Page 1 of Property of Riptide
PROLOGUE
Riptide
“The Dragons have declared war and I’ve accepted,” I say, addressing the room the second my gavel bangs the plank. “You guys know usually I bring this to the table for a vote and put out feelers to the other presidents of the Kings. However, they didn’t give me a choice in the matter.”
“How’s that?” Indiana asks, leaning forward in his chair.
“They took Sphinx’s sister and have used her to keep him in line,” I tell them through gritted teeth. “I don’t know how they figured out he was a King, but they have and they sent me back a piece of him.”
“They sent you back a piece,” Icer gnarls. “What ‘piece’ did they send you, pres?”
“His eye,” I say, my stomach retching from that admission. “And a picture of him holding a news article with the date on it as proof of life, zeroing in on his socket that had blood drippingdown his face. We accept the war or we continue getting him back one chunk at a time.”
“What else do they want?” Indiana growls, his face taking on a deadly look.
“Elodie,” he reluctantly answers. The entire room blows up and Icer tosses his chair across the room where it splinters into fragmented pieces.
“They aren’t getting my princess!” he roars, and the room goes deafeningly silent. “They’re out of their fucking minds if they think that’s gonna happen. We need to save our brotherwithoutgiving them one fucking thing.”
“If it’s war they want, it’s war they’ll get because they aren’t going to lay a single finger on my daughter!” Indiana thunders.
“Agreed,” I state because Indiana and Icer aren’t the only ones who’ve grown attached to Elodie. She’s our club princess. “But now, we need to put the word out that we’re officially at war with the Dragons to the rest of the Kings and start doing some recon.”
“Who’s going?” Indiana probes.
“Since it’s your daughter, Indiana, and your niece, Icer, I thought I’d let you two pick who is going to man this operation for you while you two stay behind here at the clubhouse keeping her safe,” I brief them. “I won’t be standing on the sidelines, but you two are the ones who are knowledgeable on who can get the job done quicker and stealthier.” It’s their place in the club to train the men, and they’re the two who’re more intimately aware of what the guys can and can’t do.
Icer and Indiana glance at each other and nod. I suspect it’s because they already know who they’re picking. Indiana swivelshis head, his eyes steadily on me as he announces, “Shade, Ozzie, Rebel, and Renegade.”
I nod my head and glance around, making eye contact with the men. When they all accept the decision by bobbing their heads, I turn back to where I’m facing Indiana and say, “Sounds good to me because that’s who I’d put in those positions, too. Time is crucial here, guys. We need to know where they go, who they see, and where they take a shit. I want to know every goddamn gruesome detail.”
“Everyone else is dismissed,” Slayer says, his chin pointing toward the door. When the rest of our brothers file out, he runs his hands through his hair. “I don’t want to lose another brother, fuck knows we know what we sign up for when we put on our cut, but Sphinx was this close to being patched.” He holds his fingers up where there’s hardly a space between them. “We need to find out where they’re holed up. I don’t give the first fuck if you take Patrick’s mother or Jerome’s father into custody if it brings them out from their hidey hole.”
“I agree with our VP,” Icer grinds out. “And since we found out that Zoey’s parents are in on this bullshit, we could bring them in too and interrogate them.”
“Was going to suggest the same thing,” Indiana conveys. “They know more about the happenings with the Dragons than what they let on.”
“And that church they’re involved with, there’s something fishy going on there too,” Renegade reminds us.
“We can’t take the entire congregation,” Slayer chuckles. “Although, it’s not a bad idea. If we get the leaders, Patrick’smother, and Jerome’s father, that’ll leave them without any connections.”
“They’re probably the ones financing them being underground,” Indiana concludes.
“Then we have our game plan and a place to start. Does anyone have anything else they want to bring up before I wrap up?” I probe.
“You reaching out to any other chapters for help?” Indiana inquires. “We might need it since this situation is far more convoluted than we initially thought, Rip.”
“I’m gonna inform Rio we may end up needing some backup from him since he’s already aware of our situation. I’m due to head back that way with Gage’s ashes, so I may wait and tell him about how severe it is in person.”
“Do we need to go with you for the funeral?” Indiana asks, a hopeful look in his eyes.
“I’ll get back with you on that,” I reply. “They’re dealing with their own shit and I don’t want to overwhelm them. It may be a small, private ceremony since they’re going to give him a sendoff later. That’s something that I expect us all to attend.”
“We’ll be there,” Indiana announces as the rest of our brothers nod their heads. Not everyone knew him, but he was a good friend to most of us so they’ll come along to support us.
“That all?” I ask as I scan the men still sitting around the table. “Church dismissed.” Turning toward Indiana, I tell him, “Zoey’s cut will be here in time for the barbecue we have planned for this weekend. We’ll let you do the claiming ceremony then.”
“Thanks, Rip.” He has a blinding smile plastered on his face. He’s been waiting a long time for the one who got away to come back, even if he didn’t recognize for himself that it’s what he’d been doing. Once those two reconnected, there was no tearing them apart. Thank fuck we got her back because if we hadn’t, my brother would’ve never recovered.
