Chapter Thirteen

 

 

 

 

Pretty Boy walked into the clubhouse wearing a shit eating grin and feeling damned good. He had left Gabi sitting on the couch reading a book with her feet curled up under her and a content smile on her face. After she’d eaten the breakfast he’d made her, they’d cuddled for a bit and watched a movie together before he’d gotten a text from Log that he was needed there. He looked around as he entered, seeing Dog and Trick talking near the bar with Bone, Tank, and Log over near Bone’s office. Tank motioned him over.

Pretty Boy moved towards them, ignoring two prospects when they called out to him. He knew from the grim looks on Bone and Log’s faces that something was up, and talking to two prospects instead of finding out what was going on wasn’t his idea of fun. He didn’t know what was going on, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t good. When he was near enough, Bone motioned for them to enter his office. Tank and Log proceeded him inside.

“What’s going on?” Pretty Boy asked, getting a bad feeling. Bone didn’t say anything, just shook his head waiting. Pretty Boy took a seat on the arm of a chair near the door and waited. It was another five to ten minutes before the door opened and Dog, Duck, and Trick walked in.

“Tiny’s watching the shop.” Trick said, walking inside and sitting down on the couch.

“Alright. I didn’t want to talk about this in church because what we’ve learned isn’t good. Mark sent Prescott over this morning with an update. He found some really disturbing news. Apparently, we have a leak. We’d already suspected we did, which was part of the reason we sent Mark over to start this investigation. Over the past four months we’ve tried to raid six of the Jackal’s strongholds and every time we’ve been late to the party. It just didn’t make any sense until Mark sent over the word that we have another mother-fucking mole giving the Jackals information.” Bone slammed his hand down on the table, obviously pissed off.

“Fuck, didn’t we handle this shit by killing Rash and saving Gabriella? I know Rash was an idiot, and they had Mark by the balls because of his sister, but who else is stupid enough to betray us?” Dog asked frowning.

“I don’t know, but we need to figure out who it is and take care of it as soon as possible.” Tank said from his position on the wall behind Bone.

“Does Mark have any idea where the information is coming from?”

“No, that’s the issue. He overheard something at the bar he was in. Jackals are being cautious around him still, likely because of the leak. He happened to be in the hallway outside the room they were talking in because he’d gone to take a leak. When some loud drunk came stumbling down the hall, they clammed up.” Bone said, leaning back in his chair with a grim look on his face.

“Fuck, just, fuck.” Log muttered.

Pretty Boy couldn’t agree more, because this bullshit was getting fucking old. He was tired of constantly having to look over his shoulder. It was bad enough that they had to deal with the Jackals, but one of their own betraying them was worse.

“You think its Bliss and his group?” Trick asked.

“Maybe, but I’m not sure, because for all we know the Jackals pulled some more shit like they did with Mark. Could be someone else who’s trying to protect their family for all we know. This shit is fucking stupid. I have an old lady and a little girl to protect, and I want this leak found yesterday. I only trust the men in this room and Tiny, but everyone else is suspect.” Bone grunted, slamming his hand down on the table again to emphasize his point.

“Surely you don’t suspect Tick, Ratchet, Rock, or Travis?” Trick asked.

“No, but that’s the end of the list. I would add a few more, but I can’t be sure that none of them are one hundred percent clean because they all have families.” Bone agreed.

“So do the men in this room.” Duck stated the obvious, earning glares from them all.

“Right, but every one of us would come to Bone or you to get it settled.” Tank stated grimly.

“Then I can tell you it isn’t Bear, Fat Boy, or Ringer.” Duck grunted, then continued before anyone else could speak, “Oh and Ringer’s son, Grit. They would come to me if something happened to their families. I’ve known those three men half my life and none of them are stupid enough to trust the Jackals not to hurt their loved ones or to betray the club.”

Bone nodded, “I would agree with that assessment. They aren’t the ones I would put in the suspect category either, but we need to be sure when we’re eliminating people. Mark wasn’t someone we suspected. He was clean till that shit with Gabriella went down and he’s been a straight shooter for months since then. But maybe letting him live sent the wrong message to the rest of the club. Might be the reason we have another leak. Whoever is leaking information thinks they will get away with it.”

“Not fucking likely.” Tank snarled.

Everyone around the table erupted with damned rights and fuck that’s. Pretty Boy started thinking about anyone he’d seen sneaking around in the wee hours of the night. He’d been out waiting on Gabi, but he wracked his brain for anything suspect he might have seen. He knew that whoever it was wouldn’t have wanted to be seen meeting with the Jackals and likely would have been lurking around at night or going off to meet someone at odd times. Log caught his eye and they both remembered something that had them both frowning.

“Maybe Rock shouldn’t immediately be pushed off that list.” Pretty Boy stated earning glares from several of the men.

“What the fuck?” Bone demanded looking pissed.

“I’m just saying I’ve seen him moving around a lot late at night. You know that Gabi has had a rough time since she left my bed a year or so, and I would go over and wait for her to wake up in the woods near the cabin she was using. Rock seemed to be nervous a few times when we saw him out and about. He has a friend over in dover, doesn’t he? I think the guy had a sister that he asked Rock to look after before he died a year ago. I think she’s about six years younger than he is, and she lived over in Titus with his friend’s step-dad and her mother, right? Does anyone know where she is now?”

“I have to second that, because I’ve seen him lurking around when Pretty Boy is on runs and a few of the times I waited with him. We both saw Rock acting weird. I don’t want to say that’s why, but if they took his friends sister would he tell anyone?” Log seconded his concerns.

