Page 91 of Paladin's Hell

I wave my hand. “You know what I mean. Runt could be a plant for personal revenge. This is what this feels like.” I’m the prez. I need to make decisions, sometimes ones I don’t like. “Get Cad looking into his background. Yeah, I know he’ll already have done a check, but see if he can dig deeper. Ask Rusty about the wound, could it have been caused by a handgun?”

“We pull him off duty?”

“Leave him for now. Watch him. Once we get more from Cad and Rusty, then we’ll question him.” If the man’s innocent, he’ll have nothing to tell. But I’m not naïve. To make sure he’s telling the truth, we’ll probably have to hurt him. Only when a man’s at his limits will we believe him. If he’s not against the club already, our treatment could turn him.

My VP knows the implications. “We could lose a good man, Prez.”

“Or we could find out the truth and be able to get the club off lockdown. My gut feel, VP, is that we haven’t seen the last of this. Whoever is behind it, isn’t going to stop. I want just you, me, Thunder and Mace in on this. Keep our suspicions about the prospect to officers only for now. Give us a chance to get to the bottom of what Runt has to offer before everyone knows which direction we’re looking in.” I grimace. “Brothers would be unable to hide their distrust.”

Leaning forward, Demon places his clasped hands between his knees. “Which might be completely unwarranted. Yeah. Don’t want to rush this, Prez. Keep Cad going through the list of names. And let’s just watch Runt for a while.”

“Time we wait we could have something else heading for us.”

“So, we keep Runt locked down. He’s injured. We can excuse him from duties. Make sure one of us is always close to him. Get Cad to monitor his phone calls.”

“Whoever it is isn’t working alone,” I remind him. “Much as we can keep an eye on Runt, can’t rule out something else is already set in motion.”

“A few days at most,” Demon’s eyes stare at mine. “That’s all I’m asking. If he’s innocent, what we do to him might turn him on the club if he hasn’t gone against it already. Even as a prospect he knows too much. We could be signing his death warrant, even if he’s not guilty. Don’t want to go down that route if we don’t have to take it.” His tone is pleading.

Lowering my head into my hands, I know he’s right. If we take Runt to the basement, guilty or not, there’s a very good chance he won’t be walking out. We could lose a good man for nothing. End up killing an innocent man because he’s been wrongly accused.

“Look at it this way, Hell. If Runt was behind it, he made sure the drive-by happened at a time no one else would be injured. That suggests he’s not looking to kill or hurt anyone else.”

“And if it’s not? We’ve got people gunning for us who didn’t give a damn if there were women or brothers outside at the time. As most times there would have been, were we not having a barbeque that day.”

Demon raises his chin. “So, we’re at more risk if we’re barking up the wrong tree. If it’s not Runt, and we divert our attention away from the real culprits, something could blindside us. Something serious leaving some of us dead.”

It’s times like this I hate being the prez. Having to make decisions and hope that they’re right. If we accuse Runt, could be I’m responsible for killing an innocent man. I’m sitting here, discussing that, feeling no remorse. Am I more like Blackie than I thought?

My son and I are close. Closer maybe through the bonds we share. He was born my brother, but I’ve raised him as my child. Through both nature and nurture we’ve got strong links. Is it any wonder at times it’s as though he can read my mind?

He’s staring at me intently, giving me a moment to pull my thoughts together, before saying, “We’ve both got a bit of Blackie in us. Sometimes we might need to call on it, Prez. Can’t run a one-percenter club without breaking a few heads.”

Barking a laugh, I set him straight. “If Blackie was here, he’d already have Runt in the basement. He’d be a dead man walking by now.”

I turn away. Am I showing my weakness by not being able to make a decision? All my life I’ve tried to be the opposite of my father. Am I taking it to extremes, and leaving the club exposed as a result?

Demon stands to leave, pausing to pat my shoulder. “A few days, Prez. If there are no other leads and fingers still point toward Runt, then he’s visiting the basement.”

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