Eagle
HAVING MOVED TAP and Morse to the large meeting room we referred to as the chapel (since that’s where we held church), Link was alone in his office when I returned. Without knocking, I marched right in and plopped a duffel bag full of cash on his desk. I hadn’t been able to find Naomi—nobody had—so I’d made a quick stop by my bank before it closed and withdrew the hundred-thousand to cover her ransom.
“What’s this?” Link asked, scowling at the bag.
“You know damn well what it is,” I replied.
He zipped open the bag and looked inside. Nothing but stacks of unmarked bills. “Fuck, Eagle. You know this isn’t how we work. We don’t pay people off.”
“I’m not planning on paying Brass off. I’ll use this to get Naomi away from him, then I’ll take his ass out. Make sure he doesn’t try this shit again. If I get caught, you need to say I went rogue… handled it on my own without the club’s permission or help.” That’s why it needed to be my money. I didn’t want any of this to touch the club and destroy everything Jake and Link had worked so hard to build.
Link seemed to consider me for a moment before peering back into the bag. “This is a hell of a lot of money. What if you lose it all? Everything. Naomi and the cash.”
Did he really think I cared about the dough? “I haven’t had a goddamn thing to spend my money on in six years. I finally do, and I’m not gonna fuckin’ lose her. I’m bringing Naomi and our child back if it costs me every cent and every drop of blood I have. You feel me?”
“You think I want her out there with Brass, wrapped up in whatever shit he’s gotten himself into?”
“No. I think your hands are tied, Prez.”
His jaw ticked. He didn’t like that one bit, but it was true. Link had important responsibilities that he couldn’t just throw away whenever someone was in danger. “What’s your plan?”
“I’d rather you didn’t know. Plausible deniability and all that shit.”
“If you think I’m letting you out of here without knowing what you’re up to, you’re high, Eagle. I’m responsible for you, goddammit.”
Link had been a Special Forces commander. He’d been leading a team for as long as anyone could remember, and he was still at it. Only now his team was bigger and wore cuts and drove bikes. Seeing no way out of sharing my plan with him, I broke down and spilled it all.
“I’m gonna steal a tracking device from Tap… one of those thin ones that I can slip it into a stack of bills in case they put the money in a different bag. If I steal it, this shit doesn’t touch Tap, either. I’ll do the exchange and get Naomi to safety, then I’ll track down Brass and whoever he’s working with and take them out. When’s Brass supposed to be calling you with the drop point?”
Link glanced at his watch. “About three and half hours.” He rubbed his beard, and I could tell he was thinking over my plan. “Not a bad plan, but you failed to utilize your two greatest strengths.”
“What’s that?”
“Your brothers and your rifle. Seek and destroy ops aren’t your MO, Eagle. That’s the kind of shit that Havoc or I would do. You scout out threats and snipe them off before they endanger the team. I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re gonna do alone.”
I didn’t like him insinuating I couldn’t handle this shit. “Whatever’s necessary.”
“You’re assuming Brass is running the show, but he’s a goddamn tweaker now. You saw the guys who picked up Naomi. They’re someone’s muscle. Brass ain’t shit in the whole scheme of things. Someone’s pulling his strings and whoever it is has targeted us. They know who we are, and they think we’ll just roll over and take it.” He zipped up the bag. “You’re not doing this.”
Shocked, I stared at him. This was his sister we were talking about. I knew he was busting his ass to find her—calling in favors all around the city—but why would he stop me from paying for her release? “I know you’re pissed at me, but I’m trained, and I’m quite capable…”
He held up a hand. “This has nothing to do with you and me. This is about her safety, yours, too, and my role as the president of this fuckin’ club.”
I was trying to keep his nose clean and get Naomi out safely, and the bastard was pulling rank on me. “No offense, Prez, but I don’t exactly need your permission to do this. I have the cash, and I will damn well take care of my woman and child.”
My woman. That’s twice I’d used that term in front of Link, making a public claim on Naomi. She was my woman. She’d invited me to be a part of her life, and although she hadn’t given me time to accept her invitation before she ran off and got herself taken, I sure as hell planned to give her my answer when I got her back.
