Reprisal (Tidals & Anchors MC Book 2) (6 page)

I raised an eyebrow curiously waiting for him to finally spit out who we were having the vote on. Unless it was someone that I really thought deserved it, I was going to vote no.

“Now we know the rules. The person who’s going to be voted on can’t be in the room when it happens,” he said dragging it out. “That being said, I need you to step out of the room.”

We all looked around at each other when Pardon looked down at his hands for a moment. No one knew who he was talking about, and no one wanted to ask, so I stepped up.

“Who are you talking about?” I asked curiously.

“I’m talking about
you
. Dallas Quinn, step out of the room. We need to have a vote,” he said, his voice a little softer as he glanced up to meet my eyes.

The stunned silence in the room was the most deafening thing in the world. The only thing I could hear was my heart beating erratically at the thought that my own father was putting me up for a Havoc vote.

“I know what you’ve been doing behind my back, boy. I don’t know who you’ve been doing it with, but I’ll find out soon enough. Now get out of here while we vote.”

I pushed my chair back and got to my feet. I put a hand on the table and glanced over at him feeling angry and betrayed.

“I wanna say something first,” I said, in a shaky voice.

“Go ahead,” he agreed, with a nod.

“Whatever you found out? I did it alone. I wouldn’t put anyone else here in danger, so if you decide on Havoc, keep that in mind. There’s no one else. Just me.”

I turned and left the room. I decided to go outside and have a smoke while I waited to find out what the verdict was. And even in that moment, I knew that if Pardon didn’t get his way on the vote, he’d find a way to get it done regardless. The worst part was that I knew that the only way I’d let Swing kill him was if I was dead.

Looks like you might have your way after all,
I thought as I kept my eyes trained on the door waiting to find out what my fate would be.

Tidals & Anchors Meeting Room

Pardon

H
alf of the room, my half, was looking at me with appreciation in their eyes. I understood it; I was willing to show them that I wasn’t the kind of President that Leon was. To sugar coat shit to save their kid.

The other half of the room, Dallas’ half, was staring at me in stunned silence. It was easy to figure out who was working with him; it was the same ones that were always missing when he was, but I wanted the ones that were doing the work with him. I wanted the ones who knew where Nero was, then I would deal with them after.

“What’s going on, Pardon?” Honest asked. He was the first one in the room to speak up since my boy walked out.

I scoffed and shook my head. Did I want my own son dead? No, of course not, what father would want that? But at the same time, what kind of President would I be if I didn’t take down the uprising before it started.

Maybe this was all finally starting to get to me and maybe I shouldn’t be in the chair anymore, but I was so sick and tired of all the shit that was going on behind my back. Even when Leon was in the chair, I never went behind him to do anything. He gets tossed out, his kid stays on, and the entire club starts to disintegrate. I figured once I got rid of the Raders the club would be like it was when Harold was in charge.

“Honest, you’ve been hanging out with my son a lot lately, haven’t you? Going with him on unauthorized rides?” I asked, glancing at him.

“Yeah,” he replied. I smiled slightly; his nickname seemed to fit him. Even in the face of danger, he wouldn’t lie to me.

“Where have you guys been going?”

“Around,” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

I sighed. “Listen, kid. You know how clubs work. There are rules and Dallas broke the rules. Whatever little side project you and your band of buddies have, needs to be put aside right now. I need you all to vote by the rules of Tidals & Anchors. Harold himself put these rules into play for a reason.”

“Then why didn’t the same rules apply to you when it was time to vote you out?” Honest asked quietly.

“I gave you guys an ultimatum. Everyone here agreed to give me another year. I’m almost done with what I need to do, then I’ll step down like we all agreed. Right now though, we’re talking about Dallas, not me. I’m going to go around this table one time and I need you to put your personal feelings aside for my son,” I instructed tiredly.

“All in favor of Dallas Quinn getting dealt Havoc?”

I glanced down my side of the table and slowly saw hands going up into the air. It stung me in a way that we were voting to have my son put down, but it also made me proud that my motorcycle club wasn’t a bunch of pussies. If someone deserved Havoc, they were going to get it.

When every last one of them hand their hands up, I glanced at the other side of the table. Six men that were on my son’s side were sitting there looking stunned and angry.

“Well?” I asked.

In turn, they all turned their eyes up toward me and began to raise their hands. All of them except Honest; his arms were still crossed firmly across his chest and he looked at stubborn as the day is long.

I was about to open my mouth to remind him of the club rules when I heard a motorcycle engine roaring outside. I pushed my chair back quickly and got to my feet, making a run for the door. If it was Dallas trying to leave, I was going to open fire on him, vote or not vote.

I pulled the door open in time to see something that made me angry and curious all at the same time. It was one of the Stilettos & Steele MC members. I could tell by the emblem on her jacket. That meant that Boots obviously didn’t do what I had left him to do.

She parked her bike and exchanged a glance with Dallas who was sitting on the benches outside waiting for our decision. He looked just as curious as I did to see her, but she walked straight up to me and said what she needed to say.

“You Pardon?”

“Who wants to know?” I asked.

“My name is Tumbler. I know where Swing is and I’ll take you to him, if you still want him,” she said in a quiet tone.