Page 8 of Property of Raider
I take a deep breath.“I would like to put Anvil’s name on the table as Sgt at Arms.He is home permanently, and with his knowledge of strategy, weapons, and war, he has the mind to do the job and do it well.It helps that he is nearly as crazy as the psychopath brothers.”
“You really think he would step into an officer role right out of the gate?I mean, the kid’s been gone more than he’s been here,” Rhino says, sounding bored as he uses the knife he keeps on his side to dig under his nails.
“All we can do is ask him,” Terro shrugs.
“Let’s fucking do it then,” I storm across the room, yanking the door open.“Anvil, get your ass in here.”
Anvil walks into the room looking around, taking in every man’s position and stance.When his eyes land on Blender, he acknowledges him before moving so that he is standing where he can see everyone at once and the exit.I close the door and go back to my place at the head of the table and take my seat.No one says a word, just watches the man standing with his back straight, not an ounce of nervous coming off him.
To my surprise, Pope is the first to speak.“Anvil, do you know why Prez called you in here?”
Anvil pops an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything.
“I wonder how long he can stay there like that,” Remedy whispers to Hermes.
“Fifteen hours if not in direct sunlight,” Anvil answers, smirking.
“Fucking shit, there is no way.I call bullshit.”Remedy's look of shock is comical.
Anvil’s smirk grows as he tilts his head to the side.“For a mediocre mindset, I guess it seems impossible.”
The room bursts into laughter, and then I know Anvil is going to be perfect for the position.I look around the room, making eye contact with each man and getting subtle nods of yes, excluding Blender, who is still watching Anvil as if he is daydreaming of watching him bleed.
Standing, I make my way over to the man.“Anvil, now that you are back and able to be a full-time member of the club, we want to offer you Sgt at Arms.”
First the first time, Anvil shows the slightest amount of emotion.“And if I say no?”
“Then an officer position will never be yours or offered to you again.No second chances,” Blitz speaks up.
I pivot to face him, eyes cold.“Blitz, I don’t know what’s crawled up your ass, but if you don’t fix your shit, I damn well will, and I won’t be fucking gentle.”
Thankfully, the man chooses not to say anything back.
“He isn’t wrong.The club will not offer you a position later if you turn this one down.So again, I ask, would you want to be our Sergeant at Arms?”I finish, watching him, looking for any sign of an emotion and finding nothing.
With a shrug, he answers, “Yeah, that sounds fun.”
I smile at him before turning back to the rest of the men in the room.“So now we vote.All those in favor say aye.”
I hold my breath because if just one person says no, it's a fucking wash.At this rate, I would appoint a fucking jackass if it meant I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.By some miracle, everyone agrees, and just like that we’ve got our new Sergeant at Arms.
I slap Anvil on the back.“Congratulations.Take a seat so we can move on to the other things on our list.”
Anvil makes his way around the table to the empty chair that does not put his back to Blender.Yeah, smart move.It seems Blender is itching for a fight as of late.I make a mental note to have a conversation with Mercy to gauge the temperature so we don’t have anything sticky come up while we’re trying to figure this shit out.
“Now that we have all of our officers in place, let's move on to the two major topics at hand,” I say.The very present anger and frustration in my voice throw up a flare to my men.
Hermes stops typing on his keyboard, looking up for the first time.“I’ve heard from my friend deep in the alphabet soup.”
Leaning forward, excitement peaks its head out for the first time since the night I became Prez.“What did he have to say?”
The look on Hermes’s face is all I need to know that I will not like what he says next.“They don’t have any solid leads on sex trafficking in this area.Yes, they know it’s happened a lot in this area because of the ports, the school, high-powered men that like to hang out here, and it being a vacation destination.They just don’t have a thumb on any one set of players that might be connected to us or your brother.”
“Are you telling me that there are so many groups of people trafficking through this area that they just don’t know which one to point the finger at?”Rhino asks the question that we’re all thinking.
“That’s just it.All he would tell me was that there are too many playgrounds with too many unknowns,” Hermes answers.
“How the fuck did this happen?How did our territory turn into the playground for all these fucking assholes?”Mercy snaps.
