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“You’ll have to write them down. I don’t have one of those things that you guys use. My phone is in my study on the desk, attached to the wall by a cable.” Silas grins as we both roll our eyes.

“I’ll get a burner from Bull and show Silas how to use it, Pres.” As I start to stand, Silas makes no move. Instead, he looks directly at Pres and tilts his head.

“You know you’ve got your own troubles brewing don’t you? The whole club, not just you?”

This makes Pres sit up and take notice. “What do you mean, Silas? What trouble?” Pres squints as he doesn’t like stuff like this coming out of nowhere.

“Well, you know we've got elections going on for a new mayor? Have you taken notice who’s creeping up in the polls?”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I’ve seen it. That slimy worm, Martha Gable. I don’t know how she’s managed to get herself in the running. She was a rank outsider from day one.”

“Well, she’s securing votes from all over town lately. Her jaws must be aching from all the blowjobs she’s giving out. Her hands too, I’ll bet.” Silas laughs, but the humor doesn’t reach his eyes.

“I don’t know what you guys are talking about. Who’s Martha Gable?” I’m not into politics, local or otherwise, so I have no idea what this means.

Pres looks at me and leans back in his seat. “Martha’s momma was Millicent Crabtree. Millicent had her eyes on my father as a prospective husband, but she wanted him to quit the club and work for her daddy. He was big in the lumber business. Now, my father and her daddy didn’t see eye to eye, not in anything that did or didn’t matter. They held opposing views on everything, mainly because it aggravated the other one to do so. Her daddy paid five thousand dollars into my father's account and told Millicent that my father had asked for that money to marry her. My father knew nothing about it until she stormed in and accused him of it. She obviously believed her father, and that was that. Only that wasn’t the end of it. Her father tried to get the money back, and my father wouldn’t hear of it. The families were at war for years, and it’s still being carried out by Martha to this day. She has tried everything to discredit my father, me, the club, the brothers, just anything related to any of us. If she gets in as mayor, she’ll try to undermine the compound builds. Whatever she can do to cause us an issue, she will do.”

“That’s a shame. We’ve had such a good relationship with the town over the years. She could put an end to that if she gets elected.” I don’t know what else to say.

Taking Silas with me, I leave the office and we head over to the ranch, him in his truck and me on my girl. I’ll babysit him until Pres sends Ghost and Chips over.

*~* Whack *~*

I hope that Martha doesn’t become mayor. That will be a whole new can of worms opened up for the club. She’ll drag us through every patch of mud she can find to discredit us. All over something that happened decades ago. If her grandfather were alive, I’d drag them both to the shed and make him tell her the truth about all that shit.

Taking my phone, I send a text to both Ghost and Chips. Let’s get them up to speed with Silas and his impending troubles. I know this is going to come to a head, I can just feel it. When someone starts sending their goons to someone's front door, it seldom goes away without some encouragement. Well, Ghost and Chips can be very encouraging when they need to be.

I think I’ll get Tanner and Bill up to speed on this as well. They could become involved in the future, and forewarned is forearmed, as they say. I don’t know who they are, but it sounds good in my head.

Unsurprisingly, the first to arrive at my office was Ghost. He comes in and finds a seat that gives him a view of the door, the window, and me. That is so typical of the man. He probably doesn’t even do it consciously.

Chips arrives next, and not quietly. He’s singing some obscure song that I only vaguely recall. Something about 2-4-6-8 Motorway. I don’t know where he finds the songs he murders with his out-of-tune singing.

“Yo, Pres. What can I do for you this fine day?”

“Stop singing those weird and not so wonderful songs would be a start. You should take up whistling instead of singing.”

“He can’t whistle in tune any more than he can sing,” Ghost throws at me.

“I’ll have you know I was an integral part of the school General Chorus back in the day.” Chips tries to make his voice sound hurt, but even that fails.

“Yeah. Choir librarian or stage manager. You were never part of the singing.” Ghost is on form today.

“I’ll have you know, before my voice broke…”

“Yep, and there we have it. The defining word. Broke.”

“Okay, guys. We have a situation brewing. I need you both to get your gear and make your new home the Critter Craze Ranch just outside of town. You’ll be staying there for the foreseeable future until we have a handle on what’s going on or until it’s resolved. Take weapons for defense, but I have no issue with you going on the attack if necessary. Vortex is your liaison, and he’s already out there waiting for you. You’d be best acting low-key to start with. The fewer people who know you’re out there the better. Now, fuck off.”

They both walk out, and Chips begins whistling Colonel Bogey’s March, intentionally out-of-tune, I hope.

Chapter 4

*~* Vortex *~*

We’ve just sat down on Silas’ porch when a cruiser drives down the access road. Pulling up, it sits there for a minute or so before any doors open. Both front doors open at once, and Bill and Tanner explode from the vehicle, raging at each other. Silas settles further into his chair, obviously going to enjoy the show, whatever it’s going to be.

“Don’t get shitty with me because you feel left out. You had the same opportunity I did, but you chose not to take it.” Tanner says to Bill.