Page 82 of Declan's Dove

The chatter slows, and Gabe addresses the elephant in the room. “What do you all think about what Parisi had to say?” he asks, opening the floor for discussion.

“We need to get someone into Baron’s Edge to get us intel on the Devil’s Order. They have to have a clubhouse or someplace they’re holed up,” Mack suggests. “But who are we going to send?”

My hand goes up. “I have a suggestion that won’t cost us any men.”

“I’m listening,” Gabe replies.

“Let me reach out to Trident. Kayce’s crew has already been working on locating the bastards who attacked the doctor. Maybe he’s got something we can use. I don’t want to lose men to a witch hunt. Especially with my woman having a possible stalker and a psycho ass husband on the loose.”

“What do you think our chances are of catching that son of a bitch?” Caleb asks.

“I’m not sure.” I look up and see Hawk nursing a glass of whiskey. He looks like he’s checked out of the conversation. “Hawk.”

“Hm?”

“You think you can do some digging on the cop? Maybe find a way to track his location. A way to alert us if he comes anywhere near Oakridge?” I’d much rather go to his town, search him out, and end his sorry fucking life, but I can’t leave Violet or the kid.

“Yeah. It should be easy enough. I’ll get on it when we’re done here.” He doesn’t look up from his glass. His laptop is laying closed on the table beside him.

“How are you doing with what Parisi said about your dad, Hawk? You going to be okay with him being brought here to the basement to pay for his sins?” Gabe asks. We’re all keeping a close watch on Hawk. He’s been deadly silent since Matteo and Sadie jumped his shit for being all up in her business. As usual. Between that and the mention of his father still being alive and fucking around somewhere, he’s not himself.

Hawk shrugs, downing the last of his drink and setting the glass down on the table with a loud thud. “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a father. We share a name and DNA, but he wasn’t a father. He was just some asshole who cheated on my ma, and then beat the shit out of us to help ease his guilt.” He lets out a long, deep breath. “If he comes here, the only thing I ask is that you let me kill him.”

Gabe rubs his scruff, nodding. “All right. But if at any time this becomes too much for you to handle, you come to me. I mean it, damn it. We don’t need any more gunshot wounds, or worse, funerals. That goes for all of you. Let’s all try to keep a level head with this shit.”

“I want everyone patrolling town in groups of two. Declan, you’re taking Violet wherever she needs to go. The kid too. I don’t want her driving anywhere alone, and not in her car. Take it to the shop and I’ll put it into the computer as a customer vehicle.” He turns to Hawk again.

“I need you to find a way to track Swanson, and I want to know what Parisi is up to. Find a way to access his cameras somehow. I need to know what he’s really up to.”

“You think he’s fucking with us?” Jameson asks.

“Not necessarily, but I do believe he’s sending us on an errand that if it should go to shit, he will cut all ties linking him to the club. He’s about his own agenda. Nothing wrong with it, so long as it doesn’t fuck the club over.”

“Makes sense,” Ethan agrees. “I think Violet should come to work tomorrow and Carter definitely needs to go back to school. I know he’s only got one day left for the week, but he’s missed a few days. The school will start getting nosy soon.”

“Yeah, I’ll drop the kid off, then bring Violet into the gym after,” I agree.

“All right. What about this Trident crew and the Devils? How do you want to handle that?” Mack directs his question to me.

“I’ll reach out to Kayce. Hawk, can you and Wyatt still get into their system? Maybe see if there’s a file with information we may need? In case Kayce doesn’t want to be helpful.” Hawk nods, pulling his phone out, tapping out a message, I assume.

“Mack, prepare the basement,” Gabe says. “I want the cells reinforced. New keypad locks and a sensor on all entrances and exits. Hawk, I want the cameras and the alarms back up and running. Let’s make sure they can’t be shut off without our knowing this time, yeah?”

“On it, Pres.”

“All right. If there’s nothing else tonight.” Gabe slams the gavel. “Get the fuck out.”

We all head back out to the common area, most head to the bar. The girls are all sitting around the couches, snacking and talking.

“Yo, Candi,” Hawk calls out to the pretty little blonde club whore. She’s a sweet girl, but she doesn’t do anything for me. Candi hops up from her stool and saunters over to where Hawk’s standing. Sadie and the others are watching their exchange.

“I need to work off a little extra stress.” Hawk slaps her ass, and she giggles. “You think you can handle that for me?”

She leans into his chest, kissing his neck. “Absolutely.”

Sadie and Jayde glare daggers his way. Instead of acting on her obvious anger toward him, Sadie picks up her drink, which looks to be a Taming of the Shrew. Violet said they had already had a couple. Sadie tosses hers back, slamming the glass down and grabbing another, repeating the process again.

Hawk takes off down the hall, tossing a squealing Candi over his shoulder, and Sadie stands up with her keys in hand.

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