SAVAGE
“Iwas beginning to think you weren’t gonna show today.”
“You know better than that.” Rooster gave me a questioning look, so I added, “Come on. I’m late, but I’m not that late.”
I opened the back door, and Rooster followed me inside. “Not what I meant.”
“So, what did you mean?”
He knew about Dalton and the argument I’d had with Londyn, so I wasn’t surprised when he said, “Figure you had a long night.”
“I did.”
“Well, how was it?”
“It wasn’t too bad. Actually, it went pretty well.” I shrugged. “We’re still trying to sort things out.”
“And the kid?”
“The kid is something. Really something.” I couldn’t help but smile as I told him, “You’ve gotta meet him, Roost. Kid will melt your heart.”
“So, you’re really a dad, huh?”
Before he could respond, Torch and Chains came charging through the door, and they both looked like they were ready to throw down. Something was clearly wrong, so I asked, “What’s going on?”
“Ah, nothing,” Chains grumbled. “We just spent the past half hour trying to lose a fucking tail, and I damn near wiped out twice.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Torch was quick to reply, “You remember the two Camaros that drove by right after we did the drop for Bruton?”
“Yeah, what about ‘em?”
“They’re here, and they were hot on our asses all through town.”
“Damn. You sure it was them?”
“Yeah, no doubt about it. The red one had the same fucking rims and that stupid Panama Jack sticker on the back window.”
Rooster turned to me with a scowl. “What do you think that was all about?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say they’re making it clear that they weren’t happy we were in their territory.”
“But how’d they know where to find us?”
“Same way we’re gonna find them.” Chains and Torch followed as I started down the hall. “We’re gonna get Bones to track down their license plate numbers and figure out who these assholes are.”
Bones was the club’s hacker, and he was damn good at his job. I’d seen him do some pretty amazing stuff, and I had no doubt that he'd be able to find out who these assholes were. When we got down to his room, Bones was sitting at his desk, tapping away at his keyboard.
"Yo, Bones," I said, walking into his makeshift office. “I need you to do a little digging for me.”
“Oh, yeah?” He looked intrigued as he asked, “Whatcha got?”
"Need to find the license plate numbers for two Camaros that were in town earlier."
“Okay. Any particular reason why?”
“They’re the guys we saw the day of the drop.”
“So, they decided to track you guys down?”
“Apparently so. Now, it’s our turn to do the same,” I explained. “If we can figure out who these guys are, then we can bring them in and find out what they’re up to.”
“Got it.” He turned back to his computer as he said, “Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll see what I can find.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear.” I turned, and as I started out the door, I told him, “I’m gonna go fill in Prez. Let me know what you find out.”
“You got it.”
Rooster followed as I started down the hall. I hadn’t gotten far when he inched up beside me and asked, “So, what about Cotton?”
“What about him?”
“You told him about the kid yet?” he pressed.
“Haven’t gotten around to it.”
“How you reckon he’s gonna take the news?”
I stopped and faced him as I told him, “Probably about as well as I did.”
“So, when are you planning to talk to him and Cass?”
“I don’t know. Soon, I guess.”
A smirk slipped across his face as he asked, “Can I be there when you do?”
“What?”
“Cotton’s gonna have your ass in a sling, brother, and I kind of wanna be there to watch when it happens.”
“What the fuck makes you think he’s gonna have my ass?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the fact that he’s been on you from the start to talk to Londyn, and you always had some fucked-up reason not to.”
“I had my reasons.”
“Yeah, and like I said, they were fucked up.”
“Thanks for the support, brother.” I shook my head and continued towards the office. “We’ve got bigger things to deal with than my ass in a sling, don’t ya think?”
He didn’t respond.
But then again, I didn’t expect him to.
Rooster had good intentions, but the fact that I had a kid wasn’t going to be something that I could just drop in my ol’ man’s lap.
