Chapter 22
Creed
By the time Crusher and Trigger get Stray into the clubhouse and onto the table, Brick’s got the first aid kid from the kitchen and someone else has the one from my office.
I stay back, waiting to see what Nova might need from me.
A disturbance at the door catches my attention, but before I make it over to see what’s going on, I hear Patch yelling.
“He’s with me! Let him through!”
Marco and Ace look at me and I nod. Patch might’ve done some stupid shit, but I trust he’s not going to do anything to put anyone in danger.
The man that appears from between Marco and Ace is the same one who was in the room with Layla and Patch. Frank Delaney. When we left the motel, Frank went his own way in the car Cipher tracked. I assumed Frank either went home or has somewhere else to hide from Meridian until all this is done.
“Frank was a combat medic and then an EMT,” Patch says as he leads Frank over to where Brick is cutting Stray’s shirt and leather vest off. I refuse to think of any possibility where Stray’s cut is going up on that wall next to my brother’s.
“It’s been a while,” Frank admits as he steps up next to Nova, “but I’ll help any way I can. Dealt with more than a few bullet wounds back in Afghanistan.”
“Well, I’m a vet tech,” Nova says, “but we’re the best he’s got.”
“You saved me, Doc,” Crusher says. “You can do this.”
There’s not an ounce of doubt in his voice and I see how much it boosts Nova’s confidence.
Despite everything that’s going on around me, I can’t help being glad that my men have accepted Nova the way they have.
Sure, it was rough going at first, but now, I know they’d die for her and it wouldn’t be just because I’d kill them if they didn’t.
“The bullet came through the back windshield and went through the passenger’s seat,” Nova explains. “It went into his back right near the shoulder blade, and I can’t find an exit.”
“Damn.” Frank runs his hand through his hair and then looks at them. “I need to wash my hands.” He looks around. “Actually, we’re gonna need to get a lot of stuff clean because we might have to go digging around in him.”
“Fuck,” Stray groans. His face is pale, but his eyes look alert from what I can see. “Can I get a drink before you start doing that?”
“That’s above my paygrade,” Nova says. “My usual patients pretty much stick to water. From the toilet if they can get it.”
Stray laughs, then grimaces. “Shit, that hurts.”
“There’s ketamine in Cutter’s bag. I didn’t use it before because I wasn’t sure of the human dose,” Nova says.
“That’ll do,” Frank says as he crouches down beside Stray. “We used that in the field for amputations.”
“What? No—” Stray tries to get up.
“Nothing’s getting cut off, son,” Frank tells him as he eases him back to the floor. “But it’ll knock you out enough that you won’t feel me digging around.”
“When you get through this, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of Bunnies waiting to fuck you.” Crusher’s attempt at a joke doesn’t really get much of a reaction, but it distracts Stray enough before the meds kick in.
“Prez.” Ace’s voice is low, but urgent. When I turn toward him, he continues, “Cipher says there’s a tracker on the SUV.
He turned it off, but as soon as Meridian realizes their men aren’t answering, they’re gonna see that the SUV is here and the pick-up isn’t.
Doesn’t take a genius to guess what happened to their guys. ”
I nod, understanding where he’s going with this.
As much as I want to make sure Stray’s going to make it, I’m not actually doing anything here, and our problems aren’t over.
Even if Meridian couldn’t track their SUV here, they still would’ve eventually gotten here.
At least, now, we won’t drag the Vipers into whatever comes next.
“Get the compound ready for anything,” I say. “Is Cipher back in the office?”
“Yeah, he said something was bothering him and he wanted to check it out.”
I turn to Nova. “I have to talk to Cipher. I’ll be back.”
She nods but doesn’t even raise her head. All her attention is focused on shining a bright little flashlight right on the hole in Stray’s back while Frank tries to dig out the bullet.
Cipher’s got three monitors full of stuff and keeps looking back and forth between each one.
I take a minute to check out the security cameras and make sure I don’t see anyone inside the gate who doesn’t belong.
All my men are handling their individual assignments like this is something we do every weekend for fun instead of being one of the few times we’ve put into motion a plan I always hope we don’t have to use.
“Crusher said you wanted to check something out?” I break the silence in the room.
When Cipher turns his chair toward me, the expression on his face tells me whatever he’s about to say isn’t something I’m going to want to hear.
“Something about the timing of everything that went down was bugging me,” he says. “Long story short, Meridian never should’ve gotten to the motel before you, and they sure as hell shouldn’t have found you on the road.”
I frown. “Okay, the first one, I can see, but the second? I thought you told Crusher there’s a tracker on the SUV?”
“There is,” Cipher says. “But the math doesn’t add up. Based on where Meridian is located, where the motel is, how long you guys were at the Vipers’ clubhouse…” He shakes his head. “I’m telling you, Prez, it don’t add up.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I say. “I don’t need to see the numbers. Just tell me what you think it means.”
I’m pretty sure I know where he’s going with this, but I want to hear him say it to make sure we’re on the same page.
“Someone passed along information to Meridian,” Cipher says.
“No one in the Kings made any calls out or got any calls in from about fifteen minutes before you all left the Vipers’ clubhouse until a few minutes before everything went to shit on the road.
