Chapter 8
Fuse
I had breakfast with Winter, like always.
But today was different. She was smiling at me and seemed more talkative and relaxed.
It felt like our relationship made it over a huge hump, taking us from frenemies to actual friends.
She seemed to trust me, well, maybe not totally, but enough to relax in my presence.
She was wearing the new clothes she ordered and looked great.
Not that she didn’t look great anyway, even with a burlap sack on, she’d be a knockout.
We parted ways just as the Savage Legion’s club officers arrived for an emergency meeting with our club officers about the situation with Viper. Since I brought this fresh hell upon the club, I was invited as well. Thunder escorted them in and I followed close behind.
When we entered, Storm and Celt were huddled around Hacker’s wheelchair, looking at something on his computer. Breaker and Grit were sitting with their heads together. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but it looked serious.
Storm and Celt rose to meet our guests. Each extended their hands in turn. Seeing the two club presidents facing each other was a study in contrasts.
Storm was the older of the two. I noticed long ago that although he was a biker through and through, that he also had this tiny, almost hidden part of his personality that almost reeked of wealth and privilege.
I heard he grew up rich and rejected his pretentious family the minute he came of age, joined the military, and saw active duty before opening our club.
Siege, on the other hand, seemed very much like a man who was born and bred to his position of club president. He was rougher by nature but had a military bearing about him as well. Celt had mentioned that Siege’s father, Claw, started their club so that made sense.
They shook hands and Storm spoke first, “Thanks for reaching out to us. We’re always glad to consider new alliances.”
“I’m not interested in alliances,” Siege said flatly. “I’m interested in answers.”
“Have a seat. I’m not sure what this is about but if I can give you the answers you’re looking for, I will,” Storm said.
We all sat down around the large table in our meeting room.
Storm asked, “What kind of answers are you looking for this morning?”
“For starters, why did you burn the Vulture’s Pride clubhouse to the ground?”
Storm replied calmly, “We didn’t. The Slayers have no grudge with that old man.”
“So what’s with the ride through you did the day before his place was torched.”
“Yeah, we were there. We owed an associate a favor. That’s all it was.”
“An associate?” Siege questioned, letting out a wry laugh. “Are you bikers or finance bros? In our world there are enemy, allies, and affiliate clubs. There’s no such thing as associate clubs.”
“We owed Viper a favor. He did us a solid. It seemed like a small ask for what we got in return. I called Vulture after we rode out of town and he said we were good.”
Siege ground out, “Well, he’s not fuckin’ good now. They’re dealin’ with a dead club girl and an injured prospect.”
“I don’t know anything about the fire except what we saw on the news, just like everyone else.”
Siege nodded once, slow. “I came straight to you because if you did it, we need to know. If you didn’t, that’s fine too. The regional clubs are blowing up, and we don’t have time for damn guessing games.”
Storm’s gaze moved over Siege’s men, then returned to Siege. “Here’s all you need to know in a nutshell. We didn’t order it, torch it, or assist anyone else in lighting it the fuck up. And if I had any fuckin’ idea this was gonna happen, I would have warned him.”
Siege leaned forward, with his arms on the table. “Someone sure as fuck wants to make it look like you did. Would you like to hazard a guess as to who that is?”
Storm glanced at Celt, then back to Siege. “Ain’t that obvious? If you’re referring to that stupid ass video, we think it was Viper’s ham-handed way of framing us. Is that what you’re thinkin’ as well?”
“The way I see it, Viper is a slimy motherfucker who only thinks about money and power. He happens to be the one with the most to gain by isolating your club from your allies,” Siege replied.
“And considering what the hell else he’s been up to, I’m pretty sure this is just one more step that fits with his future plans for regional domination. ”
Grit finally spoke. His voice was filled with amusement. “What plans for regional domination? That asshole couldn’t think his way out of a kid’s maze with a trail of hamburgers leading the way.”
Siege’s eyes flicked to Breaker, then back to Storm.
“That fucker has been patching over smaller clubs to the tune of a half a dozen in the last couple months. MCs that used to be nothing more than background noise are now wearing Stolen Oath colors and riding together. He’s got nearly fifty brothers patched.
And that kind of math changes the landscape of our world. ”
“Half a dozen, you say?” Thunder asked.
Breaker nodded. “Yeah, so far he’s patched in Hellhounds, Dark Steel…”
Hacker lifted his eyes from his laptop. “It doesn’t matter who they were. It only matters who they are now. Viper knows this.”
I added, “He had thirty with him during the unity ride. They seemed to come out of nowhere.”
Siege continued. “They’ve been starting shit with bigger clubs. They’re not doing enough yet to provoke a full-on war, just enough to stir up chaos, test boundaries, and figure out who’s willing to push back.”
Storm asked pointedly, “So did you?”
Siege’s jaw flexed with anger as he answered, “They ran two of my guys off the road three nights ago. Both bikes were totaled. We’re sure as fuck gonna push back.”
Grit leaned forward. “And what does that have to do with Vulture’s clubhouse burning?”
Siege met his stare without flinching. “It has to do with a lot more than that. It’s about territory, optics, and Viper bein’ a shifty ass motherfucker.
There was the disagreement with Vulture over the girl.
Vulture kickin’ his ass all over the tarmac before the host put a stop to it.
And finally gettin’ thrown out of the rally. ”
“Yeah,” Storm agreed. “That little upstart was damn good and mad. He shouldn’t have gotten into a wrangle with Vulture.”
Siege continued putting the pieces of the puzzle together. “Viper wanted to humiliate Vulture. But violating the old man’s territory wasn’t enough. Viper wanted something deeper and more personal.”
