“I’ll fucking kill him,” Matt roared as he shot to his feet.
Jet and two other brothers grabbed his arms before he could get to the door, and I moved to block the only exit. “Easy, bro,” Jet growled, struggling to keep his hold on the man. “You go out there half-cocked right now, and you’re going to get yourself killed. Think about your woman. She doesn’t need you going off to the morgue in a body bag, man.”
Bash stepped in front of his cousin and lowered his voice. “We will deal with Boomer, but we have to know more. We need answers before we do anything stupid. I want no mistakes when we take care of this. I’m not willing to lose you—or anyone else.”
Turning to the others, he started throwing out orders. “Uncle Jack, take a few guys and check out Boomer’s apartment. Find out what he’s been up to lately. Ask his neighbors about him and any visitors he may have had recently. Trigger, I want you to call the Texas charter and find out anything and everything you can about that motherfucker from the brothers you trust. We accepted his transfer papers after only a phone call to Snake. I should have vetted him better instead of taking that slimy bastard’s word.”
Snake was the Texas charter’s president, but rumors had reached us that he had gotten the position nefariously. Before this war had kicked up, we had been talking about sending Spider down to check out how things were running, to make sure we could trust Snake and his men. But that had been months ago, and with this shitstorm blowing up, it had been put on the back burner.
“I’m going with Uncle Jack.” Matt struggled against the men holding him again as Uncle Jack and three other men left the room, but one look from Bash had Jet tightening his hold on Matt. “Fuck you, Bash. I’m going!”
“Sit your ass down,” Bash ordered.
Matt struggled against Jet and the other two brothers’ holds. “I want to see what that motherfucker’s place looks like. I want to see what the fuck he’s been planning. He took my brother’s life, but that bomb was meant for me.”
“And you will have your revenge,” Bash assured him, his jaw tense and his eyes stormy. “But for now, keep your ass steady, cousin. This shit’s not over. It could just be the calm before the storm. Those bastards could be watching and waiting for us to fuck up, but we’re not going to give them what they want. You hear me?”
That shut Matt up, and Bash turned back to Whitney. “You should have come to one of us yesterday when you suspected something. If Boomer’s on the run, he now has more than a twenty-four-hour head start.”
“I-I didn’t want to cause trouble if it was nothin’,” she started, but whatever she saw on Bash’s face had her cowering back. “I-I’m sorry.”
“You don’t leave the clubhouse. For anything. You step outside this building, and you’re out on your ass. Now get the fuck out of my sight.”
She moved hastily to the door, and I stepped aside to let her through. But as she started to walk out, Bash called after her. “We’ll all be watching you, Whitney. You’ve already been on thin ice, trying to fuck around with Raider’s ol’ lady. One more fuckup and you won’t ever be welcome in my MC again.”
Chapter Fifteen
Gracie
AFTER THE EXCITEMENT OF THE afternoon, I wasn’t ready to go when Hawk showed up to take me for my appointment with Doc. I was still putting the final touches on the contract Rory had asked for, making sure every possible loophole was closed. I was always meticulous when it came to anything I drew up, but this time, there was more at risk. It wasn’t just about Rory and Matt and that dickhead mayor. Hawk and the rest of the MC were at risk too. I wanted Derrick Michaels out of Creswell Springs just as much as his daughter did.
At two minutes after four, Hawk walked in, a glower on his handsome face. “Woman,” he growled as he slammed my office door. “I told you, you’re going to the doctor. Now, grab your things.”
I held up a finger as I turned my attention back to the contract. I reread what I had just corrected, making sure it was completely airtight. Once Rory got her bastard of a father to sign on the dotted line, Creswell Springs was going to be a better place. And given Rory’s plan, I doubted the honorable mayor would be able to walk away. Two hundred and forty-nine million dollars was a lot of money for even a saint to walk away from, and Mayor Mic
haels was far too greedy to be the exception.
“Gracie,” Hawk bit out impatiently, and I smiled to myself as I printed out the last page of the contract and put it into the envelope with the rest of the document.
“Almost done. Promise.” Jumping to my feet, feeling like I had more energy than I’d had in a long time, I skipped out of my office and down to where Jenkins had moved his stuff. His old office was still under renovation after Santino’s men had broken down a wall with their van to take me. But not even the memory of that crazy day—and everything that had followed—could dampen my good mood right then.
I knocked once on his door then opened it. Still smiling happily, I handed over the envelope. “How did the meeting go?”
His face was full of amusement, but his eyes were dark. “It started out rough, but by the time I left with Rory, we were all on the same page.”
“Great. So…have you given any more thought to what Rory suggested? That you run for mayor?”
“That’s not a good idea. I’m not the best guy to run this town, and it’s not like anyone would actually vote for me.” But even as he was making up excuses not to run, I could tell the idea held some appeal for him.
I rolled my eyes at him, figuring he just wanted me to stroke his ego. “I know about three hundred people just off the top of my head who would vote for you. You would do a pretty good job cleaning up Michaels’s messes, and I already know what your first order as mayor should be.”
Eyes sparkling with laughter, he snorted. “What’s that?”
“Fire Campbell and Bates.”
“Campbell’s position is an elected one,” he reminded me.
“Then Bates. Fire that lazy sonofabitch.”