She held on to Brick’s arm as they continued shopping.
After they paid for their supplies, they walked out into the parking lot. Callie pointed at a guy smoking in front of the diner. “That’s one of them. One of the Skull Nation guys who used to go to the lumber yard.”
Brick looked over, but the asshole already had his sights on them. He scoffed as he loaded the supplies into the compartment on the back of his bike, not taking his eyes off the enemy. Just then, his cell phone dinged. It was a message from Lord. He wanted everyone in church.
Chapter Ten
Brick stared around the church meeting as Copper did the preliminary scan of the room. All the guys were present. The club was supposed to be dealing with the Skull Nation problem, but so far all they’d been focused on was the rat.
He looked at all the brothers, waiting to see which one broke into a sweat and gave the game away.
No matter who it was, it would be a huge disappointment. No, it would break his fucking heart when he found the person who’d turned their backs on them.
Just the thought of one of their own going to the enemy with club secrets turned his fucking stomach. He believed he could trust everyone in this room, but that was total bullshit. There was no trust here.
Once Copper showed them the guilty bastard, that would be it.
He tapped his fingers against his leg, feeling the anger simmering beneath the surface.
Copper growled. “It’s no one here. Can I … I want to scan shit around the room. Can I?”
Brick looked toward Lord, who seemed ready to explode. The boss nodded.
“Go ahead. I’m not leaving this room, and I’m not going on the road until our rat is located.”
Lord pressed his lips together as Copper started to go around the room, scanning inanimate objects.
The shit in the clubhouse had never been an afterthought. There were pictures of naked women, football memorabilia, car posters, and junk from tradeshows. He’d never added anything himself. Copper moved around the room, and then he stopped, clicked his fingers, and pointed at a picture frame of a limited-edition bike.
Lord tensed up.
Brick remembered him laughing as he brought it into the room not long after he’d started to get serious with Ally. Much to their surprise, Lord had taken Ally on the road, and they’d stopped at a garage sale or a market, he couldn’t remember where.
Ally had used the last bit of money she had to buy this for Lord.
Lord had never been given a gift by a woman. It had a huge significance for the two of them. It cemented the couple’s bond.
“Are you the rat?” Brick asked.
Lord shot him a glare.
He expected him to smash the picture, to drag Ally back into the room to demand answers, but as he turned the picture over, opened up the metal clips, and removed the back, there it was, a singular listening device planted behind the picture.
Copper took it out, threw it to the floor, and stomped on it. Bits of metal scattered.
When he pointed his device at it, there was no more signal.
“It would seem I have to apologize,” Lord said. His hands clenched into fists as they rested on the table.
“You need to bring Ally in here,” Righteous said.
“No, I fucking don’t. Ally isn’t a traitor. She’s my woman.”
Brick watched him put the picture frame back together. Anyone looking at Lord who didn’t know him would see a carefully controlled man.
He knew differently.
Lord was angry. More than that, his rage knew no bounds, and seeing as they used his woman, and a peaceful moment between them, he wanted to make them hurt. Now that was something Brick could live with.
“I want to go scan your bedroom,” Copper said.
“What?”
“You heard me. For peace of mind for the club, for you. One of us could have died based on that listening device.”
“If you boys think this stops me from ruling, then take me on,” Lord said. “Request me to fight for my leadership.”
Brick looked at the boys.
“It’s not about your ability to rule,” Tarmac said. “When it comes to Ally, you don’t see straight.”
“You want me to get rid of my woman? The mother of my child?” Lord asked.
The whole room went silent.
Brick didn’t want Lord to give up his old lady. With Ally around, life got a whole lot easier. There was a time Lord was impossible to be around. He was a big fucking bastard who was known for his moods, and to be honest, Brick liked settled-down, relaxed, daddy Lord. He was a lot nicer to deal with on a daily basis.
“I won’t ever give up my woman,” Lord said. He started to remove his leather cut.
“No,” Brick said, standing up. “You’re not getting rid of Ally. I get it. They don’t. Put your cut back on.” He turned toward the group. “None of you get a say about any of this shit.” He grabbed the picture frame. “This could have happened to anyone. Just be thankful Copper found it before it was too late. There was no rat to begin with, which explains why the Skull Nation didn’t react to everything we did. Not all of our business is dealt with in this room. They got lucky with this, but no more. You got a problem with Lord, you take it up with me, but I’m not voting our best fucking club president out because his woman bought a dodgy picture.” He pointed at each of the brothers in turn. “All of you have brought something into this room at some point. It could have happened to any one of you. It just so happened to have been Ally, and we all know that woman is so fucking unlucky. Look at who she ended up with.”