“Aye, brother.” Red turned and marched down the front steps, making a few phone calls before he got back on hisbike.
“I’ll get Holt. See you at the bar,” I stated to Ryder before he started to head back up the stairs to getdressed.
“You’ve done good, brother. I appreciate this. I know Raine will aswell.”
* * *
Sittingat the round table with Ryder holding the gavel was still not sitting well with me. I trusted him for the most part, knew he loved the club as much as any of us did, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I didn’t like change. I didn’t like taking orders from someone years younger than me who was so much less experienced than I was when it came to war in general, but I had to blindly follow my new leader—that’s what a good soldierdoes.
“How do we know your source is credible?” Jesse asked from across thetable.
I slammed my fist down on the old wood. “I’ll bring her scrawny ass in here right now so she can tell you all of it herself if youwant.”
Holt cleared his throat. “I’m with Jesse. How do we know this whore isn’t just sending us out to do her dirty work and off her abusive ex-pimp?”
Ryder looked over at me. “You sure we can trust her? Her name is Diamond for fuck’ssake.”
I leaned back in my chair. “She said her husband came home that night bragging about it with his buddies. She ran away a few weeks ago after he threw her down somestairs.”
“Fucking dirtbag deserves to die no matter what, if ya ask me,” Ryder remarked. “Any man that lays a hand on his old lady like that should have to eat his ownballs.”
Holt rubbed the back of his neck for a few seconds before speaking. “I have a strong feeling that Abel would have wanted us to stop the bloodshed. Son, we talked aboutthis.”
Ryder looked over to his number two, not like a son would, but a superior. “This club needs to feel the sweet glory of victory to truly heal. We gave it time, we need this. All in favor of hunting down this son of a bitch and bringing justice to ourclub?”
In unison, everyone yelled, “Aye!” Even Holtagreed.
Ryder slammed the gavel down on the worn wood, sending a crackling through the air. “Let’s go teach these motherfuckers a lesson they will neverforget!”
We went intoautopilot.
Kevlar vests—check.
Zip ties—check.
All the guns we could carry—check.
Knives—check.
String—check.
“Collin.” Ryder put his hand on his brother-in-law’s shoulder, stopping him from getting onto his bike when the rest of us did. “You need to head to my house and get Raine. Take her to your mother’s place and watch them. Ozzy will go with you. If this goes south, I don’t want them to be in dangertoo.”
Collin and Ozzy did as they were told without question, though I could tell Collin was pissed the fuck off to not be allowed to go avenge hisfather.
“I can go watch Crickett and Raine if you want Collin on this run,” I offered, putting my skull bucketon.
Ryder shook his head. “Collin is too green for this. I don’t want him to blow it. We got one shot at this shit, and he’ll get overit.”
It didn’t take long for us to find the house off of Old Hill Road, the red one in the back, just like Diamond had explained to me. We stashed our bikes down at the end of the street and hoofed it through thewoods.
Ryder handed me a ball of string. “Ya ready to dothis?”
I grabbed my knife out of my boot before answering. “Let’s make this a bloody night these fuckers will neverforget.”
I unlocked the back door and we all filed into the small house quietly. There were two guys passed out, and I glanced down at the photo Diamond had given me then shook my head at Ryder and Holt. They slit the men’s throats in one swift motion. The light sounds of gurgling and gasping turned into our soundtrack as we checked the rest of the house as stealthily as possible. There was only one other man in the house, and he was a dead ringer for the guy in thepicture.
I motioned to Red, who hit the guy hard in the temple with the butt of his sawed-off twelve gauge, knocking him out cold. Ryder and Holt looked at the photo in my hand and checked the guyout.
