Eagle ran his fingers through his light brown hair. “I don’t know, but I’ve learned not to ignore this shit when it hits me. We gotta go in easy and slow.”
“Agreed. We need to be there at least an hour before to scope out the area and take our positions.”
“Having some more members would be a good thing. I spoke to Paco about it.” Eagle tilted his head back and stared at the sky. “No moon or stars helps.”
“Always does, that’s why we plan it this way.”
Looking sideways at him, Eagle said, “Where the fuck were you last night? Thor was going crazy until Ruby slept in your room.”
Chains stubbed out the roach between his index finger and thumb, then shoved it in his pocket. The grass was pretty dry since the first snow hadn’t yet fallen, so he didn’t want to take any chances of a wildfire. “I got tied up.”
“With a citizen? Who the hell is she?” Eagle faced him, arms crossed over the chest.
“Just a chick,” he replied.
“Bullshit. It’s been so long since you hooked up with a citizen that I’ve lost track. So this—”
“Why the hell are you even keeping track?” he said, annoyance lacing his voice.
“’Cause I’m always looking to win some dough on different bets we have going on.” Eagle chuckled. “I lost a chunk of change on you—Paco, Goldie, and Army did too. We didn’t think you’d go as long as you did without fucking a citizen, especially at Sturgis last year. This sweet piece must be pretty special to have brought you down.”
“Don’t fuckin’ call herthat,” he grumbled.
Eagle’s eyes widened. “Fuck, dude, you’re in deep.”
“No, I’m not. I’m just having fun.” But as he said the words, he knew he was full of shit, and by the way Eagle looked at him, Chains knew Eagle thought he was full of crap too.
“You planning to bring her around?” his friend asked.
Chains shrugged. “Not thinking that far ahead. What time do you got?”
Eagle snapped his fingers. “I bet you’re screwing around with Thor’s doc.” He busted out laughing. “Jigger was fuckin’ spot on. Am I right?”
“I asked what the damn time was, not whether you wanted to play question and answer.”
Chains whistled between his teeth and Thor came running.
“This doc must be a looker for you to piss all over your ‘no citizens’ rule.” Eagle glanced at the phone in his hand. “It’s nearly eight.”
“We should get going.”
Suddenly, Eagle’s ribbing stopped, and Chains saw his jaw clench. A serious and dark mood descended upon them as they made their way back; the only sound were boots crunching down on dried grass and leaves.
Chains lifted his chin at Paco and nine other Night Rebels—four more than had been originally scheduled to go. Three members from Fallen Slayers MC were standing by Paco’s SUV.
“Hey.” Knuckles, Fallen Slayers’ sergeant-at-arms, drew Chains into a bear hug. “It’s been too long, bro.”
“How’ve you been?” Chains asked.
“Good. We just sold a bunch of bike parts to a fence over in Larkspur. He did good by us. We made a mint.”
“It’s fuckin’ awesome to steal bikes from those damn weekend warriors,” Tats said. Another Fallen Slayers’ member, Tats was known to be precise and ruthless in executing a mission.
“They’re nothing but a bunch of wannabe outlaws,” Goldie said, disgust lacing his voice.
“Damn pussies—the lot of ’em,” Army added.
“It’s time to roll,” Paco said. He pointed to a black minivan. “I can fit nine in there”—he waved his hand at a brown SUV—“and the rest can go in Diablo’s cage.”
“I’ll be right back,” Chains said as he rushed into the clubhouse with Thor at his heels.
Once he gave Thor his treats and settled him down, he weaved through the crowd until he was back outside, then hurried over to the waiting cages. Jumping into the back seat of Diablo’s car, Chains slammed the door shut and the vehicle drove out of the lot into the darkness.