Page 106 of The Oath We Take

I shake my head. “We’ve known each other a real long time. Butcher isn’t happy about it.”

King folds his arms across his chest. “If you want words of wisdom, he’ll get over it. We all do, somehow. Clutch is married to my twin. I’ve just about recovered.”

The side-eye from Vex is amusing. “Says the guy who kidnapped Saint’s sister.”

King leans back in his chair. “Fuck me. I’m never gonna live that down. Congratulations to both of you, but we need to get back to business. Rocco. The town. The Russians.”

“It makes no sense,” Ember says. “Rocco didn’t speak with a European accent, which I know isn’t a given depending on where he was raised, but he also got beaten up by those two guys. I don’t understand it.”

Vex taps something, then the screen changes. “This Rocco?”

A driver’s license appears on the screen. A handsome man in a sharp suit. With his hair slicked back off his face, his eyebrows look sharper, his eyes meaner.

“Yeah, that’s the fucker,” I say. And it grinds my fucking gears he was in our sight the whole time.

Vex nodded. “Thought you might say that. It’s Lev Zakharov, Rurik’s third son.”

Ember puts her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God. He was using me.”

“Fuck,” I say. “Trust me, we’re on this. I don’t know what his end game was meant to be. But I’ll figure it out.”

King shakes his head. “You might have a problem with that. Rurik Zakharov is a ruthless billionaire. He can out-man and out-weapon you and is clearly setting up a permanent structure in Denver. The key will be to understand why he wants Colorado for his own. All this could be a smoke screen to divert you from the real issue.”

A question hits me. How would he benefit if he shows the town how ineffective we are, if he turns them against us under the guise of usbringing trouble to the town?

“I’ll keep looking,” Vex says. “I’ll do a full screen of commercial planning licenses and anything like that. He’s a feared oligarch who has fingers in lots of pies. As do his sons. His commercial interests are like a spider’s web of interconnection. But there is a trend for foreign investors buying up swaths of ranch land across the US. Lots of different reasons as to why. Some think it’s to eventually starve us out, others think it’s to force the government into allowing building development, some think it’s for foreign entities to get close localized access to military bases. Who the hell knows.”

“Thank you, brothers,” I say. “Let me go talk to my club about this.”

“Keep us posted,” King says. “Listen, it’s like noon there. I’m gonna ask the chapters in Wyoming and Nebraska to send back up. Will take ‘em six hours, maybe, to get there so they’ll be there before nightfall. And there are two nomads, originally out of Nashville, who’ve just finished up something for me in Kansas. I’m sending them your way, just for a couple of weeks too. Use ‘em. They’re expert-level trackers. Jackal and Shade. Watch for them this afternoon. If you need something more subtle, let me know. I’ll fly out Catalina, which means you also get Niro too.”

“Why would you do that?”

King grins. “Because Cat has a very special set of skills. Her father’s club used her as a honey trap. She can get into places we bikers can’t. And Niro loves taking care of the person once she has them.”

I didn’t really get the chance to speak with Cat at Sturgis beyond pleasantries, but it was clear the New Jersey Outlaws held her in high regard. She isn’t a brother, but they treat her like she is. I’m starting to understand why.

There’s a piece of me that wonders if that doesn’t make us appear weak to other clubs, needing their support. But then, I remember it’s the crux of a motorcycle club brotherhood. “Thanks for the offer of support. I’ll let Butcher know and accept it on his behalf.”

King nods. “Understood. Nobody gains if the Russians get their claws into more of America. Whether it’s our government, our land, or our businesses. Whatever you need, we’ve got your back.”

“Appreciated,” I say. “Vex, would you be up for finding us a person just like you with your set of skills? Feel like we might need it.”

Vex grins. “Might be mentoring a couple of people like that. Let me see how committed they are to staying in New York. Later.”

The screen goes dark.

“Shit,” Ember says. “I brought him to you. You tried to step in that first night. You saw it, didn’t you? How did you know?”

The terror on her face is enough for me to tug her into my arms. “I didn’t know for sure. It was a feeling. His clothes. They were too much like he’d walked into a store and asked for cowboy cosplay. But we can’t do this. What’s done is done. Now it’s about what we do next.”

Her eyes go even wider. “Oh my God, Atom. He came into church. He sat in your seat. He must have planted the bug.” Tears spill over her lashes. “This really is my fault. It’s how they knew where you’d be, how they were able to hurt Grudge and set fire to my bar and kill Haynes and Charmer. They knew you’d all be somewhere else.”

“He was in church?” I ask.

Ember nods. “Taco brought Rocco into the clubhouse, and I was in Dad’s office. We were working on a proposal to show your grandpa, to request the club take ownership of the land. So, when Rocco arrived, he saw me there and sat opposite me. In your chair.”

It shouldn’t bother me more that he sat in my fucking seat, one I earned, than it does he planted a bug. “At least we know how the bug got there. No one is looking at Rocco as a bad guy because he was there for you. Bet it was a set up.”

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