“Good.”
Ryder set a folder on the table. “Photos andnames of Spiders’ members, current and retired.”
I slid it toward me and opened it, rifling through the file. “Jesus, brother, this is thorough.”
He chuckled. “Got an inside guy.”
“I don’t want you puttin’ your family’s ass out there, Ryder.” I glanced up at him. “Where are Sadie and the kids?”
“We’re good, Hatch.” He took a seat and smiled. “Sadie and the kids are covered. We have the panic room, and if we need to, they can stay with her aunt at the abbey.”
Reese nodded. “Alexa and our kids can also stay there.”
Ryder’s woman used to be a nun and had been ensconced in a local abbey. When she’d met Ryder, she’d been on the precipice of a major life change, and she’d left her life as a nun and fallen in love with him. Alexa and Reese had been childhood sweethearts who’d reconnected, but she’d had to be hidden at the abbey due to her mafia father, so they still had that option available to them should they need it.
“Let’s get these pictures out to everyone,” I said.
“Ryder already sent them to me,” Booker said. “I’ve emailed copies to officers and captains. You decide who you want to share with. I’m sharin’ with Dani and my kids. I want them on guard. Cash already had his run-in withWarlock, and he’s got Teagan to consider now.”
“I’ve got Teagan,” Mack said.
Booker faced him and raised an eyebrow. “Brother, Cash has Teagan.”
Mack stood slowly and settled his fists on the table. “If I say I’ve got my daughter, Book, I’vegotmy daughter.”
“Mack, Cash and Teagan have each other and I’m not gonna have you fuckin’ with that,” Booker growled.
“Enough,” I snapped. “The last thing we need is to be at each other’s throats.” I speared Mack with a glare. “I think Cash has earned the right to look after his woman, yeah?”
Mack glared back. “This comin’ from you or my prez?”
“Right now, it’s coming from me. Your brother and friend. But if you need me to pull rank, I’ll pull rank.”
Booker sighed. “Sit down, Mack. Between the two of usandCash, we’ll keep Teagan safe. She’s covered, brother.”
Mack slowly took his seat again and I waited a few seconds before nodding. “Right. As you know, my boy, Flash is set to receive his Road Captain’s patch and there’s no time like the present, so ifhisRoad Captain could get his scrawny ass up here, I’d appreciate it.”
Train followed orders, grabbing Flash by the scruff of his cut, and damned near dragging allone hundred seventy-five pounds of him to me.
“This scrawny thing been a good soldier?” I asked Train, pointing to my son.
Train nodded. “He does what he’s told without too much drama.”
“Must be fuckin’ nice,” I replied to laughs all around.
“He’s a good man to share the road with and I’m proud to see him earn his stripes,” Train said, patting Flash on the back.
“Most of you probably don’t know this,” I said, addressing the group. “But Flash’s great, great, great, great Grandfather, John Milton Wallace was a drummer boy and surgeon’s assistant in the Union Army during the Civil War. In fact, he served for the entire duration of that horrible war. He was on the battlefield for both Sherman’s March to the Sea and The Grand Review of the Armies. John’s father, J.T. Wallace was a Midshipmen in the US Navy at sixteen, and later became a spy for the Union army. J. T.’s baby brother, John’s uncle, William Henson Wallace, was the Governor of both the Washington and Idaho Territories during Lincoln’s Presidency. William H. Wallace was a dear, long-time friend of Lincoln’s, and was the last person to meet officially with him on the day of his assassination. In fact, Lincoln asked William and his wife to accompany him to Ford’s Theater that night, but they had just arrived in DC from the PacificNorthwest and were exhausted from the trip and so declined.”
“Really?” Flash asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m giving you all this little history lesson, so you’ll know how deep the Wallace family roots run here. Wallace men and women have been leaders and protectors of the Pacific Northwest since the beginning. Our blood is in its soil.”
“That’s fuckin’ cool,” Booker said.
I turned to my son. “Flash. Are you willing to spill blood, whether your own, or your enemies’ in order to protect this club, its members, and the families of those members?”
“Fuckin’ A,” Flash replied with his normal ‘piss and vinegar’ energy.
