“Bolt touches her, I’m shootin’ him.”
London stirred, then opened her eyes.
“Did you say something?” she whispered. I shook my head.
“Must’ve been someone in the hallway,” I grunted.
“You mind if I sleep some more?”
“Not at all,” I told her. “You rest. I think later on the girls are goin’ out, getting their toes done or some such shit. You should go with them.”
London’s eyes were already closed again.
I gave Heather the finger and slipped out the door.
“It’s time,” Hunter declared, looking around the big game room on the second floor of the Armory. We had men from three clubs here—nowhere near enough room in the chapel for all of us. “We’ve been playing defense against the cartel for too long. The Jacks are standing strong, but we don’t have the manpower to hold out much longer. We’re already losing territory. They’re gettin’ more powerful and soon they won’t be satisfied with anything less than open war. We think it’s better to attack them before they come after us with full strength, but we can’t do it alone. We need the Reapers and the Silver Bastards to join us, along with your support clubs. This may be our last chance to stop them.”
I sat back in my chair, wishing I didn’t dislike Hunter quite so much. Hard to listen to him making such sense and reconcile my respect for his opinions with him fuckin’ my baby girl and putting a baby in her. Shade, the Reapers’ national president, gave Hunter a respectful nod. The younger man sat back down, making way for Boonie—the president of the Silver Bastards—to speak.
“I agree,” Boonie said, surprising me. The Bastards had the most to lose in a war at this point. They were smaller than us, and so far as I knew, the cartel wasn’t directly interfering with their operations in the Silver Valley, which meant they were only here out of loyalty to the Reapers. I knew Boonie would lay down his life to save any one of us, but there’s a big difference between standing by a brother and following him into war. “The Jacks can’t hold—no offense meant by that, it’s just numbers. And when they fall, the Reapers will fall and then it’ll be too late for the Bastards. If we’re going down, I want to do it with my gun in my hand while there’s still a chance we can win.”
“So we agree?” Shade asked, looking around the room. “I know there are details to be worked out, but if I’m hearing right, all three clubs are on board with an offensive?”
I raised a hand, and Shade gave me a nod. I stood.
“I’m not sayin’ we shouldn’t go after the cartel,” I started. “But I think we need to be damned careful how we plan it, because even with the support clubs behind us, we just don’t have their firepower. Straight-up confrontation won’t work. This needs to be a smart attack, take out their head and then smack them down before a new one pops up. That should buy us some space, at least for a few years. I don’t think anyone here is naive enough to think we can destroy them completely.”
“Wouldn’t matter if we did,” said Duck, the oldest man present. He’d been through Vietnam and had watched more than one MC president rise and fall. Normally only officers spoke at a meet like this, but Duck had earned the right ten times over. “You take out one, another one comes. But we can defend our territory and make a difference if we hit it right. Just remember this—they’ve probably got the CIA behind them. Not that I have any proof, but there’s plenty of evidence the feds have fingers in the drug trade. Goes all the way back to ’Nam. But those spooks aren’t loyal, which means if we weaken the cartel enough, they’ll pull out their backing and it’ll fall apart. Could buy us years of peace. Maybe more if we strike a truce with whoever comes along next.”
Men grunted in agreement, and I sat back, deep in thought. Duck had been goin’ on about the CIA for decades, and it used to be we tuned him out. Recent years had proved him right, though. Time and again they’d been caught out doing business with the cartels, until I hardly noticed when the news reported another incident. I guess their theory was pick a partner and back them against all comers, because some influence over the drug trade was better than none?
Throw in legalization and things got even weirder.
“It settled, then?” Shade asked. “We go in together, take out select leadership targets in a coordinated attack. Anyone got a problem with that plan?”
Silence.
“Then we got some other business to discuss,” Hunter said, startling me. Given we’d been in here talkin’ for the past four hours, seemed like there wasn’t much potential left for uncovered ground.
“What’s that?” Shade asked.
“It’s about London Armstrong.”
I sat up and caught his gaze, jaw tensing.
“Christ, not enough you’re fuckin’ my daughter?” I asked. “Now you gotta climb into my bed, too? Not club business how I handle my woman, so back the fuck off.”
Hunter shook his head slowly, eyes holding mine, not giving an inch. God damn, but I should’ve killed him when I had the chance. Probably too late now, what with the baby and all …
“Not when it’s part of this war,” he said. “And she’s right in the middle of it.”
“That’s a serious charge,” Duck growled. I felt Gage behind me as he pushed off the wall, coming to stand next to my chair.
“I’m not sayin’ she’s a spy,” Hunter started. “But I did some diggin’ on her. There’s things about her you don’t know, deep shit. Could be she’s an innocent woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. Could also be you’re sleepin’ with the cartel. Needs to be addressed.”
Gage put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it tight.
“Since when are you interested in who I’m sleepin’ with?” I asked. “Thought we were allies. You spyin’ on me?”
Hunter shook his head.
“Your daughter loves you for reasons that occasionally confuse me, so I’m tryin’ to show a little respect,” he said slowly. “I know this shit with you and London is recent, but there’ve been rumors for a while now. Heard you let her walk into the Armory and pull out a girl, all with your blessing. That shit’s not normal and it got me thinkin’. Did a little background work on your girl. You aware that her cousin is shacked up with the cartel’s number two man north of the border?”
I froze.
“Explain,” Shade snapped.
