by KJ Dahlen
He swallowed heavily. “I’m sorry. But I mean you two are like...”
“What?” Rogue scowled at him.
“Legends man. You are legends!”
Falcon stared at him then burst out laughing. Then he grabbed his side. “Fuck! Don’t make me laugh!”
Rogue laughed too. “So why do you say that? Us being legends?”
“Stop Rogue! Do not answer that, kid. Oh, shit. I am trying not to literally bust my gut here!” Falcon held his stomach.
Rogue put his hands up “Okay, ok take it easy big guy.”
Falcon nodded “Okay, I’m ready.” He looked over at the prospect. “Not for a fucking legend wheel chair yet. But I’m ready.”
Rogue did laugh at this. “Fuck, we aren’t that old.” He opened the door.
The whole MC was in there. They all turned to look at them.
“Fuck...” Falcon muttered under his breath.
Only 4 of the lieutenants were up at the table.
Falcon stood upright and walked across the room then winced a bit, as he halted at the stairs.
Rogue walked casually next to him and was smart as he did not look concerned nor did he lend him a hand.
Falcon was grateful for that much. He then lifted his boot and went up the stairs. Pain wracked him as he went to his chair and sat down.
Talon stared at him. “Fuck man...” He sighed.
“Just get on with it, VP,” Falcon muttered as he was still trying to catch his breath.
Talon nodded.
Falcon looked up and caught Eagle staring. This didn’t make him feel any more cheerful. Remember, he is still prez. Do not yell at him. Do not fucking tell him what a loser he has become.
Talon hit the gavel onto the table. “Tribunal to order,” he announced.
Eagle turned to face his VP. “So what the fuck are we here for, Talon?”
Talon stood up and never took his eyes off him. “As most of the brothers know, Falcon called for tribunal 2 days back.”
The men all mumbled and murmured.
“Seems some of them aren’t happy,” Eagle stated smugly.
“Well, when they hear what the witnesses have to say, they will be even more so,” Talon told him.
Eagle snorted. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Talon let out breath and seemed to try to hold his temper. “Tollman!” he called out.
The men all looked to the door.
Tollman came in with a prospect.
Falcon recognized him as one of the men who took Asia. He growled as the prospect went by. Then he turned his angry glare to Eagle. It came to him all over again. The dart, the agony he felt when she disappeared. Them drugging her.
Eagle couldn’t meet his glare as he looked away.
Talon nodded to the prospect. “You do know what this is all about right?”
The man looked scared as he nodded. “I’m here to tell the brothers what happened.”
“We know what happened!” Eagle stood up.
“Yeah, but everyone here needs to hear it,” Talon told him.
The prospect looked back and forth at them, then he started in, “Okay, well the prez ordered us to go to the hot springs cabin. He gave us directions. He didn’t want nobody hurt. He said to...” he paused. “Dart Falcon and take the girl.”
“We all know what I ordered—”
“You need to let this proceed,” Talon cut Eagle off.
Eagle stood up. “You are trying to fucking take my spot!” he shouted.
Talon clenched his fists.” I never wanted your spot. I was happy as VP.”
“Was?” Eagle asked.
“Yeah. I didn’t need to be prez.”
“Then why the fuck are you doing this?” Eagle shouted.
Talon sighed as he laid his hands on the table. “I’m doing this for the same reason I fucking do everything. FOR.THE. CLUB.”
Eagle stared at him. “By dismantling it? By taking me down?”
Talon nodded. “If I have to take you down to make sure the club—”
“FUCK YOU!” Eagle shouted.” I never hurt that girl, never intended to! I never wanted Falcon hurt either.” He looked around at the men. “She’s Hammer’s kid!” he announced.
Some of the men looked shocked, others looked as if they knew this.
“So he left 3 million dollars to her. Money that should have belonged to the club! She only needed to be gone one more week. Then we would have gotten that money by default! Anyone can see why I did that. Anyone!”
Talon nodded. “Yeah, even I could.”
The men all muttered and shifted in their seats.
Falcon stared at Talon. What the fuck?
“But that’s not your only crime now is it?” Talon narrowed his eyes at his president.
Eagle stared back at him then looked over at Falcon. “You told him?”
Falcon shook his head. And opened his mouth to tell him he hadn’t yet.
“You told him about the jobs?” Eagle cut off anything he might’ve said. “What the hell kind of enforcer are you!” he shouted.
“What jobs?” Talon asked quietly.
Falcon glared at Eagle. “Apparently, I haven’t told him anything. Prez.”
Eagle looked panicked.
Falcon stood up and leaned his weight on the table to keep himself upright. “But now that you brought it into the Tribunal. I suppose I’d better.”
Eagle stared at him.
He looked over at Talon. “He has sent me out for the last year or so on several hits. Only, the first time was the time when I did meet Asia. He sent me to take out a man that Hammer owed. Only he told me to take out the girl with the man too. That had been Asia.”
Eagle gasped.
Falcon went on, “According to our bylaws, I couldn’t do that. No females and no innocents. Funny thing was I had to stop a second killer from taking her out.”
“Hey, now! I did not—”
“Let him talk,” Rogue cut him off.
