“He was really insistent that he didn’t do what they were accusing him of. That was the thing he rambled about the most. He called the cops stupid and incompetent, he said they were framing him. But another thing I remember hearing him mumbling to himself about was something about how he should have gone north instead of south. I could have sworn that I heard him say something under his breath that sounded like, ‘I could be at Silverwood right now, instead of this dump’. At the time it didn’t seem important enough to dwell on.”
I pick up where my old lady left off. “So, you’re thinking that since this Silverwood place was his preference when hiding out the last time, he might go there this time to get off the radar?”
She nods, her expression grateful. “He seemed to think he was capable of outsmarting law enforcement and everyone else.”
Slate mutters, “You don’t have to be anything special to outsmart law enforcement in this town.”
When Jasper shoots him an exasperated look, he adds, “Detective Morgan excepted, of course.”
Striker pulls up local maps on his laptop. “Silverwood isn’t ringing any bells with me, and I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m going to cross-reference anything with silver or wood in the name.”
Jasper makes good use of the time it’s taking Striker to do his electronic search. He launches into a bunch of housekeeping issues, like tightening security at the clubhouse, making sure all the women knew where the safe room was and to go there immediately if something pops off. Thank God, Striker interrupts him with information on Brennan.
“I found something. It isn’t Silverwood. It’s Sliverwood. It’s an old hunting area to the north of us, on the other side of the interstate.”
My old man speaks up. “I remember Sliverwood. We scouted it back in the day when we were tracking a rival MC through that area. And if memory serves, someone was cooking meth there a few years back.”
Chapter 16
Onyx
We move from the chapel back to our main meeting room. I walk with my arm around Emily. Normally, old ladies aren’t welcome in our meetings, but she has a right to know what is said and to have her say, because this is her life we’re talking about. I want her to know everything we know, so she can be as safe as possible.
As the brothers file in, Jinx rolls out a dusty old map from the physical copies of the area Rock always insisted upon keeping. They look like old logging maps to me. Striker opens his laptop and pulls up topography prints and rough aerial views that he found online. They get busy marking up the Sliverwood area into a grid search. We don’t know the fuckin’ area, and no one wants to ride in blind.
Jasper’s expression is grim, as it always is when we’re rounding up brothers for a mission. While Jinx and Striker divide up the map, the last brother takes his seat and Jasper steps up. My brother has come into his own as Prez. He faces every threat and crisis like it’s the only thing in the world that matters. Protectin’ my old lady is our order of the day, and Jasper doesn’t shy away from it. He steps up and gets right down to business.
“You all know why we’re here today. The fucker that forced his way into Emily’s cabin, held her hostage, and terrorized her jumped bail and is on the loose. We need to hunt him down once and for all.”
My old man chimes in. “The plan right now is to turn him over to our contact at the Cedar Falls PD, so don’t get trigger happy when you find him.”
Looking none too happy, Jasper says, “Yeah, keep that asshole alive if you can. Emily remembered something he was rambling about, and we think we have a good lead on where he might be hiding. We’re going to split up into two-man teams and do a thorough grid search. If Brennan is there, we’re gonna find him.”
Striker announces, “We’re breaking up the target area, but Sliverwood is not only huge geographically, it’s a bigger mess than I thought. The whole area’s broken into weird, disjointed parcels, and the terrain is rough. Legally, it’s hard to tell who owns what. Some parcels have gas wells running on hundred-year leases. There are a multitude of hunting leases, failed development deals, and private plots with no listed dwellings.”
“Sounds like a good place for this fucker to hide,” I say.
Jasper nods once, his eyes still glancing down at the map. “Bet that area has a lot of secrets, and they’re all fuckin’ buried deep.”
Striker snorts a laugh. “For sure, Prez. There’s no telling what we might bump into once we’re boots on the ground. There could be more meth labs that no one knows about or even drug smuggling operations in that area.”
Jasper delivers a stern warning to our crew. “That’s all the more reason to tread softly and look before you leap.”
Striker speaks again. “I should warn you that there’s no cell phone coverage in the area. That means we’re gonna need to break out the two-way radios. I shouldn’t need to remindyou that whatever you say over the airwaves is not private communication.”
Jasper grumbles, “Ain’t that fuckin’ great.” Turning to look at the brothers again, he wraps up the meeting. “Brennan’s out there somewhere. We don’t know where he is or what he’s up to, but we do know he held Onyx’s old lady hostage, burned her cabin to the ground, and his girlfriend is still MIA.” After a slight pause, he adds, “It would be fuckin’ nice to recover her as well.”
Slate speaks up. “If she’s still even in the area, you mean.”
Jasper jerks his chin at our brother. “Slate is right. She may be long gone. We’re here to find Brennan. That’s our priority right now.”
“From your mouth to God’s ear, brother,” I mutter under my breath. I’m sick and tired of my Emily not being able to leave the compound. This fuckin’ monster has stolen her peace and made her fear going out alone. That pisses me the hell off.
Jasper raises his voice in order to be heard more clearly. “Let’s gear up. By the time we’re ready to tear outta here, Striker and Jinx should have our grid assignments ready. Don’t forget to grab a two-way radio.”
Just as we’re walking away, he adds, “And those of you with hounds need to bring them.”
I throw him an annoyed look because he knows I hate it when people refer to my German Shepherd as a fuckin’ hound. Forge is a highly trained purebred tracking animal who’s earned her place in our kennel over and over again. Jasper just gives me a feral grin because he knows he’s being a bit of an ass. I don’t let him get to me, though. I escort Emily out so we can talk before I leave.
