Page 47 of Minus

Cricket cut me off. “Please allow me to get this straight.Viper,the Los Psychos president, has stolen your three million dollars.So,you’re going to retrieve said money and use it for a rebranding campaign, which you want me to run. Then, with the remaining funds, you plan on greasing the gears of the criminal machine that you then wish to slip out of?” she asked in a controlled tone.

“That’s about it in a nutshell,” I replied, bracing myself for Cricket’s exodus.

“Pour me some more coffee and tell me everything.”

Minus

“You wanna hearmore?” I asked in disbelief.

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Flyin’ baby Jesus, Cricket. I can’t for the life of me figure out why?”

“Would you make up your mind please,Minus,” Cricket ground out. “Do you want me to be a part of this, or not?”

“Actually… I don’t know,” I admitted.

“That’s not an answer!” she snapped.

“What do you want me to say here? To be honest, no I don’t want you involved in my club, because I don’t want you to get hurt. I’d burn the world down if anything everhappened to you, and I’d burn myself with it if it was because I dragged you into this. I don’t want you involved with guys like Viper, or guys like me, for that matter, but I think Cutter may be right. I think together we could save this club from extinction and turn it into something good.”

“Then, trust me enough to let me all the way in and tell me everything. I can decide how far down the rabbit hole I go,” she said.

“This isn’t Alice in Bikerland. This is real fuckin’ life.”

“You just let me be the judge of what I can and cannot handle and spill the beans.”

I filled her in on everything we knew about Los Psychos, Viper, and today’s meeting. I also went into further detail about my conversation with Cutter, and his new vision for the club. She sat quietly, absorbing every word I said, taking notes on hotel stationary.

“Why Cutter’s change of heart about the club?” she asked. “Is it because he’s dying?”

“I think the diagnosis gave him the final push to act, but it sounds like he’s been thinking about this move since before he sent me to Savannah. In fact, him sending me there was apparently all part of his masterplan.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Dead serious. He told me himself that sending me to Savannah served two purposes. It got me out of your brother’s hair, and that was good for our relationship with the Dogs of Fire. Cutter wants us to partner with the Dogs and learn what we can from them. His vision of the Saints’ future looks a lot like the Dogs’ present.”

“Okay, but why the Dogs? Trust me, it’s not like that club is perfect. Believe me, they have plenty of their own internal issues,” she replied.

“Sure, but as far as clean clubs go, you have to admit they’ve done well in most respects,” I countered.

“Maybe, but let’s not put them up on a pedestal. I mean, honestly, what fucking idiot gave Cutter the hairbrained idea to use the Dogs of Fire as some sort of ideal template on how to build a club?”

I cleared my throat. “I did. Eight years ago.”

“What?” Cricket’s eyes were like saucers.

“It’s kind of what sealed my fate and led me here right now.”

“What are you talking about?” Cricket asked.

“Shortly after Clutch and I’d been patched in, I challenged Cutter publicly at Church. It was only my third or fourth meeting, and I overstepped my bounds, big time. The topic of the day, per usual, was how the old revenue streams were drying up one-by-one. Everyone was bitching about it week after week. It was all these old guys fucking talked about, day in and day out, but no one ever offered up any good solutions. Their ways of doing business were as stuck in the past as a stegosaurus in the La Brea tar pits.”

“So, what did he say should be done?” Cricket asked.

“Nothing! He seemed as clueless as everyone else, as far as I could see. He’d mostly just sit in silence as his officers bitched about how tight the streets had become over the years. He’d nod and stroke his beard, and then the meeting would eventually be ended, and everyone would scatter back to the wind. It was fucking chaos, and to me the solution to surviving the game was simple.”

“How’s that?” Cricket asked.

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