Page 25 of Hawk
“You get a look at him?”
“It was dark, he had on all black.”
“’Nuff said. I’m calling church.”
“I can handle it on my own, Loki. I don’t want to cause any undue stress on my brothers.”
“I know you can handle it on your own, but that’s what the brotherhood is for. You just got out of the slammer. No sense in going back in so early, now is there?”
Ivy walks in with Lilly.
Loki looks at me, pulls out a credit card, and says, “Get them a hotel for a few nights. Then you come back here. We’re going to get this handled, brother.”
I take the card and instruct Ivy to follow me back to the car. I drive to a hotel down the street, making sure no one is following us. Once I get them all checked in, I say, “Don’t leave this room for anything. Do you understand me?”
“Yes. I got it.”
“I’ll be back for you.”
“Gideon, please stay out of trouble,” she says pleadingly. She looks scared like she’s going to lose me again.
I tell her, “I promise I won’t get caught this time, but this guy crossed the line. He has to pay for his sins. We all do, at some point. Right, sweetheart?”
“Just be safe, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.”
I head back to my house to leave the car and get my motorcycle, then cruise back to the clubhouse. I couldn’t have been gone a half hour and everybody’s here. Loki is sitting at the head of the table. I glance around at everyone else. Dragon looks like he hadn’t had any sleep. Wraith is always ready to ride. He looks alert and down for whatever’s about to happen. He always is. Bishop is also alert, sipping on a beer at almost four-something in the morning. Lion is playing with a butterfly knife and Sheol is calm, looking over at me like he can’t wait for Prez to let them all know what’s happening.
In a way, I’m amazed he called this meeting. I’m no officer – just a member – but I guess in his eyes, the club is the club, and if you’re a member, you’re a member.
“What’s pressing this early in the morning?” Bishop asks. “We haven’t had church in a month.”
Loki says, “Well, some stuff went down tonight with Hawk, and we need to take care of business. Hawk, you want to fill in the blanks.”
“Sure. So, after getting out of the joint, I learned that my ol’ lady was being abused by some guy named Cash. I moved her and her daughter—well, our daughter—in with me for a while just to keep them safe. They’ve been with me for almost two weeks now and somehow, this man must’ve found out where she was because someone bashed in my back door earlier this morning. I fired a shot and he ran. I got Ivy and Lilly out of the house as fast as I could. They’re at a hotel now.”
“With no protection?” Wraith asks.
“I made sure we weren’t being followed. I had to take them somewhere.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Wraith says. “Somebody should be with them, just in case.”
“I agree,” Loki says. “Sheol, when the meeting is over, I want you to head over there. If anyone looks like a suspect—”
Sheol flashes an evil grin. “Yeah, I know what to do.”
“Hawk, do you have any idea who this man is?” Lion asks.
“All I know is what Ivy told me. She said his name was Cash Brooke.”
“I know that name,” Wraith says, but he looks like he can’t pinpoint where he’s heard it before.
“Did you get a good look at him?” Bishop asks.
“No. Like I told Loki, it was dark. Maybe he had on a ski mask, but I’m not sure. He was tall, I remember with a slim build.”
“I don’t care what he looks like,” Dragon says. “It sounds to me like LeBlanc Gator Tours needs to take him for a ride.”