This wasn’t a new one.
My stomach dropped.There were only two reasons a patch like that would surface: someone was trying to send a message… or someone wanted us to think they were.
I didn’t bother finishing the loop.I double-timed it back to the clubhouse and called Skull, Prime, and Push for Church.
Skull was first to show, as always.Prime and Push trailed in after, both looking grim.They all knew this meeting wasn’t about to be good before anyone said a word.
I dropped the patch on the center table and leaned back in my chair.“Found it on the north side of the island.Right by the split trees.”
Prime picked it up carefully, like it might burn him.“That’s not one of ours anymore.”
“No name on it,” Skull muttered.“Just the crest.Clean.Worn.”
“From Razor’s time,” I said.“Maybe longer.”
Push leaned forward, elbows on the table.“You think someone’s sending us a message?”
“I think this, the bodies, the carvings… it’s not random.”
Silence fell.
It was Prime who finally said what we were all thinking.“Venom.”
Skull rubbed a hand over his face.“That crazy bastard’s been off-grid since we heard he was in Tennessee four years ago.You really think he’s behind this?”
“He’s the only one with enough hate in him to pull something like this,” I muttered.“And he knows this island.”
Push narrowed his eyes.“Why now, and how the hell does he even get out here without tripping the bridge alarm?”
“Inside help,” Prime said softly.
Those two words tightened my chest.I hated it.Hated even thinking it.But we couldn’t ignore the possibility.
Skull slammed his fist down.“We don’t have a fucking rat.”
“No?”Prime lifted a brow.“Then explain the dead bodies, the initials, the planted patch, and we have no fucking clue who is doing this.”
I didn’t want to believe it either, but I’d been president long enough to know loyalty only went so far.Everyone had a price.Or a secret.
“I’m not pointing fingers,” I said.“But we keep our eyes open.From this point on, we treat everything like it’s compromised.”
Push nodded.“Agreed.”
“Everyone keep radio contact tight.Pairs only.No one out alone,” I said.
“What about the girl?”Skull asked.
I looked up sharply.
“She’s seen too much,” he added.
“I’ll handle Pearl.”
They all looked at me, questions in their eyes, but no one said a word.I banged the gavel once.“Church dismissed.”
I got up, pissed about the fact one of my guys could be a rat, and headed out the door.I didn’t stop until I was looking at the back of the haunted house.
The paint crew had set up along the back wall of the haunted house, tarps flung down, music playing softly from someone’s phone.It was late afternoon, but the cloud cover made it feel later, heavier.Shadows clung to the base of the trees, and the lake didn’t glimmer the way it usually did.