“It looks like there’s a fairly decent motel on the outskirts of the town. We should stop there and see if we can get a couple of rooms since we don’t know how long we’ll be here. We need a base of operations.” Ten looked up from her phone, and I nodded to indicate I heard her and agreed. “I think it’s best we split up and hit the ground running. I can go talk to the local law enforcement and see if they know anything. If your mom attracted trouble as easily as you said, there’s a chance they ran across her while she was in town. You take the motorcycle club she was hanging around.”
“Not all motorcycle clubs are involved with criminal activities. Most are good men who just need an outlet, like to get together to ride, and show off their bikes.” I wasn’t sure which category the club called Sons of Sorrow fell into. I’d looked them up briefly when Jolene mentioned whom she was staying with, but I needed to do a little research before I rolled up asking questions. I knew they were primarily based in the West and throughout the Southwest. The biggest chapter was in Denver, and the president was somewhat of a local legend in the surrounding area. If I’d had more time, I would have tried to track him down and work my way into a formal introduction, which would’ve lessened the likelihood of me getting my ass beat by a bunch of badass bikers.
Ten sighed quietly and jerked her head up so she was staring straight out the windshield, not looking in my direction at all. “I didn’t suggest you go talk to them because of that. I know most bikers are decent people and they do a lot for their communities. I suggested you go talk to them because no matter how enlightened and politically correct certain members may be, it’s still a boys’ club. There is no way I can walk in there and get the same answers you can.”
Oh. She had a point. They would take one look at her and those endlessly long legs and lose all ability to speak, just like the rest of the heterosexual male population. They probably wouldn’t want to let her go.
“Fair enough. I’ve had my fill of people wearing badges lately anyway. Knowing my luck, I’d end up behind bars as soon as I walked into the sheriff’s office.” I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, turning my head slightly when she muttered my name under her breath.
“Webb,” she cocked her head to the side and looked at me hesitantly out of the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry I said what I did on the plane. I don’t think you’re looking for an older woman to take care of you. It was a low blow to turn your words against you when you were so open and trusting with me.”
“My past isn’t pretty, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. I know exactly where I came from and I know exactly who I am because of it. I’m long past the point where I’m ashamed of what I had to do to survive. What pisses me off the most is you not believing I could be into you for any other reason than to have you take care of me. It’s like you are completely oblivious to how stunning, smart, and strong you are. How can you not recognize your own value? How do you not see how special you are? You have men falling at your feet everywhere you go, but you step over them without a second glance. I thought I was making headway, getting you to see me because I refused to give up, but I’m just another obstacle you’re skirting around.”
I watched as she put an unsteady hand on the center of her chest and pushed. It was almost like she was trying to keep her heart in place. She blinked a couple of times, then let out another long, slow breath.
“You said I’m one of the good guys.” A tentative smile flirted with her mouth as she repeated my stumbling statement. “But it’s not really true. I’m selfish. I’m stubborn to a fault. And unlike you, I deliberately hurt people to protect myself. You said it yourself, even when you were doing things you didn’t want to so you could stay alive, you did your best not to hurt anyone who was innocent. That’s not me. I worry about myself, and I generally have no trouble walking away from the casualties. Does that sound like a good person, someone special?”
No. It sounded to me like she was confused and seeing herself through someone else’s broken filter.
I tightened my hold on the steering wheel and made note that the exit for the motel was only a few miles up the road. Everything out here looked the same. Flat. It wasn’t all that different than certain parts of Wyoming. Even the cattle and fences lining the sides of the road were pretty familiar. It was like a completely different world once we left the outskirts of Austin. At least Ten and I would fit in fairly well. There was nothing worse than rolling into a small town and being immediately identified as an outsider. The chances of getting information out of anyone dropped dramatically when they believed you were an interloper there to judge a different way of life.
“It sounds like you’ve been hurt and you’re willing to do anything to avoid having it happen again. We’ve both done things when we’re desperate and afraid. I’m not going to question why you do what you do, Ten. But you need to know I have no plans to hurt you. Hurting you is the last thing I think about when it comes to you and me.” I took the exit and swerved into the parking lot of the motel a moment later. It was right off the main road, and the building looked like it had seen better days. It was weather-beaten and a bit rundown, but there were plenty of cars in the parking lot and no police tape in sight, so it would do for a couple of days.
“I don’t understand why you’re thinking about us at all. I thought I made it pretty clear nothing was ever going to happen between us.” Ten huffed out the statement in obvious aggravation, but as always, there was no real heat or refusal in her tone.
