Silent Night - By Tom Barber Page 0,92

Finn had gone to the same high school, a year above Bobby, but the two of them hadn’t become friends until they met through the club. Finn was head of the militia arm of the Chapter. He and five others would drive out into the desert on roaming patrols with rifles and ammo, searching for immigrants or any non-whites they could find near the borders. They had a high hit-rate. Bobby had gone with the group a few times and seen the process. They stalked and shot them without mercy. Ten minutes later, the man, woman or child would be buried in the sand in an unmarked grave. These were anonymous people who were desperate to slide their way into the country, so most of them had left all forms of identity behind them. No one would ever report them missing, find their bodies or know what had happened to them. Roller PD consisted of only six men and they were so useless they couldn’t find a whore in a brothel.

But almost a decade after he’d become a member, Rourke was done with the club’s dealings. Most of the guys he’d become friends and brothers with were either dead, in jail or on their way there. Running guns and dope was a business but it wasn’t a sustainable future. The ATF and FBI were always circling. Rourke had had enough. He still put on a front when he was with the other members, agreeing with all the racist shit they spewed but deep down he didn’t believe a word of it. Besides he liked other colours, green in particular. Especially when it was a bill and had a President’s face printed on it.

He’d been looking for salvation for a while.

And it had appeared a fortnight ago.

The entire Chapter had been at an annual rally in South Carolina. All the Chapters from across the country got together for a weekend-long party and hate festival.

During the celebrations, drinking a beer and walking past one of the bonfires, Rourke ran into a brother from another Chapter, Paul Bleeker. They knew each other from a separate rally last year. After they’d spent a night drinking and partying, Bleeker now appeared to assume that the two of them were friends. He was a joke. Rourke knew he was desperate to impress and get noticed, and for some reason he’d latched onto him.

Standing there beside the huge fire and scores of skinheads, Bleeker had told Rourke he’d been looking for him. He wanted Bobby to meet someone. Bored, and with nothing else to do, Rourke had agreed. Bleeker introduced him to another member who Rourke didn’t recognise. Bored and uninterested, Rourke had been about to walk away when the stranger said that if Bobby and Bleeker wanted it, there was a way the three of them could make an absolute fortune.

That got his attention.

Rourke had asked him to explain. Bleeker’s companion told him about a modified virus which was a fast-acting biological killer. Apparently there were a few samples of it at a lab in New York and the contact knew there would be a lot of people out there who’d be very keen to acquire it and would pay big money. Mid-conversation, Rourke had whistled Finn over and he’d joined the conversation. The four men had talked for almost an hour, learning about this virus and how they could use it to their advantage. At the end, a deal was struck. It was pretty straightforward. The four of them would steal the virus, adapt it for easy use, sell it on and share the massive payout.

The operation was planned for Friday 17 December in New York City, two weeks after the rally. Bobby had planned to go alone to oversee and organise getting the virus out of New York but Finn had wanted to join him. He had nothing else going and he could see his brother who was in New Jersey. Finn had also suggested that having back-up wouldn’t be a bad idea. Rourke was reluctant, wanting to keep knowledge of the virus a secret, but Finn said they could just lie to them instead. That would get the whole Chapter on the road and none of them would know the real reason they were going to New York. Bobby had called a Chapter meeting and informed the members of the upcoming road trip. The cover story was a huge meth deal with a Brooklyn drug cartel. The Texan Chapter were renowned for the