Page 34 of Hollywood

“My guess is they did it on purpose,” Slate offered. He looked up from his laptop and looked around at all the brothers who had gathered for an impromptu church session. We gathered in our meeting room with the door locked because this was serious MC business. “The call to Winter’s cell came in about five minutes after they hit the dispensary.”

“They didn’tjusthit the dispensary,” Diesel groaned. “They beat the fuck out of Jason, the kid who works for us. He ain’t one of us but in this instance, he fucking is.” Diesel’s hands balled into angry fists. “Kid didn’t deserve that.”

“Is he okay?”

Diesel nodded. “He’ll survive. His face looks like shit, and he’s got a few broken ribs but he’s fine. Fucking apologized as if this was his fault.”

“It wasn’t,” Slate confirmed. “I’ve been going through the surveillance around the dispensary, and they sent in a cute chick in a short skirt who had lots of questions as a first-time visitor. You know Jason is a weed nerd and he was happy to explain it all to her.”

“Where the fuck was T-bone?” Rocky asked, the words so hard they came out like bullets.

“A teenager texting and driving took out a biker, a pedestrian, and a bicyclist. He was stuck behind that shit until about fifteen minutes ago. He’s at the dispensary now,” Slate answered, his voice bland as if he was reciting a recipe.

“Fuck, that’s some bad luck,” Maverick said on an exhausted sigh.

“Or it wasn’t,” I added. “I think we need to give these assholes a bit more credit. They sent the message to Winter because of me, which means this wasn’t just some random act of violence, they were hitting back. Probably because of the crypto.”

“Yeah, probably,” Diesel agreed. “But they also destroyed our product, dumping gasoline all over it so I’d say that combined with the property damage and Justin’s medical bills, makes us even. Almost.” His lips curled into a grimace. “That money is ours now.”

“It’s not enough,” I spat out. “We need to strike back. We have to.” I pushed away from the table and paced the length of the room, feeling like a caged fucking animal.

“I agree, we need to do something,” Diesel began. “But we have to be smart about it.”

Fuck smart, I needed vengeance, and I needed it now goddammit. “And until we come up with a plan, what?”

“First, we need to keep the women safe. Lockdown until further notice. Hawk, you can take Laura to work when she’s on shift. Same for the rest of you who have women with jobs. Otherwise, the women and kids stay here.”

It still wasn’t enough, but Diesel was right, as a club we had to be smart. We couldn’t risk that someone got hurt before we had a plan in place. But that didn’t mean I had to like it. “I’m going to make those fuckers hurt.” I had to. I couldn’t let it go.

“We all will,” Rocky promised. “For now, we have other shit to worry about. Sniper, get to the dispensary with T-bone, help him clean up and keep an eye on everything.”

Everybody got their orders and Diesel pushed up to his feet with a sigh. “Get the women whatever they need and get them back here as quickly as possible.”

I stormed out of church like I was being chased, rushing through the clubhouse and out the front door, sucking down as much oxygen as I could before I lost my shit.

“Hollywood, what’s going on?” Winter’s voice sounded behind me, full of concern. “Ellie said they’re going on lockdown, and it means no one can leave the clubhouse. Does that mean me too?”

“Yeah,” I answered without turning around. “You’re included too. In fact, we should get home and get you a few things so I can get you back here.” I turned to face her andsmiled. “Come on.” My voice was tight, and I was sure my smile was even tighter.

She nodded. “What are you going to do?”

Fuck some shit up, but that’s not what I said to her. “I’m going to make sure the MC properties and people are locked up tight.” It wasn’t a lie, I would do that first.

***

Since she didn’t have much at my place, it didn’t take long to pack up and within twenty minutes Winter was safely stashed at the clubhouse, and I was alone on my bike and headed out into the night.

I checked out the MC properties that Diesel texted me to check out and when everything was safe and locked up tight, I hit up a bar on the border of Steel City and Vegas that was a known hangout spot for some of the Jade Devils. I sat at the bar and ordered a shot, knowing my presence would raise a few eyebrows.

It took less than five minutes.

“What the fuck are you doing here, old man?”

I finished off my Cuervo and turned with a smile to find three Jade Devils glaring at me. “Having a drink. Bartender, apple juice for the toddlers please.”

“You’re not welcome here.”

“Yeah, says who?” I slammed the glass down on the long, wooden bar.

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