October’s Ride with Atlas (Mustang mountain Riders #10)

1. Atlas

CHAPTER 1

ATLAS

Lately, I feel like I've been away from the clubhouse as much as I have been here. I'm grateful that the other clubs are coming to help out, but that just means more people need my attention and I get less sleep.

“Hey, man. I'm just checking in. The guys want to know if you’ve had a chance to look at those photos,” Thunder, my vice president, says, peeking into my office. “What the hell happened to your face?” he asks, instantly sobering up once he steps into my office and gets a good look at me.

“Crank’s cat is what happened to my face,” I say, trying to organize the papers on my office desk, the ones I can salvage, anyway.

“Crank has a cat?” Thunder asks, as shocked as I was when I heard the news.

“Yep. He thought locking it in my office was a good idea, and when I walked in, the cat apparently did not like me in her new space.” I look over at the pile of shredded papers that I will never be able to make sense of again.

“Oh shit,” Thunder says. Then the laugh he's been holding back breaks through.

I'm sure at some point I will be able to laugh at this too, but right now, I’m just pissed. I get it that Crank wanted to impress his girl, but there are just some lines that should not be crossed in the president's office.

Maybe I've been a little too soft on these guys lately, and I need to reestablish my dominance and let them know I'm not to be fucked with, especially not until the situation with the Savage Bones has been resolved.

“I’ll pass on the order that there should be no animals in your office, though I would have thought that would be an unspoken rule.” Thunder shakes his head.

“That makes two of us,” I say as Thunder shuts the door behind him, and I pull up the email Crank sent. He said he took some photos at my buddy Shane's place, where the Savage Bones have apparently been holed up.

Shane's place has been abandoned since his parents passed about a year ago, and they left it all to him. I have no idea what his plans for it are, but I need to call him and let him know the place needs to be secured. It's been a while since we’ve talked, so it'll be good to catch up.

As the photos download, I'm reading texts on my phone and not really paying attention. Everything seems to pile up when you don't have service for even just a few hours.

So, when I look up, I'm caught completely off guard by the stunning beauty on the screen in one of the photos Crank sent over.

She looks so out of place amongst the Savage Bones. Especially since at that moment, even though she doesn't know it, she becomes mine.

“Fuck!” I shout louder than I mean to. I thought we had gotten all the women out of their clutches. Where the hell did this girl come from? I stare at her face, memorizing everything about it, from the slope of her nose to the curve of her lips. More than anything, I want to know what they taste like.

The way her hair is pulled up into a messy bun but pieces still manage to fall out and frame her face has my heart racing. I know based on the details of the email that Crank sent, her name is Bex. It suits her.

Taking a deep breath, I collect myself so that my anger doesn’t overtake me. I have to stay in control, especially at a time like this. When I finally turn my eyes away from her beautiful face and look at the other people in the picture, my blood runs ice cold.

My girl is standing next to the man that Crank said they called Malice. It suits him and always has.

“Thunder!” I yell out at the top of my lungs. A moment later, he comes running down the hallway.

“Prez, what's wrong?” he asks, bursting through the doorway.

“I want everyone in the main meeting room in thirty minutes, and I mean everyone, officers, all members, and their girls. Everybod y. Thirty minutes. It's important. Anyone who can't be here in thirty minutes needs to be on a video call with us,” I tell him, knowing that he'll have it handled.

“On it. Most of them are already on the grounds anyway,” he says, referring to the fact that pretty much everyone has moved in or around the clubhouse since there's safety in numbers. Right now, it’s essential.

“Crank and his new wife just pulled through the gates as well,” Thunder says before heading out.

Damn, that man wasted no time getting hitched. Of course, part of me had a gut feeling that's how it would go once he landed in Vegas with her. I pace my office, waiting for the meeting to start. How the hell am I going to get Bex away from those monsters? What is she doing there? Are they hurting her? Fuck! I will murder each one of them with my bare hands if they hurt her.

