Page 15 of Gage

Smoke nodded. “I'll move the bikes so the service lane stays clear.”

“Deacon watches Mora traffic and any property Tomas can stage from,” Preacher said. “Do it.”

Preacher caught me before I reached the door. “Gage.” I looked back.

“You put him down because he crossed the line in front of us. Don't go hunting him tonight because you wish he'd stayed down longer. I mean it. Don’t lose your head over her.”

“Wasn't planning to.”

He had known me too long to accept the first answer without checking it. He also knew me well enough to know that despite my calm exterior, I took no shit from anyone. That includes men like Tomas and Javier who thought they could use Elena as a bargaining chip against her will.

“Good,” Preacher replied.

I wanted Javier alone and away from rules, but my job was getting the club ready for his next move, not chasing the bastard because I wanted another shot at him.

By the time I finished walking the rear fence, the sun had dropped low enough to throw the union hall's shadow across most of the yard. Salvation Motor Works was closing, but two brothers remained inside and the gate watch had changed without leaving a gap in security.

I hope for Javier Mora’s sake that Tomas has warned him and his men that the Unholy Few are the last men standing in Salvation, and we have no intention of falling.

CHAPTER 5

ELENA

Iwaited at the bar while Gage finished with Smoke, holding a cold bottle against the mark on my upper arm. Javier Mora had been gone less than half an hour, and men moved between the gate, garage and church while bikes rolled into different positions and a prospect carried ammunition through the back corridor.

Gage stood near the open clubhouse door. He had washed the yard dust from his hands, and a bruise was rising across the knuckles he'd put into Javier's ribs. His attention kept returning to me, the entrance behind me and whichever brother crossed the room. When I arrived, I would have called it surveillance. Now I knew the difference between when he was working and when he was worried.

Preacher came out of church and stopped across the bar. “Mora's trucks are still at the property east of town. Deacon has two more tied to a yard in Deming.”

“So Javier didn't leave Salvation?” Gage asked.

“Not yet.”

I put the bottle down. “Would he be here if I hadn't come through your gate?”

“Mora came because Tomas promised him access. You were part of the price, but the deal was aimed at us before you heard about it.” Preacher rested one forearm on the scarred wood. “Sending you back gives Tomas what he wanted and tells every man watching that our protection ends when it costs us. It doesn't buy peace.”

Gage crossed the room as Smoke headed toward the garage. “Mora's got men checking the south road.”

“Pair the watches. Whatever pulls men toward the garage, one stays inside the hall,” Preacher said.

“Already done.”

Preacher left to find Deacon. Gage picked up the cold bottle and put it against my arm again.

“It's just a bruise,” I said.

“I can see that.”

“You look like you regret stopping... Javier, I mean.”

“I regret Javier still having all his teeth. Unfortunately stopping was the right call.”

Havoc sat at the nearest table with pieces of a handgun spread on a cloth. He hadn't looked up once, which meant he’d heard everything.

At the windows, Shade checked the yard through the slats rather than standing in the glass. A prospect came in carrying a coil of chain and made the mistake of asking where Preacher wanted it.

“Where a truck can't drive through it,” Havoc said without lifting his head.