BLAKE

 

“In the chapel. Now.”

Unscheduled meetings were rare. There were times when Garnet would gather us up when we were already in the clubhouse but not when we were out doing our own thing.

I slept in late and it was the middle of the afternoon when I got his text.

When I got to The Grindhouse, everybody was already heading into the chapel. I got inside and took my usual seat next to everybody else. Everybody was silent and focused on Garnet, who was pacing back and forth at the head of the table.

His jaw was clenched. A hand ran over his chin then slicked his dark hair back over his head. He wasn’t saying anything but from the look in his eyes, I knew something was wrong. Garnet was more collected than anybody I’d ever met. It took a lot to get him unsettled and right now, he was fucking unsettled.

“It’s Michelle,” he said, his voice shaky. “She’s in the hospital.”

“What?” Ghost exclaimed. “Is she all right?”

The vice president of the club jumped up from his seat. Everybody at the table looked at one another, confused. I would have thought Garnet was joking but he was never one to make light of something like this. He took his old lady more serious than anything else.

“It happened this morning,” Garnet explained. “She was heading out. Business as usual. Nothing special. I didn’t think anything of it. Why would I?

“Next thing I know Sheriff Sutton is giving me a call and telling me that something happened to her.”

Garnet’s throat shifted with a swallow, shaking his head before he continued.

“Somebody hit her car,” he said. “This wasn’t any ordinary crash. This shit was violent. Intentional.”

“Who was it?” I said. “There’s gotta be some footage on the cameras.”

“Sutton said there’s no footage.”

“Shit…”

“But the motherfucker who hit her was clumsy. His license plate fell off and he didn’t bother to pick it up.”

“Are you serious? Then we know who it is. Sutton’s gonna arrest this motherfucker, right?”

“It’s not that simple…”

Garnet turned back toward us and leaned over the table.

“They ran the plates,” he said. “They belong to a van that Harris owns.”

“Harris?” Ghost said. “Jordan Harris?”

“I fucking knew it,” I said. “You can never trust these fucking Snakes. That asshole is gonna fucking rot.”

“Hold on,” Garnet said.

“What’s the problem? Harris owned the van and the van hit Michelle.”

“Harris owned the van. But he reported it stolen a few hours before it happened. Sutton already questioned him.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “He has no clue what happened.”

“That’s right. Sutton had no choice but to let him go. There’s no evidence to suggest he did it.”

“He’s a fucking Snake. That’s evidence enough.”

“Calm down,” Ghost said, putting his hand up to me. “There’s no need to jump to conclusions.”

“What other conclusion is there?” I said. “You know the Cobras have never liked us.”

“Do you think they would stoop low enough to hit someone else’s old lady?”

“Why not?” I said with a shrug.

“But why would Harris do it?”

“Because we just made a truce with them. The Winter Cobras and the Black Reapers were supposed to be at peace with one another. This would be the perfect opportunity to pull some shit like this.”

“I’m not buying it,” Ghost said. “Not after a truce. And not with federal agents in town. All it does is put a spotlight on us.”

“Or maybe that’s what Harris was counting on. Maybe he thinks he’s not crazy enough to pull something off like this with so many people watching.”

“Maybe. You don’t know any more than I do, Needle.”

Ghost sat back down. I sighed a deep breath of frustration. I was already bothered that Michelle was in the hospital and the man responsible for it was out there. Now I was arguing with one of my brothers as to how to go about this.

I looked over at the other members to see what they had to say. Sullivan was a new patch, so he didn’t know the Cobras as well as everybody else. Petey was as quiet as always. Brawn was just focused on Garnet, waiting for the president to say whatever was on his mind.

“You both have a point,” Garnet said. “Maybe Harris thought he could hit back at us knowing that it would be crazy to try something like this with federal agents in town. Or maybe he is innocent. Maybe his van really did get stolen and he has no clue what’s going on. Maybe he’s getting set up.”

“We have to do something,” I said. “Sheriff’s Department isn’t gonna do shit while Michelle is laid up in the hospital. We have to do it ourselves.”

“And what are you suggesting?” Ghost said to me. “Do you wanna start a war with the Cobras? Right after we just made a truce?”

“If they’re the ones responsible, we wouldn’t be the ones starting it.”

I looked around the table. Everybody looked unsure about what to do.

“Needle is right,” Sullivan said, suddenly speaking up.

We all turned toward the new patch.

“If the Sheriff’s Department isn’t gonna get to the bottom of this, then we have to do it ourselves,” he continued. “There’s some asshole out there and we’re sitting here trying to figure out what happened.”

“Right,” I said. “I say we go out there and get some fucking answers.”

“And what do you suggest?” Ghost said. “You take Brawn and go over to the Bone Pit and start picking fights until someone talks?”

“Do you got a better idea? Brawn will beat the shit out of every Snake in sight if that’s what it takes. Ain’t that right?”

I looked over at our enforcer. Brawn was intimidating even when he smiled. I was glad that he was on our side.

“That’s what we’ll do,” I said. “We head over to The Bone Pit and start questioning people. If we keep doing that, we’ll get the answers we need.”

“No,” Garnet said.

The room fell silent again as everybody turned toward the president. Garnet’s eyes were focused on the table in front of us. They were glazed over slightly. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him so emotional.

“That’s not how we’re gonna do it,” he said.

“Are you sure about that?” I asked.

“The Cobras might be Snakes but they’ve got pride. They won’t start talking even if Brawn here squeezes their necks until their heads pop off. If we want answers, we have to hit ‘em where it hurts.”

Garnet leaned forward, his palms pressing down on the table.