“She’s been with him for more than a year now,” Hunter said. “Guess he’s married to some poor bitch down in Mexico, but he won’t let her come north to enjoy the good life. Not while he has his pretty girlfriend to play house with … And guess who’s living with him now, too? The daughter. That Jessica kid London’s so protective of is in his house, eatin’ his food and probably tellin’ him all about Auntie London and how much the president of the Reapers comes runnin’ when she calls. Then suddenly—right after you finally close the deal—her house blows up and she needs a hero to rescue her. Now she’s livin’ in your house with full access to whatever the hell you might have hidden there. Still sure she’s innocent?”
I shook my head.
“No way,” I said. “She’s got no clue.”
“You aware that Nate Evans is on the cartel payroll?”
“That’s a fuckin’ joke,” Ruger said quietly. “Nate Evans answers to his daddy, nobody else.”
“I disagree,” Boonie said, which shocked the hell out of me. “We’ve been hearing things in the Valley. The Evans family gets their money from the White Baker mine, and according to the union, it’s near played out. They’re tryin’ to keep it quiet, but you can’t fool the men underground. The ore’s no good. Means Natey-boy needs a new backer if he wants to run the show around here.”
“That’s a game changer,” I said slowly. “Not that I think London’s in on anything, but I had no idea the Evans family was short of cash.”
“Think about it,” Hunter said, his voice quietly intense. “You got an out-of-the-way mountain pass, one the feds don’t watch too close. Cartel wants Montana, the Dakotas—hell, anything between here and Chicago? They gotta get through the mountains somehow and there’s not many places better than right here. Straight shot east, straight shot north. It makes sense strategically, and if they control local law enforcement, they’ve got it made once they take us out. It all starts with you, Pic. London may be a victim who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time, or she may be one of them, but either way she’s dangerous as fuck. You gotta cut her loose.”
I stood so fast my chair fell over backward.
“Not gonna happen.”
Silence fell over the room. Shade sighed.
“Okay, so we got that information,” he said. “It’s on you, Pic. You and the Coeur d’Alene brothers. Now you know, so you use it the best you can. Hell, might be a good thing. You feed her bad intel, see if it gets through. If it does, then we have a way to fuck up their game. Doesn’t really change anything in the end, so long as you keep your shit tight. Might not be a bad idea to put some extra security on her, though. Rest of the women, too, seein’ as things are gonna heat up fast. We all gotta cover our asses.”
I nodded tightly.
“Anyone else?” Shade asked. Nobody spoke. “Okay, then. Hunter, I know you’re standin’ in for Burke, so take time to consult with him if you need to.”
Hunter shook his head.
“Burke’s on board,” he said. “So’s the rest of the club. We’re under fire already—can’t hold out much longer. We want blood.”
“Okay, adjourned,” Shade announced. A quiet murmur broke out, and I felt my brothers surround me. I looked to Ruger.
“Double-check the cousin,” I told him. “I don’t want to believe Hunter, but we gotta know what we’re lookin’ at here.”
“She’s not in on it,” Bolt said quietly. “She didn’t even meet Evans until a couple months ago. I did a full background on her before she started at Pawns.”
“You missed the cousin,” I said.
“She’s a distant relative livin’ a thousand miles away,” he said. “I tracked down all of those, we’d never finish a background check in under ten years. But no way I’d miss a boyfriend, or even a fuck buddy. She met Evans for the first time at a fund-raiser two months ago—talked to one of the bitches on her cleaning crew about it. Listened to her go on about him through the closed circuit one night. She had no idea I was even there.”
“Okay,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “But if they’ve got Jess, they’ve got a hostage she won’t be able to ignore. Let’s confirm where the girl is, okay?”
“You got it,” Ruger said. “Shouldn’t take too long. I’ll make some phone calls, see what I can come up with.”
“And Evans?” Gage asked. “What about him? You think he’s in bed with the cartel?”
“No idea,” I said slowly. “It’s possible. He’s got no morals, no sense of loyalty to the community or the job. You might start thinkin’ of ways to get him off alone, maybe think of a permanent solution to our problems with him.”
Ruger’s mouth tightened, but he nodded.
“Thinkin’ that’s gonna be how it goes,” he said. “Fuckload of trouble, takin’ out a cop.”
“Yeah,” I answered. “We’ll talk about it more at the next church. Gotta say, if it comes to puttin’ a bullet in his brain, I won’t cry. Gage, look into extra security for the girls, too—at least until we know what caused that explosion.”
“Pic, you got a minute?”
I looked up to see Boonie, his face thoughtful. A young man stood next to him—prospect. Had a real hard edge to his face, although I wouldn’t peg his age much higher than nineteen or twenty. Old eyes.
“What’s up?”
“Wanted to introduce you to Puck,” he said, nodding toward the kid. “Been prospectin’ with one of our chapters out in Montana. Things got a little hot for him out there, so he’s moved into the Valley for now. Thought he might be helpful to you.”
I sized him up. Kid was tall with short, dark hair. Built like a fuckin’ Marine, but his tats were all biker. Both arms covered in full sleeves, and a scar running across his face that made him look like an ax murderer.
“What’s your story?” I asked him.
“Grew up in the club,” he said, holding my gaze steadily. “Dad was a patchholder. Dunno if you ever met him? Went by Kroger.”
I nodded my head slowly, because damned straight I knew Kroger. He’d been killed on a run down to Cali, three years back. At the time we assumed it was cartel, but no real evidence.
“Feelin’ motivated, are we?”
“Something like that.”
“We’ll find something for you,” I told him. “Might come out of it with a patch, you do good enough.”
His eyes flickered with something I couldn’t quite read, and he nodded. Boonie and I exchanged back slaps, and I started downstairs. Lotta guys would be heading home this afternoon, but others would be spending another night. Needed to check on food, make sure everything was ready.
Hunter caught my arm on the stairs. I paused and stared down at his hand, because he had no fuckin’ business touching me.