I’d have to break it down and explain how things played out; otherwise, he’d never be able to forgive me or Londyn for missing out on the past four years of his grandson’s life.
When we got to Maverick’s office, I had to do a double-take.
That room had always been my father's, and it was tough to picture anyone but him sitting behind that desk. But Maverick had claimed that spot, and it was well deserved. He’d proven himself time and time again, and we all knew he would handle whatever problems came his way—including this one.
I inhaled a deep breath, then tapped on the door and walked inside.
Maverick was at his desk reading a message on his cellphone. When he looked up and saw that it was me and Rooster coming through the door, he leaned back in his chair and said, “Morning.”
“Morning, Prez.” I stepped up to the desk and told him, “I think we might have a situation.”
“Does it have something to do with the two Camaros that have been lurking around town?”
“How’d you know about that?”
“I just got a call from Joelle,” Maverick answered. “Two guys just stopped by Puckett’s and were asking questions about us.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Wanted to know what we were into and where they could find the clubhouse.”
Joelle was one of the bartenders and Guardrail’s youngest daughter.
She was a smart girl who knew how to play the game without crossing any lines.
I knew she wouldn’t tell them anything about us.
But I didn’t know what she’d found out about them, so I asked, “Was she able to get anything out of ‘em?”
“Not much. They were pretty tight-lipped, but she said they had the gangbanger look. Both were tall and were wearing dark clothing. One of them had a scorpion tattoo on his hand, and the other had one on his neck. She also said they have cameras covering the parking lot. Hopefully, we can use them to find their license plate numbers.”
“Bones is working on it now.”
I took out my phone and was just about to message him when it started ringing in my hand. I accepted the call, and before I could answer, Bones announced, “I got ‘em.”
“We’re on our way down.” I hung up and shoved my phone back in my pocket. “He’s got ‘em.”
“Already?” Rooster asked, sounding surprised.
“It’s Bones. What did you expect?”
Maverick followed me and Rooster as we made our way back down the hall.
As soon as we walked into the computer room, Bones offered Maverick a stack of papers and announced, “The red Camaro is registered to Keshawn Michaels. He’s got quite a rap sheet.
Distribution and armed robbery are just the start.
His buddy, Franklin Mosier, has more of the same, including rape and domestic assault. ”
“Any gang involvement?”
“I’m still working on that, but they both have scorpion tattoos, which led me to believe they’re members of the East-end Stingers.”
The Stingers were one of the larger gangs in Seattle. They were one of the more dangerous ones, too. I didn’t like the idea of them poking around our town, much less following our boys. “We need to deal with this before it gets out of hand.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Maverick turned to Bones as he asked, “Any idea where these guys are now?”
“I got no idea how long they’ll be there, but when we last checked Puckett’s cameras, I could see them parked across the street at the Station, and they seemed to be the only ones there.”
“Good,” Maverick answered, already making his way to the door. “Time to see what these assholes are up to.”
As we walked out of the clubhouse, I couldn’t help but be a little pumped. We’d done a couple of runs and whatnot, but it had been a minute since we had any real action. And after an intense weekend, I needed to blow off some steam.
Torch and Chains were the first to pull out, with me, Rooster, and Maverick following close behind. The Station was an old sports bar, but unlike the others in town, it was rundown and rarely ever open. I had no idea what these guys were doing there, but we were about to find out.
When we got close, Torch signaled us to follow him over to Puckett’s.
We parked and then made our way across the street.
We didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention, so we played it cool, acting like we were actually going into the old shithole for a drink.
But as soon as we got close to the front door, gunfire erupted, and bullets started splintering through the old wood.
For a split second, I thought the shots were coming from inside the bar, but when a bullet buzzed past my ear and into the brick wall, I knew better. I immediately ducked down and shouted, “Behind us!”
We drew our weapons and started firing back at the two cars, but after a couple of shots, both sped out of the parking lot, sending gravel and dust hurling through the air. We raced back to our bikes and tried to follow after them, but it was too late. They’d already ditched us.
