Page 51 of Vandal Unbound

North raises an eyebrow. “How do you suggest we should have done that, Van? They’d been gone thirty minutes by the time we got there. Could have been anywhere. You want us to split up and peel off in ten different directions, then take them on solo once we caught up to them?”

I shake my head. “We know they’re based in Miami, so their safe routes would lead from there. You could have?—”

“Van,” Knox says, sternly. “I get it. You want to help. But suggesting we didn’t make the right call is fucking insulting, brother.”

Thebecause you weren’t thereis silent and implied…again.

The room drops into silence for a minute. No one speaks. Sunny fidgets. North drums his fingers on the table. Then Knox stands, takes a deep breath, and leaves the room. None of us move. Knox hasn’t called this impromptu meeting to a close.

The itch is back beneath my skin. I need an escape from the pressure pounding at my skull. I’m not sure what’s worse, the thought that I wasn’t there to help my brothers, or the fact that if I had been, I still wouldn’t have been able to fix it.

When Knox returns, he’s got a bottle of whiskey and a stack of glasses. He lines them up in silence, then pours one glass after another in a straight line.

Then he personally hands them out around the table. I take mine with a nod. But as if sensing my thoughts, especially the ones in my room earlier, he places his hand on my head for just a moment.

For an equally short moment, I embrace the feeling that Knox is the father I never had.

“Tomorrow, we turn over every fucking rock to find out how they knew,” Knox says as he hands the final glass to Ridge. “Because if we don’t close that off, then we still leave ourselves open to someone else stepping in. But for tonight, I’m proposing a toast, to the death of Alvarez.”

“Death of Alvarez,” I mutter before I take the whiskey and knock it back in one large mouthful. It barely registers given the amount of alcohol I’ve been consuming lately.

“Put a hold on the transition of hangarounds to prospects until we’ve figured this out,” Knox says. “I need to call King and let them know that the weapons aren’t headed their way.”

“Not gonna look good on us,” North says.

“You think?” Knox asks, the sarcasm thick.

North raises his hands. “Just thinking out loud, Prez. We should figure out a reparation for our brothers.”

Knox shakes his head. “Shit happens. They know that. Plus, they took a shit ton of weapons from the raid we did on Alvarez’s delivery. It was always a possibility that they’d try to come for us again. Always thought they’d bring the military-grade rocket launcher and aim it straight at the club door, though.”

I think about the raid we did on Alvarez’s delivery. We’d had seven days to figure out how to put an end to the war he was building between us. I try to think about the problem logically. “Wait. Alvarez had time.”

“What?” Knox asks.

“You said the captain of the boat told you he thought he was meeting the Outlaws,” I say. “Alvarez’s men needed time to mimic our cuts and get them made. There’s a wholesaler somewhere who made them, unless any of Alvarez’s men are good at embroidery.”

“That’s a good point, Van,” Lock says. “Could have been the one we use for our patches…or maybe they had the designs recreated somehow if they had a photograph of it.”

“Wouldn’t need to be a perfect design.” Sunny looks to Knox. “It would just need to be close enough to fool the captain and crew.”

My face begins to heat. Another memory.

Of Alvarez taking photos of me while I was strung up. He told me he was sending them to every one of his men to show them that the Outlaws were nothing to be afraid of. So, yeah, they have photographs of me. Which means they have photographs of my cut. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell Knox. To admit another failing in front of my brothers. But I can’t force the words out until I remember…

“The attack. I saw those two men running out with something. Prez, you keep extra patches in your office, right? Any missing?”

Knox stands up. “Let me go check.”

There’s silence while he’s gone. People lost in their own thoughts.

When Knox returns, the fury is barely controlled. “They’re gone. The club rocker and patch.”

North nods. “We can start to run that down. Guessing they’re local to get them turned around quickly. Confirmation of the delivery date and timing was only five days ago because the Hondurans had that storm they wanted to avoid sailing through. And it takes us forty-eight hours when we place a delivery for those patches.”

Sunny shakes his head. “They could have already been planning something with them though. Like trying to get in here when we have a party or something to do some damage. Or waiting for a moment just like this.”

And then it comes to me. “We’re assuming the leak is on our end. We’re assuming the ship’s captain told you the truth. Or the Hondurans are playing straight with us.”