ICE
“I still don’t thinkthis should be brought up at Church.” Those were Collins’ words. I arched an eyebrow, gave her a look that I knew she could decipher, and finally the woman understood to shut that shit down. It sucked that she was pissed when I left her place this morning. I still gave her a kiss, smacked her ass, and we drove to the club separately. That was probably overkill. She could have gone in on my bike, but adding fuel to the fire wasn’t really what I wanted to do before Shadow and I brought to the table what we saw last night.
Collins veered off towards her parents’ house while I went to the clubhouse. Today was the first day she took her medicine, and after her going over what could potentially happen, I got up earlier than normal to hit the corner store for eggs, bacon, bread, and orange juice. It wasn’t much, but it meant she at least had something in her stomach, even if she had to force herself to eat it. Between us, our family, and Collins’ school, the quietness surrounding us had her thoughts spinning like a hamster on a wheel.
I blank my thoughts out as I walk into Church. Rage and Shadow are already sitting down. Crush is coming in behind me. The phone is at the ready to call in the Texas chapter if we decide to go down this route. In all fairness, we probably need to patch in one of the recruits. The other two still haven’t shown what they’re made of. It’s not that we’ve needed a whole lot of brothers. Things are calm in the Louisiana chapter for the most part, minus the remnants of what we’ve got going on with Crush.
“Close the door,” Rage tells Crush when I’m in the room, ready to sit down.
“Get anythin’ good last night?” Crush asks. Can’t blame him. This fuckwad sent him away for five years and was making his life hell when he got out until Massimo put pressure on the judge.
“Funny you should mention it. That place is swarmin’ with security. That’s not what is odd, though; took a drive by Vungle’s house on the way here this mornin’,” I let the men know. It just so happened to be a different route than I’d usually take to the club. Sometimes, I like to change shit up, and while Collins followed behind, not something I was too thrilled about, we were quick enough no one could have heard or seen my bike.
“Oh, yeah? And what is that twat up to?” Crush is on a roll today.
“If you’d shut up, Ice would tell you.” This comes from Shadow. I shake my head, keeping my laughter to myself.
“Anyways, Winslow and she are definitely shackin’ up. Not only was his car there, but her place was surrounded by at least three of his security detail. I wouldn’t have batted an eye had it been in a more elaborate subdivision, but since she lives in a rundown part of town, it seems highly suspicious. I’m assumin’ Shadow gave you the details already about Winslow’s place along with the plans?” I ask.
Rage nods. Shadow pulls out his laptop. I don’t keep a trail of any kind around; everything is in my head. That way, should something come up, there won’t be an ounce of evidence. Now, if they found all the guns—I have stashes and some military-grade weapons—that might be cause for concern, but even then, I have a fallback plan.
“Seems like it’s time to get the brothers on the line,” Rage states. It doesn’t take but two rings, and Shovel is on the other end.
“Rage, seems you might need some help down there.” I wonder if they brought the other men into the equation yet, or is it Shovel and Razor, when I hear Razor’s chuckle.
“You could say that. Think you could spare a few brothers for a day or so?” Rage asks. With there only being four of us, we could get the job done, but that would leave three recruits to watch over the club and women. That’s not something that would sit well with any of us would.
“You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Razor says on the other end of the line. He’s a wild card, always has been the crazier one of the bunch.
“Fuck, yeah. It’s about time Hawk and Rocket pull some extra weight around here. Those young guns have had it pretty fuckin’ easy.” Shovel pauses. Shadow smirks. He’s probably thinking the same exact thing. “I can send them out today or first thing tomorrow. You let me know what works best for you.”
“Tomorrow will do. We won’t be doin’ anythin’ until nighttime. Let the boys get here, relax a bit, and then we’ll deal with the shit show. Should have them home in a day or so,” Rage suggests. The only thing we really need them here for is to have our back in case things go sideways, not that I’m planning on letting that happen. You just never know.
“Sounds good. You need anythin’ else, you know our number,” Razor states, then they click off the phone.
“Alright, that give you enough time to go over the plans and get shit together?” Shadow asks me. I nod. The detached garage to my house has a bunker, solid concrete surround, hard to detect and even harder to get into.
“That’ll do. While I have you guys here, may as well tell you the news. Already know I’m gonna get my ass beat, but it’ll be worth it.” Crush looks at me, a crooked grin on his face. Little fucker probably saw more than he’s ever let on.
“Fuck.” Shadow stands up.
“It’s not about Sedona.” I look at Rage. “It’s about Collins and me.” They don’t call him Rage for nothing, and when he stands up, I know what’s coming.