Page 73 of Allegiance
Tank
Ten dayslater
Tank finishedthe text to Lena, and was about to hit Send for what felt like the hundredth time since that fateful night, when the pounding of the gavel drew his eyes up. Hammer stood at the head of a conference table with Cougar at his side.
“Church is starting.”
“What the fuck happened with Flannigan?” Ice demanded.
Hammer glared at him, then slowly laid the gavel down on the table. “We’ve got an agenda here, and that’s not on it this time,” he snapped.
“Why the fuck not? It’s huge. Some of the brothers fucked-up big at the arms deal” —Ice waved his hand around the room while looking at the members— “and a lot of us here wanna find out why.”
“Flannigan’s never double-crossed the club before, so some shit must’ve gone down that we have a right to know about,” Maniac said.
“Hammer’s in charge, not you,” Cougar hissed. “So shut the fuck up.”
Maniac jumped to his feet, his face crimson, the veins at his temples visibly throbbing. “You wanna take this outside, fucker?”
Tank kneed Maniac’s leg to get his attention. When Maniac looked down at him, Tank gave him a look, as if to say that the timing wasn’t right and to cool the hell down. Breathing heavily, Maniac stood rigid, glaring at Cougar.
Hammer smirked and leaned back against the wall. After several tense seconds, Maniac, cussing under his breath, sat down.
“We still want to know what happened,” Fester chimed in. “The club goes way back with Flannigan. We started doing business with him back when Skull was prez.”
“We all know that, old man. We don’t need a fuckin’ history lesson,” Rubble grumbled, as Hammer and Cougar laughed.
Fester shook his head. “All I’m sayin’ is, a long history without no trouble means something’s fucked.”
“And it’s Flannigan,” Hammer growled.
“Then tell us what happened, because that’s not what we heard, ” Ice demanded.
“From who?” Cougar asked.
“The grapevine. The Insurgents, Angry Disciples, Grim Henchman, Skull Chasers.” Ice paused. “Do you want me to go on?”
Cougar banged his fist on the table. “Fuck them!”
“Seems like a lot of clubs—friendly and rival—are sayin’ we fucked this up. So, for the last time, what the hell went down?”
Most of the pro-Raptor members lifted their fists in the air to show solidarity with Ice. And, to Tank’s surprise, a few members who were staunch Hammer supporters joined in.
This fuck-up may be the break we need to take Hammer down.Tank looked down at his phone and hit theSendbutton, knowing Lena wouldn’t respond. He’d been sending her texts and calling her ever since that night at her restaurant. It had been the biggest shock of his life. He understood where she was coming from, and he probably would’ve reacted the same as her if the tables were turned. It killed him that he couldn’t tell her what was going on, but it was club business.
“Are we interrupting your social hour?”
Tank glanced up and slipped the phone into his cut’s pocket. “Not really,” he replied, meeting Hammer’s glare.
“You’ve been a nomad for too long—no fuckin’ phones are allowed in church.”
“I missed the memo.”
Cougar snorted. “It’s always been that way.”
What a dumb fuck. He doesn’t even know I’m messing with them.
Tank tipped his chair back on two legs and locked his hands behind his head. “Two of Flannigan’s men were gunned down at that deal. Let’s see… one was dating Fire’s ex-wife, and the other one was Hangman—a former Jagged Outlaw from the Skull presidency, andyou,” —he smiled at Hammer— “were the one who was instrumental in getting him thrown out.”
