“You scared, big guy?” Jax tipped his chair back. “We’ll protect you.”
“Shut the fuck up. I don’t believe in this shit. My mom and aunts were into it. Both of my sisters believe it too. Fuck, more than half of the bayou believes in some sort of curses or spells. I’m just wondering who sent it to me, and why now? I haven’t been back home in over five years.”
“Well, if you’re down on smokes, you can always smoke your bag.” Wheelie howled and Bones and Jax followed suit.
Rock laughed. “You’ve got a point there.” He glanced at the clock. “Come on. Church is gonna start in a minute.” The men all rose to their feet as Rock announced to all the brothers in the great room that they had to go to the meeting. He slipped the bag in his pocket and followed his friends to the meeting room.
Antsy, he leaned against the concrete wall, his massive arms crossed against his chest.Who the fuck sent me the mojo? Is Isa trying to get me to come visit? She seemed real anxious about it when we last talked.Deep in his gut, he knew it wasn’t Isa. But who, and why?Fuckin’ weird.His attention focused on Banger when he heard him say, “Frederick Blair.”
“This time the gig is during the day. I’m gonna send the same crew unless there’s an objection.” Banger took a gulp of his beer.
“No objection. But this time we want to be inside. Rock, Wheelie, and Bones can be outside.” The crew who’d been at the house sniggered.
“Who stands where at the house is shit you can all figure out. Anyway, Rock’s in charge of all that. What I got from Liam is that it’s a meeting of a group of billionaires who belong to some elite group—Peak Five. It’ll take place in a couple days.” Banger glanced down at a large calendar he had on the table. “Yeah, Saturday at two o’clock. It’s gonna be…”
Rock’s heart pounded; he’d get another chance to seeher.Since their last encounter, all he’d gotten was a quick glimpse of her green eyes before she looked downward. Her hiding her face from him made him think about her all the time. She was mysterious and had a sexy body that had been the fodder for some of his fantasies for the past couple days.I’ve built up all this shit in my head. I gotta see what she really looks like. Then I’ll be good.He hadn’t thought he’d get the chance to see her so soon. This time around, he wasn’t playing her bullshit game.
“How much we making for this babysitting? Seems like we got better things to do,” Axe said.
“About a hundred fifty thousand a gig.” Banger held up his hands to stop the grumbling that was circulating around the room. “I know that’s a good week at our dispensaries. But remember, we’re doing this as a favor for Liam.”
“So is this some permanent shit we’re doing?” Throttle said.
“No. I told Liam we’d help out a few times, but then we’re done. It seems like this rich dude had a big problem with the last several security people he used. Things leaked out about his lifestyle and business dealings. Liam suggested a biker club for security. And here we are. I was thinking to pass it to the Iron Dogs MC.”
“The Iron Dogs are cool. We’ve always gotten along with them,” Chas said. “I’m pretty good friends with their Road Captain. They’re always looking for some easy cash.”
Banger nodded. “Now on to a problem that Hawk and I think could be huge. I’ll let him explain.”
Hawk stood up. “The word is that the Demon Riders are forming a bond with the Gypsy Fiends to buy some fuckin’ hardcore weapons from them.”
“The Gypsy Fiends? What the fuck are the Demon Riders doing with them? Iowa is a long ways from Louisiana.” Rock shoved away from the wall.
“That’s what a lot of the MCs wanna know. Rock, you’re from their territory. Did you ever come across them?”
“I met a few when I was in the pen, but I didn’t know much about them except that they were bikers who scared the hell outta people. I’d see them around Lafayette when I was young, heard they ran some of the casinos in the nearby parishes. I know they have charters in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama, but them venturing into Iowa is fuckin’ crazy.”
“They’re not aiming to set up any chapters, just selling high-powered shit to the Demon Riders. I didn’t think they had that kind of money to buy the shit to sell.”
Rock shook his head slowly. “They don’t. I know they’re in a turf war with the Hellbenders in Georgia. Gypsy Fiends are claiming the territory and so are the Hellbenders. Is Liam supplying the arms for them? That’s gotta be expensive. Where the fuck are they getting the money? Last I heard their casinos weren’t doing all that great.”
“Liam’s not involved in the deal. We’re positive the Demon Riders have their hands in this. The word is also out that the Gypsy Fiends are buying some hardcore shit directly from an international dealer.”
Rock and Bones exchanged looks before Bones cleared his throat. “There’s no way they’re acting alone. Some company or person is backing them financially. Remember when I was out there visiting my buddy who was in the Devil’s Legions in New Orleans?”
“How could we forget? Your drunken brawl got you six years in the pen and put you outta commission for the Insurgents,” Banger said.
“Yeah, but I met Rock, so it wasn’t a total loss.” The brothers hooted and Banger smiled. “Anyway, they were telling me that the Gypsy Fiends had started putting their fuckin’ noses in places they never even knew existed, like oil stuff and banking shit.”
Hawk narrowed his eyes. “They most probably have a group of investors who need them to do the dirty work. MCs are an asset to crooked people. They know we don’t snitch or leave evidence. But if the Demon Riders get a partnership going with the Gypsy fucks that puts our club and affiliates in jeopardy. As we know, Dustin and Shack have been aiming to take us down since we threw them outta the Insurgents, and with one of our brothers killing one of theirs at the expo, you know the Demon Riders are chomping at the bit to get back at us.”
“We gotta find a way to make sure the fucks don’t buy the weapons from the Gypsy Fiends, then see who’s backing the Gypsy assholes in buying the expensive as hell weapons,” Jax said.
“Exactly. We got Liam working on it through his network, and that’s why we gotta do this fuckin’ babysitting job.” Banger tipped back on his chair. “We’re on high alert until we find out something. Once we do, we’ll strike first if need be.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve gone to war, but if that’s what they want we’ll fuckin’ give it to them. We’ll show them not to mess with Insurgents.” Hawk banged his fist down on the table, bringing the brothers to their feet, their arms held high in the air with their fists clenched as they chanted, “Insurgents forever, forever Insurgents.”
After going over the financials for the club, the meeting was adjourned and the somber group headed to the great room. The thought of going to war weighed heavy on them. For the past several years they’d enjoyed a truce with the Deadly Demons, and the violence of the turf wars hid in the dusty corners of their minds. At that moment, the threat from the Demon Riders was real, especially since they were gearing up to buy some pretty intense weapons. To the brothers, it signaled that the rival club was preparing for an attack on them. No MC would take that lightly, especially an outlaw one.
