Cash
Stepping into Hatch’s room, I smiled to see Razor grinning like an idiot, despite missing one of his front teeth. “Hey, brother.”
“Here’s the prodigal son now,” Razor said on a laugh, then groaned and coughed as he doubled over in pain.
“Careful,” Hatch warned. “Those ribs are busted to shit.”
Also in the room were my father, Mack, Hawk, Flea, Ace, Knight, Harm, Train, Maverick, Archer, Ruin, and Finch.
As my brothers joked with Razor, I pulled Hatch aside, and said, “Hey, I thought you should know that I wasn’t the Spiders’ first choice. Warlock had originally planned to take one of your kids.”
Hatch placed his hands on my shoulders and met my eyes. “Theydidtake one of my kids, Cash. If anything had happened to you, I don’t know what I would have done.”
I’d always had the greatest admiration for Hatch, but I’d never known until that moment exactly what I meant to him. He wasn’t just my president, he was more of a second father. For Hatch, club wasn’tlikefamily, itwasfamily.
I nodded, and Hatch patted my cheek before grabbing a laptop and opening it to reveal Flash and Sparky, Poppy’s man, on video. He set the computer on the bureau, positioning it so they could see the room and vice-versa. Hatch’s youngest, Jamie, wasn’t a patched member yet, so he wasn’t included in the meeting, which made sense.
“Not happy we’re not there, Pop,” Flash said.
“If I coulda got all the Wolfpack outta the country, I would have. Next time, I’ll plan a little further in advance. We gotta get everyone updated passports.”
“But we could be helping,” Sparky pointed out.
“Or you could be dead,” Hatch snapped. “Okay, fill us in, Cash.”
I walked them through the events of the early morning and my conversation with Warlock and then, subsequently, Sundance.
“What was this shit with Lando and Eddie something?” Hatch asked.
I chuckled. “Sundance is a world history buff as well as a huge sci-fi fan, so I figured if I referenced Eddie Chapman who was a British spy during WWII, Lando from Star Wars, and the birthplace of Benedict Arnold, he’d pick up on the double agent references without tipping off Warlock.”
“Yeah, he confirmed that with me,” Hatch said. “But it was a risky move, son.”
“I know,” I said. “And I hope I haven’t made things worse, I just needed to buy more time.”
“Every time we think we’ve squashed the Spiders, they spin another web,” my dad muttered.
“Yeah, but your kid made a smart play,” Hatch said.
“Except we have less than forty-eight hours to rally support and Warlock is gonna figure out sooner than later we’re not goin’ along with his plan,” Mack said.
“Plenty of time,” Hatch said. “What are you worried about?”
The room gave a nervous chuckle.
“I want everybody’s powder kept dry and your heads on a swivel. No one, and I mean, no one, rides without at least three members and family is on lockdown. This is a code red, boys, the Howlers are on their way, and I’m about to reach out to my brother-in-law and see if we can get the Burning Saints’ support as well.”
“Jesus, you’re goin’ to Minus for help?” Finch breathed out. “We must be in deep shit.”
“I wouldn’t plan on wearing your good boots for a while,” Hatch said.
So there it was. We were going to war.
We filed out of the room, and I made my way to Teagan, taking her hand and leading her up to our room.
“Is everything okay?” she asked once I’d closed the door.
I sat in the recliner and pulled her onto my lap. “We’re going on lockdown. This means, you don’t leave unless you’re with me or your dad, or someone we trust, got it?”
