“Will he? Make it through the night?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. Drax breathed in deeply.
“This is fucked up. This is what Eagle did. That motherfucking weasel. And now he’s hiding in some hole,” Drax raged, jumping up from his chair.
I was aware that they’d had a showdown during the raid. Eagle was the one who shot Drax and injured him, let him get away, but only because he didn’t realize how crucial Eagle was to this whole scene. He was too focused on bringing Crash to justice when it was Eagle who should have paid for his crimes this whole time.
“I was speaking to some of the girls from Teasers and they admitted that Eagle used to pimp them out behind Crash’s back,” Spike added.
Drax glared at him and then at me.
“That goes against every MC code in this area,” he barked.
I could feel the rage bubbling inside me. If what Spike said was true, then what did Eagle really do to Mercy?
She hadn’t given any hints of that, of being forced by Eagle to whore herself out, but maybe she didn’t want to tell me because she was ashamed. What else had that motherfucker put her through?
“He has to pay up. Pay the price. Answer for all the MC rules he’s broken,” Drax continued. “And if Crash dies, then he is the one responsible for his own President’s death.”
Spike nodded. I agreed with Drax but my mind was spinning with thoughts of Mercy. I wanted to go back to the cellar right then and ask if she had personally been hurt or coerced by Eagle in any way. And if she had, then I was going to find him and wring his neck with my bare hands.
“We need to form an alliance; we can’t do this alone. Eagle has hidden himself well,” Drax said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“An alliance with whom?” Spike asked and the answer came to me in a flash.
“The Granite Apostles,” I said.
* * *
We had worked in alliance with the Granite Apostles for many years now. Their main business was freight and shipping and they were the ones who usually assisted us in transporting our cargo. Even though we trusted them and they lived by the same codes and rules as us, they weren’t in our area. Their clubhouse was over two-hours’ worth of a ride away.
“We need to talk to them. Personally. Get them on board,” Drax continued. Spike was nodding and I agreed.
“The only way we can find Eagle and make him pay for all the shit he’s pulled is with help. We need all the MCs we can work with to rally together,” I added.
“You should go talk to them. They have no reason to come over here and help us,” Spike said. I knew he was right.
Despite our peaceful co-existence with them, they would not be interested in helping us unless they either profited from it themselves or if they saw the importance of the situation. We would have to personally convince their President and make them see how important it was to find Eagle, and squash any plans he had.
“You should do it,” Drax said. He was talking to me. “Ride over there, talk to them and make a deal.”
But what about Mercy? She was the first thought that popped into my head. If I left now, who was going to make sure her grandmother was looked after? What about the deal I made with her about living in my cabin? Going to see her grandma?
I cleared my throat, trying to think of a legitimate excuse why I couldn’t go to see the Granite Apostles.
“You’re the one who always deals with them. They know you. They trust you,” Drax continued and yes, he had a point. Maybe nobody else’s deal would be as effective as mine.
I had to drop it. I couldn’t bring up the subject of Mercy right now. Drax would laugh in my face if I told him I cared about a stripper’s welfare more than our MC’s.
“Yeah, I’ll go. I just have to take care of a few things first,” I said before leaving the room.
I stood outside Drax’s office door for a few minutes, unable to decide what was wrong with me because something had definitely changed. I wasn’t acting like the same guy I’d been a few days ago, when nothing else mattered but my brothers and the MC.
Now Mercy was on my mind. This girl I barely knew. I hadn’t even fucked her yet and she was taking over my life. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe I needed to bang her and flush her out of my system for good.
But right now, I had a job to do.
* * *
When I went back down to the cellar, Mercy was just stepping out. I intercepted her at the door. She looked up at me with a gasp.
“Ghost!”
“How is he?” I asked.
She had her hair down now, and her eyes looked much smaller and tired. She was obviously exhausted. She needed to sleep.
She rubbed the back of her hand over her forehead and sighed.
“He’s stable for now. I couldn’t give him anything, because right now his body needs to be clean of drugs. The only thing we can do is try and keep his temperature down and make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. Mary-Beth is in there with him.”
“Do you think he’ll make it through the night?” I asked.
She looked up at me with those blue eyes, searching mine. Was she surprised that I held her opinion in esteem?
“Y…yes, I think so. I think he’s pulled through the worst. Somebody needs to watch him at all times. He can’t be left alone. Not even with Mary-Beth.”
“I’ll get some of the prospects to stay in there with her.”
Mercy nodded.
We were standing close together, and only now was I realizing that we were speaking in near whispers.
