Chapter Seventeen
ALPHA
The clubhouse feels different tonight. Victory has a taste, metallic and bitter, mixed with the copper scent of blood that still clings to our clothes.
I lean against the desk, nursing a whiskey that burns less than the rage still coursing through my veins, watching my brothers from other chapters filter in from their respective missions through Loki’s monitors.
One by one, the clubs return home.
Chicago checks in first, but it’s not Torque who comes on screen.
Raising my brow as his VP Trax’s dusty face lights his screen, I immediately know something went down in Chicago for Torque not to show up himself.
Sitting taller, I clear my throat as Trax scrubs at his face.
“You guys okay over there, Trax?” I simply ask.
He rolls his shoulders, tension clearly in them as he sinks back in his chair, bringing a drink to his lips.
The delay in his response does nothing for my nerves while I wait for him to drink.
He places his stein down, then swipes his face with the back of his hand and coughs once.
“It was a shitshow… but we pulled it off, thanks mostly to Torque. He’s at the hospital now with a collapsed lung, and he took one in the shoulder, too, but we all know Foxy is gonna take good care of him.
Sensei and Lift are also at the hospital with injuries, but they’ll be fine.
But, ahh… we got the civilians out and destroyed their main warehouse.
There’s nothing there for Javier to store anymore. ”
Exhaling in relief, I sit back in my chair as Loki clips my shoulder. “Great job, glad you guys got through it. Send my regards to Torque and the others. If they need anything, let us know,” I reply as Six from Houston sits down at his monitor to check in.
He groans, holding a beer in his hand, his tone clipped, but professional, but fuck if he doesn’t look like he’s gone seventeen rounds with Mike Tyson. Trax and I both let out a whistle as we stare down at him. “Jesus, Six! You okay, brother?” I ask.
He blinks a few times like he’s fighting zoning in and out. The fucker probably has a concussion by the looks of it, but he tilts his head to the side, raising his beer to the screen. “What a fuckin’ ride that shit was. Remind me if you ask for a favor again, Alpha, to tell you to kiss my ass.”
I smirk, nodding my head. “I hear you. Hopefully, if we pulled this off, we won’t be needing any more favors from here on out.”
Six relaxes back in his chair, his expression falling to somber.
“Good, because we had to wrangle a few firemen to get our way out, but the financial operations have been seized. Javier’s tech has been recovered, everythin’, his accounts, transactions, the whole fuckin’ digital footprint.
Ya’ll better make this fucker pay, Alpha, because we lost Nickel in this damn fight.
Chains is still holdin’ his best friend’s body in our clubroom.
Chills is tryin’ to reason with him, but the two men have a complicated history.
His loss cuts us deep. And I got multiple men wounded, myself included in that list. Who would have thought goin’ to a financial institution would have been such a fuckin’ warzone. ”
I tilt my head, gritting my teeth. “Fuck… brother, I didn’t want to lose anyone in this fucking fight. I swear, when we’re done with Javier, he’ll feel the pain we’re all feeling,” I state as Nycto takes a seat in his darkened room, looking as pissed as ever.
“I came in on the end of that. You lose someone, Six?” Nycto asks
Six nods, scrubbing at his bruised and bloodied face. “Yeah, Nickel.”
Nycto shakes his head, grumbling. “We nearly all got blown to fucking pieces. We have multiple injuries, but we secured as many of Javier’s weapons as we could.
The rest went up like the fucking Fourth of July.
Surprised they didn’t hear it in New Orleans.
Where is Hurricane anyway? That chaos demon is usually the first one to show up and announce how he swooped in, saved the day with the carnage he created. ”
We all chuckle, nodding along, knowing that Hurricane is not only a force of nature by name, but also by nature.
“You know, Hurricane, he likes to make an entrance. Will probably show up half drunk, and Kaia will have to come in and take over the meeting because she’s the only one who can control him,” I mock.
We all laugh as Loki tilts his head. “Not the only one who can control him. You forgot about Ingrid. But she’s here in LA, so, yeah… we probably need to rely on Kaia.”
We continue to laugh at Hurricane’s expense as Sin from Vegas finally decides to join us, coming into view on his screen.
He slides into his seat, raising his brow, his arm in a sling.
