As they walked back toward the main building, Finn felt lighter, like some weight he'd been carrying had been lifted. Not all of it.
The guilt over his mother would probably never fully leave, but some of it. Enough to breathe a little easier.
They were halfway across the courtyard when Axel appeared, moving fast. His scarred face was hard, serious.
"We got him."
Magnus stopped. His entire body language changed from mentor to leader in the space of a heartbeat.
"We found him at a Motel 6 on Highway 99. We got surveillance photos."
"He met with someone."
"Who?"
Axel handed Magnus a phone. On the screen was a photograph taken with a telephoto lens.
A man sitting in a car, dark hair slicked back, expensive boots, talking to someone in the passenger seat. Garrett Sloan, the vice president, and the man he was talking to was someone Finn didn't recognize, but Magnus clearly did.
His jaw tightened. His expression turned colder.
"That's Dominic Vaughn, Vegas Syndicate."
Magnus handed the phone back. His voice dropped to a lethal whisper.
"Bring him in. Quietly."
"Don't make a scene. Just bring him to church."
Finn didn't fully understand what he was witnessing, but he understood enough. Someone had betrayed the club.
Someone close. Someone trusted.
And Magnus Blackwell was about to deliver justice.
Church in the Hells Angels world meant the chapel. The sacred space where only patched members were allowed.
Where votes were taken. Where decisions that affected the entire club were made.
Finn wasn't allowed inside, but he watched from the hallway through a small window in the door as two dozen senior members filed in. Grim.
Silent. This wasn't a normal meeting.
This was a trial.
Garrett Sloan was brought in by Axel and three other massive angels. His hands weren't bound, but he knew.
You could see it in his face. The panic.
The desperation. The knowledge that his life was about to change forever.
Magnus sat at the head of the table, president, judge, and executioner in the eyes of everyone present. Garrett tried to speak.
Magnus held up one hand. Silence.
Axel laid out the evidence. Phone records.
Wire transfers. Security footage.
Bank statements showing $500,000 appearing in an offshore account under Garrett's name two days before the attack on Cass. The money had come from Vegas.
From Dominic Vaughn. Payment for information.
Payment for access. Payment for betrayal.