12. Sprocket
SPROCKET
While having the information that Elena wasn’t missing her ears, finding out she wasn’t taking her classes seemed to dim that revelation.
Dax seemed to vibrate with hidden anxiety as I’m sure she was trying to process what that meant as much as we were.
My little rebel was skilled at covering her emotions but not from me.
She’d never been able to. Since the day I met this woman, I’d been able to read her like a book because we were so much alike.
“What else do we know?” I asked, hoping someone would have another piece of this puzzle.
“Dax and I solidified the terms for the fight,” Void shared. “They will have us doing cage fights with knives or brass knuckles against whoever they choose to pin against us. Then, after we win those, we’ll be paired together against however many people they want to put against us.”
Carefully, I glanced at the others around the table, gauging how they were taking the news.
While this was a smart plan that met the needs to keep us alive in the city, part of me wondered if we needed to go to such great lengths.
What if Elena chose them? One of their men could have gotten to her and now they were using her as leverage against her brother and us to get information.
Every step of the way since Marco made Dax his mission to destroy, we’d been one step behind.
“Are we sure this is the best move?” I questioned.
“I know none of us want to think this, but what if Elena isn’t a hostage?
We need to consider that she might have given her loyalty to them and they’ve been using her to get what they want.
Marco’s whole purpose is to destroy Dax, and she’s survived everything he’s thrown at her, but he is a man who plays the long game. ”
She shifted in her seat to look at me with an expression that told me she’d been thinking the same thing.
Eagle nodded. “You’re right.”
“What?” Picasso demanded.
If there was anyone blind to the reality that family could turn on you, it was Picasso. His brother complex didn’t just apply to Eagle, but anyone in his family, even though he knows they’ve both been betrayed by that very same family before.
“Let’s face it, Picasso. Elena isn’t a little girl anymore, and she’s been in New York almost a year.
We haven’t seen her since her high school graduation.
Lots can change. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know Elena or what choices she would make in life,” Eagle stated as he scooped food onto his plate and passed it around.
“If we want to survive going to New York, we need to have our eyes wide the fuck open.”
The table fell into silence as we dished up food and started eating. Dax was the one to break the quiet first.
“It could be as simple as love,” she said.
“When a woman believes she is in love with someone, it can be all-consuming. Let’s say someone from the cartel ran into her at school, they hit it off, started to go out, and she shares her upbringing.
They find out about the Phantom Saints, they know you’re trying to make a deal with me, and they see the perfect in.
When you’re that young, love makes you stupid,” Dax added, her tone harsh as if she was talking more to herself than to us.
My gaze flicked to Cam, who looked at her with a flash of sorrow and regret. It was clear something deeper than we know happened between them, but I was a firm believer people will tell you their story when they're ready or they won’t.
“Son of a bitch,” Wes swore as he pushed away from the table and grabbed his computer.
Taking his seat, we waited as he searched for whatever he was looking for, and when he found it, he stabbed his knife into the table. “How the fuck did I miss that? Goddamn son of a bitch, I’m an idiot.”
Cam leaned forward on one arm and grinned. “Tell us something we don’t know.”
The knife that had been in the table went flying across the table and left a nick on Cam’s cheek when he didn’t move out of the way. “Shut the fuck up, or next time, I won’t just scratch you.” Wes threatened.
The idiot mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key, then perched his chin in both hands, waiting for Wes to continue.
“Diego has a son who is two years older than Elena, who goes to school there. He’s going for his MBA and has an excellent GPA for never attending any of his classes.
Yet, somehow, the work always gets done and submitted right on time,” Wes shared as he scanned whatever information he was looking at.
“How many kids does this guy have?” Cognac asked, rubbing his hand over his buzzed head.
Wes looked up from the laptop and twisted the thing around to show us a list of names. “Just a few.”
“Jesus,” I blurted, looking at the long list that appeared on the screen. “Most of them have different last names, bastards?” I guessed.
