Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
“Yeah, he’s one of mine. He came here on vacation looking out for his brother, who needed some personal time. Had his back. They came home, but Keys met some bitch and kept coming back to see her. That isn’t a crime, Sid. He had every right to see his woman.”
“He didn’t give me the courtesy of introducing himself and telling me he was in my territory.”
Czar’s expression became even grimmer, if that was a possibility. “He took off his colors. Sign of respect. You know that isn’t easy. He was careful with your crew, never engaged, at least that’s what Destroyer said.”
Sid wasn’t about to call Destroyer a liar. He had the feeling Czar would pull out a gun and shoot him in the face. The rage in the man was palpable.
“I know he’s in trouble; he called. Five fuckin’ men tried to kill him and his woman. They’re dead. All five of them. But he isn’t home. I want him home, Sid.”
Sid made up his mind. He hadn’t ordered a hit on anyone. It wasn’t his business. He leaned over the table and looked Czar in the eye. All he had to do was maintain innocence and this problem would go away. When he leaned forward, Savage and Reaper both alerted. No one wanted either of those two men targeting them. He sat up straighter and tried to look as innocent as possible.
“I didn’t put a hit out on your boy. Have no idea where he is or what happened to him.”
Czar’s gaze shifted to the man seated next to Sid. The lawyer. He was called Absinthe. He had a reputation for being a kick-ass lawyer. Kept his club clean. Sid didn’t realize the man was very lightly touching his wrist. It was so light, and Absinthe was so still, Sid hadn’t even noticed him. Probably because Czar was the most intense man he’d ever had the misfortune to meet.
Absinthe shook his head and Czar’s face darkened. He pushed back from the table, the chair scraping on the floor. “You lying son of a bitch. It just so happens my lawyer is a walking, talking lie detector.” He stood up, the chair crashing backward to the floor.
Sid held up his hand to stop his brothers from trying to pull weapons. Torpedo Ink had them covered, and at the least sign of aggression on his club’s part, the president of Headed for Hell knew there would be a bloodbath the likes of which he’d never seen.
“I didn’t lie. I didn’t tell the entire truth. We didn’t put a hit out on him; someone else did. I didn’t know he was Torpedo Ink. Man came to me and laid it out: he’d been paid to take him and the woman out. He had precise instructions. I knew him from the old days when I served. He’s militia. Part of a crew living up in the mountains, and every one of them served. His name is Merrit, and he took four others up the mountain in our territory to make some kind of video to prove they did it. There were no names given. I didn’t know it was Keys. They offered money to use our land, and I agreed. Why not? Someone puts out a hit on a couple of strangers, that’s not my business.”
Savage reached down and casually righted Czar’s chair. Czar didn’t sit down. He put both hands flat on the table and leaned forward, his glittering eyes pinning Sid like an insect on a board. “You got anything else to say that you should have said?” Czar snarled at him.
“Something went wrong up there. I know that. More came, eight of them. Looked like they sent the big guns in. I took their money again and gave them a map of the area. Once you’re up there, especially when it rains, the roads disappear. It’s wild country.”
“My brother knows how to stay alive in wild country,” Czar said. “Most likely the eight going after him are dead already, but we’re going up to get him out. I strongly suggest that if any more of this militia come knocking, you tell them no. I will take it personally if you give them any more aid, money or not.”
“Czar,” Sid said patiently. “I didn’t know he was Torpedo Ink.”
“That’s the only fuckin’ reason every member of this club isn’t dead right now, Sid,” Czar snapped. He whistled and made a gesture of round up with one finger. “I want the courtesy of the same map to get us in the right place first time out.”
“You can’t take your bikes up there. They won’t make it in that terrain.”
“We came prepared. We have a couple of helicopters and several four-wheel-drive Jeeps. We’ll do okay.”
Helicopters? Holy shit, Torpedo Ink wasn’t messing around.