Chapter 10

Static

The plan was made. It felt good to know what our next steps were. Especially after so long of avoiding Fremont as much as possible. I was sitting in the meeting room with Lock, Idaho, and Rip. We”d just finished putting the last of our ideas together. We”d give it a couple days and put our plan into motion.

”When are you planning to get your head out of your ass?” Idaho asked.

We were all sitting there silent, so I was surprised to look over and find him staring at me. ”What the hell is your problem?” I replied, confused.

”Everyone here can see you”re nuts about her,” he answered. ”Why not bite the bullet and make her your old lady?”

”Just because you jumped in without fucking looking first, doesn”t mean all of us have to,” I told him.

”Yeah, well, look how happy I am. And shit, Brother, I don”t want you to end up losing her the way I almost lost Eva.”

”Pretty sure Gwen doesn”t have any royal parents who are going to come take her away,” I said, tone heavy with sarcasm.

”No, but a cop might move in and sweep her off her feet,” Lock pointed out. He was completely calm, watching me with those damn eyes that saw too much.

I swiped my hand through my hair. ”Yeah, alright, fuck all of you. I already figured out I didn”t want her being with anyone else.”

”You tell her that yet?” Rip asked.

”What do you think?” I shot back. I blew out a breath. ”We were interrupted before we could have that talk.” Or the sex I knew was going to be mind blowing. ”We had to go pick the kids up.”

”That a problem for you?” Idaho asked.

I looked at him, genuinely startled. ”Her kids?”

He nodded.

”Fuck no!” I glared at him. ”I think I fell in love with her kids before I even fell for-” I broke off, swearing under my breath.

I gave both Lock and Idaho suspicious looks because they were both grinning from ear to ear. ”What?” I snapped. I hoped they weren”t going to give me shit for almost saying I loved Gwen. I did. Had for a while. But shit, they shouldn”t hear it before I told her.

Thankfully my friends decided not to be dicks for once. At least not about this particular thing. Instead, they brought up something else.

”I”m guessing he”s thinking the same thing as me,” Idaho said, looking over at his brother.

”Mary Ann Robkowski,” they said in unison.

Riptide chuckled. ”Who is Mary Ann Robkowski?”

Lock raised his brow, giving me a chance to explain. I folded my arms over my chest, scowling at them and keeping my trap shut.

”Mary Ann Robkowski was the most popular girl in our high school,” Lockout told him with a large grin.

”With a pussy made of gold,” Idaho added.

Riptide sputtered out a laugh. ”What the fuck?”

”Well, she acted like it was made of gold,” Idaho amended. ”Wouldn”t let any guy near it.”

”This smooth talking motherfucker,” Lock continued, pointing at me, ”managed to talk his way into her house one day after school. Her dad was strict as fuck, she hardly ever had people over. Then talked her into the back seat of her daddy”s Cadillac and he caught them together.”

”With that silver tongue buried in his daughter”s golden cunt,” Idaho added.

Now we were all laughing.

”If anyone can convince Gwen to trust men again,” Idaho added, ”it”s you.” The corner of his lip twitched upward for a moment.

”If you”re such a smooth talker,” Rip said, ”and I figured you were since you became a lawyer, why is your nickname Static?” He looked around as we continued laughing.

I shook my head. ”Because of these two goddamn assholes, that”s why.”

”Idaho gets most of the credit,” Lock admitted.

”You did your fair share of making it stick,” I told him with a dark look.

”We were deployed together,” Idaho said, starting the story. ”Our special forces team had gotten overseas a few months after Lock”s unit was already there, so we were the new guys.”

”They were only there a few days when it started,” Lock continued. ”Everytime Static would get on the radio we”d hear nothing but static.”

”This piece of shit,” I said, motioning to Idaho with my thumb, ”was keying his mic every damn time.”

”Not every time,” Idaho corrected. ”Only in non-emergency situations. I used to carry around a little radio, so when we were stuck waiting around we”d have some sort of tunes. I”d set it to a station with nothing but static and key the mic whenever he was trying to talk on the radio.”

”Which of course meant everyone else started hopping on the radio to let the poor fucker know no one could hear him.” Lock shook his head.

”You”re coming in static,” Idaho said, mimicking the calls. ”Can”t hear you bro, you”re all static. Take the mic out of your mouth before you key it up. Static again, Partner.” He broke off, laughing.

Riptide”s smile was a mile wide. ”I always loved it when someone was hot mic”ing and everyone hopped on letting them ”know”.”

I rolled my eyes. ”Yeah, how did they not know that when the one accidentally hitting the radio button has it depressed they can”t hear shit coming in?”

”I think they mostly were trying to keep the channel busy so that the poor sap didn”t say something inappropriate for the entire base to hear,” Lock chuckled, ”since their warnings drown out his talking.”

”Remember when Lewis did that and admitted to sleeping with General”s daughter?” I asked.

The other two hooted with laughter. ”He got an ass chewing that lasted so long he couldn”t sit for a fucking week,” Lock said. ”Then he was assigned to guard the inside of the porta shitters, which hadn”t been emptied in weeks.”

”Anyway, back to this shithead,” Idaho told Rip. ”It eventually got to the point that anytime Static got on the radio, everyone would interrupt to tell the others to shut the fuck up ”cause they wanted to hear what he had to say before he was drowned out. He would call in, about five people would tell all the others to hold traffic, and then everyone would wait with bated breath to see what his transmission would be.”

