Hawk moved fast. He lifted the drinks tray and slammed it down over Richie’s head. The tray exploded into pieces. Richie stumbled back, hitting the wall. A small cut on his forehead started to bleed.
“Do I need to repeat myself?” Hawk said.
“No, sir,” Richie said.
“Now get the hell out of here,” Reese said.
Richie hurried to the door and got out of the room.
“We need new prospects,” Reese said.
“Agreed,” Luca called out. “When I was earning my cut…”
“You had to fight a fucking T. rex,” Hawk said.
Everyone started to laugh again.
“Okay,” Levi said. “Business for a fucking minute here. Damn.”
“You met with Harvey,” Reese said.
“Yeah. He said right now everything looks okay for us. No talks. Nothing pushing our way yet.”
“That’s good for us,” Jason said, raising his shot glass.
“Not quite,” Levi said. “Our brothers up in Frelen were hit hard. Our brothers in Daurian too. I talked to Gaige and he was heading east into Nevada. A lot of our brothers are doing that. Running lost or moving to reform new charters and push back later.”
“Anything on Miller?” Reese asked.
“Same. Moving east for the moment.”
“So, we look weak now,” Luca said. “Have charters shut down.”
“Nothing’s shut down,” Reese snapped. “We had guys move elsewhere. The businesses are still standing. Functioning to provide a real front for everyone as they move. That’s what we need.”
“What?” Zac asked.
“You heard me. If the badges come sweeping through, we need books to show that nothing is happening.”
“But a lot is happening, brother,” Hawk said. “We’re trying to hold backDRMwhile keeping therunnershappy as they move their way down south.”
“We need to find new and secure routes,” Reese said. “And push harder into the strip club and work out some ideas there.”
“Jesus Christ, man,” Jason said. “You’re talking a major restructure.”
“Do we have a choice?” Reese asked.
“We have a vote,” Luca said.
“Easy now, brothers,” Levi said. “We can’t discount what our VP is saying here. Things are toxic out there. But Hawk is right. We’ve got deals that are already in place. If we pull back then Luca is right, we look weak. Right now, it looks like we’ve had a couple of charters hit some rough waters. Mind you, the badges that went through took down other MC’s too. Wiped them clean. We’re standing. This charter is strong.”
“What about Colt?” Ellis asked.
“Fuck him,” Levi said. “Winston has his eye on him.”
“Colt is a hot-headed deputy looking to make his mark,” Brett said. “I don’t like that.”
“Winston is smarter,” Levi said. “And we own Winston.”