19. Rooster
ROOSTER
“Did you get the text?”
“No.” We were finishing up at the construction site, and I was busy loading my tools as I asked, “What text?”
“Prez has called us into church.”
“Oh, okay. Any idea why?”
Wrath cocked his brow. “I have my ideas.”
I knew Wrath well enough to know that it wasn’t going to be a good meeting, and my shit day was about to get even shittier. Not that it mattered. Prez had called us in, and I was going. End of story.
By the time Wrath and I got to the clubhouse, the rest of the brothers were there and had already gathered in the conference room—everyone except Bones and Big.
They were nowhere in sight, which left me with an uneasy feeling as I took my spot at the table.
As soon as Wrath and I were seated, Prez brought the meeting to order.
“As you all know, we ran into some trouble with the California Reapers. I brought you here to let you know that the problem has been handled.”
He cleared his throat as he reached for the remote and turned on the TV.
Within seconds, a warehouse appeared, and it was completely engulfed in flames, with thick smoke billowing into the night sky.
We all watched in silence as the camera circled the building, making it clear that the entire place was ablaze.
Prez didn’t have to say. We all knew it was the Reapers’ clubhouse, and that was enough to send a chill down our spine.
But then, we saw the chains on the doors.
The Reapers were inside and had been totally unsuspecting when the fire started.
The flames flickered, casting eerie shadows on nearby structures, and as we continued to sit there watching, an eerie unease started to sink in.
The Reapers had gotten what was coming, but the realization that we could have a similar fate ignited a sense of vulnerability among the brothers—a vulnerability I didn’t like.
Not one fucking bit.
When he was certain that we’d seen enough, Prez cut the TV and said, “This might seem a bit extreme, and it is. But they’d gathered there to initiate their plan to come here and take us down.”
“We all knew that was coming.”
“Exactly, and we had to send a message to everyone on Bruton’s list that if you fuck around with us, there will be repercussions. We aren’t here to play fucking games.”
“What about the buyer?” Wrath asked. “Has he been dealt with?”
“We’re still working on him,” Cotton answered, “He’s gone underground. Bones and Big are doing what they can to track him down, so rest assured, we will find him, and he will be dealt with.”
“Any idea what you’ll do?”
Cotton glanced over at Prez and then back to Wrath. “We have a couple of ideas we are playing with, but some deciding factors will come into play when we find him.”
“What kind of deciding factors?”
“It seems that we aren’t the only ones looking for him.” Prez leaned back in his chair as he explained, “Bauco crossed a line with his predecessor, Cardelli.”
“Our first shipment guy?”
“The one and only.” Prez was quick to add, “He’s not a man you want to get on your bad side.”
“So, what does that mean for us?”
“I’m not sure,” Prez confessed. “Cardelli won’t like it, but we really need to be the ones to find Bauco first. We have a point to make, and we can’t do that if Cardelli gets to him before we do.”
“And when we do?”
“Grant will step in and handle things from there.”
I wanted to ask what Grant planned to do with him, but I didn’t get the chance. The conference door flew open, and Bones walked in with Big. “We got him.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, he’s in Seattle.” Bones walked over and typed something on the computer. Seconds later, Bauco’s face came up on the screen. “He’s at the penthouse at the Four Seasons. He has his entire crew with him, and if I had to guess, I would say they’re making their way to us.”
“You’re probably right.”
“I sent Grant everything I found. I also cut off Bauco’s financials, so hopefully that will slow him down a bit.”
“I wouldn’t count on that.” Prez turned to Wrath as he said, “You and Savage need to get over there and keep an eye on him. If he makes a move, I need to know about it.”
“You got it.”
They both stood and made their way out of the room. Once they were gone, Prez turned his attention back to us. “We’re coming around the bend, boys. It won’t be long before we can put this mess behind us.”
“A man can hope,” Smokey grumbled.
“Hell, isn’t that the truth.” Prez shook his head and sighed. “It’s getting late. You boys head out but stay close to your phones. I want to be able to reach you if I need ya.”
“Understood.”
Prez dismissed church, and one by one, the brothers started to file out of the room. When we got outside, Torch and Q followed me out to the truck. Torch looked torn as he asked, “Where you running off to?”
“Heading to the house. I’m wiped.”
“I hear ya. It’s definitely been a long one.” Torch scratched his beard. “What do you think about this Bauco bullshit?”
“I don’t know. Just curious to see what Grant’s gonna do to him.”
“Got no idea, but he’s gonna have to be creative. The Four Seasons is a busy place. Lots of eyes.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” I hadn’t forgotten about how he’d handled the Stingers.
Blowing up that entire block was bad, and after seeing what he’d just done to the Reapers, I couldn’t help but wonder just how far this guy would go.
“He’s looking to make an impression, and I got a feeling he’s willing to do anything necessary to make that happen. ”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Q shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t give a fuck what he does. I’m just ready for him to do it and put an end to this bullshit.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” I opened my truck door as I told them, “I’m gonna hit it. Give me a shout if you hear anything.”