“Listen closely,” he said. “I got word that Harris has got a sister who’s in town. We scoop that bitch up and hold her for ransom. Harris won’t have any choice but to squeal if he doesn’t want anything to happen to her. If he knows the truth, we’ll get it out of him. If he really did have nothing to do with what happened to Michelle, we drop her back off, no harm done.”

Garnet eyeballed each of us. I shifted my eyes toward Ghost, who was staring back at me with his jaw clenched.

“I don’t know,” Sullivan said with a shrug. “Kidnapping a girl just to get some answers.”

“She’s not a girl,” Garnet said. “She’s a grown woman. And we won’t do anything to her.”

“Garnet’s right,” I said. “If the Cobras are responsible for what happened to Michelle, this is all fair play. You don’t mess with fucking family.”

“But the girl… I mean, she’s got nothing to do with this. She’s innocent. You hear me, right, Needle?”

Sullivan furrowed his brow at me. I looked into his eyes and saw how concerned he was. He was a grown man but he looked like a kid, too.

Shit.

Just like that, I wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

Garnet had been with Michelle for as long as I knew him. The two of them were inseparable. It wasn’t some fling. It was fucking love. And if some shit like that happened to me, there was no telling what I would be thinking.

Garnet was the president of the club. I had to follow his orders.

“You guys got any better ideas?” Garnet said. “Because if you’ve got a plan on figuring out who’s responsible for what happened to Michelle, I’m all ears.”

Garnet stood up straight and crossed his arms.

Everybody was silent.

I looked over at Ghost for an answer I knew he didn’t have. Then I turned to Sullivan, who seemed just as lost. The way Brawn and Petey looked, my doubts didn’t go away.

“Maybe there’s another way,” I said. “Sullivan’s right. We shouldn’t lower ourselves to their level.”

“What the fuck?” Garnet said. “You were all about this and now you’re changing your mind?”

“There’s gotta be another way.”

“I’m fucking waiting, Needle.”

Garnet widened his eyes at me, his arms still crossed. I stared back and gritted my teeth.

I didn’t have an answer for him. All I could do was sigh a deep breath through my nose.

“Put it to a vote,” Ghost said.

“All those in favor of scooping up Harris’s sister to get some answers, let it be known,” Garnet announced.

The president of the club held his hand up in the air.

I watched as Petey and Brawn did the same.

Sullivan looked anxious. I stared at him, waiting for him to raise his hand but he didn’t.

I turned to Ghost. He was staring into space like his mind was in another place.

“All opposed,” Garnet said.

I lazily raised my hand up. Sullivan did the same.

A tie vote. We were right back where we started.

At least, that’s what I expected. When I looked over at Ghost, I saw that he didn’t raise his hand up. The motherfucker had abstained.

“Three to two,” Garnet said. “We’re gonna do this.”

“Shit…” I muttered.

“Brawn. Petey. Scout The Bone Pit to keep an eye on her. We’ll track her whereabouts. We don’t wanna bag her where she lives, too many witnesses. We’ll get her when no one’s around. Any questions?”

There was a deafening silence in the room. The decision had already been made, so there was nothing to say.

“Meeting adjourned.”

I sighed before getting up out of my seat. It was the middle of the afternoon as I made my way over to the bar. I never drank this early but I needed something.

“What’s wrong with you?” a voice said to me.

I looked over and saw Ghost sitting right next to me.

“What was that all about?” I said. “Why didn’t you vote? You know this is a mistake. Sullivan is right.”

“Since when have you stuck up for a new patch?”

“Never. That’s why this is a big fucking deal.”

I shook my head as I took a sip of beer.

“We’re better than the Snakes,” I said.

“You don’t care about what happened to Michelle?”

“Of course I do. But kidnapping some innocent girl and holding her for ransom… That shit doesn’t make me feel good.”

“Nothing will happen to her. This is just to get the truth out of Harris.”

“And what if he does have something to do with this? Then what? I mean, shit, I love Michelle, but Garnet looks like he’s gonna fucking kill someone. Civilians are always off-limits.”

“Somebody just put his old lady in the hospital and got away with it. He might be going overboard but we do a lot of shit when we’re in love.”

“Crazy shit. He’s putting everything on the line.”

I gulped the rest of my beer. I thought about everything that happened and after a few seconds, I finally noticed Ghost staring at me with a smile on his lips.

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“You. Sticking up for the Cobras. I thought I’d never see the day.”

“Let’s get one thing straight, I will never stick up for the Cobras.”

“Good,” he said bluntly. “Because if we’re gonna do this, we have to do it together. Are you in or out?”

“I’m in—”

“Then stop questioning it. The club has already made a decision. Don’t go against the vote.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

I sighed and leaned forward across the bar counter. I rubbed my forehead with my fingers, my eyes closed as Ghost patted me on the back.

“What exactly is the plan?” I asked.

“Garnet will scout this chick out. He’ll bring Petey with him, since he was on board. Brawn, too, in case some shit goes down. They’ll scoop her up, just like that.”

Ghost snapped his fingers.

“Shit should be easy. Just wait for us at the storage warehouse,” he said. “Let the boys handle the dirty work of getting her there.”

Ghost made the plan sound so simple. I never doubted Garnet. When he had a plan, he always saw it through. I just couldn’t shake the feeling I had in my stomach about the whole thing.

“Look at it this way,” he said. “Garnet’s a brother. This isn’t about you or the Snakes or even this girl we’re going after. This is for him. That’s who you’re doing it for.”

I listened to Ghost walk away before I was alone at the bar again.

Everything he said made sense. But it still didn’t sit well with me. All I could do now was fucking hope that I wouldn’t regret abducting this girl.