Prez?” Hot Shot asks. “For the time being, we’re on lockdown. I need someone to bring in all the women and the children or make sure they all get out of town safely. Have Ruby fill up the storeroom and prepare for at least a week or two. I need two men to collect my kids and take them to Darcy’s. Make sure they have all the shit they need to keep up with their school work.” “Ratchet and I will go get them,” volunteers Dirty. “I’ll get cracking on this unknown bank account and see if I can track it down. I’ll search for any bank records that may pertain to Maj and see where the money trail goes. It might take me a couple of days to hack into the banks, but I can do it.” “What about Hero? Where is he in all of this?” “He’s over at Darcy’s with Dani and the kids. I’ll be bringing him in as soon as we’re done here. I need a volunteer to watch Darcy’s house. The cartel may not know where she lives, but with the new baby and Dani being pregnant, I don’t want any of them within throwing distance of the club. It’s safer that they aren’t here for the time being.” “I’ll go,” Irons says. “I’m too new for any of these Spanish fuckers to know who I am. I can blend in without them noticing me.” “Thanks, man.” “I’d do anything you ask, Prez, but what about the other chapters? Are we bringing them in?” “I think we need to, but I think we need to limit the guys here to only the ones we’ve known for a while. I want to limit the information that may leak to the spies amongst us.” Turning to Voodoo, I call his attention back to me. “V, I need you to run background checks on all the new guys in the last twelve years. Start with the farthest chapters and work your way closer to home. Maj would have brought them in at a distance until she knew she could get away with it.” “Sure thing, Prez. I’ll pull the membership records right now.” I look to each of my brothers before rising from my chair. “I know that this is the last thing we wanted to come kicking in our door, but we need to take care of this now. This club was meant to be a brotherhood, not a fucking means to an end for the cartel to clear their path farther into California. The shit’s about to hit the fan, and I need to know you are all on board with me.” Each man nods his head in agreement and a sense of pride falls over me. My brothers are willing to stand beside me while we attempt to clean up the mess left behind by Maj and her family’s cartel. Killing Twisted Tribe was one thing, but facing an entire cartel will be so much more. Ties and bonds will be tested and our families and friends are going to be put into the crosshairs in order to put this shit to rest. There are things we need to do and plans to be made to ensure that this club and our families will be taken care of if this shit goes south. My priority now is my own children’s safety as well as the added responsibility of Darcy and her kids. Jagger will haunt my ass until my last breath if I leave them unprotected, but I know she will fight me every step of the way. Too bad for her that I’m a hard man to say no to and don’t really give a shit about her opinions on my methods. One way or another, the kids will survive even if we don’t. “Prepare yourselves, my brothers. We are at war.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. That bastard sent his kids over here?” I scream at Dirty while he unloads Harley’s suitcase onto the driveway. “I am not Raze’s halfway house for wayward children and pregnant women. I have my own kids to take care of. Not to mention the fact that I don’t have enough beds for everyone.” “Prez’s orders so fucking deal with it. I don’t like being locked down any more than you do, but buck the fuck up, buttercup, because this shit’s happening whether you say yes or no.” Dirty slams a second suitcase on the ground and shoves the tail gate of the Ford pickup truck closed