“Dead man walking,” Mad Max adds.
The boys all nod. We might have fallen into a fucking trap when we signed up with the Crazy Eights, letting them play peacemaker between the two groups, but no man here will hesitate to kill Duke, the Devils’ VP. He’s caused us more issues than anyone else. Even his own club has issues with him, or so I hear from talking with Casper and Billy. She was the liaison between us and C8 when everything was all rainbows and unicorns. Rumor on the street is that Duke holds more weight than Psy, their president, some days. Not everyone is into the president’s opinions on a few things, mostly because Psy is against the skin trade. Something Duke keeps trying to push and show it brings in money.
Duke even got close to making his own name for himself. Being part of a big group that we, with the help of Operation Hell Hound, have been trying to shut down.
OHH is a group we started after Mama Bear was kidnapped by her own uncle. It was then that I saw the boys were getting bored. They needed more fire under them, so we started taking on some side work. Mercenary-type shit, but only jobs we agree to. Ones that ain’t all about the money. We rescue a ton of people, and knock off a few others who deserve it. We ain’t saints, but we do a damn good job of putting our name to use. Hounds of the Reaper reap souls for a living, even in our downtime.
OHH got popular among some of the sister chapters once we realized we needed more people on it if we wanted to make it bigger than it was. Which we did. We saw there was a need, and we took it. Got a place up in North Dakota that’s half club and half training facility and mock-trial area for missions. We even got a rotation going with most of the chapters to bring in new men and avoid burnout or sloppiness because of being tired or overworked.
And the best part? It’s all volunteer. Not once have we had less than triple the men needed for a mission. It was the first sign to me that a national chapter could be something more than a random conversation in the corner of a bar after too many beers.
The club is growing. We’ve got chapters in the US and internationally, so it makes sense that we would need someone to help make sure all the shit runs smoothly. Not only between each chapter, but so the image of what we stand for stays up to par. What Domino faced showed that men get sloppy and greedy when left to their own ways too long. Not everyone needs a daddy to tell them what to do, but we all need a way to follow. Some just need a person behind it, not just words.
After a minute of no one saying anything, Bulldog taps on the table twice. “Floor’s open. Say your shit now.”
It’s the unofficial way to bring new business to the table. Anything someone might be holding in for longer than needed. It’s a free space. Usually guys bring up old-lady status here. Sometimes it’s about getting the club involved in buying property or some shit. It’s random at most. Sometimes it goes places. Other times it doesn’t. But it lets each member know they can speak freely without getting an ass kicking for thinking something random they believe the club should look into, and without having to go through the song and dance of bringing it up casually to the right people to get the idea out there.
“What’s the news on Natalie?” Atom asks with a neutral tone, not giving anything away about his thoughts on the matter other than general curiosity. I heard he got shot a few times when Natalie and Ruby were taken. But he’s a true Hound and bounced back just like the rest of us.
“The roommate,” Casper mutters and shakes his head. “Kooper, got anything new?”
We all look at Kooper. He glares at the table before him. “Still can’t find much other than what Flint learned the first time when we posted her picture out there to get hits. She told Ruby that she was adopted. Said she had no family. Been saying that for years, the entire time they lived together in college. It’s only when we put her name and picture out there that we learned she had a family, one she ran away from or some shit. At least that’s what the sister claims. Ruby doesn’t like it, and I don’t either. Seems like the sister is trying to play us or some shit. Things feel off with how she talksabout how shit went down when Natalie’s dad married the sister’s mom.”
“The story checks out, at least on paper,” Gator supplies. Flint might be the main tech guy here, but Gator is a close second. They work together on most shit now, so I’m not surprised that Gator would’ve run that story down. “But there isn’t much there other than the marriage certificate and a few pictures. Nothing else to really narrow down anything else about her or the sister, Reina Takahashi.”
“She got ties to anyone we should be worried about?” Bulldog asks.
Gator shakes his head. “Takahashi is too common a name for us to narrow that down right now. She might have ties to someone, but till I get the green light to go diving, this is the basic workup.”
“We trusting the sister or Natalie?” Jumper asks and looks around.
Kooper is the one to shrug it off. “Not sure. Natalie was around a bit, but you know Ruby. She kept most of her shit to herself about the club and everything. Hell, the roommate only came to the clubhouse a few times, and once was right before she was grabbed and held with Ruby in Colombia. I want to hate the woman on pretense. Figured she might have been involved or some shit to get Ruby snatched. But we all know we found Rubybecauseof the tracker that someone put on Natalie. Hell, even Ruby admitted it was Natalie who kept her going. Giving her strength and shit. Talking her out of freak-outs and reminding her how to act and what to do to stay alive. I might not trust the girl, but I can respect her enough not to kill her on sight.”
The boys take in the words, and quiet falls around the table. Till Atom breaks it. “So….”
“So.” Casper takes a breath and thinks on it. He’s the one to call this, not me anymore. Still, he looks at me, and I offer my own two cents.
“We keep eyes on them till we know more.”
He nods, and so does everyone else. Not that we have many other options right now. Till we catch a break, we’re in thedark.
Chapter 23 - Diana
“You really don’t need to come to my appointment,” Ashley says as I wheel her downstairs to the OB-GYN office.
“Hush. You know I already promised to make every one that Barry couldn’t. Plus, you nearly fainted upstairs.”
She sulks in the wheelchair I forced her to take, which I’m smiling about while she’s being all grumpy. “I didn’t faint. I tripped.”
I shrug, not that she can see me. “Sounds like either way it’s a reason to use a wheelchair. Just to be safe and all that.”
Most people hate being pushed around. Nurses worst of all. Especially pregnant ones who like to get their own way. I just enjoy irritating Ashley because I know she’s been stressed about her husband, and it’s made her a bit careless lately. Mostly for herself. Shedidtrip, not faint, but if I hadn’t caught her, she could have hurt her babies. Besides, she’s getting to the point where, despite irritating Nurse Vicky, Ashley will likely need bed rest to make sure her little nuggets arrive safely in the world. Just a precaution that our OB-GYN clinic usually errs on the side of. Being a working member of the hospital isn’t a reason to change procedures
I also need to set up my own appointment, and I’m hoping I can rely on some discretion if I talk to the nurse and doctor in person rather than over the phone like everyone else. Perks of the job—at least I hope.
We round the corner, and just before I reach the door, someone in leather steps in front of us and holds it open. I recognize the cut, but not the man wearing it. The patches are ones I’ve come to love, just like the man I usually see wearing them, but unlike the name “Law” on my guy, this one has “Prospect.”
I look around, half expecting Karter to show and somehow just know what I’m doing. That he secretly found out about it and is here to support me and profess his undying love or something.