I wasn’t one of those guys who believed every ‘no’ actually meant ‘yes.’ I was aware enough to know I wasn’t every woman’s cup of tea. I’d faced rejection in my life, just like everyone had. The only reason I couldn’t take Ten’s words at face value was because the words she said never quite lined up with what she wasn’t saying. There was the way her gaze lingered full of longing when she thought I wouldn’t notice. There was the way she always seemed to find me, no matter where I was working on the ranch. Even if it was simply so she could walk away, she still seemed drawn to me, which didn’t fit at all with her insistence that nothing was happening between us.
“You’re clear as mud most days. It’s okay, though. I like to get dirty.” I stopped the SUV in front of the motel office and turned to her with a grin. “Do we need two rooms?”
Ten threw open her car door and gave me a sharp look. “Yes, we do. I’ll take care of it.”
I didn’t bother to argue. Wyatt was the one who paid for our plane tickets to Austin. They weren’t cheap since they were last minute. I knew he felt guilty heading back to his regularly scheduled life when mine was immersed in chaos. The tickets were a small way he could remain involved while keeping his distance from Jolene. I was going to have to call him and let him know we’d reached the first stop on this bizarre scavenger hunt.
Ten came out of the office a few minutes later, tossing a wave over her shoulder. She climbed back into the SUV, handing over the card key. “I got directions to both the sheriff’s office and the compound where the club hangs out. The guy behind the desk mentioned the guys who are part of the club are mostly friendly. A lot of them are former military. He said you shouldn’t run into trouble if you aren’t looking to start trouble when you head out there.” She sounded relieved by the revelation.
We took a few minutes to go to our separate rooms and toss our stuff down. It was a basic room, but clean, and everything on the inside looked ten years newer than the exterior led one to believe. I shot my brother a text, letting him know my plan for the day. I got back a short:
~ Be careful.
I promised Wyatt I would, then sent Ten a message letting her know I was ready to get the show on the road. She met me at the SUV. We agreed I would drop her off in town at the sheriff’s office and then drive out to the compound. She seemed slightly nervous when we discussed splitting up for the rest of the day. It was the only option we had, though, so she didn’t say anything. She was silently tapping away on her phone as I dro
ve back on the main road into Loveless.
The town wasn't much to talk about. It actually reminded me a lot of Sheridan, the closest “big” town to the Warner Ranch. There was one main road dotted with shops and various other businesses. There was a bank, one bar, and not much else. It was no thriving metropolis, even if it was a sight bigger than home. People would call it charming and quaint. I called it tiny and tight knit. If my mom blew through here with her typical destructive ways, there was no way the people here hadn’t noticed.
The sheriff's office was located at the far end of the main street. It was a newer building, one of the few painted a color other than white. There were several big pickup trucks parked out front as well as SUVs with police decals on the sides. I rolled to a stop and turned to tell Ten good luck schmoozing the cops, but before I could get the words out, she reached across the space separating us and put her hand on my bicep. Of course, I flexed the minute her fingers made contact. I wasn't about to let an opportunity pass me by.
Ten’s golden eyebrows shot up, and a half smile twisted one side of her mouth. “I’ve seen you without your shirt on; I’m already impressed.” She showed me her phone. “I was texting a former coworker who works in the National Gang Unit of the FBI. They keep a running database of pretty much every organized unit of people across the country. I asked her for the ‘must-have’ info on the Sons of Sorrow chapter down here. She quickly emailed me the skeleton profiles of everyone we need to know.”
I leaned back in surprise. Ten was scary efficient and wicked connected.
“The president of the club is a guy they call Shot. Apparently, he’s the youngest son of the founder of the entire club, a man called Torch, who operates the main charter out of Denver. The father has a questionable history with the law; the son seems to be either more law-abiding or better at not getting caught. He’s another former Marine. Left the service five years ago, reconnected with his old man when he got out, joined the club, then moved down here to start his own chapter when the Denver guys got into some trouble involving an overzealous prospect. If you can’t get to him, the second-in-command is a guy called Top Hat. He was in the same unit as Shot and seems to follow him pretty much everywhere he goes. His record is less spotty, and he was dishonorably discharged, but the file is sealed so she can’t tell me what he was kicked out for.” She paused to catch her breath and her expression twisted into one of concern. “You need to be careful, Webb. These guys all know how to use a variety of weapons, and from the sounds of it, they’ve all been in a position to take a life before. If they view you as a threat, there is no telling what they’ll do to you.”
Instead of feeding into her fear, I smirked and asked, “I wonder how he got the nickname Top Hat.”
She smacked the bicep she was still holding and whipped around to push the door open. “Take this seriously. Be careful, Webb.”
I reached out and caught a loose piece of hair which had escaped her messy bun. I tugged on the silky strand of hair until she looked back at me. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”
Finally, she nodded and slipped the rest of the way out of the car. I better make it back in one piece or she was going to take me apart, and not in a fun way. She cared, and it was becoming more obvious just how much. I could see it in every move she made. I was just waiting for her to recognize it.
