Page 69 of Lost Lyrebird

“He only cares about power and money.It’s an ego trip for him.And one day his greed is gonna turn brother against brother, and it’ll be a shitstorm in our backyard.The girls Veno’s trafficking and pimping out are kept under watch, taken to shady places, sold to scum of the earth, and force-fed drugs to keep them compliant and tied to him for their next fix.If they do want out or decide to get clean, it doesn’t end well for them.They’re here one day and gone the next.Not sure what’s happening to them—either sold off or put in the ground.”

As I watch Cap, his scowl deepens.He tries to mask his anger and disgust as he thinks through the problem logically.The way his hard eyes stare at nothing, the way his right fist curls, and how, like Dozer, his thick muscles bulge with tension.Then a look of utter disgust flashes across his face in the next second, and I wonder if his thoughts have turned to Taffy, his eighteen-year-old daughter.

“Is there more?”he asks.

“Veno’s getting sloppy.Pushin’ out a shit load of meth and it’s bad shit.The crew he’s building—they’re heartless, scary fuckers.From the outside in, it looks like he’s tryin’ to make a name for himself and come out from Antonio’s shadow.If I were Antonio, I’d start worrying about Veno making a power play.Because you can bet your ass sooner or later he will.He’ll make a move and cut off the head that’s been tying his hands.”

The ice in Cap’s eyes is glacial.“The last thing we want is Veno taking over.Let’s keep an eye on him and his crew.Ideally, we keep him in line as much as we’re able to and buy us time, make what moves we can until Edge isn’t in the crosshairs.You and Taz put your heads together and come up with something.”

I knock on the table and give him a stiff nod.“No problem.”

“And keep doing what you can under their radar.Just don’t let them catch up to you or tie it back to the club.Minimal waves.When Edge is free, we’ll run their asses out of here.”

Pride swells in my chest, and we clasp arms.The firm grip, warm and solid, is reassuring.A grin spreads across my face.“Was hoping you’d say that.”

He gives me a grim smile in return.“Same page.Same book.”

That’s the thing about this club that sold me on becoming a member.Cap’s not just looking after the members—he’s looking after the community.Not just Los Lunas either.He cares deeply about the place we call home—local, state, and the country as a whole.And though he doesn’t buy into the government’s bullshit anymore, he still loves his fucking country to the depths of his soul.The kind of man who should and could lead a nation, but is content ruling over his small portion of the world.

“You just tell me what you need and when you need it.You don’t have to do this on your own.”

My chest inflates, fills fucking full to bursting.His words are exactly what I needed to hear.For a while now, I’ve been a lone man on a mission.But that’s on me.Looking back at the insignia on the wall, I chuckle mirthlessly.The letters etched into the wood seem to glare back at me.UWL.UWR.UWF.United we live, ride, and fall.

Cap follows my gaze.“What?”

“Should’ve known better is all.”I rake my hands through my hair.The strands slip through my fingers, coarse and damp with sweat.“To keep some of this bullshit to myself.To go at it alone.Not bringing you all in the know of what I’ve seen first-hand.”

He chuckles, “Yeah, but it’s just your way.Your daddy was the same.Always trying to play the lone hero until the problem was bigger than he could handle.I’m tellin’ you, the apple never falls far.”He spins in his chair and stands.Walking to the wall at the other end of church, he points to a picture full of soldiers, a few familiar faces in it, only these faces are forty years younger in the photo—at least the ones still living.

“Luckily, he came to us that day with some bad intel he’d been sworn to keep to himself, or this picture would’ve ended up much different.Without him in it, and maybe even without a few of us.”

I join him and lean against the wall, getting a good view of the picture.The image is grainy, yellowed with age.My throat constricts as I swallow down the emotions rising at the picture of my dad, a time when he was healthy, whole, and from the looks of it, happy.Before he came back from war to a woman who didn’t love him, before he saw the hell I’d lived through while he’d been serving, and before his disease stole so many days from us after that.

Cap studies the photo, a smile kicking up the side of his mouth.“These fuckers.”

I laugh along with him.

“Some of the best men I’ve known.You’re dad, one of the best of them.”

I’ve heard it before, but I don’t mind hearing it again.He could say it a thousand times, and I’d listen with rapt attention.Because you never get sick of hearing about the loved ones you lost.Maybe it’s because you feel like you only truly lose them when you no longer speak their name and reminisce about the ways they impacted your life.But damn, does it bring back a flood of memories of my childhood with the man I thought hung the moon in spades.Memories that aren’t riddled with potholes, and are crystal clear and easy to recall, like it all happened yesterday.

“Ha!Listen to me.Such a sad sap.But fuck I miss them.Pappy, too, though, I know a lot of you don’t like to hear it.”

“Not many know him like you do.”

“Nah, and he’d prefer it that way, to tell ya the truth of it.The mask he wears was crafted out of necessity.”

“How’s that?”

“Being a scrawny immigrant kid from Ireland back then was no small feat.His daddy and his brothers were fighting to claim territory, and put food on the table, put a lot of heat on him and his brother, Griz, too.Surviving took everything they had and then some.”

“And underneath it?”

“There’s a good man.Loyal as the day is long.Someone you’d want standing next to you when you’re facing down your worst end.Not only because they’d give the enemy a hell of a fight, but you know they’d step in front of you when a bullet with your name engraved on it came callin’.”

“It’s like that, huh?”

He nods and turns, his steely blue-gray eyes meet my gaze and hold firm.“It’s like that.”