Page 73 of Eagle

Something had to be done about Mandy before she really hurt someone. I was worried that she would go after Leo and scare her away. Unfortunately, the priority at the moment was the meeting Wolfe had set up with Evil, the new president of the Maniacs. It seemed that half the members had been cut from the club when he’d taken over after Butch, their former president, had mysteriously disappeared. Evil wanted to take his club in a new direction, one where they didn’t have the Feds after them all the time.

We’d done him a favor by ridding his MC of the Maniacs who’d taken the girls. They’d been acting on their own, or so Evil had insisted. I still wasn’t sure if I believed him. None of us knew the man well enough to get a good feel about him, and he hadn’t been around when Brew had been a member. Hopefully the meeting would shed some light on what kind of president he was going to be. I’d suggested that we meet up on neutral ground, and that’s where we were headed.

Wolfe, Lynx, Bear, and Brew were waiting for Mac and me at the post office in town. They pulled in behind us as we continued down the road. Wolfe and Bear made their way to the front of the line, and the rest of us fell into formation according to rank. The Maniacs were out of New York, but Evil and some of his crew were already in Kennebunkport on business. I was curious about the nature of their business, and I intended to find out once we met up. As far as I was concerned, they had no fucking business in Maine.

We covered the seventy miles to Kennebunkport in a little over an hour. The plan was to meet at the Cape Pier Chowder House. They had outside seating, and Wolfe had called ahead and asked to reserve the last six picnic tables at the farthest end of the pier so we could have a little privacy. The first thing I noticed when we pulled into the lot were the bikes with the Maniacs’ logo parked close to the pier.

Wolfe led us a little further away before he stopped to park.

“Think they might be planning a quick getaway?” Bear asked.

“You’re paranoid, Brother,” Mac quipped, bringing his leg over the seat of his bike. “What do you think they’re going to do, jump in the bay and swim to shore?”

“Fuck you,” Bear grumbled.

The only way to reach the pier where the picnic tables were set up was to go into the restaurant first and cut through the dining room. As we walked, I checked out the six Maniacs who were already sitting down. I wasn’t worried about them, but I’d counted twelve bikes and I wanted to know where the others were.

“You look worried.”

I kept my gaze on the Maniacs, wondering which one was Evil. “Just wondering where the rest of them are.”

Brew’s gaze shot back and forth between the Maniacs and their bikes. “Shit.”

“Prez—”

“I noticed.” Wolfe removed his gloves as we casually gathered around him. “Everyone’s packing, right?” He waited for everyone to respond. Satisfied, he said, “Control your tempers and stay on your toes. We’re just here to talk.”

We made our way into the restaurant, and the first thing I saw was a group of Maniacs sitting at the bar. They noticed us too, and quickly quieted down, watching as we continued through the dining room toward the back door. The hair at the back of my neck stood up, but I resisted looking over my shoulder. I didn’t trust them one bit, but I didn’t think they were stupid enough to start trouble in a place with so many civilian witnesses.

The sliding glass door was already opened, and we continued through it and down the pier to where the others were waiting. I grinned, noticing that no one other than the Maniacs were sitting outside. They looked like a rowdy bunch with their long, uncut hair and their shaggy beards. Their denim cuts were faded—denim didn’t hold up as well as leather—but they were a helluva lot cheaper. I scanned the faces of the six men who were facing us but didn’t recognize any of them. They all wore the same fucking expression.

A waitress had just finished taking their orders and turned to walk toward us.

Wolfe halted her when she reached us. “Six beers. Whatever’s on tap.”

She nodded and continued walking.

The six Maniacs stood when we reached them. Was it out of respect? I doubted it. None of us liked being at a disadvantage, and a sitting position was a weak, subservient position for men like us, especially when you had six big bikers standing over you. There was no need for introductions as we were all wearing patches with our names and ranks clearly visible. My gaze scanned over them until it landed on Evil. I gauged him to be around fifty. A big, solid man. Tall, with dark blue eyes surrounded by deep laugh lines. Colorful tattoos ran down the length of both arms.

The server reappeared with our beers just as we all sat down. I could tell that she was a little intimidated as she set them in front of us and left.

Wolfe crossed his arms and fixed his stare on Evil, who was sitting across from him. He waited for the server to walk away before muttering, “We’re tired of dealing with trouble in our town because of your fucking men. We like to keep things as peaceful and legal as possible.” So much for watching our tempers. “Taking our women had dire consequences. You said you wanted to talk, so talk.”

I watched Evil’s reaction as I reached for my beer, and once I was satisfied that he wasn’t going to go on the defensive and jump Wolfe, I eyed his men. I expected that there would be trouble because of our past experiences with them. As Enforcer, I couldn’t afford to let my guard down. I tried to get a read on each of them, but, like my brothers, their cold-stone expressions gave nothing away.

“As I said on the phone, you did us a favor taking out those brothers.”

“And as I replied back, don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Wolfe wasn’t going to admit to anything that could come back on us. For all we knew, one of them could be wearing a wire and this was all a set up. “What brothers?”

Evil smiled, showing a row of even white teeth behind his graying beard. His slow nod indicated to me that he understood what Wolfe was doing and respected his caution. “When I was asked to step up and take over as president, I made it clear that shit was going to change.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Bear questioned suspiciously. “Your fucking club is heavy into everything illegal. It has no boundaries. Last year you tried to take out our prez and kidnapped his woman—"

“I’m well aware of our reputation,” Evil cut in. “And not all of us were on board with the way Butch did things. He was too old-school, and he couldn’t see the need for change. He was getting worse with age. Another year, and we would have all been dead or in prison.”

“He was like a fuckin’ fish swimming against the current.”

I wasn’t the only one who found Luther’s, his VP, comment funny.

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