Page 40 of Allegiance
“Did Raptor know about it?”
“Fuck yeah. Everything that goes through the club has to get his approval.”
Ice looked pissed. “He lied to you, dude.”
“Seems that way. His boy’s illness has him all fucked-up in the head.”
“Which makes Hammer even more dangerous.” Snake, the club’s enforcer, rose to his feet. “The club’s going down a fucked-up path. Hammer’s got seven solid members backing him, and a few are on the fence.”
“Cougar and Rubble are collecting the protection money on Main Street,” Ice said.
“Do you know which building?”
Ice looked at Maniac. “Which one is it?”
“The one Fitzgerald doesn’t own. The greedy sonofabitch wants to raze the block this building is on and turn it into apartments, shops, and some other shit. The owner of the building doesn’t wanna sell, so Hammer offered our services to force the businesses out.”
“How much are Cougar and Rubble collecting?”
“Fifteen percent of gross every two weeks.”
Tank rubbed his chin as he thought about that. “How many businesses is the club strong-arming?”
Maniac took a moment to think about it. “Twelve or so.”
“Fuck, that’s a lot of dough.”
“Yeah, and there’s no way Hammer’s stopping at that. I heard Cougar talking with Fire the other day about how he was gonna pay a visit to some shopkeepers in Imperial Beach.”
“And Hammer’s too greedy to stop,” Snake pointed out.
“The asshole is taking the club in a direction that’s gonna fuck up the tacit deal we’ve got going with the town council. If that’s done, we’re gonna have the fuckin’ feds breathing down our backs like we did in the old days.” Fester was the only member at the table who’d been around under Skull’s presidency. “It was bad back then. A lot of brothers lost their lives in turf wars, and others had their asses in the joint for years. Hell, some of them are still in there. Raptor turned the club around after his old man stepped down, and I’m fuckin’ crushed to see him throw it to the side.”
“Me too, bro,” Tank said in a low voice. The other members at the table murmured their agreement.
A few moments of silence fell over the group as they contemplated the situation.
Finally, Tank cleared his throat. “I think Raptor’s not in the best headspace to be an active president.” He motioned the waitress for another beer. “Fuck, this is hard to say.”
Snake pushed up from his chair. “We feel your pain, bro, but it’s gotta be said.”
“Yeah, but it’s like I’m—we’re—putting a knife in Raptor’s back.”
“It’s the one he put in our hands, buddy. There’s no way in hell he doesn’t think we’re gonna push him out. He told you all that shit about Hammer because he wanted to rile you up so you’d tell us then we’d do something to save the club.” Snake crossed his arms. “Don’t you see? Raptor’s given us the green light.”
“There’s no fuckin’ way he wants Hammer as president. The club’s in his damn blood, and he used to talk about making it better once his old man was outta the picture,” Fester said. “Snake’s right—Raptor wants us to put the club back to where it should be.”
“Here you go, sweetie,” the busty barmaid chirped as she handed Tank the beer bottle, along
with a folded piece of paper. “Call me, handsome. I can show you a good time.” With a wink, she turned around and walked away, her hips shifting sensually with every step she took.
Snake chuckled. “Looks like you’re gonna get some pussy outta this.”
Shrugging off the comment, Tank picked up the bottle and a took a sip. “You make a good point, Fester. Raptor’s too fuckin’ proud to step down on his own, so he wants us to do it for him. I don’t think he’ll give us any trouble when the time comes.”
“We need to take care of this shit now!” Neon yelled from the far end of the table. “If we wait around, more members are gonna side with Hammer. No fucking way, man!”
Tank muttered under his breath and took another sip of his beer, weighing his answer.
