Page 55 of The Devil's Ice

“You can’t come here,” Scars said flatly. “If we took you in, we’d just be painting the bullseyes on our backs, and our families’ too. Fuck knows we’ve got enough trouble as it is, and that’s without even trying to cause any.”

“I get that. That’s not what I want.”

“So?”

“I have money saved,” the man said. “And I have three fake identities that nobody knows about,andI have property paid-for in full under one of those names. Bought it twenty years ago, told nobody about it, not one soul. All I need is someone to get me there, to my little place in the woods. Then I disappear – but I do itmyway. Not Viper’s.”

“You wantusto get you there?”

“Yeah. I get Wolf and those babies out and safe, meet you somewhere and hand ‘em over. Then a few of your boys getmesafe – and we never see each other again. That’s the trade-off.”

“Not quite.”

“Why not?”

“Because if Wolf and those babies go missing from under his nose, Viper’s going to come after us, guns blazing. We’re not crossing into Utah because we can’t figure out how to get over there without risking them getting hurt or dead, but their livesandours are forfeit anyway if Viper crosses into Colorado, furious about his hostages getting away.”

“Yeah.”

“So,” Scars said slowly. “You need to make sure that Viper and Preacher don’t get it into their fucked-up heads to follow us back here. You need to take care of them, and you need to make it clear to everyone that it wasyou, not us. I need to see proof that it’s done before I eventhinkabout coming to meet you in person.Thenwe have a deal.”

Now the silence fell on the other man’s side. Scars could hear his thoughts whirring, as he came to understand what Scars was saying.

“You want me to kill my President and Vice,” the man said. “And since the Hellions that they’ve brought in who are loyal to them will rain down hell on me and you, I’dalsohave to kill them.”

“That’s your call,” Scars said coolly. “But it sounds to me like your MC might benefit from someone going through and cleaning house. When the dust settles, whoever’s left starts again – clean slate and all that, and believe me, I know a thing or two about a club having to dothat– and nobody will have any reason to be pissed atusbecause –”

“They’ll all be pissed at me.”

“Maybe. Or maybe most of your brothers feel the same way that you do about killing and kidnapping kids, and they’ll be grateful for Viper and his lunatic religious zealot to be gone, along with all the idiot hangers-on. Hell, they might even beg you to stay on as Prez.”

“Ha!” The man huffed out a laugh that had an edge to it that Scars couldn’t quite place. “Not a chance. I’m leaving Utah and never coming back.”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Scars said. “All I care about is getting my people back, butnotin a way that makes things worse for us.”

“I got you.”

“Good.” Scars’ chest loosened slightly. “So, time line?”

“You and your people can be here tomorrow at midnight for the pick-up.”

Thatstartled Scars, and he fought to keep the surprise out of his voice. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ll clear the decks tomorrow night, go out to Wolf and those babies as the chaos runs riot, bring ‘em to you at a safe meet-up spot.”

“Are Wolf and the kids in the same place?”

“Yeah. I can get them out with no major problems.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Scars said, a bit interested despite himself. “Wiping out half of an MC in one night.”

“Of course you don’t know who I am,” the man said. “But I can tell you this much: I was an Enforcer for the club.”

“OK.” Scars was puzzled. “So?”

“So. My specialty was toxins.”

“Ahhhh.” Suddenly Scars knewexactlywho he was talking to. “Bones Gallagher.”

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