Chapter Twenty-One

Cross

“I’ve been peeling back the layers of these fucking shell corporations, which means Roadkill has a damn good accountant working for them.”

Jag shook his head in disbelief as he stood in my office trying to explain how he unraveled the Roadkill shit show. “They’ve given millions to a political action committee that supports Pacheco, but most of the money came in before there was a campaign. The money goes back more than a year but the PAC was formed officially about ten weeks ago.”

Which made no fucking sense because Pacheco was a big fish in a very little, local pond. He didn’t need a goddamn PAC and definitely not one with millions of dollars in it.

“Fuck. How in the hell does Roadkill pull down that kind of fucking cash?”

“Exactly. I’m still digging into each of the corporations to find out what the fuck else they’re into. I’ve seen their businesses and they’re not even pulling in what we are annually.” Jag’s face showed the same disbelief I was sure mine did.

“They’re into some big shit. Have to be.” Nothing else made any sense. “How long will it take you to find more?”

Jag shrugged. “Depends on how much more information is available, but I’ll need a few days.”

“In the meantime, I want you to reach out to a blogger. Someone small enough to stay under the radar but big enough that the story might catch the attention of a bigger outlet.”

A slow smile lit up his face, the first genuine smile I’d seen since Vivi left.

“Yeah, I know the perfect person.”

We stood at the same time and joined the rest of the guys in the main room of the clubhouse. Jag dropped into a seat and flipped open his laptop, fingers flying over the keyboard to do what I asked.

“Girls, we need some privacy.”

There were always a few Reckless Bitches hanging around, but the number had dwindled after one of them targeted Golden Boy’s woman, Teddy. They were back now but they knew club business was strictly private.

“Thanks, girls.”

“What’s up, Cross?” Golden Boy stood, already on alert, and looked at me with a frown.

“A lot.”

I didn’t sugarcoat shit with my men, especially now that they had wives and kids to worry about. They needed to know what the fuck was going on and what kind of danger we faced.

“Jag came through again with a shit ton of information.”

I told them everything I’d learned about the connection between Pacheco and Roadkill.

“Jag hasn’t found proof yet, but it seems like this isn’t just about campaign promises, it seems like he’s a goddamn honorary member of Roadkill MC. I don’t want to pull the trigger, yet, but we need to apply some fucking pressure. Let them know no one gets away with fucking with the Reckless Bastards.”

“Goddamn right!” Savior smacked the table and a bunch of guys joined in, whooping and hooting. Ready for war.

“That means we need to prepare.”

“And retaliate,” Max said, his voice deadly cool.

“Max is right, Cross. We can’t let these fuckers get away with this shit. Who knows what they’ll do next.” Golden Boy dropped a hand on his brother’s shoulder in solidarity.

“I know. That’s why I need you two to round up all the women, including any Reckless Bitches who’re in town. Moon too,” I told them, ignoring the surprised looks and smirks from my men. “Get them here and keep them here until we know the danger has passed. Be fast about it, the prospects and the Bitches will get them anything else they need.

Max and Golden Boy nodded, grabbed their weapons and left quickly. This wasn’t the first time we’d been on lockdown and it probably wouldn’t be the last. We knew how to handle it but now there were more women and children to deal with.

“Stitch, I need you to go pick up Tanya. Brief her on the way back here.”

He grinned because he was sweet on our attorney. “Sure thing, Prez.”

“Me and Lasso will go prep weapons.”

Despite being a moody bastard, Savior was a reliable member. And it helped that he fucking loved his weapons.

“Yeah, thanks.” The guys all had their assignments and those that didn’t were busy getting things ready for the arrival of the women and a long wait. I hoped it wouldn’t be too long, because we had all the evidence we needed to fuck up Pacheco’s and Roadkill’s worlds.

Stitch showed up followed by Tanya breezing in on her ridiculously high heels, which, as usual, she paired with jeans and a button up blouse she tied at the waist. Stitch couldn’t keep his eyes off her but she was oblivious.

“All right, Cross. What’s so important that I had to pass Zumbo’s Just Desserts and come straight to your playhouse?” Her pink lips twitched when several of the men frowned in her direction but otherwise she remained unfazed.

“Clubhouse,” I corrected with a smirk. “Come over here and Jag and I will brief you.” She strolled over, removing a note pad from her bag along with a tablet.

“Okay, what’s up?”

“We found some large donations from Roadkill to Pacheco, but they started long before this account was registered to his PAC.”

Jag nodded and finally looked up from his laptop. “If you look closely,” he told Tanya and handed her a flash drive, “you can see that the amounts look like payments. I can’t say for what, yet, but it looks like these are payments to a business partner.”

Tanya whistled. “Damn, when you boys get into some shit, you get in to the deepest of shit.” She shook her head as my words sank in but then like the professional she was, Tanya started taking notes.

“These fuckers fight dirty, Tanya. Really fucking dirty, so we need you briefed on all of this, every damn detail, in case shit goes sideways.”

For the next hour she sat beside Jag and listened carefully as he explained every damn thing we had on Pacheco and Roadkill. So far.

Lasso and Savior came back in and Savior nodded to let me know they’d taken care of arming everyone. “We got some knuckles and blades for the guys who can’t be strapped,” Lasso said with a smile.

At Tanya’s look, I shrugged. “We pay attention when you tell us shit.”

“Color me surprised,” she shot back with a smile and turned her attention back to Jag.

The guys all gravitated towards Savior and Lasso, eager to take their pick of the weapons. They knew this fight would be dirty and they were all ready, because we were always ready. Soldiers, no matter what uniform they wore, never got over being battle-ready at any moment.

Looking around at this group of men who were the only family I had, I couldn’t help but worry about some of them. Hell, some of us. With that kind of money on the line, there was no telling what they would do to prevent this information from coming to light.

Luckily that was no longer an option.

Finally, the best part of us had arrived. Rocky, Jana and Teddy all sat at one table, looking pregnant and surrounded by the next generation of Bastards. Mandy had just walked in looking tired and all grown up with two large boxes of what had to be her delicious pastries inside. The sound of children grew louder and I scanned for a familiar head capped with black hair.

He wasn’t there, and neither was his mother. “Where the fuck is Moon and Beau?”

“She wasn’t at home or her shop,” Max said with a grunt. He looked as upset as I felt so there was no point in yelling.

“Keep everyone here. I’ll be back.” I had to find them. Moon knew there was trouble, but she didn’t realize she was part of the trouble now. I couldn’t let anything happen to them.

Not again.