Page 38 of Traitor

He took a couple of puffs from the lit cigar in his hand before asking, “What’s she got?”

I shook my head. “Not out here in the open—officers only.”

Grey blew a perfect ring of smoke in my direction. “Mikey, you know that my guys take an oath when they patch in—we even have them fill out a fucking application. If I trust them with my life, then you can too.”

I wanted to believe him. I did. But Feds had infiltrated clubs before and with his recent shit, I wasn’t taking any chances. “Officers or nothing, old man. That’s the best I can do.”

He nodded. “You got it. Head back in and I’ll round ‘em up.”

I knew the oath that all Silent Phoenix members took. Shit, I’d taken an oath of my own and look at how well I’d held up my end of that.

1)As a member of Silent Phoenix MC, I will never use my patch for personal gain.

2)As a member of Silent Phoenix MC, I will never mess with a brother’s ol’ lady.

3)As a member of Silent Phoenix MC, I will never cause one of my brothers to end up on the wrong side of the law in any way, shape, or form.

4)As a member of Silent Phoenix MC, I will never steal from one of my brothers.

5)As a member of Silent Phoenix MC, I will never lie to my Pres or my brothers.

I had the damn thing memorized before I was eight. My old man beat it into me. I was to be a shining example to my brothers long before I was old enough to pledge. The trouble was, even as a kid, I kind of thought the whole thing was bullshit.

People broke promises every day. Comedian had vowed to love my mother, yet he fucked around on her any chance he got. He’d promised to come to my little league baseball games, yet I’d look up from the outfield every game to see my mother sitting alone. A lot of times, Grey had even shown up to watch me from the fence, but it wasn’t the same.

Human nature dictated a need to let other humans down. I’d come to terms with that shit a long time ago. Grey, for whatever reason, held out this hope that people would be who they pledged to be.

The bikers filed in, one by one, scowls on all of their faces. I knew that Grey had interrupted them from fucking or using and nobody liked being pulled away from that. Wolverine followed in last and I gave Grey a look.

“What? He’s a Life-member. I ain’t throwin’ him out.”

Sensing that I was about to lose what little control I had over the room, I began. “Gentlemen, I will just take a moment of your time and you can get back to being balls deep in pussy and whatever illicit drugs strike your fancy. This is about my girl.”

Carnage rolled his eyes and mimed jacking himself off.

“Carnage, Pumpkin, you can go back to fucking yourself as soon as this meeting is over. Just give me a goddamned second of your time for now though, yeah?” He slammed his hands down on the table, but immediately sat back when Grey shook his head. “As I was saying, my girl has a plan for getting our mole in the department. She wants to waltz in and press for them to reopen her mother’s case due to new evidence that’s been brought to light. I think it’s a fucking stup—”

“What evidence does she have?” Jarvis asked, at the same time as Crossbones.

I shrugged. “How the fuck am I supposed to know?”

Little Ricky piped up, his pen poised over a notebook. Apparently, he thought this counted as a meeting and was in secretary mode. “I searched her apartment up and down that night, Mikey. If she had evidence, I never saw it. She had a wall full of information, but it was information we already had. Whoever took out Monica was good and didn’t leave behind a trace.”

I knew about the wall. I’d noted it the night we saved her from Chon Ramos. Little Ricky was supposed to have been in and out of her apartment before she got home from the gym. Her storyboard of a wall was the reason she was still with us. He had gotten hung up taking pictures of it. Any problems I had with him disappeared the minute he saved her life. I owed him one.

Grey let out another couple of smoke rings. “I say we do it. If the mole thinks she has evidence against the Sons, they’re going to be falling all over themselves to get to her. She’s still alive because they don’t believe she knows enough to become a threat.”

Without thinking, I growled, “Then what the fuck was Chon Ramos planning? To cook her dinner?”

The table went silent, waiting on Grey to lash out at me. Admittedly, I deserved it. Instead of losing his shit, he smiled. “You know, I don’t think filet mignon was on the menu, but I also don’t think he was there to kill her. I think he was going to rough her up to try and keep her quiet. We’ve used the same tactic over the years.”

Jesus. I could’ve lived without ever knowing that.

“So, it’s a good plan?” I’d banked on him thinking it was terrible and coming up with something better.

“When is she planning on this taking place?” My father asked with a bored expression on his face. He’d definitely been in the middle of a bimbo bender—blow too, judging by his eyes.

I shrugged again, feeling frustrated that the club sanctioned this asinine idea. “We haven’t decided.”

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