Gonzo (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Book 7) (17 page)

“Being one of the top scientists for a pharmaceutical company puts me at high risk for being abducted. I’m not supposed to tell anyone about the many security precautions in place, and I’d appreciate it if you kept what you’ve figured out quiet.”

“Do the twins have trackers?”

“I’m not supposed to say.”

“Likely in their shoes as well, and I can’t imagine you wouldn’t insist on them being as protected as you. Is that the real reason you were so against my buying the three of you new boots?” When she didn’t answer I shook my head and continued. “My guess is if they kidnapped you and tried to get answers they’d be out of luck, but if they had the twins you’d spill
all
your secrets to keep them from hurting the kids.”

“I’ve never heard the shoes checking in. You can really hear even when electronics are communicating with each other?”

“It’s part of the background noise unless I focus in on it. It’s quiet in here tonight so it was easy for me to realize it happened about a second after your foot came out of your shoe, just enough time for it to pick up the difference in temperature.” I sighed. “I have a right to know the security precautions in place for my kids. If you don’t tell me, I’ll just experiment around with their shoes until I know how often and when they check in.”

“They check in when the shoe goes on or comes off, and at random intervals in between when they’re on. No one watches my activity, but the computer will notify someone if I or the kids go off our usual schedule during the week, or if our weekend activities seem off. Should I turn up missing and they can’t find me through my phone or shoes, they can access the logs to see when the trackers last checked in.”

“Do you have plans in place so the kids won’t go to the state if you’re abducted?”

“Legal papers are in place so they’ll go to my dad. That obviously has to be changed now, and I’ll get my attorney started on it Monday so they’ll go to you.”

“I don’t like a lot of people who aren’t part of my inner circle. I mean, it isn’t just that I don’t like them, it’s that I can’t stand to be around them. When I first met you I worried you’d be like most everyone else who’s a regular part of society, but you don’t annoy me just by walking into the room. I enjoy our conversations, and I love how much you love the kids.” I shook my head and tried to figure out how to say what I needed to. “I don’t want things to be weird between us, but I worry we’ve already crossed the Rubicon on that one. I don’t regret giving you your first orgasm, but I’m not sure we should take it any farther.”

“I feel like you’ve woken something up in me, and now I want to explore it. Our offices are on the top two floors of a building, and the lower floors are leased to other companies. There’s a café on the second floor and a gentleman has asked me to dinner a few times and I’ve turned him down. I intend to talk to him and let him know I’d like to go if the offer’s still open. If we plan something for next weekend, can you take the kids?”

How can someone feel relief and dismay at the same time? I was relieved this took me off the hook for having to decide whether I wanted a relationship with her, and dismayed that now the decision was made for me and there wouldn’t be one.

I ignored my feelings though and told her, “I’d love to take the kids. Let me know as soon as you can so I can make sure I’m not scheduled to work.”

I stood and took a step toward her. “Give me a hug and then lock the door behind me.”

She gave me the same warm hug she’d been giving me, and seemed fine as she said goodbye at the door.

G
onzo

B
rain
and I arrived at Randall’s house Sunday evening. I was slightly on edge because he’d requested we come in a vehicle instead of on our bikes, and this hinted that one of us might not be in any shape to drive home.

Still, I met him in his front yard with the cooler and sat it on the ground between us as I said, “I appreciate the relationship between Pack and MC. I fucked up and it was your job to deliver the consequences. We’re good.”

“I appreciate the words and the tribute. Does the rest of the MC feel the same?”

“Some apparently didn’t while I was recuperating, but I’ve set them straight.”

He nodded. “Anything else?”

“Yes, actually. The twins are four and have more wolf traits than I believe is normal at this age. We’ve been invited to Sunday dinner at Duke and Gen’s next week, and Brain and Harmony are coming as well. Duke said I should ask you if you’ll mind spending some time with them to give your input. If so, he’ll invite you and a date to dinner as well.”

“It’s my responsibility to investigate any reports of oddities in any wolf in my territory. I’ll come to dinner, but you have to know I might need to spend some time with them one-on-one if I pick up on anything.”

If he tried to take my kids I’d fight to the death — either mine or his — to stop him, but he didn’t need to know that unless it came down to it. I nodded and said, “I’ll ask to be present, even if I’m only sitting a distance away as an observer.”

“If it’s at all possible, I’ll honor your request.”

“Thank you. I need a door put between the two guest bedrooms in my house, can we work out a time for you to send someone to my house?”

He gave me a dollar figure, I agreed to it, and he said to expect a phone call later in the week to set up a time.

I offered my hand, and he shook it. Brain shook his hand as well and we turned to leave. We were halfway to the SUV when Randall said, “Gonzo!” I turned and he said, “Wednesday night, if you reach out to me for help, I’ll give it.”

I nodded, and Brain and I left.

We were on the road and several miles away before Brain asked, “Are you going to take him up on the offer and ask for help?”

“I don’t intend to. Did you know he’d give the offer if I brought tribute?”

“No, and I’m surprised he did, but I’ve been through it and it’s hell. There’s a good chance I’d have made a deal with the devil while I was going through the worst of it.”

