“What?”
He looked over at Gunner. “Why us? There are hundreds of small clubs he could take over and build a fucking army. Why start with us?”
I looked at Angel, then Blade. “Location,” I said.
“A little map dot town in the middle of nowhere?” Zeus asked.
I shook my head and glared at my cousin. “A little map dot town in the middle of the fucking country.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Apollo remarked. “Lebanon, Kansas, is the middle of the country, and that’s hours from here.”
“The Lincoln Chapter of the Golden Skulls would make more sense,” Jingles added.
“The Lincoln Chapter was abandoned decades ago. And Reaper is the president of the Mother Chapter of the Golden Skulls. He isn’t easily swayed the way Steele was,” Angel explained. “It makes sense.”
I nodded. Angel was right. It did make sense. Steele had used my club as a bargaining chip. I looked at Banshee. I understood he’d needed to take Steele out for what he’d done to his sister, but I’d wanted to put him in a cell and ask him questions.
That was exactly where Freeway was now.
As soon as I knew Steele was here, I’d had Big Ben and Jonah lock his ass up. Knowing he was a plant, I couldn’t let him contact Stone. I knew Steele wouldn’t be leaving my clubhouse.
He wasn’t smart enough to have been involved, and reporting to the club president wasn’t a big enough offense to warrant killing him. Especially when we fed him the informationto report. He was safe for now. He just couldn’t pass on information.
“Once he finds out Steele is dead, he’ll have to come up with a new plan,” Colt pointed out.
“Yeah, one that doesn’t include patching us over but still includes getting this land,” Gunner said as he watched me.
“We need to stay vigilant. No one goes out without at least two brothers. Zombie, you and your men need to get back and take care of the other problem.”
Zombie nodded and turned to Angel. “You staying?”
“I have to, Prez. Unless you really need me?”
“Fuck, we don’t need him,” Venom scoffed. “He’s a pussy. Couldn’t even manage to get one tiny woman upstairs last time we were here,” he teased.
“Too fucking soon,” Blade snarled. My lips tipped up at the corner when I remembered how quickly Angel went down when I hit him last year. Venom lifted his hands, but he had a grin on his face that said he didn’t give a fuck.
“Meeting adjourned.” I hit the gavel on the table and said, “Cash and Mimic, hang back.” Mimic kept the blank look on his face, but I saw the question in his eyes. I shook my head and waited until everyone had left and the doors had closed before I shared Nav’s plan with my VP and my enforcer.
“Is he out of his fucking mind?” Cash bellowed. Mimic didn’t have to say a word; the expression on his face told me he agreed with Cash.
“I want you both to think about this rationally.” I explained what I’d worked out earlier, how Sal would be there and protect her. I’d make sure of it. And Cash would go with her every fucking time. And most likely Mimic as well.
“If the two of you aren’t able to go for whatever reason, Indie will. It’s partly why I want her to join the club.”
“You know when Freeway hears about that he’ll be pissed,” Cash said with a chuckle.
“I don’t give a fuck. The only reason he’s still alive is because nothing he’s done so far constitutes betrayal.” I leaned forward and placed my arms on the table. “I need you both to think about this objectively. If we have someone at the table, it gives us an edge.”
I looked over at Mimic. “Think of how Montana will react when his position is taken over by a woman.” That had Mimic smiling. He didn’t do it often, and when he did, it was fucking scary. You could hear the thoughts running through his head.
“I know you’re right, but I fucking hate this,” Cash whined.
“I know, but she’ll be protected. There isn’t another president out there who is as levelheaded as she is.”
Chapter Nineteen
King
