Reign (Riders of Apollo #1)

Chapter 11: Peyton Lennox

I always thought that the bounty on Bear's head was suspicious but the gang retaliation seems to put the whole thing into perspective. After discussing the problem for an hour or two, we decided to give up for now.

Well they do.

I'm currently in my office with papers spread around me as I try and analyse the situation. Now, Bear has been climbing the ranks ever since he was made Club President when he was eighteen. 

Young leader with very little experience and his father had died when he was younger so he had to go in throwing hands to gain the respect he has. This could be one of the main origins for many disputes against the club.

Since the bounty dropped three years ago I have to look through fifteen years worth of activity of both the Club and the HR - which is the group mixed of gang members and cops - and how they connect in some way. I've been at it for about three hours but I can't find any connections. 

I pour myself another glass of wine and take a sip.

"Come on Peyton." I groan and pass my hand through my hair. Surely Bear had done something to piss HR off, the bounty was dropped before the leader found himself in jail and for the grudge to carry on after he went away means the bastard is still pulling strings from behind bars.

Follow the paper trail, Peyton.

I launch my computer and start digging, Sergeant Romaro - aka the leader of HR - has only had two visitors since he was arrested and all outgoing mail has been addressed to a man called Twitch which sounds like a runner's name.

Twitch is connected to Romaro via his mother's side, they're cousins. 

What use is that information, Peyton, you absolute dumbass?

I groan again when something finally clicks after five fucking hours. "Of course! You absolute genius!" I grab the file that I need and flick it open. "Blade Romaro, caught in cross fire between Riders of Apollo MC and Fire Demons MC. Bullet origin unknown."

So Romaro doesn't know which man shot the bullet that killed his cousin so he's just gunning for all of them. I can't decide whether they want to draw the Riders out so that he can kill them or draw them out and get them thrown in jail. One would be instant gratification but the other would be justice.

He was a cop once but what on Earth would his decision be?

The bounty was to get Bear out of the woodwork since they had been quiet and under the radar, then some random bounty hunter had the bounty removed - e.g. me - so they've resorted to larger measures. Take their shit and they will retaliate, oldest trick in the book.

I need to suss out how to play both sides.

But first, I need to sleep.

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I wake up with a groan and sigh at the blank ceiling in front of me. Waking up is no fun without a biker to wake up to but I'll be seeing him soon. I should talk to them about what I've figured out so far, hopefully they'll be able to fill in the gaps since they were there.

I slide out of the bed and get ready for the day. Shower, hair, make up, jewellery and an outfit consisting of sweatpants, cropped top and some converse. I slip on a denim jacket, fill my pockets with important stuff and head out of the house towards the MC.

It's a quiet day, just the tapping of my feet on the floor as I make the short walk. Thankfully when I get there everyone seems conscious, I guess the stress of the unknown puts a stop on the taps for a bit. 

"We still have no clue what is happening or why." Bear states truthfully, Lexie sits in his lap and gently rubs his shoulders hoping to calm him down.

"I don't know what's happening but I have a pretty good reason why." I explain to them everything I worked out last night and they seem to be following along but it's not like I know everything. There are very important pieces that are missing and we really need to put it together before we can make a retaliation attempt.

"Fuck me." Gears bangs his head on the bar and I settle down next to Reign who throws his arm across the back of my chair. "How did you work this out?"

"I got bored and I was worried so I stayed up last night going through all of my papers that I had for the last fifteen years. See what you guys did to piss HR off and I sussed it, now we just need to fill the gaps and plan retaliation. I can talk to the local coppers and I've got a few feds in my pocket as well, I can try and find out who is running the situation but I'm almost positive that he is sending orders out via his man Twitch."

"You don't need to do this, Peyton. You've already done enough." Bears tries to reason with me but I just shake my head.

"Nah, I quite like saving your ass. Besides I doubt you'd be able to do it without me, I don't want to leave Lex without a husband so." My phone rings avidly and I grin at the name on the screen, I called her at three am and she didn't answer. "Hey."

"You call me at three am, scream SOS at my voicemail and then hang up. You good, girl?"

"Obviously not, I need some info. You're in vice now, right?"

"Yes... oh God, have you got yourself in trouble?"

"No! That was one time, I swear and I didn't kill him."

"You put him in the hospital."

"He ran into my knife! You know what, I'm not having this argument with you again. I need you to send me everything you have on HR and the Romaro family."

"Girl, you keep going for high hitters and you're gonna miss."

"I appreciate your concern but right now I have more important things to worry about. Can you do it or not?"

"I'll send a probie round with the box by the end of the day, stay safe."