The second thing is that a few of the Misfits are missing, along with Timber, Titan, and Frost, who I have to assume are all on patrol. The Misfits are once again keeping to their own little group, other than a select few, who are talking with a couple of men. I keep my gaze moving, but my brain clocks that Angel, Silver, and Bowie are all in quiet conversation close to the bar.
My gut clenches. Could Bowie be the traitor? Is he not even bothering to be careful now? Or is he hoping in the large room of people no one will notice him talking to them? Or is it nothing? Angel isn’t on the list of those who are possible clear traitors that Bullet gave me, but that doesn’t mean anything right now.
Damn it, I need to talk to Bullet, but if I do it now, I’m going to raise suspicion. Instead, I head to stand behind Avery’s chair, my back to the room. A deliberate choice. I can feel eyes on me, and I want to see what they do.
Avery stiffens slightly when I put my hands on the back of her chair, but her head turns, and I see her watching me with amixture of contemplation and mistrust. Yeah, she’s not sold on anything I told her earlier, but I’ll fix that soon. My eyes move around the table, and I see Rose beaming, Thea looking amused, and Bullet and Sniper smirking. I’d flip them off, but that’s probably not the best thing to do in front of two teenagers. Both of whom look at me with interest.
Seeing me, Bullet bellows, “Church!”
I look down at Avery, who looks up at me with an unreadable expression. “We’ll talk after I’m done,” I tell her. “Or if it’s late, I’ll talk to you in the morning. Stay with Crypt, got it?” She nods, her eyes never leaving mine. “Be good, angel.” I can feel the women’s eyes on me, along with Avery’s siblings. Good thing I’m not shy. I glance over at the Church door and see that all the Misfits are inside, Theo standing outside the door. Coast clear, I do the one thing that I know she might punch me in the nuts for, but it’s worth the risk. I lean down and press a quick hard kiss to her mouth, pulling away with a smile and a wink before I head for Church.
“I knew it!” Isla crows triumphantly behind me, as if she’s been just waiting for this moment. I chuckle, but as I walk into Church, any amusement I feel drains away as quickly as it came.
I need to be on my A-game. Then I need to tell Bullet that what he fears is worse than we ever thought.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
HULK
Their audacity has no limits.
The dividein the room is clear, with the Misfits sitting close together at the end of the table, while we’re at the head. My club welcomes me with smiles and claps on the shoulder, though that soon stops after the second wince of pain that causes. “Shit, sorry, man,” Milk apologizes, dropping his hand quickly. “Just glad to see you’re back.”
“All good,” I assure him, sitting between him and Bowie. Bowie nods at me, but I can see something on his face that most might miss. His eyes hold mine for a second longer before he turns his focus back to Bullet, who has sat at the head of the table, silencing any chatter.
“Alright,” Bullet states firmly. “We have shit to figure out and?—”
“Sorry to interrupt, Bullet,” Arson suddenly interjects. “But it seems you have a couple of brothers who haven’t taken the timeto attend Church.” He glances pointedly at the empty chairs that Stone and Shadow would have filled.
Bullet’s eyes narrow slightly at Arson’s implication. “They’ve been excused with permission from me,” he states simply.
“Really? You’re going to just excuse two men from attending Church at an important time?” Silver snorts. “Or, what, you’re just expecting our club to pick up their slack?” His eyes move over all of us. “Or are all of you just okay with two of your brothers leaving when we’re fighting against the Russians and expecting us to pick up their work too? It’s a slap in the face to those of us that have been working our asses off to protect all of you and your club.” There’s a round of low agreement from the loss of their brothers, with Arson being the only one silent. Though his expression is clear enough that he agrees.
The audacity of the Misfits is unfathomable to me, though after what I heard, I can see why. They’re trying to drive a wedge. They’re trying to divide us until we finally crumble and give them what they want.
Our club. Our territory. And all the businesses that we’ve built. They want it all. And they want to do it with Vlad and any of the other MCs he’s also working with. I itch to call them all on it, but that’d be tipping our hand, and also possibly starting an internal war in this room where some of us might not make it out alive. Our military training is helpful, but the Misfits are a wild bunch, and they’re unpredictable.
“I will gladly take up any extra work for my brothers,” Viper says calmly, and so simply, that it silences the Misfits. “Just like I know the rest of us will as well.” All of us nod, and I can see Silver’s eyes flash, and his mouth pinch. He’s not pleased that we’re taking the wind out of his argument.
“What could be more important than being here?” Arson asks simply.
“We don’t owe an explanation, Arson,” Sniper tells him coldly. “You know that. Their President has deemed it worthy of them being allowed to be out of Church tonight, and that’s where the question stops.”
“The fact that you’re daring to question me on it is an insult, Arson,” Bullet states harshly. Arson’s face darkens, but he’s fighting to hold on to his anger and not cause everything to blow up in his face. “Both their women are having trouble with their babies. Stone’s Old Lady may lose my first grandchild, and Shadow’s Old Lady is pregnant with twins and is high risk at the moment. They’ve gone to be with their Old Ladies and will be back tomorrow, barring any major complications. Or would you have rather I’d let them be distracted and worrying about their women and unborn children?”
I look at Arson, and I can see that he’s trying to keep his expression stern, but Bullet’s answer has made him look like a complete asshole. “No, obviously not,” Arson says tightly. “I apologize if I’ve offended you, but I’m sure you can understand how we might look at it.”
“I see it as a blatant question of my leadership of this club,” Bullet snaps, letting just enough anger out to make his point. “You and I will sort that out later, but right now, the only thing I want to focus on is our plans to find Vlad and take them out before they come after us. You’re on thin ice, Arson, and I’m about to send you and your men home because I’ve had about enough of your attacks and demands on how we run our club. The only reason I haven’t before now is because of our alliance, and I understand that you want your shot at Vlad for what they’ve done to one of your men. I’ve given you plenty of chances, and one more problem or question, and you can go home.” He lets that sit for just long enough that we can all see the implications sink in for Arson and the rest of them. “Let’s get back to figuring out where Vlad might be hiding.” He looks atme. “Hulk, do you feel up to telling us what your thoughts on a few things might be?”
All eyes are on me. “I’ll tell you everything I can.”
Bullet nods. “Good. What do you remember from the night you were taken?”
“I remember Cobra and I were walking toward one of the locations that Sniper’s woman figured out. When we reached it, I saw a door hidden in the side of the mountain. I vaguely remember people walking out of it. Two men, but it’s fuzzy. After that, I only remember turning my head to ask Cobra something, and he wasn’t there. Then I got hit on the head, and it was lights out, and I woke up in Vlad’s cell.” I look at Cobra, who is watching me with cool eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t hear anything, man.”
It’s a deliberate lie, but one that we have to keep going. We need them to think that I didn’t hear or see anything that involves their club.
“They caught me by surprise, too,” Cobra rasps with a nod. “I didn’t even have time to yell out. They must have had people watching for us.”