Reckless Love (Satan's Prophets MC, Book 2) (Satan's Prophets MC Series) (18 page)

Mick sat down. Roach looked at his bloodshot eyes and grinned. “You tied one hell of a pisser on last night, bro. How’s your head?”

“Feels like a ton of cinderblocks are in there.” He winced. “Someone, bring me a cup of coffee… make it strong black,” he yelled out as an afterthought.

“So,” JD asked, “when’s the big day?”

“Not sure yet. If it was up to me, we’d just take off and find a JP, but her aunt and dad want some kind of party to celebrate first. By the way,” he looked around the clubhouse to a few brothers that were there, “you’re all invited, spread the word.”

“I’m still trying to figure out how you got someone to marry you with that big ugly face of yours,” Roach joked.

“Big is the key word there, bro. She caught one look at my Mr. Big and fell in love.”

Santos paced back and forth, checking his watch every five minutes.

“Where the fuck is Luis? Anybody know where he could be?” Santos yelled at the men sitting in the warehouse office. When no one answered, Santos started shooting out questions. “When did you see him last? Did he tell anyone where he was headed?”

The men looked at each other. No one answered.

“We got a shipment due in tonight. This is the mother lode that’s gonna get us up and running and he is our main contact to get it out on the streets. Fuck! Am I going to have to keep coming down here to handle all this shit? What the fuck do I pay you men for?”

Enrico stood up and spoke. “Luis was bragging to us how it was
his
brainstorm to have some pet shop deliver the crystal meth in dog food bags. He told us to watch out for a black van. He was joking about feeding some to a dog for kicks. Maybe he went out looking for a dog?”

Santos looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Juan, you seem to know everything that goes on around here. When did you last see him?”

Juan shrugged his shoulders, secretly hoping Luis never returned. “About a week ago. He pulled out in his car and I watched as he stopped to pick up some
puta
on the street corner. Maybe he is still with her. I’ve never seen her hanging around before. She must be a new one. She had blonde hair, that’s all I know.”

“No, impossible. He would be back. He knows we got that shipment coming. He’s the one that set it all up. I don’t like this. Eduardo, take some men and ask around. Find out who this woman is. Bring her here.”

Roberto thought for a moment. “I think I saw her yesterday morning. A blonde bitch was begging for money two streets over. I’m going to take a ride and see if she is around.”

Roberto walked out, got in his car, and drove out of the lot, looking for a pay phone a few miles away. He dialed a number that was a direct line to his supervisor’s office.

William Guzzi picked up his direct private line on the first ring. He listened for a few seconds. “Got it.”

Hanging up the phone, Robert drove around to kill some time before he returned to the warehouse.

Santos came right over when Roberto returned. “Did you find her?”

“No. I asked around and the other girls said they haven’t seen her.” Roberto needed to calm Santos down. “They also told me she’s a big time user. The last time she disappeared, she and her trick were strung out for days. They said she gets a kick out of lacing her snatch with heroin and having her tricks lick it out. He’s probably still high as a kite somewhere.”

“Dumb fucker! I knew I should’ve shot that prick the first time I caught him shooting up.” Santos looked around at the rest of the men, thinking it was time to get rid of these worthless shits. He’d have to recruit some new boys he could depend on.

* * *

Later that night, Roberto was on edge, waiting. It was near three in the morning when they heard a truck pulling up to the warehouse doors. Enrico looked out at the blank spot in the painted up window and read “Pauly’s Pet Supply” in white lettering on the side of a black van.

“Open up the bay door,” he quickly yelled out. “Let’s get that that truck in here.” The truck flew into the garage and the big overhead door rolled down and hit the cement floor with a bang. Santos’s men surround the van with guns drawn, not taking any chances.

The back double doors of the van burst open and agents jumped out armed with shotguns and assault rifles. “DEA! Drop your weapons!”

Santos’s men started shooting. Roberto watched as Santos ran toward the back of the warehouse, trying to get away. He ran after him, shooting above his head to get him to stop. Santos turned fast and aimed. Roberto ducked to the side just in time as the bullet whizzed past him. He fired back, shooting him in his leg to slow him down. He maneuvered around a stockpile of boxes and tackled Santos to the floor.

Santos’s gun fired in the scuffle and Roberto felt a stinging pain in his gut. Suddenly, they were surrounded by agents.

“Hold your fire!” an agent yelled out.

Santos looked up and realized the game was over. He dropped his gun and raised his hands. He was immediately handcuffed and led away. One of the agents knelt down to Roberto and examined his wound. He took off his armored vest, then his shirt, and rolled it up into a ball to hold against Roberto’s wound, applying pressure. Another agent pulled out his radio and called for an ambulance.

* * *

When Robert came to, he was lying in a hospital bed. He felt a dull ache in his side and his head was woozy from the morphine drip. A nurse was checking his medication chart and asked if he was feeling any pain.

“Right now, can’t feel a fucking thing, darlin’,” Robert slurred back. The nurse tsked over his cursing, then smiled. “I’ll send an aide in to wash you up in a little while.” She studied the monitors, then left.

