by Jamie Begley
“Do you need to go back to the house to use the bathroom?”
Jo jabbed him with her elbow. “I was trying to pout.”
“That was your pouty face? Jesus, don’t do that. It’s scary.”
“Thanks a lot. I know I don’t have your expertise. You’ve got it down to an art form.”
“Yes, I do. It’s taken a lot of hard work.”
“I bet. How many pieces of candy have you begged for before Willa just gave up and made you an entire batch?”
“Several, but I’ve never been afraid of a little hard work.”
“How you have that flat stomach with as much as you eat makes me want to throw my scale in the trash.”
“You noticed my stomach?”
She gaped at him, realizing too late what she had said. “You’ll have to show me how to log on to the computer.” She tried to distract him by opening it.
“You don’t want to talk about my flat stomach anymore?”
“No.”
“You’re a killjoy.”
“Rider …”
“Okay, okay. I’ll show how to log on. Then I can show you the camera in the driveway before I leave.”
Jo kept her face blank as he quit joking around, showing her how to log on and how to monitor the security cameras. All the while, she felt sick to her stomach that he would be leaving soon.
“You got it?” Rider repeated his question when she didn’t answer.
“Got it.”
Satisfied, he closed the computer. “Keep it where you can see it in the house or the garage. If you see anything suspicious, hit the red button I showed you and stay put.”
“Yes, sir,” Jo smarted off.
“Careful, Jo. That sounds good on your lips.”
Jo was stunned at his innuendo. For a split-second, she thought lust had shone in his eyes. However, the next second it was gone.
“I may like being one of your bosses if I get that term of respect from you.”
“I thought you said you weren’t my boss.” She followed him out as he closed the door, then handed her the remote opener.
“I’m not. You’re basically your own boss, Jo. I was just kidding. The loan papers are signed, and you have your own copy. As long as you don’t break the agreement, you can set your own hours and do the jobs you want to do for The Last Riders. Those you don’t, hand them over to Train or me if they aren’t too complicated. That’s why you were hired, so we can concentrate on other things, other than oil changes or spark plugs.”
“Like what?”
“Train is working on an underwater navigating system. And right now, I’m trying to develop a voice-controlled robotic arm.”
“No shit!”
“No shit.”
“You’re that smart?”
As they walked back to her house, he showed her the cameras. However, Jo barely paid attention, stunned he was working on a robotic arm.
“I’m insulted you don’t believe I can build a robotic arm, yet you believe Train can develop an underwater navigating system.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. Just that … I mean … You really don’t seem to take things as seriously as Train. For God’s sake, your favorite movie is Home Alone.”
“That’s true. I love comedies.”
As they went up the porch, he showed her the new doorbell that would take a picture of anyone coming within a few feet of the door.
“It’s like I’m living in Fort Knox,” she said as they went through the door. She set the laptop on the kitchen table.
“Not hardly, but as close as you can without getting there. You won’t have to worry about anyone egging your house again.”
“That’ll be a relief. It was a mess to clean.” She watched as he went to the couch and picked up his duffle bag. A lump formed in her throat. He was about to leave. Not only that, but it was a Friday night.
She wanted to ask if he wanted to watch a movie, or play another game, go for a ride—anything other than him leaving. Instead, she stood still, tongue-tied as he went to her fridge.
“You mind if I take the last unopened bag of popcorn? It’ll give me something to snack on tonight.”
“It’s yours. Take it. I can get some more when I finish the bag we ate out of last night.”
“Cool. Don’t forget to keep that computer within sight. Don’t worry after dark. We have a security man who watches it until 7:00 a.m. You’ll get a text message if he sees something, and he’ll send Knox.”
“Wow. Shade thinks of everything.”
“Yes, he does.” With his duffle bag over his shoulder and his popcorn in his hand, he walked toward her. “I’ll be going. If you need anything, just call. I guess I’ll see you Monday morning. We’re going to paint my car, right?”
“Right.” Jo licked her dry mouth. Going to the door, she opened it for him. “I’ll see you Monday.”
“Bye, Jo.” With a smile, he was gone.
She had to force herself to shut the door instead of watching him get on his motorcycle. She jumped when it started, the loud sound booming throughout the house until the roar of his motor died away.
Jo looked around the empty living room and kitchen, at the old, worn furniture, the kitchen table that wobbled, the stove that only had two working burners. She should turn her television on or play some music. Anything was better than the silence that was creeping slowly back inside. It had been held at bay when Rider had been there. Now that he was gone, it was back with a vengeance.
Carrying her laptop to the coffee table, she set it down so she could watch it. The remote control was where he had left it. Turning it on, she flipped to Rider’s favorite movie, playing Home Alone.
“Macaulay, how do you feel about leftover pizza?”
28
Rider juggled his drinks and the popcorn as he went into the security room.
“You bring us some snacks?” Moon grinned, looking up from the security screen.
“Nope. I’m giving you and Diablo the night off. Go have fun.”
Diablo rolled his chair back from the monitors he was watching. “You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m out.”
