Page 29 of Colton (Raging Barons MC #17)

-:- COLTON -:-

It’s been three days since Nyx, Penny and Ruger moved into the house with me.

The women immediately went into the mode women do when they decide things need cleaning and tidying.

They even had the elderly ladies over and Joan was planning gatherings for everyone to eat, drink and be merry. Well, that’s what she called it.

I love those four old dears; they are a little cuckoo, but then if they were sane they probably wouldn’t get involved with bikers. Being military wives, they are tough and take no prisoners when it comes to looking after themselves or each other.

Walking into the clubhouse, I turn when I hear my name called. Lincoln is walking towards me from where he’s been speaking with Jo, who I have to say loves having her brother around the clubhouse. “What’s up?” I ask.

“I have a plan for the security company, and I want you to look at a building with me. Get your opinion on the location before I put it to Pres and church.” Lincoln is holding a bunch of papers, and I can see how serious he is, so I nod and head toward the main door, and outside where my hog is parked.

“Come on, lead me to it.” I turn when I hear another hog fired up and give Knuckles a two-finger salute to my temple in acknowledgement.

The building is on the east side of town.

It’s the end building on the street and has a massive parking lot.

It is three stories and looks to be in good condition.

We park outside the fenced area, which I have to admit is a good idea.

The fenced area covers the entire parking area and butts up to the building.

It has to be nine feet high, but why it was so high I don’t know.

“What was the building used for?” I ask Lincoln.

“Well, from what the realtor knows it was to be a printing shop. They were going to do everything from billboards to posters. But before the shop opened they ran out of cash, so the building was never actually used.”

“Do you have the keys? Or have you been shown the place?”

Lincoln grins. “He’s given me the key, and I pulled the club's name up to get it. I am also wearing my brand new kutte, which clearly states Lincoln .”

The next eighty-minutes we walk through every inch of the building, and I’m more than a little impressed.

Bones and Arrow have arrived and walked through too.

Knuckles is saying at least two of the rooms should be for the brothers that work the doors.

That way we can run a roster, and if needed have meetings.

“You know Web and the others work well from their building. They like the fact it’s not under the clubhouse roof.

When I spoke to them about it after they had the place for six months, they told me it’s work, and the clubhouse is home.

I know they spend a lot of time there, but they are settled and comfortable working this way.

” I look at Bones who is nodding his head in understanding.

Bones replies, “I can understand not wanting to live and work in the same building. It would be like being on a twenty-four-hour call.” We all agree, and after one last quick look at the place we lock up and head back to the clubhouse .

Walking into Axel’s office, Lincoln, Bones, Arrow, Knuckles, Mav, and I take a seat. Buzz, Wings, BS, and Drag are also in the office working at the second desk.

“So, what is this all about?” Axel asks, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the desk, clasping his hands together.

Lincoln speaks first. “We have a plan for the security firm. We like Baron’s Firmly Secure as the company's name. We have found a building, and it is within the price range that TwoCents quoted us. It’s a renovated building, although all the printing gear is removed that was installed.

Three stories where we can maintain the servers we’d require, and a locked-up area for weaponry.

The parking lot is fenced, so it is highly secure. ”

“Do you have the plans, layout, and all information I’ll need?” Axel asks and holds his hand out.

Lincoln places the folder he is holding with all the information to Axel.

“Pres, we’ve kept everything to a minimum as in financial layout, and then have looked at the information Specs gave us for the companies he is helping at this time.

The projection looks very good profitwise, but it will take approximately three years to recover all costs. That includes the building.”

“Let me look at this, then I’ll speak to you about it.

It will have to be voted on in church, but if the figures are good and the projection for future profits are excellent, then I cannot see an issue with the vote going the right way.

” Axel looks down at the folder and that is us dismissed as far as he is concerned.

“Come on, let’s grab some lunch and a drink,” I suggest, and head to the kitchen.

We have smoked ribs, and I mean piles of them, with side dishes that you can die for. I make sure my plate is well laden with ribs as I take a seat and start chomping. I’m going to see if Meat has any spare that I can take home for Nyx and Penny.

Before I can collect all the food I want to take home, Knuckles, Drag, BS, Stitch and Beer, who is having a day free from TJs, along with myself are called to church.

Now, this is unusual as it’s not church day, and it’s not an emergency meeting.

It looks like mainly officers but with those of us who work the door security.

Taking my seat next to Knuckles, I notice we have Steel Scorpions MC members in church with us.

Now, something is going down I’m sure. I know we sent the teenagers and their families to House, the President, and I also know through Buzz that Axel has a decent relationship with them.

We also spoke with the Road Vultures MC, whose President is Sharrow.

I was impressed with what I’ve heard about House and how his MC deals with issues. He seems to have the same ethics and morals as Axel. Not sure what he wants or why we are in church, but it will be revealed soon or we wouldn’t be sitting here.

Axel is sitting next to House at the head of the table and gaining everyone’s attention when he speaks.

“As you can all see we have House, and some of the brothers from the Steel Scorpions MC here. They have brought a suggestion for us to think about. I’ve called you all here as you are our major security force, as in bouncers, and anything else required. ”

Mav sits forward and speaks first. “What exactly are they suggesting, Pres?”

Axel looks at House, who takes up the conversation.

