Page 71 of Brage & Dinah

Chapter 28

A patrol car rode pastBarge. He parked against the curb. Slag had enough members surrounding a four-block area around the Bantorus Body Shop to keep the crew breaking in safe.

He called Elling. "All clear."

"Give us ten minutes." The call disconnected.

He slid the phone back in his pocket. The crews he'd assigned around the town of Pitnam were strategically placed. There was one police officer to cover southside streets. As long as there were no problems, no other law enforcement would be called in to assist. It was the responsibility of the Slag crews to make sure the cop got distracted if he got too close.

There were six other Slag members hanging around Cactus Cove out of sight, making sure no Bantorus Motorcycle Club members got a crazy idea to ride over to the body shop at the time Slag was stealing the money from the safe.

Keeping his motorcycle running, he waited for news from any of the crews. It was imperative they not get caught. Bantorus had put out a verbal warning in the past banning Slag from getting off I-5. If caught, all-out war would be called between every chapter of the two MCs.

While they wanted to draw attention, they wanted no blowback to the Slag Seattle Chapter.

A white four-door car turned down the street. He lit a cigarette, giving the impression of a man on a bike, enjoying a smoke. There were thirty thousand people living in the town of Pitnam. Big enough, it was useless to guess how many were the ears and eyes for Bantorus Motorcycle Club.

The vehicle continued on, driving out of sight. Brage's phone vibrated, and he retrieved the cell.

"Yeah?" He looked all around.

"No-go. We're riding away. Meet us on the on-ramp," said Elling.

Brage disconnected the call without replying. The job had failed. There would be no extra cash to send to Norway or butter the Slag pot tonight.

He flicked the coal off his cigarette, tossed the butt to the curb, and called Viktor before riding off. There would be no celebration on their return to the clubhouse. Instead, the men would drink away their loss.

Marcus and Rune joined him on Alpine Street. Together, they rode toward the on-ramp finding the others waiting for them.

He pulled up beside Roar. "What went wrong?"

"Nothing there. No cash. The safe was empty," said Roar over the rumble of the motorcycle engines.

They'd had two men periodically watching the activities surrounding Cactus Cove and the body shop. Bantorus hadn't changed their schedule since Slag broke-in the last time.

"Something is wrong." He stood on the foot pegs of his motorcycle and looked out over the Slag members.

All the men were accounted for, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd missed a detail. For nothing to be in the safe, Bantorus must've known they were coming.

"What are you thinking?" asked Roar.

He dropped to the seat. "Just a feel—"

Shouts went up. Engine's revved. Alerted to something happening, he jerked his neck back and found the Slag members scattering. Only then, loud pops from gunfire came through the noise.

He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, calling the others to surround Roar and ride out. Their main priority was getting their president to safety with the least amount of injuries. He pulled forward, circling around the members, making sure nobody was left behind and pushed them onto the interstate.

The feeling that something wasn't right had come too late. Bantorus Motorcycle Club had known they were coming. They'd walked right into a trap.

More headlights appeared in his side mirror. Single lights.

He passed the Slag members, signaling them to speed up. They needed no other warning that they were being followed.

Concentrating on traffic and reaching Roar, he cut in front of a semi, leaning into crossing two lanes. At ninety-eight miles per hour, he reached the front of the group.

Roar waved him off, knowing what the message was. Together they stayed ahead of Bantorus.

Going through Woodland, the Bantorus members exited, dropping off. Slag kept going. Only when they'd reached the outskirts of Vancouver when they were forced to slow their speed, could Brage get a good look at the members.

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