“Whoa!” Road raises both his hands. “I’m Utah, I think I’ve fuckin’ proven that, but I can’t have you cast Drummer as the bogeyman. He’d bend over backwards to help this chapter, unless he feels he’s being slighted. Keeping secrets is the quickest way to get on his wrong side. You already know that.”
“Not doubting your loyalty, Brother,” Prez says fast. “Just saying Drummer gave us three months. I think we still have time. If someone tried to kill Stormy, what happens if it becomes common knowledge he’s still alive? Especially if they’re coming for the club, and not just the man himself. Can you honestly say you trust every man in every chapter to keep that titbit to themselves?”
Damn it. I’d been so wrapped up in resenting Stormy, I hadn’t thought of that. It’s quite possible that knowing they’ve failed Stormy, and by extension us, could be in danger if they want to take him and finish the job. What do I know of the members in the other chapters? These Utah men I know will have my back, but there’s at least fifty more I know nothing about except they’ve earned the right to wear a Satan’s Devils patch. Prez is right. How do we know we can trust them?
“If he’s got a warning for the club, I agree we need to hear it.” Thor’s jaw is set. “Or, if he can’t tell us, then we need to discover what it fuckin’ is.”
“Where’s he been?” Knowing Thor’s right, I now try to engage my head. “Why did he leave? We’d given up on him, but he did return. What was he doing, and who did he cross?”
“Good questions, Swift,” Pip comments, but not condescendingly. “Though again, if I was representing the Devil, I’d query whether it could be that he knew he was already a dead man and returned to the only family he had.”
Does he have no one else? That’s more than sad. Even I have my parents, though they’re in another country. I drum my fingers against the table. Although others assure me he wasn’t always such an ass, I have only known him in his recent reincarnation. “What do we know about Stormy? I was only patched in two years ago and didn’t get to know the man. He was already a nomad when I joined.” All I saw of him was a man I instantly didn’t like.
Pip waggles his fingers. When Prez jerks his chin toward him, he begins. “I can answer that quite simply. No, he was not always an ass, or not a complete one. He doesn’t have family and totally bought into that aspect of the club. It fulfilled a need inside him. I won’t disagree that he could be hard, and unyielding at times, but there was never any doubt that we could trust him.”
“He was a good brother,” Honor observes. “He took a break for personal reasons. When he came back, it was as a changed man. From that point on, he was on a very short fuse.”
“You could fuckin’ say that,” Grinch says with feeling. He jerks his head toward the men sitting at his side. “Mystic, Goofy and I got the brunt of that.”
“I thought he just needed time,” Prez states, looking weary. “When it didn’t get better, I agreed with Pip that sending him out as a nomad was better for our mental health. To say he’d become fuckin’ difficult to deal with is an understatement.”
There are nods of agreement with that, and a heartfelt, “Amen, Brother,” from Grinch.
Pip clears his throat, indicating he’s more to add. “When Stormy joined the club, I obviously investigated his background and history. It was up to him how much he generally shared.”
There’s an unspoken rule that we don’t go digging in member’s personal business—not once they’re past the prospecting stage. Someone like myself, being brought to the table after him, wouldn’t be privy to the reasons Stormy had for joining, and he, himself, had deigned not to share them.
Snatcher’s watching Pip carefully. “I think you know more than anyone, Pip. All I know is the headline. Stormy was a SEAL, and he lost the right to call himself that when he was dishonourably discharged.”
That’s news to me. My eyes go to the man seated opposite Snatcher, and I’m not the only one to have a creased brow.
Pip shrugs. “I was recommended to Stormy, but the recommendation went both ways. It’s no secret he already came with his handle attached. The man was known for his temper, but only when justified. Let’s just say, he exposed weaknesses in his commanding officer, weaknesses which couldn’t entirely be covered up. He couldn’t be allowed to escape punishment, but a full court martial would have exposed too much. He was kicked out but didn’t serve time in the brig.”
I wince, understanding how proud SEALs are of being able to claim an alliance to that elite body, even when they no longer served. It must have killed Stormy to be unable to claim a connection anymore. But I do have a question. “Was he right to do what he did to get kicked out?”
Pip raises and lowers his chin. “Yes. The lieutenant commander he served with was removed from active duty. But he kept his designation, even received a shoreside promotion after a while.”
“Enough to send any man off the rails,” Goofy observes.
Pip grins. “When he first came here, he was more miserable than angry. He thought his life was completely fucked, but instead, he found a place he could fit in. Here, with us, he settled. Until, as you say, he took time out. The changes weren’t immediately obvious when he first returned. He’d always been something of an asshole, but it got worse.” He looks down at his hands, his cheeks reddening slightly. “I suppose I ought to admit the reason he gave me for wanting some personal time was a heap of shit. He said it was because his mom was dying—his mom who’d walked out when he was six and with whom he’d had no contact with since. I was suspicious, but hey, I wasn’t going to pry. He’d been a good brother. If he needed time out, he could take it.”
“And you let him get away without an explanation?” Snatcher bangs the table angrily. “And you didn’t think to tell me, your VP at that time?”
While embarrassed he’s had to admit his failing, Pip doesn’t look contrite. “He was wound up, distraught about something. It could have been woman troubles for all I knew. No, I didn’t call him out. I mistakenly thought he’d sort it and then come back. He kept in touch, that’s all I could ask.”
“Jesus.” Prez breathes the word out. His eyes flare at his former prez.
What’s done is done. Sure, I think Pip was wrong, but what’s the point going through all that now? “And when he came back, worse than before, that was when you decided to let him go nomad,” I state.
Again, Pip’s shoulders rise and lower. “Stormy’s got fuckin’ skills. It was either lose them or send him out where he wasn’t going to upset the balance of the club. Yeah, it was my decision. I thought eventually he’d work it out of his system.”
“But he never did,” Snatcher observes, still sounding angry. “In fact, out on his own, he grew worse. His lack of trust in us, his brothers, led to him acting rogue and nearly losing us our charter.” His knuckles wrap the table edge, and he leans forward. “I want to know every fuckin’ thing about Stormy. Pip, do you know details of how he showed this commanding officer up?”