17. King

Chapter 17

King

We're in a conference room inside the mill. It's a large room with commercial carpet in an amethyst color. It's an unusual choice, but I kind of like it. My gaze moves over to the men gathered around the table. It's an eclectic bunch, to be sure. Hangman, the one currently in charge of the Saint's Outlaws, is at the head of the table, and Viper is on his right. Then, there's Dragon with Dancer, Breaker and Dom beside him. My president, Ford, is here, and T is sitting beside him. I'm beside T. Grunt stayed back to help look over the women. I called Shelby and told her shit was going down and asked her to stay where she was. I didn't want her tracking me down here or back in Virginia. We may be separated, but I know that woman. She keeps tabs on me. I don't really give a fuck, so I keep my location easily trackable for her. I've never hidden a thing from her. In hindsight, I'm wondering if that's a bad thing. Across the table from Dragon there is Skull and some motherfucker that I don't know, wearing the goofiest T-shirt that I've ever seen in my life. In gigantic writing you can see the words I love , then a large space down before you can read my wife's , and under that in the biggest letters yet are the words, fart box. That was fucking strange enough, even if it made me laugh and shake my head. When I got closer to him, however, I noticed that empty space had, in very small writing the words, to dick punch. So, basically, he's telling every son of a bitch out there that he liked to punch his dick in his woman's ass. I could appreciate the sentiment, even if my woman didn't actually enjoy that particular extracurricular activity. I'm pretty sure she had a permanent no entry sign attached to her sexy ass. She gave me plenty I liked besides that, so I dealt with it. Relationships are give and take, and Shelby is spectacular at giving. That was never our problem. Shit, we barely got going before she realized our lifestyle wasn't what she wanted. There's not much I can do to fight that, and fuck, did I try to fight it.

It just didn't work.

Sitting beside the crazy-ass, T-shirt guy are three men I don't really know. They're wearing Savage MC cuts, but Tennessee chapter. I read the patch on their leader. He's apparently the vice president. His patch indicates his name is Crusher. There's a big son of a bitch beside him that looks scary as hell. His face has some faded scars, and he's wearing a patch over his eye. Finally, at the end of the table are some men that I know fairly well. They're the biggest ally in the region to the SOMC. Hangman introduced me to them earlier. Their club is called the Kings of Anarchy. They're based in Tennessee too. I think their base is in Townsend. Their territory includes Pigeon Forge. I know they have their fingers in a lot of tourist shit, so they have money to throw around. Word has it, their clubhouse is an old castle that was built originally to rent out to tourists at a minimum of two grand. Their president and two others are here. I've only spoken to the president. Venom is his road name. He has short black hair and a diamond stud in his ear. He almost looks too pretty for this lifestyle, but there's something in his face that tells me he's not a motherfucker you want to mess with.

"We need to hurry. We can't allow them to regroup," Dragon growls, and I rub the back of my neck. His fucking voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard. No matter what I do, I can't get used to hearing it. I'd be happy the rest of my life if I didn't have to hear it.

"These assholes aren't the type to regroup. They will try to slink under a rock and hide," Hangman grumbles. "Eyeball and his flunkies don't have the balls to face us in a fair fight."

"I don't think it's Eyeball calling the shots," I argue, and I can feel everyone staring at me.

"What do you mean?" Viper—Enforcer for the Saint's asks.

"From what I saw, Eyeball and Demon think they're in charge, but Lucky pulls their strings, and those assholes fall in line."

"Lucky?"

"I don't have information on any asshole named Lucky," Dragon growls, sounding pissed.

"That's because until the girls were abducted, I never heard his name or saw his face," I tell him, pissed. I don't like the unspoken insinuation that I've kept shit from him on purpose. "He was in the van with Squaller when the girls were taken. That's the first appearance he made in the inner workings of the club, as near as I can tell. Although, I guess Hangman might know better than me, though."

He frowns. "I'll be honest. I'm not sure I've heard of a Lucky either. I was pretty sure we had every member of the club in our files, complete with an extensive background detailed. We provided you with that through Ford, Dragon."

Dragon nods. "Yeah, I gave it to the others," he acknowledges.

"What makes you think this Lucky is in the lead?"

