Illusive (Storm MC 5)

I’d worked out a worst-case scenario plan in my head, and I now knew I was going to have to put it into action. I only hoped it didn’t backfire on me, because if it did, I would find myself not in control for the first time in many years, and that was not a place I wanted to be.

* * *

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Scott asked, disbelief written across his face.

I nodded. “Probably, but I don’t see many other options.”

We were in his office, a few hours after my phone call from Danny, and I had just shared my plan with him.

“When do you want to do this?”

“Today. Call Church for one hour’s time. We need to get the ball rolling.”

He stared at me for a while and then scrubbed his hand over his face. “This is your call, brother. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“You and me both,” I said as he sent the text out calling the boys in.

An hour later, he announced to our members, “Griff’s got something to discuss with you all, and before he does, I need to say that I’ve known about this for a little while now, and I have his back fully. Before you make any snap decisions regarding what he tells you, take a minute to remember everything we’ve all been through. This club isn’t just about family and loyalty, it’s also about sticking together through the shit, and accepting that none of us are fucking perfect.”

The mood in the room turned sombre and all eyes turned to me. I made a point to look everyone in the eye as I spoke. “Ten years ago, my family were tortured and murdered. My father was a cop and had been investigating Storm, and in particular, Marcus. I was working in private investigations so I used my skills and contacts to investigate my family’s deaths, and everything led me to believe Marcus was behind them.” I paused for a moment, mentally preparing myself to share the secret I thought I’d take to my grave with me – the secret that could change my life completely. “When I couldn’t pin it on him, I walked away. Years passed, but I had to come back and avenge their deaths, and to do that, I had to get close to Marcus…I had to join the club.”

I stopped talking as many of the boys swore, their faces revealing their shock.

“Fuck!” J roared as he shoved his chair back and stood. “You’ve been fucking deceiving us all this time?”

“Let him finish,” Scott said, his hard eyes on J, warning him to let it go for now.

“You better have something good to say, Griff, ‘cause at the moment, I’m struggling to grasp this,” J said as he sat back down.

“A year or so after I joined the club, I discovered Marcus hadn’t killed my family, and I could have walked then, but I didn’t want to. Storm was my family by then, and my loyalty was and still is one hundred percent with the club.”

J narrowed his eyes on me. “Why are you telling us this now, Griff? There’s gotta be a reason to explain why, after three years, you suddenly come clean.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Years ago, my cousin who is a cop asked me to help him investigate the double murder of Leon Bond and his girlfriend. I was close to my cousin back then and helped him - ”

Nash cut me off. “Fuck, that is one fucked-up family to get involved with, brother.”

Brother.

I nodded. “It was, but I didn’t realise it at the time. I mean, no one assumed his crazy brother, Jeffrey, would turn out to be the killer. In the course of my investigation, I witnessed Jeffrey kill another guy who knew he was the murderer. And that was one of the key parts of the case, which means they want to call me as a witness in the trial.”

“Hasn’t that trial been put on hold?” Nash asked.

“It’s about to be announced that it’s going ahead soon,” I replied.

“And that’s why you’re telling us all this now,” J muttered. “And on top of all this, you’re from a family of cops?”

My frustration grew. “Yes, but I walked away from that, J. I have no ties to any of them, and I haven’t for years.”

“Once a fucking cop, always a fucking cop,” J spat, his eyes full of anger.

My tightly controlled anger snapped. “I was never a fucking cop, J. And after the things I’ve seen cops do, I have very little respect for the badge, if any. You have a right to be angry with me for not being honest about who I really am, but don’t lump me with them,” I roared.

J pushed his chair back, and stood again. “I’ll fucking do whatever the fuck I want, Griff. It seems that’s what you do. What the fuck else have you lied to us about?”

I stood also. “My life’s an open book now, J. Ask me whatever the fuck you want to know.”

Scott’s chair scraped as he shoved it back and stood. “We all need to settle down and figure out where we go from here.” His jaw clenched, and his eyes flashed his anger.