Page 5 of Demo

Mitch was the prospect on the front gate. He was in his sixties, a former Marine and POW, and a recent widower. His prospect year would be up towards the end of March, almost two months after Sara’s and Will’s year. The club was going to need to start recruiting again.

Lucky answered the phone with a short, “Yeah?” He listened for a moment, his eyes landing across the room on Harper. His ol’ lady hurried over to his side, their opposite teams forgotten. Lucky pressed his lips to Harper’s raven hair before instructing, “Give us ten minutes and then let him in. We’re at the clubhouse.”

After disconnecting the call and pocketing his phone, he turned to Steel. “Game’s over. Officers need to stay.”

Steel’s eyes narrowed but he trusted his VP without needing further explanation at this time. “You heard him. Everyone clear out.” More gently to his wife, he said, “Ollie is at Angel and Cage’s with Aaron and Bree. Why don’t you go with them?”

Demo exchanged worried looks with some of his brothers. Though no one had said anything, it was becoming rather obvious that Jenna wasn’t well. She’d lost a lot of weight recently, looked tired and rundown, and her complexion was paler than usual. Demo knew Bear was keeping an eye on her, but neither Steel nor Jenna had offered up an explanation as of yet. Demo had a sinking feeling whatever was going on, it wasn’t good.

The fact that Jenna didn’t argue with Steel practically handing her over to Angel and Cage to babysit also sent up a lot of red flags.

Everyone cleared out. Husbands kissed their wives, helping them don their jackets and escorting them to the door. Tessa and Harper walked on either side of Abby, almost like bodyguards. They would see to it that she got back to her house okay. Demo heard Pirate offer to take Jazz and Sophia out for pizza since Jumper had to stay behind. They were trailed behind by three nearly grown Pitbull puppies, Enola Bones, Winnie the Pooch, and Kidd. Aerial, Jumper’s service dog, remained with him.

Though Keys was not an officer, he remained behind too. More often than not, when a problem arose, Keys’ computer expertise was needed anyway. It had been mentioned more than once to call for a vote to make Keys an officer with the title of IT Specialist or as a second Enforcer. However, in doing so, it would create eight officer positions, which would mean there was no longer a tie breaker. Bear’s position as Road Captain did not qualify him as a voting officer unless there was a tie or another officer needed to pass their vote onto him for whatever reason.

While the others understood Keys’ value as a computer genius to the officers, Demo could also understand how unfair it was that Keys was privy to officer-only information when he wasn’t an officer.

Steel turned to Lucky. “Who’s at the gate?”

“Hannigan,” Lucky told him. Ronald Hannigan was Harper’s father, Lucky’s father-in-law, and Mount Grove’s former (dirty) sheriff. “And he’s alone.”

Steel’s eyes narrowed. While Hannigan had been on property before to visit with Harper and his grandson, it generally was with his wife, Cindy,andwith knowledge he was coming. The club did not trust him, even though he’d been tortured and nearly died for his part in his son’s sins. The fact that he was dropping by unannounced did not sit well with any of them.

As SAA, Bulldog was in charge of security. Ghost, as Bulldog’s Enforcer, followed his lead and command when it came to club protection. While Jumper was the club’s Secretary, Demo generally ended up taking the minutes for the meetings. Demo didn’t mind. As Treasurer, he took notes anyway and sometimes Jumper spaced when his anxiety was high, though that had been happening less and less since falling in love with Jazz.

There was a running joke around the club about Demo and his obsession with yellow legal pads. Even in the age of computers and how often Demo had to use his accounting programs to keep the club’s finances and businesses running appropriately, he still preferred to write everything down using a pad and pencil.

“Did Mitch say why he’s here?” Steel inquired.

Despite his relation to the former sheriff, Lucky had no love for the man. None of them were going to forget the time Hannigan pointed his loaded gun at Scotty after he’d crashed Lucky’s fortieth birthday party with a search warrant. Theonlyreason Hannigan was alive and not six feet under with his son was because of Harper. Demo knew the man was trying to make amends, but some things were just unforgivable. Even though Cindy had chosen not to divorce him, she was no longer the submissive, docile wife she’d been for most of their marriage. Per Lucky, the man’s life was miserable and he got a kick out of seeing Hannigan’s guilty conscience torture him on a daily basis.

“Just that he wants to speak with you.”

Steel’s hard expression did not change. The look exchanged between President and VP was understood by all. If Hannigan was here alone and wanted to speak with Steel, it was not a family matter. Lucky was right to send the others away, especially if Lucky did not want to stress out his pregnant wife with whatever news her father was bringing.

Keys was already typing away on his laptop behind the front bar. There was a good possibility he would find out what was going on before Hannigan even parked his cage.

Several minutes later, they heard the rough echo of tires and the groan of an engine in the parking lot. There were enough cameras around the property that they didn’t need to have a prospect escort him in. Bulldog was watching Hannigan’s progress from the app on his phone.

Like his daughter, Hannigan was tall and endomorphic. In the years since the entire Hannigan clan had come to Mount Grove, Demo had seen many different sides of the former Detroit detective. When he first arrived, he’d been stern, cocky, and vindictive. After the truth had come out about his involvement in Richard’s crimes, he’d been remorseful but still arrogant. It hadn’t been until after Mateo Castillo had captured, tortured, and nearly killed him that Hannigan had shown any signs of true regret and sorrow for his actions.

Since resigning in August, Hannigan had lost a lot of muscle. The man had been fit, taking pride in his body and appearance. Not so much anymore.

Hannigan lookedold. His once salt and pepper hair was now completely salt, and his skin had a sagginess Demo had never noticed before. The dark circles under his eyes indicated that he hadn’t been sleeping much or well.

Lucky hadn’t been kidding when he’d said the guy was miserable.

Steel gave the man a once over, clearly picking up on the same things Demo was. Lucky stood directly behind Steel with his body slightly turned, as if he wanted to give Hannigan his back but his instincts wouldn’t allow him to.

“Hannigan. This is unexpected.” Steel’s voice was not welcoming. The fact that Steel did not offer Hannigan a seat or indicate they should take this meeting upstairs to their Chapel also hinted at a disrespect towards the man. Carlos was not a member of the MC but he’d been up in the Chapel several times in the past two years.

“Steel, thank you for seeing me.” Hannigan’s eyes danced around the room, taking in the unfriendly gazes. He cleared his throat. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

“No,” Steel said shortly. “My officers stay. Say what you came to say or leave. The choice is yours.”

Silence fell. Hannigan looked to Lucky, but his face was just as cold as Steel’s. Finally, he nodded slowly. “Very well. It’s my daughter-in-law.”

Lucky unfroze. He dropped his arms from their crossed position over his chest. He shifted to face Hannigan fully. “Paige?” Lucky couldn’t give a crap about his father-in-law, but he certainly cared about his sister-in-law and young nephews. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

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