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Romeo knocked on the open door of the meeting room, gaining Onyx's attention. "Busy?"
Onyx motioned him in. He stepped inside the room while the toilet flushed, and Big Buck walked out of the attached bathroom.
"Hey." Big Buck latched his buckle on his belt. "Want to ride across town with us?"
"Sure." He had all day to wait until Timber got off work and all he planned to do was hang around the clubhouse anyway. "What's up?"
Big Buck strode over and shut the door, giving them privacy. "We're meeting Dutch from WAKOM. Falcon, the president, is sending over a package."
"Dirty money?" He sat down at the table and kicked back in the chair until he balanced on the back two legs. "Killere voted to turn them down the last time they asked if we wanted to launder the cash through the truck stop. Did we change our minds, and I never heard?"
"Nope." Onyx stood, grabbed a pack of smokes off the table, and shoved the cigarettes in his vest pocket. "I don't know what the meeting is about or what the package contains."
Romeo followed his president and MC brother out of the room, not staying behind. Outside the clubhouse, he spotted Timber strolling through the parking lot and then bending down to inspect something on the ground. Romeo watched to see what she was doing.
"How's Dice's girl working out with all your brothers?" Onyx sat on his Harley.
"Fine." He squinted in Timber's direction. "What's she doing?"
Onyx leaned forward. "Not your problem unless you want to be tied up for the rest of the day. Forget about her. The other men know to keep an eye out for her."
He'd prefer the others keep their eyes off Timber. He was only letting her stay at the house because she belonged to Dice. Once his MC brother was back, he'd be rid of her.
But he chuckled at how quick Onyx dealt out advice on women.
"Sounds like you've learned how to handle women since claiming Willow," he said.
"I do what I gotta do. I left the kids with Traveler downstairs earlier and made sure to make Willow happy upstairs before I left." Onyx dipped his chin. "She won't even know I'm gone."
Romeo shook his head, knowing otherwise. Willow knew what Onyx was doing every second of the day and night because his president ensured she stayed informed.
Besides, he needed no guidance on how to deal with Timber. She wasn't his problem. He was only renting out his room until she found a place of her own or Dice returned.
He rode away from the clubhouse and left Timber behind. Hitting the interstate, he quickly gained speed, keeping alongside Big Buck, riding tandem behind and to the right of Onyx.
Traffic slowed five miles out until they came to a standstill. Romeo put his boots on the road and shut his Harley off, looking at Big Buck.
His MC brother shrugged and then rode ahead between the two lanes of traffic. Onyx met Romeo's gaze in the side mirror and signaled for him to follow.
Onyx sped forward, going up the dotted line separating the lanes. Highly attuned to the vehicles on each side of him, Romeo made sure nobody opened their door or decided to toss out a lit cigarette.
Two miles later, going at a crawling pace, they rode upon a two-car wreck. Both drivers stood with a group of witnesses or spectators near the concrete barrier in the middle of the highway.
No one seemed in a rush. All their attention went to a man standing in the roadway, pointing at one of the vehicles. Seeing everything under control, the members of Killere wound their way slowly around the wreckage, watching their tires over the broken glass littering the north-bound highway.
As the roadway opened to them without any traffic to slow them down, Romeo gave the bike full throttle. The cops were probably on the way to the accident. There would be no time for them to profile three bikers riding away from the scene. Nobody to stop him from enjoying the wind and the asphalt under his tires.
A half-hour later, Onyx led him under the overpass and stopped. He and Big Buck shut off their engines. The noise of traffic above them provided a hum.
"Why are we meeting here?" Romeo got off his Harley and stretched. "Seems out of the way. We could've met up at the weigh station, like normal."
"I don't know. Falcon was pretty quiet about the whole request." Onyx patted the pistol tucked behind his belt at his waist. "We're five minutes early. I don't see anyone here."
"How many are showing?" asked Bull
"Only one." Onyx gazed around the graveled area. "Falcon promised that it would only be Dutch, and he'd arrive in a car."
