Page 48

Reaper

“Baby, I’m gonna need you to explain that to me. What secret?”

Shaking her head, Remi asked, “Can I please have the room?”

“Give us a few minutes, everyone,” I ordered, and everyone quietly got up and left church. When the room was clear, I got up and took a seat next to her on the couch.

Taking her hands in mine, I asked, “Baby, what is it?”

“I met her.”

“Met who?”

“Emma’s mom.”

Unsure I heard her correctly, I muttered, “What did you say?”

Remi looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “I met Sarah. She’s alive, Max. Emma’s mom is alive.”

“Where?”

“In Nebraska. After I read through all the files Sypher had, something kept bugging me. My hometown. I mean, the place where I was raised. I didn’t understand why, in all the places in the world, the Society chose to put me in Nebraska. I still don’t understand. It makes no sense to me. Nebraska is in the middle of nowhere. There’s nothing there but farmland and cornfields.”

Saying absolutely nothing, I waited, giving Remi time to gather her thoughts so she could tell me what I feared I didn’t want to hear.

“I always thought it odd, you know. On the outside, it looked like I came from a normal family, but that was the farthest thing from the truth. I don’t know what made me go back there, but I had to see it again.”

“See what, baby?”

“My old house. Vladmir begged me not to go, but I didn’t listen. He went with me, just so you know I didn’t go alone. Only when I got there, everything looked different. The same, but different. She’s living in my old house, Max. They put her in my old house. Why would they do that?”

“Who did, baby?”

“The Society, ” she whispered. “Only the Soulless Sinners were there. But they’re not. I mean, they wear the same cuts, but they’re not affiliated.”

“Baby, you’re not making any sense.”

“When I mentioned Montana’s name, Joshua got very angry. Told me to leave and never come back. He said he had absolutely nothing to do with his cousin or the club itself. That he ran a clean club, the way it was supposed to have been run all along. Why would he say it like that?”

“I don’t know, baby,” I muttered then asked, “What can you tell me about the man you met?”

“His name is Joshua Stone. He’s the president of the Nebraska Chapter. He owns my old house. Owns them all. He and his club are protecting Sarah. When I mentioned your name, she froze and started crying. The next thing I knew, she had a broken piece of glass in her hand. She was going to kill herself before Joshua and another brother stopped her. But that wasn’t the biggest shock. While I was in the house, I saw a photo, Max.”

Looking at the ground, I whispered, “What did you see?”

“I think you already know. You do, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I know.”

“That wasn’t Sarah in the picture, was it? It was her mother.”

I nodded.

“Does he know?”

“No.”

“Max, what the hell is really going on?”

“Honestly, I’m trying to save a fucker I really don’t like.”

“What do you mean, save?”

Getting to my feet, I raked my hands over my head and said, “Because he’s about to learn that everything he knew about his pops is fiction. And knowing that bastard, he’s going to fly off the rails and cause another fucking war and my club will be a casualty. All because of some really sick, twisted individuals, our lives are forever connected, and I hate it. I can only imagine how Montana will take it. But that’s not even the worst part. Because when he learns what his Nebraska club has been keeping from him, he’s going to come for me.”

“But, Max, it wasn’t your fault.”

“I know that!” I shouted. “Hell, everyone here knows that, but he doesn’t. He won’t think rationally. He never does. His temper rivals mine, if you haven’t noticed. The fucker is a hothead.”

“You think he will come after the club?”

I nodded. “Yeah, and we’re not big enough to stop him.”

“Who else knows the truth?”

Looking at my wife, I whispered, “I don’t know and that’s what worries me.”

“Then you need to tell everyone. You need to lay it all out on the line, because if you truly want to help Montana, even after everything he’s done, you are going to need everyone’s help. And I mean everyone.”

Sitting in my chair, I waited while everyone soaked in what I had just told them. It was a massive data dump and I wasn’t talking about the fucking files Sypher and Phantom were going through. The fact of the matter was, we could either sit back and let history repeat itself or step up and stop it from happening to anyone else.

Either way, both options came with risks, but this was one decision I wasn’t willing to make without the backing of my club.

“He’s a fucking dick,” Massacre groaned.

“But does that mean we sit back and do nothing, Dwayne?” Player asked. “I don’t like the fucker either, but after everything we’ve been through, I wouldn’t wish that shit on my worst enemy. It sucks, I agree, but I don’t see any other way.”

“If we forgive that fucker, Reggie, that means we forgive everyone, including Gio,” Massacre challenged as Player groaned.

“He won’t accept our help,” Matrix spoke up. “He doesn’t trust us and anything we do will bring suspicions upon us.”

“Matrix is right,” Bullseye agreed. “I don’t see a way around that. The two of you can’t even be in the same room as each other without trying to shoot one another.”

“I don’t have to like him to help him,” I stated.

“No, and you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make the fucker drink,” Ace snarked, leaning forward in his chair. “Look, I know I really don’t have a voice here and I can’t tell you all what to do, but this is Montana Stone we’re talking about. The head of the Biker Federation and the President of the biggest fucking motorcycle club in the world. If you guys sit back and do nothing and the world learns the truth about that damn club, war will ensue, and the other organizations will get involved. The fighting will go on for years.”

“Ace is right,” Sypher added. “But on the flip side, if you all agree to help, I can take care of most of the information dumps. Right now, the Soulless Sinners are working their way through the club’s personal ghost file. It’s a lot. Brothers are learning exactly what it means to be a Soulless Sinner and it’s not pretty. George Stone amassed a shit-ton of information on each member. Even the women. Pippen’s already reached out to me for help.”

Looking up, I asked, “Vicious?”

Sypher shook his head. “We got lucky on that. I suspect because Vicious just joined not long ago and George hadn’t had time to investigate. But the longer he’s there, the more danger he’s in.”

“Then it’s time for him to come home,” Matrix stated. “Not gonna let those fuckers kill another one of my brothers.”

“Do we know all the players yet?” Phantom asked. “I don’t think we can make a decision without knowing who would come after us. I don’t know about all of you, but I like knowing who my targets are before going to war.”

Bullseye and Ace nodded in agreement.

“Before you do anything, you need to talk with Giovanni and Maxim,” Remi whispered as all eyes turned to her.

“Why do you say that, baby?” I asked.

“Because, like before, you are going to need their help.”

“Remi is right,” Ace agreed. “And you will need Law’s help as well. Harbor Security just got the contract to help the FEDs investigate the Trick Pony. God only knows what information that son of a bitch has on his servers.”

“What about my cousin?” Sandman asked.

“Brother is right,” Ravage spoke up. “That still needs to be addressed too. Biker law is clear regarding Delany.”

Leaning back in my chair, I sat and listened while everyone talked about every possibility they could come up with. While everything they discussed made sense, the biggest problem I foresaw was Montana. The second I offered him any kind of help, he would know something was wrong and it would set off a chain reaction even I couldn’t stop.

No, the only way forward was through damage control and cutting the fucker off at the knees before he could start a war. And to do that, I was going to have to follow biker law to the letter, even to the point where he couldn’t stop me.

In the end, we tabled the vote until we had more information and I could reach out to Fedorov and Valentinetti.