Page 19 of The Devil's Revelation
NINE
TORQUE
I agree with my father. It’s time to find the source of the mob leaking its poison into our town and plug it up.
Our Church room is pretty full when I get there. I nod when the brothers call out to me before taking my seat. The rest of my afternoon went by far too fast as I finally finished the engine in the GTO. Man, I’m going to be sad to see that one go. If I had a place to store it, I’d be offering the owner money in a heartbeat to buy it from him. Instead, I have to do the job I can and hand the keys back over when I’m done.
“Hey, brother,” Shadow says with a nod when I fall into the chair between him and Medic. Shadow is what we call lethal and dangerous, even with just a smile. The man still gives me a wary feeling, and I’ve known him for almost ten years now. At six feet, he’s got dark hair that’s almost black, dark eyes, and an air about him you don’t want to mess with. Hell, I’ve seen grown men piss themselves when he looks at them with that cool smile and lethal gaze.
“Hey, man,” I say with a tired smile. “How’s shit at the security company?”
He rolls his eyes. “I’ve got a man who wants me to find his ex-wife so he can give her a piece of his mind. So what do you think?”
I smirk. “And I’m sure you’ve made him see the error of his ways?” He just smirks in reply, which is all I need to know. That man won’t be bugging his ex-wife anytime soon, I’m sure, if Shadow had a talk with him.
Medic chuckles. “I didn’t get a call, so I’m sure he’s not dead.”
Medic is a former army medic, and while he’s licensed to practice, he only does the odd hospital shift to make sure his license stays intact. The rest of the time, he’s helping with club shit and patching us up when we’re idiots. Which, I mean, with this crew, is more often than not.
The door to the room shuts with a bang, and we all look to see Dad walking in, scowl on his face. My entire body goes on alert. Uh oh, that look doesn’t bode well. The room goes quiet as he sits down and bangs the gavel. Not that it really needed to be done, but Dad does like his routine.
“Brothers, it seems that our favorite mobsters are back in town,” he announces, eyes sweeping over us. “Got a tip from one of our eyes and ears on the streets that even after they burned down their warehouse they didn’t leave town. Instead, they’ve apparently moved elsewhere and are planning on moving some other business ventures here.”
“Any idea on what those might be?” Sniper, our VP asks. Sniper is former Special Forces, and was as his name suggests. He also isn’t someone you piss off. At six-three, he’s not small, and when he gets that dark look in his brown eyes, watch out. He can give Shadow a run for his money. Right now, he’s definitely looking pissed.
“Nothing,” Dad says in frustration. “No one is talking. Which means they are taking great lengths to keep their presence quiet.”
“Any more sightings of Dmitri?” I ask. The leader of the local group, he’s one sick son of a bitch, and knowing him, he’ll be moving people through our town. Something we will never allow to happen.
Dad shakes his head. “He’s either lying low, or he’s very good at hiding in plain sight. The cops aren’t much help, and I have a feeling this is going to get worse before it gets better. Brothers, we need to make sure their poison doesn’t take over our town. It’s starting to leak, and we need to find that leak and plug it up. Permanently.”
“Should we call in some allies?” Stone asks.
“Too many people will spook them,” Viper predicts. Viper isn’t someone anyone should mess with either. Even now the dangerous air around him isn’t easy to miss. “Not to mention, if they are starting to bring their trafficking trade here, we don’t want them to go somewhere else before we can catch them.”
“I agree,” King says. “These fuckers want to use our town for this shit, we need to give them a fight.” As our Sergeant at Arms, King definitely has no qualms about jumping in feet first to counteract any threat to our club or women.
“We need a plan,” Dad agrees.
“First thing is figuring out what they’re doing in town now,” Hammer says thoughtfully. Hammer and our father are the club’s only original members. Hammer is more of an uncle to us than a brother, but growing up he was the one we could go to for advice if we weren’t comfortable going to Dad. He looks like a typical biker with his stocky frame, ZZ-Top style beard, and beer gut. Hell, Raven describes him as an edgy Santa Claus and I’d have to agree.
“Anyone with informants or people on the streets, see what you can get out of them,” Dad orders, looking around at us again. “Based on the last time, we may not get much, but maybe this time we’ll get lucky. Keep your eyes open for any suspicious activity and report back. Make sure that you don’t start asking the wrong questions that would tip them off.”
“I’ve got a few trees I can shake,” Dagger says with a nod. Dagger and King both prospected at the same time. In the beginning, Dagger was a douche, but in the last couple years he’s calmed down a bit and started acting like a decent guy instead of an egotistical asshole. He still has his moments though. At five-ten, with tawny brown hair that he likes to keep slicked back with a shit ton of gel, he’s on the smaller side than the rest of us, but definitely not as scrawny as Twigs.
“Me too,” a few others say.
“Good,” Dad says with a nod. “On to other business. I was speaking with Torque earlier and he is still looking for a mechanic.”
Everyone looks at me and I nod. “I placed an ad but so far not one candidate has been promising. Most of them are looking for free work and parts for their own vehicles. Right now, Carson is working in the shop on small stuff, but I can’t keep him full time or he can’t fulfill his prospecting duties.”
“Kid works like a damn dog,” Timber announces. “Never complains, and when he gets back to the clubhouse he’ll work all night and only get a few hours sleep before he goes into the shop the next morning.”
A few murmurs of agreement go around the table. “What I would like to do is see if we can alternate him and Kaleb,” I tell them. “That way they both are trained to work in the shop if we need them and we’re not piling it on Carson.”
“Kaleb agreed to the idea,” Dad adds. “I spoke with him before Church.”
“What about the other prospects?” Frost asks. An easy going kind of guy until you get to know him, most people don’t realize just how dangerous a man he is. I think it’s the blue eyes and the pretty boy smile that he’s framed with a short, cropped beard. He’s former military too, and while not as dangerous as some, he’s still lethal in his own right.
