After tossing my wrench into the toolbox, I wiped off my hands and then headed out of the garage. Instead of taking the time to go home, I hustled over to the clubhouse. I could take a quick shower and shave and then grab some clothes from my room.

The moment I swept in the door, I was bombarded with party central. Streamers and balloons hung from the ceiling, while a giant happy birthday sign took up one of the walls. Out-of-town brothers called out my name and raised their beers. I threw up my hand as I headed to the bedrooms.

Just as I stripped off my jeans and shirt, a knock came at the door. “Yeah?” I questioned as I turned on the water in the shower.

Rev’s voice came from the other side. “Emergency club meeting in five.”

“Are you fucking with me?”

With a grunt of frustration, Rev replied, “No. I’m not fucking with you, although that seems to be everyone’s consensus about this meeting.”

I eyed the stream of water longingly before I reached over and turned off the shower. “Fine. I’ll be right there.”

“Good.”

Without time to shower, I cleaned off my greasy arms as best I could in the sink. I sure as hell hoped the meeting wouldn’t take long, and I could grab a shower just before Sam arrived. After drying off, I pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt. As I opened the door, I threw on my cut.

Out in the hallway, I ran into Willow taking an armload of towels into Deacon’s room. “Hey, rug rat,” I called.

She threw a look at me over her shoulder. “What, Uncle B?”

“I need you to do me a favor.”

“Will it get me out of helping Grandma get ready for the out-of-town visitors?” she asked with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

“Not exactly.”

Her face fell. “Oh, well, what do you want me to do?”

“I’ve got a friend coming to the party tonight. I’m supposed to meet her at seven, but Uncle Rev’s called an emergency club meeting. Can you be on the lookout for her?”

“Her?” Willow asked suspiciously.

Jesus, I wasn’t going to be able to catch a fucking break with anyone. “Yes. It’s a girl. Her name is Samantha, and she has dark hair.”

“Okay. I’ll find her.”

I reached over to plant a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks, rug rat.”

She huffed out a frustrated breath at the nickname she hated before heading into the bedroom. I went down the hall and then to the meeting room. When I slid into my usual seat at the table, I knew it had to be something heavy or Rev wouldn’t have interrupted his birthday weekend with it.

Deacon echoed my thoughts when he said, “What is so fucking important that it called me away from a quickie with Alex?”

Boone snorted. “Yeah, this better be pretty important, Rev. You’re still a newlywed, so you don’t know what it’s like to be a married man and have sex be limited.”

“Amen to that,” Mac said as he lit a cigarette.

Rev stared gravely around the table. “I just got some information from Rambo that I thought you needed to know.”

At the mention of Rambo, we all sat a little straighter in our chairs. “After all this time, he’s heard from Eddy?” Mac questioned. Just the mention of Eddy’s name caused me to tense in my seat, my fists tightening in anger.

Rev nodded. “Rambo now has full confirmation that he was behind the shooting in Virginia.” We all leaned forward with heavy looks on our faces. “There’s this dude who owns a truck stop about five miles from headquarters. He’s on good terms with the Raiders. He said that two guys with devils on their cuts came in to pay for gas about thirty minutes before the shooting. Since he knew the guys were in Raiders territory, he eyeballed them and saw them get into a black-paneled van.”

“Holy shit,” Boone murmured.

“Did he have it on tape?” Deacon asked.

“He sure as hell did. Once Rambo looked at the tapes, he realized it was a Diablos cut.”

Deacon cocked his eyebrows at Rev. “But Eddy wasn’t on the tape, right?”

“No. He wasn’t,” Rev replied.

“Is he still gone underground?” I asked. After the suspicions about Eddy’s involvement grew, he had disappeared. No one could find him to question him about how it was possible the Diablos knew where we were. Club meetings were kept secret, so while they might have known where headquarters was, they had no idea when we would be there. Considering his friendship with them and his anger about what went down with us, it was the only likely answer for the shooting.

“He’s finally emerged from whatever hellhole he’s been hiding in,” Rev replied.

“And now the Raiders are going to formally deal with the fucker?” Deacon asked.

“That won’t be happening,” Rev replied.

“Why the fuck not?” Boone demanded.

“Because he’s now a patch-wearing member of the Diablos.”

The table erupted in angry shouts and strings of profanity. That was the evidence we needed to solidify Eddy’s guilt.

Rev held up his hand. “Truth be told, we should have seen this coming. He’s been in fucking bed with those bastards for far too long. It makes sense he would finally join up with them. After the shooting, there was no going back.”

Mac stubbed out his cigarette. “Yeah, but I can’t see it being so easy for an ego-tripper like Eddy to give up his president’s patch and be just another Diablo.”

Deacon nodded. “They must’ve made him a pretty good offer to patch over.”