Page 203 of Fury

I untucked my knife and thrust it into Taz’s left hand. The blade stuck there, pinning his hand to the table. He howled like a wild bear caught in a trap, his body shuddering and twisting.

Flint shot up from his chair. “What the fuck, man?”

“Finger!” Lenox yelled.

I pointed at the screen. “Look.”

“What is that?” Flint asked.

“Every investment that Reich made is signed over to either his old lady or Taz,” Watts said, reading the projected documents on the screen. “Shit. Shit.”

The men stared at Taz and looked away again. Taz only squirmed in his chair, blood streaming over his hand, on my table.

“Is that loyalty to your club? Is that the absolute heat of the Flame?” I asked.

Heads shook, hands running down grim faces. Flint kicked at his chair, grabbed it, and threw himself back in it.

“You need to sign this, Taz.” I shoved a document my lawyer had drawn up this morning. “Signs over all your claims to this money to several of our corporations. Here’s a pen.”

“Do it!” Watts yelled at him.

Betrayal is a vile thing among brothers.

Taz’s hands quaked as he signed the papers. Good thing he was a righty and not a lefty. Would’ve been messy.

“I’ll tell you what this is—unforgivable.” I sat back down in my chair. “It’s not just the money. I’ve been here on my patch of ground for years and years, defending it tooth and nail from all manner of jerk off—corporate, law enforcement, mob, Mexican, Latin American, other clubs. I’ve got the One-Eyed Jacks of the Dakotas and Colorado playing friendly ball, and further west of us, the Demon Seeds have finally cooled their shit.

“But I’ve got the Broken Blades next door playing chicken with us, and now, they’re aligning themselves with the Smoking Guns after I brought down their partnership with a crime organization from Denver. Do you think that’s a coincidence? There was a matchmaker for that union: Reich. Our National VP sicced our enemy on me, his brother, giving that enemy a free fucking pass on a vital web of business within our organization. Took us long, hard years to get our shit tight, and we did it. That’s one of the reasons the Flames are the envy of so many. We are tight. And Reich didn’t just talk up any Gun to start a rupture, no. He brought Scrib in.”

“Aw, fuck no,” muttered Flint.

“I’m taking this personally, and you should too. Who knows how long those two had been meeting up? Did Reich think I would let that happen? Do you?”

“No, man. No way,” said Lenox.

“Did he think that I would take that sitting down? Let it roll over me?” I asked.

“This ain’t right,” said Flint, shifting in his seat.

I eyed each and every one of them. “You know what you get with me. I don’t make pretty noises to get your attention, that’s Reich’s way. That was the man ruling alongside this President.”

Taz gaped at me.

I gestured at Catch. He came forward, his arms full. In the center of the table he made a pile of a Sig Sauer P320, a Ruger LC9, a Springfield XD, a Glock.

I liked variety on my menu.

“It’s up to you now, the last remaining national officers of the Flames of Hell.” I rubbed my hands together slowly. “Prove your loyalty to the Flame. To each other. I found the evidence, and I took care of Reich just as he was pulling his gun on us. He left debris behind him, though, and it needs to be cleaned up—it reeks. This club cannot be ruled by greedy lying bastards who will sell it out to line their own pockets. We’ve taken blood oaths to never allow that to happen. Our brotherhood comes first. I’m not going to be Reich’s whore or Taz’s whore. Are you?”

The men shook their heads, their faces long, eyes cold and weary.

“There are rules in place. Rules that had been set for a reason by those who came before us, rules that deserve our respect. These rules need to be followed, not broken or bent by any member on a kick, ‘cause then we got bedlam. And that is not Flames of Hell. We are tight. We are clean in what we do and how we do it. By necessity, right, Taz? Adhering to that necessity is what keeps us whole and secure. That security has been put at risk because of Reich and Taz’s greed. ”

A rush of adrenaline washed through me. It was time for these fucks to prove their loyalty. Reich had dug a breach too wide and deep to be ignored or brushed over and had taken Taz with him.

Watts grabbed the handle of the Sig and stood up, his chair scraping along the floor, his right eye twitching as it did when he got anxious. “I’m ready.”

“Watts, please. Not like this...”

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