Romeo scoffed. No good biker would arrive at a meeting with another club locked in a steel cage.
Though WAKOM Motorcycle Club and Killere were allies in the Inner Pacific Northwest, Killere would never show weakness in front of another club—ally or enemy.
A vehicle pulled into the graveled area and slowed. Romeo turned with the others and waited. Considering the informal process of the meeting, he expected they'd be back on the highway in under a half-hour.
Through the driver's side window, he recognized Dutch. He'd come alone.
Over the years, he and Dutch had the occasion to sit down and share a beer or two. Unlike a lot of other people who spilled their guts once they tipped back a few, Dutch had always limited himself, preferring to keep to himself. The information he shared usually had to do with world events, a common ground for both of them, and not about himself or his club.
He couldn't tell if Dutch was married or in good standings with WAKOM. But, Dutch had always given him respect, so Romeo took him for what he was worth.
Dutch shut off the car and opened the door. Meeting Onyx first, the two men shook.
"Thanks for meeting me on such short notice." Dutch nodded at Romeo and Big Buck. "We had something that belongs to you show up at the Moses Lake clubhouse." Dutch stepped back and reached for the door handle to the backseat.
Onyx stepped to the side and peered into the backseat. Romeo, unable to see past the door, moved over and stood between Onyx and Big Buck.
A pair of boots, attached to two legs, fell out of the car and hung over the seat. Dutch reached inside, grabbed the front of the leather vest, and pulled the man up. Only then could Romeo make out the Killere patch.
He leaned over, squinting. The man's hair and beard, stiff and dirty, hid his face. He lowered his gaze and found the name patch. "God damnit," he muttered, stepping forward.
"What the hell happened to Dice?" Big Buck moved beside him, grabbing their MC brother's other side.
"Found him outside the clubhouse, propped against the door with his head busted in. I stitched him up as best I could and called Falcon in to see what he wanted me to do with him. We figured you'd want him back." Dutch hooked his hands in his back jean pockets. "Nothing's wrong with him beside the head wound. Right now, he's drunker than shit. We had a tough time stitching him up. It seems the man doesn't like needles."
Romeo set Dice down on the ground and propped him against the wheel of his bike. As long as he knew Dice, the man had never dirtied his skin with a tattoo like everyone else in Killere. He even stayed away from prison tattoos and letting another biker mark him up.
"Thanks for bringing him." Onyx held out his hand.
Dutch took the time to shake with Romeo and Big Buck, then got back in the car. Once he was gone, Romeo looked down at Dice. "What do you want us to do with him?"
Onyx took out his cell phone. "I'll call Creamer and have him bring a car around to load him up. Dice is in no condition to ride."
"Hell, we got the brother, but we didn't get our brother's bike." Big Buck sat on his motorcycle and leaned his forearms against the handlebar. "I wonder what the fuck happened to him. He's going to be pissed when he sobers up and finds out his wheels are gone."
"His daughter is at my place," said Romeo.
At least there was someone around to take care of Dice. It appeared as if someone needed to watch over him.
"We'll take him to the clubhouse and clean him up. Timber can come there and see him when he's sober." Onyx pocketed his phone. "Creamer will be here in an hour."
Romeo leaned back and sat on his seat, crossing his arms. Last he heard, Dice always wandered from place to place. He came and went on his own. If he had a house somewhere, Romeo had never heard. Hell, he could shack up with Timber's mom somewhere and live a private life. It wasn't unheard of within Killere. But most members preferred staying close to Spokane.
He raised his head. "Where's Timber's mom?"
Onyx shook his head. "Dice never talks about her. I don't even know if he's involved with her anymore."
He grunted. That wouldn't help him find somewhere for Timber to stay instead of at his house.
She'd come to the clubhouse looking for a job and sought out Onyx. Maybe she knew Dice would show up.
Though, she probably never expected him to arrive in shit condition.