Page 44 of Fury

“Yes, Pres. Its genius isn’t it. Pattie would be perfect for it, too. Then he’ll only have me left to kill, and we can make plans for that.”

“Brilliant. You’ve even thought of someone for the job. Then we can kill another innocent person who looks like you, so he thinks you’re dead, before your father kills you?” My mind is reeling from the stupidity of this conversation.

“Oh, no. I was thinking more along the lines of getting him out in the open and just killing him, this time, Pres.”

“Well, I suppose killing only one innocent isn’t so bad then, and is Pattie happy with this plan?” I think someone is putting something in the club meals or water supply or something.

“Don’t be silly, Pres. I haven’t asked her yet.”

“Silly? Me? Fucking silly? This whole thing has been silly since you walked in. Storming to the door, I yank it open, and Breaker and Cannon are standing outside, trying to look innocent.

“You heard that bullshit, didn’t you?”

Breaker leaves it to Cannon to answer. “We couldn’t help it, Pres. You might have to have a better door for privacy, you know.”

“Get your asses in here.” Walking back to my desk, I take my seat.

“So, you've heard what’s happening?”

Cannon responds for both of them again. “We think it’s Fury’s father that has come back from the dead to do him some ill will and with a bit of hillbilly training thrown in.”

“You can fuck right off, Cannon. You’re not funny in the least.” Fury doesn’t look impressed with Cannon’s piss take of the situation.

Breaker speaks up, “I get what he is saying about a decoy and I think it would deflect away from Jamie, and give us a better chance at nailing this bastard. If we only have to worry about Fury, it’s less of a worry.”

“You can fuck right off as well, Breaker.” Fury is getting worked up with this pair.

“No, Fury, not that you're less of a loss, just that you know how to look after yourself. That way we have less to worry about or plan for. Without Jamie in the mix, we can leave you pretty much to take care of yourself while we do all the other groundwork.” Breaker shakes his head at Fury.

“Oh, okay. Guess I’m touchy at the moment. Well, I’ll speak to Pattie and see if she’s okay with being killed as Jamie…”

“I think one of us should do that, Fury. Your terminology is way off the mark if you want to get her on board with something like this. I wouldn’t be happy if someone asked me if I was okay being killed off to save their significant other, as it were.” Cannon laughs as he says this, and he’s probably right. Fury needs to get his head straight if this is going to be anything other than a clusterfuck. I have some stern words with him about bursting into my office like that, and then tell him to fuck off.

I’ll call Church for tonight, straight after the evening meal, and I’ll get a few things off my chest as well as throwing out a plan for catching Fury’s father. Meanwhile, I’m going to be the one to speak to Pattie about her becoming a decoy. It’s the least I can do when asking someone to put themselves in the firing line, so to speak.

Waiting for Church time to come around, I sit at my desk with a glass of my favorite bourbon. I’m not a big drinker anymore, but I do like to savor a bourbon or a scotch from time to time. It helps me concentrate, to take the time to approach things from all angles, and occasionally a new perspective rears its head. I like to think outside the box occasionally, and this thing with killing off Pattie, or Jamie, is one of those times.

I was surprised at how quickly she got on board with the idea. She was way ahead of me as I approached the subject, and she was keen to do something to help and to break the monotony of daily life. I’ve never known anyone, outside of the service, so keen to want to be shot at. I didn’t say that was what was going to happen, but she seemed to really get off on the idea of it.

I don’t want to involve too many of the townspeople in all this, however, most of the town are well aware of what’s been happening. I like the idea of staging a phony car accident and then letting the news crew do the hard work, but Pattie was right when she said that a phony car accident was far too obvious. Also, with the way news crews are these days, they’d spot a phony a mile away. We’d have to have the sheriff’s department on our side, which meant more people and more risk of a leak. I’m not saying I think our sheriff’s department are on the take, but I’d bet Fury’s father or the mountain retreat has someone on the inside. I think it is going to have to go the way Pattie was hoping for, and let him take a potshot at her.

Everyone was early for Church, even Bandit asked to be allowed to attend. I was wary, but at the end of the day, he is still a brother. He doesn’t know it, but he’s going to be on the sidelines for this. We absolutely do not need a loose cannon like him running around. Also, as soon as the Jamie issue has been discussed, he’ll be out of Church so I can discuss his situation with the officers and brothers.

I think everyone was surprised not only that Fury’s father is still alive, but that he is the assassin behind all this. I had to slam my hand on the table to get everyone to shut up and pay attention. I’ve asked them all to come up with ideas as to how we can make the death seem realistic enough for an assassin to believe it. I don’t want them thinking of this as Fury’s father. I need them to think of it as a professional hit, or we’ll miss a simple detail that could get Pattie, or any one of us, killed.

Once Bandit has been removed, I stand up for my next piece. “We’ve all been focused on the Doc and keeping her safe, but we dropped the ball. I’m ashamed that none of us in this MC, including me, noticed how far Bandit had declined. He’s been taking pills to stay awake and has been running himself ragged. Nobody noticed a brother missing meals, staying out night after night, or letting his appearance slip. He didn’t turn up for work for two days, and no one asked where he was or why he was absent.”

Looking directly at Guardrail, he’s my first target. “You, Guardrail, as construction chief, should have been asking those questions.”

“Pres, he told me he was on a mission for you,” he responds.

“When have I ever taken a guy from any of you without discussing it first?” I wouldn’t dream of leaving any crew or business short without talking it through, and they all know that.

“He was just an add-on for us as his punishment. Not a regular crew member.”

“I can’t believe you just tried to use that as an excuse. That is a piss-poor reason for any of us to come up with. We failed him, me included, and that is not going to happen again. We look out for each other. Is that clear?” I go around the table and get an aye from everyone.

As I sit, Fury stands, looking at me for permission to address the room. I give him a chin lift, and he begins. “Following along on the same theme as the Pres here, I want to mention the club women. It’s been brought to my attention that a couple of the men in this room, and I can get names for the officers, but hope that won’t be necessary, are treating the club women badly.” There are a few grumbles and some angry, raised eyebrows at this, mine included.