sense of the man personally, but I don’t. All I know is he hates Marsh.”
“He was a strong brother in the past,” Bam Bam said. “I’ve ridden with him a few times. Kept his shit tight, not the kind to talk much, but I’d have him at my back in a fight. Impossible situation, when your own president doesn’t do what’s right. I mean, he rats out Marsh, he’s betraying his own brother. He doesn’t, he’s betrayed the Reapers. If it were me, I’d probably watch and wait, too.”
“Good point,” Pic acknowledged. “Anyone else here want to speak for him or the others?”
“Pipes is a good man,” Ruger said. “He’s the Nighthawk who stood with Painter and Puck down in California while they were in prison. Still down there, and they’ll be sending Painter back to join him once his parole’s revoked. Painter told me that Cord was one of the few who made to effort to visit Pipes. We make peace with Cord, that could save Painter’s life on the inside.”
“That’s reason enough right there,” I said. “We have any contact with the other Nighthawks inside?”
“Some,” Pic said. “But Cord would have more. If we can salvage something of the situation, that’s for the best. Otherwise it leaves us with another power vacuum in the middle of the state. Then we’d have to move men into the area.”
“You’ll need to move someone into the area no matter what,” Hunter said, frowning. “Just because you’re giving him a shot doesn’t mean we can trust him.”
“I’ll stay,” I told them. The men around me stirred, although I saw Horse grinning. Smug fucker.
“You’ve already given up a lot,” Bam Bam said. “You sure you want to do that?”
“It works for me,” I said, although I’d be damned if I’d discuss the whole Tinker situation with such a large audience.
“What if we patched them over?” Ruger asked suddenly.
“The Nighthawks?” Hunter asked. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Not all of them,” Ruger said. “But we know Pipes is solid—he put his life on the line more than once for Painter on the inside. And Cord is solid with him. Until Marsh took over, we never had problem with them, and they aren’t Marsh’s people. What we have here is a good support club that got infected by a cancer. Cut out the cancer, we get the club back.”
“But to patch them over as Reapers?” Horse asked, skeptical. “That seems a little much.”
“Not right away,” Ruger said. “But we could give them a chance to redeem themselves, and take it from there. Make them provisional. It’s not a case of patching over the whole club—it’s shutting down the bad club and patching over the members worth saving. Could send a powerful message to any other support club in the area. Stay loyal and you’ll be rewarded. And despite this shit with Marsh, the bulk of the brothers stayed loyal. They’re just stuck in prison. Remember, not one of the fuckers testified against his brothers or the Reapers.”
“It could work,” Pic said slowly. “I mean, it’s different, but . . . I need to talk to Shade about this. It’s a bigger decision than we can make right here. You guys clear out, get ready for tonight while I talk to him. Regardless of what he says, we need to get out to the clubhouse and meet with the Nighthawks. Otherwise we’ll look weak.”
Men started to leave, and I stood to join them, but Pic motioned at me to stay. I locked the door behind the brothers as he picked up his phone.
“Shade, it’s Pic,” he said. “I’m putting you on speaker—want you to hear what’s been going on from Gage, who’s in the room with me.”
“Gage, I’ve been hearing about your work,” Shade said. He hadn’t been our national president for that long, but in that time he’d more than earned my respect. “Pic told me what happened in Ellensburg yesterday. Sorry to hear that Painter’s in so much trouble. Hate it when a brother goes back inside.”
“He’s a good man,” I said, and it was true. For years, Painter had seemed less like a brother and more like a dumbass kid, but he’d pulled through for all of us in the end. “Fucking sucks.”
“Coales will do everything he can,” he said. “And that goes for you, too. I hear you’re probably out of the woods on your charges.”
“Not yet, but it sounds like I will be.”
“Glad to hear it. Now, what’s the assessment with the