Eagle glared at him.
“Then the second time he wanted me to hit another place. Only there were two women there. Holed up in a hotel room, they were fucking the men. He told me over the phone to—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Eagle shouted.
Falcon took a breath and went on, “I won’t. You brought this all in.” He looked around. “He said to just hit them all. The women were witnesses and he couldn’t have that. I waited until the women left then I took the men out.” He sat back down winded. “Fuck, there’s more but I don’t care to finish.”
Talon looked over at Eagle.
“So? I had my reasons!” Eagle defended.
“To break the bylaws?”
Eagle nodded. “If I had to. For the club.”
The brothers in the room all muttered and shook their heads.
Chapter Sixteen
Talon waited a moment or two for the men to settle down. “Well, we will have to add it to the other charges.”
Eagle swung his head around to him. “What other charges?”
Talon nodded at Tollman.
Tollman went to the doors and motioned to someone in the hall.
Hawk and Cobra dragged a man in.
He looked beat up and he was cussing at them.
Eagle suddenly looked pale.
Talon shook his head at his reaction.
They dragged the man forward.
“What the fuck is this?” the man asked.
Talon stared at him as he pointed at Eagle. “Do you know this man?”
The stranger looked to Eagle and shrugged. “Why are you asking?”
Tollman looked disgusted. “Come on man, we have it all here.” He raised a phone up.
The stranger shrugged. “So what?”
Tollman looked to Talon.
The VP nodded back at him.
Tollman swiped the screen and voices could be heard.
“Twenty Grand,” Eagle’s voice could be heard.
The room was si
lent except for men leaning forward in their chairs to hear it better.
“So, just take him out while he’s on his bike?” the other voice asked.
The men all looked over at the man standing there in handcuffs recognizing his voice too.
He shrugged.
“Yeah, you’ll never beat him one on one. He’s a killer. The best out there. You will only get him by ambush,” Eagle’s voice replied.
Eagle stood up. “IT’s a fucking lie! They faked this! I didn’t—”
The man in cuffs, snorted. “Man, I tape all my jobs. In case, they try to pull something later. He only gave me ten grand up front.”
“Well, you fucking missed. You loser! Some fucking hitman you are!” Eagle shouted at him.
Tollman stopped the recording as the room went eerily silent.
The bothers in all the chairs stood up and started yelling at Eagle.
“The fuck, man!”
“Yeah, you put a hit out on a brother?”
“That’s some cold shit!”
“It’s fucked up!”
More shouts came from the men assembled in the gallery.
Talon leaned his head back as if he were in some kind of agony. Then he lowered his head back and stared at Eagle.
Eagle looked furious as he shook his head and shouted over the noise, “He called a fucking Tribunal on his own President!”
The grumbling resounded in the room.
Talon hit the gavel down several times, as he tried to get control of the brothers.
Falcon shook his head. If Talon didn’t get control, these men might riot and string their own president up.
“SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!” Rogue shouted.
The men all seemed to hear him as they halted. Looking at each other, they all finally sat in their chairs.
Talon waited another minute for all of them to settle. Then he spoke, “It’s...” He shook his head and let out sigh. “I don’t fucking know where to begin.”
Falcon glared at Eagle. He put a hit out on me. His enforcer. Fucking, fucked up shit! Falcon crossed his arms over his chest. He was so angry, his fingers itched to get a hold of the man and beat his face in. He wanted to take Eagle apart. Not that he was in any shape, but that wouldn’t stop him either.
Rogue stood up. “We have to have a vote. We also need to decide... what...” He shook his head. “To do about it.”
Eagle stood up. “What to do? You can’t fucking mean a death sentence!”
The men all shifted in their chairs.
Then it started.
Boots were tapping the floor. The tapping grew to a resounding, pounding of many boots.
Talon looked over at Rogue.
Rogue shook his head.
Falcon let out a heavy breath. The men were saying Death. This was understood immediately.
Not a brother in the place was sitting still, all to a man, they were stomping their boots.
Eagle looked floored. His club wanted him out and his men wanted him dead.
Talon waited.
Rogue did too.
This was like a force of nature and they had to let it play out.
Finally, after several loud booming minutes, the boot stomping slowed and the men went silent. They all looked to one man.
Talon, the VP of the Princes of Hell.
Talon nodded at Tollman, Cobra and Hawk. They were lieutenants and they needed to take their chairs.
Two other brothers stood and took custody of the hit man.
When all the lieutenants were seated, Talon spoke, “We usually let out the assembly and take a vote among the officers.” He paused and briefly gazed at Eagle.
Eagle looked straight ahead. His gaze glued to the far wall. He sat stiffly and refused to participate in any of it, apparently. He knew shit had gone down the fucking tubes and this was it.
Talon tapped his gavel and looked to Rogue.
“Guilty,” Rogue stated.
Next, he tapped the gavel and looked to Condor.
“Guilty.” Condor nodded.
The room was entirely silent as Talon tapped again.
“Guilty as fuck,” Tollman stated.
Tap.
“Guilty,” Cobra stated.
Tap.
“Guilty,” Hawk said and hung his head.
Tap.
