Page 38 of Phantom Riders MC: Hawk

Chapter 15

Hawk

It was fucking early when I entered church. My gaze took in the full table, satisfied that my brothers were on time and waiting for me, cups of coffee in hand. Except for Snake, his burly hand was wrapped around a whisky glass. The man must have had a cast iron stomach, because he drank that shit like it was water. The room was slightly cloudy with smoke, caused by a mixture of cigarettes, cigars and weed. I made my way to the head of the table and sank down into my chair.

“Hit, Prez?”

I took the weed Rock held out to me and put it to my lips, sucking in deep and filling my lungs. I held it in as long as I could, before reluctantly releasing a thin stream of smoke to join the other toxic fumes in the room. Then I took a long, hard look at my brothers. They were watching me expectantly, and it was clear from their fucking faces that they were angry and ready for war. The anger was palpable in the room filled with hardened bikers.

“Everyone know what went down last night?”

Not everyone had been there, yet everyone nodded and murmured beneath their breaths. Not much was kept quiet in the brotherhood when something like a shooting went down.

“What are we gonna do about those fuckers?” Snake’s rough, whiskey filled voice was the first one to speak.

“For a new club, those Blue Knights’ have big fucking balls!” Clay added.

“They’re either stupid as shit or have a death wish!” said Keg.

I let the angry comments go on for a few minutes before slamming a fist down on the table and shouting, “Enough!” I waited until all eyes were on me. “Before we go off half-cocked we need to fucking know a few things.” I narrowed my eyes on Keg. “You sure you saw Blue Knights colors last night?”

“Sure as fuck,” he said without hesitation.

“It don’t make fucking sense,” Rock said what I was thinking. “First they off Covacks’ son, then they attack us at our home?”

“I agree with Rock,” Painter spoke up. “Plus, why was their prez here yesterday, crying innocence if they planned to hit us?”

“Someone setting them up?” Ned suggested.

“Looks that way,” I concluded. “But we all know the obvious isn’t always what it seems. Before we go after Blue Knights I want some fucking answers. I know you brothers want to protect our club, but we need to be fucking smart about it.”

“Seems since your woman showed up shit’s been happening.” Keg shrugged. “Just sayin’.”

I narrowed angry eyes on Keg, angry because he was right. Trouble seemed to follow Audra, yet she was also in trouble. Or was she? I thought back to the day I’d caught her trying to steal my bike. Planned, or coincidence? And then there’d been the bug we’d found on her. She’d acted genuinely surprised by it. Fuck, was she another Sonya? I didn’t fucking like the feelings going through me. It didn’t bode well for Audra.

I leaned forward, expelling a heavy breath. “First, Fox is looking into her. Second, she’s not on the table for discussion right now, Blue Knights are.” I wasn’t going to define what my relationship was with Audra because the whole fucking thing confused me. “If they’re being set up, we need to find out by who and why before we take them out.”

“We just gonna let them off free to attack us again while we look for those fucking answers?” Big John snarled. As club enforcer I knew that he wouldn’t stay silent for long. He lived to fight. He was good at it, and good at protecting the club.

“I say we show them who they’re fucking messing with!” BK barked, receiving nods of agreement from the brothers closest to him.

“We will.” There was no fucking way that I was just going to ignore Blue Knights’ attack on our club. I looked directly at Big John, sensing his eagerness to act. “Pick up their president. And--” I made sure that there were no misunderstandings, “--I want him alive.”

I waited for his nod before turning my gaze on Fox. “I want you to look into their club, find out who their enemies and contacts are. If someone is setting them up, there’s a fucking reason for it. I don’t like being used.” My gaze encompassed the whole table. “Because there’s no fucking doubt if Blue Knights are being set up, Phantom Riders are being set up to eliminate the problem.”

Murmurs went around the room as the thought sunk in to my brothers. Gradually, heads began to nod with agreement, as what had occurred to me already finally occurred to them. If someone was playing our MC’s against each other, then we were both being set up, and I didn’t fucking like it. Neither did my brothers.

“Covacks?” Clay suggested.

“Naw, man, Covacks doesn’t work that way,” Rock responded.

Rock was right. Covacks didn’t need someone else to do his dirty work for him, and if he did, he paid heavy for it. As far as I fucking knew the man didn’t have any beef with us, and if it turned out that Blue Knights did have something to do with his son’s death, he wouldn’t waste his time setting them up just so that another club would take them out.

“Rock’s right,” I said, drawing my brother’s eyes. “Right now the club’s protection comes first. After church I want all of you out front. Comb the fucking grounds for anything that might be linked to the shooting last night, in case the fucking cops come back. Fox, you set up a schedule for the prospects. I want two out front at all times. Then get your ass on the computer.” He nodded. “Big John, you got your fucking orders. Take BK and Painter with you.” I turned to Ned and Keg. “I want you two to scout around at the bars and places Blue Knights hang out, see what you can find out. Snake, when you call to get the windows replaced I want fucking bullet proof glass.”

“That’s gonna be fucking expensive, Prez” he said.

“I don’t give a fuck, and while you’re at it, have the restaurant windows replaced, too. The club makes enough money to cover it. A big part of our income comes from paying customers who frequent the bar and restaurant. We were fuckin’ lucky last night that no one was injured.”

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