“You sent me teenagers and their families. We heard a lot from them about how this asshole Stefan has been collecting teenagers and young men to do his dirty work. Mostly under duress, I might add. The fucker is using the kids' families to make them do what he wants. He also isn’t just in and around your territory, he is spreading out. So, my reason for coming here is that there are more like Stefan out there, and if we get innocent people that need relocating I suggest that we form a link to pass on these people, keeping them out of these assholes’ hands. ”

I feel myself nodding as I agree innocent people often need help. I was one of those people and will always appreciate the help we were given by Axel and the MC brothers. Helping hide innocents could be fucking fun, too!

Stitch speaks next. “What are you thinking? A pass over of innocent people, from one MC to another until they are in a territory that is deemed safe? Then what?”

“We make sure the perpetrator is taken out, one way or another. Then we help them find jobs, homes and get settled.” House sits back in his seat and folds his arms.

“Rescue linking…” Drag hums. Doing his thinking aloud thing he does at times. We all know he wasn't fully briefed on the meeting's purpose until now.

“Don’t we need to bring this to church and the brothers?” I ask.

“Yes, but if the club officers and security don’t like the idea, there is no point bringing it to the table.

I wanted Lincoln, Bones and Arrow here too, but they have a meeting with the realtor they needed to attend.

I have spoken to them briefly and they are happy to go along with whatever you all choose,” Axel states.

“Who will pay for all this relocation, resettlement plan you are asking for?” Beer asks .

“We think because it depends on what is needed, each MC will cover the cost of their part in the rescue. But if it is a large rescue, then all MCs will give a percentage,” House replies.

Beer nods, then responds, “I think that is fair because if we have an issue with something like the Mafia, Cartel or other involved it could be a hell of an expensive rescue.”

Nodding in agreement, Axel speaks. “I agree, and I think that we may need to start some kind of fund. Where we can place an amount each into, so we have funds if this kind of thing occurs.”

“Yeah, but who would control these funds? I’m not saying House, or any other MC would steal it, but we have all seen it happen, and it’s been people you would least expect that have done it,” Beer throws at the table.

“I think we all keep our funds, but they are kept apart from our normal funding. That way, we all control our own piece of that pie,” Mav suggests.

“That’s a great idea. I would vote for that,” House states. “I’ve got to speak with Sharrow, the President of the Road Vultures MC, as I’m sure he’ll want in on this too.”

“We can suggest other MCs if the occasion calls for it,” Axel adds, and we all know he’s thinking about the Rogue Legion MC, Restless Demons MC and Satan’s Guardians MC. “Are you all onboard with this idea? If you are, I’ll bring it to church and then I’ll get back to you House with our decision.”

We all give an ‘Aye’, and Axel disbands the meeting. But we still throw thoughts to each other as we walk out of church. I look for Ruger who wasn’t in the meeting, and find him stuffing his face with some chocolate concoction that Bitty and Amelia have made .

“Come on, Ruger, let’s go speak to a cop.” I wink at Bitty as I pass and hear her giggle like a schoolgirl.

Ruger runs to his hog beside me, and I have this thought! “Who is with Nyx, Penny and the ladies?” I ask him.

Ruger laughs, “Star. She was weaponed up like something in a movie. Lara Croft or some female hero character.”

Now, we both know nothing and nobody, will get past Star, and Nyx did tell me Star wanted to help with the ladies, so this is a perfect solution. I hope they all come out of her visit intact!

Quite some time later and after a lot of chasing around, we find the cop that Penny had spoken to. Kollin Hale his name is, and he has some Hawaiian background Specs has found. I asked him to do some digging while we were looking for him just in case he was not a good cop.

Kollin is sitting across the table from us in the back corner of a café that he frequents most mornings. “So, what can I do for you two?”

“We are protecting Penny Crosby and her daughter Arabella. You know who from. But we need to know if we have more to worry about than the normal protecting?” I ask.

Kollin sits a little straighter in his seat, leans forward with his voice dropped low. “How do I know what you are saying is true? How are you going to protect her from this asshole who is so bent he would never straighten up again?”

“Well, you can always contact Penny. She’s living in my home, with my woman, and Ruger here.

The MC is watching for anything untoward, as the asshole has already had someone try to snatch Arabella.

But as they couldn’t at that moment, they pasted shit graffiti all over the bedrooms,” I snarl as I think Darren needs burying, and burying deep.

“Darren’s mother is in custody at the moment.

She’s not going to be seeing daylight for a long time.

There are the Mafia connections to all this, but from what I have found they are not interested in being involved with either the mother or the son.

I’ve watched Darren, and he’s personally made no move toward grabbing Penny or Arabella.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to do something in the future.

” Kollin looks at me with an expression that you would not normally see on a cop.

He and we know that Darren is biding his time.

Especially if his beloved mother is going to face serious time, as it’ll be easier to blame anyone but themselves.

“Kollin, know that Penny has been friended by my woman, Nyx, and the MC. We’ll protect her and Arabella. Ruger here is the best uncle Arabella could have, and you can bet he’ll kill anyone that tries to hurt her.” I looked him right in the eye as I said all that. Now he knows how serious we are.

Kollin stands, holds his hand out and when I clasp his hand in mine, he leans forward and murmurs. “Do whatever you need to do. This family is nothing but filth, and nothing good will come from either of them. This may be the first and last time we meet, Colton, so I’ll say good luck.”

Now, I’d given him our names when I introduced us, and I’m sure he’ll remember them from the way he just said mine. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll come in handy one day? The one thing we now know is he’ll not do anything if Darren or his mother disappear.