Chapter 42
Dante
“If everyone is here, then the meeting will commence,” I announced, waiting a moment before banging down the gavel and bringing the meeting to order.
Everyone was invited to this one, including the prospects, and each man looked back at me with a grim look on his face.
“So here’s where we’re at,” I said, lighting up my cigarette and taking a deep draw before continuing. “That fucking prick Bradley has been busy. He’s got dirt on Rachel, and it’s not looking good. Riley,” I said, looking to my left at the peacemaker. “What have you found?”
“I managed to speak to Waltzer, who has somehow managed to get himself locked up again. He said he’s heard talk that Rachel is looking at a minimum of ten years if Bradley can get all his shit on her to stick.
Waltzer is willing to look out for Rachel the best he can since he’s fond of her dad, but…
There’s not a great deal he can do from the male wing. ”
“And what else? It’s never this easy with Waltzer,” I said, sighing heavily.
Riley grimaced before responding. “That’s it.
Waltzer is a nomad. He has no loyalty to the Leeds charter.
He has it cushty in prison and isn’t willing to jeopardise much.
He’ll give us information as and when he can, but how useful that’ll be is anyone’s guess.
He’s not willing to budge. As far as he’s concerned, he’s doing us a favour by making sure Rachel is protected, but he won’t be helping us to get her out. ”
“Fucking nomads,” Shark hissed, rolling his eyes.
“Any bright ideas, Sarg?” I directed my question at Ant, my Sergeant-at-Arms.
He folded his arms across his chest as he answered, “same thing I’ve said since you took over, brother.”
I took another draw of my cigarette and nodded. “I didn’t want to do it but… We’re left with no choice.”
“For what?” Pivot asked. I chuckled to myself, despite nothing being funny.
Pivot had always been the more outspoken prospect and always asked questions.
He reminded me of Monster. Which explained why he was currently the only one graduating.
Tyler, Bambi, Darwin and Mike would be repeating their year or fucking off.
Unless they suddenly impressed the rest of the guys enough to convince me they were worthy of the cut.
And then it hit me. A way to flip this entire situation on its head.
“We need a mole,” I said simply. “Ant has wanted us to plant someone in prison for years. We have contacts there—such as Waltzer—who will ensure your stay there is as pleasant as it is here. But there’s never been a natural way to do it that wouldn’t raise suspicion.
The police aren’t thick. They know we use Hacksaw to wipe a lot of evidence off the database.
If we suddenly allowed one of ours to go down for years at a time…
well, they’d be likely to drop the charges than let you sit gathering information. ”
“Except now they’ve got Rachel,” Sunshine nodded. “I did a year for Crash back in the day. If you need me to take Rachel’s place, just say the word, brother. Prison is no place for a woman.”
“Especially not one with a mouth like hers,” Vienna laughed.
“That mouth would probably come in handy if you think about it,” Bambi laughed.
“Watch it. That’s my old lady you’re talking about.”
“If your old lady wants to be a lesbian whilst she’s in prison, that’s up to her. Women deserve love too, Dante,” Vienna grinned, elbowing me in my side. I rolled my eyes, ignoring his input.
“It’s nice to see she’s still a handful,” Rooster said, giving me a lopsided grin.
“Yeah…” I chuckled, feeling an odd sense of pride. “I’m not worried about Rachel. She can handle herself inside. Hell, I’d give it a week max, and she’d be running the fucking place. She’d have officers sneaking contraband in and would probably set up her own prison sinners' club.”
“But it’s the kids,” Chris finished for me. “I don’t think Bee has anymore heartbreak in her.”
“Exactly,” I nodded, flicking my cigarette in the ashtray.
“If she loses Rachel again… I don’t think there would be any coming back from that.
And Axel would be fucking lost without his mother, she’s all he’s ever known.
I know we’ve all had our differences with Rachel, but there’s no denying she’s the best fucking mother those kids could ask for. ”
“So, what are you saying? Just so we’re all clear,” Tools asked.
“We need someone to take her place. You would need to admit to whatever charges Bradley has on her. Right now, it’s the murder of that woman in Scotland.
And in order to make it fair, I’m going to rule out those with old ladies and families.
And Hacksaw and Chris,” I said, nodding my head in their direction out of respect for their relationship.
Their relationship was equally as important as anyone else’s here, and I needed to make sure everyone remembered that.
“I can’t ask people to give up their relationship whilst mine thrives. And—”
“I’ll do it,” Bambi interrupted, stunning the room into silence.
“You realise what you’re agreeing to, don’t you?” Vienna warned.
“Yep,” he nodded. “And for many reasons, I think I’d be the perfect guy.
First of all, I have no old lady, or even a girlfriend.
I have no family to miss me. You guys are my family.
I can make a clean cut from the outside world.
Second of all, I’m new. The police can trace my record, but they have no familiarity with me.
They don’t know what I’m capable of and what crimes I’ve committed under the radar.
I could easily have murdered that woman.
Third, I was in Scotland. I was spying on Rachel for weeks.
You could even tell them I lost my fingers because you caught me getting too close to the dead lass.
And fourth, Rachel scares the fucking shit out of me, and I think I’d be safer behind bars than any of you cunts in her company,” he finished with a grin, making us all laugh.
What he said made sense, but I couldn’t help the flutter of guilt I felt. I caught Vienna’s eyes, and he gave me a discreet shrug.
“I won’t make this decision alone. If you’re sure about this, and it’s what you want to do, we’ll put it to a vote. I can go round the table one by one or we can do a show of hands of those in favour…” my words trailed off as every man immediately raised their hand.
“I guess it's settled,” Bambi nodded, swallowing heavily.
“Sorry, brother,” Sunshine shrugged. “But… it’s Rachel.”
“I get it. I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t comfortable with it.”
“She’s our old lady,” Shark said. “We can’t let her go to prison. Especially when this is actually a crime she’s not responsible for.”
“Which is pretty funny considering she’s brutally murdered more men than some of the members around this table, and yet the one murder she didn’t commit gets her locked up. What?” Vienna muttered when we all glared at him. “I didn’t say it was ‘haha’ funny, but it is pretty funny.”
I tutted and shook my head, ignoring him again.
“Bambi, if you’re comfortable with this, then I can promise you will be fully protected.
No one will come within a metre of you without being swarmed by your protection team.
Waltzer will take care of you. And as a thank you, if the rest of my brothers agree, you will be going into prison a fully patched member, graduating right now.
Brothers?” I asked, looking around the table.
One by one, each of the members gave their confirmation.
“I guess it’s settled then. If no one has any objections, it looks like we’re throwing a going away party.”
I paused for a second, locking eyes with Bambi in case he wanted to change his mind.
And then banged down the gavel before he could.
Sunshine was right. It was Rachel. I’d happily see all the prospects go down for her.