I sighed and watched silently for a second as the aluminum began to harden. Marcel could be a sculpture.
Steps were moving behind me, and the door swung open. Wire left.
“Church!” He yelled.
He sounded a bit rattled.
I turned the propane off. I picked Marcel’s stiff forearm off the floor and placed it neatly on his lap.
I followed him out; everyone stood back and looked at me. Fear and shock on all their faces.
Was it something I did?
Chapter 23
I walked into the room, finding a spot at the back of the room, while every patched member there sat either avoiding looking at me or staring at me until Wire called church to order.
“We have information, though I can’t say I understood all of it. Ink, I sure as fuck hope you know how to decipher what that fuck said.”
“Yeah, there’s a big deal going down at one of the piers in Florida. It will be at Port Fernandina, which is in Nassau. It’s the only one they use. If Ruby and Harrington are setting up a stall brawl, they will be at their complex the day after. He also said that Juan, one of the Vilanuevas brothers, sent Vale to look for me. That means your family isn’t safe if we go. They have to come with us as he knows where your hideouts are, and he can get to them there.”
Ryder huffed and moved forward in the chair. “You really think Vale would do some shit like that?”
“Without shedding a tear,” I replied quickly.
“The Giles family has reach everywhere, and she is particularly angry with this club, so she isn’t just going to let me go. She thinks I’m her property and will keep coming and sending people to get me until I’m back with her. Angel was always expendable, just a leash for me. She can find other leashes.”
“Wait. What the fuck did we do to piss her the fuck off so bad? I have never even heard of this woman before you were taken.” Clean asked the man was always hungry for information.
“Wire killed her brother years ago,” I said plainly, the woman spoke about her brother here and there. She didn’t seem that attached to him. It was more the principle since he was her blood; she had to get revenge.
“Who in the hell was her brother?” Wire leaned forward.
“Monte.” His head dropped forward, “She said something about Tears of Chaos, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that club.”
“Ha!” Clean laughed loudly, “That fuck was her brother? Yeah. Actually, if I’m not mistaken, Archer was the one who took him out, but yeah, we killed him. The prick deserved to die.”
“Either way, that is her damage.” I looked around the room, these men didn’t have to do anything to Ruby and Harrington, they could just let me get retaken, and they could go back to their lives as they knew it. It could be that simple. “I know this is a big ask, but we need to cut the head off the snake. The Giles’ have a lot of power, but they are the be all end all. If we get them, the rest of them will fall.”
“You are a brother, and we protect our family.” Wire said as he sat back into his seat at the head of the table. “You say they need to go; then they need to fucking go. Get your shit together, boys, because we’re going on a long fucking ride.”
There were some hoots and excitement. It was playtime for us.
“What about home? Are we leaving people behind?”
Ryder shook his head, looking at Wire, “I wouldn’t suggest it, Vale knows all the in’s and out’s of this clubhouse. The trailers, even some of our ol’ ladies' houses. We’re going to need all we have when we go down there. Leaving them here would probably just open us up for compromise.”
Wire nodded slowly, “You’re right. Prez, what you think? I don’t know how solid we are going to be with our family sitting out here in harm's way while we’re out of state.”
Prez rubbed his face for a second, trying to think of a way to make this work. Wire was a great president and leader. One of his best aspects was the fact he wasn’t too full of himself to ask for help. Where Prez was a dictator, and we were his servants, Wire was a king, and we were his court of misfits.
“Archer.” Prez said, looking over to Wire, “He has a whole fucking compound down in New Orleans with patched brothers, most of them ex-military. They would be safe there. Archer would come with us, but the rest would be able to protect our people.”
Wire nodded his head again, “I like it. It sounds like we got a fucking plan.”
“Let’s get it.” I went to move to the doors, and others started moving around as well. There was a lot of shit to do by Friday, and it was already fucking Monday.
“Hold!” Wire voice boomed out over the bustle, “Church is still in fucking session.”
Everyone turned and went back to their original positions; no one left until Wire gave the word. “We have more business to discuss.”
He looked around the table at his higher-ups, “I’m bringing a title change up for a vote. Clean, you still got a proxy vote for Archer, right?”
“Yup, my decision is his decision,” Clean said, sitting upright in his chair.
“You all saw or heard what went on in the sanctuary tonight. I was getting nowhere with that bastard, and Ink came in and brought a new fucking level of insane.” He looked up at me pointedly for a second before looking back to those at the table, “Sometimes shit needs to be done that most can’t do. I have been this club’s pain manager for years,
