Page 16 of Viper

“I say we talk to the Ruger,” King suggests, referencing the President of the Phantom Kings, another allied club out in Southern California “He was around when Sage got hit, and they were also the one to get us out of there. They already know what’s going on, and with their connections, it’s possible they know how to get the information we need.”

Bullet nods his agreement. “I agree with that, but any other suggestions, or any objections?” No one says a word, all clearly in agreement. I know I am. “Good, then I’ll reach out and we’ll see what he can find out. In the meantime, however, I don’t think that we should be lax in trying to figure out where the hell Vlad and his men are. Cryos, keep looking, and everyone else, keep up your routes and scouting. Eventually, they’re going to mess up, and we’re going to find them and we’ll be that much closer to wiping them the hell out of our city.”

“Fucking right,” Stone grunts. “It’s taking everything I have to keep Syn from tracking them down after that Yakuza bastard shot Ebony.” Crimson “Syn” Hart is a K9 trainer that works with a lot of law enforcement dogs and their handlers. It was a bone of contention between her and Stone for a long time, but clearly they’ve managed to work through those issues considering they’re now a couple. But Syn was the target of Vlad, and he went after her hard, even trying to get her dogs taken away. A huge no-no, since that woman lives and breathes for them. And those dogs have helped us out on multiple occasions, so I get that she’s anxious to get her pound of flesh for almost killing one of them.

“Do what I do, and tie her ass to the bed,” King suggests with a wicked grin. “Crazy loves it.” Stone rolls his eyes, but I note that he doesn’t disagree. Sage Armstrong is King’s Old Lady, and when you think of a woman that’s wild, crazy, and fun, she fits the bill to a T. Syn is her best friend, and the two women couldn’t be more opposite, but damn, it’s fun to watch the two of them. They provide endless entertainment.

A few of the brothers chuckle at King’s statement.

“Alright,” Bullet says briskly, “let’s get back on track. We need to find these bastards, and we need to do it quickly. They obviously have secret places they are using to run their businesses out of. The fact that we haven’t found it yet, even when Dmitri was running around, is concerning, and it speaks to the fact that they have ways of hiding themselves in this city, even with us using all our resources to try and find them.”

“I still think whatever information Dagger sold is how they’re keeping things off our radar,” Shadow says grimly. “We need to start looking at this differently. Maybe we need to start trying to figure out the information that Dagger had. Did he make copies? Dagger was always careful, so I can’t imagine he didn’t make some and put them somewhere. And it would stand to reason he probably didn’t pull all his eggs in one basket with the Russians because that journal was missing pages when he gave up the location, and the other locations of the other operational spots that Dmitiri or Vlad have been using. Or, hell, whoever else he might have given the journal to.”

Trust Shadow to come up with the one thing that none of us have thought of. We’ve been so focused on being on the defensive when we should be going on the offensive.

“What about his mother? Maybe we should look more into her and see what we can find,” Twigs suggests. It’s a rare moment to see him serious, since he loves to laugh and have a good time, but he’s proving to be a valuable brother. He’s newer to the MC, and we call him Twigs because he’s a six-foot-tall stick of a man with minimal muscle definition. When he first came to Prospect, we were shocked he could even handle a bike. “Maybe he gave or sent her things to keep them safe.”

“She does live out of state,” I say with a frown. “So it would make sense if he wants to hide something to send it to the woman he would feel would honor his father’s legacy.”

“Rose remembers her being a junkie, so I don’t know if she’s gotten clean over the years or not,” Bullet warns. “She may not be much help if she put it somewhere and never remembers where it is.”

“I’ll look into her,” Cryos offers. “Since I already have some information from when we figured out Dagger was our mole, I can just keep building on that, and it shouldn’t take too long now that I have a direction.”

Bullet nods. “Do that. But, Shadow, you’re right, we need to focus on something else, because riding around with our heads up our asses is doing fuck all.”

“I think we should still keep looking, because it’s going to look damn strange if we suddenly stop,” Milk suddenly suggests. He’s our youngest brother, and got patched in the same time as Twigs. He’s still a kid, so he’s still trying to figure his shit out, but every once in a while, he surprises me. He’s got dark blonde hair, with bright green eyes, and a boyish face that the club girls love. Something he’s perfectly happy to do, considering he’s still in his fuck-every-woman-he-can phase.