“Will do.”
I left the clubhouse thinking the ride home might help to clear my head and ease the unsettled feeling that lingered in the air. Sadly, it didn’t.
The night was too quiet and did little to distract me from the weight bearing down on my shoulders. There was so much going on with the club and the brothers, and it left me feeling like I had no control over what was coming. That wasn’t a good feeling.
I turned a corner, and as I started around the square, I spotted Maggie’s salon.
The lights were on, and her GMC was parked out front.
She usually didn’t work this late, so I decided to stop by and make sure everything was okay.
I parked and made my way up to the door.
I knocked, and Maggie whipped around with a start.
When she saw that it was me, she let out a visible breath of relief and walked over to unlock the door. As soon as she opened it, she smiled and said, “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Saw your light was on and wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I am now.”
“What do you mean? Did something happen?”
“Chad stopped by here.” She closed the door behind me as she explained, “He was upset about the weekend.”
“What about it?”
“Who knows? He was just mouthing.” She wouldn’t even look at me as she went over and collected her purse and keys. “He’ll get over it.”
“What was he mouthing about?”
Maggie stopped and looked up at me as she said, “It doesn’t matter. It was...”
“Maggie.”
“Okay, but honestly, it’s not that big of a deal.”
She leaned against the front counter as she recounted the disturbing encounter with her ex. Not only did he show up at her place of work unannounced, but he came after hours when she was alone, and that enraged me. Sensing my building fury, she tried to diffuse the situation.
“He knows things are getting serious between the two of us, and he’s struggling with it.”
“That doesn’t give him the right to come in here and give you a hard time.”
“I know, but...”
“Don’t make excuses for him, Maggie.” Today was not the day. I was tired and on edge, and just the thought of that asshole giving Maggie a hard time had me ready to blow. “He doesn’t deserve them.”
“I know. You’re right. He shouldn’t have come here, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”
“Maybe not, but I can.”
“What?” Her eyes widened with panic. “No. I don’t... you don’t... Just leave it, Ronin. I don’t want you getting in the middle of all this.”
“I already am.” I motioned my head towards the door as I told her, “Now, lock up and get home to the kids.”
“But what are you going to do?”
“This is where that trust comes into play.”
“I trust you, Ronin. It’s Chad that I don’t trust.”
“I can handle him. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“And I can’t talk you out of it?”
“Afraid not.”
She shook her head and grabbed her things. I waited for her to lock the door before walking her out to her car. “You heading on home?”
“Yeah, I’ve gotta make dinner and help Samantha with a project for school.”
“Then you best get going.”
I gave her a quick kiss goodbye as she opened her door and got inside. “You’ll call me later?”
“You know I will.”
She nodded, then started the engine and pulled out of her parking spot.
As soon as she pulled off, I got in my truck and sent Bones a message asking for Chad’s address.
A few minutes later, he texted me back, and I plugged in the location on my GPS.
My hands gripped the steering wheel, and my knuckles were white with anger as I sped toward Chad's house.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him being in that salon with Maggie, yelling at her about spending the weekend with me. It was bullshit. The guy had no claim to her, and it pissed me off that the arrogant prick thought he did. I was determined to set the score right—one way or another.
When I got to the address Bones had sent, I parked and charged up to the front door.
I knocked, and seconds later, it eased open, and Chad appeared.
It was clear from his expression that he was taken aback by my presence, but he tried to appear unbothered as he asked, “Can I help you with something?”
“That depends... Are you Chad?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” He rolled his eyes with disgust. “So, you’re the new boyfriend.”
“The name’s Ronin.” I had to fight the urge to punch that fucking smug look on his face as I said, “Maggie told me all about your little conversation at the salon.”
“That was between us.”
“Well, now it’s between you and me,” I snarled.
Chad tried to put on a brave front but stumbled over words as he replied, “It was nothing. You know Maggie. She exaggerates everything.”
“You coming into her salon and yelling at her isn’t nothing!”
“She can whore around with whomever she wants, but she can’t do it with my kids around!”
The words had barely left his mouth when I was on him. I fisted his collar in my hand, nearly choking him as I pulled him close. “You had your chance with her and fucked it up. You two are done. You made sure of that.”
“She’s my...”
“She’s nothing to you!” I interrupted. “She has her own life now. You have no say in what she does or who she does it with. You got that?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“And if you have an issue with what’s going on with the kids, handle it like a man, but no more disrespecting her. Because if you do it again, our encounter won’t be so friendly.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.”
Fuck. I really wanted to punch this guy, but the thought of it hurting Samantha or Nathan had me releasing his collar. I glared at him a moment longer, turned and headed back for my truck. “Until next time.”
I’d like to say that I felt better when I left Chad’s place, but I didn’t. I was still wound up and struggling to focus. There was only one thing that would set me straight, and that was Maggie. Unfortunately for me, she had her own thing going on, so I was on my own.
Damn.
It was going to be a long night.