CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Axe
“Yeah,” I said in a gruff voice as I answered the phone. It was early—too fucking early to be answering the damn phone. But it was Cal and so I had no choice but to pick up.
“Need you to get here,” he said and I could tell that there was something going on by the sharpness in his tone. “The Valories just showed up at the gates.”
“Fuck. What the hell do they want?” I asked as I jumped out of the bed and reached for my pants.
“I don’t know. Get here so we can find out,” he all but barked.
“On my way,” I said as I reached for my shirt and cut.
Allison rolled over, her naked body covered mostly with the sheet. Her hair a wild mess spread out on the pillows that I’d finally gotten around to getting. I smiled down at her but I could tell it did nothing to ease the worry she had within.
“I gotta go to the clubhouse. I’ll be back,” I said then bent down and kissed her soft lips. “It’s all good, babe. Don’t worry.”
Though as I said those words, I had a feeling it wasn’t. No way to know until I got there and so, I headed off as fast as I could. The sooner I reached the clubhouse, the sooner I would know why The fucking Valories were at our door.
The Valories were an all chick MC out of Virgina. We had never really had a run in with them before. For the most part, we were on different sides of the law and neither one of our clubs wanted to mingle with the other. They didn’t want to tarnish their so-called good name and we didn’t, well, I wasn’t sure why we had an aversion to them. I think it may have had something to do with things that happened long before my time. Nobody had said anything to me before and I didn’t fucking ask.
I rolled up to the gate. Ten bikes were parked waiting at the gate. Two lines, forming pretty much a V to the entrance. I wondered if they planned that shit. I mean, I knew they were trying to be out of the way but keep close at the same time, so the formation made sense. Maybe it was just ironic.
All of them were sitting on their bikes, looking badass and ready to roll. They reminded me of Tank’s woman, Nadya. And even I could admit, that I was a bit frightened of them.
Prospect Dane rushed the gate open as I got close. Giving a chin lift out of respect to who I presumed was the leader, I continued on my way to the front door.
They were going to wait there until all of us were here and Cal gave the go ahead.
Ten minutes later, we filled in the meeting table in church. Loch was absent again and it didn’t surprise me. At a time like this, I couldn’t even be mad at him. He’d always done right by this club and been there for all the little shit, as well as the big. So it was time for the club to be there for him. And if that meant that he needed time away to take care of his family, then so be it.
“I don’t know why they’re here but I’m curious to find out. I know we haven’t really had anythin’ to do with one another, but if they rode all this way it must be somethin’ important. So let’s all stay calm and listen. I don’t want them knowin’ any of the shit we are goin’ through, so no matter what, keep your fuckin’ mouths shut.” Cal’s warning rang clear in the room and we all understood.
“Go get ‘em,” he said as he nodded to Brand.
Brand and Diesel headed out of the room and about five minutes later returned with three of The Valories in tow, one that was clearly their president.
Cal cleared his throat as an older woman took the seat at the opposite end as Cal. She sat down like she had the fucking right to and all Cal did was raise a brow at her.
Oh, this was about to get good.
Her hair was long and yellowish blonde. I would have guessed she was in her late forties, and despite her age, she was pretty hot. Not that I was fantasizing about her or wanted to tap that. She kept herself in shape and she wasn’t lacking in the tits at all. Then again, The Valories MC was known for one thing. Bounty hunting. Not only that but they went after the hard to find jumpers. The ones that fled and went into hiding. The most dangerous of the criminals. I was sure staying in shape went a long way in their job.
“I ain’t got all day, Sherri. The fuck you come rollin’ up on my gates without so much as a call first?” Cal said and though his words were harsh, his tone wasn’t.
“Caliber.” She shook her head like she couldn’t believe the prez. “Look, we heard that you have a problem.”
“No problems here,” he said cutting her off.
“Goddammit, Cal. Just shut up and listen to what I have to say. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be and I know you feel the same.”
I couldn’t believe she talked to Cal that way and more so, I couldn’t believe he sat there and took it. I would have liked to have said it was because she was a chick, but for some reason, I had a feeling it was something more.
“Go the fuck on then,” he barked, his eyes didn’t move away from her the entire time.
“This is The Devil’s Kings compound location.” As she held up a folded piece of paper I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard.
Holy fuckin’ shit balls!
His eyes narrowed at her as if he was thinking it was some sort of trap. It could have been, but I couldn’t see them being involved in something like that.
Brand took the paper from Sherri and brought it over to Cal. I could see that Cal was hesitant, in fact, he didn’t even open the paper right away.
“Why?” he asked.
