Page 69 of Avenging Devil: Part 2

“A mafia hit which left no survivors.” Pennywise nods. “I can’t see Saffie’s got anything to worry about.”

Lost glances at Dart and rolls his eyes. When he speaks, his voice is hard. “Duke’s got contacts with the mafia. Don’t you think he’ll soon find out it’s a lie that they’re responsible? Once he knows that, where will he look next, or do you think he’s just going to accept all his brothers have died?”

“And he’ll point fingers at us because of Niran.” Dart supports the prez. “If he suspects, or heaven forbid, finds out Niran’s alive, he’ll make the mental leap and assume so’s Saffie.”

“Utah decided to register Niran under a fake name in the hospital. Fuckin’ lucky as it turned out.”

“Yeah.” Token nods approvingly. “They altered his old medical records to back that up.”

“So,” Pennywise frowns and sits forward. “We should be prepared for Duke to come knocking on our door.” He pauses and seems to consider for a moment. “In my new role, I think I’d be remiss not to suggest going on lockdown.”

“Serious step, Brother,” Salem remarks.

Around come various expressions of ‘fuck that shit’ or ‘suppose you’re right’.

Me? As long as I’m free to go back and forth to my old lady, I tend to think Pennywise is right.

I tap the table. “Pennywise has made a good point. A man like Duke is fuckin’ dangerous, and he’ll want revenge, and his property back.” I realise I’m giving my views as the sergeant-at-arms for possibly the last time. “He can’t do it alone though. We need to discover who’s likely to be working with him. Who was he meeting in Carson City for a start? Wolves ran pipelines for drugs, guns and women. The loss of that trade might hit hard, and they might support him in starting it all back up. He was VP. He’ll have connections, and we can’t discount them.”

“I’ve been talking to Snatcher,” Lost takes it up. “Our view is that all of our chapters should be on high alert if he’s got any idea Saffie is still alive.”

“Did we kill Grit?” Token asks, suddenly sitting forward and taking interest. “Was Duke on his own, or did he have back up? If Grit’s around, that might make life more difficult for us.”

“That’s the unknown,” Dart confirms. “We didn’t stop to ask names, just took down everyone wearing Crazy Wolves cuts.”

“You’d have to have dug out some of the bodies to check patches.” Pennywise enlightens those who weren’t there. “The explosions brought half the clubhouse down.”

Fuck. It just gets worse. I’m so torn—torn between working for my club and spending time with Mary.

“We’ve another possible problem,” Dart says with a frown. “Before we left,” he jerks his chin toward Salem and Pennywise, “we grilled Niran about how the fuck he was kidnapped and not killed by the Wolves. Duke didn’t stumble upon her address by accident. Saffie was betrayed, and Niran knew by whom. His guess was correct and that allowed him to fool Duke into believing the info came from him.”

“Well don’t keep it to your fuckin’ self.” Snips looks frustrated. “Who?”

“The main culprit was Susie. But she may or may not have been assisted by Cyn.” Dart looks around cautiously.

The table goes silent. Then, “Cyn?” The name’s echoed around the table with various expressions of shock.

“His sister?” Dusty comments with wide eyes. “She put her brother in Duke’s sights?”

“How the fuck would she contact Duke?” Blaze asks, his brow creasing.

“She didn’t,” Dart states, waving his hand to get them to pipe down. “Susie did. Cyn’s role must have been flapping her mouth, spilling everything she knew to the hangaround who’s got the hots for Niran. Niran suspects she’d been eavesdropping and hearing things she shouldn’t have. Susie’s second cousin’s a fed, and she got the information that way.”

“A fuckin’ fed?” Blaze crosses himself.

Token jerks as though he’s been hit. “She can’t be. I ran a fuckin’ background check on her.” Token, as though desperately seeking an answer, scrubs at his hair and hangs his head. “I clearly didn’t go fuckin’ deep enough. With that connection, she should never have been near the club.”

“It was a second cousin, if that helps?” Salem tells him.

“No fuckin’ help,” Token growls. “I fucked up.”

“Or,” Lost rubs at his nose, “someone purposefully hid the connection so you couldn’t find it.”

“We need answers. Where the fuck’s Susie now?” Wrangler half-stands as though he’s going to go get her.

“Not here,” Dart says fast, indicating he should retake his seat. “Somehow Duke enticed her to Nevada, probably tempting her with the thought Niran could be hers. Niran spoke to her, that’s how we know about the cousin. Their reunion didn’t turn out as she intended.” Dart gives a twisted grin. “She ended up property of the Wolves instead.”

“We didn’t kill any bitches.” Pennywise scrunches his face as though trying to remember. “Only men were in the clubhouse… oh…” His voice trails off.

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