1
BEAR
“And just how much money did the bar lose last month?”
Maverick ran a hand through his dark faux hawk as he glared at my club brothers. He might have been my best friend, but at this moment, he carried the weight of being the Exiled Reapers vice president. I pinched the bridge of my nose and thanked fuck I was the enforcer and not the treasurer. In our world, the messenger always ran the risk of getting shot.
Blade sighed and flipped to a page in his notebook. “Another 10k.”
A collective groan filled the wood-paneled room where we held church. A sacred space to be sure, but a far cry from the church my parents took me to as a kid. This was where we conducted business for our motorcycle club. Today was just officers, which meant the meeting would be faster, but there were less of us to share in Mav’s wrath.
He slammed his fist on the twenty-foot-long table, and the vibration ran from my elbow to my fingertips. With Mav at the helm, it was a wonder the table was still in one piece.
“Is someone taking money from the register? Is that the problem?”
I perked up in my seat. Stealing? From the Exiled Reapers? That was my domain, and I’d happily ferret out the thief. I cracked my knuckles and looked around the room. I hated to believe any of them would steal from family. I hoped Mav was wrong. But if he wasn’t…
“Maybe one of the bunnies?” Tracker, our road captain, suggested.
Mav scoffed, his brown eyes rolling, and he shook his head. “You think one of them could pull this off? There’s only one thing they’re good at, and it sure as hell doesn’t involve the brain cells needed to steal from under our noses.”
Tracker shrugged. “Seems more likely than one of us. That’s all I’m saying.”
Blade cleared his throat. “No one is stealing. Truth is, there’s rarely any money in the register to steal. We don’t have enough customers.”
I shook my head. “How is that possible? There’s always someone drinking from the time we open to the time we close.”
Blade nodded. “Exactly. Brothers are always drinking. Not paying customers. We drink free. The bunnies drink free. We’ve got plenty going out and nothing coming in.”
Oh.He was probably right about that. One of the perks of joining the MC was free drinks at the bar.
Blade continued. “We’ve also got a menu that’s ten pages long and a walk-in refrigerator full of stock that goes to waste when no one orders.”
Mav scowled. “So, what are you saying? We need to pay for drinks?”
Blade shook his head. “God, no. Nothing that drastic. What we need is a bar manager. Someone who can simplify the menu to a few things and keep an eye on the bunnies while they work. And maybe they would also have some ideas to bring in new customers.”
Mav nodded. “The bar hasn’t made a profit since we opened it, but it’s never been this bad. We can’t shut it down, but we also need it to be marginally successful to look legit.”
He had a point. We needed the bar to funnel money from our other, less than legal pursuits.
I flipped the pocketknife in my hand and scanned the men at the table. “Anybody feel like they could run a bar or restaurant? We need somebody we can trust and won’t ask any questions.”
No one raised a hand, which wasn’t surprising. We had a few business owners—Mav owned the gun shop and range where I worked, and Blade ran a home security business. Unfortunately, it looked like the only experience any of us had with bars was drinking in them.
“What about a sibling?” I looked around the room. It would be my responsibility to vet the new employee, and if it couldn’t be a club brother, the next best thing was blood.
Again, no answer.
I sighed. “Old lady?”
Tracker snorted. “You mean Poison? Stitch’s old lady? She just opened her new salon. No way she’d have time for this.”
I turned to Mav and shrugged.
“All right.” He sighed. “We’ll table that for now, but keep your eyes and ears open for a candidate. If we can’t find someone tied to the club, maybe someone desperate? So desperate for a job that they’d keep quiet about everything else. But not so desperate that they would steal or sell our secrets. Fuck. If you come up with somebody, send them to Bear. Anything else, Blade?”
“Our other businesses are running well. The latest shipment arrived on time and intact, no hiccups. Payment was wired and accounts are healthy. New supplier is working out. Buyers are happy.”
