Page 18 of Blade

“I have no clue, but we’re gonna find out. That’s for damn sure. Gecko is already combing through the security footage the best he can. Several of the cameras were destroyed prior to the blast. We’ve been trying to get them replaced, but it’s been hard to get replacement parts and equipment. Everything is on backorder. We’re having to order some shit internationally,” Rocko grumbled.

“Damn, that sucks,” I muttered.

“Prez, you may want to get that looked at,” Gator said as he pointed at Raptor’s head.

He swiped at it with the back of his hand. “It’s fine.”

Stubborn asshole.

His sharp glare hit me. “Fuck off.”

I chuckled.

“How many did we lose?” Rocko asked Duckie.

“Seven,” Duckie solemnly replied as he finished my dressing.

I sobered. “Jesus.”

That was the majority of their members. They’d essentially been wiped out.

Raptor’s phone rang. He glanced at it with a frown, then answered. “Raptor here. What’s up, Squirrel?”

I watched as my president’s jaw clenched. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips flat. When he reopened them, they were shiny and red.

“I hear you. Sorry, we ran into some trouble down here in Brownsville, too. They lost seven.” He paused and I could hear Squirrel on the other end but couldn’t hear what he was saying. “You gotta be fucking with me.”

“What the hell is going on?” I asked.

Raptor looked at me and ran a hand over his mouth before he dropped it to his side. “The Ankeny clubhouse was attacked as well. Flagstaff had some kind of issues too.”

“That seems a little too much of a coincidence, if you ask me,” Gator chimed in. He and Raptor froze.

Then Raptor was digging out his phone and immediately making a call. “Call One Short,” he told Gator.

I heard him explain what had happened. From the tone of his voice, it was obvious he was talking to Sage.

“What about Eliska?” I asked, then could’ve kicked myself when he cocked a brow at me. “Make sure she stays with Sage,” I muttered.

He ended his call and stared at me for a heartbeat. That split second look told me we would talk later. He turned to Phoenix. “Sloane and Ember are safe at my place.”

Phoenix looked relieved.

“So is Eliska,” he added as his gaze burned into me. Gator raised a brow as he too stared me down.

Then it was all hands on deck with treating the wounded that were still alive. Turned out, I wasn’t the only one hurt. Ares got caught by some debris and ended up with a good-sized slice on his arm. Duckie stitched him up and had his arm wrapped in record time.

Thankfully Phoenix was with us because the situation could’ve been so much worse. He had harnessed the fire from the explosion and absorbed it the second he realized that’s what was going on. Raptor looked preoccupied the whole time. It was starting to make me wonder what he wasn’t saying.

What’s wrong?

He glanced up from where they were dragging the bodies and loading them in the back of a beat-up van. Since the majority of the members had no families and those that did were heavily embedded in the club, they would all be taken to a remote private graveyard that one of the family members owned. We would take care of our own. Calling in the authorities would only put a spotlight on the club that we didn’t need.

“I’m gonna find out who did this and I’m gonna gut their asses and stake them out down in Mexico,” Rocko practically growled, his voice heavy with emotion.

“If there’s anything we can do, let us know,” Raptor offered. “We’ll stick around for a few days so you’re not alone.”

Rocko turned tired eyes to my president. “Brother, I appreciate that. But if what I’m thinking is true, you need to get back up to Dallas. You have your own families, homes, and clubhouse to protect.”