Page 26 of Avenging Devil: Part 2

Chapter Nine

Grumbler

“This is taking too fuckin’ long.” In my anguish, I slam my hand down onto the tabletop. “They’ve had them both for twenty-four hours.” At least we know Niran is, or was, alive. Stormy had hacked into the security camera footage at the small Nevada airport again and had provided evidence that both he and Saffie had disembarked from the plane.

“Duke wants Saffie alive,” Lost says in a reasonable tone. “Otherwise, why take her back to Nevada?”

“And Niran?” Standing so fast, my chair rocks back and falls to the ground with a crash. Placing both palms on the table, I lean forward and all but snarl in his face. “They don’t want a man like Niran in their fuckin’ White club. So what’s the point in keeping him alive? Sure, he arrived, but that doesn’t mean he’s still breathing.” I have visions of him being taken to the equivalent of our brig, the place where we interrogate those hostile to the club.

“We have to hope that he is,” Salem shoots back, a man who knows better than most about torture, as he’s normally the one to dish it out. “We can’t give up, Brother.”

“Every hour he’s left there is an hour too many,” I shout. “They won’t be gentle if they’re questioning him about our club.”

“Which they’ll do if they want to understand what might be coming for them,” Pennywise puts in, looking between me and Salem.

“Or they might not expect us to worry about a lost brother, not when he’s Black,” Dart points out, his mouth twisting with distaste. If he wasn’t married to Alex, a woman of the same colour skin as Niran, I’d consider that statement racist. But coming from the VP, I know it’s not. Satan’s Devils don’t give a damn about the wrapping, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. And Niran is as good a brother as I’ve ever come across.

“I agree with Grumbler. I can’t understand why we’re not already on the road,” Blaze complains.

Token clears his throat. “I’m waiting on an update from Stormy—”

“Fuck Stormy,” I round on him. “He was quick off the mark when it came to taking out Alder. He didn’t wait then.”

Prez bangs the gavel. “Grumbler. Will you sit the fuck down? We can’t just ride to Nevada without getting intel. It will be signing the death warrants of at least some of us. If you go off half-cocked, it will be me explaining to Mary why her man isn’t coming home.”

I wouldn’t want my old lady to hear something like that. “So what are we doing other than sitting around with our thumbs up our asses?” Begrudgingly, I pick up and right my chair, and then sit back down.

To me, Niran’s not just another brother, he’s a friend, and a good one at that. We’d grown close when he’d taken on my duties when I was banged up. If I step down from my sergeant-at-arms role, I know no man here would have any hesitation voting him in to take the vacated slot. Giving myself a mental slap, I realise every man around this table must be hurting. Begrudgingly, I realise Lost is right. Charging in without knowing what we’re heading into could leave a number of us dead, and maybe even get Niran killed in the process. If he’s still alive, that is.

Lost’s phone rings. He takes it out, glances at it, then places it on the table. “You’ve got Lost.”

“Hope I’m in the right place, Brother.” A chuckle comes down the line.

“Red,” Lost breathes out, referencing the Vegas Satan’s Devils’ prez. “Thanks for getting back to me. We’re in church. I’ve got you on speaker.”

“I’ve got Crash and Indian here at my end.” I know they’re the Vegas VP and sergeant-at-arms, respectively.

“You got anything?” Prez asks, barely hiding the impatience in his voice.

“Yeah. We know of the Crazy Wolves. They hole up about an hour and a half from here. We know they’re into some bad shit, but as long as they kept that out of Vegas, we kept our distance. After your request, I sent Twister and Hammer to carry out some surveillance.” He pauses, but it’s only to take a breath. “They’re based in a compound out in the country. Hard to approach unseen, though darkness would help. They’ve got guard dogs and have patrolling sentries. Whatever they keep inside, they want it to themselves.”

“Our brother is resourceful. Any chance of him making it out?” This is from Dart.

Red doesn’t answer immediately. There’s a murmuring of voices at the other end. “Keys has been speaking to Stormy and running through the members they have. Some are ex-military, and of those, most didn’t leave voluntarily. A lot are just thugs off the street. Knife, the prez, has got connections to a white supremacist organisation. What’s worse for us, Stormy’s found links to a prostitution ring they’re running in Vegas.” He snorts. “Seems like you’re going to have us on your side, and not just because a Devil is missing. We’ll be behind you to take these fuckers out. Vegas is my town and no one shits on my territory.”

“Thought prostitution was the bread and butter of Vegas,” Kink puts in.

Red growls in his throat. “Yeah, but not when the girls are forced into it and kept caged for the gentleman’s pleasure.”

Okay then. I can see why Red’s all for taking them out.

“Are we any clearer on numbers?” Lost asks.

“More than expected. Seems they’ve accepted a few more into the ranks. Twister tells me he counted a couple of dozen bikes…” his voice trails off.

“I’ve got seventeen men ready to ride,” Lost states. “And Drummer said he’d help.” I nod at the news. Getting brothers from Tucson would be good.

“I have men,” Red offers. “I’ve spoken to Demon.” He references the Colorado prez. “He’s willing to get involved, as will Utah. But how many Snatcher can spare depends on what they’re working on. Snatcher at least has offered the plane to ferry us around.”

---