Page 61 of Amy's Santa

As I turn to Amy to apologise, she prods me with her hand. “Go be Prez. Oh…” She pulls me back and lifts her mouth for a kiss. I don’t disappoint her.

Putting two fingers to my mouth I whistle loudly. “Church. Now.”

A few good-natured groans, but brothers make their way into our meeting room, taking their seats without delay.

I don’t waste a moment wanting to get back to Amy as soon as I can. So as soon as everyone’s settled, I kick things off. “What you got, Mouse?”

“Archangel’s escaped from prison.”

A stunned silence meets his words.Oh. Fuck.

“Knew we should have fuckin’ killed him.” Drummer’s fist meets the wood. Murmurs of agreement suggest he’s not the only one thinking it.

“Feds caught up with him first,” Wraith reminds him. “We didn’t have a chance.”

“How the fuck did he get out?” I ask Mouse, trying to focus on the present and not re-examine the past.

“They were moving him to a different penitentiary, seems he was causing trouble in the one he was in. He obviously had help from the outside and the prison van was hijacked. Guards killed.”

“Christ, he’ll have everyone gunning for him,” Hound observes.

“Wretched Soulz have put a price on his head,” Heart says. He nods toward Mouse. “Word came in just before you arrived on the compound.”

“Think he’ll be coming our way?” It’s Shooter who asks.

“Would he be that stupid?” Peg’s shaking his head.

“He might be.” I turn to Hawk, willing to listen to his analysis of the situation.

He doesn’t disappoint. “One, he might see the compound as a place to hide out, and try and coerce us into letting him stay, or, he might have discovered it was us who left evidence for the feds which allowed them to convict him. In which case, he’ll want revenge.”

“What do you want to do, Prez?”

My fingers drum on the tabletop as I give serious consideration to our options. “I want a meet with Raptor.” He’s the prez of the local Wretched Soulz. “Archangel can pull together a lot of manpower, we need to be united on our approach.”

“Of course, he might not be coming for us,” Hound points out reasonably.

But he might. So, we need to be prepared for anything.

Archangel’s bad news. Even after all these years, white supremacists are still around, and Archangel was the leader of a group call the Real Americans whose extreme racist and patriarchal views are luckily only shared by a few. My view is they are just people with violent tendencies who would put any label on their activities, just to have a justification for the killing, stealing and vandalism that is their way of life.

“Hound, look at our security, see if we can beef it up. Mouse, keep your ear out for any mutterings on the dark web.”

“Lockdown?”

Shit. Today of all days. I’ve brought my old lady back to the compound, and now we’re looking at this.

“My view?” When Wraith lifts his hand, I raise my chin. “Check security, but we go on as usual. Archangel must be lying low. Feds will be all over Tucson due to his previous dealings here. Like you said, Prez, let’s combine our preparations with those of the Wretched Soulz.”

“I’ll get word out to the other chapters.” I give a grateful nod at Hawk.

I lean back in my chair, and put my foot up against the table, my hand going to my chin. I don’t need anyone to tell me, it’s the thinking pose Drummer used to employ, but it seems natural to sit like this in the top seat. “Okay. Business as usual while we try and find out if there’s any real threat. One word he’s heading our direction, we’ll revisit this discussion. Don’t want to restrict our lives for absolutely nothing at all. But everyone be careful, two up when you ride out. Keep your fuckin’ eyes open.”

“Can I go and party now?” whines Blade.

Hawk rolls his eyes. “F.O.Gs,” he says with disdain.

And with that the tension is broken. Even Drummer cracks a smile.

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