"Basically, because he would do anything he wanted. Eyeball didn't even try to call him down—even if it went against what was already planned."

"He's the one you were telling me about," Skull responds.

His voice is cold and filled with a fury that seems to swamp the room. Right before this meeting, I told him what I suspected had happened to Gabby and who was responsible. The news made the man fall to the ground for a minute—even though I'm sure he already suspected what I was telling him.

"He is," I confirm something he already knows.

"The truth is, I don't give a fuck. I just want these assholes wiped off the face of the fucking earth. My only questions are, where are these sons of bitches and who's riding with us?"

"I've got a man watching their clubhouse. He tells me that bikes peeled out, heading toward Maggie Valley about ten minutes after you guys made it here. About five minutes after that, an SUV and a truck with a trailer hauling some bikes pulled out.

"I'd bet any amount of money that Lucky was in that vehicle. He sure isn't riding a bike after what Gabby did to him."

"Gabby?" Several voices say that one word almost at once. I smile. "Yeah."

"What did she do?" Skull asks, and I see the hunger in his face. He wants to know that his daughter got some of her own back. I hate that I didn't tell him before when we spoke alone.

"She stabbed the fucker in the eye with my knife," I tell him with a grin. "He hit her and she came right back at him like a wildcat, hitting the pommel of the knife so it went even deeper."

"Tell me she ended the fucker," Skull practically begs.

"Wish I could," I tell him. "My gut tells me he'll live. He will just have one less eye to see with."

"Been there, done that, and couldn't find a T-shirt. I probably should have asked fart-box-boy up there," one of the Savage Tennessee guys mutters.

Most of us around the table laugh. Skull doesn't, but I see pride on his face. He should be proud. I didn't think much of Gabby before this, but there's more to her than most give her credit for. Either that, or what she has been through has forced her to find parts of herself that were hidden before.

"So, do we know where the assholes are running to?"

"Well, they turned before they hit Bryson City, and our guy had to turn back. Still, I'd lay money on the fact that they are headed to Rutledge."

"Why would they go there?"

"Because they own some property in Rutledge that we've been keeping track of through the Kings," Hangman answers.

"Yeah, assholes bought it through a dummy corporation. Took us a bit to track the owners down. It's a little over two hours away from Cherokee."

"Well, let's ride. The last thing we need is for them to prepare for us."

"You're giving them too much credit. They're cocky as fuck. They'll think we have no idea about their holdings in Tennessee. When we hit them, they'll be sitting ducks."

"Fine. Let's head out in an hour. I want everything ready and a heavy arsenal. We need to leave Rutledge on fire when we're done. I'd prefer we take the main three targets alive to make them bleed and beg for death before we give it, but if what King says is true, I'll be satisfied to leave Eyeball for Blade. We get this Lucky, however."

"It's true. I don't know his story, but I do know he really hates you. Your woman might have an idea of who he is. I'm not sure, but it seemed like she might," I respond.

"I'll talk to her." I nod as he turns his attention to Hangman. "Where do we want to head out from?"

"We'll leave from here. I'm going to send Gravel out to follow their trail and keep tabs on them. That way, he can tell us if they go a different direction."

"Breaker and Killer can go with him. I want some of our men involved. I can get in touch with them easier."

"Diego will go, too."

"Dad, the name is Rock," Diego responds. I try to hide my smile and stifle my laughter. I notice a lot of us are doing that. It's clear the man hates the name Diego. It does sound kind of foolish for a one percent biker. I could see the name Rock. He's big and solid. He's also got a chip on his shoulder. You can tell he has a way to go, though. He sounded whiney as hell just now.

"I was there when you were born. I'll call you by the name I gave you, hijo."

The boy lets out an annoyed breath but shuts up.

"Alright, the ones joining Gravel meet him out front in the parking lot. The others, we'll pull out in an hour. Those leading their clubs meet us out front about twenty minutes early. We'll make sure we're all loaded to the limit. We can't afford to come up short when it comes to firepower."

With that, we're all dismissed. I don't know if Shelby wants to hear from me, but we are going to war. I want to hear her voice. Everything we have is falling apart, but she's still the woman who I chose as mine. I don't want to give her up, even if she's making it clear that's how it's going to go. I decide to try anyway. The worst she can do is hang up on me and God knows she's done that often.