Chapter 11

Vapor

Iwalk into the clubhouse just in time for the special meeting Siege called in order for us to process the information we had gathered about the Hellfire Hounds MC. My brother, Haze, is already at the bar waiting for me. When he turns to look at me, I can tell he's pissed. Being twins, we're probably closer than most brothers. We were inseparable as kids and ended up working together. We took up inking and for a few years we rented booths from Tank, before we bought the shop from him. He's one of the Savage Legion officers and that's how we ended up prospecting and being patched into the Savage Legion together.

We usually tell each other everything. I don't know why I didn't tell him about going to raves or about meeting Trix. Maybe I just wanted something all to myself. Whatever the reason, it had hurt him, and I deeply regretted that.

I make my way over to him and we walk into the meeting room together. We grab chairs in the back corner of the room so we can talk while everyone comes in and gets settled.

Haze lights into me pretty damn fast. "What in the holy fuck is this I hear about you hooking up with King's granddaughter? I never knew he had a granddaughter. Is she even fucking legal?"

My eyes narrow at him. "Stop being such a dipshit. Of course, she's legal. You know that I don't mess around with jailbait."

"Why out of all the fucking women in this town did you have to pick King's fucking granddaughter?"

"I didn't know who she was. He's been keeping her under wraps. I can't imagine how many of his enemies would have wanted to use her to get to him."

His eyebrows shoot up. "Enemies like you. Is that what you mean?"

I jump to my feet. "Look, if you're going to be a douche, I'll sit somewhere else."

He grabs my arm and jerks me back down. "I don't want to be a douche. I want to understand why you're doing insanely dangerous things without back up." Slamming his hand into his chest, he growls, "I'm the impulsive one, not you. What the fuck just happened here? Did we switch roles?"

Before I can answer, Siege strolls into the room, our club president stands at the front with a determined look on his face. "I call this meeting of the Savage Legion to order." Looking gravely around the room, he states, "We've been through a lot over the last few years. We've dealt with the syndicate and found most of those missing kids. We've been shoving the Hellfire Hounds to the back burner for far too long. Tank, I want you to explain where we are with trying to figure out what in the fuck to do about them."

Tank, our VP, walks to the front, straight and proud. He was one of the founding three along with Dutch and Rigs. "As you know, the Hounds have been trying to overrun us since Claw founded this club. I remember having run-ins with them when I first joined the Legion. Most recently, some of their crew tried to burn down our bar in town. One of them was King's grandson. Siege gave him a choice of us calling the police or him working off his debt to us in the bar. He chose the latter and rather than being grateful for our generosity, King has been super pissy. Rider has already started chipping away at their ability to make an attack us. I'll let him tell you more about that."

Rider steps forward and began to speak, he's our sergeant at arms and deals with any security issues, "We tipped off the police and as a result their last weapons shipment got confiscated while enroute. Rigs, with help from Zen, managed to install a listening device on King's phone. Listening in on their conversations has given us a wealth of new information, including the fact that they have clients waiting to receive those shipments that got seized by the police. Now they're exceedingly upset. We also heard King talking about how their own weapons are depleted and they'd be in real trouble if our club attacks before they can replenish their stock. Therefore, I'm working on a plan to do just that."

Siege gets to his feet. "Thank you, Rider. We've learned an important piece of intel and I want you to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. Vapor, can I get you front and center?"

I rush forward, not wanting to make my club brothers wait for me. The minute I'm at the front of the room, I turn and explain what I've discovered. "We've long since known that King had two grandsons. Tracker is a bit of a menace but he's fulfilling his end of the restitution at the bar."

Siege interrupts, "He's actually paid off his debt and is continuing to work for us. We're not quite sure about him—he can't snoop on us for the Hounds at the bar, so I know he's not staying on as a spy. It's an interesting situation, so we're just letting him stay for now, until we can get a handle on what his game plan is."

"Maybe he likes hanging around with the Legion better than the Hounds? Our women are a damn sight hotter," Dutch adds.

"You're a married man, you shouldn't have an opinion on the merits of our vixens over the Hounds' club girls," Tank teases his old friend.

