“It could work,” Pic said slowly. “I mean, it’s different, but . . . I need to talk to Shade about this. It’s a bigger decision than we can make right here. You guys clear out, get ready for tonight while I talk to him. Regardless of what he says, we need to get out to the clubhouse and meet with the Nighthawks. Otherwise we’ll look weak.”

Men started to leave, and I stood to join them, but Pic motioned at me to stay. I locked the door behind the brothers as he picked up his phone.

“Shade, it’s Pic,” he said. “I’m putting you on speaker—want you to hear what’s been going on from Gage, who’s in the room with me.”

“Gage, I’ve been hearing about your work,” Shade said. He hadn’t been our national president for that long, but in that time he’d more than earned my respect. “Pic told me what happened in Ellensburg yesterday. Sorry to hear that Painter’s in so much trouble. Hate it when a brother goes back inside.”

“He’s a good man,” I said, and it was true. For years, Painter had seemed less like a brother and more like a dumbass kid, but he’d pulled through for all of us in the end. “Fucking sucks.”

“Coales will do everything he can,” he said. “And that goes for you, too. I hear you’re probably out of the woods on your charges.”

“Not yet, but it sounds like I will be.”

“Glad to hear it. Now, what’s the assessment with the Nighthawks?”

“Most of them are shit,” Picnic said. “At least, most of those on the outside. We know the originals—the men in prison long term—are good. So are a few who are still on the outside. Cord, for one. He was down to see Pipes in California when Painter and Pipes were on the inside together. Source of our information in the first place. Gage hasn’t had much chance to talk to him because the entire time he’s been here, he very carefully made himself out to be Marsh’s bitch. Cord and his boys have no respect for Marsh and his people, so they ignored Gage.”

“Guess that’s in his favor,” Shade said. “So tell me what you’re thinking.”

“So, it goes without saying that we have to get rid of the Nighthawks who were with Marsh,” Pic said. “The new ones and the traitors. That won’t be hard because they’re nothing—not real brothers at all. Just a collection of losers and followers who didn’t even prospect for real. But it does leave us in an interesting position in terms of men like Cord, not to mention the original brothers who are serving longer prison terms. We can’t let a club that’s betrayed us survive, but we also can’t leave a power vacuum. Not only that, there’s a lot of good men who call themselves Nighthawks who have nothing to do with this. Tough situation.”

“True enough,” Shade said. “You have any suggestions?”

“I want to kick out the crap and then patch the good men in as Reapers,” Picnic said. Shade didn’t answer for a minute.

“Your solution to them betraying us is bringing them into our club?” he asked. “Wanna run that by me again?”

“Okay, I know it sounds crazy,” Pic said. “But think it through—we got good men. Strong brothers. They held this territory for twenty years and the partnership worked. Then a big group of them went down and not one testified against us or each other. Marsh Jackson snuck in and took over while they were helpless, and if anything, we should have been covering their asses. Instead we allowed it to happen. That’s on us, Shade.”

I stared at my president, impressed. This was all in.

“I can see that,” Shade said slowly. “But you can’t seriously think I’ll authorize the creation of a new Reapers charter over the phone. Doesn’t work that way, bro. We both know this.”

Picnic laughed.

“No, I get that,” he said. “But when we go in, we can hold it up as a possibility. Tell the existing brothers—the ones who have kept the faith—that the Nighthawks as they exist right now are done. Then hold this out to them as a compromise. We want them here, we’re going to work with them, and then if things come together, there will be a reward.”

“Gage, what’s your thought on this?” Shade asked. “You’re the one who’s been on the ground. What’s your sense of the situation?”

“I don’t know Cord well,” I said. “But my gut tells me he’s a solid guy, if for no other reason than he never fell for Marsh’s shit. They were on the brink of civil war already. Cord and his faction weren’t around on Friday, and for all I know they were planning to make a move against Marsh this weekend. I think it’s worth giving it a shot. Especially since it could have long-term consequences for our boy Painter, who’s headed back down to prison in Cali. Pipes—the Nighthawk brother on the inside—he’s one of our only allies there. We burn all the Nighthawks, we’re burning Painter, too.”

“Okay, so walk me through it,” Shade said. “Assuming we do this, I’d have to talk to all the presidents and go through the process—we all know this. But I’m willing to hold it out as a possibility if you’ve got a solid plan.”

“First, the timing is good,” Picnic said. “Marsh and his boys are all still locked up. We don’t have full information on their situation, but it sounds like they found enough product on them to get them for intent to distribute. That means we don’t have to worry about them getting out again for a while. If we go in strong now, we clean out the clubhouse and get rid of anyone who answers to Marsh. They’re gone. Period. Then we reorganize with Cord and his brothers to start over.”

“I’d stay in town,” Gage said. “Oversee everything. Make me nomad.”

“Big step,” Shade said. “You sure you’re up for it?”

“He’s got a girl here,” Pic said. “Pussy-whipped.”

Shade snorted. “For real, Gage? You want us to make a whole new Reapers chapter just so you can get—”

Pic burst out laughing. “Okay, that was unfair. It wasn’t his idea, actually. But he did meet a woman and wouldn’t mind some time here in town. That suits the club’s needs, so it works on our end. Do we have your support?”

“Yeah,” Shade said slowly. “We can try it, although it’ll boil down to a vote by all the presidents. But I can see this working. Keep me posted on the details. So long as Gage is there keeping an eye on things, I think it’s okay. You serious about this woman?”