Page 61 of Claimed By the Biker Brothers

“We need to close ranks and get the legal team involved,” Jagger suggests. “With Spalding watching us, you know he’s going to make everything ten times harder. We can’t fend off the DEA and keep Redwood clean of Marlo’s drug deals without some legal advantages.”

“What legal advantages do we have?” Diesel asks, his brow furrowed as he stares at the floor. “I mean, sure, the DEA’s case against us is circumstantial at best, but until that clears up, he can still raise hell and turn us inside out. It’ll give Marlo the edge she needs to take us out one by one.”

“And with Calvin’s inside knowledge—” Jagger says, but I cut him off.

“It’s not going to get that far. Calvin knew enough four years ago. Today, things are different. We’ve cleaned up a lot of the club’s activities and records since he’s been away.”

“We’re not done, though,” Samson reminds me. “All it takes is a good forensic accountant and an overzealous Fed with a search warrant. Let’s not forget about what’s in that basement.”

“Fuck, we can’t move any of it either,” Diesel scoffs, “not with Spalding watching the clubhouse day in, day out.”

“We can’t move anything right after Marlo’s visit either,” I say. “Spalding will put two and two together if he hasn’t already.”

“He’ll draw the link between us and the Hughes family again,” Jagger replies.

I shake my head slowly. “She did it on purpose. Marlo came here specifically to cast a light on our history. Spalding is probably rubbing his hands together with glee and calling his superiors. And Robyn and Kyra need us now more than ever.”

“Calvin played his cards right, didn’t he?” Samson grumbles and retakes his seat at the bar.

Shay refills his glass and gives us a worried look. “What do you want us to do, boss?”

“Nothing for the time being. Let’s give it twenty-four hours and see what movements occur in the area,” I tell her, then turn back to Samson. “You need to get more eyes on Redwood. Pull the prospects from the neighboring towns. We’ll cover the meals and the lodging. There will be rooms aplenty for them over at Mikey’s Motel by the northern Redwood exit. We need them close, and we need them riding out regularly.”

“Ring road and interstate checks too?” he asks.

I nod once. “And have the more seasoned members ride past the old trade spots during the day: the playgrounds, the school, the fast-food joints. Wherever the Hugheses’ boys were dealing before is where they’ll be moving in again. Marlo will test our response, rest assured. It needs to be swift and decisive.”

“I’ll talk to Sheriff Bentley,” Jagger says. “Let him know things are about to start moving again, and not in a good way.”

“Yeah, he needs to get his deputies locked and loaded and ready to intervene,” I reply, then look at Samson and Diesel. “Make sure the prospects don’t take the law into their own hands if they come across Hughes or Hughes-affiliated dealers. Even a citizens’ arrests will be under intense scrutiny. You saw the kind of lawyers that Marlo’s packing. They will challenge the courts at every turn.”

Jagger inches closer. “What about Robyn and Kyra?”

“What about them?”

“Do we tighten security for them as well?”

“They’ve got enough security for now,” I say. “There’s a prospect watching Kyra’s school, someone watching the house, and someone at Robyn’s work as well. I don’t think Calvin is stupid enough to try and make a move anytime soon. He and Marlo have bigger fish to fry.”

“Yeah, I’m not buying the whole ‘he’s useful to me’ shtick Marlo tried to sell us,” Diesel cuts in. “He’s a greedy motherfucker. He’s never going to settle for whatever scraps she might think of tossing his way. Calvin will gun for a generous cut of the profits.”

“Besides, he knows we’re watching him,” I say. “We’re over a hundred strong, each of us determined to string him up by his balls if he breaches that restraining order again. Jagger made sure of it.”

“I could make sure of it some more now that I know where to find the fucker.”

“No, we keep our noses clean. All we need is one day to observe and see where the pieces fall,” I reply. “And Samson’s right. We need to figure out a way to safely clear what’s in the basement too before the DEA busts down our door.”

I pull Diesel and Jagger off to the side and out of Samson’s earshot, my gaze nervously wandering around.

“What?” Diesel asks me.

“We also need to figure out how steep the cost of keeping Robyn and Kyra in our lives is going to be. This is clearly no longer a simple issue of keeping the ex-husband away from them. Shit just got real, and I want the three of us to be on the same page here.”

Jagger exhales sharply. “What are you saying, Knox? That we let Calvin have at them?”

“No, for fuck’s sake, Jag, listen to me. We’ve kept everything aboveboard until now, but what’s about to happen next might require more than what the legal channels can give us to work with. I need to know we’re all ready to do what it takes.”

“He means going outside the law,” Diesel tells him.

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