"Come on, brother. Anyone with eyes can see our women are better. It's like comparing apples to oranges. I don't wanna eat either, but I can have an opinion."

"Okay," Siege says trying to steer things back to the topic at hand. "Anyway, we have eyes on him. Sorry to interrupt, Vapor, continue."

"The younger grandson is in high school, and we don't know a lot about him. What we never knew is that he also has a granddaughter. She's the middle child and her name is Trix. When I first met her, I didn't know she was a member of King's family. We became friends. Part of the surveillance we carried out revealed that he plans to traffic her to the Grave Diggers MC's president's son."

My brother speaks up, "They're not even from around here."

Siege interjects, "It could be that they want to start a chapter in Las Salinas."

I continue, "The thing is, Trix doesn't want anything to do with the guy. King didn't like hearing that and slapped her down so bad she ended up with a busted lip. She's looking for a way out."

Haze's voice rings out again, "So you're going to help her in exchange for intel on the Hellfire Hounds? That sounds smart to me."

Rigs finally speaks up, "No. Manipulating a poor abused woman looking for a way out is not how we operate. That could put her in more danger."

Siege adds, "Vapor said she was his friend. That makes her a friend of the club as well. We'll do everything in our power to help her."

I take my seat again as Siege continues, "We're currently flush with weapons, cash, and brothers. Today's count is thirty-three brothers and eight prospects. I'm given to understand that we have a prospect ready to be considered for his patch."

Rigs comes to his feet. "I would like to take this opportunity to recommend Crow for membership in the Savage Legion MC. He showed his worth when he and Evan helped in Serena's rescue."

Serena is Siege's sister and our club attorney, Smoke's old lady. If it wasn't for the two prospects' quick-thinking, things could have ended badly. Evan, Rigs' adopted son, is still too young to be patched in, but for sure that kid is gonna make an awesome brother too when his time comes. Tank opens the door to our meeting room and ushers in Gordon, who's looking part proud as punch, and part nervous as hell.

Siege states, "I have a motion for Crow to be patched in. Do I hear a second?"

"I second that motion," Dutch states firmly with a nod to Rigs.

Siege raises his voice slightly, "I want to see a show of hands from members in support of this motion?"

Everyone in the room raises their hands.

Siege intones, "The vote is unanimous. Welcome to the Savage Legion MC, Crow."

Crow approaches as Siege lifts up a fresh cut for him to wear, one that doesn't say prospect anymore.

Siege holds it out to him and states proudly, "My father started this club many moons ago. Back then there was only Tank, Dutch, and Rigs standing at his side. The three of them performed miracles that the rest of us can only imagine. Claw was a leader with an upstanding moral character who had a vision of opening an MC where young brothers could find mentoring to last a lifetime. The result of that dream is the Savage Legion MC. He taught me the importance of brotherhood and the value of being involved in something bigger than myself. I'm glad that you see the value in that, Crow. My old man knew we were all stronger together than separately. I hope the Savage Legion MC becomes an enduring part of your family, as it has mine.

Crow reaches out and takes the cut that Siege offered. "I would be real proud if my sons ended up joining the Savage Legion when they're old enough."

Siege leans forward and says, "You have to make some sons first. You realize that, right?"

Crow grins at him, "I'm actually working on that, prez."

Siege extends his hand, "Welcome aboard, Crow. I'm proud to have you in our club.

Siege turns to address the room with a smile. "I'm going to go ahead and call an abrupt ending to today's meeting. As always when a new brother gets patched, we've got drinks laid out, and Harvey has been busy in the kitchen."

Tank, Rigs, and several more men step forward to congratulate Crow. I can tell that he's absolutely thrilled to be part of the club.

Before I can get up to greet him, my brother is all over me again. "I want to know exactly what went down with King's granddaughter. How much heat are we going to take for this? Do you think they will come after our shop?"

I hate the way he rapidly fires questions at me. I motion toward the side door. "Let's get out of here so we can talk privately."

We slip out unnoticed and walk out to the far side of our club's property. There is a small utility building. We climb up on it and make ourselves comfortable. This has always been our perch when we want to get away because it gives us a bird's eye view of everything going on around the back of the building, a bit like my water tower hideaway.

