Chapter Two
Hatch
A few weeks later…
I BANGED THE gavel and glanced around the table at my officers.
Booker was my VP, Mack, my Secretary, Hawk, Treasurer, Flea, Sergeant, Ace, Knight, and Train, all Road Captains, and I’d included my son, Flash, along with Ryder Carsen, and Reese Alden in this meeting.
Ryder and Reese were ex-Spiders and club friendlies, and they had invaluable insight into how the Spiders did business.
And outside of new prospects, they knew every single member, could recognize them if they were in the vicinity, and could give us a heads-up.
Ryder had a team of ex-members who worked for him, and they were all willing to go to bat for us to bring the Spiders down.
I honestly didn’t know if we’d be able to do it without them.
We did not give our grow operation to Warlock, and varying grim expressions met mine as I sighed. “Warlock has declared war.”
“Killing Grip was his declaration of war, brother,” Booker said.
“No,” I countered. “That was merely a warning.”
“Fuck, what’s happened now?” Hawk demanded.
“I thought you sent everything over to Jaxon,” Flea said, turning to Ace and Knight.
Jaxon Quinn was Ace and Knight’s biological brother and part of a local FBI unit we called on, very sparingly, if we got into a sticky situation we couldn’t handle ourselves.
Case in point, a few weeks back when Warlock killed my prospect when I refused to hand over our cannabis grow business to Warlock.
“What the fuck’s your brother doin’? He’s got the video of Warlock dropping Grip off the side of the building. Proof he murdered him—”
“Warlock didn’t actually do the throwin’,” I pointed out.
“Jax has the two who did it and neither of them are talkin’,” Ace grumbled.
“So, they’re gonna do time and not implicate Warlock,” Hawk said matter-of-factly.
Flea shrugged. “It’s what any of us would do.”
The room murmured as every one of my brothers nodded their agreement.
“Yeah, the difference is, Warlock’s got them by the balls, whereas Hatch earned our respect,” Train said.
“As much as I appreciate that,” I said. “The fact remains, he’s sent a new message, and this one officially declares war.”
“What have we missed?” Train asked.
“They hit a few of the Howlers’ shops, both in Monument and Denver, and they hit Daryl’s shop and house.”
The Primal Howlers were a friendly club out in Colorado, and we partnered with them in cannabis grow operations in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. They owned dispensaries all over Denver, Monument, and Colorado Springs, and the Spiders had hit a few of their dispensaries last week.
Daryl, on the other hand, owned Portland Motorworks, a boutique auto parts shop that specialized in ‘new old stock’ MoPar and vintage bike parts.
Just the kind of hard-to-find inventory our shop needed.
We’d done business with Daryl Martin since the day he opened.
In fact, the Dogs supplied him with labor during his shop build, as well as using the club’s resources to secure some of the trickier permits he needed in order to do business.
In exchange for these favors, Daryl agreed to stock and reserve some of our most used and/or hard to find items.
Several months ago, he was coming up short on our parts orders and it was because the Spiders had threatened him and his family. We’d promised to protect Daryl, but unfortunately, Warlock had had other plans.
“Shit, seriously?” Knight asked. “When?”
“Last night.”
The room erupted in various levels of rage and cursing. I waved my hands to settle the group. “We got them out.”
Flea nodded. “Mack and I moved them to a safehouse night before last.”
“They’ve been secretly getting mementos and important papers moved for the past week or two, just in case,” I said.
“Insurance will take care of whatever they lost outside of that. His shop’s a similar story.
He moved some hard to find parts but had to lose a few things to make the insurance claim legit.
He’s good, his family’s safe, and we plan to keep it that way. ”
“I want this fucker dead,” Knight snapped.
“Yeah, brother, I get it,” I agreed. “Maisie is out now gathering food and supplies to stock up both our home and the compounds, and I want all of you to get ready to lock down again.” I turned to Hawk.
“You and Ace both have fortified basements, so talk to your women and figure out if you can take more than your kids and their women. Maisie and I’ll do the same.
Razor is organizing the car switching as we speak.
That’s happening day after tomorrow, but I think we might need to move that up a day. ”
“We’ve got our basement almost done,” Knight said. “Our apartment’s an option too.”
Before he and Kim had gotten hitched, she owned an apartment in a high-rise building overlooking the water in Portland.
Up until my sister, Cricket, had reconnected with Minus, the president of the Burning Saints, she’d lived there and once she’d moved out, Kim had taken the opportunity to do a massive renovation.
