Illusive (Storm MC 5)

My phone buzzed on the seat next to me.

Scott: Can you meet me and Wilder at the clubhouse now?

Thank fuck – a distraction.

Me: On my way.

* * *

I walked into Scott’s office to find him and Wilder deep in conversation, and a woman in her early-twenties sitting on the chair in the corner. Her feet tapped in front of her like she was nervous about something and her hands fidgeted in her lap. When I got to her face, I realised why. She was craving a hit.

“Griff,” Scott said, looking at me. “Wilder’s got that info we were after.”

I jerked my chin at the woman. “Who’s she?”

Wilder faced me with a look I’d never seen on his face before. Fuck, she meant something to him. I hoped this situation wasn’t about to fuck us in the ass more than it already had. “Carly is my ex. She was dating Slug.”

“Shit,” I said. “And she knows something about the fire?”

Wilder nodded. “Yeah, she said he started it.”

“Why?”

Carly joined in the conversation. “Because he was threatened by Ricky Grecian that if he didn’t do it, he’d be killed.”

My eyes met Scott’s and he nodded once at me. Ricky fucking Grecian.

I turned my attention back to Carly. “What’s the connection between Ricky and Slug?”

She looked blankly at me. “Huh?”

I took the few strides to where she sat, and crouched in front of her. Placing my hands on the armrests of her chair, I got in her face. “What the fuck did Ricky have on Slug to even make him give that ultimatum to him? There had to be something between them.” I needed to know if she was telling the truth. Junkies had a way of making shit up when it suited them.

She glared at me and leant forward. “Slug owed him a fortune for drugs, and Slug’s never been good at paying his debts. I’d say Ricky got sick of his shit.”

I watched her closely, and decided there was truth to what she was saying. Pushing up, I stood and turned back to Scott. “Looks like Blade’s prediction was spot on – Ricky’s playing with us.”

Anger sat on Scott’s face. “Yeah, brother. So now we have to figure out a way to play back.”

“Any news on that drug deal?” We’d never gotten to the bottom of that, and the fire had consumed our attention over the last few days. The fact Ricky had never come back to us on the deal was of concern.

Scott pulled out his phone. “Let me call Ricky and find out where he’s at with that.”

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said and headed out of the office. It was just after nine pm and the club bar was busy with members blowing off steam. I was working on rebuilding relationships so I spent some time chatting with the boys. I was also trying to get a feel for who might be causing problems for Scott and King, but I had no luck on that front tonight.

When I entered Scott’s office again, he’d finished his call with Ricky. “What gives?” I asked.

“Apparently it’s going to take place in four days. He won’t tell me where so we need to get some eyes on him. I wanna tail him and see who the fuck it is. He’s still adamant his source is saying it’s us, so someone is screwing with us, brother.”

“Agreed.”

“Can you round Nash and J up for that job?”

I nodded. “Consider it done.”

“Tell them I wanna know everything Ricky does – who he sees and where he goes. I want confirmation that he was the one who gave the orders for the fire and once we have that, we’re not holding back on him.”

“I’ve increased security at all our premises, too. We can’t afford to have any more businesses closed down.”