Chapter 5
Maverick
My phone had been ringing for several minutes before I managed to pull off the road to answer it. When I looked at the screen and saw that it was Guardrail, I immediately became uneasy. He wouldn’t be calling so early in the morning unless there was something wrong. When he told me that Cotton had called us all in to meet at church, I knew without a doubt that something was off. It was in his voice… he sounded shaken, and it wasn’t like him at all. Guardrail had been VP of Satan’s Fury for as long as I could remember, and it took a lot to rattle him. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t good.
When I drove through the gate, I was instantly overcome with a feeling of dread. The parking lot was filled with all of my brothers’ bikes, but everything was still. No music from the bar, no talking or laughing… just an eerie silence that sent chills down my spine. As soon as I parked my bike, I headed straight for the meeting room. All of the brothers were sitting around the long oak table, their faces marked with grief. There were no words or expressions of greetings—this was not a typical call to church.
“Have a seat, Maverick,” Cotton ordered with a strained voice. “Been waiting on you to get started.”
As soon as I took my seat, I looked over to Guardrail, searching for some sign of what the hell was going on. His face was completely void of expression as he looked at the wall in front of him. Yeah, something was definitely wrong. My eyes wandered over to Stitch. His face was twisted with anguish, and the veins around his neck pulsed with rage. I could feel the anger vibrating off of him as he sat back in his chair with his fists clenched tight. He was the club Enforcer, and at 6’9”, he was not a man you wanted to tangle with. The hell that man was capable of inflicting would humble anyone. He’d never backed down from anything, and he had the scars to prove it, leaving no doubt how he got his road name. Looking at him, I could see the fury literally rolling off of him. Whoever had fucked up, Stitch was going to make them pay.
The tension in the room crackled around us as Cotton said, “As some of you already know, we lost one of our own last night.”
Stitch slammed his fist down on the table as he growled, “Someone was trying to send us a message with Skidrow’s death. Whoever the hell it was, they can consider the message fucking received!”
“There’s no doubt that they were trying to make a statement. One of the prospects found him this morning out by the main gate… tossed out like trash by the side of the road,” Cotton continued. Anger flashed through his eyes as he proceeded to explain everything that had happened. “His patch had been removed, and any sign of Satan’s Fury on his body had been burned.”
“Who do you think did this?” I asked, still trying to make sense of everything he’d just said. They hadn’t just killed one of our brothers… they had insulted our club to the highest degree by desecrating any and all signs of our club’s name on Skidrow’s body.
“Tony’s old crew wouldn’t have the balls to do something like this. It had to be someone else,” Guardrail scowled as he looked over to me.
“I want every man on this. I want to know where he was… who he’s been talking to. Hell, I want to know what he had for dinner last night. Any fucking thing that might help us find out who did this.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. It would only be a matter of time before we were able to track down the motherfuckers who did this. Our club had eyes and ears in places no one would ever expect. Whoever had done this had fucked with the wrong club.
“All of you know that Maverick has more than proven himself as an invaluable asset to the club over the past few years. He’d give his life for any one of you, and I’m naming him as Sergeant of Arms. Everyone in agreement say, Aye,” Cotton motioned. Before I had time to protest, the room filled with chants of approval. Fuck.
“Done. Maverick, get with Big Mike. See what you two can find out and get back to me within the hour.” Mike was the best hacker in the club, and if there was anything that might help us, he’d be the one to find it.
“You got it,” I answered.
“Guardrail, we need to make arrangements for Skidrow. Make sure he gets the respect he deserves. Get Dallas to the clubhouse. I want eyes on her at all times,” Cotton ordered as he stood up. Dallas was Skidrow’s old lady, and we all knew she was going to take this hard. “Meeting adjourned.”
It took several seconds for everyone to start moving. The shock of everything that had happened was still lingering in the room. Skid was one of those brothers we all felt close to. He was always there when you needed him, and I was humbled they thought I was the right man to follow in his footsteps.
Guardrail walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “You were the best choice. You and I both know that.”
“It doesn’t seem right. We haven’t even put the man in the ground, and now we’ve replaced him… with me, no less.”
“Now’s the time. Do him proud, brother. He’d want this for you, too.”