Page 62 of Outlaws' Dirty Secret

I call in Riot and Tex to take over, then me and Dragon head for Hellfire's office, curious as fuck about what Grimm's deal is with our Prez.

“Love what you’ve done with the place,” Grimm remarks as we walk through the church. He sees General’s cut hung up on the wall and stops, looking at it for a long time. “I didn’t always agree with the old bastard, but I was sorry to hear how he went,” he says softly.

Hellfire nods. “We made them pay.”

In the office, Hellfire sits in his chair and Grimm sits opposite, putting his heels up on the desk. We wait to hear Hellfire bitch him out, but it doesn’t come. “Alright, here's what you need to know. Grimm was tight with Tanner back in the day. Weren’t you? In fact, you stomped right the fuck outta here when Tanner did? Chose Tanner over the fucking club and your brothers.”

Grimm stretches, his jacket pulling up and showing off his piece underneath. Just gonna assume Hellfire knows what the fuck he's doing, but I'm staying ready.

“He’s my fucking uncle, man. The only reason I even joined. Of course I didn't stick around. Maybe your memory is getting shitty, or maybe you just don’t want to remember what it was like for me when he left. Our fucking brothers’ bodies were still warm and everyone was looking for someone to blame.”

“Jesus, Grimm, even if Tanner wasn’t responsible, you’ve gotta admit he would’ve eventually gotten someone killed. You didn’t have to go, you?—”

“Fuck you! I didn’t come here to litigate the past. You said you had questions about Tanner. Ask ’em. If I think it's worth it, I'll answer.”

Hellfire twitches, like he wants to deck Grimm again, but he holds it back. “And this is why I didn't wanna call this fucker.”

“Maybe it's best just to ask our questions,” Dragon says. He's taken up guard position by the door, his big arms crossed over his chest. “This shit isn't gonna get us any closer to Tanner.”

“What the fuck makes you think that I'd want to lead you guys to him? If that's what this is about, you can forget it. We don't talk much anymore, but he always treated me fair.”

“He's got something up his ass again.” Hellfire's voice has gone deathly serious. The tone he takes right before he kills someone, the one with the quiet, seething fury underneath it. The one that even makes us give him a wide berth if we hear it. “Twice now, he's somehow gotten hold of sensitive information that's gotten my boys shot at. I want to know if you have any information on what he’s up to. And why.”

Grimm purses his lips while he thinks. “You got proof of that? Sounds like bullshit to me. It’s been fucking years, brother.”

Hellfire jerks when Grimm says it. “I’m not your fucking brother, not anymore,” he growls.

Grimm waves it away. “Habit.”

“We caught him in the act,” Dragon throws out before they can distract each other again. “He’s going by Brutus, but when we tracked him down, it was definitely Tanner. Now he's on the run, and we need to find him. And it’s not just us, he’s pissing off Hamid Chafik.”

“What do you want me to do about it? I can tell you what I know, but I haven’t talked to either of you in years. Maybe I should hear his side of it first.”

“You owe me,” Hellfire snarls.

“You’re going to throw that in my face? Fuck you!”

The door slams open, drawing all of our attention to it. Blackout fills the doorway looking like he's ready to start breaking shit. Sinner is right behind him, looking almost as pissed.

“What the fuck?” Hellfire looks as confused as he looks angry.

“Willow’s missing.”

33

BLACKOUT

“What the fuckdo you mean, Willow’s gone?” Skyhigh snarls.

“Exactly what I'm saying. Sinner was on guard duty. He can tell you.” I spare a glance for some new guy who has his fucking boots on Hellfire’s desk and hasn’t gotten his head ripped off yet.

Sinner steps forward. He looks real fucking nervous. “She was upstairs most of the morning, and then Paige and Jessica came by to look around the house. I went next door to measure for the new flooring.” He glances back and forth between me, Skyhigh and Dragon. “I told them to let me know when they left. I swear to God. I saw them in the back looking at her garden, and then it was quiet for a while. I heard a car pull up and looked out the window. I saw the guy from the sting at her front door. I called Blackout while I was running out of the house, but by the time I got there, they were already gone.”

“Patrols are on the lookout but nobody’s reported anything yet,” I add.

“Fucking Tanner,” Dragon bites out. He steps up to the new guy and shoves his feet off the desk. “Where the fuck would he take her, Grimm?”

Grimm, whoever the hell he is, snorts in disbelief. “Why the fuck would he kidnap your girlfriend?”

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