Rider was taking his chair before Diablo was out of the room. Glancing at the screen Diablo had been watching, he opened his popcorn.
“Viper said two of us has to be on duty.”
“That’s when you goofballs are on duty. I’ve got this. Go. I cleared it with Viper.”
“Then I’m gone, too.” Moon stood.
“Don’t tell anyone I’m here. I don’t want company.”
Moon raised a brow. “Not even Jewell?”
“Especially not Jewell.”
“Why especially not Jewell?” Moon leaned a hip against the desk that held the monitors.
“Brother, the party is waiting. You rather stand here shooting the shit with me or get laid?”
“If you don’t want to answer, all you have to do is say so.”
“So.” Rider reached for another handful of popcorn.
Moon straightened off the desk. “You want me to bring you some dinner when it’s done?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Later.”
Rider leaned back in his chair after Moon left, propping his feet on the desk within reach of the popcorn and his soda. His eyes traveled from one screen to the next, seeing Missy and Daryl arrive and walk up the front steps to the clubhouse porch, remaining there until Nickel opened the door for them.
Seeing the front and the back of the clubhouse was empty, he looked at the cameras that showed Cash’s house. Seeing Cash’s bike and truck, and Rachel’s car, he knew they weren’t coming to the party tonight.
When he saw no movement in Cash’s yard, he focused his attention on Jo’s property. The yard showed no movement along the driveway or the garage.
Raising a hand, he pushed a button on the computer that would activate a screen that had been dark. At his motion, the screen grew bright, showing Jo sitting on her couch, eating a piece of
pizza and watching Home Alone.
Grinning to himself, he sat watching the movie with her. Every few seconds, his gaze would flick back to the other screens, keeping track of Cash’s house and the clubhouse.
His eyes returned to Jo when he saw her jump on the couch, seeing her look over her shoulder toward the door.
Rider sat up, his eyes going to the screen showing the outside. There was nothing there that should have startled her. She must have realized that, too, because she looked toward the cameras on her computer screen and relaxed back on the couch.
Rider frowned. He had told her that she wouldn’t have to watch the security feed after dark. His gut churned when it dawned on him she was watching it because she didn’t feel safe alone.
“Fuck.” Rider closed his bag of popcorn to watch the screen closer, still keeping track of the other cameras.
An older model black SUV pulling onto the parking lot had him watching to see who was getting out. It was Claire and another woman Rider didn’t recognize.
Rider texted Nickel that he could let them in when they arrived at the club’s door. Claire had told him that her cousin was visiting from Jamestown and asked if she could come with her to the party. Rider had asked for her name and address, and Shade had cleared it yesterday. Claire’s cousin could come.
Seeing the women go inside, he studied the other monitors before going back to Jo’s. She was still watching Home Alone. Jo had finished eating her pizza and had lain down on the couch. Every few minutes, she would raise an arm, looking at her watch.
Rider looked at the time on the screen, wondering why she was concerned with the time. She never closed the computer either. Was she waiting for someone?
As the time grew late, she put on Smokey and the Bandit when Home Alone ended. He was surprised she hadn’t chosen another movie. She had complained when he had played it last night.
Periodically, she would rise to a sitting position as if she had heard something, before settling back down.
It was near ten when she got up to go to the bathroom. The camera he had placed in Jo’s living room only gave him a view of the front portion of her house, not of the bathroom or the small hall that led to the two bedrooms.
He had investigated the room when he had placed the camera while she had been staying with Mag. Any guilt he had felt died when he had been monitoring her feed and saw she was sick. Nor had he felt guilty for picking her lock, finding her burning up with a fever and nothing but a small space heater to warm the room she was in. It was a miracle the old heater and wiring hadn’t burned her alive when she had been too sick to get out.
He had paid for a new furnace to be installed the next day. The prompt service the electrician had promised meant Jo would never know he had been there and wouldn’t be able to add that amount to the loan he had given her.
Shade would never let him live it down that he hadn’t wanted Jo to know the loan was from him under the guise of one of the companies Viper managed for him.
Monitoring the clubhouse’s cameras, he saw Beth and Razer walking from their house to the club. He waited until the back door was shut securely behind them before switching his gaze to Jo again.
She had returned to the living room and was watching Space Balls, and instead of lying back down on the couch, she was pacing. Opening an energy drink, he watched her pace back and forth, occasionally looking at her watch.
“Who’s she waiting for?” Rider was getting angry. Was there someone in town she was seeing who he didn’t know about? Had Aly contacted her? If that bitch showed up, he would snap her fucking neck.
He kept waiting for whoever Jo was waiting for to show. At first, Rider believed her increased pacing was because of a late showing, but when Jo sat down on the couch and drew her knees to her chest and started rocking herself back and forth, laying her wrist down so she could look at it without lifting her head, he touched the screen, zooming in to see her expression. He could see her lips move, but he couldn’t hear what she said.
“Dammit.” Taking his phone, he texted Shade.
He watched the other camera as he waited for Shade. He was about to call when he heard the door to the room open.