William walked into the room soon after and winced when he saw all the machines Robert was hooked up to. Robert managed to speak even though his mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls. “About time you showed up here.”

“My phone’s been ringing nonstop. You know how it goes. These chicken shit detectives around here are afraid to make a decision on their own. I got here as soon as I could.” He frowned down at Robert. “How are you feeling? You had us worried, you know. Took the doctors three hours in surgery to patch you up. They said after a week or two in the hospital to be monitored, you should be able to go home.”

“Did you get him?”

William knew exactly who Robert was talking about. “Yep,” William said with a huge smile. “He’s being interrogated right now and our boys have him crying out names like a little baby.”

“Good.” William went to offer Robert thanks, but realized he had fallen asleep.

Robert was released a week later with his promise to go home and take it easy. The department gave him three months of paid leave to recuperate and he was already bored after the first day. The doorbell rang and, when he opened the door, he was surprised to see Sally standing there.

Robert groaned, running his hands through his bed-rumpled hair. “I shipped you home. What are you doing back down here?”

He hurriedly pulled his pajama bottoms up higher from where they were hugging his hips and stepped aside.

Sally walked in and laid her purse and small duffel bag on a nearby chair. “What? No ‘I’m glad to see you’? Congratulations, by the way. Great job. Don’t you worry, I took some vacation time and I’m going to nurse you back to health.”

“Kill me now,” he groaned softly.

“Hey, I heard that.” Sally shot back at him.

Robert was ready to climb the walls and Sally wasn’t helping matters any. At first, she wanted to move into his bedroom with him in case he needed her during the night. He stuck to his guns and told her, “No way.” Her nonstop silly chatter was grating on his nerves, so he pretended to be asleep every time she came in to check up on him. He let her change his bandages, but drew the line at her helping him bathe. After her first couple of tasteless meals, Robert gave her money to go out and pick up food.

He was sick of watching TV and doing crossword puzzles. He tried Solitaire and that lasted for a day before he flung the cards at the wall. One day, as he was lying in bed watching a rerun of an old movie he had seen before, his eyes settled on his mother’s journal that was still lying on the floor near his wastebasket. He got out of bed and picked it up. By the time he got back into bed, his hands started to shake as he held it. He decided he wasn’t ready to read all about the woman who didn’t want him. He laid it down on his nightstand. He looked at it again and felt his stomach start to quiver. He opened up the nightstand drawer and threw it inside. He put an arm over his eyes and tried to think of other things, anything to push the image of that journal out of his mind.

But lately, every time he closed his eyes, his mother’s image would come back to him. The last few days of her life were the hardest for him to bear, knowing she was slipping away and he could do nothing to save her. The only time he saw a spark of life in her eyes was when she would talk about his birthmother and how mothers do what they think is best for their child. Robert knew she wanted him to find his birthmother; he just wasn’t ready, not yet.

But her name was stuck in his brain.

* * *

Sally was in the kitchen unpacking the Chinese food she had just returned with. She was glad Robert had made such good progress in his recovery and didn’t think he needed her any more, but he never told her he didn’t, so she stayed on. She began to feel like his personal slave, but then again, that was her fault for spoiling him.

The doorbell rang and Robert yelled out for her to get the door. That pissed her off. He was more than capable of getting up to answer it. She bit her lip to keep her sharp retort in check and went to see who was there.

“Mick! What a surprise.” She gave Mick a big hug. “Come on in. Robert will be so glad to see you.”

Mick was surprised to see Sally there. He wondered what their connection was and if they were more than just working associates, but he figured that was none of his business.

“Robert. Guess who’s here. It’s Mick!”

Robert came walking out of the bedroom, fresh from the shower and rubbing a towel through his hair. “Amigo, what brings you down here?” He held out his hand to shake Mick’s.

“Just wanted to stop in and check up on you. Rumor has it you got shot up pretty bad, so I took a ride down to see how you were doing for myself. You’re quite the hero, I hear.”

Robert brushed the compliment aside. “Come and sit down while I go get dressed. Sally, grab a beer for Mick.”

Mick tried not to laugh at the look of disgust on Sally’s face. “Join us for lunch, Mick. We’re having Chinese.” Sally explained how she took vacation time to look after Robert. “I didn’t think I would have to be his personal slave, too,” she complained.

Robert walked out fully-dressed. “Sally, I am almost out of underwear. How ‘bout washing me some?”

Sally walked over to the hall closet and grabbed her purse and duffel bag. “Adios, I’m out of here. You’re on your own, big boy.” She slammed the door on the way out and Robert burst out laughing. “Thought she’d never leave. She drove me fucking crazy.”

“So tell me, Mick, what have you been up to since I last saw you?”

“I’m getting married soon,
but my future bride
doesn’t know when. I’m going to surprise her at our engagement party. Hey, why don’t you come up for the wedding? I would love for you to meet her.”

Robert thought that was a great idea, something to break up his monotonous days. “Just tell me where and when and I’ll be there.”