Page 143 of Down & Dirty: Rage

When Reaper got to him, he drawled, “Quite a fuckingshindig,” before swallowing a mouthful of his freshly poured beer. He surveyed the courtyard. “Have these parties often?”

“Yeah. One thing you’ll learn, if you stick around, is we don’t need much of a reason to throw one. A club run’s a good reason. After we get back, everybody shows up, as you can see with the women’s MC rollin’ in.” Rage shook his head. “Want their own club but sure like to piggyback off ours.”

Reaper chuckled before tipping the red plastic cup to his lips again.

“The kids are usually here for shit like this, too. Occasionally, the party’s smaller, and for reasons.” Rage raised a single eyebrow in a silent message. “No kids are allowed.”

“Bunch of debauchery.”

“Yeah. We try not to corrupt the kids before they’re eighteen, but that’s no guarantee. Our prez’s a good example of that.”

Reaper’s eyes landed on the current club president. “Zak didn’t rein him in?”

“He did what he could. But certain people gotta figure shit out on their own.”

Like Rage did with Lyric.

Reaper nodded, then settled in by bending a knee and planting the sole of his boot on one of the pavilion’s wooden posts while pressing his back to it. His eyes skimmed over the courtyard.

Rage wondered if the man ever relaxed and shut off his sniper brain. Though, having him on constant alert would be a benefit to the club.

“What’s the latest?” Rage asked him.

“We started taking pot shots at them.”

Rage waited for Reaper to explain. When he didn’t, he asked, “Doin’ what?”

“Leaving little hints behind.”

Jesus. A man of little words. “Gotta give me more than that.”

As Reaper talked, his eyes kept scanning the crowd. “Nothing obvious. Whatever would look like a mistake. Enough for the Russos to know they have an enemy, but not who yet.”

“What if they think it’s us?”

“The shit we’re doing, you wouldn’t think biker. You’d think bigger. Going to escalate, but slowly. Going to make them suspicious. Do things that will make the Russos want to dig deeper. But when they do, they’re gonna find what we planted. And the roots will lead them to the Chinese clan.”

“Gonna keep stirrin’ the shit ’til it’s easy enough to flush,” Rage summarized.

“Ain’t gonna be quick, but it’s gonna be done right.”

Rage sure as fuck hoped so. They needed to handle it in a way his DAMC family wasn’t fucked with. He studied the man’s profile. “Still wanna patch in? Or would you rather continue to ride with the women?”

Reaper finally turned to face Rage, but he didn’t fall for the bait. “Up to you all. I’m in if you want me in. If not, not going to be broken up about it.”

“Gonna talk to Zeke about bringing it to the membership.”

“What do you need from me?”

“To keep doin’ what you do best. Your work speaks for itself. The more loyal you are to Vi and the Shadows, the better. Same goes for showin’ your loyalty to the DAMC. The Shadows and the DAMC might appear separate on the surface, but they’re not. At the roots, it’s all intertwined.”

Reaper simply nodded and swallowed another mouthful of beer.

“Any ideas why those dead motherfuckers went after Lyric, Bri, and Avery?”

Reaper pulled in a breath. “My guess is they thought they were being followed and were about to be hijacked. Trafficking drugs tends to make you paranoid.”

“Yeah. Just wanted to make sure they didn’t identify them as DAMC.”