Page 40 of Fractured Souls

What can I say? I like stirring the pot. It keeps shit interesting.

Rage sighs, knowing I am pissing Stone off on purpose since it's so easy to do.

"Listen here, you little shit, I can take you on any day. I have eight years on you, kid. Don't fucking push me. I get my shit done."

I smile and go to mess him some more but before I can, Sugar who is sitting next to me slaps a hand over my mouth. "Don't. Knock it off, Blade. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna cut your fuckin’ tongue out. All you ever do is run your goddamn mouth."

I smirk behind his hand and then stick my tongue out, licking it.

He yanks his hand away and wipes it off. "What the fuck! You fuckin’ shitstain! Why did you do that?" The room roars with laughter as they realize what I did.

I smile at Sugar and say, "What? You wanted to cut my tongue off. I was showing you why you shouldn't. I'm skilled with my tongue, Sugar. Just ask the ladies, they'll tell ya."

Axe yells out, "Why not just show him, Blade?"

Before anyone can say more, Rage slams his hand on the table. "Alright, enough! Focus! We have more to discuss." At that, everyone sobers up to continue on.

"Alright moving on from our normal club business, Nerds, anything new on Harley or the Wilsons?"

"Yeah, so far I got nothing on the girl. I can't find shit, and it's really pissing me off. She just doesn't exist before the last few years. Makes no goddamn sense. But I have her name tagged so if she does anything using her name, I'll be notified. Opening an account, getting a license, signing up for social media… Anything."

He sighs and then types on his computer again before speaking.

"As for the Wilsons, I've been making a list of all the high buyers they sell to. I have their names, addresses, bank information, who they bought, and for how much. I'm getting as much proof as I can. None of these people were very smart with this shit. The only thing proving to be hard is connecting Tammy and Richard to those sales. Also, your name on the offshore account that funds everything. I'm not sure how to approach that one. If we cut it off, then they are likely to either go underground or find a different way to fund things and we lose a big piece of our evidence," Nerds says.

"If we just want to take the Wilsons out ourselves, why does that matter? Remove his name, take them out, and then hand over all the buyers’ information to the cops. Let them do the rest," Axe says with a shrug. It's not a bad idea, but I have a feeling Nerds has already thought that one through.

Nerds frowns. "Right, but we don't know what else is set up and where. Are there more accounts leading back to the club? Who else is involved? We know Rage’s dad was one of the founders of this shit, but who else was? Who else is still involved? There's too many what ifs and questions I don't have the answers to yet. We can't have heat come back on us for this."

I look over at Rage. "What about Rob, Tammy and Richard's son? Where is he? Were you able to get a hold of him?"

Rage nods. "Yeah, Rob said he doesn't have much to do with his parents. He stays away as much as he can, and he also said he doesn't know Harley. That his mom most definitely didn't have another kid besides him and Tabby. So he doesn't know who she is and as bad as he feels for her, he wants nothing to do with them and is refusing to help us. I get it; he got away and is going to school to be a doctor. I'd want nothing of this life either.

“He did warn me that Tabby is a force to be reckoned with and can manipulate her way through anything. She's also a good liar and loves helping ‘Mommy and Daddy,’" he says with air quotes. "So be cautious and if she's around, avoid her. Don’t even try to get anything out of her. They'll most likely use her to go get any information they can on us."

"So basically, if you run into Tabby, run," Axe says.

Rage and everyone else nods their agreement. Well, this all kind of sucks.

"So where does that leave us? What's next? We can't have Tammy and Richard selling people under our noses in our town. Also, what about Harley? I have three teens out there waiting for me to come give them news over the girl they are obsessed with. I've managed to keep them tamed and in school all week, but that'll only last so long." I shudder dramatically, and the guys chuckle.

“As for the Wilsons, we keep doing what we are doing. Prospects on watch, Nerds keep digging, recruit anyone you want that has spare time to help you. I might be able to reach out to some other chapters that will have our backs and could lend a hand on how to handle this. As much as I just want to take them out, I know we can't. So we just keep playing it the way we have. Everyone in agreement?”

Most everyone nods. Some more hesitant to because none of us truly want to just sit and wait with this.

“Okay, good. As for Harley.” Rage looks at me. “I don't really know what more we can do, brother. Maybe her taking off was a good thing. Maybe she found somewhere to hide from them if they were as bad as we are thinking they are. I still want answers. I want to know how this kid was under our noses and no one noticed. My father did a lot of sketchy shit, shit he never even brought to this table, which is a crime against the club. So he could have been involved with something with this girl. I mean, it is odd that she shows up two years after he dies. But then no one sees her for three years, until she randomly starts at the school. So yeah, I want answers, but we really can't do much with it right now. Just gotta keep our heads low so we don't draw attention to what we are looking into.”

I sigh. “I get it, but it's frustrating. I saw her on that bus. Her face was all messed up, and she had bruises and marks on what I could see of her neck. I just wish I could’ve caught up to her and been able to talk to her or follow to make sure she was safe. Something about it all really bothers me.”

“Speaking of that day, any new information on the crash?” Sugar asks.

Nerds pipes up before anyone else can, “I looked into that. All cameras around that area were cut. It's one of the reasons I lost Harley on the bus she took. They cut everything around that area so there would be no chance of seeing what happened or who could've been involved. There is nothing I can do about it. Also, the cops have not been looking into it at all. I’ve been keeping an eye on their system. The crash site was cleaned up and then nothing happened with it. I found the truck on a different street cam before the accident and got its plates. It was stolen, though, so that didn’t get me anywhere.”

Rage nods. “Alright, I know we've already been on the buddy system all week, but it needs to continue. I don't know what happened or how they knew Blade would be there at that time, so until we do, be careful, and make sure no club business goes beyond this room. Prospects are now on a need-to-know basis until we figure this out. I don’t like not having answers, and right now, shit is a clusterfuck.”

Holy shit. He thinks we have a mole. Before I can voice this, Stone does, which is shocking. He doesn't like to talk a lot unless you make him angry; then he goes off. “Mole?” he seethes.

Rage shrugs. “No idea, brother, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. So we deal with the buddy system for now. Blade, that extends to the boys. They are known around here as a part of the club, so I want them being careful as well.”

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