“Hey, before we do, there’s somethin’ I gotta tell you,” I said. “When you called me and told me to come back home. Well, uh—”
Sundance put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. “You’d already been in Denver for a couple of months.”
“How the fuck did you know?” I glared at my brother. “You narc’d?”
“Your brother didn’t say shit,Snarl,” Sundance disclosed. “Be real, would ya? You’re a 6’6” goddamned werewolf in a biker’s cut. Did you really not think someone in town would eventually see and recognize you?”
I grimaced. “I guess I’m used to being sorta anonymous wherever I go. I mean, people notice me, but most tend to get a ‘keep the fuck away’ vibe from me.”
“Gee, I wonder the fuck why,” Rocky deadpanned.
“If you knew I was in town, why didn’t you say anything?” I asked as we took our seats.
“Because I respect that,” Sundance said, putting his finger on my nomad patch. “Remember what I told you when I gave you that?”
I nodded. “You said, this nomadpatch means you’re as free as a biker can be, while still belonging to a club. And that sometimes the club’s needs would come first, and sometimes my freedom would.”
“And the last thing I told you?”
“That I was the kind of man who would know which needed to come first and that was the reason you were granting me nomad status.”
Sundance nodded. “That’s right. That’s what I said then, and it’s what I mean now. I trust you. And just because you’re in the area doesn’t mean I have any more of a leash on you than if you were in fucking Siberia.”
“But now, you need me. The club needs me.”
“That’s right,” Sundance replied. “Not just our club but the Dogs ofFire as well.”
“What’s up?”
“You know the Dogs own a piece of our grow business, right?”
“Sure. They oversee the Oregon and Washington side of the operation.”
“That’s right. An arrangement that’s been extremely profitable for both clubs. So profitable in fact that it’s gained the attention of the Spiders MC.”
“The Spiders? I thought that club was all but wiped out?”
“Allbut,” Sundance replied. “They’ve regrouped and have a new President. A real nasty piece of work named Warlock, and he is demanding the Dogs turn over one hundred percent of their interest to the Spiders.”
“Or, what?”
“Or it’s all out war between theclubs.”
“And the Spiders don’t stop at club members. They go after families,” Rocky said.
“He’s right,” Sundance said. “And if the Spiders are already strong enough to threaten Hatch and the Dogs, it’s only a matter of time before they make a move.”
“So where do we fit into this shit sandwich?” I asked.
“Right now, Warlock believes the Howlers don’t give a shit about who’s running the Pacific Northwest operation as long as its profitable.”
“Why do they believe that?”
Sundance grinned. “Because that’s what I’ve led Warlock to believe and I’m one charming motherfucker.”
“Could charm the hands right offof Big Ben,” Rocky said.
“Big Ben is the name of the bell inside of the clock tower, not the clock itself,” I corrected.
