Page 79 of The Devil's Weakness

I back off as he stands upright and saunters to the bed. He’s out of his cut now and in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Thank God Hawk doesn’t make us wear those ridiculous hospital gowns.

“How are you feeling?” I ask him once he’s settled in bed. “Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m okay. Thanks, though.”

He looks tired, so I decide not to bring up Death’s Road to him right now.

“Okay, well, holler if you need me,” I tell him.

“What didyouneed? You’ve got something on your mind.”

He’s always been able to read me like a book.

“I don’t want to bother you with it. You should get some rest,” I tell him.

“I can sleep when I’m dead.” I cringe slightly at his word choice. “What? Too soon?”

He laughs, bringing a smile to my face. Pulling up a chair next to his bed, I sit down and tell him about what I saw.

“I was leaving Sasha’s house, and I stopped into Carroll’s Hardware to grab something. When I came out, I saw two members of Death’s Road entering Ellie’s. I got a terrible feeling, and I mentioned it to Stone, but you know him. He shrugged it off and told me there wasn’t anything to worry about.”

Iron takes a deep breath. I don’t want him to feel like he’s being put in the middle of this. I watch as he considers what I told him.

“That’s a new move for them,” he says finally.

“I know. And Sasha works there, so I’m even more uneasy about it. They’ve threatened us before, cruising the main drag when there’s no need for them to be in our town at all, but they’ve never been as bold as to stop and stay awhile.”

“Yeah,” Iron fingers the grown-out whiskers on his chin.

“And… there’s something else too,” I start. “A couple of nights ago, Sasha’s brother came into The Lair. I found a bag of heroin on him with their insignia on it. This is the second time that they’ve shown up somewhere she’s involved.”

Concern arises on his brow.

“I spoke with her earlier today about the drugs I found. I get the impression she doesn’t understand the severity of having a connection to Death’s Road. I told her she’s in danger simply because her piece of shit brother went and got involved with them.”

Iron nods his head in agreement.

“Well, just keep on her. I’m in her debt whether or not she and Stone believe me. I want to make sure she stays safe. Also, don’t mention it to Stone anymore right now. We can talk to him about it together if it comes to it. Let’s just keep an eye out for Death’s Road and try to figure out what they’re up to first.”

“We’renot going to do anything.I’mgoing to keep an eye out for them, andyou’regoing to get better.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” he grumbles.

I look down at my hands, thinking about a conversation that I overheard a couple of years ago, right after Montana died.

“What is it, Son? Looks like you’ve got more to say.”

“I can’t help but think that this all goes back to Montana. I mentioned something to Stone about it out of anger yesterday. He was livid.”

“I’ll bet he was.”

“Iron, I know you know what happened back then. I know Stone has something to do with it, and I know that Rush, Yo-Yo, and Montana died because of it.”

Rush was the former president of Death’s Road. He and his Vice, Yo-Yo, were murdered not long after Montana was. Iron takes another deep breath, and I don’t know if he’s going to tell me or not.

“You remember all the shit Montana pulled back then. He always had to give his opinion. He carried out violence in the name of the Skull. Stone had to do a lot of groveling and explaining to a few other Clubs who thought Montana actually spoke on our behalf.”

“Yeah, he created a fucking shit storm.”

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