“Look, Cal. You and I both know what your club is into. Let’s not sit here and play like we don’t,” she said and I sensed a trace of boredom in her tone. “I know you are trying to go legit and to be honest, this club will never be able to be one hundred percent clean. You know that. It’s just the way it is. This club was born on the wrong side of the law and that’s all you guys have ever known.”
“I’m not askin’ for your thoughts on the future of my club. I’m fuckin’ asking why the hell you walked into my club with Savage’s location and just handed it over like it’s nothin’,” Cal said in a calm tone.
“I can’t touch this. I hate that man,” she started, shaking her head again. “He is pure evil and something needs to be done. So, I’m bringing it to you.”
What she didn’t say hung thick in the air. She was good about watching every word that came out of her mouth and it made sense. From this short conversation, I could see how she was able to keep her club clean.
“You should just thank me so we can be on our way,” she said her voice full of humor.
“Sherri.” Cal’s hands clasped together in front of him on the table. “Why would I thank you for information I have no need for and don’t want?”
Even I could admit that he was playing it too cool. I had to try my damnedest to hold my laugh inside.
“Have it your way, Caliber.” She stood, and the other bitches left their spots on the wall to have her back. “It was good to see you.”
Something in her voice and the way her eyes stared him down led me to believe that she knew him better than just in passing. But whatever, I had too much going on in my head to even contemplate that Cal could have had something going on with anyone at some point. I knew he liked the clubwhores, but as far as having feelings for anyone past the moment he came, that was foreign to me.
Well, fuck me sideways. If that paper held what she said it held then I’ll be damned. This was the key we’d been looking for all along. I couldn’t fucking believe it.
The air in the room was as still as the conversation while we waited for Brand and Diesel to return. The small folded piece of paper sat there on the table in front of Cal, taunting us the whole time.
“Well, ain’t that some shit,” Cal said letting out a chuckle and breaking the tension in the room, but only slightly.
“Prez,” I said but his eyes didn’t move off of the paper, like for some reason if he looked away it was going to disappear into thin air. “You think this is legit? I mean, I don’t know those bitches from Jack Frost, so how do we know that we can trust them?”
“We can trust ‘em,” he said as his head did an odd nodding bounce thing. Though he was hearing me and giving responses in return, I could tell that his thoughts were a million miles away. “Well, fuck.”
Then like he hadn’t been lost in God knew where, he snatched up the paper and tossed it to Bocca without even opening it.
“Find out everythin’ you can about that place. I want blueprints, satellite pictures, whatever the fuck else your nerd ass can get me. I want it all. We ain’t goin’ in blind.”
Yeah, he didn’t open it. He didn’t even look at what it said. I couldn’t blame him. Having an address didn’t mean shit until you had the tools to formulate a plan. Bocca was the only one of us that needed to know at this point, anyone else was just a chance for that information to get out.
“Once we have that, we sit down and fuckin’ plan. In the meantime, we get ready. I won’t call the other chapters until we have somethin’ concrete. None of this leaves this goddamn room. Now get gone.” His fist fell heavy onto the top of the table then everyone got up and filed out. I hesitated for a moment, watching him to make sure he was good.
“Time has finally come,” he said. His voice sounded tired and stressed.
All I could think about was ending Savage.
For the club.
For Stone.
For Tank.
And for Allison and her son.
Images of what I would do to him when I finally got my hands on him filled my head. I knew I wasn’t the only one that wanted a piece of him and I wondered if there was even enough to go around. Hell, we’d fucking make it work. Drag that shit out as long as it took for everyone to be satisfied.
We sat there for a long time in a dead silence. Both of us lost completely in our thoughts. I think that we need it though. Since Allison had come into town, I hadn’t spent much time at the club or with Cal. Considering the man was pretty much my dad, that was how I looked at him in my mind anyway, I felt like I’d been distant lately. I couldn’t pinpoint why. Sure, Allison and Neiryn were part of that, but maybe there was something more.
I had a lot of shit recently that I was working on and I felt like parts of me were changing. I knew some things were subtle, but I’d noticed them and I had a feeling that some of the brothers had too. I hoped like hell that I still made him proud and I dreaded the day I ever let him down.
“It’s all been leadin’ up to this,” Cal said breaking the silence of the room.
“Yeah, it’s what we wanted. The last piece we needed. We’re ready to go and now we have a direction to head in.”
He sucked in a slow, deep breath through his nose. After holding it in for a few seconds, he let it out just as slow.
“This is gonna be yours soon, boy.” He made a point to tap the head of the table with his thick knuckle.
“One day, yes. But not soon, old man, you aren’t done yet,” I replied and let out a huffed, nervous laugh.
“This is it, Axe. I hope to hell that we’re ready.”
I knew exactly what he was saying. Not just ready for the war but ready for the fall out from that decision.
The end was coming, I could feel it in my soul.