“Is the reno done?” I asked.
Knight nodded. “Wired for picture and sound. Two panic rooms, doorman, the whole deal. We added a bathroom, so it’s now got four bedrooms, four full bathrooms plus the powder.
It would be great for either new couples or a few of our women who aren’t coupled up.
Not the greatest for kids. Nowhere to play. Unless they’re babies.”
I nodded. “Right, Maisie can start figuring out who can go where.”
“How the hell are we gonna keep Warlock outta the safe houses?” Train asked.
“We’re gonna fuckin’ shoot to kill,” I said.
“I set shit up so that most of the buildings are hidden legally,” Mack said. “Hatch and Maisie’s house is in trust, as are the rest of our homes. The trusts aren’t easily tracked back to us, so unless you know where we live, you won’t be able to find us.”
“Yeah, but people know where we live,” Flea pointed out.
“You been runnin’ your mouth?” I challenged. “We’re all careful about who we invite in.”
Flea nodded. “I guess that’s true, but everyone knows about here. I mean, Big Ernie’s is our main hub.”
“Sure,” I agreed. “But no one other than officers, family, and patched members know about Ridgefield, so we’ll start the lockdown there.
It’s hard to find, impenetrable, and if on the off-chance someone does get in and we have to get out, we have hidden exits, leading to different safe houses in the area that also can’t be traced back to us. ”
“What if someone’s watching from the street?” Train asked.
“We go in shifts, dark of night,” I said. “Haul the bikes in in trucks. Change up your routine. Don’t draw attention. Flea, did you get the extra freezers installed?”
“Yeah, we got three, plus another three refrigerators.”
“Good.”
Ryder set a folder on the table. “Photos and names of Spiders’ members, current and retired.”
I slid it toward me and opened it, rifling through the file. “Jesus, brother, this is thorough.”
He chuckled. “Got an inside guy.”
“I don’t want you puttin’ your family’s ass out there, Ryder.” I glanced up at him. “Where are Sadie and the kids?”
“We’re good, Hatch.” He took a seat and smiled. “Sadie and the kids are covered. We have the panic room, and if we need to, they can stay with her aunt at the abbey.”
Reese nodded. “Alexa and our kids can also stay there.”
Ryder’s woman used to be a nun and had been ensconced in a local abbey.
When she’d met Ryder, she’d been on the precipice of a major life change, and she’d left her life as a nun and fallen in love with him.
Alexa and Reese had been childhood sweethearts who’d reconnected, but she’d had to be hidden at the abbey due to her mafia father, so they still had that option available to them should they need it.
“Let’s get these pictures out to everyone,” I said.
“Ryder already sent them to me,” Booker said. “I’ve emailed copies to officers and captains. You decide who you want to share with. I’m sharin’ with Dani and my kids. I want them on guard. Cash already had his run-in with Warlock, and he’s got Teagan to consider now.”
“I’ve got Teagan,” Mack said.
Booker faced him and raised an eyebrow. “Brother, Cash has Teagan.”
Mack stood slowly and settled his fists on the table. “If I say I’ve got my daughter, Book, I’ve got my daughter.”
“Mack, Cash and Teagan have each other and I’m not gonna have you fuckin’ with that,” Booker growled.
“Enough,” I snapped. “The last thing we need is to be at each other’s throats.” I speared Mack with a glare. “I think Cash has earned the right to look after his woman, yeah?”
Mack glared back. “This comin’ from you or my prez?”
“Right now, it’s coming from me. Your brother and friend. But if you need me to pull rank, I’ll pull rank.”
Booker sighed. “Sit down, Mack. Between the two of us and Cash, we’ll keep Teagan safe. She’s covered, brother.”
Mack slowly took his seat again and I waited a few seconds before nodding. “Right. As you know, my boy, Flash is set to receive his Road Captain’s patch and there’s no time like the present, so if his Road Captain could get his scrawny ass up here, I’d appreciate it.”
Train followed orders, grabbing Flash by the scruff of his cut, and damned near dragging all one hundred seventy-five pounds of him to me.
“This scrawny thing been a good soldier?” I asked Train, pointing to my son.
Train nodded. “He does what he’s told without too much drama.”
“Must be fuckin’ nice,” I replied to laughs all around.
“He’s a good man to share the road with and I’m proud to see him earn his stripes,” Train said, patting Flash on the back.