“Sorry, brother, it had to be done. Is there enough room for everyone?” I asked.
“Plenty. Both houses are huge, and some of his guys had campers they set up for us to use. I tagged one of those for you and Layla.”
“Appreciate it. I’m going to check in with Judge and Spazz before I call it a night. Call if you need anything,” I said.
“Will do. Night, brother.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing my entire club was safe for the time being was a huge weight off my shoulders.
Next, I called Judge to see if he found anything new with the security footage or the hit list. Judge sighed into the phone, “Yes and no. I figured out why there was nothing on the security footage. Someone got into the system and replaced the live feed with a loop of footage showing no activity. I think I know how they did it, and I’m working on fixing that now. Unfortunately, there’s no way for me to get the real footage back. I’m sorry, Prez.”
“Nothing to be sorry for, brother. It is what it is. We haven’t had a need to tighten or strengthen our security since I started the chapter. This came as a shock to all of us. It ain’t you, so don’t let your head go there. That’s an order, brother.”
“Easier said than done,” he grumbled.
“What about the papers? Did you get anything from them?”
“Not really. I got a partial print from one of the last pages, but I don’t think that’s going to be much help. The only other thing that stands out is the order of the names. Wouldn’t most people list the President and VP first, followed by the officers, then patched members, then prospects? This list is all jumbled up, and I don’t know what to make of it.”
“Talk to Bronze and Spazz about it. Spazz is observant, and Bronze is good at figuring out patterns and shit.”
“Will do, Prez. Oh, one other thing. The pictures included with the names are recent, some as recent as last week. Having said that, I noticed there is one name missing from the list…” he trailed off.
“What do you mean? Who’s missing?”
“Layla.”
“Fuck!” I cursed. “You think it’s as simple as they haven’t spotted her yet? She hasn’t been anywhere other than the clubhouse or my house, with the exception of Leigh’s place once or twice.”
“I honestly don’t know. I just thought it was worth mentioning. Are you going to be here soon?”
“It was worth mentioning, and I’m glad you did. And, no, I’m not going to make it until the roads are cleared, probably a few days.” I went on to tell him about the power outage and the tree falling on my house. We talked for a few more minutes before I placed a call to Spazz.
“Prez, I’ve been waiting for you to get here. I’ve got some info for you,” Spazz said.
“I’m not going to be there for a few days, so go ahead with what you’ve got.”
“It’s not much, but it’s a start. The new President of the Disciples of Death goes by Aim. Through none other than a popular social media site, I was able to track down his legal name, Amos Brown. Through less proper channels, I was able to get enough information to do a background search on him. Here’s the thing, he has no history prior to a few months ago. I’m talking no bank accounts, no credit history, no previous address, not even a damn speeding ticket. I have a hard time believing a Disciple hasn’t received a traffic violation at least once over the years.”
“Yeah, I agree with you. So, what are you thinking?”
“His name isn’t Amos Brown, or that’s not the name he was born with. I’m not sure how he did it, but I have no doubt Amos Brown’s identity was created to hide whoever Aim used to be. I’ll keep digging. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve that may lead us in the right direction.”
“Good work, brother. Let me know the minute you find something.”
After ending the call with Spazz, I closed my eyes and went over the facts in my head. One thing stood out above all others. We suspected the Disciples of Death and were looking into them as if they were the culprits, but, in all honesty, it very well may not be them behind the attack and the threat.
Sighing, I made my way back to the living room and climbed under the blankets with Layla. Regardless of who was behind it, there was nothing any of us could do for at least a few days. With that in mind, I decided to take the opportunity and get a good night’s sleep next to a beautiful and intriguing woman.
18
The next morning, I woke feeling well rested despite having slept on the floor. I was also alone and, based on the cold sheets beside me, I had been for some time.
After making a dash to the bathroom and shivering through my morning ablutions, I went in search of Copper. I was beginning to get a little concerned when I couldn’t find him anywhere in the house, and then I heard the distinct sound of a chainsaw being started.
I peeked through the blinds, and there was Copper, out front working on the fallen tree with a chainsaw. I couldn’t let him do all the work while I stayed in the house and did absolutely nothing. No, I was going to go outside and help, but first, I was going to figure out how to make fireplace coffee.
Fireplace coffee turned out to be much easier to make than I had anticipated. He had individual coffee bags that worked just like tea bags. All I had to do was heat the water in a pot over the fire, pour the hot water into a mug, drop in a bag, and Voila! Fresh, hot coffee.