Thunder said, “That sounds about right to me.”
Siege added, “There’s more. Vulture’s been vocal about not wanting Stolen Oath expanding. You gotta know that Viper ain’t gonna let nothin’ stand in the way of expandin’ his club. If you think about it, all the pieces fit.”
“We need to do somethin’ to stop him before it’s too late,” Celt added.
Siege agreed. “That’s why we came here today. No one wants a regional club war. Once we start tearing into each other, the bloodletting could go on for a very long time. Viper has been busy stirring the pot. Somebody needs to put a lid on it before it boils over.”
Storm’s gaze flicked around our side of the table. “He’s already too big to take down without drawing notice. I say we monitor him and try to find a weakness.”
Grit grunted. “With what, a magic crystal ball?”
Hacker spoke before Storm could. “We can map every inch of ground his club covers. Every club absorbed, every member we can identify, every incident tied to them. We can track where they’re riding, who they’re associating with.
We can monitor chatter and private channels.
If we pay close enough attention, they’ll eventually make a mistake we can use to our advantage. ”
Thunder spoke up, “We also need to track their finances. Territory expansion, bikes, guns, fuel, bribes and property all cost money. Somebody’s funding this. If Viper’s suddenly found money for expansion, I want to know where it came from.”
Dutch’s gaze narrowed. “You’re right. He’s been expanding fast. That suggests either he’s desperate or someone is backing him financially.”
Breaker leaned forward. “Either way, everyone knows that rapid expansion is dangerous.”
Storm looked at Siege again. “We were worried he was framing us. Now I’m worried he’s building enough numbers to start pickin’ us all off one by one.”
“If it’s intel we want, I might have a way we could get it. We know a club with a spy on the inside of one of the clubs he patched over,” Siege said, his expression perking up.
Storm immediately asked, “Which club?”
Siege hesitated. I was guessing he didn’t yet trust Storm but desperately needed his help. After a long pause, he answered, “It’s the Sons of Rage.”
Storm’s eyebrows flew up. “The Sons of Rage are a huge legacy club with a half dozen affiliates. I’ve heard they can raise a thousand men inside of an hour and they’ve got a trusted family member in every officer’s slot. They’re a well-respected club in this region.
Siege relaxed for the first time since the meeting started. “They’ve been around for two generations. They know how to survive when times get tough. And their reputation as feral fucks is greatly exaggerated.”
“You trust ‘em?” Storm asked.
“One of my men is married to Queenie and Rock’s granddaughter. They’re solid,” Siege answered.
Storm leaned forward, hands flat on the table. “Can you arrange a meet up with their club officers?”
Siege nodded. “Yeah. I can make that happen.”
Celt mused out loud. “If Viper did torch Vulture’s clubhouse and is settin’ us up to take the blame, we need to this sorted right feckin’ now.”
Thunder cut in, steady. “We gotta be smart though. If we jump in all guns blazin’, then we’re gonna play into his hands and look like the bad guys.”
We all froze when Storm’s phone pinged.
“Speak of the devil,” he muttered. As he read the message, a shocked, angry expression jumped onto his face. Then he set it down in the middle of the table so we could all see the text from Viper.
Viper: The regional council is carving newly available territory. Vulture died last night. I want the Slayers’ vote in my favor. I’ll let you know when and where. You owe me. Don’t make me repeat myself.
“He’s calling in the second favor,” Thunder announced.
After a long silence I spoke up. “If Vulture’s dead, why isn’t his club voting on a replacement? Where’s his VP in all this? I thought the regional council mostly settled disputes. Why are they decidin’ who gets Vulture’s Pride territory?”
Siege explained, “Fucking sharks, I’ve seen it before. There’s a feedin’ frenzy when a club president dies unexpectedly, especially if the club isn’t well established. That means their territory is up for grabs. It’s one of the darker sides of one percent club life.”
I mumbled, “That’s fucked up.” I didn’t know why this shocked me so much, but it did.
Storm looked at the text again. “I’m not gonna respond right away. Let’s let him stew for a while.”
Celt gave his cousin a mild warning. “He’s expecting compliance.”
Storm shot back, “We need to keep him off balance and worrying if we’ll come through for him.”
Siege nodded slowly. “A delayed response frustrates him and buys us time.”
Tank kept his eyes on Storm. “Or it might make him escalate.”
Storm stared at the message on his phone. “If he escalates, we might figure out a way to turn that to our advantage too.”
I took a slow breath and threw in my two cents’ worth.
“Viper ain’t doin’ this to get rich. He’s doin’ it because he wants respect and ultimately unchecked power.
He wants people afraid to say no to him.
If he gets our vote, he gets to tell everyone that the Slayers are backing his rise.
If we don’t, he gets to tell them we’re threatened by it.
The fucker has us in a no win situation. ”
Storm spoke up. “No, he doesn’t. It just means we have to outsmart him.
We gather intel to refute any claims he makes against us.
And why we’re pulling Sons of Rage in. If they have a man inside one of Viper’s patched-over clubs, we might be able to find out what he’s really building.
At this point, that’s about all we can do. ”
Siege nodded and came to his feet. “Agreed. I’ll call Sons of Rage tonight and set up a meeting for as soon as possible. We’ll make it happen as fast as we can.”
Storm nodded. “Sounds good. We cool?”
“Yeah. I didn’t think you’d be involved in something shady like torching the clubhouse, but I needed to hear it from you before we got involved.”
By the time we all filed out of the meeting, I was starting to feel like we were finally getting control of this situation once and for all.