“Oh, I see you fuckers started this party without me.” He picks up his drink with his good arm, clinking it to the screen.
“Well, hold up your drinks, assholes. We pulled off some grade-A crazy shit tonight. I had the fucking time of my life dismantling a fucking drug lab. We do have some injured, so I’m gonna send the medical expenses to you, Alpha,” he quips.
Snorting out a laugh, I wave him off. “Yeah, yeah. Least I can do.”
We all sit, casually chatting and drinking, waiting for New Orleans to enter the chat, but the longer we wait, the more a sinking feeling enters my gut that something has gone horribly wrong.
I turn to Bea while Loki is chatting with Sin and pull her aside. “Did NOLA check in?”
A somber expression crosses her face, and she nods. “They did, they said mission complete, but they also said they had a casualty. I’m just not sure who.”
My stomach falls through the floor as I turn back to the rest of the guys, an uneasy feeling rolling through me that something is very, very wrong over in New Orleans. “Guys, I think something happened in NOLA.”
They quiet down as Loki turns to me, his brows furrowing. “Let me see if I can raise someone over there,” he states, moving to another computer just as the screen for New Orleans lights up.
“See, nothing to worry about. Hurricane’s just late to the—”
Trax is cut off when we all spot City slide into the screen, his face solemn, his eyes bloodshot when he comes into view. The call is silent, but it doesn’t stop the ringing in my ears, my head spinning as I grip the edge of the table for support.
No one speaks.
We all know why City is here and not Hurricane.
There’s only one reason a VP steps into a call over a president.
The same reason Trax stepped in for Torque.
But City’s expression isn’t the same as when Trax came into the call—it’s far more serious.
Racing my fingers through my hair, I let out a heavy exhale, shaking my head. “How bad?” I simply ask the words no one else is able to say.
City sniffs, emotion clear in his tone as he speaks, “The kinda bad you can’t come back from.”
My stomach falls through the floor as I grip the edge of my seat for support, even though I am sitting.
Silence filters over the call.
There are no more jokes, no more laughing, or celebrating our win.
Just shock at the idea that an enigma like Hurricane is no longer in this world.
Clearing my throat, I somehow find the strength to speak, “How’d he go out?”
A small smile crosses City’s lips, and he nods once. “Like a fucking hero.”
Sin softly chuckles, raising his drink to the screen again. “Figures.”
City scrubs at his face, a low groan escaping him, then he looks back at us, letting out a long exhale.
“There were birds in the facility. Hurricane took one of them on. He managed to take her out somehow, but she had explosives on her, and when he killed her, it activated a timer. Another explosion went off, pinning him to the spot, and the fucker kept it to himself about the timer. He made us get the women out, and he stayed back, fighting the Cartel soldiers off, so we could all get free. So, the women could get free. Yeah, he’s a damn hero. ”
We all know it’s exactly the kind of monumental heroic bullshit that Hurricane would have wanted to go out doing.
I slump further into my seat, sinking down into it, feeling the heaviness of his loss hit me.
“I’m so fucking sorry, brother. For the loss of Hurricane.
For the loss of your president. For the role that has been thrust onto you, and for the grief that Kaia, his kids, Bayou, Novah, Nash, and Ingrid—” I stop and exhale before continuing, “God, poor fucking Ingrid.”
City’s eyes shoot up to the ceiling, his breath coming faster.
His jaw wracks from side to side, and he shakes his head.
“He just had his honeymoon in February. He and Kaia took so long to take it, but they finally made the time to go, and they found out she’s pregnant with twins, and now she’ll be bringing those twins into the world without their father. This world is so fucked up.”
Bea makes her way into the Chapel quietly.
She took a much-needed break from her duties while we were waiting for everyone to check in.
Her job tonight was to monitor the comms, and she did a damn good job at keeping everyone calm and informed.
Who better to be in control of the comms and computer systems, while Loki was out on a mission, than Loki’s Old Lady and fellow tech nerd?
She moves into Loki’s side as the tightness in my chest squeezes so hard it’s almost unbearable. City notices Bea, and he exhales, zeroing in on her. “Bea… I need to apologize to you. When I, ahhh…” he clears his throat, then continues, “When I called in on the radio, and told you what happened—”