Page 53 of Phantom Riders MC: Hawk

I could see it in his eyes, he was digesting what I said, thinking about it, slowly drawing the same conclusion, albeit reluctantly. He didn’t want to believe what his ears were hearing, but he was smart enough to know the truth when it was staring him in the face. He kept swearing his innocence, so this was the only thing that made sense.

“Are you fucking sure none of your club is involved?”

Dirk shook his head dejectedly. “Pretty fucking sure, man. We started the club just for something to do and to get the girls, you know?” He hesitated, as if he didn’t want to finish. “It’s a hobby, man.”

A hobby? I glanced at my brothers, who were smiling and shaking their heads with disgust. A fucking hobby, funny if shit wasn’t real. Something in his tone told me that he was speaking the truth though, and he was looking at me head on. I thought for a minute, trying to put the facts together in the sequence they’d occurred, deciding that church would be a better place for that.

I looked directly into Dirk’s eyes. “You a smart man, Dirk?” He nodded. “I really fucking hope so. Because I want you and your club to stop wearing your cuts and lose the bikes.” I held up my hand in warning when he opened his to protest. “If this really is just a fucking hobby then you’ll listen, because this isn’t a fad for us. This is our way of life. So I’m making a strong suggestion that you boys go back to civilian life for a while.”

“Won’t that make us look like pussies?”

Big John spoke up from the sidelines, drawing Dirk’s gaze and saying what we were all thinking. “You are pussies. At least this way you have a chance of staying alive.”

Dirk looked to me for confirmation. “He’s right. There’s no fucking way you guys can handle what’s coming your way. You’re not tough enough, and you sure as hell don’t have the experience.”

“Why are you helping us?” he asked.

I shook my head. “We’re not helping you, we’re helping ourselves. With Blue Knights out of the way, you’re one less obstacle we have to deal with.”

“You believe what I’ve been telling you? That we didn’t do those things?”

“If I didn’t, you and your members would all be dead by now.” Even through the bruises and blood on his face I could see the color drain from him. “Don’t talk to anyone about any of this, tell your men the same thing.”

“Someone mentions the name Blue Knights to you, you act stupid and say, who?” Rock added.

Dirk digested everything being thrown his way and nodded in obvious defeat. Good. The man wanted to stay alive, and having him and his club off the streets would benefit us all. The fucking thoughts I had about what I thought was going on left a sour taste in my mouth. I wanted a drink and I wanted to hole up in the meeting room with my brothers so that we could discuss it. I turned, meeting Big John’s eyes.

“Release him, and then come to the meeting room.”

“Church?” Jumper asked with raised brows.

I nodded and continued through the doorway and up the stairs.

“You know something,” Rock commented, walking up the stairs behind me.

“I think I figured out some shit,” I admitted. “Call in the brothers.”

Fifteen minutes later we were all seated around the member’s table in the meeting room. I had to give my brothers credit, when I needed them they dropped whatever the fuck they were doing and came. They were aware of the chaos running through the club and were just as fucking eager as I was to end it. They needed to know what had gone down in the cellar.

“Just had a meeting with the Blue Knights prez.” Several of them laughed, because they knew what kind of meetings went on down in the basement. “Dirk swears Blue Knights are being set up. My gut tells me he’s telling the truth.”

“You believe him?” Keg snorted with cynicism. “I wouldn’t believe what any of those fuckers had to say.”

I glared at him, as did some of the other brothers. He’d come damn close to disrespecting me. “Watch yourself, brother.” He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Blue Knights are going to disperse for a while.”

“Won’t that make them look guilty?”Bullet asked.

“Probably, but I wanted them out of the way.”

“What about the club? If it wasn’t them, who the fuck was it?”

I didn’t blame Bullet for being angry, and looking at the faces in the room, I knew that the rest of my brothers were pissed, too.

“You don’t shoot up another club and then get to disperse!” Keg snarled. “Or are you saying they weren’t responsible for that too?”

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could give a fuck who killed Covacks’ son. But when it comes to our club—”

Ned cut Jumper off. “Are we pussies?”

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