I recalled the handcuffs in their holster on my belt. I too came forward, snapping them on Fang’s wrists from behind and securing him as the prisoner of the Devil’s Dragons.
“Understand my mercy,” Hunter called out to the gathered clubs. “This man took my woman from me. He conspired to destroy my club. He contacted the police and called them down upon us… but it is not my place to judge him! I will assemble the council, and we will decide his fate together.”
Hunter stood glaring around the others. “We do things together. We call upon our brothers, those who belong to the Outlaws. Even I will pass no judgment alone.”
I could see now that they truly respected him. Perhaps they had come out of a sense of lingering honor, expecting a favor to later cash in… but now, the assembled force understood the conviction of the man who summoned them.
“Members of the Obsidian Guardians… I expect you to take that evidence back to your chapter and show it to your men. When you’ve voted on a new president, send him to me…”
He had united them all, breaking barriers and prejudices between them. Somehow, he had removed their limitations, guiding them towards coexistence.
Waiting until the four remaining members of the Obsidian Guardians had mounted their bikes and roared into the night, Hunter addressed the remaining crowd once more:
“With that distraction swept away…” He crossed his arms powerfully, letting his voice boom: “Who among you will follow me into warfare?”
The fist of every biker present thrust up into the sky in a chorus of cheers.
Hunter smiled confidently, making brief eye contact with me before rallying the cry: “…Then join us, brothers. We ride at nightfall!”
16
While the others began their preparations, Hunter put several men on the task of guarding the prisoner cell where they’d placed Fang. He specifically chose a few club members who were better kept out of the impending gunfire – bikers slower on their feet, or weaker with the weapons.
Grizz, as the Devil’s Dragons second-in-command, volunteered for the task of ensuring full prisoner cooperation.
“I need you by my side,” Hunter reminded him. “The Dragons can keep this fuckers behind bars, but you? Your place is with me tonight.”
The burly biker’s piercing blue eyes met his, and he nodded solemnly. Grizz understood his place, and knew that Hunter could use all the help he could get when it came to assaulting the cartel… Without another word, Grizz accepted the role of overseeing preparations among the seventy bikers as Hunter disappeared into his war room.
Eager to contribute in some way, I brought him a cup of coffee. Glancing up from his maps, he gratefully accepted the steaming mug and turned his attention away from the sprawling notes.
“You can stay here if you want,” Hunter reminded me. “You understand, of course, that I’m not asking you to implicate yourself in cross-border infiltration and cartel warfare…”
“I want to be there,” I told him firmly. “This is your fight, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use this to my own ends. If you take another hostage – especially one further up the chain – then I can probably extract some information on where to find those cheerleaders…”
“You don’t want to be a part of that process,” Hunter grimaced.
“You haven’t let me in on any of this yet! You stole my case files. You’ve kept me as far in the dark as you can. When are you going to let me into your world and start explaining these things? I still don’t know what exactly happened to your sister… how you organized this bikers’ alliance of yours… who this interrogator of yours is, or what you’ve been doing for the last eight years to rebuild the Devil’s Dragons… and that’s only what I know about.”
I gave him a meaningful, heartfelt glance. “There are so many mysteries with you, Hunter… I feel like I’m just scratching the surface. When are you going to open up?”
“In due time,” Hunter replied, sensing my frustration. “I know that you want to know everything right now, but we don’t have the time for that… You want to come, fine. Help me through this ordeal tonight, and I promise you that I will keep no secrets. Just give me the time to finish this.”
“You’re going up against the Víboras Verde cartel,” I mused aloud to myself. “The Vipers of the Green. You think you have a chance to snuff them out, to destroy their central order and let their outlying operations collapse, wherever they are…”
“That’s right,” he confirmed, glancing down at the maps again as he set his coffee aside. “The hostage gave us some solid intel on their workings. Everything that was finally pulled from him correlates to the understanding I already had…”