SWNOVELS The Devil’s Reward: Chapter 8
Things are about to get interesting.
I don’t waste time as I make my way to Bullet’s office. I know he’s waiting for me, and my brief detour to the shop cut into our meeting time. When I reach the door, I knock and wait to be called in. Far too many times have I walked into find him and Rose in positions that I don’t like to imagine. I know Rose is still at the shop, but the habit isn’t one I want to break. Not for my sanity, anyway.
“Come in,” Bullet barks.
I let myself in and shut the door behind me. Unsurprisingly, Viper is already here and leaning against the wall by the window, looking out. Bullet is behind his desk, looking as stern as always. Being President of the club can’t be easy, and the man has held that mantle for over thirty years. If he ever steps down, it’ll be a sad day.
At sixty, he’s still as broad and strong as he was when he was younger. The man isn’t one to let anyone think he’s weak. He has a salt and pepper beard, piercing blue eyes, and he can cow most men with just a look. One thing our mole underestimated is Bullet’s drive to keep this club on the right side of the line. Slipping back into the old ways won’t be permitted.
Bullet nods at me when I move to stand behind the chair across from his desk. I’m too wound up to sit. This day seems never ending and if I sit, I won’t want to get back up. “Viper says you already found a new employee,” Bullet remarks casually.
I nod. “We worked together on a mission about a decade ago. He was still relatively new to their team then, but he was damn good. The best of the bunch, anyway, and I doubt he’s gotten worse in that time. His speciality is gathering intelligence and surveillance, and he’s good with computers. Not Cryos good, but enough that it could take some of the load off Cryos if he’s needed elsewhere.”
Bullet slowly nods, mulling my words over. “I sense there’s more to it.” He looks at me expectantly.
That’s what I like about Bullet; not much gets by him and I appreciate that he’s a straight shooter. “He’s still living on base, but has to be out before the end of next week. I mentioned to him about possibly prospecting for the club, too. I’m willing to sponsor him, and he’s agreed to give it a shot.”
Bullet says nothing for a moment, eyeing me carefully. “And you trust him?” he finally asks. “Even though you haven’t seen him in years?”
I shrug. “I trust him more than I can trust the men downstairs,” I return bluntly. “And that is one upside. We can guarantee he’s had no contact with the mafia or the mole. Kind of impossible when he’s been on duty for most of his adult life.”
Bullet looks over at Viper. “And you agree with this idea?”
Viper nods curtly. “I trust Shadow’s judgement. It’s never steered me wrong.”
Bullet looked back at me. “Alright, I can see your point, and if he wants to prospect, I’ll endorse it at Church. No one is going to complain about another prospect, especially when we really only have two that are worth keeping.”
I nod in agreement. “He may not decide to stick around, but at least he has a place to start. I’ll let Rose know to set up a room for him after Church.”
“Now onto the fun stuff,” Viper says with an anticipatory smile.
Bullet chuckles. “You just want to spend more time with our new neighbor,” he jokes.
Viper’s smile turns into a full on grin. “She’s hot, but we both know that she and Stone are much more suited. Though, if this gets him to stop pussyfooting around, I won’t complain.”
Bullet snorts, and I can’t help but chuckle. “That boy is as stubborn as I am,” Bullet remarks. “Though he’s got nothing on his mother. He’ll pull his head out of his ass soon, mark my words. Still, the idea of using Syn to search the clubhouse is smart. She agreed?”
Viper nods. “She has one appointment to schedule around. I’m going to recommend we do outside first, and do it at night when everyone is partying or asleep. Less chance of our mole spotting us. That, and if our mole is out there sneaking around, those hellhounds will pick up the scent pretty damn quick.”
Bullet nods, brow furrowed in thought. “You got a point. If we find nothing, then we’ll search inside.”
“Can’t be the same day because it’s too hard on the dogs,” Viper cautions. “So we’ll have to give them a bit of a break. After we pick a time, we can plan on everyone being gone except for myself, Shadow and you. We’ll need to get Cryos out too and figure out how to disable everything.”
Bullet narrows his eyes. “You think he could be our mole?” he asks. Viper and I exchange a look, unsure of how much to say. Bullet catches it and scowls at us. “Don’t get shy now. Out with it.”
“Cryos has the most access to the cameras, but he’s also one of the few that could cover his tracks. I’m not saying it’s him, but the evidence isn’t there to rule him out either,” I caution.
Bullet lets out a low rumble of discontent. “Fucking hell, this is a fucking mess,” he snarls. “Brothers unable to trust each other, moles in our damn clubhouse, running secret operations behind our brothers’ backs. Thought this shit was done thirty years ago and now we’re right back where we started.”
I can understand his frustration. “I say we do this, and if it doesn’t work, we hit harder. I don’t care if we have to tear the place apart and hook everyone up to lie detectors. We’ll figure it out.”
Viper snickers. “That’d be funny as hell. Half of them would lie to you anyway just to piss you off.”
He’s right. Still, I won’t take the option off the table.