My need to get her away from them as possible is riding me. I need a game plan, and I know any of my men will back me up. All I have to do is ask. These last few months, I’ve asked a lot of them, but now that we know who the Savage Bones president is, I know what they are after. With that information, I think we can end this. We have to end this. For the safety of everyone in town and the safety of my club, this will have to end now.

“Everyone's ready. We only have a few on the video call.” Thunder peeks his head in, letting me know.

Nodding, I get ready to reveal a part of my life to the club that I thought I'd be able to keep secret.

As I step into the main clubhouse room, I find everyone crammed in. Women are sitting on their guys’ laps to make as much space as possible for everyone.

Making my way to the front of the room, everyone quiets down, waiting for me to speak.

“We all came to this club with a past. I don't ask questions, and your past is your story to tell. Unfortunately, my past is now catching up with us,” I tell them honestly. I can see the questions all over their faces. “For months, we've been trying to figure out why the Savage Bones are after us and gunning so hard for Mustang Mountain. Thanks to Crank's intel, we finally know.”

The clubhouse erupts with whispered speculations. I wait for everyone to calm down so I can grab their attention again.

“It turns out Crank snapped a photo of the Savage Bones’ president, Malice, who has, until now, kept to the shadows. You should each have a copy of this photo that I texted to you a few minutes ago.”

Everyone pulls out their phones and scans the photo. I know no one recognizes him because he's been smart to stay out of view.

“With this new information, I now know that Savage Bones isn't after Mustang Mountain. They are after me…”

Everyone starts talking all at once, and I can't make sense of a single conversation. When I open my mouth to try to calm them down, a loud, piercing whistle fills the air. I turn toward the sound of it, as does everyone else, to find it came from my vice president, Thunder.

“Your president is talking, and if you want answers, I suggest you shut up and listen,” he says with a frown on his face and with his girl, Ashley, tucked protectively under his arm.

“Thank you,” I say to him, and he gives me a nod before I turn back to the rest of the club. “Like the rest of you, I had no idea who the Savage Bones President was or who was in charge until Crank got this photo. This man they call Malice and I served in the Army together.As you can guess, since he didn’t show up with roses and chocolate, it didn't go well. He was more interested in the money he could make doing illegal stuff, and I wasn't about to go down with him, so I turned him in. He made several threats against me before he landed in jail, and it looks like he’s back to make good on them.” I give them a shortened version of the story.

Even though I know there might be questions later, right now, it's important to give them the details as quickly as possible.

“So, what's the plan?” Bear asks.

“Since I know he wants me, I'm going to send a message to him requesting that he and I meet. Maybe he will tell me his underlying plans, and maybe we can negotiate. We used to be friends, and I have to hope I can appeal to that,” I say.

“You sure as hell aren’t doing that alone.” Bear all but growls, and many heads in the crowd nod in agreement.

“No, and I doubt he'd show up alone. That is, if he agrees to it at all,” I say. “We have to be careful because there is a female civilian involved, and we need to get her to safety before we make any moves,” I say, trying to keep my voice level as if getting Bex back here to the safety of the clubhouse is the only thing that matters to me right now.

Once she is safe, I can breathe and think of our next step, but I can't think straight, wondering if they are hurting her or if she is scared, cold, or hungry.

“How do you plan to get them the message?” Thunder asks.

“Well, since Sheriff Cade is so friendly with them, I figure he's a good one to pass on the message. I'm heading down to see him now.“ I hand Thunder a sheet of paper on which I wrote down everything I know about Malice: his real name, birthday, where he was in prison, past duty stations, and parents' information.

“That should be enough to get you guys started. I want to know everything we can find about him. If there are any hackers you know, get them on it, and I will pay handsomely for their time.”

“I'm on it,” Thunder says.

“The rest of you, prepare for war. If this meeting doesn’t go well, we will take them down by force. Either way, they won’t remain standing.”

With that, I grab my keys and go to visit our old friend, Sheriff Cade.