CHARLES

 

Garnet called a meeting in the chapel. Even though I wasn’t a part of their chapter, he still invited me in and treated me like I was a full-fledged member.

I sat near the head of the table next to Garnet. The rest of the club had their eyes on me.

Ghost.

Sully.

Needle.

Petey.

Brawn.

I knew I was about to ask them a lot but there was no other way around it.

“All right,” Garnet announced. “Our brother Char here says he needs our help, so let’s help him out.”

“Whoa, hold on a second,” Needle said. “You don’t even know what the hell he’s asking.”

“You see that patch he’s wearing? He’s a Black Reaper. That’s all I need to know to help him.”

“Shouldn’t we at least take a vote on this?”

Needle looked around the table to see who agreed with him. Before any of them could say anything, I put my hand up.

“You’re right, Needle,” I said. “I know what it means to be sitting in this room with you guys right now. I don’t take it for granted and I don’t take it lightly. I fully intend on doing what’s best for the club.”

“I don’t know if I like the sound of that—”

“Shut up, Needle,” Ghost cut the cockiest member of the Black Reapers off.

Needle rolled his eyes then crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat.

“Go ahead,” Garnet said to me. “You got the floor.”

I nodded to him and got up out of my seat.

“You all know why Lieberman is here,” I started. “She came here for you and all of the other MCs in Ivory working with the Triads. Now I can’t prove it. But you and I both know she won’t stop until she’s got each and every single one of you locked up.

“She’s got a distraction right now though. Jacob Holmes. Blade. You guys heard of him?”

“He’s small-time,” Ghost said. “Nothing the MC needs to concern ourselves with.”

“Not yet. Holmes has been working in the shadows. While Lieberman has had her eyes on you and the Triads, she’s also been keeping an eye on Holmes. And with good reason. It won’t be long until he’s the one moving all of the drugs that are running through Ivory.”

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t that mean Lieberman would lock him up first?” Sully said.

“That’s right,” I said. “Holmes is intent on going through with whatever it is he’s planning. That’s just putting a big target on his back.”

“How the hell do you know so much about this asshole?” Needle asked.

“Because I know the person closest to him. I know her better than anybody else. And if she tells me something is true, then it’s true.”

Needle looked comfortable in his seat, his arms still crossed as he leaned back even more.

“All right,” he said with a shrug. “We let this asshole Holmes do whatever he’s doing and Lieberman pinches him. Sounds simple.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not that simple.”

Everybody had their eyes on me. I cracked my knuckles and sighed because I knew how big of a favor it was.

“I’m not gonna wait until Holmes slips so Lieberman can arrest him,” I said. “I’m gonna do the job myself.”

“You’re gonna do the job yourself?” Sully asked. “What does that mean exactly?”

“It means I’m gonna kill him.”

The chapel fell silent. Everybody looked around at one another before turning back to me. They didn’t have to say anything to let me know that they thought it was a bad idea.

“You ever cared about anybody before?” I asked. “You ever loved somebody?”

I looked at each and every one of them.

“Yeah, I bet you have,” I continued. “You know exactly what it’s like to care about someone so much that you don’t even care about what happens to yourself.

“Imagine that person ending up in the hospital. Imagine someone trying to hurt ‘em.”

“I don’t have to imagine it, brother,” Garnet said. “I know exactly what it feels like.”

“Then you know nothing can stop me from putting my hands on this motherfucker until he stops breathing.”

“What are you asking for?” Needle said. “Do you want us to help you put Holmes on ice?”

“No. I’ll do it myself.”

“Then… what are you asking?”

“Lieberman and the cops are already watching me. They know what I’m trying to do. When it happens, they’ll know exactly who did it. It’s not gonna be pretty. I’m gonna leave a big mess. I’ll be out of Ivory before anybody can catch me…”

“But we’re the ones who are gonna have to clean up the mess,” Ghost said.

I nodded to him.

“I’m not asking for your help,” I said. “I can do this on my own. What I’m asking you right now, one man to another, is for your permission to go through with it.”

“You heard the man, boys,” Garnet said. “Char here is asking for our permission to light some fireworks in our quiet little town. Do we back him and let him kill Holmes? Yay or nay.”

I didn’t look at anybody was they went around the table.

“I know what it’s like,” Ghost said. “If a man ever put his hands on the woman I cared about, he wouldn’t live to see tomorrow. Yay.”

“I don’t think we should be drawing any more attention to the MC than we’ve already got,” Brawn said. “But this Holmes guy sounds like a real piece of work if he’s gonna put his hands on a lady. Yay.”

“You got my vote,” Petey added.

“I never cared too much for the small-time dealers in this town,” Needle said. “They’re giving Ivory a bad reputation. I say yes.”

“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Sully said. “Yay.”

Garnet stood up from his seat and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Make him suffer,” he said.

I sighed a deep breath through my nose and nodded.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll get the job done.”

“Don’t worry,” Garnet replied. “We won’t give Lieberman any reason to keep sniffing around here. We’ll worry about that shit later.”

“There is something else I need from you all,” I said.

“I fucking knew it,” Needle exclaimed. “Shit’s never that simple—”

“Shut up, Needle,” Garnet cut him off. “What is it, Char?”

“I know where Holmes is staying. But I can’t imagine he’s just gonna let me walk through the front door. I need a diversion. You talked about lighting some fireworks. I might actually need some.”

“I know a guy,” Petey spoke up. “His name’s Warlock. I could get you what you need.”

“Warlock?” Sully said. “I thought they scooped him up and locked him away.”

“Warlock’s been in the business long enough to know how to deal with trouble,” Petey replied. “Even a federal agent like Lieberman wouldn’t be enough to stop him from doing what he does.”

Garnet excused the club from the chapel. I followed right behind them as Garnet walked with me.

“You sure you got everything under control?” he said. “What you’re about to do… That shit’s never easy.”

I smiled at the thought of it.

“When I was out on tour, it was an everyday routine,” I said. “Me and the other rangers started keeping track of it. I killed more guys than I’d care to admit. I told myself I would never do it again.”

I looked into Garnet’s eyes to make it clear to him I wasn’t going to hesitate.

“Lenora’s the exception,” I said. “She’s the exception that makes everything all right. One more time. The last time. For her.”

“I can respect that.”

“There’s something else I need from you.”

“You took 50-grand from me. And you just got my permission to blow my town up. What more can you need?”

“You can have the money back,” I said with a laugh. “That doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

“What is it then?”

“It’s Lenora. Because of what happened with Holmes, they’re trying to put her in protective custody. You and I both know the safest place in Ivory isn’t with them.”

“Say no more. Nobody’ll lay a finger on her. I can guarantee you that, brother.”

Garnet put his arm around my shoulder.

“We got your back,” he said. “One-hundred percent. You go into this with a clear head and get the job done.”

The president of the MC always knew exactly what to say. I couldn’t help but smirk back at him and nod.

“I’ll get it done.”