22. Riptide
RIPTIDE
“Hey, boys,” King says when we get to Eagle-eye’s office. Fuck, is that hint of gray popped up at his temple? Being the VP of the Eagles can’t be easy, but he’s not that fucking old.
Then again, my old man’s was white as a sheet by thirty-five. Never know when it’s gonna hit. I run a hand through my hair. Dad wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of health, though. He had no problem sampling the goods he ferried.
Shadow and Thunder are here, too, already in the middle of a conversation. I’ve known the twins since I joined up, but seeing Thunder sitting here looking so much like his brother is a little jarring in this situation.
Shadow looks up. “Where’s the girl?”
“Downstairs with Emily,” Rebel answers. “Did you really need all of us?”
Eagle-eye looks up from his laptop. “Rocco, the Devil’s Brigade president, requested a call. I wanted you all here because aside from Lightning’s boys, you’re wrapped the deepest in this. You know the girl better than anyone and might notice details we don’t.”
“Outlaw’s at the hospital,” Thunder explains. “They kicked me out. Something about threatening to kill one of the aides who got bitchy with Harper. Apparently I ‘need sleep’.” He makes air quotes.
Eagle-eye snorts. “There’s a couple ways this could go.
He could come in strong after the message you and Outlaw sent.
Joker let slip that they’re preparing for war over there, though from what we know about their numbers, they’d be idiots to not at least try and negotiate first. I think it’s more likely that he tries to play it off like we’re already even, either with their dead guy, or the one you found at the girl’s place. ”
“We very much the fuck aren’t even,” Thunder snarls.
“And I agree,” Eagle-eye says, expression grim. “Taking a hit in the line of duty is one thing. Breaking the peace is another.”
He’s barely done talking when the laptop plays a ringtone. “Well, what do you know? Right on time.” He taps the answer button. “This is Eagle-eye.”
The guy scowling at us from the other end has his head shaved so smooth it reflects the ceiling light above him.
Like a fucking bowling ball. His nose has been broken at least a couple times and he’s got cauliflower ear on one side.
A scar cuts through both of his lips and down onto his chin, leaving a chalky white slice through his gray beard.
Rocco, apparently, has lived one hell of a rough life.
“Eagle-eye, I’m guessing, unless you have more one-eyed old members than I realized.”
“In the flesh. Nice to finally get a call. I was starting to think you were avoiding me.” Eagle-eye settles into his leather office chair. “Been a while. Not often I hear from the Devil’s Brigade.”
“Because we stick to our fucking territory. You’ve got a lot of fucking gall, old man. I was being considerate, not making an issue of you killing our boy. Eye for an eye and all that. But apparently you’re dead set on a fucking war. Or are you losing it? Do you need to get a handle on your crew?”
He’s coming out swinging, just like Eagle-eye predicted, but it’s forced.
There’s something about how rigid he sits, and the lines around his eyes that make me think he’s nervous.
I wouldn’t blame him. If it comes to war, the Screaming Eagles would destroy them, but the Devil’s Brigade is a sizable club.
It’d get ugly before it was over, and no guarantees all of us would come out the other side.
He’s riding on the hope that neither of us wants that outcome.
“Right. That’s the story you’re going with.
That what? The two of them just decided to have a duel in the middle of a peaceful rally?
Bullshit. You started it, we’ll finish it.
The only question is how many we take down in the process.
” Eagle-eye slams his hand on the desk, his gravelly voice gone deep and angry.
“Don’t act so fucking high and mighty. That’s why nobody likes you bastards.
The only two people who know what happened were Red and your man.
Red’s not talking, and from what I hear, neither is the other.
Why the fuck would we start this fight? Our territories aren’t even close to bordering.
Fuck, we’d have to ride a couple of hours to get to you just to start the fucking war.
We have no interest in carrying this further. ”
“Too fucking bad.” Eagle-eye smirks, taunting him, and I think all of us enjoy seeing the light in Rocco’s eyes dim a little bit.
“Why do you have to be such a hardass? Clearly they got into a fight and mistakes were made. Don’t you think enough damage has been done?”
Instead of replying, Eagle-eye just sits there, stone-faced and waiting him out.
A tinge of desperation creeps into Rocco’s voice now.
He knows he’s fucked if we don’t let him off the hook.
“Fuck, if you need to feel like you fucking won, I’ll let Red take the blame.
It looks bad for us, which should make you happy.
Give us our man back, and Joker’s girl, and we’ll call it even.
Whatever happened, it wasn’t official club business.
