Page 44 of Triple the Danger

“Give him a gold star sticker, we’ve got a winner,” Glitch said with a grin. “Which is exactly why I believe these are the team members. The only good part is that I’ve been able to track all of them, as well as Curtis Lin, back to where they should be. Jared’s the only one MIA from his life; it looks like he’s the one that joined up with Saylor’s ex.”

“But the question still remains, why did he hook up with Leon and not go to the people backing him?” Rogue interjected. “None of that shit makes sense.”

“That’s where I come in,” Code replied, drawing the room’s attention. He nudged Glitch gently out of the way and clicked on his keyboard. Up came some images that were obviously screenshots of conversations. “I spent a lot of time scouring through these asshole’s phones, and realized they were using code when they were talking to each other. Well, to who I assume is each other, because they never overtly say that the person on the other end is part of the ring. All of them change numbers frequently, but the discussions were so similar that it made me look closer. Anyway, I was able to decipher them.

“Apparently, the only reason that Saylor’s ex knows about any of this is because Curtis Lin owes money to good ol’ Frank, and Leon went to collect from Curtis one evening. One of the guys was late, though they don’t say who, and Leon was dealing with Curtis when one of them walked in, talking about the job they were doing without realizing Leon was there. The guys were panicking because they didn’t know what to do; in another message, Jared told them to stop freaking out, that he would handle it. Leon’s clearly blackmailing them, so they’re paying him off. But then, another message comes in.” He clicked a few more times and one more message came up, large on the screen.

Unknown: Of course I’m freaking out. He took the template for the cash when he grabbed that stack on the table. If we don’t get it back, we’re fucked. And by fucked, I mean dead, when our client finds out what happened and we can’t fill the order.

“So Leon somehow grabbed some bills and some kind of template they use?” Jax asked, trying to wrap his head around it. It was like something out of a movie.

“They probably tried to get it back, and now he’s using it as a way to get them to help him track down Saylor,” Ice guessed grimly.

“And we’re sure there was nothing else in that notebook that Saylor took?” Rogue suddenly asked. “Because I would think that blackmail wouldn’t be enough for them to go after Saylor, even if Leon threatened. If he was gone, they could have just made another template and gotten back to work. They’ve had the whole thing down to a science for what appears to be years; making another one should be easy for them, right?”

Savage stood and headed for the door. As they all waited for him to come back, the room was quiet, the tension palpable. Jax noted Razor and Code trying to get their Old Lady’s attention, but the women ignored them, and ignored looks from the Predators, including Taz, who appeared downright remorseful. It was no secret that he was close with both women, and hurting them would bother him more than the rest.

Savage returned, holding the little black notebook. “Give it here,” Ursa said, holding out his hand. Savage arched a brow, and Ursa rolled his eyes. “I’m a whiz with numbers and all things money. I’ll know what I’m looking at.”

“He is,” Glitch agreed. “I tried to get him to be my advisor but he refused.”

Savage nodded and handed him the book. Everyone waited as Ursa carefully inspected it, examining both covers, then all the internal pages and parts. Then he took out his knife, and with a precision that would rival Doc’s, he carefully cut open both of the covers from the inside, looking through them. Finally, ever so carefully, he peeled the front cover open, but instead of looking inside the hole he made, he looked at the piece of fabric that had come away. Then, to all their shock, he peeled away a flat piece of something that was the exact same color as the fabric. It was the flattest envelope Jax had ever seen. Ursa carefully opened a small flap, and pulled out what looked to be a one-hundred dollar bill.

“Holy shit,” Jax heard Ink gasp.

“This right here is what they’re after,” Ursa proclaimed, carefully inspecting the bill. He flipped it over for everyone to see and put it on the table. “You can see on this one, little marks and notations, which means that whoever made this has been perfecting their craft for a long time. They had to make sure every single detail was accurate to evade detection.”

“No wonder they’ve been wanting to get this back,” Taz remarked gravely. “It would be a major hardship for them to have to duplicate something this precise.”

“Or they don’t want it falling into the wrong hands,” Savage countered. “If the Feds get ahold of this and trace it back to them, they’re fucked. Or, if a rival gets it and takes over their business, they’re also fucked – if they can’t produce what they’ve committed to, it’s only a matter of time before their clients decide they’re in the way.”