”It was almost always a required location check,” Lockout said, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

”Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, grinning along with them.

”I told everyone we should just name him Static, and it stuck,” Idaho finished.

”That”s fucking good,” Rip said grinning at me.

”Better than some nicknames,” I admitted.

”Yeah, like Idaho,” Idaho gave me an unamused look.

”I thought it was a pretty good one,” I told him with a shrug.

We all fell silent again, staring down at the table. Rip was the one to break the silence again. ”You think this is going to work?”

”It”s a good plan,” Lock said. ”I think it”ll draw Fremont out for sure.”

”Yeah,” Idaho replied, ”but what do we do with him then?”

Lock shook his head. ”I still don”t know yet. We can”t just kill him. If he disappears they”ll bring in the feds. It”d be a manhunt and we”d end up at the center of it.”

”One step at a time,” I muttered. ”Maybe he”ll slip up in a way where we could work with a prosecutor and build up a case against him.”

”Prosecute the district attorney?” Rip asked then gave a low whistle. ”Wouldn”t that be a career ending?”

”Only if we lose,” I told him with a wolfish grin.

”That wouldn”t be ideal,” Lock said, tapping his index finger on the table as he thought. ”Maybe we could get his own people to roll on him. Starting with the people laundering his money.”

”How do we do that and stay out of it?” I asked. ”I could try to figure out a way to be their legal counsel, but these people are going to have money, and they”re not going to allow the courts to appoint someone to them.”

”I don”t know yet. That”s why we”re giving this a few days before we get rolling. There”s still some gaps in the plan.”

”Not sure we have enough time to plug all those holes, Brother,” Idaho said. ”Better that we make the first move before Fremont does. I don”t want to spend the whole time being on the defensive.”

”Agreed. This starts Friday, whether we know all the details or not,” Lock said. There was a finality in his tone.

We were all fully aware this could be the end. Of the club. Of our careers. Possibly of our lives.

”We need to make sure the women and children are taken care of if shit hits the fan,” Rip said.

”I”ve already spoken with Cypher,” Lock told him. ”He”s willing to bring them all up to Wyoming for an extended stay on a moment”s notice.”

Cypher was the president of The Berserker”s Rage MC. Our families would be far out of Fremont”s reach up there. And Cypher”s crew was all former military members, just like us. The majority of them were special forces of some kind and none of them were the kind of men you wanted to fuck with. Now they all worked for Cypher, doing shit that was just as dangerous as when they were in the military. Our families would be safe with them.

”Maybe we should just send them now,” I suggested. ”Before this all starts.”

”We”d have a full blown riot on our hands,” Rip said with a chuckle. ”These women aren”t going to go until their kids are in danger. That will be the only thing that will convince them to leave their men behind while they run for the hills.”

”He”s right,” Lock said. ”As much as I”d love to get them to safety now, it”s just not going to happen. We”d end up chasing them down as they tried to come back to Arizona. Better to keep them here for now and send them when the time is right.”

”Still doubt they”ll go,” Rip replied.

”Is Cypher sending any of his guys?” Idaho asked.

”Yeah. They”ll be here by Monday,” Lock told him. He looked over at Rip. ”If they won”t go, then we”ll just have to make sure this place is locked down tight.”

”We can sure use them,” I added, relieved that we”d have the back up. ”Toxic growing up there and starting out in that club is the best fucking thing that”s happened to us.”

”Not to mention having Cynic for a cousin,” Rip added. ”Keeps the ties strong between our clubs and keeps there from being any hard feelings that he patched into our club.”

”Naw, Cypher”s not the type to hold a grudge against a brother. And he and Toxic are still fucking close as thieves.”

”Probably are thieves,” I muttered.

The others laughed at that.

”How the fuck did the military end up letting all you degenerates in?” I asked.

”Like you”re any better,” Idaho scoffed.

I just grinned at him, because he was right. I was just as bad as my brothers were.

”They need fucked up degenerates like us,” Lock said. ”Who else are they going to get to fight their wars for them?”

”You think they realize the kind of shit we get up to once we”re out of service?” Rip asked.

”Oh, I know for a fact that they do,” Lock said.

I looked over at him. ”How?”

”Butcher.”

I frowned and shook my head in confusion.

”You seriously think they don”t have someone checking in on him? Making sure that Butcher is behaving? And Cypher?” Lockout”s chuckle was dark. ”He has a club full of Butchers.”

The three of us looked at each other before focusing on Lock again. ”What does that mean?” Idaho asked.

”You ever wonder why Cypher only sends Cynic and Torque when he can?”

I shook my head. But now I was wondering.

”They”re the only two who… Let”s just say they get along with others.” Lock shoved out of his chair. He gave me a piercing look. ”All this bullshit kicks off in a few days. You should get any loose ends wrapped up before then. That way there”s no confusion about whether a certain lady and her kids should listen to you when you give them an order for their own safety.”

I scowled at him, but nodded. Raising my finger, I pointed it at Idaho as Lock left the room. ”Not a fucking word. I”ve had enough of you today.”

Idaho laughed and pasted an innocent look on his face. ”And here I thought it would take longer for you to get sick of me being around again.”

He and Rip both got up, leaving me to sit there and stew in my own irritation. Lock was right. I needed to make sure Gwen understood where we were with one another. And soon.