“They’ll get there before we do, man,” Patriot said. “We gotta tell someone.”
“But who? We tell the wrong person, and no one’s going to know—”
We had to do it counter-intuitively. We couldn’t inform one of the officers, pick wrong, and watch a bunch of people die. We had to pick a club member that we knew would be loyal. And just as Lane was loyal because of his father’s stature in the club, I knew who would be.
“Tell Pink Raven,” I said.
“Pink Raven?” both of them said in surprise.
“Pink Raven is fiercely loyal because of his father,” I said. “He’ll accidentally inform the rat as he spreads word around. But if he tells enough people, it won’t matter.”
“I don’t know—”
“Just fucking call him!”
Lane got the hint. He may have been President, but I knew a hell of a lot more as a VP who had military experience.
“I’m taking her home, and then I’ll join you two,” I said. “In the meantime, call Pink Raven and do whatever the hell you have to to ensure club safety.”
I left the rest up to Patriot and Lane. They weren’t as experienced as I was, but they weren’t kids. They knew how to handle themselves and club business.
I, however, nevertheless felt like I was dealing with a petulant teenager right now.
“Get on the back of the bike,” I said to Rose.
“But my car—”
“Stays here,” I growled. “If you’re lucky, it’ll still be intact in the morning.”
“But I need—”
“Shut up!”
I had never seen Rose look at me with such fear in her eyes as now. It was honestly a little scary to realize what sort of power and control I could have over her, but that was a reflection for another day.
“You are so damn lucky you texted me. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if the Saints had taken you away from here, and if I don’t want to think about it, you don’t want to think about it. I’m taking you home. Your car does not matter right now. Understood?”
Rose nodded meekly. I got on my bike and waited for her to wrap her arms around me. She was shaking, trembling even, nervous at how I might react, but now that she was with me, she was safe. I would give her an earful when we got back to her place, but for now, I didn’t much care.
“Squeeze my left side if you want me to go left, right if you want right. Otherwise, I’ll keep going straight.”
I didn’t give her a chance to confirm. If we wound up in the wrong place, I was taking her home to my house. That wasn’t indicative of some secret plan to have her for myself. It was simply a sign of my impatience that I wasn’t going to drive all around Springsville, trying to find her mysterious address.
I watched Lane and Patriot drive off, and then I did the same, turning back only to see Lucius smoking outside, a smug look on his face. He probably figured with the three of us away, he had an easy potshot at the club headquarters. And maybe he did, but that didn’t mean that we wouldn’t fight back.
Thankfully, Rose had actually listened to my instructions. Even though she held on for dear life and squeezed so hard normally I could barely breathe, I could pick up on which direction she wanted to go well enough. The drive down to her apartment was safe and smooth, although seeing the place she lived in was kind of stunning from what she had come from.
I parked and let her get off.
“Don’t you ever fucking go to Brewskis without one of us,” I said. “And don’t you dare ever contact me again.”
“LeCharles—”
“I have to go.”
“Please!”
“Shut the fuck up!”