“Guilty,” Crow stated in a loud voice, staring at Eagle with pure hatred in his eyes.
Tap.
“Guilty,” Raptor said in a low voice.
Falcon stared at Eagle to see him flinch with each statement.
Tap.
Falcon looked up. “Guilty.”
“The fuck!” Eagle finally stood up. “You can’t execute your own president!”
Rogue stood too. “You aren’t our President anymore, Eagle.”
Eagle looked around and hate filled his eyes. “I only did what I had to do.”
No one said anything. To a man, they all glared at him.
Tossing his hands up in utter disgust, Eagle headed to the door.
Talon nodded to the two men standing by the hitman.
They stepped in front of the doors, blocking him from leaving.
“Tollman, Cobra, Raptor,” Talon called out. “Take him and the...” He glanced at the hit man “That fuckhead to the cells.”
“You can’t put me in the fucking cells!” Eagle yelled.
Falcon stood up. “God dammit, Eagle. Look around you. You dumb fuck! The men all want to kill you! In fact, so do I. But buck it up man. It is over.”
Eagle looked furious but allowed Tollman and Raptor to take him through the door.
Cobra and another brother took the hit man with them.
Talon looked around at the silent men. “This is some bad shit and we all know it. It’s bad for the club. But we stand as one. We do not kill innocents and we dot kill a brother, no matter what the reason. We will call for a vote on the President’s replacement later. All this shit is just too much right now.” He looked over at Rogue then at Falcon.
They nodded.
“Tribunal over!” He slammed the gavel so hard the lining on the table cracked. Then he let out a yell in fury as he threw the gavel up against the wall. “FUUUUCK!” he shouted.
The men all stared as Talon marched down the stairs and walked through the open doors.
Rogue stood up and looked down at falcon.
Falcon had nothing to add. This was some fucked up shit. It was bad for the club.
“We need to have a vote ASAP,” Crow stepped over to them.
“Yeah, what he said,” Condor agreed.
“Talon needs to be put in right away,” Condor added.
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Rogue looked around as the men all sat there and weren’t leaving. “We will take care of it, brothers. We have to go through all the files in Eagle’s office. Then...” he paused. “We will meet and take a vote on the president.”
One man rose his hand.
Rogue stared at him.
He stood up. “We all... we all want Talon in.”
Rogue nodded. “As do we. But we have bylaws. We also gotta give the man some time. He’s been with Eagle along time. This wasn’t easy.”
The men all nodded and most stood up to leave.
The door slammed to the side at the entrance and Tollman staggered in “ Eagle...” He then face planted on the floor.
Men rushed over.
“Fuck!” Rogue stepped down and the lieutenants followed.
Falcon stood very slowly as pain hit him hard. His 2nd, third and fourth wind was gone. “What the fuck?”
Rogue knelt next to Tollman.
He had blood rolling down his face as he blinked and looked up at Rogue. “H-he took out Raptor and... got—away.”
“Dammit,” Falcon said as more men came up behind him from the assembly.
“Hawk, go get the doc!” Rogue shouted.
Hawk rushed out.
Most of the men stood from their chairs.
Rogue yelled
at them all, “Get on your cycles and do a man hunt! Find Eagle!”
Many man moved forward and the sound of boot steps echoed through the hall as they all headed to the front.
Crow and Condor helped to get Tollman up and to his room.
Falcon finally made it down the steps and stood next to Rogue. “So now, he’s loose.”
Rogue shook his head and rushed out of the room “He said he hit Raptor!”
Falcon took slow steps to follow him. Fuck, he was useless in this. He made it to the doors and looked over at the far end of the hallway.
Rogue was kneeling down, checking for a pulse on Raptor’s neck as he laid on the floor, his head covered in blood.
“FUCK!” Rogue yelled as he sat back on his heels. “He killed one of his own men!”
Falcon stepped out a bit more. “But he figured he didn’t as they aren’t his men anymore.”
Talon came out of the office a file in one hand and his gun in the other. He looked at a weak Falcon leaning against the doorframe, then over and down the hall at Rogue. “The fuck?” he asked.
“Eagle killed Raptor and wrecked Tollman. He’s gone, man.”
Talon sucked in a breath. Then his face went cold. “Anyone call the doc?”
“Yeah. But too late for Raptor.” Falcon took a step away from the door.
Asia came running down from the opposite hall. “Falcon!”
He sighed when he heard her and tried to stand upright.
She skidded to a halt in front of him and stared up at him. “You look like a ghost!” She swung her gaze over to Talon. “Come on, you need to help him back to our room.”
Talon stared at her.
“Come on!” she yelled. “Can’t you see he is gonna pass out at any minute?”
Talon shoved his gun into his belt and swung his gaze over to Falcon, just as Falcon slumped. He stepped close and caught him.
Rogue came rushing up and they both turned and dragged him by heaving his weight under their shoulders.
“I’m ooook,” Falcon slurred.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Seventeen
ASIA
She fussed over him as the men laid him on the bed. “Dammit. I told him.”
Rogue stepped back. “You can’t tell a man not to do his duty.”
She bit at her lip and smoothed Falcon’s brow with her hand. “His life is more important than his duty,” she muttered.
