Chapter 9
JACK
It feels great to be back in the company of my old club.
Although I brought a few of the men here when I set up this new chapter, I had to leave a lot behind, including some of my closest friends.
Big Mike is sitting in a corner leaning back in his chair, and his intimidating size is enough to make most men feel a little fear.
We’re in the clubhouse, but I’ve asked all the barmaids to leave, plus a few members of the Riders I don’t fully trust yet.
Beer bottles sit sweating on tables, and the men chatter in low voices as I gather the maps and information together on a table to go through it with them.
I glance across the room and smile at the familiar faces.
Crow, wearing his usual all-black uniform, leans against the wall, tall and rangy. His hair is darker than usual, and I wonder if he’s colored it. He has rings on every finger and matches Ghost for pale skin.
Zoo came, too, because he’s a fucking psychopath, and I need all the help I can get in that department when we plan this crazy raid.
A couple of the Jackal Riders’ rookies sit at a table, with a few of the club’s more experienced members, and finally, at the far side of the room, watching it all with that calm gaze of his, is Phoenix.
The man is one stone-cold badass, and I’m so fucking glad he’s here.
He got his nickname after he crawled out of the burning vehicle that was hit while he was on military duty.
The man was literally on fire himself, and he still managed to stand, pull out his weapon and shoot some of the attackers.
It’s left him with scars, but as he likes to say himself, they’re just a reminder of how he rose out of the ashes of that event.
They’ve left the Jackals’ compound with around ten men standing guard, but their most skilled fighters, and the most senior among them, are here.
I hope it doesn’t bring down any trouble on the Jackals by leaving them exposed and vulnerable.
But why would it? No one will know what has occurred, and even if they saw the guys leave, they’d have assumed it was an ordinary ride-out and be expecting them back any time.
I doubt they’ll face an impromptu attack.
As I lay the maps out on the table and sort them into some form of order, the door bangs open and Ace strides in.
Good. He’s the one who can talk them through the routes that we have available to pick from.
The guy might be all kinds of crazy, but he’s a pretty decent Road Captain.
I’ll take his advice on which is the best way for us to get in.
A shadow falls over the map to my left, and I glance around to see Phoenix has come to stand beside me.
“So, this girl they’ve taken, she’s a student at the same college as your daughter, I understand?”
“Yes,” I reply.
“Hmm,” he hums.
What the hell does that sound mean? It’s one of those noises that normally indicates the person is skeptical or thinks there’s more to the story.
“What?” I snap.
“It just seems to me that you’re going to a hell of a lot of trouble for a missing college student.
I would have thought it would be the college’s business, or her family’s.
I mean, you’ve got your entire MC on it, almost, give or take a few, and now we’ve come down here to help.
” He gestures around the bar by sweeping his arm out.
“If you don’t want to help, you can always go on back home.”
He chuckles, low and deep. “You know that’s not what I’m saying, Prez. But what gives? You’re going to a hell of a lot of trouble to bring one lost girl home.”
“She means something to some of my men,” I say instead of giving him the full story.
“Some of your men? As in more than one?”
He raises his brow, but he doesn’t say anything further. A good decision on his behalf because if he did, I might take that as an insult against my daughter and her living situation.
“Yeah, as in more than one. It seems that one of the rookie members here has kind of gotten himself into a situation with her, as has this idiot.” I jerk my thumb at Ace, who merely grins.
My mind briefly goes to our rookie, and I wonder where he is. Even though he’s not patched in yet, there are rookies here from the Jackal Riders, so I thought he’d have wanted in. It’s not like him to not be around.
“And you’re quite fond of her, too, aren’t you, Prez?” Ace throws in with a wink.
I want to punch him in the face.
“We all like her,” I say firmly. “She’s a good girl, and she doesn’t deserve this, so we’re going to get her back. Never mind the fact that she was on my territory when she was taken, Phoenix, and I can’t let that stand. Would you?”
He shakes his head at that. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“And the rival MC took some of our weapons,” Ace adds. “So, they’re making themselves a nuisance all around, and we need to put an end to it. They’re smaller than us, too, so the audacity of them is really pissing me off.”
“Did you ever do any extracurricular work in the military?” I ask.
“As in…” Phoenix frowns at the question.
“Perhaps some torture of one sort or another?” Ace says, obviously reading my mind.
“I was trained in interrogation techniques. Why?”
“Before we set out, there are three idiots being held at the moment, in the cooler, who might know something. I’d like to get whatever I can out of them without actually doing them too much physical harm. We need to keep them coherent and cogent in case we need more information down the line.”
“Coherent and cogent,” Ace repeats. “Fancy.”
I turn around and shoot him a laser stare of anger. “One more fucking word from you, and I swear you will be out of this rescue mission, do you understand?”
He holds his hands up and backs away, nodding. “I was only trying to lighten the situation,” he says. “I’ll leave you guys to talk.”
“He seems like a live wire,” Phoenix observes.
“He’s a handful for sure, but his heart is in the right place. He’s an excellent Road Captain, frankly, which is surprising, given the fact that the rest of the time he acts like he’s on drugs. He’s also very creative with violence, which I find can be useful on occasion.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Ace heading toward the doors to go back outside.
I shake my head at him and shout, “Ace, where do you think you’re going?”
“I just need to do something before we sit down for the meeting,” he calls back.
“That something better not have anything to do with cutting fingers off any of those idiots in the cooler,” Ghost shouts from where he’s sitting at a table to the right of me.
Ace turns from the door, sidles back up to me, and says in a low voice, “I just need to go feed the cat, Prez. Is that okay? We might be gone awhile, and I don’t want the kittens to go hungry. Their mama needs food so she can feed them.” Then he adds, “Don’t tell the others.”
“Fine, but be quick.”
I roll my eyes as he walks away.
“Kittens?” Phoenix asks.
I scratch at the label on my beer bottle. “Yeah, he’s always rescuing things.” I can’t recall if he told me about the kittens or not. I hope he got rid of that damn turtle that took a bite out of him.
Big Mike stands from where he’s sitting and comes to join us. “This club that we’re going to be raiding, how big is it, exactly?”
“I don’t have exact numbers,” I state, “but they’re around two-thirds of our size, and that’s without you guys.”
The guys nod, and I look back down at the maps and the routes Ace has worked out for us.
“We should be able to keep any injuries to a minimum if we plan this right.” I tap the map on the table.
“You worried, Mike?” Phoenix asks.
Mike laughs and shakes his head. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s been quite some time since I’ve enjoyed any mayhem. It’s been pretty quiet since you guys moved out here, Jack. I’m looking forward to a good old-fashioned fight.”
In normal circumstances, so would I. But this time there’s far too much on the line for me to be excited about the coming raid. All I feel is dread and worry.
Camile could find herself in the crosshairs. If any harm happens to her, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.
The odds are huge, and I can’t fuck this up.