Chapter 33 Grudge
GRUDGE
“You sure you guys don’t want to stay?” I ask King as he and the others get ready to leave.
He looks over to where Spark is showing pictures of his son to Wraith and Atom, who are both expecting kids of their own next year, and smiles.
“As fun as it would be to stick around,” he says, “the longer we stay here, the higher the risk of people putting two and two together to come up with where we dropped Wren.”
“Who is sh—are they?” I ask, correcting myself.
He turns to face me. “Was wondering when you’d ask.”
“Ask what?”
“This is a big favor. You don’t feel like I’ve told you the whole story. Right?”
I cross my arms, even as I acknowledge it’s an immediately defensive position.
“I assume you have your reasons. But I can’t help but feel that you’re hanging me and my guys out in the wind.
It’s hard enough to keep people safe when we know who the enemy is.
This circus is going to have us doubting everyone. ”
King runs a hand through his hair and looks out to our men, then pushes the door to church closed to shut them all out. “If I tell you, you can’t tell your brothers. And if you do, I’ll personally come over here, cut that newly stitched patch off your cut, and excommunicate you from the Outlaws.”
When I was younger, I wanted to be in the club.
I wanted it so bad when I’d see my father dressing up like a badass, going off to do whatever it was he had to do.
Then, when I was a prospect, I couldn’t wait to be a patched-in member.
Then, a titled biker, then, VP, then, president.
But what I didn’t know was that I want to be the right-hand man to our national president out west.
“Understood. But you need to tell me so I can make sure we always make the right call when it comes to Wren’s safety.”
“I can fill in half that story. Wren is technically wanted by the FBI.”
My mouth opens. “We were just fucking raided by the Feds. Why would you think it’s a good fucking idea to put someone wanted by them right in the middle of us?”
And why did I just promise him that I wouldn’t tell my brothers?
King puts his hands on my shoulders. “Do you trust me?”
It’s a test, one I’m very close to failing. Butcher gifted me the presidency, and my men rely on me to make the right call.
“Simple question, Grudge: Do you trust me?”
I look away and sigh, then return my gaze to my president. “You’ve never given me a reason not to.”
“Fair answer. I can’t say much more. But…
Wren was… approached to do a job. They thought they were working for the organization, an illegal one, but it seems the person they were hired by was a mercenary.
That organization now believes Wren stole twenty million dollars from them, not the mercenary.
There’s a bounty on Wren’s head, and the feds found out.
The FBI tried to take Wren in, to coerce them into working as an informant in exchange for not being charged for their illegal activities.
But Wren managed to get away, and Calista asked us to help them.
In the time since, I’ve trusted Wren with my life, and they didn’t let me down when the club needed help.
They won’t let you down either. They’re like a fucking vault. I’ll tell them you know.”
“Why can’t the club know?”
“Because they’ll react the same way you did. Hiding someone wanted by the FBI is unnecessary heat. And the organization Wren fucked over appears to have very deep pockets given how hard they are trying to find them.”
“Fuck my life,” I mutter.
King smiles, sadly. “If it helps, I’ll forward you fifty thousand a month to offset any costs.”
The money would be a godsend, especially with the amount we just lost. “It would, for sure.”
“Done. But absolutely nothing must happen to Wren. And you need to make sure that your men keep their hands to themselves.”
“Does Wren even roll that way?”
“Even if they do, they need a different kind of life that’s a long way from any enterprise like ours. They’ve already lived fifteen lifetimes in it.”
“That almost sounds poetic.”
King opens his phone. His wallpaper is a photograph of him standing behind a pretty woman, his hands on her pregnant stomach, and his face softens when he looks at her. “You can blame my old lady for that.”
“You’re a lucky man.”
“Yeah. I am.” King reaches for my hand to shake it; his other hand squeezes my shoulder. “Welcome to the club, Grudge,” he says.
“The club?”
For a moment, he almost looks sorry for me.
“Yeah, the president’s club, where we know things and do things but can’t tell anyone else why.
” He makes a move for the door handle. “Things that keep us up at night, make it hard to sleep. Things that are hard to articulate to our brothers because we can’t give them the whole picture.
That’s why you need them to trust you implicitly—so they know you’ll always do the right thing for them over and over again. ”
When he sums it up like that, I think about the weight Butcher has carried all this time. And why he looks so fucking relaxed and happy now he’s out on the road with Greer.
