CHAPTER 6
Present…
AXLE
“They took all of it,” Drex says calmly, although I can feel the inevitable explosion crackling close to the surface.
I sit back, trying not to lose my shit. Never thought I’d want Herrin dead this badly. He was our P. Now he’s nothing but a bitch—and a dead man walking.
“Every fucking penny,” Rush growls. “How? We moved all the money to five different secure accounts. All of them were new!”
“Pop didn’t get to the top by lying down and taking things. And he didn’t get there without making numerous friends either. Someone sold us out within the club, and somehow we got hacked,” Drex says quietly.
Suddenly, he stands, and the volatile explosion I was waiting for happens as he slams his fist through the wall over and over again. Propping up, I start going through our list of members in my head, trying to figure out who would be the most loyal to Herrin.
Bottom line, it doesn’t matter right now, because we’re broke. Which means we’re fucked.
“Herrin’s smart. The best way to break us is to bankrupt us,” Jude drawls, sounding bored with the whole thing. He’s not been right since the truth came out about Sarah or AJ or whatever her name is.
A lot of shit has happened in six months. Our club split up. Drex and Herrin are on the verge of a war. Snake started using his real name after Sarah—whose real name is AJ—was outed as someone completely different than any of us expected…
It’s been a shitty half year.
“We have an order on thirty installs that would help us out, but we need to buy the supplies somehow,” Drex groans.
“The down payment should cover the installs,” I say, trying to dig us out of this hole.
We went from having more money than we could ever spend to being broke.
“We need at least sixty grand to do the installs. With the feds sniffing around, it’s hard to even keep business, much less ask for a down payment. The only way we’re keeping business is by not asking for payment until delivery,” Drex explains, frustrated.
“Feds aren’t sniffing around us right now. They’ve pulled back to look for AJ,” I say. Yeah, even I hear how stupid and desperate it sounds.
“Doesn’t matter. Pop is still attached to our name until we prove we’re done with him,” Drex growls.
“So how much we got between us?” Rush asks, tossing out a wad of cash. “I’ve got ten grand.”
It’s not like any of us keep a bank account. That’s too easy for the feds to keep tabs on. The vast majority of our funds stayed in the off-shore club account, and we personally kept our payments in cash or invested in things. Most of us just spent the shit, certain there’d always be more when we needed it.
The laundered money went into the other four accounts we recently set up. All five accounts have been emptied the hell out.
“I have maybe fifteen grand,” I announce, blowing out a breath.
“I have at least twenty grand upstairs,” Drex says, frowning. “The rest of my cash was burned in the damn fire Ben and his followers set to my house.”
“Five G’s from me,” Snake—I mean Jude says, tossing out his own wad. “I just spent a fuck ton on my new bike.”
Sledge tosses in his offerings, as well as Dash, and Drex starts counting it up.
“It might be enough for the installs, but we need more money to keep the bills paid in the meantime,” Drex says, leaning back.
“I’d say we could take some run jobs, but I doubt anyone would risk their merchandise being in our hands with the club dividing, the feds watching Herrin, and shit going to hell,” Rush says, his lips tensing.
“We’ll work it out, prove we can handle our shit no matter what, and deal with it as we can. We got that meeting this afternoon with more prospective clients that Rush vetted,” I add.
Rush runs a hand through his hair, glancing over at me.
“The guys came back without much info on them, but I talked to three sources the club trusts. All said they were legit. I’m still going with you to see if I missed anything. Last thing we need is to get mixed up with junkies right now,” he tells me.
“I’ll come with too. Make it look good with me being there,” Drex goes on. “It’s a big deal that could really dig us out of this pit right now.”
“So all four of us are going?” Jude asks, arms crossing over his chest.
Drex nods slowly. “Yeah. We need to put in the extra effort and work a little harder than usual until we can bump the funds back up. And we need to keep this as quiet as possible from the others for now. Half of them are already skittish, and as it is, we obviously have a rat. Possibly more than one.”
“Some charters are struggling to pick a side right now,” Dash chimes in. “By the way, I’ll ride out with you to meet the clients too.”
It’s just the six of us at the table. Dash, Drex, Sledge, Jude, Rush, and me. This table used to host a lot more.
“Most will side with Herrin since he’s the P,” Sledge says in a gruff tone. “But the young guns will possibly toss away their patches for a chance to come here and move up with Drex.”
Drex stands, pushing his chair back, and he presses his hands down on the table as he leans over it.
“We still have the money coming in from our businesses. I’ll cash it all out for the time being. I’ll have Liza bring the deposit bags here every night from the strip club. The salon is also in my name. I’ll have Colleen bring the bags here from it. Someone needs to escort them daily and take different routes. Multiple escorts, actually. Only guys you know you can trust.”
His phone beeps, and he pulls it out, looking at it as I turn to face Sledge.
“You know Herrin better than any of us. When’s he going to hit? And should we hit first?”
He shakes his head. “You hit first, and the remaining charters will all side with him. If he hits first, you’re going to win more love, though loyalties will still be divided. Herrin is unpredictable, so there’s no telling when he’ll hit. But you can be sure it’s coming.”
“So we hit first, and we get shunned. We get hit first, and we might win some guys,” Rush states dryly. “Great fucking brotherhood we have.”
Sledge tenses just barely as he glances over at his adopted son. “What’s going on here is a fucked up situation that no one was prepared for. There’s not a rule book on how to deal with it.”
“Eve is coming in,” Drex says before pocketing his phone, and Rush closes his mouth, swallowing down whatever he was going to say.
That’s another change. Drex has an old lady now. It’s because of her that he finally understood his father wasn’t the legend or leader he thought he was.
Our eyes all cut to the door when Eve walks in, and she arches an eyebrow when she sees us.
“Do I have something on my face?” she asks, then touches her face like she’s searching for the phantom issue.
When I look away, Drex is smiling at her, and that has me rolling my eyes. He hasn’t gone soft, if that’s what you’re thinking.
“What’s the verdict?” she asks, and everyone shifts uncomfortably.
We know Eve isn’t a snitch, but giving her details is still a little too worrisome. Well, to everyone but Drex.
“The verdict is that we’re about to go scope out those potential clients I told you about. Stay here and upstairs until I get back. Lock the door, too,” he tells her firmly.
She flicks her gaze around the table, and her eyes meet his. “Be careful. Herrin is out for you. He could be setting you up.”
Sledge is the first to laugh, and I chuckle under my breath. It’s funny seeing someone worry over Drex.
He tugs her to him, his grin turning mocking as she lets him manhandle her.
“We know how to vet them,” Rush tells her acidly, but she doesn’t even pay him any attention. He runs hot and cold where Eve is concerned. More cold than hot. He hated Herrin more than any of us, so he’s thankful to her for at least getting this ball rolling.
When Drex and Eve start kissing, we all get up and walk out, because you never know when things will escalate with them, and Drex isn’t afraid of exhibition.
None of us say anything as we all go to our temporary rooms within the warehouse to get ready for the ride to meet our newest possible clients.
I collapse to my bed, covering my eyes with my arm as I try to get a few seconds of sleep. It seems like I get less and less of it the older I get.