Page 62 of Savage Justice

Devil nods. “Already called him, Prez.”

Ares moves the hair from my face. It hangs in abandoned tufts.

“You don’t need to worry about us. And I doubt anything I ever tell you will sway your decision, but we’ve seen worse.” Ares’ expression tells me he believes his words.

Staring around the room I say, “You all sacrificed so much for me last night. And you almost died. Or at least could have been killed.”

Devil scoffs. “Last night was a warm-up for what’s coming. It had to happen. You take way too much on your shoulders. This is not on you.”

“You just moved our timetable up is all,” Riot adds on to Devil’s words.

“Still thank you. I’ll try not to do that again, but no promises.” I figure I better keep it real with the plan percolating in the back of my head.

Ares addresses everyone. “Speaking of, we almost had our asses handed to us. We need more muscle. More men. We’ve been holding off patching in new blood. Tonight that changes.”

“What about the law?”

“Forget the law. They can’t do shit.”

It’s apparent I know nothing of how these men operate and I’m in way over my head. Besides I have something I need to do. I move to raise off Ares’ lap but his arms buckle me in place. “You’re the key player here. Without you, this won’t work. You need to stay.”

Ares looks to Rage who is changing his drink out for a large coffee. Black. “Call your brother. Did he get back from South America?”

Riot nods. “Last week.”

“If he wants in, he has to pledge to the Sons and we’ll patch him in.”

Ares looks to Riot. “Your cousin is still interested?”

“Yes.”

“Good. The same goes for him. He pledges with Rage’s brother and they’ll be part of the brotherhood for life. And that goes for anyone else who wants to be a Savage. We’ll start patching them if they are willing to bleed for their brothers. But they’ll need to understand one thing. My word is law. Nothing is done without my approval. We might not be with the law but we are not against it either.”

“Understood, Prez.”

It’s scary but amazing to see how easily these men fall into line with their president. As if reading my mind, Ares turns to me.

“Like I said, the real power lies with you. These men are only as strong as their bank accounts. As soon as I receive notice of a large transfer I expect them to receive sometime today; we move. Lockdown their funds. They’ll be scrambling thinking it’s the FEDs. That’s when we move.”

He’s no longer talking to just me but everyone in the room. Now I understand the bigger picture and feel like an idiot for my actions.

“How will you know of their bank movements?”

“I have friends where I need them who feed me information.”

Of course he does.

Riot turns to me. “You were down in the basement. You personally witnessed the number of guards they have. What are we up against? Did you hear them talking? Anything that might help.”

Dragon scoffs, looking put out. And on a man of his size, it’s almost commercial. “And what am I? Blind and deaf?”

Riot claps a hand over Dragon’s shoulder. “I want to hear her take on it. Women are more perceptive and better at details.”

That seems to shut Dragon up and all eyes turn on me. I take strength from the large arms around me and let the warmth of them ground me to the fact I am no longer in Volkov’s basement holding cells being prepared for auction.

I close my eyes and conjure up my worst nightmare. “Those cells have two keys. The only way they are getting open and you are getting the girls out is with those keys. Total old school. No fancy biometric keypads. Guards work with similar guns to what Devil had last night. Everyone has them. From the ones guarding the girls to the ones standing just off the auction stage. They rotate them, too. I know because in the couple of hours I was there I saw three different guards rotate outside my door.”

I pause recalling what I heard while Dragon carried my friend’s body off.

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