Page 43 of Vendetta
“No,” Vendetta agreed.“But it makesthisright.You’re here now.”And that was enough.For him, and for what came next.
Silence settled thick over the room, every man processing what Shade and Ripper just laid down.The threat wasn’t abstract anymore.Sinister Skin was losing patience, and Eli was even trying to loop the Hounds into his latest fuck-up.The countdown was on.
Razor stood near the back wall, his arms crossed, his expression carved from stone.Outcast leaned beside him, quiet but watchful.
It was Razor who broke the silence, his voice low but sharp.“Sounds like Eli’s finally crossed the line we can’t ignore.”
“He’s desperate,” Shade said.“That’s when people start making bad moves.”
Vendetta said, “And he’s not gonna stop trying to cover his tracks.”
Outcast pushed off the wall.“Then we don’t give him time to.”
Razor nodded once.“Exactly.”
Stepping forward, Razor pulled a paper map that had seen better days from a small file cabinet by the wall.He spread it out on the table at the center of the room, glancing at different points on it as the others gathered round.“We don’t solve this with just bullets.We need to bleed this thing from the inside.Quiet first, then loud.”
Razor pointed to a red circle around Oak Grove.“We go in with a plan.We start by cutting off their logistics.Any safe houses, drop points, and runners.Anything we can dismantle before it blows back.”He looked over at Vendetta.“You’re at the center of this.You’ve been close to it longer than any of us.”
“I’ve got names,” Vendetta said.“And I’ve got eyes on two of Eli’s men who are afraid but not loyal.We squeeze them right, they’ll give us what we need.”
“Good,” Razor said.“Hero, Outcast -- you’re withhim.Shade, Ripper, you two know the town too.You help guide the second wave.I’ll put Snow, Crash, and Player with you.”
Razor looked around the room once more, his tone turning iron.“I’ll call a meeting with the rest.Eli thinks he can drag Mercy back into this?He’s about to learn otherwise.”
“We going to keep someone here in town?”Outcast asked.“Just in case.”
His president nodded.“Ryder will stay with a couple of Hounds.He also has Margot, and she can be ready to pitch in if shit goes down.”
Razor caught the look Vendetta gave him and grinned.“Ryder’s old lady is a local deputy.”
All he could do was nod.It was the first he ever heard of a biker with a lady cop.But these days, with all he’d been through, not much surprised him anymore.
“Good,” Razor said.“Then it’s decided.We’ll do some scouting today.And tomorrow…” His gaze darkened.“We send a message Eli won’t walk away from.”
* * *
Dylan
Dylan sat cross-legged on the bed when Josh returned to the room.She had pulled on one of his flannel shirts, sleeves rolled halfway up her forearms, to cover her tank since the air conditioning kept the room cold.She felt a little better after her nap.She still felt the danger looming beyond the walls of the Hounds’ clubhouse, but not as sharply.
She looked up when Josh walked in, closing the door behind him and locking it.The grim look on his face made her stomach drop, and he hadn’t said anything yet.
“What’s happened?”she asked.
Josh took a seat on the edge of the bed, his shoulders tense beneath the weight of everything.“Two of my brothers showed up,” he said quietly.“Shade and Ripper, who came over from the Abingdon chapter with me.Guys I rode with before everything went to hell.”
Dylan’s brow furrowed.“They knew you were here?”
He shook his head.“They figured it out.Put the pieces together.They talked to my boss at the warehouse, and he told them Jason was a quiet guy with a bad scar on his neck.They came to Mercy to warn the Hounds because Eli’s pointing a finger at them too.Anyone but his fucking self.Turns out Shade and Ripper are also done with Eli.If I were a betting man, I’d say they aren’t the only Cottonmouths in Oak Grove ready to abandon ship.”
Her lips parted, absorbing the shift.“Do they know aboutme?”
Josh nodded.“They know what Eli’s trying to do,” he said.“They said there’s a bounty out on both me and you.And that he wantsyoualive, probably to clean up his mess, or worse.”
Dylan wasn’t surprised, but she didn’t look away either.“What else?”
Josh hesitated, then exhaled slowly.“Peggy’s in the hospital.Eli’s people worked her over.She didn’t give much.Hell, she didn’t have much to give them in the first fucking place.But it was enough for them to start connecting dots.And now Eli’s panicking.”