His eyes flared with anger. “Goddammit, Eagle, no you won’t!” he roared. “You’re not a lone wolf anymore, and Brass is my problem. I brought him into this club and I was too proud, thinking I was real hot shit as the incoming president. Couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to what was happening right under my nose. Brass’s problems didn’t spring up overnight—and even you tried to tell me about them—but I didn’t listen to shit.”
Nobody expected perfection from Link, but Brass had been his first prospect, and he’d turned a blind eye when a few of the club whores complained about Brass. He should have listened… should have put Brass in check long ago and maybe we wouldn’t have this problem. But, it was well past time to play the blame game. What was done was done, and we needed to handle the repercussions.
“This is about more than Naomi’s safety, Eagle. Morse pulled images of the homeless guy who’s been watching Emily. It’s him. It’s Brass. Fuckin’ brass balls and lead brain if you ask me. After all I did for him, he’s been waiting for the right time to strike. I’ve had Emily covered, so he took Naomi. Goddamn ironic how my sister finally comes home to safety and immediately gets swept up into my bullshit. I can’t sit on my fuckin’ hands while you clean up my mess.”
“You can’t go after Brass. You have to protect the club,” I reminded him. The Dead Presidents always stayed on the right side of the law. It wasn’t in our bylaws or anything, just an unwritten rule everyone followed. But, if word got out that a motorcycle club full of military vets was dishing out vigilante justice, every ounce of good the club had done would be put under a microscope. Havoc’s case would be questioned. All of the programs Link had put into place to help vets and the community would be picked apart. We’d lose credibility and any time a law was broken the cops would come sniffing at our door to make sure we weren’t the ones responsible.
“Pops ran this club for twenty-five years. I’ve had it for two. In that time, we’ve done nothing but help people… vets, the community, whoever needed help. Now this city that we’ve busted our ass to help thinks we’re soft. Thinks we’re a bunch of washed-up do-gooders who can’t even protect their own. First, they kidnapped Emily’s grandma. Then they fucked with Havoc and went after Julia. Now…” He shook his head. “Naomi wasn’t even a block away when Brass nabbed her. You think I can let that shit slide?”
“But the club—”
“What good is a fuckin’ club if we can’t even protect the ones we love?” he asked. “Pops and I have fought to keep us legit, but at what cost? Who are these motherfuckers gonna come for next? Your kid? Wasp’s? Mine? Fuck that. We’re not gonna hide away our families out of fear. We need to remind these fuckers who we are and the lengths we’ll go to in order to protect what’s ours. Up to this point, every time someone’s brought trouble to our doorstep, we’ve let the law take care of it. But these bastards aren’t afraid of the law, and they keep coming. We need to give them something to fear so they’ll think twice before they fuck with us again.”
“Are you sure you want to go down this road?” I asked. Link had made some damn good points and I was on board, but this was a one-way street and there’d be no coming back.
“I don’t see where we have a choice. Either we show these motherfuckers who they’re dealing with, or we bend over, grab our ankles, and spell run. I’m not taking it up the ass, Eagle. Not now, not ever.”
When Link had recruited me, he’d been this fired up and passionate about the cause. Over the past two years, he’d done a great job growing the club and furthering the cause, but a little of that fire had been extinguished. It was nice to see it back in his eyes. This man—committed to justice, freedom, and protection—was the president I promised to follow when he patched me in. This was the Link Naomi and our kid needed right now. I only hoped this shitstorm didn’t splatter all over the face of the club. “I’m in, brother. What’s the plan?” I asked.
Havoc pushed his way into the office. “If you two are finished applying the war paint and getting all fired up, you’re needed in the chapel.”
“Did they find Naomi?” I asked.
“No. The club met and voted. It’s unanimous. We’re in, Prez. Nobody fucks with our women and gets away with it.”
“You called church?” I asked, frowning as I fumbled with my phone to check my messages. “I didn’t get a notification.
“You weren’t invited.” Link stood. “We’re still a democracy and a decision this big had to be put to the vote without me, you, or Pops in the room to sway votes or point the finger at anyone who voted against taking out these bastards. Now that it’s settled, let’s get in there and figure out how we’re gonna end this threat to our club.”