Clearly pissed, Maverick shook his head, then gave us the signal to head back to the clubhouse. We all followed suit, and as soon as we were parked, Maverick got off his bike and said, “Call the others in. It’s time we let them know what’s going on.”
“You got it, Prez.”
Torch and I started the call chain, then headed inside to join Maverick and Rooster in the conference room.
We’d barely gotten seated when the guys started rolling in.
It was our first church with Maverick as president and me as VP, and again, it felt a little strange.
At the same time, it felt pretty fucking good. I was finally making my way.
Dad walked in and took his seat at the opposite end of the table. He looked over to me and gave me an approving nod, then turned his attention to Maverick as he said, “Seems our last run for Bruton has brought us some blowback.”
He spent the next few minutes explaining the situation to the others, and as soon as he was done, the room erupted in various side conversations. After a few moments, Wrath looked over to him and asked, “What do you want us to do?”
“The Stingers aren’t a small gang. Going up against them would be a hell of an undertaking.
I’m hoping it’s not going to come down to that.
” He glanced over at me and Torch, then back to the others.
“We encroached on their territory, and we all know how we’d handle it if they’d done that shit to us. ”
“Their asses would be done.”
“Exactly.” Maverick ran his hand over his beard, then added, “We need to put this fire out, or we’re gonna have a war on our hands.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
“We send them a peace offering. It’s a sign of respect, and hopefully, it will squelch things, and we can put all this behind us.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then, we’ll show them what it means to fuck with Fury.”
“Sounds good,” Torch answered. “Just tell us what you need us to do.”
“These guys are slingers, and from what I hear, they’re running hard stuff. Let’s get them a duffle bag full of whatever we can get, and I’ll make sure it gets into the right hands.”
“Consider it done,” Rooster volunteered.
“It’s gonna take some time to get this done, and until we do, I want you to be on high alert. Don’t let these guys tail you to a place they have no business being.”
“Understood.”
With that, church was dismissed, and the guys quickly dispersed. Once the room was cleared, I stepped over to Maverick and asked, “How are you planning to get this bag of goods into the right hands?”
“I’m not sure. I’m gonna have to make some calls.”
“Call Mason Hicks. He owes the club a favor.” Dad announced from the doorway. “His son is a Stinger. If he can manage it, Mason will get him to help you get the offering into the right hands.”
“Thanks, brother. Appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
Without saying anything more, he disappeared down the hall. Maverick pulled out his phone as he asked, “You think this is the right way to go?”
“I think it’s worth a shot.”
He nodded, then dialed Hick’s number. I figured he wanted some privacy, so I stepped out of the room and let him make the call alone. After a few minutes, he stepped out into the hall and announced, “Got it.”
“Good deal. What do you need me to do?”
“Check in with Rooster and make sure he’s got the goods.”
“Will do.”
I did as Maverick asked, and just as he’d promised, Rooster had gathered quite a hefty package for our disgruntled friends. I just hoped it would be enough to smooth things over and put an end to this thing with the Stingers once and for all.
Rooster and Torch carried the duffle bag over to Mason Hick’s place, where they met up with his son. He took the bag with the promise of getting it to his gang’s leader. And that was that.
Now we had to wait.
And that was something none of us were good at.
But we did it.
We waited for days, and there was nothing. No Camaros. No assholes asking questions. Nothing. I wanted to believe that we were done with the Stingers, but my gut told me otherwise. Men like these didn’t send out scouts for nothing, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Londyn and Dalton were coming to my place for the weekend, and while the timing wasn’t exactly the best, I was ready to see them both.
But I wasn’t going to let my guard down, not when so much was at stake.
The time had come for me to find out if I could find a balance between life at the club and life at home.
It wouldn’t be easy.
Hell, it was going to be the hardest thing I’d ever done.
But I’d do it.
For them, I would do anything.