Warlords MC: Book 6 – Traven : Chapter 16

“So now, I have to make an official claim on land that I really don’t need, just to stop my brothers from claiming it?” Winter sighed. “That really sucks. It also means that we have to live there.”

“What do you mean?” Traven looked over at her.

“Part of Joe’s will stated that if we made a claim to the land we had to live there for at least a year. I have no idea what that land is like or what kind of housing he has out there. I’m not even sure where this land even is.” She snorted. “For all I know, its two hundred acres of nothing but mountains and rocks.”

“I heard them talking too,” Jackman finally spoke up. “They need that money even more.”

“Why is that?” Ace frowned.

“The Thorn bookkeepers have noticed the payments haven’t been up to date.” He snorted. “Apparently, your brothers have been skimming off the top of the bank roll. The Thorn has given them three days to come up with the difference in what they owe and your brothers don’t have it. They’ve been using the product they’re supposed to be selling and now, it’s time for them to pay up. They only got three days left.”

“Is there an-or in there somewhere?” Traven wanted to know.

Jackman nodded. “Three days or they lose everything, including their lives. Brady is awful worried about facing his own firing squad. Oh, and they haven’t told the men there that they face the same fate as the brothers do. Matty doesn’t want to start a riot.”

“Yeah, he’s nice that way,” Winter agreed. “He’d rather slip out the back door and leave the men on their own, rather than face the boss, like a man.”

Will snorted. “Oh, he faced our dad like a man, didn’t he?”

Winter turned to face her younger brother. “No, he didn’t. He was a fucking coward even back then. He may have faced Dad but Dad wasn’t armed and Matty and Brady both had weapons in their hands didn’t they? Not only did they gun down an unarmed man but they damn near killed you too. They walked past dad’s broken and bloody body and fired their guns into the car. You were only eleven years old and they fired fifteen bullets into that car!” Her green eyes raged as she paused to try to calm herself down. “Only two found your body but those two fucking bullets shattered your spine and damn near killed you!” She lost her fight for control as she fell to her knees and sobbed.

Traven felt her pain. He blinked. He hadn’t allowed misery in for a long time. But here it was, slipping in the back door. Through a woman that was already in the door, he realized.

Will wheeled over to her and reached out to grab her hand.

She went on, “If a neighbor hadn’t called the cops they would have finished the job. They would have come into the house and made sure I was dead too.”

“But we’re both still alive,” Will told her, attempting to comfort her. “And we can fight back.”

“But when is enough, enough?” She asked in desperation. “We were separated for three years. I tried so hard to find you after I aged out and those bastard set us up good. They kept you a virtual prisoner while they hunted me to get the damn deed. Dad knew something was up and he gave me the deed to hold onto. He told me that he didn’t want Matty and Brady to get their hands on it. He disowned them because of what he knew they were becoming. He knew all this before they gunned him down. He told me to take care of you and even if I had to hide until the time was right to take my stand.” Suddenly, she rose to her feet and looked around the room with tears in her eyes. “I guess this is that time.”

Traven stepped close and took her arm. He wasn’t good with words but he rubbed her back to try to comfort her.

She looked at Will. “This isn’t going to end well. But this is us or them. I don’t want to die but I’m not going to let them get to you either. Are you with me in this?”

“You damn right I am.” Will growled. “You found me when you didn’t have to. You’ve taken care of me all this time. You worked your fingers to the bone to protect me, so now it’s time for me to fight for you.” He looked around the room. “So what’s the plan here boys? Are we going to go after these bastards or what?”

“What have you got in mind, kid?” Jack asked as he leaned against the wall.

“We hit them hard and we leave them with nothing.” Will snarled. “We take everything they got.”

“What’s gonna happen to us?” Jackman wanted to know. “Are we still part of this plan or are you going to kick us to the curb?”

Traven glared at them and growled. “We should kick you to the curb. Your actions put all of us in danger tonight.”

“But…” Ace called out.

Traven turned his head and glared at the other man. “But what?”

“Yes, they did something so stupid it could have cost us dearly but we’re all in good shape.” He motioned at the two injured men. “They took the worst of it but they also brought intel back with them. Intel, I might add that we needed to know to figure out what’s going on here.”

“He’s got a point,” Phantom pointed out. Then he turned to Ace. “But Traven has a point as well. They brought us to the attention of some very dangerous men and that is never a good thing, not for us or for you guys. We’ve looked into your MC and we like what you stand for.” He stared at Ace. Turning to Pepper, he claimed, “And your chapter was starting to give us Riders a bad name, you know that right?”

Pepper nodded. “We’re a work in progress but at least we’re trying.”

“And you put me and my men and the Warlords in danger.” Traven snarled. He motioned toward the Warlords. “We have a goal to live for, our work is righteous and bigger than a vendetta.”

Pepper looked over at Dax and at the other man’s nod, he took a deep breath and exhaled. “It wasn’t just a vendetta against Chewy. This was much deeper than just him.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Flint wanted to know.

“Chewy was just the last straw and he was the one to break the camel’s back,” Pepper explained. “Our MC has been under attack for about a year now. We didn’t know who or why until we found Chewy involved with that little prick Andy Chapman. Ricco admitted his involvement when we finally cornered him on the drug issue.” He paused then admitted. “Chewy and Ricco came to us from Denver and he was running more than just drugs through us, he was working for the Widowmaker as well.”

“Fucking A,” Deuce swore. “He was working for Jedidiah Whittaker as well?” He began to pace. “What the fuck was he doing for Whittaker?”

“Whittaker might have been working the guns but he was also head of this group, Black Thorn,” Pepper told him. “We made the connection tonight at the camp. Matty was talking about the group having to restructure after Whittaker’s demise.”

“So the Black Thorn is under new reconstruction huh?” Traven asked.

“Yeah, they are and the new boss is a man named Richard Birch,” Pepper told them. “He’s worse than Whittaker ever thought of being. That’s why Matty needs that deed so bad and the money. He knows Birch will shot him in the head as soon as he tells them he doesn’t have the goods.” He paused then said, “Oh and Birch is coming to visit in three days.”

Traven looked over at Ace. “It is all connected in layers.”

Ace nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“So, what are we going to do about it?” Will wanted to know.

“We’re going to take out the Shadow camp and like you said, leave them with nothing,” Traven announced.

Will smiled. “Fuckin A, yeah!” He pumped his arms.