“Fuck, I don’t know anymore. A few years ago the club was rocked by what happened to Mark’s sister, so I can’t say for sure. Only idea I have is that someone rides over to Titus to check on the friend’s sister.” Tank said, his face carved from stone as he looked at an equally grim Bone.

“I’ll go. If someone is watching the club to report back to the Jackals, it won’t be suspicious if I head out on a run. I was supposed to run supplies up there this week for Mark and the prospects we sent with him anyway. I will just go earlier than planned.” Pretty Boy stated, leaning back into the wall with his foot propped up behind him.

“Fine, let’s do that. You leave day after tomorrow. Don’t want anyone who saw this little powwow to put two and two together and start squawking that we know about the leak.” Bone nodded, his hand running over his face as he leaned back in his chair. Pretty Boy didn’t blame him. It must be a stressful job watching out for everyone in the club while trying to keep the wolves at bay. Thinking that their friend who was already a trusted and integral part of the club might be in on this was tough.

“Alright, let’s break this up as a friendly little chat. We walk out laughing and shooting the shit like nothing was going on in this room. So, get these grim looks off your faces mother fuckers.” Tank growled, slapping his hand on Trick’s shoulder. Duck reached out and slapped Tank in the back of the head earning harsh laughs and lightening the mood in the room. Trick left first, leaving the door open as they started talking about kids and old ladies, like that’s what they’d been discussing from the moment they walked into the room. Pretty Boy left twenty minutes later with Log, feeling a little grim.

 

 

 

 

Climbing off his bike, he looked up at the two-story cabin Bone and Molly lived in, wishing he didn’t have bad news to share with Bone today. Fuck, he really didn’t want to be right about Rock, but what he’d learned in Titus wasn’t making his thoughts about the other man any less worrisome. Walking up the porch he knocked on the door and waited.

“Bone, stop it! I need to get the door.” Molly laughed.

Pretty Boy could hear the rumble of Bone’s voice as he answered her. After another minute or two the door was flung open by a smiling Bone. His smile dimmed when he saw Pretty Boy on his porch. He knew as well as Pretty Boy that him being here today wasn’t a good thing.

“Who is it Bone?” Molly called from behind him. Bone moved allowing Pretty Boy to see beyond him into the hall where Molly was holding a tiny bundle of pink with a bottle propped up feeding baby Emma.

“It’s just Pretty Boy. He has a report for me about Mark and his crew. Nothing interesting.” Bone lied. His eyes pleading with Pretty Boy not to say anything.

Not that he would have, even if that look wasn’t being directed at him. What Bone told his old lady about club business was up to him, just like it was with most of the club. Each member was accountable for his old lady and what he told her was his responsibility. If she blabbed it, then the old man was the one who took the heat. Not that he thought Molly would blab anything Bone told her. Nope, that woman was a steel drum when it came to information. She wasn’t leaking anything even when she was drunk, which meant that Bone wasn’t telling her because he didn’t want her stressing about it.

He could see why. Molly was slightly pale and her eyes had bags beneath them. Obviously the new baby was taking a bit of a toll on her. Not that she looked anything but happy about it, but it was still a little stressful being a new parent, even with the support of the entire club behind them. He’d noted the same frazzled happiness on Bone, Tiny, and Racheal lately. More so with Tiny and Racheal due to them having twins. It was a happy sort of tired look that they all wore, and Pretty Boy hoped that one day he’d get to wear it too.

“Everything okay?” Molly asked, looking suspiciously between them.

“Sure, just wanted to give him an update. Also wanted to chat with him about my old lady. Need some advice.” Pretty Boy added, to explain why he’d shown up at their place. Molly wasn’t stupid, and him being here would throw up a red flag if there wasn’t some reasonable explanation for it.

“Ah, you know if it’s advice about women you need, Bone might not be the right one to talk to. I love the man, but he isn’t exactly good with women.” She had moved Emma up to her shoulder and was patting her on the back to help her burp.

“Hey, you shush it woman. He came to talk to me, and I got you didn’t I?” Bone asked, clearly not happy about her comments.

“You only managed to get me because I whipped your ass into shape.” Emma chose that moment to become fussy. She started crying and Molly went into super mom mode, forgetting all about Pretty Boy’s excuse for his presence as she attempted to sooth Emma.

“You take care of our sweetheart while I assist Pretty Boy with his female issues in my office.” Bone said, ushering Pretty Boy down the hallway toward the door of his office.

“Ha, don’t take his advice too seriously Pretty Boy, and when it doesn’t work, come talk to me.” Molly called out as the door shut behind them.

“Shit, I hate lying to her. Nice save out there though,” Bone muttered, leaning against the door with his eyes closed and fists clenched.

“You’re not going to like what I have to say any better I’m afraid.” Pretty Boy muttered.

“Damn, his friend’s sister wasn’t in Titus, was she?” Bone asked.

“Nobody has seen her in six months. Her mother was confusingly unconcerned about her missing daughter. Said she’d likely run off with some boy she’d met and that she was prone to being flighty and irresponsible.” Pretty Boy stated grimly.

“Fuck,” Bone growled, running his hands through his hair roughly, and making it stand on end.

“Yeah,” Pretty Boy responded, his own thoughts about the subject grim.

“Meet me at his place in forty minutes. I will come up with some reason to leave and we will go over and talk to him. See if we can’t get some straight answers out of him. Fuck, I never would have guessed it was him. Never.” Bone snarled.

“It might not be him.” Pretty Boy said, but even to him this new development wasn’t promising.