Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(73)

Dom sat forward. “There’s big trouble in LA, looks like. Got some national attention.”

Badger tried to catch up, fill in the blanks. “Wait—LA. You mean the Scorps? Bart?”

“Yeah. Hoosier is trying to secede—the whole LA charter, and he’s trying to bring the other West Coast charters him.”

“You heard this on the news?”

“No, *. I got it from Bart. What’s on the news is a bomb at the Scorps’ bike shop. Took out most of the block—their clubhouse and shop, both.”

“Shit. Bart’s okay?”

Isaac answered. “Yeah. No casualties. They got a tip, cleared the place—even got most of the bikes out.

That tip confirmed it, though—Sam ordered it. The Scorps are having themselves a civil war.”

“Tip from who?” If it came from inside the Scorpions mother charter, then Badger figured a civil war was just the beginning of the chaos.

“Bart didn’t say.”

Show crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe Rick? They’re close.”

Tommy asked, “Does it matter who?”

“Sure it does. If Sam’s intel guy is feeding out Sam’s intel, then it matters a lot. It could help us. Or it could kill us. Because all our shit with the Perros is chained up with the Scorpions. They break, what does that mean? Does that give us a way out? Or does that bring us even more f*cking grief?” Show sat up.

“Because I have had my fill of it. I have f*ckin’ gorged on grief and pain, and I am done.”

“What are you saying, brother?” Len’s voice was sharp, and Badger knew Len had heard the same thing he had. In fact the whole table had tensed.

Show looked around, picking up on the vibe. “Easy, brothers. I’m just saying that we need to discount nothing. I want to keep us and ours protected. There’s been enough f*ckin’ bloodshed in our house. We need to know how a rift in the Scorpions affects us. Because it will affect us. We are in bed with them.

They are not some piddly-shit little club like we are. They have sixty-three charters across the globe. If they break, every MC with a foot over the line will feel it in some way. And LA? They are ground zero for Scorpions’ main business. No way Sam lets them go—and I don’t see how Santaveria lets them, either.

That’s bloody business, what they’re trying. And Santaveria has got to be so far up Sam’s ass over this he could see daylight. Unrest in the Scorps is a problem for the Perros. And that means we all feel it. Question is—is it an opportunity, or is it a crisis?”

Double A cleared his throat. He was still new to the table, sitting in Havoc’s seat. He was smaller, younger, lesser in every way than Havoc. He didn’t fill that seat very well. Not yet, anyway. “Can I ask a question?”

Isaac nodded. “Shoot, brother.”

“I know I’m an idiot, but I still don’t understand. What is LA trying to do?”

“What they were trying to do is set up a secession—take the LA charter as a whole and leave the club.

Start on their own. They’ve taken some hard losses with the cartel, and they have not had Sam’s ear the way Hoosier thinks they should. Dom, jump in if I miss somethin’, but Hoosier made his intention known at a leadership meeting in Vegas and did it all right out in front. So, looks like Sam tried to bomb him back in line. Remains to be seen if he succeeded.”

Dom shook his head. “No. Bart says they’re still out.”

“But all the assets—the shop, everything—that’s all Scorpions property, right?” Badger struggled to get his head around all this.

“Yeah. They just flattened their own property, though.” Isaac stared at the carved braid in the table.

Badger could see his brain working. “It’s another damn piece that doesn’t fit. Why blow up a block of LA real estate? How does that fix Sam’s problem? How does that get Santaveria off his back?”

Badger tried out an answer. “Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it’s as simple as Sam going off half-cocked. I mean, f*ck. Look what happened in our own clubhouse, when he was all fired up about the movie. Those *s were out of control. No respect for anything, and no concern for consequences. Rolled right over us and then rode to Hollywood to set up something not much different from what he tried to tear us apart over.”

Isaac stared at Badger, obviously working what he’d said into the equation. “That gives me no ease, little brother. None at all. Sam going Scarface on everybody does not make our situation better.”

“Let’s think about that a minute, though.” Show put his elbows on the table and leaned in. “Sam’s been top dog a long f*ckin’ time. Thirty years at least. He’s been arm in arm with Santaveria almost half of that.

Could it be as simple as overkill? The Perros deal with their problems with nuclear warheads, no matter how small. Could this be Sam taking a page from Santaveria’s book, trying to shut down trouble decisively?”

Tommy jumped in again. “Why do we care why Sam did it? It’s a Scorpions thing, right—an internal issue or like that?”

Isaac sort of snarled at Tommy, but Badger answered. “Shows weakness.” Isaac and Show both gave Badger their full attention. The rest of the table followed suit, but Badger kept his answer directed to Tommy. “If Sam blew up one of his major assets to prove a point, and that point didn’t get proved, then that’s a huge crack. Scorps LA are whole”—he glanced over at Isaac for confirmation and got it—“and are still looking to break away. Then all Sam accomplished was to destroy something that might have given some or all of the LA crew a reason to stay. He took their home away. Now they need a new one anyway.”