“What do you want?”
That the brother wasn’t happy he had asked him to come was an understatement. A dark shadow of beard was on his jawline, and the dark look he was giving as he took the other chair at the desk had Rider wishing he didn’t need the brother’s particular skill.
“I need you to tell me what Jo said.” He rewound the tape to where Jo said something out loud so Shade could watch.
“You’re shitting me?”
“No. I want to know what she said.” His jaw clenched. “It’ll only take a second, then you can go back to bed.”
“I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since Clint was born, and you woke me up because you want to know what Jo said?”
“Chill. I’ll pull your shift in the morning so you can sleep late.”
“You’re going to pull my next two shifts.” Shade moved his hand away from the mouse, clicking to rewind the tape again. “If you had used the camera I told you to use, this wouldn’t have been necessary.”
“I wanted to give her some privacy.”
Rider ignored the exasperated sound his friend made.
“If you’re going to watch her, do it right the first time.”
“What’d she say?”
Shade removed his hand from the mouse. “She said she hates you.”
“She didn’t?” Was the brother jerking his chain for getting him out of bed?
“She did. She’s obviously mad at something you’ve done.”
“I haven’t done shit, other than come home.” His mind went back to earlier today. What had he done to piss Jo off to say she hated him? Had he forgotten to put the toilet seat down?
“Guess she didn’t want you to leave. We done?”
“Yes, thanks.” Confused at being hated on for no identifiable reason, he backtracked, trying to remember if she had shown any hint of her anger before he had left. He was sure he had put the seat down …
Shade nodded, going to the door. “Oh, she also said she hopes one of the women bites your dick off when they give you a blowjob and that the surgeon can’t reattach it. Your woman has a vicious temper.”
Rider grinned at Shade’s retreating back. “Yes, she does. Night, Shade.”
He didn’t take it personally that Shade didn’t respond. The brother was an asshole, especially when his sleep was disturbed.
Satisfied that he knew why Jo was so uptight, and why she was keeping an eye on her watch, he leaned back in his chair and reached for the popcorn again.
“My old lady is jealous,” he gloated to himself.
Throwing the empty bag of popcorn away, he yawned, rolling his computer chair over to make a fresh pot of coffee.
He had dropped any plan of revenge against Jo when he had seen how sick she was. She had been working herself toward an early grave, not only physically, but by going along with Aly’s plan. If he hadn’t found the notepad where she had tried to make her money stretch to repay the loan her father had owed Aly’s father’s estate, he wouldn’t have contemplated backing down on the revenge for her and Aly.
Then again, his doubts about her ruthlessness of using him to take Curt out had begun to surface when he had seen her in the parking lot the morning of Clint’s birth. She had wanted to come inside, yet had been afraid she wouldn’t belong during the momentous occasion. Rider had seen in her the same desire he had been trying to attain since he was eighteen.
As the coffee brewed, he rolled back to the monitors, his eyes flicking over the screens with laser intensity.
They were moving from the screen of the parking lot to the one behind Viper’s house when a red light glowed in the corner of the screen. Grabbing his cell phone with one hand, he used the other to lower the steel shutters on Viper’s house.
“What’s up?” Moon answered on the first ring.
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br /> “One of the fence alarms behind Viper’s house went off. Take Diablo and check it out,” Rider ordered, keeping the camera pointed to where he had seen a flash of movement.
“On our way.”
Rider disconnected the call, pressing another button to send a mass text to all the brothers. It didn’t require him to use any words; it was a simple yellow sign to warn the brothers to be on alert. Rider then scooted his chair closer to the desk, checking the other cameras to make sure there was no activity while maintaining his focus on the camera behind Viper’s.
Moon and Diablo were nearing the house, their guns drawn. Diablo stealthily broke away to slink into the shadows of the front porch, reaching the backyard from a different direction.
Two minutes later, his cell phone rang. Rider answered Moon’s call.
“We didn’t see anything. Probably a deer.”
Rider put the call on speakerphone, zooming the camera to search the dense woods, seeing nothing. There was nothing there, but Rider didn’t tell the men to stand down. The alarm had gone off for a reason.
“Set up a perimeter until Shade gets there. Something feels hinky.” Disconnecting the call, he called Shade. The brother answered it immediately.
“Report.”
“I sent Moon and Diablo out to check a sensor alert behind Viper’s house. Moon said it’s all clear, but I know I saw something.”
“I’m on my way. Send Train to my house and notify Razer to keep anyone from leaving the club until I call.”
“Already done. I texted Viper. He has Winter and Aisha in the safe room.”
Rider set the cell phone down on the desk when Shade hung up, his fingers flying over the keyboard, repositioning cameras, then flipping another switch that would hit the recording feature. Shade would want to look back on what Rider had watched that made him send out the alert.
Rider could only sit and watch as Shade, Moon, and Diablo searched Viper’s backyard and the woods beyond until they were out of sight. When he saw Cash coming out of his house on the camera feed, he knew Shade must have found something.