Haze sighs, "Just talk to me brother. Being out of the loop when danger is near triggers my anxiety."

I start at the beginning. "Remember when I said I was going to grab a beer with Dexter?"

"Don't tell me you stood him up for King's granddaughter."

"Oh, hell no. It's just that the plan was never to get coffee. It was always to go to a trance music party. It turned out to be a rave."

My brother rolls his eyes so hard he fell dramatically onto his back with a resounding thump.

"Careful you fool. We don't know stable this old roof is."

"Get on with the story before I die of boredom."

"The quick version is that I met Trix there but had no idea who she was, other than a really cute one-night stand."

"Fucking great," he grumbles.

"If you want me to tell you the story, shut the fuck up and let me get it out."

He props himself up on one elbow and motions for me to continue.

"She's really nice. Nothing like you would imagine King's granddaughter being. She's beautiful, warm, caring, and so fucking responsive. I couldn't get enough of her, right up until her brother came bursting into her apartment. I thought at first that he was her old man because she shoved me out the window. To say I was pissed would be a gigantic understatement."

"Yeah, didn't you recognize Tracker's voice though?"

"You try thinking rationally when you're tryin' to pull on your pants before your woman's old man finds you," I retort.

"Fair enough," Haze says with a grin on his face. My brother is sure enjoying my tale of woe.

"When I left, I saw a bike with Hounds colors, but I didn't know which man it belonged to. So when Rigs started looking for brothers to stake out the Hounds' clubhouse, I volunteered, hoping to see that bike again and figure out who it belonged to."

I take a puff off my vape, and watch the clouds move above my head for a moment, before continuing, "I was helping out at the bar one night when Trix came in and had a blow out with Tracker. I figured he was her old man, but when I caught up with her afterward, she said he wasn't, and swore he was an old friend. I only found out he was her brother when I was doing surveillance the other day, that's when I also learned that King was a depraved asshole who plans on trafficking his own granddaughter to the son of the Grave Diggers' president in order to cement an alliance between their clubs."

Haze frowns, "Who even does that kind of shit these days?"

"King, apparently," I respond irritably.

"Watching that vicious old fool slap her down for not wanting to marry a Digger really got to me. I knew the guy was coming for her, so I made sure I got there first and took her to our shop to get her cleaned up. Once she found out I was with the Savage Legion, she almost lost her mind. I guess she was raised to think we were the bad ones. I tried to talk her down, but she ran from me. I offered her sanctuary at our shop and money to run if she needed it too. I don't know if she'll ever trust me enough to take me up on it though."

"It sucks when women run right back to the abuse."

"I don't think that she was running back to the abuse, so much as running away from me."

"There isn't a lot of difference, you know?

I nod, clearly still messed up by the whole situation. "Sitting in our shop cleaning blood off her face really got to me. I wanted to hunt King down and beat the ever-loving shit outta him."

"You sound like you're really into this woman."

"I'm feeling that way."

"Are you sure you're not just attracted to element of danger she represents?"

I sigh and tilt my head back to look up at the sky. "I don't know. This one pulls out feelings I didn't know I had, and I felt that way before I knew who she was."

"I always knew this would happen. You'd be the first one to fall in love."

I can tell by the tone of his voice that he's just joking around with me to raise the mood a little. This is a grim situation after all.

I look over at him sheepishly. "Maybe I'm destined to experience the soul crushing defeat of falling in love and then losing the love of my life. Did you ever think of that?"

"No," he states gruffly. "I'm not a fatalistic bastard like you are."

"You think we should get back to the party?"

He sits all the way up and eases himself close to the edge. "Yeah, why should Crow suffer because we're about to be in the fight of our life. Besides that, I hear that Harvey has done himself proud with the canapés this time."

I scoot forward as well. "Good thing we love a good fight, right brother?"

"True, brother," Haze says.

My mind pulls away from what may be awaiting us in the future and goes firmly back into the present. "Canapés? Has he made the salt beef and rye ones again?"

"Yep, and the mini smoked salmon bagels with dill cheese," Haze says as he climbs down off the shed.

I followed suit and we head back inside to congratulate Crow and participate in his party. You only get patched in once, after all.