“Then do that,” Savage ordered. Glitch’s face hardened, as did Karissa’s, and Jax fought back a sigh. Clearly, the ordeal between them and Savage wouldn’t be solved easily.
Glitch pointedly looked at Simba. “Prez?” she asked simply. And if that wasn’t a statement of where her loyalties lay in this moment, Jax wasn’t sure what else could be.
Simba held her gaze for a long moment, a silent conversation between them. Finally, Simba nodded. “Run it,” he ordered. Glitch nodded, stood, and headed for the door. Code followed, looking resigned. Jax glanced at Savage, who was scowling darkly. Simba held his stare, unbending and unmoving.
Jax could practically hear his teeth grinding, but Savage forced out, “What’s the consensus on what we should do?”
“I say we give them the bastard in the basement and everything else, but make it clear that Saylor is to be left alone. And if not, then we bring down hell on whoever they decide to send our way,” Jax stated. There was a loud chorus of agreement from most of the rest of the table.
“I think we need to do one better,” Ice added. “I think we need to make a copy of that template and keep it here as leverage. They back off, or we send it to the Feds.”
“That’s going to put a definite target on our backs,” Fury argued.
“I agree that a copy would be a good idea,” Simba interjected. “But you don’t need to mention anything about it. It can be secret leverage. As far as they’re concerned, you gave them the original, so that’s that. But if they come back, you can use that as your ace in the hole to keep everyone here safe.”
“I want to know who we’re going up against,” Rogue grumbled. “This unknown entity could decide our course of action.”
“Who are the major players in counterfeiting money?” Ink asked.
“A lot of South American countries, but every continent has someone that deals with it,” Ursa replied. “If we’re talking close proximity, then I’d say Southern American. They get fakes over the border into Mexico and then keep going on down.”
“So it could be someone that knows of the story of us and the Cartel?” Razor asked. “Wouldn’t that make us seem formidable, like someone they shouldn’t bother?”
“Depends on who it is,” Fury pointed out. “Cartels don’t get along, which means if it’s an ally of Esme’s family, and these assholes approach them, they could see it as a way to get revenge and come in to take us all out.”
“Fuck, this is messy,” Steel groaned.
Jax glanced at Saylor, taking in her pinched expression. This was exactly why he didn’t want her in here. This kind of discussion wasn’t one that she needed to know about. He could also see the guilt and the trickles of panic in her gaze. “Baby, you’re safe,” he murmured in her ear. “I promise.” Saylor didn’t answer. She continued to stare straight ahead.
“At this point, I think we’re borrowing trouble where we don’t need to be,” Savage announced. “I agree that we make a copy of the template to have as insurance, and then we wait and see what happens. Not to mention, we have multiple allies who will help us if shit goes south, and there’s no guarantee that it will.”
“I agree,” Rogue chimed in. “And with Code and Glitch, we would probably have time to prepare and get our allies here to help.”
“Alright, we put it to a vote,” Savage agreed. “Everyone in agreement?” All the Dragons MC members agreed. Savage looked at Simba. “Problem?”
Simba arched a brow. “We’re merely here in an observatory capacity. Shit heads south, we know what we might be up against.”
Savage nodded, accepting that. Then he looked at Saylor. “What are you going to do?” he asked her.
Jax stiffened. “Prez,” he said in warning. He wasn’t about to let him put her on the spot. They had shit to talk about.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Saylor answered. “Either way, I can’t get out of here until the end of the week, so I’ll take a few days to decide where I’m going next.” Jax gritted his teeth to keep from snapping at her that she wasn’t going anywhere.
Suddenly the door opened and in strode Glitch and Code. Code had a laptop in hand and he quickly hooked it up. “Go ahead, kitten,” he told Glitch once they were seated again.
Glitch narrowed her eyes at him briefly, then continued, “There is no record of Saylor being mentioned to anyone outside of the States. Our man Felix sent a message back to Frank to let him know you’d been tracked down and that he should have the book and an extra surprise shortly. Frank made no calls to anyone that we can find. It looks like you’re in the clear,” she told Saylor with a smile.
Saylor exhaled a relieved breath. “Good,” she said with a smile of her own.
“Alright, then we have our plan,” Savage agreed. “When this Felix bastard gets back, we’ll hand over Jared Long, the book, and the template, but we’ll make a copy to keep as insurance.”
“If you’ll trust me, I’ll handle copying it,” Ursa offered. “I’ve dealt with this before, so I have some tricks.”
Savage nodded. “Good. Anything else?”
“I have something else,” Simba said. “I think it’s important that we get this out of the way now, so we know how the next few hours are going to go.” Savage arched a brow. “Namely, the treatment of our fellow members by this club.” Savage’s expression darkened and his eyes went hard. Simba held his gaze, and Jax glanced back at Karissa and Glitch, who looked a bit surprised, but remained silent. Simba continued, “Now, I know that we’re not a typical MC, and included among our members are those that you may see as someone who shouldn’t be. Xena and Glitch are members of our club, and will be until we’re all dead and in the ground. We’ve been respectful of their request to not receive cuts, but I’ve come to believe we were mistaken in that, because there is no way for anyone to differentiate them when we’re here, or when they’re with us. And it’s clear that this club can’t differentiate them either. So, we need to sort this shit out before we leave this room, or I’ll be asking both of them to leave with us when we go.”
“What the fuck?” Razor barked, his head whipping towards Karissa.