Page 3 of Bram

“I’ll go with him,” Trace said. “Fuck whoever tries to stop us.”

“Shut the fuck up, both of you. Nobody’s doing anything yet.”

Rusty nodded.

Kodiak’s hands folded together, then apart. Down the table, chairs creaked, boots scuffed, and then the room held still.

“Desert Scorpions haven’t disbanded,” I said. “Lost numbers, not structure. They’re sitting on it. Means they’re waiting for the right kind of news.” I let that settle. “This is it. This is their move. Their leader is walking free.”

Trace ground his teeth loud enough for me to hear. “You want us to hit the clubhouse?” He wasn’t going to stop until he killed every one of those assholes.

I shook my head. “We don’t start it. We finish it.”

Sniper said, “Perimeter?”

“Full coverage starting tonight,” I said. “Rusty will have prospects rotate the front and back gates in four-hour shifts. No one gets in or out unless they’re patched. Anyone not on the list, you call it in.”

Kodiak added, “Routes?”

“Need full list of home addresses. Two-man watch on every patch’s house, starting tomorrow. We’ll cover the club wives ourselves. No outsourcing.”

Rusty’s voice was steady, but the undertow was all fight. “You want all the Santa Fe boys brought in?”

“They’re in play,” I said. “But we keep them outside city limits unless something breaks. We keep our presence clean. No more attention from the county than necessary.” I glanced at Trace, the Santa Fe chapter president.

Trace sat back, eyes hard. “Santa Fe is ready. You want me on the gate or running clean-up?”

“Where do you think you’re most useful?” I asked.

He almost smiled. “Never been much for sitting still.”

“Good,” I said. “Because once they realize we’re on the move, it’s not going to be slow. We move fast, we move clean. I’ll have a word with Police Chief Maddox. Let him know the town is going to see some shit go down.” I nodded at Bones. “I’m gonna need an envelope of money for Maddox”

“Same as usual?” he said.

“Add some extra. We need him on this.”

Sniper said, “Timeline?”

I tapped the letter. “Seventy-two hours until he walks. But we move like it’s forty-eight.”

Sniper nodded. That was his way of saying yes sir, and thank you very fuck much.

Kodiak had his notebook out, flipping pages with a mechanic’s precision. He said, “I’ll have route assignments in an hour.”

Rusty’s eyes flicked around the table. “We expecting any inside trouble?”

I shook my head. “Everyone here is solid.”

Trace said, “What about the girls? Want them moved?”

“They stay put,” I said. “You tell them to pack, they’ll tip the whole county. We handle it on our own.”

For a long moment, no one spoke. It was just the hum of the light and the breathing of men who’d sat through too many funerals to need more than direct orders.

I slid the letter across to Rusty. “Read it if you want. Doesn’t change the job.”

He didn’t touch it.