It took a little over thirty minutes to drive out to the property where the club was located. I had to follow a long, barren dirt road back to a ranch property. The road was lined in barbed wire, and there was a variety of livestock wandering the fields. If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn I was driving home.
The compound was more like a working ranch. There was a big, one-level house set back from the road and the fields. There were several barns, what looked like an airplane hangar, and a huge variety of vehicles and motorcycles scattered all around the various buildings. The only thing that kept it from looking like a regular—if expensive—family home was the huge fence that circled the property. It was industrial and appeared to be impenetrable. This was not a place you visited without an invitation—only that’s exactly what I was doing.
I gulped and acknowledged I was both impressed and a bit nervous. I let the SUV roll to a stop in front of the fence and slipped out of the car. I didn’t see a gate or a way to signal that someone was waiting outside of the fortress. Confused, I plowed a hand through my hair and looked for a box or something to call inside.
“What are you doing back here? Didn’t we tell you we hadn’t seen her in months when you came looking last time?” A faintly distorted voice seemed to come from the sky and made me jump about a mile in the air.
Feeling like an idiot, I struggled to gain my composure as my gaze finally found a camera pointed directly at me. I put both my hands on my hips and tilted my head. It would’ve been nice if I could see who I was talking to, but I would take what I got.
“You’ve seen me before?”
The electronic voice buzzed with annoyance. “Are you stupid?”
I chuckled. “No. I’m confused. I've never been in Loveless before today. Did the other guy who looked like me want to know where Jolene Bryant was?”
There was a long pause, and the voice squeaked again. “How could you never have been here before when I just saw you not that long ago?”
I threw up my hands and let them fall. “Evil twin. I’m not even kidding. Jolene is my mother, and apparently there was a lot she didn’t bother to mention when I was growing up. I really need to find her. Can you tell me what you told the other guy?” I paused, figuring bikers wouldn’t mind good manners. “Please.”
Another long moment passed, and the voice crackled again. “Hold on a second.”
Not sure what to expect, I fell back a step, looking up at the giant fence and wondering about the Oz hidden behind it. I wondered if I was about to meet the Wizard, and was admittedly a tad bit underwhelmed when a man slipped through a gate I hadn’t noticed a few feet away.
He was shorter than me but made up for it with a Mohawk that stood a couple inches off of his shaved head. It was dyed a startling shade of green and seemed totally out of place on the ranch. He was dressed in shredded jeans, combat boots, and a black wife-beater, which was covered by a leather vest. His cut, I knew enough from watching Tv to know what they were called that, appeared to have been run over a million times and worn to death. The patch on one side said ‘Rave,’ the others read ‘Secretary’ and ‘Combat Veteran.’ He didn’t look like any veteran I’d ever seen and I immediately liked that about him.
He hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his tight jeans and gave me a considering look. “You aren’t fucking with me? You really aren’t the same dude who was just here looking for the same woman?”
I shrugged. “Nope. Two different people, same face. I like your hair.”
He seemed momentarily taken aback before he muttered a quiet ‘thank you.’ He narrowed his eyes at me and told me flatly, “I’ll tell you what I told him. Jolene only hung around for a week or so. She didn’t like to follow the house rules, and no one gets to stay if they don’t follow the rules. She was hooked up with one of the old-timers. They rode in from Denver, he left, she stayed behind until the Prez made her leave. She didn’t say where she was going, and no one around here cared enough to ask.”
I sighed and dragged a hand down my face. “Sounds like Jolene. She called and asked me for money for a bus ticket, but she didn’t tell me where she was going, either.”
“You might wanna try talking to the folks at the church in town. Those ancient busybodies know everything going on in Loveless. If your mom was on the run, she might have needed help, and that’s a surefire place to get some. I didn’t tell the other you anything. He put off some bad vibes. The Prez wanted him gone. He even sent some guys out to make sure he left town. Thought it was weird he’d be back after that kind of send-off.” He scratched the side of his nose and lifted a dark eyebrow in my direction. “You really got
an evil twin?”
“Unfortunately. He’s out there somewhere trying to pin a string of armed bank robberies on me. I’m trying to track him down and figured my mom was a good place to start. Probably a good thing you ran him out of town. He seems to be nothing but bad news.” And I already knew that’s all my mom was.
“Check with the old biddies.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the dusty road leading into the property. “Next time, don’t roll up unexpected. That’s a good way to get hurt.”
I nodded. “Shouldn’t be a next time. Hey, if anyone in the club hears from Jolene, would you mind passing the info along? I would sure appreciate it.”
The guy with the green hair and careful eyes nodded in agreement. I jotted my number down on the back of a receipt I found in the rental and he took it from me. It wasn’t until I was driving away that I realized how tightly my ass cheeks were clenched together, and how sweaty my back was.
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