“Jesus Christ,” Jekyll hissed.
“We can all feel bad about what happened to Raven when she was younger, but what she’s grown into is a cold-blooded killer and you all need to remember that. She’s had dozens of men tortured and killed, and she won’t stop until she’s the undisputed queen of crime of the United States. In fact, she’s coming to Colorado personally to oversee a gun buy from the Predators themselves that will give the Beast all the firepower it needs to wage war across the country. Jaws believes Raven is acting as a middle, and that she plans to resell the guns to the IRA. Jaws is willing to sell the guns at a lower price to Raven and let her take the risk selling to the Irish. Of course, Jaws has no idea she’ll use all the firepower against him, the Predators, and every other club she has in her sight.”
Stoney’s hand shot up. “Can I ask a question?”
“Fuckin’ hell, Stoney. Really?” Sundance growled.
“It’s okay,” Taxi assured him.
“Why the hell does the FBI care if this bitch, or anyone else for that matter, wants to take over our club?”
“They don’t. The bureau wouldn’t piss on your club if it was on fire, but Raven is an internationalterrorist and I’ve been assigned to apprehend her. I go where I’m assigned, and I do my job to the best of my ability. That’s why I assembled a team of bikers, hustlers, and hackers. The toughest and smartest people I know. I’ve been riding since I was in the service. It kept me sane, and it saved my life. I’ll respect your patch if you respect mine. I’m here to help take down a common enemy. Nothing more.”
“Fair enough,” Stoney said.
“Now, can you all please shut the fuck up so that man can continue?” Sundance asked.
A few chuckles were mixed with verbal assents and Taxi nodded before continuing.
“I told you about Raven’s profile because I think it’s important that we all understand her motivation as clearly as possible. She’s primarily fueled by her hatred of her father and we’re going to exploit that hatred. Use it to draw her out while she’s here in the U.S.”
“How do you plan to do that?” I asked.
Taxi motioned to Tango. “The same way you trap any beast. With bait. Raven doesn’t know it yet, but Tango’s about to become the next focal point of her rage.”
“Jaws is about to find out he has a son he never knew about,” Sundance said.
“Who? Tango?” Stoney asked.
Sundance nodded. “Tango has agreed to reach out to Jaws. To have a sit down on neutral territory where he’ll tell Jaws that he’s his biological father and ask to patch into the Apex Predators.”
“How the fuck do you plan on pulling that off?”Stoney asked. “Jaws will see right through that story. He’ll get a paternity test and shove the results up Tango’s ass before setting him on fire.”
“We’ve already got a paternity test. Tango will bring it with him to the meeting.”
“You sure you’re okay with this?” Stoney asked Tango.
It was then I knew this play wasn’t a bluff.
“Jaws is my father,” Tango said to stunned silence around the table. “Apparently he and my mom were a thing for a minute back in the day and nine months later, here I was.”
“Tango only recently learned the truth from his mother, and he came and told me right away,” Sundance lied. Only four of us knew the real story, but apparently, this was the one Sundance was going with. “He thought it might be useful information, so I passed it onto Taxi.”
“We obtained a DNA sample from Jaws via a beer can found in his trash and the paternity test shows a positive familial match.”
“What if Jaws doesn’t give a shit about the test or Tango, and cuts his fucking throat right then and there?” Stoney asked.
“Like Raven, we’ve worked up an extensive profile on Jaws and all he’s ever wanted was a son. A desire that’s only increased since the disintegration of his relationship with his daughter. We believe Jaws will accept Tango with open arms, and once he does, Raven’s spies will report back to her. Once she learns the news of the return of the long-lost son, she’ll be compelled to come here and kill himherself. She’ll want to see the pain in her father’s eyes. Once Raven is within our reach, we can apprehend her and extract Tango.”
“What if Raven doesn’t give a shit about the Prodigal son’s return?”
“I have a contingency plan in place,” Taxi said. “More like a complimentary operation which will be running parallel with this one, actually.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I asked.
“We’ll cover that later,” Sundance said. “For now, I want all of you to keep your mouths shut about everything we discussed here tonight. Go about your business and be ready to jump if either Taxi or I tell you to.”
I made my way out of the war room, my heart in my stomach, knowing the worst was yet to come.