Page 49 of The Devil's Pair

“An upstanding family all around,” Holt muttered. “Jesus.”

“You said it, man.” King shook his head. “Anyway, at some point their lives intersected again, at least in the sense that Webber provided drugs and women to The Hellions. Denton isn’ttotallysure if the men met up again and Crusher brought his old friend into the MC, or if Webber got access another way and was pleasantly surprised to be reunited with Alcott. Either way, when Alcott took over as President, the partnership was completely cemented: Denton knows for afactthat Webber provided an alibi for Crusher – a sketchy one at best, but still, he stuck to his story and the cops couldn’t prove anything definitively – and thanks to him, our boy beat a murder charge.”

“Fuck,” Jinx said. “Good friend, indeed.”

“Right?” King said. “That put Alcott in his old buddy’s debt, to a certain extent, yet Denton hasn’t found a single case where the favor might have been called in. About two years ago, Webber joined the cult, and as far as Denton can tell, there was zero contact between the men until a few months ago. To be absolutely accurate, there was contact again barely two weeks after you boys took the cult compound.”

The tension in the room sharpened now, become much more focused.Thiswas the important stuff, the stuff that was unfoldingright now, in real time. Everything else was ancient history, and knowing it was helpful for context, but did nothing for self-protection or -preservation.

“So Webber showed up at the Hellions MC clubhouse and stayed there as a guest until about a week ago. We can’t be sure, because he’s disappeared. Like, completely gone.” King looked around the room as the men murmured. “Worse than that, Crusher’s gone too.”

“What?” Ice said, appalled and stunned that somehow the FBIandMatt Kingston had dropped the ball; on the whole, the bigger shock was King. “How the fuck didthathappen?”

“All Denton can think is that there was a time a few weeks ago when some guys were repaving the Hellions’ clubhouse parking lot, and also doing some renovation work inside. There were large vehicles in and out for about nine days, and stuff being dropped off and picked up, lots of activity. Crusher was last seen on the final day, when a huge delivery truck showed up with new furniture – bar tables and chairs, a whole new bar. The truck backed up right to the door, so Denton’s guess is that Crusher and Webber just climbed on in the back, and rode away.”

“And nobody knows where?” Viking said, already wondering just how to tell Elle all ofthis. “Not a clue?”

“None,” King said heavily. “Denton and his boys are looking, but so far, nothing. You won’t be surprised to hear that the delivery company named on the side of the truck went bankrupt last year, and its vehicles were all sold for cash to cover some debts. No paper trail, no records.Anyonecould have bought that truck, taken it anywhere.”

“So there’s not a lot of good news,” Silver said slowly, now wishing that he and Jolene had stayed up at Open Skies after all – like, foryears. “We’re still in the dark.”

“Nogood news whatsoever,” Wolf spoke up again. “And now I’m gonna say somethin’ even worse.”

“Worsethan losing Crusher Fucking Alcott and a psycho cult guy?” Cain asked. “What can be worse?”

“Explainin’ to the women that we need to put them in one of King’s safe houses, bein’ guarded by some of King’s Men,” Wolf said bluntly. “And we can’t tell them when they’ll be free to leave, not until we get a handle on this fuckin’ situation.”

“Oh, shit,” Dux whispered to his brother. “Briley too, do you think? I mean, now that she’s shown up here?”

“Christ,” Drake muttered back, looking at Scars, Viking and Silver, seeing his horror and panic reflected on their faces. “She was probably safer back in Pennsylvania.”

“No fucking doubt.”

“So.” Wolf raised his voice over the men’s conversations, and everyone immediately shut up. “Guys, you need to talk to your women, get ‘em packed up and ready for King’s Men to move to safety.”

“When?” Scars asked, already trying to figure out how to explain to his fiancée that he was sticking her and Keira in an undisclosed and guarded location for an unspecified period of time. “When do they go?”

“Within two days," King responded, and Scars sighed. “I’ve got my people separated into three teams – one for Zoe and Keira, one for Jo, one for Elle and Violet – and these women are theirentirefocus for the next forty-eight hours as they tie up any loose ends, and sort things out to leave. My team'sonlyconcern is getting these women and that baby to the safe house. It’s big enough for all of them, plus my team, but there can’t be any coming and going. I’m afraid that you guys will have to stay away until Denton finds Alcott and Webber, so say your goodbyes in the next couple of days. Short and sweet, boys.”

Scars, Viking and Silver nodded, all bracing themselves for the nuclear reaction that was surely coming, knowing that it had to be done despite the impending chaos.

“Get goin’,” Wolf said to everyone. “Keep your eyes open, watch your backs, watch each other. Meetin’s over.”

The men filed out of the conference room, and Wolf turned to King again. Dux and Drake exchanged loaded glances, then approached their President. He took one look at their faces, and already knew that whatever was about to be said, he fucking didn’t like it.

“OK, what?” Wolf demanded. “Tell me fast, ‘cause my patience is tapped out.”

“Briley showed up here at Satan’s, completely out of the blue,” Drake said. “No call, no nothing… just pulled up in a taxi.”

“When?” Wolf snapped.

“About thirty minutes ago.”

“Shit.” Wolf sighed at the newest wrinkle, wondered if the hits would ever stop coming. “What does she want?”

“We don’t know,” Dux said. “Less than three minutes after she got here, you called this meeting. We had Zoe take her to our place to wait for us.”

“Wait,” King said, a bit surprised at that. “Zoe isn’t here?”

---