“Yeah, but she doesn’t want to leave her apartment,” I admit, sighing. “If we all go into lockdown, then she will, though.”
“If she keeps being stubborn, we should bring her here. Or you can go and stay there if you need to,” he offers. “We need to make sure nothing happens to her. I know she’s an independent woman, but what if Marko decides to return to her place? He could still be holding a grudge that her firm dumped him as a client. He has to have figured out who Natalie is by now.”
“I know, you’re right. But have fun trying to tell her that.” I stay silent for a few seconds. I love how much he wants to protect her. “You are the best brother ever, you know that?”
He simply grins. “Took you long enough to find a woman you have that connection with, so we aren’t going to lose her now.”
“No, we are not.”
That night, after Natalie falls asleep, I call Rhett and ask him for an update, but he has nothing for me. I contemplate if Aries is right and we should take matters into our own hands, and find out who the spy is, along with locating Marko.
Two birds with one stone.
We need to hurry along any plans we have in motion because we can’t all keep living in limbo like this.
Rhett: Just got word that Toxic was robbed. The police have one of the men in custody.
Damn, Toxic is taking a hit, and it’s clear that Marko has it out for Rhett. We increased security at the garage to make sure that everyone stays safe there; I only hope it’s enough.
Atlas: Shit. We need to do something. Can Felix get information out of this guy?
Rhett: On it.
A moment later I get another text, this time from Temper.
Temper: I got a message from Marko tonight. He wants to call a truce with us if we don’t interfere with his beef with the Wind Dragons.
Shit. If it were any other club, Temper would jump on it. But the Wind Dragons...
Atlas: What are you going to do?
Temper: I don’t know yet.
I think Aries and I need to follow the Wind Dragons and find out who the mole is. Enough sitting around and waiting. We need to end this, and without any casualties on our end.
One can only hope.
Rhett appears at the garage the next morning, and I can tell how agitated he is. He can’t sit still, and he seems extremely stressed out.
“If you are here to see me and not Con, I’m going to presume that it’s bad,” I say, leaning back in my chair and studying him.
He clenches his jaw. “I definitely have a mole, and I’m fucking pissed about it. You know when I became president my number one concern was that I could never replicate the fucking perfection that was the Wind Dragons when I was growing up. And now I think I was right. It’s just a shit show.”
“Why don’t you join the Knights?” I suggest. Temper and I had a chat about this—it was his idea, and it sounded pretty damn good. I know the official invitation has to come from him, but he told me to plant the seed. “Con can get what she wants and stay here, you can give up on trying to live up to the Wind Dragons and join something new.”
He stills. “I’m president.”
“You could be president of a new chapter.” I shrug. “We all get along and trust each other, and Temper was saying he could do with more men. I don’t know. Obviously it’s Temper’s call, but I think there’s a place for you.”
He seems to consider it for a moment, but then shakes his head. “I just need to get rid of this bad egg, and I need to do it now.”
“Do you have any idea who it is?” I ask.
“I know it’s not Dice; he’s loyal,” he says, nodding to himself. He rubs the back of his neck and starts to pace around my office. “That leaves three. Bear got injured at the club, which makes me think it’s not him. Or he’s just really dedicated and was willing to make it look like it wasn’t him, I don’t know.”
He’s obviously thought about this a lot.
“So that leaves Zeke and Sledge. Aries and I want to follow them. Eventually, they have to go back to Marko. What about the guy the cops have?”