Page 5 of Cruel Savior

"I'm saying she needs some help. She's planning to move out of the main house and into the hunting cabin at the mountain edge of our property. I honestly don't know what's going on in her mind these days. But whatever the Feds did to her, it messed her up. Call it fatherly instinct or whatever. But I have a feeling she's going to do something drastic.

Like disappear in the middle of the night without a fucking trace and never come back?

Chapter Three

Axel

"Don't start."JD was headed down the hall in my direction and I could feel the building vibrating with his irritation. Or maybe that was me.

Turner had left after JD reassured him that we could handle whatever he needed until the time came he got his new team in place.

"You're being an asshole. You know as well as I do that Turner is important to this town, and without his assistance, our club would not continue to fly under the radar."

I looked to the sky and mumbled under my breath for some patience. "That's fine. Do whatever needs to be done. Just leave me out of it this time. I've got my hands full anyways."

He shook his head. "No can do. Everyone else is already stretched about as thin as they can be. This Seattle mafia situation has us all on our toes. So, it's going to take the entire club working together to work both cases at the same time."

I'd known that was coming. I'd already worked the logistics in my head as JD finished up with Turner. "Speaking of..." I didn't want to be the one to deliver the latest and greatest, but that was all part of the job. "Another coffee stand went down last night. Molotov cocktail. Just got the news. That makes three in just under two weeks."

"Fuck." JD shoved his hands in his hair. It had more and more gray over the last few stressful months. "We have got to figure out who is targeting us. I tried to write the first two off as coincidence, but three? No fucking way. Any more word on that new club in Seattle?"

I shook my head. "Just that they've been recruiting for a while and they have picked up some heavy artillery when it comes to their new members. Lots of ex-cons with less than honorable backgrounds. Some of them inquired with us and were turned away.”

"Just fucking great. We need to get some information on all of them that we know of."

"Already on it. Intel is working his magic as we speak. We should have enough information put together before church on Sunday." Yes, it was ironic that motorcycle clubs liked to call their official meetings church, and that we preferred to have them on Sunday afternoons. Not that we gave a damn what anyone thought.

We all needed it. Especially these days. Taking down Frank Mazzeo had been a bitch and a half, and when JD's son had gotten mixed up in Cullotta family business, the club had been pulled into that mess too. Although I had to admit that two recent trips to Vegas had ended up in some good times. While I loved small-town life, and would never give it up, partying in a wild town like Vegas sure had its perks.

Especially the tall blonde ones.

"Perfect. Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us. But about this Turner thing. You have got to quit antagonizing that one. What happened between you and her was a long time ago. It's time to put it behind you."

I was half irritated and half comforted by his words. I had a lot of respect for JD, and in many ways he'd been the father I'd never really had. On the outside, looking in, some people might not think that was a good thing. Our president had a dark history that, at times, still seemed to plague him. But the man had rebuilt this club after tragedy and gave us all a very solid purpose.

Yes, we still broke the law. That was never going to change. For one, we ran an illegal casino on our property that could land all of us in prison for a very long time. Except that much of the state's leadership frequented our establishment so it seemed unlikely that would be our downfall. Our propensity to serve justice however, that was a bit trickier.

But it was that work that made it easier to sleep at night.

"I have no desire to revisit the past. I've put it behind me and moved on. But that doesn't mean I want to spend time with her. She helped Mazzeo and jeopardized our entire operation in Vegas. She could have gotten any one of us killed. She got Izzy nearly killed.”

"Nevertheless, her father is our silent supporter. Without his assistance, we would not have made as much progress as we have. I will not jeopardize that relationship. Is that going to be a problem?"

He shouldn't have to ask. "Yeah. I'm good. Although, I gotta say, a severed head is some serious business. Not sure how many people out there would cut the head off an FBI agent and have it delivered in broad daylight to a former CIA agent. That sounds like some serious revenge."

"Agreed. Which is why I am assuming Tel is already cross-referencing any cases they worked on together."

I couldn't help but laugh. We knew each other well, and I was proud of our club and how it operated like a well-oiled machine. "Assume away," I laughed again.

"Now we need to make the assignments. Who’s available to start tonight?"

Me, Zook and Tel were the only ones not already on duty in one capacity or another. It was supposed to be a long overdue night off, but I'd already bid that sayonara halfway through the meeting with Turner. "I gave a heads up to both Zook and Tel. We'll head over to the Turner ranch and meet with their security team. See what we can do to beef things up."

JD nodded. "That's good. That's good. But..." I clenched for the bomb. "I want you on the girl." He held up his hand before I could get a sound out of my mouth. "I know. I get it. But I was serious when I said it's time to put this behind you once and for all. Talk to her if you have to. Just get it done. Tel is going to be too busy with security systems, and I want Zook at his back. That only leaves you, and if I'm honest, you might be the only one who can handle it. Bad blood or not, at least you won't be over there thinking with your dick. Also, this isn't up for debate."

I ground my teeth and forced myself to keep quiet. JD was my president and he'd made his decision. There were times to fight about it, and times to suck it up. "Fine. But I'd like it noted I think this is a bad idea. I'm not going to treat her like some goddamned princess who needs kid gloves. You make it clear with Turner that I'm in charge over there and whatever it takes to get the job done is what will be done."

JD nodded again. "I would expect nothing less. Don't worry, I'll get Turner on board. Just try not to blow shit up, okay? I have a feeling this fight with Seattle is going to spill into Sultan soon, and when it does, we'll need Turner to back us."

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