“I appreciate you trusting me. It’s an honor.”
King eyes me carefully. “I was told you stepped in the way of a blade meant for Butcher when the two of you were locked up.”
I stub my toe into the floor. “Anyone would have done the same.”
King smiles. “Not everyone would. Butcher assures me you have the Outlaws written through your very core.”
That’s so Butcher. “I do.”
“Even though your dad went away for life for the club. It didn’t make you bitter?”
I shake my head. “Why would it? My dad knew what he signed up for. And he likely does more for the club inside than many of the members out of it. I’m fucking proud of who he is.”
“All of that is why I trust you. Your dad is a legend for how he went down with that sting. How you saved Butcher is legendary too. But it’s your attitude to all of it that’s worth trusting in.
Keep in touch, yeah? Because the New Jersey Outlaws owe you, now.
Call us, and we’ll answer. And I want you to be successful, so if you find yourself in a bind that Butcher can’t help you with, call me. I’ll answer too.”
We don’t have the same kind of feedback cycles you have in businesses, ones with performance-related pay and shit. But this, my national president offering to help me, is something else.
“Thank you. And you have my word.”
“Oh, and one last thing,” King says as he opens the door. “Remember what I said. Wren’s been broken, more than once. Don’t let anyone break them again. Or Saint and Spark might come and kill you.”
“You could tell by their behavior toward Wren in here.”
King nods. “They looked after Wren when shit first went down. The two of them practically live next door to one another. Think they’re both feeling raw that our protection, perhaps, wasn’t enough.”
“So, if the Feds raid us again, priority one is to get Wren far, far away?”
King pauses for a minute. “Yes. But if Wren feels it’s safe to reveal themself, trust them.”
I lean against the doorframe as King and the others make their way out the door, with King taking a moment to specifically talk with Jackal and Shade. He hugs them both, and then, disappears out the door.
“You gonna tell me what the two of you were talking about in there?” Wraith asks. We’re still finding our footing in our new roles. And I want us to set the standard for how those rules work.
But I’m also going to respect the rules King just laid down.
“He reiterated how important it is for the Outlaws, in general, that Wren is kept safe. And we won’t fail him, right?”
Wraith shakes his head. “Feels a bit like a test, though.”
He’s not lying. “I feel that too. But he’s gonna pay us. Fifty grand a month.”
People filter back into the clubhouse after waving our guests off.
“Guess we’re hired bodyguards, then.” Wraith looks up at me. “So, what are we doing, next?”
“We’re going to go and have a man-to-man chat with my former father-in-law and get his laptop for Wren.”
“Hey, Bug,” I say, holding the phone close to my ear as I stare up at the hospital while Wraith pays for a ticket to park the truck. The building’s cold. Impersonal. Giant slabs of concrete and glass. Brutalism trying to disguise itself as welcoming.
“Hey, sweetheart,” she says. “Wren just got into the phone, if you can believe it. Took all of twenty minutes.”
“Did you find anything out about what your father was involved in?”
“No. Wren only just cracked into it, so they’re downloading all the intel off it, now.
I’ll tell you as soon as we find anything.
And Catfish is looking through my father’s files, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything, or to see if a club’s perspective on all the abbreviations reveals any more details. ”
I huff at that. “You and I both know you didn’t miss anything, but getting Catfish to look at the notebooks was a good idea.”
“This is likely true. Are you on your way home?”
I take a deep breath, unsure how this is gonna go. “No. Wish I was, but I’m outside the hospital.”
“Are you hurt? Oh my gosh. I can be—”
“Bug! I’m fine.”
I hear her breath come fast. “Thank God.”
“I’m going to see your father.”
There’s a pause, then: “Oh.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill him. Just need to know what he knows.” There’s a protracted silence. “You still there, Bug?”
“I’m just processing why it didn’t bother me if you were.”
That’s my girl. I bite back a smile. “Given what he’s put you through, I wouldn’t be surprised either way.”
“Just…don’t let him bait you. I mean…he can’t, really. He can’t speak properly. But he can call for help. There will be camera footage of you walking in there. I’m a great lawyer, sweetheart, but even I can’t get you off if there is video footage of you walking in there and hurting him.”
She’s worried about me.
That’s all I hear.