“You’ve been through it? I keep forgetting you grew up in a Pack and then left it.”

“Stupid teenager attitude shit. Got too big for my position and the Alpha reminded me how much stronger he was. Let’s just say I went out of my way to show proper respect afterwards.”

“I’m scheduled to patrol the next three nights. I’m on a bit of a short fuse, so ya’ll need to either put me in an area where heads need to be beaten in at the first sign of trouble, or in an area where there isn’t likely to be any trouble. Keep me out of the places that need a diplomatic touch if you can, because I’m not sure I’m up for it.”

Brain laughed. “Not a problem. I’ll talk it over with Duke before we give assignments.” He was quiet a few moments before he added. “There’ll be no shame in reaching out to Randall for help, and he might even view it as a sign of respect if you do.”

M
y first few
hours of patrol were uneventful, but I enjoyed being out in the night under the almost-full moon.

I was on the edge of our territory, where one side of the street belonged to us and the other side belonged to the Disciples when I saw Pit Bull on our side of the street selling drugs to what looked like some high school kids.

I interceded and put Pit Bull on the ground and my boot into the back of his neck. I told the kids they were standing on RTMC territory buying drugs. They threw their little baggies on the ground and ran. Smart kids.

Pit Bull shot Dawg a while back and nearly killed him. We’ve reached somewhat of a truce with the Disciples since then, but none of us have forgiven Pit Bull. If Dawg had been human he’d have been dead instantly because he took a point-blank shot to the heart. As it was, he didn’t have time to
change
and heal before his heart stopped working. Some of the MC put hands on him and
changed
him as he was dying. We shouldn’t have been able to do it — only an Alpha or sometimes his top people can do that sort of thing. We’d managed it, though, and Pit Bull had been unconscious from his own gunshot wounds by that time, so he didn’t see Dawg
change
into a wolf. We didn’t get a chance to kill Pit Bull that night, and then we’d reached a deal with the Disciples that let him live if he left town. Since he was already gone, it was the best deal we were likely to make. He’s back now, but Dawg always votes not to send someone to kill him when someone puts it to a vote during Church, so the bastard’s still alive.

So now — once the kids were out of sight — I put Pit Bull on his feet and proceeded to beat the living hell out of him. He’s a tough son of a bitch so he managed to get back up when I knocked him down. I knew I was close to killing him, but the bastard wouldn’t stay down so I kept punching.

Eventually, I heard Marlin and Bash telling me he’d had enough, but I still didn’t stop. “I’ll stop when the son of a bitch goes down and
stays
down.”

“You heard him, Pit. Hit the ground!” Marlin yelled.

Arms wrapped around me from behind and pulled me back as Marlin grabbed Pit Bull and pulled him back. I recognized Duke’s smell so I didn’t fight him, but I stayed on alert until Bash stepped between Pit Bull and me so he’d be the one to take a punch if Marlin let him go.

“He was dealing on our side of the street,” I told them.

“I know,” Duke said from behind me. “Control contacted me.”

“And you called Marlin?”

He let go of me. “Yeah. Wanted to know if he gave the okay to break our truce.”

I looked toward Marlin and asked, “Did you?”

“No. I don’t know why Pit came to your side, but can we all agree it’s been dealt with and move on?”

“Ask him why he did it.”

He eyed us a few moments and turned to Pit Bull, who was leaned against a building, dazed. “Why’d you cross the street?”

“Wanted to.”

I’d taken all of his money and drugs before I started beating on him, and now I walked to a storm drain, opened the baggies, and dumped the drugs then the baggies.

“The money I took off him will be donated to a charity of our choice. I assume he’ll face discipline from your people for losing a couple thousand in cash and product?”

“Yeah,” said Marlin. He was beyond pissed but he didn’t move to stop me or retaliate. “If we’re good, I’ll get Pit home so we can check him over.”

Snake stepped into view as he rounded a corner on their side of the street and asked, “Ya’ll mind if I come over long enough to help get our man home?”

Duke looked to Brain, who said, “Not a problem. We appreciate the Disciple’s management working with us, but we hope you can keep your people in line better in the future so we don’t have these little issues pop up. The MC doesn’t want to go back to an ongoing war, but we’re more than prepared to do so if it comes down to it.”

Snake pulled one of Pit Bull’s arms over his shoulder and propped him up, and Marlin walked to us with his arms held out to the side so we’d know he wasn’t going for a weapon. When he reached us he held his hand out to Duke and they shook.

“He went against my orders and I’ll make an example of him. He’ll either pay us back what he lost in forty-eight hours or he’ll lose a finger for every thousand he’s short.”

They both helped him across the street and out of sight, and Brain turned to me to say, “Short fuse might be a bit of an understatement. Turns out it was okay in this situation, but we need you to keep them alive unless you have to kill them to keep yourself or someone we protect safe.”

I nodded. “Still haven’t forgiven him for Dawg. I’ll have a clearer head with anyone else.”

A front door two houses down opened, and a shriveled up little old lady stepped onto her porch. “Are you boys okay? If you need to come in and clean up you’re more than welcome.”