“From what I can tell, he supports them all but only gave his last name to the children they bore with his legal wife Mariana,” Wes explained.
“I’m sure there are reasons for that, but what it tells me is that he has a relationship of sorts with these kids.
What if one found out about Elena’s connection to us and manipulated her into thinking she was helping or that he was in love with her, like Dax said?
This at least gives us a starting point. ”
Everyone nodded their agreement as we turned to our own thoughts on the matter.
It was one of the quietest meals we’d had in a long time, but under the circumstances, what more did we have to say?
When we were done eating, we left the clean-up for later since we needed to get to the clubhouse for the meeting Eagle called.
Cam and Wes headed off to deal with the ten kids who would be left in their care. I had faith in them, even if they both looked clueless about what to do. Most of the kids were toddlers, the rest under the age of six. Plus, if they needed help that badly, we were one building over.
Eagle had the five of us standing on the stage as everyone else gathered around.
Dax was off to the side, leaning against a wall keeping a lower profile than I expected.
Not once had she asked us what our answer would be when it came time to vote if she was added to the crew or not.
Granted, she knew regardless, we were never going to let her go, but her faith in us to make the best choice hadn’t gone unnoticed.
The room was full of people talking amongst themselves, moods ranging from curious to nervous.
We hadn’t called a meeting of this magnitude in years, and that had been at the beginning of our time as leaders.
The room fell silent when Eagle stepped forward and raised his hand to get everyone’s attention.
“Thank you, everyone, for making it here tonight. I know we don’t do these types of meetings often, but I feel like it’s only fair for everyone to know what’s going on,” Eagle started trying to settle nerves.
“I wanted to start with the announcement that there is an alliance between the Hidden Empire and the Phantom Saints. When you mess with one of us, you have to deal with us both. I’m sure you noticed when we were attacked by the Mad Dogs, we had the Empire stepping up to assist.”
Everyone nodded and whispered to each other in a positive manner about the situation.
“That being said, the Empire, more directly Tricks herself, is being targeted by a rival drug lord from Mexico. His one and only mission is to take her out and absorb her network into his own, making him the ruler of the West Coast. The Mad Dogs were part of that, but we crushed them under our boots like the cockroaches they are,” Eagle roared at the end, sending the room into a flurry of cheers and whistles.
He let it go on for a few moments, then gestured for them to settle down.
“Soon, we will have another enemy to crush that has gone after Dax and one of our own. The De León Cartel has taken my niece hostage and is trying to leverage her for information that will help bring the Empire down. This will not be tolerated, and we will not stand by as they go after our families because we look after our own.”
Cries of agreement and more whistles echoed his words. I couldn’t help but grin as our president stood tall and strong, glowing in his element. This is what made him the leader they all respected. He valued the same things they did, fought beside them, and knew how to rally his people to the call.
“The other day, one of you approached Picasso requesting that we vote on allowing Dax to become a member of the Phantom Saints. We took our time considering what would be best for our crew and the future of the Saints.” Eagle looked at me, and I turned to grab the two items he was looking for just as the clubhouse door opened, showing Wes and Cam joining us as we planned.
Casting a glance at Dax, I saw her push off the wall clearly aware that we were planning something she wasn’t aware of.
“Most of you know Dax isn’t just another member to us but our lover as well.
She is with the five of us along with Weston and Cameron,” Eagle explained as the two men joined us on the stage.
“This is an arrangement we’ve all agreed on and hold it with the same sanctity you do with your partner.
That being said, Dax, will you come up here to hear our verdict on the request to induct you into the Phantom Saints. ”
The cagy look that she gave us had me holding back laughter.
If there was one thing Dax hated more than anything, it was surprises, public ones being an even worse transgression.
Stepping up on the stage, she looked ready for anything, her hands loose at her side but ready to pull her gun from her low-back holster.
This woman loved us but living in the darkness of the world trained you to always question situations you couldn’t see the outcome of.