Wrath Chapter 4
Today was an eventful day, to say the least. We ended Dutton’s existence once I sent Jalisa back to the clubhouse to sleep.
Keno, Dylan, and Forge were assigned to clean up and dispose of the remains.
They knew where to take them. Lake Oconee was massive and spread out.
Secluded inlets were ideal for disposal, although we moved them around and didn’t always use the lake.
The reason I had her leave was that, as tough as she appeared, I was still uneasy about letting a woman watch us kill someone.
Yes, she knew what was coming, but she couldn’t say for sure we had done it.
I wasn’t ready to completely trust her. Afterward, I grabbed a few hours of sleep.
Dylan came to see me once I was awake. He was downcast and nervous.
The door to my office had barely closed before he started to word vomit.
“Wrath, I’m so goddamn sorry that I brought this here.
I never thought Jalisa would be found, but it’s no excuse.
Even if she hadn’t been and stayed the few original days, I should’ve asked your permission.
I know what I did is unforgivable. I understand why you have to boot me out.
Let me say that I’m gonna miss the club.
It was wonderful here. My uncle will make sure to make this right, no matter what.
I know he will. Sorry, I let you and the club down. ”
He stopped to take a breath because he had rattled off the apology without taking one.
When he paused, I replied, “Dylan, sit your ass down and breathe. We need to talk.”
I waited until he sat. “Yes, you should’ve informed me prior to saying yes that Psycho wanted his daughter to stay with you.
Anyone associated that closely with another MC should declare themselves when in our territory for more than passing through.
It’s proper etiquette, and it prevents misunderstandings.
“I can’t say if I would’ve given permission or not.
Clearly, if I thought this would happen, the answer probably would’ve been no.
However, that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have tried to find another solution.
You’re part of this club, Dylan. Being a prospect gets you protection and rights.
Only if you greatly fuck up do we kick your ass out. ”
“I know, and I know this is a major fuckup. I’ll have my things and Jalisa out of here as soon as she wakes up.”
My gut twisted at the thought of them leaving. I didn’t know if it was more due to losing him or her. I hadn’t had time to think about her and what she did to me.
“Did I say you’re out? To pack your shit and leave?” I asked.
He blinked as if shocked, then slowly replied, “No, not yet, but I know it’s coming.”
“Well, I’m glad you know because I sure didn’t,” I said sarcastically.
Dylan glanced down at his hands and then back at me. “Are you saying I’m not through?” His question was cautious.
“Not at the moment. But if you do anything like this again, you will be. That doesn’t mean you won’t face disciplinary action, but that has to wait.
Right now, we have to work on figuring out how to get ourselves out of this mess.
I arranged a call with your uncle. It’s almost that time.
I’ll go wake Jalisa up. You both need to be there for it. ”
As I stood, he rose with me. I’d checked on her earlier, and she was dead asleep.
He’d informed me in passing as he left with Forge and Keno, not to touch or stand too close when waking her.
His warning made me want to know why. All he said was she’d hurt you.
I found I didn’t like the idea of anyone else going into her room while she was defenseless, even though no one here would harm her.
“I know, be careful,” I said as we exited my office.
“It’s for the best. Maybe I should go in and get her,” he muttered.
That was when we found Nomad holding her in the hallway.
Their closeness had angered me. I demanded to know what was going on.
The way he smirked and the sly comments he made pissed me off.
If I’d had time, I would’ve put his ass in its place, which was through the wall the way I was feeling, but we were almost out of time.
Instead, I snatched her away, got her into church, and sat beside me.
The whole conversation with Psycho and the Fiends, with Jalisa’s remarks added, shed light on the matter.
It was worse than we thought. Hearing about her dating Killer hadn’t left me with warm feelings.
But when she revealed who he was with, anger and concern mixed.
The Black Outlaws had been nothing but trouble every time we had a situation with them.
In the past, it was indirectly through other clubs or chapters.
This would be the first time it was more personal.
I didn’t see it as only a Hell’s Fiends issue.