“I agree,” I say with a nod. “We don’t want them thinking that anything’s changed until we know where we stand with our information as it comes in.”

“Agreed,” Bullet replies. “Alright, then we’ll continue our patrols and searches, because who knows what else we might find. Cryos, look into Allison Malloy, and if you can find anything else on where Vlad might be hiding. Look for anything off grid if you can, and anything that looks like it’s changed in the last couple of years that maybe we haven’t seen before.”

“On it,” Cryos nods.

“And everyone else, when you’re on the grounds, keep an eye out for anything you might think Dagger could have used as a hiding place for his shit. I think that bastard took more information to his grave than we realize, but I also don’t think he was smart enough to keep everything away from us. He was too fucking cocky,” Bullet grumbles, anger making his eyes cold and hard.

On that, I agree. Dagger was a good brother–or so we thought–but he was always a bit too cocky and resentful at times of what brothers had or accomplished. He would try and compete with each of us somehow, and it would be just like him to hide something under our noses and laugh from the depths of hell as we completely ignore it or miss it.

Bullet ends Church with a bang of his gavel, and we all file out of the room, only to find the women together and laughing, while Archer sits at the bar working on his homework casting glances their way. I make my way over to him, sitting on the stool next to him and smiling. He looks at me seriously and quietly says, “I think Uncle Shadow is going to have his hands full, because they’re telling Macy about how to handle a boy that likes her at school.”

Oh shit. I bite back a laugh, and barely manage to keep myself from looking over at Shadow, who is making his way over to the women quickly. No doubt wanting to get his woman and daughter away from them all as soon as possible. “And what was Macy saying?” I ask Archer quietly.

Now Archer grins. “That boys suck and she’s probably going to end up kicking him in the nuts and telling him to leave her alone,” he whispers back, laughter in his own voice.

Considering that Macy isn’t even six, but has the attitude of a teenager, I can definitely see her saying that. She’s going to give Shadow gray hairs by the time she hits thirteen, and I’m going to be laughing my ass off when it happens—especially considering the role models around her. “She’ll do it too,” I agree softly. I nod at the homework in front of him. “How are you making out?”

“I’m almost done,” he say proudly. “I’m good with numbers, like you.”

“That you are, better probably,” I say as I clap him on the shoulder. “Finish up the last of it. I need to grab a few things and then we’ll head home, alright?”

He nods. “I should only be another ten minutes. There’s a question that’s kicking my ass, but I think I’ve almost got it.”

I chuckle. “I’m sure you do. Now behave and I’ll be back to get you.” I run up to my room and grab the last of my clothes to bring back to my apartment. With Archer going to be staying with me more often, I don’t need to leave much at the clubhouse anymore, and while I love being around my brothers, I’m also happy to be in my own apartment with my son. I’ll probably stay at the clubhouse when he’s not with me, but at the same time, I like my privacy.

Maggie has been texting non-stop, threatening to appeal the decision, and that she’s going to take me back to court and take me for everything she can. She’s pissed I’m not paying as much child support, and I think that’s more upsetting to her than Archer being with me. She’s never once asked how Archer is, or asked any other kind of question about him. Only spewed her hate for me, her threats, and her demands for more money. It pisses me off, but I don’t engage. Instead, I take screenshots and send them to my lawyer. If she wants to take this back to court, then I’m going to make sure that I’m well prepared. Eventually, she’s going to slip up, and Archer is going to be with me fulltime, and I won’t have to deal with this anymore.

Archer and I leave about half an hour later, just in time to hear the women complaining to Shadow about smothering Macy’s potential by being over protective. I laugh outright at that, earning a glare from him, and then continue on my way out.

Within the next hour, Archer and I are fed, and he’s winding down for the night. He’s old enough now that I don’t need to tuck him into bed, and instead, have to remind him to go to bed and stay off the game system he has. I know all too well that those things can suck up more time than they should. Hell, I was in a battle with some of the brothers for hours one day, and it only felt like a few minutes.

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