The debt’s fucking repaid. Leave us alone and you’ll never hear from us again.
We don’t want a war, but you don’t either.
We won’t sell our lives cheaply, Eagle-eye, I fucking swear that. ”
I wouldn’t say Eagle-eye has been a father figure for me exactly, but I admire the kind of man he is.
I’ve seen him with his son on his shoulders, the love in his eyes when he looks at his daughter and granddaughter.
The way he’s accepted Emily as if she’s his own.
He’s a grouchy old man who loves his family and his dogs.
He’s also a stone-cold fucking killer when it comes to defending what’s his, and that’s the face he shows to Rocco right now.
He leans in closer to the camera. “I’ll take that under advisement.
Now I know for a fucking fact my man didn’t shoot his piece that night.
And I know I’m not the one losing hold. You’ve got forty-eight hours to come up with a better suggestion, or I’m going to send another message. ”
He cuts the call before Rocco responds and spins his chair around to look at us. “Fucking piss-ant. So what do we think?”
“I think you’re right. If it was just the shooting, it would be one thing, but all the shit with Melody and her father? Like Joker said, there’s a power grab happening in the Brigade and he’s holding on by the skin of his teeth.” I shift a little, scratching my back against the door frame.
Eagle-eye nods. “He’s right about one thing, though. They’re big enough not to be pushovers. Would we kick their ass? Eventually, but the cost would be high.”
Scratching behind his ear, King furrows his brows.
“At the end of the fucking day, we haven’t lost anyone.
They’re gonna wake Lightning up soon, and I’ve got every faith that he’s gonna pull through.
The Devil’s Brigade is down two already.
We can’t let it pass, but we don’t lose anything by giving them time to stew in it. ”
Thunder draws a shaky breath. “I know you fuckers are being logical right now, and I fucking hate it. Someone almost iced my fucking twin. Harper was there that night. He was only gone from our group for a couple minutes. What if she’d been with him? I want my fucking pound of flesh.”
Fuck, trying to even imagine someone doing that to Mad Dog or Rebel. I’d be fucking livid. Ready to tear down the walls to their clubhouse with my bare fucking hands. Maybe I don’t know exactly how they feel, but I sure can imagine.
Shadow grunts his agreement. “I’m with Thunder, but we’re not gonna do anything dumb. Especially not without club sanction.”
Rebel nods. “When Joker gets back to us, we’ll at least know if they were killed by the same gun. If that’s the case, we’re looking at a third person. We don’t have the whole picture here, and I’m not convinced Rocco does either. This is something out of his hands, is my opinion.”
Twirling his mustache between his fingers, Eagle-eye looks thoughtful. “Well, we’ve kicked the hornet’s nest, time to see what comes out. Good job bringing in the second man. Having him and the girl gives us a lot of leverage.”
Mad Dog grins. “Don’t worry, we’re keeping a close eye on her.”
Eagle-eye rolls his eyes at that. “I stopped worrying a long time ago. Now I just wonder what the fuck they see in you bastards. Get the fuck outta here. If you come across anything, or she suddenly pulls out more useful information, let me know.”
“Sure.” I nod before opening the door and leading the way out, followed by Rebel and Mad Dog.
“Hey.” We turn. Eagle-eye points at us. “Just because she followed you home doesn’t mean you can keep her. We’re gonna have to give her back at some point.”
It’s my turn to grin. “We’ll take it under advisement.” I close the door behind us, just as Eagle-eye starts swearing.
Rebel stops us at the top of the stairs. Melody is sitting with Emily and Eagle-eye’s old lady, Miriam. Jupiter’s head is in Emily’s lap, and Damian, Eagle-eye’s son, is wrestling with their younger dog.
“Alright, so what if Eagle-eye’s right?” he asks. “From their point of view, Melody is a hostage. We might need to turn her over at the end of all this. What do we do?”
“Keep her safe,” I say without hesitation. What the fuck is he getting at?
Mad Dog nods. “She’s not going anywhere until this is over. We don’t want that, she doesn’t want that, and even Joker doesn’t seem to want that.”
“But eventually it will be over,” Rebel says. “Do we just… let her go?”
“If she’s safe, yeah.” I watch her laughing with Emily and something twists inside. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t come back. We can’t lock her up forever. She gets a choice.”
Rebel nods. “I like her. It’s been fucked up, but she’s been good for us.”
“Then we’re agreed,” Mad Dog says. “Keep her safe, and make sure she’s so fucking addicted to what we’ve got here by the end of this that she doesn’t want to go anywhere.”