I meant what I said to Dylan. As our prospect, he deserved our protection and help unless he betrayed us or did something that was bad enough not to patch him in.
Our discussion with the Fiends ended with a solid plan that was still up in the air.
Other than agreeing to keep Jalisa here, we had to end the call with a promise to reconvene tomorrow.
After it was over, Dylan, Keno, Ryder, and Chaos, our treasurer, went to Dylan’s apartment.
They would remove anything of Jalisa’s, and then Dylan would call the cops to report the break-in.
While he did that, Keno and one of the others would bring her belongings back to the compound.
Dylan had a significant amount of his stuff already here, so he didn’t need to bring more.
I’d made it clear that until this was resolved, he couldn’t stay at his apartment either.
Honestly, he rarely did anyway, so maybe this would get him to give it up.
He was wasting his money having it, in my opinion.
At the moment, I was at my house, pacing.
I was trying to come up with the best course to take with the Outlaws and Killer.
By the sounds of it, he was obsessed and delusional about Jalisa.
The thought of him being so, scared me. When we were told he’d done this in the past and the woman was found dead, I felt appalled.
But to hear that the woman supposedly pregnant with his child was also dead and the baby cut from her body and missing made me want to vomit and kill with my bare hands.
Why do that? The child couldn’t survive, according to them.
By killing the mother, Killer would kill the baby.
There was no need to remove it from her womb.
The thought of it made me want to go hunting.
Anyone capable of such horrendous desecration more than earned extermination.
It didn’t matter whether we knew Jalisa or the other women.
If we’d been told this, we’d be searching for a way to kill him.
By extension, it appeared his club knew what he did and wasn’t calling him out for it.
They were just as evil and deserved the same fate as Killer.
A knock at the front door caught my attention. “Come in,” I hollered.
I was in the hallway outside my downstairs office.
By the time I got to the front of the house, Storm was inside.
He had a frown on his face. I knew this was coming.
He wanted to know why I hid Dylan from him.
I didn’t blame him and always knew this day would come.
And he would ask what we were to do about Jalisa, the Fiends, Killer, and the Outlaws.
My head hurt just thinking about all of them.
“Want a beer or something stronger?” I asked.
“A beer will do.”
We went to the kitchen, where I grabbed two beers from my fridge. I gestured to the French doors between the kitchen and the living room. They were open to each other, creating a large area.
“Want to sit outside on the patio?”
“Sure, we can do that,” he said.
We got ourselves seated around my patio table, and we sipped our beer before saying another word. Storm sighed heavily.
“Pres, you know I respect you, and I’ve had no problem with how you lead this club.
If I did, I wouldn’t be your VP and maybe not a member.
You’ve always consulted me when it’s been a major issue or had the potential to blow back on the club, so we could form a plan together and get the rest of the guys involved.
I’d be lying if I said that you hiding Dylan’s identity doesn’t bother me.
If you didn’t want to influence the club about him, I get it.
But you didn’t think you could trust me?
If that’s the case, I shouldn’t be the VP. ”
I heard the hurt and anger underlying his words. He wasn’t happy, and it was my fault. How did I explain this to him? Whatever I said, it better be good enough to soothe his hurt because I didn’t want anyone else as my VP.
“Storm, I understand your anger, and I don’t blame you for feeling that way.
I should’ve talked to you at least. Or maybe made all the officers aware.
I reacted in the wrong way when Dylan approached me.
I was pretty stunned when he asked, and then he hit me with who his family was and why he wanted to join us rather than them.
“I was skeptical at first, thinking he was here to set us up or something. I made Crusher investigate him as if he were running for office as the president of the United States. Everything Crusher found showed a good kid. Dylan had never been arrested or gotten in trouble for anything. He’d been raised close to his uncle since his dad died when he was young.
Psycho and his dad were brothers. Dylan’s dad wasn’t in the club but did associate with it. ”
“What did he say was the reason he didn’t want to join the Fiends if he’s so close to his uncle? Was it more than not wanting to be in a one-percenter club?”