Page 141 of Golden Atonement

I liked Mercy. He reminded me a lot of Ghost. The man was level-headed and thought rationally when Montana didn’t.

Too bad fucknuts didn’t utilize him more often.

“He’s not thinking clearly. His world was just turned upside down. You need to give him time.”

“He doesn’t have time, Mercy. Someone out there knows the truth. You heard what Sypher and Pippen said. I can’t keep this genie in the bottle.”

“No, but you can help him.”

“I tried. He doesn’t want my help.”

“Try again,” Mercy asked. “This club is all he has. His family has imploded. They want nothing to do with him. He’s all alone, and thanks to George, he’s about to pay for his father’s sins. You, of all people, know the impact that can have on a man like Montana. He won’t survive it.”

“I don’t know what else I can do, Mercy. He has to be the one to ask for help. I can’t just take over. The table won’t let me.”

“If you were sitting at the table, you could.”

Narrowing my eyes at the man, I asked, “What are you saying?”

“With everything going on, Montana can’t do both. Take the seat from him.”

“You want me to challenge Montana for the seat at the table?”

“Yes,” Mercy firmly said. “The only way to save him is to take everything away from him.”

The conversation with Mercy troubled me. If he only knew how right he was. The problem was, I wasn’t in a position to challenge anyone. Biker rules were clear. At the moment, I only had three clubs, one of which was barely operational. Hell, the last time the Montana club even gathered was when Ghost and Ari needed a place to hide out in the mountains and that was years ago. Then shit kicked off with theSocietyand the Montana club went underground.

For me to challenge Montana for his seat at the table, three things needed to happen. First, I needed five chapters. That in itself wasn’t hard to do, but I never had aspirations of expanding the Golden Skulls. I preferred a smaller club. I already had dealt with enough drama, I wasn’t in the mood to pile on, and the bigger the Golden Skulls got the more drama would ensue. Second, I needed solid evidence that showed Montana either failed or went back on his word. That one was going to be tricky considering, as far as I knew, the fucker had kept his word. Trying to prove otherwise would be tough because there was no evidence to support that claim. Then finally, I would need to prove that Montana’s actions caused harm or the life of a member of my club.

The fact was the Soulless Sinners Motorcycle Club vastly outnumbered the Golden Skulls. Even if I had all the evidence in the world to challenge Montana, he could rally his clubs and within days, wipe my clubs off the face of the earth. That was something I couldn’t allow to happen. What I needed was a solid, surefire way to challenge Montana without him or his clubs retaliating.

“I can see those wheels turning,” Ghost said, taking a seat next to me while we all waited to board the plane home. “What are you thinking?”

“Mercy asked me to challenge Montana for the seat.”

Ghost chuckled. “Never saw you as a diplomat, Reaper.”

Shaking my head, I replied, “Because I’m not. I don’t have the patience for that shit.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Bullseye spoke up, taking a seat across from me, as did Massacre. “You don’t have the evidence. What you have is damning, but not enough to challenge him.”

“That’s not true,” Ghost said cryptically, turning to look at me. “You have all the evidence you need. The question is, will you use it?”

Frowning, I was about to question when he looked over his shoulder before adding, “You have a trump card, Max. I saw the evidence.”

“What are you two talking about?” Bullseye asked.

Sighing, I looked at Bullseye and Massacre and said, “Ace isn’t missing.”

“What?”

Ghost nodded. “Fucker showed up on my doorstep the other day out of the blue. Barely recognized the asshole.”

“Why Oklahoma?” Massacre asked, confused. “I mean, Ace could have gone anywhere. Why go to Oklahoma?”

“Because I’m currently a private citizen.”

“You are, but Ari isn’t,” Bullseye stated. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but Aunt Roxy and Uncle Moonshine claimed Ari as their blood daughter. She wears the Golden Mark, Ghost. It won’t take the FEDs long to figure out where Ace went. You need to move him.”

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