Page 9 of The Devil's Pair

“Yeah,” Wolf said morosely. “Unless Michael’s giving instructions remotely – orders over a phone are still fuckin’ orders.”

“True,” Ice conceded. “But my second point still stands… the sudden influx of men tells me that they’ve gathering their numbers forsomething. Whether it’s happening on Michael’s say-so or it’s on the initiative taken by some other dickhead, the problem is the same: lots of Gideon’s cult lunatics in one place, all pissed at Briley for shooting Gideon smack in the chest,andmaybe at us for helping that night.”

“Yeah,” Wolf said. “God knows how much they’ve managed to put together about you and the boys after you took down the fuckin’ Garden. Accordin’ to Briley, Gideon had blackmail shit on loads of people, includin’ police officers, so if someone got a good look at you and Vikin’ and the twins, they could well have tracked that whole clusterfuck back to us usin’ CCTV from the town or the local roads, even without any plates on the van.”

“Pretty easily with a clear image,” Ice agreed. “Andthat’sworth worrying about.”

“Yeah. On top ofeverythin’ elsewe already got goin’ on,” Wolf said darkly. “Shit never ends, seems like. Lately, goin’ legit iswayharder than bein’ in the one-percenter MC life under Kirk Jensen’s thumb. Livin’ honestly shouldn’t bethisfuckin’ impossible, guys.”

The men fell silent, thinking about the staggering body blows that had hit The Road Devils in the previous three years. From the club’s tattoo parlour being burned to the ground, to Scars’ terrifying injuries after running into the fire to save his fiancée Zoe’s baby girl; from Jo, the club accountant, being stalked by her abusive ex-husband, to Jo killing him in her boyfriend Silver’s house; from Elle – formerly Iris, a woman-servant in Gideon’s Garden of Divine Light in Utah – escaping the cult in the back of Viking’s van, to her being kidnapped and the boys blowing the hell out of the compound to rescue her, along with Violet, another woman-servant. Andnowthey had that asshole Right-Guardian Michael on the loose and who-knows-where-the-fuck, while Briley and the twins hauled ass across the country looking for a safe place for her to land after killing Gideon.

So yeah, all in all, it had been a goddamn rough ride and Wolf was right… itstillwasn’t over, as this call with Ice showed all too clearly. Until they had Michael pinned down and neutralized, there would be no resting easy and relaxed,thatwas for damn sure.

“OK,” Wolf said abruptly. “Anythin’ you need, Ice? Maybe it’s time to send Holt and Cain out to join you?”

“Yeah.” Ice sighed. “I think we’re there, man. If this merry band of assholes decides to leave the compound and take off in all different directions, I’m utterly screwed.”

“The boys will on the first flight out of Denver, I swear. Today, hopefully.”

“Thanks, Wolf.”

“You got it. I’ll text you what time they land, and they’ll rent cars and get to you as soon as they can.”

“Excellent.”

“Talk soon,” Wolf said, then disconnected the call.

He stared at Scars with those mesmerizing wolf-gray eyes, and Scars stared right on back, waiting for his President to say something. Wolf was hands-down one of the toughest, smartest, most decisive sons-of-bitches that Scars had come across in the whole of his life, but none of that made his Prez indestructible. Wolf was looking wound up tight and stretched thin, carrying all kinds of weights and worries on his massive shoulders, and Scars was hoping that maybe the time had finally come for Wolf to hand some of that burden over to his number two. Not that he was holding his breath for it to happen – Wolf Connor was nothing if not fiercely proud and independent.

But Scars was about to be surprised, as it turned out.

“I need some help, man,” Wolf told him, his voice its usual ‘drinking whiskey at midnight’ dark smolder that sent the ladies wild. “Shit’s gettin’ real all over again, and I think I’m losin’ perspective.”

“What do you need?” Scars asked immediately. “What can I do?”

“Book Holt and Cain on a plane, and get the hidden camera footage from Ice. Have Elle and Violet take a look at it and ask them if any of the men that Ice saw looks familiar. Maybe they were regulars at the Utah compound, and if so, maybe the ladies know somethin’ about some of them that can give us a lead on where that bastard Michael might be hidin’ out.”

“OK.”

Wolf paused and gave Scars a long, searching look. Scars knew whatthatmeant, so he waited for whatever question was coming. Then Wolf asked:

“Am I fuckin’ paranoid, man? Thinkin’ about some phantom cop who may well not exist, worryin’ about him either goin’ to the cult to sell us out for a payday, or comin’ direct to us for a payday to protect our people?”

Scars took a deep breath. “Truth, Prez?”

“Fuckin’-A. Always.”

“I don’t know, but that’s the point:noneof us knows. Not Ice, not you, not Briley. And when we don’t know something, I think it’s safer and smarter to take the watch-and-see approach, even if that means a slight over-correction towards paranoia. If anything happened to Zoe or Keira…” He stopped talking, fighting the tightness in his throat that happened at even thethoughtof something coming for those two.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

Scars nodded. “So – get the boys out to Ice, and show the ladies the footage from the compound. Anything else?”

“That’s it for now.” Wolf stood up. “I’m gonna check in on Silver and Jo… I think they’re due back from Open Skies this weekend. I’m feelin’ like I want the rest of our people here, close to home and the club.”

“You think trouble’s coming?”

Wolf gave his Vice-President a twisted little grin, one with zero humor or light. “Hell, man… whenain’tit comin’ lately?”

---