It should have been.
In an emergency situation, it should have always been him sending the information. If he was able to.
It left us to assume he wasn't able to.
My stomach lurched at the idea. I couldn't envision a future without my father there, the strong, stable presence he'd always been, the man who'd snuck me drinks when I was a teen and my mom's back was turned, the one who'd bought me my first bike, who'd patiently raised me to be the man I was today, the fearless, unstoppable leader of this club, the man we all aspired to be more like.
It had been Repo, Seth's dad, who'd sent the text.
One glance at him said he was concerned, yes, but not sick with it like Finn, Niro, Malc, and I were.
The clubhouse was so quiet that when my phone started to ring, it startled me enough to almost drop it.
I didn't pause to see who was calling, just accepted, and brought it to my ear.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"It's me," Repo said, sounding winded. "No deaths," he said, making the tightness in my chest let up slightly.
"No deaths," I repeated to the club before switching the phone to speaker. "Any critical?" I asked Repo.
"Adler and Edison are rough, but they were conscious when the ambulance took them away. Slash... Slash was bleeding a lot," he said, making my gaze slip toward Sway and Crow, trying to gauge their reactions.
"He's tough," Crow said, shrugging.
"Anyone else?" I asked.
"Everyone is busted up," Repo said. "Fucking... everyone. Some of us crashed, others were hit."
"How? Where?"
"We're an eight-hour ride out still," Repo said. "North Carolina. I'll send you the hospital information as soon as I have it."
"Did you get anyone?"
"No, no. They shot from the top of an old building as we passed. By the time we dragged ourselves off the ground, they were gone. Nothing left."
"So they didn't take anything? This was just a kill mission?"
"Yeah, seems that way. I don't need to tell you Fall..." he started even as I was waving to the men gathered around, wanting some of them up on the roof, looking for threats.
"I know. I'm on it. What do you guys need from us? Do you want me to come?"
"No. No, Reign said to hold down Navesink Bank. Get the women safe. Watch for threats. Once we're sure that is handled, we will talk about getting us back there."
"Okay. Are you sure you're safe there? We can spare some men here."
"We'll all be in the hospital. Fuck," Repo hissed. "And the road doesn't seem safe for us right now. Stay there where you have strength in numbers. We'll be alright here until we can figure out the next move."
"Okay. Repo?"
"Yeah?"
"How's my dad?"
"He's alright. Physically restraining Pagan who wants to chase down the fuckers even with a bone sticking out of his leg."
"Okay. Updates as soon as you have them. On everyone's conditions. There will be worried women and kids."
"I will send them as soon as I have them. Gotta go. More ambulances pulling up."
"Okay. Be careful."
"Always," Repo agreed, ending the call.
There was one moment of silence as we thought about Edison, Adler, and Slash, each of us who believed, sending up a quick, silent prayer.
"Alright. We know this drill," I said, looking over at Finn. "Call Aunt Lo. She will organize to get the women and kids to Hailstorm. Malc, call the girls," I said, meaning our cousins. "They'll listen to you more than me. If you can't get them to Hailstorm, get them here. No one leaves this club without a crew of four. And only in the SUV. We can be picked right off on our bikes. Uncle Cash," I said, turning to him. "Maybe it is time to talk to the local allies. Mallicks, Grassis, anyone you can think of. They need to know what is going on."
What else? What else?
"West, call down to the Florida chapter. Tell them what's going on. If they offer, we don't need them up here yet. But tell them to be ready if it comes to that. Duke, we need some heavier artillery," I said, knowing he had access to the vault. "And some vests. Everyone else, go see Brooks for a guard schedule."
"Wait... where are you going?" my uncle Lazarus called.
"I... I need to make the hard calls," I said, giving them all a nod as I made my way down the hallway to my room.
They weren't death calls.
I could comfort myself a little with that.
But calling any of the women with bad news about their men made my stomach clench. Still, it had to be done. And I was the one who needed to do it.
Adler and Edison's women—Lou and Lenny—were both deceptively calm on the phone, even if I knew their minds were spinning. They were likely a little bit in shock. Once they got to Hailstorm, I was sure they would start pitching a fit about wanting to go and be with their men. But that would be a problem for Lo and Chris to handle. If it was decided that Lenny and Lou could go to North Carolina, Hailstorm certainly had the vehicles and manpower to get them there safely.