Page 50 of Wild Card
“How is she?” Cass asks, placing a mug in front of him and looking worried.
“She’s shaken up and very embarrassed, but the hospital said she could come home later today.” He smiles up at her sadly, but quickly goes back to being angry.
Byron’s office door swings open, and when Grizz steps out, he’s looking really rattled. I don’t know if it’s related to whathappened last night, but he doesn’t hang around to explain. Just storms out the clubhouse and revs his bike before he skids off.
“Take it, he won’t be present at the meeting you called?” Hack looks at Prez when he joins us at the bar.
“There's been a development,” Prez tells us, keeping his voice low and raising his eyebrows. I’m getting the impression that thisdevelopmentain’t a good one. “Grizz has gone to assess the situation.”
‘What kinda situation?” I ask, starting to feel suspicious. “He looked kinda pissed.”
‘Yeah, well, it’s not uncommon for a president and his VP to disagree sometimes,” he snarls.
“Sounds concerning,” Hack points out, looking like he shares my concerns.
“Let's just wait till everyone gets here.” Prez takes the coffee that Cass hands him and moves straight through to the meeting room.
“Now that everyone's here, I’ll get started.” Byron slams the gavel soon as Moby takes his seat, and the room falls silent.
“Grizz ain’t here.” Moby looks around the table, confused, and Byron rolls his eyes impatiently. “Grizz is on a job. A job he’s gonna need some help with. Everyone's gonna have to pull their weight on this one.” He looks tired, and we haven’t even started yet. “Taint, soon as we’re done, I want you to take a cage and head out to the lake.” Taint nods without question, and when Prez takes a deep breath, I can see he’s nervous about whatever he’s gonna say next.
“Last night, Brett Porter retaliated for what happened to his sister. He found out that Kaleb Kingston has been supplying. Bringing this shit into our town and…Brett killed him.”
“He didwhat?” Hack spits his coffee across the table while I try to add what I‘m hearing up in my head.
“Kaleb Kingston? Nah.” I shake my head because I dealt with that little weasel myself. He was a prick for sure, but he couldn’t have been the person who’s behind all this. He’s not smart enough.
“Brett went to his parents’ lake house to ask him if he knew anything and found him with all the stash. It was him, for sure.” Prez looks disappointed, and I wonder if it’s because of the respect he has for the kid’s dad.
“Kaleb Kingston?” I repeat the name back to him. “The same guy you gave me a hard time about?” I check I’m getting this right.
“You got somethin’ wrong with your hearing, boy?” Byron bellows.
“I’m sorry, Prez, but I spoke to him; he was just a scared kid.”
“Yeah, well, maybe he was playing dumb; the evidence speaks for itself,” Byron explains.
“And where’s the kid’s parents?” Malice checks.
“We believe they’re in Colorado visiting friends, but we’re not entirely sure. Hack, I’d appreciate some intel on that.”
“On it.” Hack nods.
“We don’t have much time to clear this up…” Byron continues, and I can’t keep my mouth shut.
“Hold up… How has Brett killing this kid become our problem? You told me yourself his father was a man you didn’t wanna piss off, so why are we getting involved in this?” I ask, making Byron even more pissed at me.
“Because Porter fixed the damn problemweshoulda.” He slams his hand down on the table. “This privileged little shit hasbeen running circles around our asses for months, and because I’m president and I damn well say we are.” He stares at me with such fury I feel it burn.
“What do you need me to do?” I eventually rest back in my seat and wait for my instruction. I don’t wanna push any more of his buttons; if I do, it could result in him calling Jameson and having me moved on. I need to be here to stop Ruby from making a car crash outta her life.
“I need you to get on your bike and get the hell outta my town,” he snaps back at me. “We don’t need ya here anymore, and you’ve made it clear you don’t wanna be here. You can report back to Jameson and tell him you're no longer needed, and he can make you someone else’s problem.” Byron stares at me across the table as he lowers himself into his chair. Suddenly, I’m wondering why his words have wounded me. He’s right, there's no point in me being here anymore. My aim was to get outta town as soon as I could.
“Wraith, Malice, and Zander, you're cleaning up the lake house. I want no trace of what happened left behind. Moby, you’ll be with Taint and Grizz. You’re gonna make sure no one finds that boy's body,” he instructs them, before slamming the gavel and marching out the door.
I don’t stick around the club for a heartfelt goodbye; instead, I head back to the bar, trying to think of the words I could say to try and convince Ruby to come with me. Maybe the two of us could find a new town to settle in, somewhere pretty with a club nearby where I could become a member. I wouldn’t be able to build her a house with a view like Brett did, but I could take care of her. I could make her smile. I see how the weight of herproblems gets lighter when we’re together. I like doing that for her, and as crazy as it sounds, I think I wanna do it for the rest of her life.
She’s not around when I get back to the bar. I’m guessing she’s at the hospital with Esme, so I pack the shit I came with back into my duffel bag and leave it on the bed, so I can head down to the bar and wait for her to get back. I wonder where she’s gonna want us to go. I know her and her mom traveled around a lot when she was younger. I’ll take her anywhere she wants, so long as it keeps her smiling.
