Reaper's Stand(66)

I stood so fast my chair fell over backward.

“Not gonna happen.”

Silence fell over the room. Shade sighed.

“Okay, so we got that information,” he said. “It’s on you, Pic. You and the Coeur d’Alene brothers. Now you know, so you use it the best you can. Hell, might be a good thing. You feed her bad intel, see if it gets through. If it does, then we have a way to f*ck up their game. Doesn’t really change anything in the end, so long as you keep your shit tight. Might not be a bad idea to put some extra security on her, though. Rest of the women, too, seein’ as things are gonna heat up fast. We all gotta cover our asses.”

I nodded tightly.

“Anyone else?” Shade asked. Nobody spoke. “Okay, then. Hunter, I know you’re standin’ in for Burke, so take time to consult with him if you need to.”

Hunter shook his head.

“Burke’s on board,” he said. “So’s the rest of the club. We’re under fire already—can’t hold out much longer. We want blood.”

“Okay, adjourned,” Shade announced. A quiet murmur broke out, and I felt my brothers surround me. I looked to Ruger.

“Double-check the cousin,” I told him. “I don’t want to believe Hunter, but we gotta know what we’re lookin’ at here.”

“She’s not in on it,” Bolt said quietly. “She didn’t even meet Evans until a couple months ago. I did a full background on her before she started at Pawns.”

“You missed the cousin,” I said.

“She’s a distant relative livin’ a thousand miles away,” he said. “I tracked down all of those, we’d never finish a background check in under ten years. But no way I’d miss a boyfriend, or even a f*ck buddy. She met Evans for the first time at a fund-raiser two months ago—talked to one of the bitches on her cleaning crew about it. Listened to her go on about him through the closed circuit one night. She had no idea I was even there.”

“Okay,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “But if they’ve got Jess, they’ve got a hostage she won’t be able to ignore. Let’s confirm where the girl is, okay?”

“You got it,” Ruger said. “Shouldn’t take too long. I’ll make some phone calls, see what I can come up with.”

“And Evans?” Gage asked. “What about him? You think he’s in bed with the cartel?”

“No idea,” I said slowly. “It’s possible. He’s got no morals, no sense of loyalty to the community or the job. You might start thinkin’ of ways to get him off alone, maybe think of a permanent solution to our problems with him.”

Ruger’s mouth tightened, but he nodded.

“Thinkin’ that’s gonna be how it goes,” he said. “Fuckload of trouble, takin’ out a cop.”

“Yeah,” I answered. “We’ll talk about it more at the next church. Gotta say, if it comes to puttin’ a bullet in his brain, I won’t cry. Gage, look into extra security for the girls, too—at least until we know what caused that explosion.”

“Pic, you got a minute?”

I looked up to see Boonie, his face thoughtful. A young man stood next to him—prospect. Had a real hard edge to his face, although I wouldn’t peg his age much higher than nineteen or twenty. Old eyes.


“What’s up?”

“Wanted to introduce you to Puck,” he said, nodding toward the kid. “Been prospectin’ with one of our chapters out in Montana. Things got a little hot for him out there, so he’s moved into the Valley for now. Thought he might be helpful to you.”

I sized him up. Kid was tall with short, dark hair. Built like a f*ckin’ Marine, but his tats were all biker. Both arms covered in full sleeves, and a scar running across his face that made him look like an ax murderer.

“What’s your story?” I asked him.

“Grew up in the club,” he said, holding my gaze steadily. “Dad was a patchholder. Dunno if you ever met him? Went by Kroger.”

I nodded my head slowly, because damned straight I knew Kroger. He’d been killed on a run down to Cali, three years back. At the time we assumed it was cartel, but no real evidence.

“Feelin’ motivated, are we?”

“Something like that.”

“We’ll find something for you,” I told him. “Might come out of it with a patch, you do good enough.”

His eyes flickered with something I couldn’t quite read, and he nodded. Boonie and I exchanged back slaps, and I started downstairs. Lotta guys would be heading home this afternoon, but others would be spending another night. Needed to check on food, make sure everything was ready.

Hunter caught my arm on the stairs. I paused and stared down at his hand, because he had no f*ckin’ business touching me.

“Think me and Em are gonna head out this afternoon,” he said.

“What, not enough to move her four hundred miles away from me, now I don’t even get to see her for the weekend?”

He frowned and shook his head.

“Not like that—she’s got cramps, feelin’ sick. It’s been smooth sailing so far, but I want her home and in bed.”

I felt something tighten in my chest.

“Let’s take her in to the ER,” I said. “Better not to f*ck around with this shit.”