“Yeah, real shit. Vin’s got him in the infirmary, told him I’d send you in when you got here.” He slapped me on the back and headed towards the bar.
I lit a cigarette as I walked to the infirmary, my thoughts on Skate and what the fuck had happened to him, what he could be hiding from us, and what the fuck would happen now. But even with all that rattling through my head, I was still thinking of Nancy.
The infirmary door was closed, and Jase and JP were standing outside talking. I shook hands with them, but they could only tell me what I already knew, so I put out my cigarette and knocked once before heading inside. I found Vin, Buddy, and Skull standing by Skate’s bed. Unlike the rooms downstairs, the infirmary was sterile, with white walls and even whiter bedsheets. Made no sense to keep Skate there if they thought he was a traitor, but as soon as I saw Skate I knew he wasn’t.
His face was a mess. A real fucking mess. Dried blood trailed from his nose and one eye was swollen closed, the other only letting in a slit of light. His face was bloody and bruised, his arms bandaged from wrist to elbow.
“Jesus,” I mumbled, getting closer. “This your work?” I asked Vin.
“No, brother. This was something much worse.” He gestured for me to sit.
“I’m fine standing,” I growled out, not liking the situation at all. “What’s going on?”
I looked at Skull, finally noticing the bruises and blood on his face too. His knuckles were red and bloody, scabs already forming on them.
“I was ambushed on the way back from the drop,” Skate said, his voice hoarse. “Managed to get away because the dumb fuck thought I was dead and now that dumb fuck’s dead and I’m not. Didn’t want to come back here in case I brought trouble with me, so I hid out at Skull’s. Knew he’d have my back no matter what.”
“Fuck yeah,” Skull mumbled.
“Who was it?” I asked. “Let’s go finish it.” I frowned, looking between Buddy and Vin and wondering why they hadn’t sent someone out to cut down whoever it was already.
“This shit stays with us for now,” Vin said, pacing. “We need to play this delicately or it’s going to blow up in all of our faces.”
I didn’t like the sound of that at all. This was a club, and anything that put the other members’ lives in danger shouldn’t be kept a secret, but Vin was president and what he said went, so I nodded, despite hating it. Couldn’t imagine not telling Crank, but decided I’d work on that later.
“Okay, so it stays between us five until we can do something about it,” I agreed.
Buddy sighed. He lit a cigarette and blew out a long plume of smoke. “I didn’t see a face, just a patch.”
I scowled. “Who’s patch? Another club?”
Buddy’s expression hardened, his eyes darkening. “It was someone from the Highwaymen. Didn’t see their face though.”
I stood up automatically and scowled even harder. I shook my head but didn’t speak because I couldn’t figure out what to say. One of our brothers tipping off the cops made no fucking sense whatsoever. We all stood to make money if the drops went well. And if they didn’t… they all of our pockets were empty.
Buddy nodded in agreement like he’d read my thoughts. “Yeah, it’s fucked up. But it is what it is: someone from our own club sabotaged the drop. Tipped off ATF. Think they’ve been doing it for a while across other clubs too—too many shipments going missing, too many brothers dying because of this,” Buddy said around a mouthful of smoke. “This shit goes deep, brother. Too deep, and I don’t have proof to put forward on it.”
There was only one thing to come from what Hardy was doing, and my chest tightened with anger, thinking of all the men’s lives he was putting in danger. The people we’d lost, not just to prison, but to Hades. And that had all come from a brothers actions. But worse still was the utter betrayal of whoever it was. They’d turned on the club, their brothers, and our whole way of life.
“I’ll fuckin’ kill them,” I growled, cracking my knuckles. “I’ll gut the motherfucker like a fuckin’ pig and serve them up for breakfast.”
“Yeah, well you’ll have to wait in line for that,” Skull snarled out, sounding as furious as I was.
“You got any clue as to who it is?” I asked Skate through gritted teeth.
Buddy helped Skate to sit up and I noted the bandage wrapped tightly around his middle. “Nah, not a fuckin’ clue, but I was on my way back from a run when I passed Agent Lear talking to a brother at a truck stop. Didn’t stop because I had saddlebags full of cash, but I saw the patch on their cut.”
Skate took the cigar Buddy lit for him and puffed on it. His lips were cracked and bleeding, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Why didn’t you speak to anyone?” I said with a scowl. “Mention it to Vin or one of us.”
Skate looked away. “I asked Hardy about it when I got back, he said he’d look into it, but I never heard anything. If I’m honest I knew I’d fucked up the moment I asked him. Saw the fuckin’ devil in his eye.” Skate sneered, his one semi-good eye holding my gaze.
“You sayin’ Hardy’s in on this shit?” This story was getting worse by the second.
“I’m saying I told him what I saw but nothing ever came of it. Felt eyes on me from then on.”
“He kept that shit to himself in case he was wrong,” Vin said, clearly not happy about that fact. “Dumb fucker should have told me so I could have handled it.”
