Page 41 of Doc
Grim nods circled the table, confirming the message had landed.Whatever came next, we would face it as a club -- divided in opinion, maybe, but united in purpose.The doctor needed one hell of a good reason for the risk he’d taken.And the evidence he’d uncovered had better be worth the fire we were about to walk through.
The planning session dragged on, the air in the room growing stale with cigarette smoke and tension.Saint had pulled out maps of the county, marking potential locations where Doc might take Nova.Old club safe houses, abandoned properties we’d used for drops in the past, medical contacts Doc had cultivated since moving here.I studied each option with growing frustration.Doc was smart enough to avoid the obvious, and we were just pissing in the wind until we had more intel.Venom sat across from me, unusually quiet since winning his point, those weathered hands tapping an impatient rhythm against the worn leather of his cut.
“We’ve got Prospects watching Doc’s usual haunts.”Tempest circled another location on the map.“Nothing so far.”
“They won’t go anywhere predictable.Doc’s military.He’s trained to evade and survive.”Tank studied the map, but he was no closer to finding them than the rest of us.
I nodded, pinching the bridge of my nose against the headache building behind my eyes.“What about this cabin up in --”
The sharp buzz of a phone cut through my words.Venom pulled the device from his pocket, checking the display with narrowed eyes.His expression shifted subtly -- a tightening around the mouth, a flash of something in his gaze that might have been relief.
“Need to take this,” he muttered, pushing back from the table.
I watched him step toward the corner of the room, his back to us as he spoke in low tones that didn’t carry.The set of his shoulders told me more than his words could have -- the initial tension giving way to a controlled alertness that I recognized from years of reading men in crisis.
“Something’s happening,” Saint murmured beside me, his gaze also tracking Venom’s movements.
I didn’t respond, just waited.In our world, patience often separated the living from the dead.After nearly two minutes, Venom ended the call and turned back to face us.The room fell silent as he approached the table, every brother sensing that the game had just changed.
“That was Doc,” Venom announced.“They got what they needed -- proof connecting Wallace and Harmon directly to the trafficking ring.Along with a bunch of financial shit that shows how bad the corruption is.”
The room went completely still, the only sound the soft creak of leather as men shifted in their seats.
“And the murder of Nova’s parents,” Venom added.“It wasn’t an accident.Wallace confessed as much.Mary-Jane Treemont got too close to exposing their operation.”
“Jesus Christ,” someone whispered from down the table.
I leaned forward, processing the implications.“Wallace.The deputy chief.”My voice came out harder than I intended.“How the fuck is he pulling all this off without us knowing?Shit, Venom.Your son is part of the Swift Angels.At the very least, shouldn’t they be aware of this clusterfuck?”
Venom nodded grimly.“Should be.And maybe they are, but I think if they had a clue, they’d have contacted us about it.Doc says he and Nova got bank records, police reports that were buried, judge’s orders to seal cases -- everything.Proof that can’t be denied or buried.”
Long ago, this club had cleaned up the corruption in our town.But it looked like it had seeped in from the surrounding areas again.
“Where are they now?”I demanded.
“Safe house.Wouldn’t say which one.”Venom’s gaze met mine, his expression hardening.“Wallace already took a shot at Doc, winged him in the arm.They need extraction within twenty-four hours, before these bastards realize exactly what they’ve taken.”
Tank was on his feet immediately.“I’ll go.Get a team together now.”
I raised my hand for silence, my mind racing through scenarios, weighing risks against obligations.If we’d had any idea of what had been going on from the start, we’d have cleaned it up.Her parents would still be alive, because there wouldn’t have been a damn thing to investigate.
Saint leaned in.“This means, with the exception of the Swift Angels, every badge becomes a potential enemy until we resolve this shit.We need to be smart about how we play this.”
He was right to a point.There was one I knew we could count on.Chief Daniels.He’d helped us in the past, and I had no doubt he’d do so again.Not to mention the Swift Angels.We’d worked with them in the not-so-distant past.But I didn’t want to pull them into this if I could avoid it.The Swift Angels had a code they upheld, and it didn’t mesh well with ours.
I scanned the faces around the table.The division from earlier had vanished, replaced by a unified sense of purpose.
“Doc says they’ve got documentation on at least thirty girls moved through our territory in the past year,” Venom continued.“Young ones.Sixteen, seventeen.Some younger.”
A muscle jumped in Tempest’s jaw, his massive hands curling into fists on the table.“Motherfuckers.How they hell did they find all this when Wire and Atlas are still trying to piece shit together?”
“My best guess?Most of it is a literal paper trail,” Venom said.
“Or more like Nova knew her mom better than anyone and could unravel her notes faster than the club,” Tank said.
Even though we’d been looking into this already, knowing such young girls were involved made this more personal for every brother in this club.We had families, had raised daughters in this town.And we’d bled to make sure shit like this didn’t happen in our territory.
“We go in smart, not loud,” Tempest said after a moment, his gaze finding mine across the table.“Get our people and the evidence out clean.Then decide how to burn these fuckers to the ground.”
