After making sure she was at work and taken care of, I made the ride out to the clubhouse. I hate that I am abandoning my crew yet again, but I know the men we hired can handle the job. It’s why we keep them well paid.
I’m the first to the meeting room. Panther comes in next.
“You made it here quickly,” he comments.
“I followed Rain to work. She’s not doing well. This is all going to her head,” I admit to him.
“Don’t worry. We will come up with a plan. We have let this go on for far too long.”
I sigh. “I wish we could take him out. It would give me peace of mind.”
He nods. “It would give us all peace of mind, but the fucker has been too loud. The blowback isn’t worth it. We don’t need abrother in jail unless it becomes life or death. Right now, he is more of an annoying gnat.”
He’s right, and I know it, but it still doesn’t mean I like it.
Slowly, the others all filter in. Once everyone is seated, Panther calls the meeting to order.
“Ridge asked for this meeting, so why don’t you start us off?” Panther tells the group.
“I know we have been talking about Hampton for a while now, but we need to do something. Rain is on edge. She rarely settles anymore. I swear to god, if I come home to any more bread, I am going to need a month to sleep off all the carbs I’m consuming. We have to get rid of this guy,” I tell them.
Meek clears his throat. “So I have found out some more about the guy. It took a lot of digging. His file is encrypted so well that I almost missed the thread to unwind it. Wolf, you were a cop. Who would have the power to pull him from undercover and assign him his own gang unit with free rein?”
Wolf curses. “Fuck, I don’t know why I didn’t think about it. I was FBI, so it was more national, but most local places have one person they all answer to. He is more powerful than anyone.”
“Who?” I ask.
“The governor. I bet he has something on him. Think about it. If the governor likes some ass from time to time and has to pay for it, he would do it without question. Now let’s say the pimp he happens to hire said girl from happens to be an undercover cop who is on punishment? That is blackmail that could give dude the world,” Wolf tells us.
The grim reality sets in. There’s no way he is going to go away quietly. No amount of pushing is going to get us where we need to be.
Fuck.
Meek types on his computer a bit before he speaks up again. “You’re correct. Governor Richland enjoys call girls. It wouldn’tbe a long stretch to put those two together. From looking at the encrypted files, I found out that Hampton only took over the unit six months ago. He’s been biding his time, waiting to come after you. He probably had to build trust with his men.”
“How do we get around this then?” I ask. “Rain can’t live like this. She grew up in the club, but she never had to deal with this shit before. Cops left the kids alone. She’s not a kid anymore. She’s my old lady.”
Yak leans over and pats my arm. “We will keep her safe, brother. The only reason she got arrested the other night was because she wasn’t with the old ladies. The cops on our payroll circled them and protected them the moment they got in.”
He’s right. Guilt sets in at the thought of her being spared all of that had she only been at the table instead of in the back fucking me.
I rub my hand down my face. “What’s the plan then?”
“If we can’t fight him the legal way, then we take it to the court of public opinion. Social media is huge these days. It doesn’t matter what the truth is. If we can catch him doing wrong on camera and blast it on social media before they can get it taken down, the governor won’t be able to do anything for him. He will have to be held accountable for his actions. It might not get him fired, but it will slow him the fuck down,” Wolf admits.
“Sometimes I hate that you used to be a cop, but then you become all useful like this and shit,” Eagle mutters under his breath.
“Aww, you love Wolfy, but he’s my best friend,” Yak tells Eagle.
“Enough. Stay on task. Meek, I want cameras on all the bikes and outside all our homes. Hell, put them inside too. We each wear body cameras. We record everything. All the women are to be protected at all times. That means escorts to and from work. Kids get escorted to and from school. No buses. Whenthis fucker strikes again, I want proof of what he has done. Meek, blast it on social media right away. I want it out before the situation even finishes. Get all the keyboard warriors on our side,” Panther demands.
“Yes, sir,” Meek says, typing away on his computer.
“We will take this guy down even if it takes us years. We don’t tolerate threats to our family,” Panther says, looking at me.
I nod my appreciation.
When he bangs the gavel, I feel like we truly might find a way out of this.