Chapter 25
Snake
I watched Laiken walk out the door before I dug out my damn cell phone. I needed to call Mac. This shit couldn’t go on any longer, and they needed to know. They needed to know about Laiken and I and about the bit of information I could get out of her before she left.
They were gonna be pissed and had the right to vote me out of the club, but I was hoping to talk them into an idea that could solve all this shit for us.
I texted Mac and told him we needed to call church again. He was calling my phone before I could get it back in my pocket, but I didn’t care. He had the text message, and I was ready to sit down and talk with all of them. We needed to figure out how the hell we were gonna distance ourselves from all this shit before things spiraled way out of control.
I locked up the house and headed back to the shop. The sun was beginning to set, and it cast a warm glow over the streets. It was my favorite time of day to ride. When the sun wasn’t high enough to singe my leather, but it wasn’t low enough to force me to turn my lights on. It was relaxing for me, and it made sense that I would be driving through this time of day before looking my men in the face and telling them I was in love with a fucking cop.
Shit. This was all gonna explode like a damn gas tank in a fire.
I pulled up to the shop and saw all the guys gathered out front. They had their arms crossed over their chests like I was some sort of fugitive being harbored. I pushed through all of them and led the way into the shop, but the door didn’t even close before I was hit with my first question.
“What the fuck is this about?” Fox asked.
“Your eye still hurt?” I asked.
“We’re serious. You come in here and fuck everything up, leave again for the day, and come back saying you’ve got information for us. Now spit it out,” Hawk said.
“I want you guys to remember what exactly you did for Hawk before I get into my story,” I said.
“Oh, shit. Another fucking woman,” Mac said.
“Hey. Syd’s not just some ‘fucking woman,’” Hawk groundout. “She’s special to all of us.”
“Yeah, well. Her being special also got her, and your daughter wrapped up into this shit,” I said.
“I’m protecting my family, Snake,” Hawk said as he got up in my face. “And what are you doing? Betraying us!” Fox said.
“I’m not betraying anyone! Now sit the fuck down, or I’m gone along with my information,” I said.
“She must be a hell of a woman if you’re bucking up against me,” Mac said.
“She is,” I said as I turned towards him. “Just… listen okay?”
We all sat down and took some breaths so our tempers could cool down. I gathered my thoughts and tried to figure out the best way to begin this conversation. I was wondering how the fuck I could make this work with Laiken. How in the world our two lives could collide.
I loved her. I loved her with everything inside of me. But with the DEA and The Devil Saints swirling with shit around here, I didn’t see how it was possible for us to be together.
My mind was failing me. This didn’t have anything to do with numbers or figures. This had to do with lives and livelihoods and handcuffs and drugs. This had to do with loyalty and keeping my mouth shut. This had nothing to do with anything I was comfortable with, and it pissed me off even more.
We all knew if the DEA could get The Devil Saints away for good, then we would be good. But it felt like they were trying to take down two birds with one stone. They had all they needed in order to take down their club, but for some reason, they were waiting it out. Why? Why had they not just arrested them for having the fucking drugs in the first place? One reason could be that with this cartel bullshit, they were trying to backtrack to the source. Cut off the supply of drugs coming into Nevada as well as take down their club. But if they kept digging down that rabbit hole, eventually we would come up. Whether they figured out we planted the drugs or whether they figured out we ran drugs ourselves, it was going to get messy.
Either way, we were all going to be in the middle of it.
The only way things would be safe is if we got out of drug-running altogether. Cut our ties, shut down our trade routes, and fucking laid low. The more bullshit and baggage we could unload, the better. But I wasn’t sure how the club was going to take that.
Drug-running wasn’t the bulk of our monetary income. It was a side-business, but it was lucrative. It was a combination of the drug running the mechanic shop and the bar that was our main business. The drug running was something we could do in a hurry when we needed quick cash. There had been small talk for a while about us finding something other than drugs for income but during church, we never fully voted on anything.
But now, we didn’t have a choice. Our women were involved. Gemma and Sydney. Emery and Laiken. They were all involved with this no matter how much we tried to shelter them from it. Their safety was left in the palms of our hands, and every time we tried to divert it only brought down more head on our heads.