“Well, I say we get on this as fast as we can,” Bullet says briskly, bringing us back to our original topic. “If Syn will help, then I’ll okay bringing her in on club business. Normally that would be a hard no, but these aren’t normal circumstances. We just need to make sure she keeps this shit to herself. Especially from Sage.”
Viper nods. “Syn already agreed, and I don’t get the feeling she’s a liar. If she couldn’t keep her mouth shut, she wouldn’t keep her job working with the K9s. The cops are sticklers about shit like that.”
“He has a point,” I agree.
Bullet grunts. “Damn fucking mess. Viper, call Syn, get it set up. Shadow, come up with excuses to get everyone out of here if we need to search inside.”
“I’ll figure something out,” I assure him. “If I have to, I’ll trick the girls into getting involved and make everyone scatter.”
Bullet chuckles. “I dare you to say that to Rose,” he taunts. “See how far you get.”
“With the shit they’ve put me through, I don’t give a damn,” I retort.
“Just wait until you find a woman and she gets roped in,” Viper snickers.
I immediately think of Quinn, but just as quickly pushed that thought away. Nope, not going there. “I’d be more worried about any woman you bring in. You run towards crazy at warp speed, so chances are, whoever you pick will either be as bad or worse than Rose, Leonora, and Alice combined.”
Viper grins wickedly. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, brother,” he drawls.
“God help us,” Bullet groans. “I think we need some bylaws about picking women that are just plain nuts. We need some school teachers, librarians, or some shit. People that are calm and horrified at the shit the girls get up to.”
Viper and I just laugh. There might eventually be a few of those, but this life isn’t for the faint of heart. Not because we’re doing illegal shit, but because we’re wild, like to party, and bikers often get a bad rap. If a woman doesn’t have a thick skin, then she’ll be setting herself up for failure.
“Alright, you boys handle that. I’m going to see which sucker of a Prospect is going to be in charge of watching the women while we’re in Church,” Bullet drawls as he stands.
I smirk as we follow him out. I’m glad I’m no longer a Prospect, because I certainly don’t envy that part of the job. The women are crazy on their own; put them together, and it’s a whole other ball game. The kind where you’re wearing a cup and hiding all the bats.
I leave the office and head to my room. I have just enough time to grab a shower before Church.
When I reach my room, I close and lock the door behind me. I shrug off my cut and hang it on the hook by the door. I step out of my boots, my training compelling me to leave them neatly in line by the door. If there is one thing that the Forces taught me, it was how to stay clean and organized. I’m not OCD about it, but there are some habits I can’t break.
I pull my gun out of the holster at my back, unload it, and put it away in the small safe in my closet. No one has the code, and I change it every other day. Especially now with our mole. If he’s willing to try and kill one of the Old Ladies
I’m probably overthinking, but I have never been one to ignore the possibility he would frame one of us.
I strip out of my clothes and turn toward my small dresser. Pulling out some fresh clothes, I go to close the drawer, but stop when a flash of something catches my eye. I move the clothes on aside, and stare at the picture I put there years ago. Every so often I’ll look at it and feel comfort, but today, it’s another damn cruel joke.
I stare at not just Sam, but the entire team, arms around each other’s shoulders, grinning from ear to ear after a job well done. Decked out in active duty’s finest black t-shirts, fatigue pants and combat boots, we had just been debriefed about our mission, and Beau had demanded we get a picture. Made a civilian worker walking by take it.
I look at each of the men in the picture. Beau had been the jokester of the group, always wanting to make us smile and laugh, even if it cost him. Still, he would try. Armon had been far more serious, and our team leader. The man was a beast when it came to missions. There was no one else I would have rather followed. I had been second in command, a position I gladly took. Gibson, or Gibs as we called him, was our weapons expert. He loved to play with any new toys and explosives he could get his hands on.
Then there was Jasper, our intelligence gatherer. He was in charge of getting all details and information about our targets and missions. Until that final mission, he kept us from getting killed. But he was purposefully given wrong information, all because of some bureaucratic red tape, and everyone ended up dead.
Finally Nate and Sam. Nate had been my best friend from the time we both joined the Army and then moved to the Forces. We were damn happy we were placed on the same team, but by the last mission, things were strained. Nate was resentful of my position on the team, feeling like I had left him behind, that I was brown-nosing to move up the ranks. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
He also resented Sam because she had my attention. I always suspected he was jealous that Sam and I had so much chemistry, and he didn’t, but that’s just a guess. Still, Sam told me to ignore him, that he was being a dick before our last mission. In the end, it didn’t matter. All of them are gone, and I have to carry on alone.
Taking a final moment to reminisce, my gaze rests briefly on Sam’s image before Quinn’s face flashes into my mind. I shove the picture back under the pile of clothes and slam the drawer shut.
It doesn’t matter that Quinn and Sam have the same looks. Quinn isn’t someone I will ever have to see outside of a professional setting, and Sam is dead. The only time I can see her is in my memories and in photos. They are not the same woman, and I need to remember that.
I storm into the shower, determined to forget about Quinn, and let Sam fall back into the darkness until I’m ready to see her again.