Those few calls wouldn’t have given Meridian enough time to get to you, so it’s not any of us. ”
“You think the leak came from the Vipers.”
“I do,” Cipher says. “I saw half a dozen cell phone calls pinging off the nearest tower in that same timeframe. I’m running them right now to see who they belong to. Could be people who live nearby or were just driving by, or even the Meridian guys, but…”
“But it could also be someone in the Vipers giving up our locations,” I finish his thought.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Can you give me those numbers?” I ask. “I’m gonna call Stone and tell him what you found. He might recognize the numbers.”
“I can at least say that it’s definitely not Stone, Ratchet, or Lynx,” Cipher says. “I have their numbers, so unless one of them is using a burner, it’s not them.”
“I trust them,” I say. “My guess is a prospect who’s looking for extra money or is pissed at either us or the Vipers for something and figures this is a good way to get some revenge.”
Cipher holds out a piece of paper. “Here’s the numbers. Let me know if Stone gives you a name and I’ll confirm it.”
“He’ll probably want to handle it himself,” I say. “I would if it was a King who betrayed us.”
“I doubt he’s a soft touch,” Cipher says.
I have to agree. If I can’t give out a punishment, I’d trust Stone to do it in a second.
I just hope he’ll take the evidence I have because a good president is fucking loyal to his men, and he won’t like me calling someone a traitor.
I don’t want to wreck the partnership we have, but if he has a leak in his club, he needs to know about it before it gets someone killed.
We got lucky today. Next time, we might not be.
I leave Cipher to keep doing his thing and I go to my office to make the call.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Stone says after a few seconds of silence. He didn’t say a word when I filled him in on everything, but he follows up his statement with a string of curse words.
“I’m really hoping Cipher’s wrong about it,” I say. “You know I wouldn’t be making accusations if I didn’t have a good reason.”
“I know,” Stone says. “I’m not pissed at you, and I want you to know I’ll be cleaning house. Anyone who gave information to Meridian will regret it.”
There’s not a trace of the man who laughed and hugged his daughter left in that voice. This is the voice of the president of one of the toughest MCs on the West Coast. And this is exactly why I wanted him as my ally.
“Call Cipher with anything you find,” I say. “Or if you need more evidence, tell him what you need. He’ll get it for you.”
“I’ll be in touch,” Stone says before ending the call.
I open the door to my office, intending to go back to the main room to see how Stray is doing, but Patch is leaning against the wall, waiting for me. He looks like he needs the wall to hold him up, but I’m not about to tell him he needs to sleep when he looks like he needs to say something to me.
“Can I come in?” He gestures toward the office and I step back, letting him inside.
“Sit,” I say as I drop into the chair behind my desk. It’s been a long day and it’s not over yet. “What do you need, kid?”
“Since you found us, I’m guessing you’ve had Cipher looking for me—for me and Layla.”
I nod.
Patch sighs. “Then I’m also guessing you know the stupid shit I got myself into.”
“I’m not gonna argue with you about it being stupid,” I say. “You broke club rules, spied on the Reapers without my permission, and didn’t call us when you got into trouble.”
“I was green,” Patch says, “but I ain’t gonna use that as an excuse. I’ll take whatever punishment you give me, and I’ll take it like a man.”
There’s no fear in his voice, but I see a shadow in his eyes and his fingers are digging into his knees.
I don’t think he’s afraid, though. Not exactly.
He’s not scared of having to do shit jobs or even of something that’s physically painful.
He doesn’t want to be kicked out, and he knows I’m well within my rights as Prez to do just that.
I could tell him to leave, even advise other MCs not to let him pledge.
That’s what scares him. Losing the Kings.
If I didn’t already have my mind made up about what to do with him, that would do it.
“We’re not gonna get into all that right now,” I say. “You protected your woman, and you didn’t disgrace the Kings of Ruin. We’ll talk about what you’ll do to make up for stirring up shit with the Reapers, but you’re still our brother, and right now, you need to sleep.”
Patch’s shoulders slump, like the weight of the world’s come off them.
There’ll be consequences because there has to be or people will just break whatever rules they want.
But I saw the way he protected Layla, how he was even willing to do something awful to keep her from suffering something worse.
That’s the sort of man I want to have my back when everything goes to hell.
A knock on the door is followed by Ace’s voice.
“Come in,” I say.
My VP’s expression is grim, but his eyes are bright. “We found Marty.”
Patch and I both snap up straight in our seats.
“Where was he?” I ask.
“Cipher got an alert from the bus station,” Ace says. “Weasel was trying to buy a ticket to Sacramento under another name, but Cipher’s been running some high-level facial recognition shit. Marty’s idea of a disguise was some ridiculous wig that blew right off his head.”
“How long until he gets here?” I ask.
“Fury and Vandal just called to say they’re on their way back with him,” Ace says.
“Tell ‘em to bring him straight down to the basement.” A familiar cold starts seeping through me. “Don’t let anyone else touch him. I’m going to deal with him myself. And don’t tell Nova or Layla yet.”
I include Patch in that last order, and he nods as I stand. I’m still tired, but I have some prep work to do before my ‘guest’ gets here.