The only way to really pull this off now that the DEA was sticking around was to start doing things a little more legally. At least until they could get out of town and take The Devil Saints with them. The question was, could I convince the club to do that? Even if I brought the girls into the picture, I still didn’t have a unanimous vote. I could maybe sway Mac even though he didn’t have a woman he was taking care of, but Fox enjoyed the drug running. He was good at selling, and he got kickbacks for being so good at it. We all knew, but it was never talked about. It didn’t impact the money in our pockets, so we paid the man more money since he was better at it.
And his arguments alone told me he’d vote ‘no,’ and the whole idea would be trashed.
We had other streams of income. We had the bar, and if we opened it up to the public, instead of just club members and associates that could rake in some decent money. We’d have to stop serving minors in order to really make it work, but that wouldn’t be anything anyone would kick up a stink about. No one was thrilled that the bar served minors in the first place, but we let it slide because the bar was how we initially cleaned our drug-running money. It was our ‘payment’ to those in the club that worked it.
Turning our backs on shit like that.
If we off-loaded all the drugs we and find another source of income, we could make this work. If we stopped running the drugs, then the bar would be legal as fuck. We could pool our money and open another one in town, which could very well make up for the loss of profits we would see without the damn drugs. It would put space between the kids some of the guys were having and those activities, and it increased the chances that the DEA would look elsewhere when they couldn’t connect us to any drug-running.
It was the only shot I had, so I had to make sure I convinced them this shit was a good idea.
I knew Sydney would love the club to be safer. Both for Emery and for Hawk. There were too many times this past year where Hawk had lost his head and almost gotten caught, and Syd wasn’t happy about it at all. And with my sister hanging around Talon, she needed extra protection. I still had the ability to keep her away from this shit, and this was how I could do that. If Gemma was really going to choose Talon to spend her life with, then I needed to make this place safer for her. I needed to start accepting her decisions instead of getting her to conform back to mine.
If I wanted her safe, this was how it had to be done.
Everyone cool?” Mac asked.
“I’m good,” Fox said.
“Me, too,” Talon said.
“I’m still gathering my thoughts,” I said.
“Good, because I’m still ready to kill you,” Hawk said.
“You better shut that fucking mouth of yours before I shut it for you,” I said.
“Everyone needs to calm the fuck down!” Mac roared.
It had been a long time since we’d had a cool-down session like this. Usually, we could all get together, spit it out, then get back on our way. But tensions were running high, and that was partially my fault. I had to accept responsibility for that before I could expect anyone to go along with my plan.
“I’m sorry I raged on you, Fox,” I finally said.
“What?” Fox asked.
“I said… I’m sorry I knocked your pussy ass to the ground.”
I could see Fox’s eyes flaring up, but then Hawk stepped in.
“That’s as good of an apology as you’re getting from Snake,” he said. “Take it or leave it.”
“I just wanna know why the fuck Snake called ‘church,” Talon said. “Gemma’s not feeling well, and I need to get back to her.”
“What the fuck’s wrong with my sister?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you after church,” Talon said.
“I said I wanna fucking know now.”
“Snake, cool your jets. You’ve flexed your dick enough today. Now, tell us why you’ve called church, or conclude this bullshit so we can all get back to the lodge. I’m hungry,” Mac said.
“That’s never good,” Hawk said, mumbling.
I had to tell them everything. About Laiken. About my feelings. I would have to divulge our entire history. Talk to them about when we were dating. In order for them to be on my side, they had to know the whole fucking story. All the way up to this afternoon. And they would probably hate me for it. Curse me for fucking around with a cop. But I loved this woman, and I trusted her, and I knew she wouldn’t bring heat down onto until she had proof.
And I knew she didn’t have that.
“It’s gonna be a long session, okay? I just… need you guys to listen,” I said.
“Snake, you good?” Hawk asked. “You’re looking pale.”
“Should I get snacks for this lovefest?” Mac asked.
“No,” I said. “But you are gonna have to keep an unbiased mind about what I’m going to suggest.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Talon asked.
“It means I have an idea about how I’m gonna get what I want, get you what you guys want, and get the fucking DEA off our backs. But it takes a story and time to tell it,” I said.
“Fine,” Fox said. “What’s this story?”
“It starts with a woman named Laiken,” I said.
“It always does,” Hawk said.
“You get her pregnant or some shit?” Mac asked.
“No, you asshole. I fell in love with her.”