“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Asp has developed a bad habit of making his own decisions, acting on them, and informing me after the fact. Up until now, it hasn’t caused the club any trouble.”
“Trouble isn’t the only thing your club will need to worry about if anything happens to my woman,” I spat. “Where would he have taken her?”
Aim exhaled, “Probably the clubhouse.”
“And you expect us to believe she’s at your clubhouse and you knew nothing about it?” Batta asked incredulously.
“I haven’t stayed there the last couple of nights. I didn’t go inside before we rode out this morning,” he said and looked to the floor. Shaking his head, he added, “I should’ve been keeping closer tabs on him. What the fuck else has he done that I don’t know about?”
“Anybody at your clubhouse who can see if my girl is there right now?”
He grimaced, clearly not wanting to answer, “Clubhouse is empty.”
I jerked my chin at Batta. He nodded and stepped out of the storage shed. Hopefully, my brothers were still in or near their clubhouse and could look for Layla. So help me, if they hurt her, they were going to feel the same pain. Tenfold.
I continued with my questions while I waited for Batta to return. “Why are you after my club?”
He cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the floor, “I’m not after your club. Like I said, Asp has been somewhat of a loose cannon. I found out about the attack on your clubhouse after the fact. He argued his point, and I understood where he was coming from, but I would’ve handled the situation differently. If it’s any consolation, he took an ass beating and was locked up for two weeks after I found out.”
“It’s really not. My brother, my blood brother, who is also my VP, almost died because of that shit.”
“Fuck!” he cursed.
“Explain the pictures to me,” I ordered.
His head shot up, “What pictures?”
I wasn’t sure what to make of his response. Was he asking me to clarify which set of pictures I was referring to? Or did he even know about the pictures? “I received an envelope containing pictures of six people and a note claiming the Blackwings were responsible for their deaths and promising retribution.”
His eyes widened and he cursed under his breath. “Who were the six people?”
I arched a brow. “Want to take a guess?”
“No, because it’s not going to help my case when I tell you I didn’t know about this either, especially when I get it right. Asp has been going on and on about retaliation for months.” He straightened in his chair and pinned me with his eyes, “If you boys don’t kill him, I swear I will if I make it out of here alive.”
I didn’t see that coming. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Back to the names.”
“If Asp was behind it, and I’m sure he was, the pictures would have been of Scream, Belch, Gnaw, Octavius, Crysta, and Kevin.”
I nodded. “Care to tell me why he thinks the Blackwings are responsible for their deaths?”
“The Blackwings did kill Gnaw and Octavius, probably Crysta, too. As for the other three, that falls under club business, which I’m not discussing with you. I will say I don’t agree with his reasoning, and I’ve told him as much every time he brings it up.”
The door to the storage shed flew open revealing a wide-eyed Batta. “Prez, you need to step outside and take this call,” he said and thrust a phone toward me. “I’ll stay with Aim.”
I snatched the phone from his hand and stepped outside. “Copper Black.”
“Prez, we found Layla in the Disciples’ clubhouse. She’s in the cage with Coal, and we’re on our way back,” Tiny blurted.
I expected as much, but it still wasn’t easy to hear. “Is she okay? Did they hurt her? Where was she?”
“From what I could tell, she was a little banged up, but okay. She was alert and talking when I carried her out. I didn’t take the time to really look her over or ask her any questions. As soon as I got her hands free, we hauled ass out of there.”
“The fuck you mean about her hands?” I growled.
“Prez, we found her locked in Aim’s bedroom. Her wrists were chained to the headboard,” he said, his voice full of anger and concern.
I didn’t want to ask, but I had to know before I went back to face Aim. “Was she clothed?”