Axle: Savage Skulls MC Vol. 1

Chapter 5

"Oh, my goodness, how can anyone understand this?" Harper was overwhelmed by surmounting piles of ledgers, all to which she couldn't decipher. Charlie shrugged. "Menace had his own formula, I guess."

"How can we possibly figure this out?" "The only person who ever handled the books was Menace." Harper pointed out. "Well, we need to if we're going to find out why I got attacked and who ransacked the salon," Charlie murmured.

For the next few hours, Charlie and Harper comb through dozens of ledgers from the club's multiple businesses. The club owned a mechanic shop, 2 strip clubs, a tattoo shop, a restaurant, and a hair and nail salon.

"Who manages all these places?" Charlie asked, lifting her glasses over her head.

"Maggie manages the salon, Mischa manages Lotus 8, Willa manages Ellie's Diner, Ink manages the tattoo shop, and Beast manages Cathedral." "And nobody manages the mechanic shop because most of the members work there," Harper answered.

"Does that help with something?" Harper asked. Charlie wasn't sure. She figured if these people were put into those positions meant the club trusted them...Menace trusted them.

Charlie had a disturbing thought that she immediately pushed in the back of her mind. There'd be no way she thought.

Harper got up from the floor, dusting herself off. "I'm hungry and I know you are, too." "We've been at this for hours and nothing has stood out." "Let's take a break and then come back to it later, ok." Harper smiled, holding her hand out to Charlie.

She took Harper's hand. "Ok."

*******

Axle returned to Lotus 8 to have another conversation with Montoya. The Unholy was correct in that this whole situation was unchartered territory for the club. They've had to deal with rival gangs, like the LOH over minor disputes. But this was beyond that...there was nothing minor about Italian mobsters and the Cartel.

Axle made haste down the stairs as he heard a slight commotion. "What the fuck happened?!" He yelled staring at Montoya's lifeless body on the cement floor.

"Beast, you were supposed to just watch him...not fucking kill him." Priest cursed, bending down and checking Montoya's pulse. "Fuck!"

"He got loose somehow and tackled me when I came down to check on him." "Somehow we were on the floor wrestling and he reached for my gun...and then it just went off," Beast explained.

"Now what?" "Surely can't get information from a dead man." Tank said, glaring at Beast. "Fuck you, Tank, you weren't here." "That fucker tried to kill me." Beast reiterated his case.

"Wait...what if he has to report back to someone?" The Unholy asked. They all looked at each other. The thought didn't even cross anyone's mind until at that very moment.

"We didn't find a cell phone or anything like that on him." Hawk chimed in. "Well, somebody hired him." Axle pointed out. "He didn't wake up one morning and decide to come to Reno and attack my girl."

"Your girl." Priest repeated with a smirk. "That's not the point." Axle glossed over Priest's comment.

"You and Hawk get rid of the body." Axle instructed Beast.

Axle and the others went back upstairs. "Is anyone else slightly concerned about the shit storm we're in?" The Unholy asked, grabbing a beer from the bar.

"Menace never mentioned any concerns to you." "I mean, you were his VP." Tank asked. Axle shook his head. "You know how Menace was, he was an old school biker, kept everything close to the vest."