“Saylor sure stepped into a huge fucking mess,” Fury remarked, glancing at Jax. “And she probably didn’t even know this was in there.”

“It was sealed, so I can say for certain she didn’t,” Ursa agreed.

“We need to keep this mess from getting any bigger, and get them the hell out of our hair,” Savage announced grimly. He looked at Simba. “You and your guys staying?”

Simba nodded. “We figured we’d come and hang out for a few days anyway, since we just finished our latest mission. We’ll work on tracking these two fuckers down.”

“Good. That will give us the ability to increase patrols,” Savage agreed. “Everyone be on alert. We know two of them are nearby, but that third son of a bitch, Felix, hasn’t made his appearance yet. Depending on how this shit goes down, we don’t want to discount that he’ll try something too.”

“Who’s Felix?” Taz asked. Glitch gave him a quick rundown, and Taz turned to smirk at Jax. “Your woman’s awful popular, brother. You might need to up your game or she’s going to have far more options than your ugly face.”

Jax flipped him off and retorted, “She won’t be leaving with yours, though, so I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Taz laughed, unfazed.

“Alright, we know what we’re doing,” Savage said briskly. “Everyone keep your eyes open. Jax, make sure Saylor stays on the grounds, preferably as close to the clubhouse as possible.” Jax nodded. “Good. We’ll consider Church adjourned for now.” He banged his gavel and stood, but no one else moved. He looked around, confused. “What, did we forget something?”

“We’re just surprised you’re brave enough to stand up, considering the two women currently wanting to murder you,” Taz said helpfully.

Savage scowled darkly. “The two women who should not be fucking in this room, is more like it,” he countered. He turned to Glitch and Karissa, who held his stare. “Both of you are Old Ladies. You are not patched members of this club, so?—”

“It’s like you’ve completely forgotten. We may not be patched members of your club,” Karissa interrupted sharply, making Savage’s eyes narrow. “But we are patched members of theirs,” she continued, with a nod toward the Predators. “Right now, our gender means nothing. We’ve held up our end of the bargain; we stay out of your club business and are only Old Ladies while they’re away. But when they are here, we are patched members, not Old Ladies. We agreed on that, and now you’re going back on your word by putting us in a gender role that we only agreed to occupy part of the time. So, here’s how this is going to go. The disrespect is going to end. You are going to keep us out of club business as relates to your club alone. But the moment our club is involved, that is no longer the case. We are to be invited into this room with our fellow club members. Your gender biases need to be set aside in those moments.”

“And you,” Glitch continued, looking at the Predators. “You all fucking know better. You talk a big talk about how we’re equal members of the MC, but you came in here, completely forgetting that two members were not sitting at this table. And instead of speaking up, you just continued with your boy’s club. When we agreed to stay with our men, you assured us that we would always be members. That our genders and relationship statuses changed nothing. But you’ve clearly forgotten that, and today, you’ve broken your promise.” Every member of the Predators winced at that.

“So, this is the last time we’re going to say anything about it,” Karissa finished. “But just to be clear, so there are no mistakes: when the Predators MC are on these grounds, or are being called in to help, we are to be included as members of the Predators MC. That extends to being included in Church. When the Predators MC are not on these grounds, and they are not being called in, then we are Old Ladies and will not be involved in club business in any way, shape, or form. If you can’t accept that, then it’s time Glitch and I considered our options. You welcome our help and expertise, and expect us to protect the other Old Ladies and children, but when it comes to this room, you all close ranks and leave us out in the cold. We’re done with it. We’re done with the disrespect, and we’re done with being treated like we’re only good for when it serves you, when you want to protect the people you value the most in your lives - which clearly is not us.” Then she and Glitch walked out of the room without so much as a backward glance, leaving them all in stunned silence. They closed the door softly behind them, but the snick of the latch was so final that Jax felt a pit of guilt and dread swirl in his stomach.

Everyone looked at Savage, and then at Simba. Savage’s face was hard, but Jax saw a hint of doubt, and if he wasn’t mistaken, guilt in his eyes. Simba’s expression was awash with regret, remorse, and shame. Still, no one spoke until finally Simba asked Savage, “What are you going to do?”

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