“Half a dozen, you say?” Thunder asked.
Breaker nodded. “Yeah, so far he’s patched in Hellhounds, Dark Steel…”
Hacker lifted his eyes from his laptop. “It doesn’t matter who they were. It only matters who they are now. Viper knows this.”
I added, “He had thirty with him during the unity ride. They seemed to come out of nowhere.”
Siege continued. “They’ve been starting shit with bigger clubs. They’re not doing enough yet to provoke a full-on war, just enough to stir up chaos, test boundaries, and figure out who’s willing to push back.”
Storm asked pointedly, “So did you?”
Siege’s jaw flexed with anger as he answered, “They ran two of my guys off the road three nights ago. Both bikes were totaled. We’re sure as fuck gonna push back.”
Grit leaned forward. “And what does that have to do with Vulture’s clubhouse burning?”
Siege met his stare without flinching. “It has to do with a lot more than that. It’s about territory, optics, and Viper bein’ a shifty ass motherfucker. There was the disagreement with Vulture over the girl. Vulture kickin’ his ass all over the tarmac before the host put a stop to it. And finally gettin’ thrown out of the rally.”
“Yeah,” Storm agreed. “That little upstart was damn good and mad. He shouldn’t have gotten into a wrangle with Vulture.”
Siege continued putting the pieces of the puzzle together. “Viper wanted to humiliate Vulture. But violating the old man’s territory wasn’t enough. Viper wanted something deeper and more personal.”
Thunder said, “That sounds about right to me.”
Siege added, “There’s more. Vulture’s been vocal about not wanting Stolen Oath expanding. You gotta know that Viper ain’t gonna let nothin’ stand in the way of expandin’ his club. If you think about it, all the pieces fit.”
“We need to do somethin’ to stop him before it’s too late,” Celt added.
Siege agreed. “That’s why we came here today. No one wants a regional club war. Once we start tearing into each other, the bloodletting could go on for a very long time. Viper has been busy stirring the pot. Somebody needs to put a lid on it before it boils over.”
Storm’s gaze flicked around our side of the table. “He’s already too big to take down without drawing notice. I say we monitor him and try to find a weakness.”
Grit grunted. “With what, a magic crystal ball?”
Hacker spoke before Storm could. “We can map every inch of ground his club covers. Every club absorbed, every member we can identify, every incident tied to them. We can track where they’re riding, who they’re associating with. We can monitor chatter and private channels. If we pay close enough attention, they’ll eventually make a mistake we can use to our advantage.”
Thunder spoke up, “We also need to track their finances. Territory expansion, bikes, guns, fuel, bribes and property all cost money. Somebody’s funding this. If Viper’s suddenly found money for expansion, I want to know where it came from.”
Dutch’s gaze narrowed. “You’re right. He’s been expanding fast. That suggests either he’s desperate or someone is backing him financially.”
Breaker leaned forward. “Either way, everyone knows that rapid expansion is dangerous.”
Storm looked at Siege again. “We were worried he was framing us. Now I’m worried he’s building enough numbers to start pickin’ us all off one by one.”
“If it’s intel we want, I might have a way we could get it. We know a club with a spy on the inside of one of the clubs he patched over,” Siege said, his expression perking up.
Storm immediately asked, “Which club?”
Siege hesitated. I was guessing he didn’t yet trust Storm but desperately needed his help. After a long pause, he answered, “It’s the Sons of Rage.”
Storm’s eyebrows flew up. “The Sons of Rage are a huge legacy club with a half dozen affiliates. I’ve heard they can raise a thousand men inside of an hour and they’ve got a trusted family member in every officer’s slot. They’re a well-respected club in this region.
Siege relaxed for the first time since the meeting started. “They’ve been around for two generations. They know how to survive when times get tough. And their reputation as feral fucks is greatly exaggerated.”
“You trust ‘em?” Storm asked.
“One of my men is married to Queenie and Rock’s granddaughter. They’re solid,” Siege answered.
Storm leaned forward, hands flat on the table. “Can you arrange a meet up with their club officers?”
