to Relic outside of being a prospect to the club,” Hermes says, stepping out of church.
The man under my foot laughs hysterically. “You stupid motherfuckers have no idea what is going on in your very own territory. Much less be able to actually find all the connections that Relic had.”
“Anvil, Mercy, come get him and put him in the cell until we’re done here,” I tell my brothers, stepping away from the man.
I start pacing the room, letting the others talk quietly amongst themselves.
My mind is running with thoughts. Searching my mind’s eye for memories or moments and conversations from the past. Things I wrote off as nothing and unimportant come back to me.
Like a key in a door, a fuzzy memory slams into me, nearly bringing me to my knees.
“Raider? Fuck man, are you okay?” Remedy questions as he rushes over to me.
“I need to see the boy,” I tell him, looking up at my longest friend. “I think I’ve finally figured it all out.”
“This is about to get very ugly, isn’t it?” he murmurs, shaking his head before turning. “Blitz, go grab the boy.”
Blitz heads off when I call out to him, “Give me about ten minutes before sending him in.”
“You got it, Prez,” he smirks before turning to go find him.
I stand to find all the men watching me.
“Brothers, give me thirty minutes. I need to speak to the boy, and then we will take this to the conference room. Blitz has gone to get the boy, and Twitch still has stuff to tell us. Hermes, meet me in my office and bring your laptop. Terro, Pope, and Remedy will meet me in there. Rest of you grab a drink and something to eat, it’s going to be a long fucking night. ”
Terro comes to me, offering me his hand and pulling me to my feet.
“Fuck, brother, you’ve finally figured it out, didn’t you? The missing pieces have finally fallen into place for you,” Terro’s worried face gives me pause.
“Not all of it but what I think I’ve finally figured out is how the club, Auntie Lynn, and that boy are all connected,” I whisper, still trying to wrap my brain around the fact it’s all been right here in front of me the entire time.
“Fucking hell, this is going to blow the club wide open, isn’t it?” Terro groans, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“No more than Relic did when he attacked Ainsley and admitted to his part in Jenny’s death. If what I’m thinking is true though, we’ll have to do what the club has never wanted to do, and that’s figure out how to deal with a fucking whore.” I groan, making my way to my office.