I smiled and walked toward her. “I do need to wash up, Mrs. Jones, thanks for the offer. How are you doing?”

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am you nice boys have cleaned up the neighborhood. My daughter even lets my grandkids come spend the night with me sometimes now, and she never even let them visit before — I had to go to their house to see them.”

She’s let me use her bathroom before, so I knew the way. I couldn’t
change
until the full moon, but even if I’d been able to, I wouldn’t because if someone saw me later tonight who knew about the beat down, they’d wonder why my hands didn’t show evidence of it. I washed my hands, forearms, face, and neck to be sure I got all the blood off. My shirt and vest were black, and a quick look at my patches didn’t show any blood spatter that stood out as fresh.

When I came out she had a pot of coffee, paper cups, sugar, and milk out on the porch. We all graciously accepted a cup of coffee and left.

Mrs. Jones has lived in the same little six hundred square foot house for forty-five years. Her husband bought it just before they married, and they raised two kids in it. Her husband died a decade ago and she refuses to leave her house even though her kids have offered to pay all expenses if she’ll move out of this section of town.

During the worst of the fighting when we first moved to town she helped us out with her shotgun during an all-out-brawl. She might be tiny but she’s fierce.

The rest of the night was without incident, so I didn’t get to beat the shit out of anyone else.

I
didn’t fall
into bed until four in the morning and I slept until nearly two in the afternoon. I stumbled across the street and ordered three burgers with fried eggs on them, and hash browns instead of fries. Close enough to breakfast, right?

My hands looked awful but it felt right to have them scabbed over and tight from the swelling. Pit Bull had only landed maybe a half-dozen solid hits on me, and I felt it a little in my jaw but not enough to give a second thought. Unless he was using his own product, I couldn’t imagine how or why he’d kept standing.

Dawg was working the bar and I saw him call one of the prospects over to cover for him a minute. He walked to my table with two beers and put one in front of me as he sat and took a long draw off his.

“I’ve squared everything up with Pit Bull. You don’t have to keep punishing him.”

“He was dealing drugs in our territory.”

“We take their drugs and money and rough them up. We don’t fuck them up until they’re an inch from death.”

“He okay?”

“They brought their doc in. Concussion bad enough he wants him in the hospital, but they’re still treating him at home. Sounds like his friends and family are scrambling to come up with the cash he’s short within his forty-eight hours.” He looked at me a few seconds, took another long draw off the beer bottle, and said, “You look pissed at the world again.”

I shook my head. “Twins are fine. Everything’s good.”

“I bet even
you
could smell the scent of a lie on that one.”

He was right, but I thought I’d been telling the truth. Connie and I were fine. She’d date other people, and she and I would be friends who co-parent the twins. Was I lying to myself?

“So maybe there are some details to figure out, but the twins are fine and I’ll eventually have full custody.”

We talked about random shit another five minutes, and when he returned to the bar I called Sam’s office to tell her assistant I’d like them to set an appointment this Saturday at the lab they used. She told me the lab was only open until noon on Saturdays and I told her that was fine.

I ordered two more burgers and ate a piece of chocolate cake, and then took off on my bike to ride until it was time to patrol again.

N
othing much had happened
by two in the morning. I’d helped three drunk teenaged girls back into their house around eleven because no way was I letting them get into a car. No parents were home so I took all of their keys and told them I’d put them on the front porch later so they’d have them when they awakened.

I walked by the house a few hours later, heard the heartbeats of three sleeping girls, and put the keys under a seat cushion as I’d told them I would.

I’d just stepped back onto the street when I heard Brain in my earpiece. “Gonzo, Tiny — head to the gun shop. The alarm at the back went off and I’m looking at three people trying to break in. Everyone else hold your positions, four men are leaving from here in an SUV to act as backup.”

I was five blocks away and I took off at a run. Tiny wasn’t there yet when I arrived, and I stayed behind some bushes as I watched the idiots try to get through our locks.

“If they aren’t in yet it’s doubtful they’ll get in. What do you want me to do?” I asked Brain through the comms.

“Let them keep trying until our SUV arrives. Flank them so you cut off their exit points. I want them brought back here so we can question them.”

I’d heard and smelled Tiny arrive while I was talking. “Tiny, stay where you are and I’ll match you on this side,” I told him as I scanned the area and saw him mostly hidden in the shadows across the lot.

He nodded and I was no sooner in position than our SUV arrived. All three of the would-be burglars ran my way, and I stopped two but missed the third. Bash took off after him, and brought the asshole back slung over his shoulder and unconscious.

They zip-tied all three into a hogtie in the back compartment of the SUV and took off.

“Gonzo,” Brain said through my earpiece, “patrol the four blocks around the gun store the rest of the night, Tiny will take over the southern edge and I’ll send Nix to patrol the rest of the zone you’re in.”

Nix came to us through another chapter, but I fully expect we’ll patch him in if he tells us he wants in. Only fully patched members solo patrol, but I agreed with Brain about letting Nix handle part of this zone alone to see how he handled it. He’d patrolled each division with a patched member, so he should know the boundaries.