“How old is she?” Phoenix asked.
I chuckled, “I don’t know for sure. It never occurred to me to ask, but I’d guess she’s around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.”
“What are her plans now? Does she have a home or family to get back to?”
“We haven’t talked about it in great detail, but once or twice she mentioned she didn’t have anywhere to go. I’m guessing wherever she did live is probably long gone by now since she was MIA for so long. Same goes for whatever job she had, too. She did say that her mother died right before Gnaw took her, but she hasn’t mentioned any other family,” I replied.
“Let me know what she needs, and I’ll take care of it. Annabelle isn’t going to be happy when she finds out I kept this from her, but she would have my ass if I didn’t take care of her sister.”
Not happening. If anyone was going to take care of Layla, it was going to be me. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve got enough on your plate for the next few weeks. I’ll take care of Layla for the time being,” I offered.
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it,” he said. “Any updates on the attack?”
“Nothing, yet. I’ll be sure to let you know if anything comes up.” We talked for a few more minutes before ending the call.
The next few hours were spent helping my brothers sort through the massive pile of rubble and debris that was once part of our clubhouse only to find very little worth saving. When we stopped for a bite to eat, Judge left to start reviewing the security footage. Spazz went back to his room to start working his magic on his computer. We needed answers yesterday. I wanted to know who attacked my club and why.
Color me surprised when I saw Boar’s name flashing on my phone’s screen.
“Heard a rumor your club was attacked yesterday. I hope there’s no truth to that,” Boar rumbled in my ear.
“Wish I could say there wasn’t, but that’d be a lie,” I replied.
“Fuck, man. Anybody hurt?”
“Bronze and a couple of club whores spent the night in the hospital, but they’ll all be okay. A handful had some minor cuts and bruises. Destroyed a quarter of the clubhouse, though.”
“Mind if I ask who did it?” he asked.
“That’s what shits me about it; I don’t have a fucking clue who was behind it. Judge and Spazz are trying to find something to point us in the right direction,” I answered honestly. Normally, I wouldn’t share club business so freely with another club, but Boar had shockingly proven to be a strong ally for the Blackwings over the last two years. He and his club had been more than willing to step in and lend a hand to Phoenix’s club at the drop of a hat on more than one occasion.
His extended silence had the hairs on the back of my neck rising. Finally, he asked, “Are you aware of what went down with the Disciples of Death last week?”
“No. Is there a reason I should be?” I asked warily.
He cleared his throat, and his tone changed to one of a more serious nature. “Listen, Copper, I’m not insinuating anything here; I’m just sharing a bit of information you may or may not find useful.” I heard him exhale slowly. “Last week, Scream and his VP, Belch, were killed. From what I’ve heard, they were taken out by their own club. Word is some guy called Aim took over as the new President, and he handpicked all new officers.”
“I see,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose to relieve some pressure. “Do you know why?”
“Nope. Haven’t heard a word about their reasoning. I’ve got my ear to the ground, and I’ll let you know if I hear anything else. I could be wrong, but I’ve got a feeling the new leadership is going to be bad news for anyone in their vicinity.”
“Fuck,” I cursed. “Seems awfully coincidental my club was attacked a week after new leadership forcefully took over. I didn’t have a truce or even a good relationship with Scream, but he didn’t fuck with my club.”
“Yeah, because the fucker was scared of you and Phoenix. We had some trouble with them years ago, but that wasn’t Scream’s doing. Seems the trouble he had with rogue members finally got the better of him, so to speak.”
“Sounds like it. Listen, I’ve got to get back to getting shit sorted. Thanks for calling and letting me know about Scream and Belch,” I said.
“No problem. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else,” he said and disconnected.
I headed straight to Spazz’s room. As expected, I found him hunched over his computer, his face entirely too close to the screen. “Spazz, I’ve got something for you.” After filling him in on my conversation with Boar, I left him to search for anything and everything he could find on Aim and the new officers of the Disciples of Death.
Finally, I gave Badger a call and told him what Layla shared with me about Evelyn. “She wanted to know if you could find out how to get in touch with Evelyn. She desperately wants to talk to her and make sure she’s okay.”
“I’ll give Madge a call and ask. She keeps up with everyone in town, so if anyone’ll know, it’ll be her,” Badger said.
“Might as well see if she knows anything about Evelyn’s piece of shit son while you’re at it.”
“She probably doesn’t, but I’ll ask. Travis hasn’t been welcome in town since his dad ran him off years ago. The way it was told to me was Archie came home from work one day and found Travis slapping Evelyn around in the kitchen. I only met Archie a few times before he passed, but even in his later years, the man was built like a brick shit house. Anyway, he beat the piss out of Travis and told him never to come back,” Badger explained.