Page 44 of The Sentinels

They didn't know about the brothers that we'd already taken out. "Yeah, we're here for a little friendly powwow." I smirked.

"That's a load of bullshit," one of them said.

I glanced up in the tree to see Rod perched on a branch, his rifle pointing down at the other club members. There was no sign of Charlie, which meant he was somewhere else and hadn't been detected yet. I realized that that could work out in our favor.

"You sightseeing up there, brother?" I asked with a smirk.

Rod grinned back. "I've seen some interesting things."

No one mentioned Charlie.

"We're looking for your president and VP." Gabe made a show of scanning the campgrounds. "They around somewhere?"

Someone snorted, a cocky dude who was more boy than man. "Maybe they're off somewhere having a powwow with some of your spies."

Fuck. I didn't like the sound of that, and judging from their expressions neither did Tanner or Gabe, though we were all very careful about what we divulged to the other club. We had eight guns pointing in our direction against our four, and any sign of weakness or worry could be just enough incentive for one of the Hellraisers to get the courage to start shooting. Once the shooting began, it would turn into a one-for-all.

"Where?" I demanded.

Laughter followed from the same old coot. "Be our guests and look around if you like." He made a wide sweep with his gun arm, indicating the park.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. There had to be twenty campers there, and just as many tents. If Maniac and Boomer had Dawson, Hock, and Jigger, they could be fucking anywhere. One thing was obvious, though--if they were still at the camp, they were hiding out like the fucking cowards that they were. Maniac was good at dishing out orders and getting other men to do his dirty work, but when it came to facing trouble, he was known for being scarce.

"Must suck to know that your president is a weak coward," I said. "If he's here and hiding out because he's afraid, not standing with his brothers and willing to let them get killed." The old coot flushed red, because he knew it was the truth. He wanted to deny it but couldn't.

"Looks like the rest of your brothers are going to join this little party," Tanner quipped.

I looked over to see the Hellraisers making their way toward us, our brothers bringing up the rear with their guns on them. It was almost comical, watching the Hellraisers stumble and sway their way to us.

"Fuck," I heard someone mutter under their breath when the situation dawned on him.

The Hellraisers with their guns on us began to look to each other for direction, but no one seemed to want to take the lead.

"You can't shoot us all," someone with guts and no sense commented. Figured it was the young kid.

"No, but I can shoot you," I countered with a smirk. He paled. Good. I didn't want to shoot a kid.

"I suggest you boys hand over your guns. Your brothers aren’t here to help you, and since your president and VP aren't here, all we want to do right now is talk." I could hear the sincerity in Tanner's tone.

"Do it." I was surprised to find that that command had come from the old coot.

"What about the others? They didn't give Larry, Toad, or Creeper a chance to talk before they gunned them down!"

"Which assholes were they?" Tanner snarled, turning on the man who'd stepped forward to cause trouble. "The fuckers who attacked the women at my bar? Or the drunks we took out at Cabbage Patch?" It grew silent. Tanner stared the man down, no doubt giving him a minute to think about whether he wanted to continue causing trouble or not.

"So, what's it going to be?" Apparently Gabe had had enough. "We going to kill as many of you as we can before you get us, or you going to listen to what we have to say?"

Slowly, one-by-one, the Hellraisers who were brandishing guns tossed them to the ground, but it was clear from their expressions that they weren’t happy about it. Unintelligible muttering swept through their other club members who stood by watching. Some shook their heads in disagreement, and probably disgust, but really, what choice did they have? Their only other option was to jump us and take the chance that they wouldn't end up dead, and no one seemed eager to make that move.

"So talk," the old coot demanded with a scowl.

I wondered what Tanner was going to say. Our plan hadn't exactly gone the way that we'd wanted it to. We didn't have Maniac and Boomer for leverage, and actions sure as hell spoke louder than words. We also had to get our brothers from Tennessee back. It was times like this when we had to remind ourselves that we weren't one percenters. The urge to start shooting until they were all gone, as we had done when we’d faced the enemy at war, was strong.

"We want you to give Maniac a fucking message," Tanner began, straightening his already tall form. "We want you fuckers gone from our town. We came here today to make sure that happens, either willingly or with help, if need be. We know we're outnumbered, but after what just went down today, you can see that didn't make a whole lot of fucking difference."

"You won't get the drop on us again," someone hidden in the middle of the crowd shouted.

Tanner turned in that direction. "That may be. But know this--we have three times your numbers coming in from other chapters. If you want to turn this into a fucking bloodbath that will be on you."

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