Page 43 of Revenant's Fire

“Why?” I ask before I can bite my tongue.

“The less men they have, the less likely they are to kill us in a shoot out,” Gallows answers in a clipped manner.

“What about an explosion?” Everyone turns to stare at me. “If I lost my MC brothers I would Kamikaze bomb the hell outta the baddies.”

Mercy snorts and that seems to break the stunned silence the brothers all sit in. “Just something to think about I guess.” I add, leaning back onto Elias’s shoulder. He presses a kiss to my crown and I feel warm. Tingly. Comfy. Home.

Gallows stares at me for a long while and I stare right back. “Noted.” His gaze shifts, taking in the large church table, everyone sitting to attention. “Amos Crowe. What do we know?”

“Millionaire verging on billionaire. On paper he’s a legit businessman. Owns casinos, collects rare art.”

“Slave shackles,” Sunny murmurs under her breath.

“So, he’s a legit businessman?” Hollow asks.

“On paper.” Fog replies. “But look a little deeper and he’s rotten to the fucking core. There’s a fuck ton of messed up shit in his private collection.” He shakes his head. “You don’t buy that shit if there ain’t something wrong with you.”

“He’s one bad motherfucker,” Coyote says. “Holler folk aren’t easily intimidated, but that bastard had some of ‘em running scared.”

Weird. Holler folk aren’t like that. They’re helpful. Friendly. Give the shirt off their backs type of people. They have good relationships with the Saints. Amos has somehow scared the bejeezus out of them.

“What the fuck?” Gallows says, brows pulled low.

“He has something over them,” I murmur to myself.

Every head turns my way.

“How do you know?”

“Because Amos Crowe is creepy. Not scary. They’re not scared of him. They’re scared of what would happen if they talked.” I bite my lip.

Gallows jaw tightens. “Leverage.”

Ledger stares at me, his gaze assessing. “What leverage does he have on you?” he asks me directly. “He must have something. You’re alive.”

My head starts shaking as soon as the words leave Ledger’s mouth. I look up at Elias, pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw. “I think you know what my leverage is.” I lean further into Elias, his arms wrapping around me. “And he asked me to deliver a message.”

“A message?” Gallows frowns.

I nod. “Yeah. He said you need to know your enemy’s weaknesses. Elias’s weakness is me. Yours-” I nod to Gallows, “is the club. Jubilee’s is Mercy.”

Jubilee turns his head to Mercy.

“Don’t,” Mercy says, avoiding his gaze.

“He said that he knows every little thing about the club.”

Hollow snorts, “I fucking doubt that.”

“I looked him in his creepy ass face and told him he’d never destroy the club.” Elias looks down at me, his bright blue eyes on mine. “He laughed. Said he didn’t want to destroy the club.”

“Then what the fuck does he want? Our routes?” Ledger says.

“He said he wants what’s rightfully his.” I hold Gallows’ gaze.

Gallows stills, fists balled on the top of the wooden table. “He’s a collector,” Gallows says slowly, as if rolling the words over in his mind. “Fog, I need you and the prospect to go through everything we’ve moved in the past 6 months. Any new clients? One off deliveries?” He looks around the table. “We tighten security on our runs. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” He pauses. “But this shit feels off.”

“Makes your balls all tingly.” I murmur. All heads turn toward me. Oh. I said that out loud. I only notice when Elias starts chuckling. I look around the table, lips rolled between my teeth. “Must just be me.”