Tank saw Annie pump the brakes for the second time in the last ten minutes and knew he was too close. Fuck, it was making him nervous having to stay so far back. If something happened to her he’d never get over it, which was why he kept pushing a little bit closer. He’d told the prospects that he needed them to follow, but to stay about a mile back from him, and they were doing as he’d told them. It was him not sticking to the plan, but fuck. That woman was his whole fucking world, and nothing was getting through him to hurt her, ever.
Tank pulled in his inner beast, and dropped back a half mile. Just enough that he could see her and know she was safe. They were almost there, thank God. He was actually surprised that Bone hadn’t questioned why they needed so many men on a van drop. He was beginning to suspect that Tiny had ferreted out the information about Annie’s mother. It really wouldn’t shock him if he had. That man was a genus when it came to getting information.
Tank sped up seeing Annie make a turn. This was it then, he thought moving closer. He watched Annie turn then pull into an old trailer park parking lot. She parked the van near the broken sign reading Sunny Trail Lane. Tank pulled off the road a little ways back from the trailer park, grateful that this drop was going smoothly. She got out and stood leaning on the van waiting. He’d be glad when this shit was taken care of and they could move on with their life together. Maybe after Annie learned her mother loved her they could get some new toys for the club.
Not that it mattered. Even if her mother never sold them a damned thing Annie was family, now. His brothers had proven that when they’d insisted on coming with him to find her abusers. They’d wanted revenge as badly as he had. Fuck with one, fuck with them all. That was what family was, and Tank was damned glad he had every one of them. He was glad to know that if something happened to him they’d take care of her, his Annie. He watched her raise her hand and wave at him, and waved back.
Annie waved at Tank from where she leaned on the van. It was freaking hot out here, she thought as sweat trickled down between her breasts, reminding her of the day she’d met Tank. She smiled to herself. That had been a good day after all, she thought, watching the man she’d been waiting on get out of a car that took off almost as fast as it had arrived. She almost laughed. Tobias was still as crazy as ever she saw. He was walking towards her looking around.
“Were you followed?” He said, in a loud whisper.
“Umm…yeah.” Annie said, just because she could now that she wouldn’t be doing this for her mother anymore. She almost laughed at the man’s reaction. He began to turn in circles, and his eyes seemed to be little bouncing balls they were moving around so much.
“Where? Where?” The man demanded.
“Calm down, Tobias. I was only followed by my ride.” Annie said, taking pity on the man.
“Oh, right. The guns, where are the guns?” He looked around on the ground.
It never failed. The man always acted like an idiot. Sometimes she suspected that Tobias wasn’t the mastermind behind these deals. That he was getting them for someone else. Of course, he could just be crazy. She’d never forget the time he showed up to a drop wearing a hat made of what looked like sheet metal. She’d made the mistake of asking about that, and gotten an hour long discussion about the government behind the wall trying to steal the secrets in his head. It had been the longest hour of her life. Why her mother worked with this nut she’d never know.
“There in the van, just like they always are, Tobias.” Annie said, sighing. She really hated dealing with crazy people, her mother included.
“Right, the van.” He said, moving towards it. Annie had unlocked the vault this morning before they got on the road. He climbed into the driver’s seat and drove away without even saying goodbye. Not that Annie cared much, she just thought it was rude. She smiled, waiting on her man to come and get her. Tank pulled up, smiling as he came to a stop beside her.
“Your chariot, sweetheart.” He said, holding out his hand for her to get on the bike. Laughing, she climbed on behind him. When she was settled with her arms around his waist, he took off. She clung to him enjoying the ride. As they got back on the road headed home, Annie looked up to find a truck coming towards them. As they moved closer she noticed that it was Rico and Tim in the cab. That was strange, she thought, she’d told her mother not to send them. Lifting a hand, she waved, smiling as they went by. Maybe her mother had just wanted to be sure she got the job done. In seconds, those thoughts were forgotten as they roared down the road. About two minutes after she’d spotted Tim and Rico they met up with the other Red Devil’s and they all headed home.
Annie was so happy finally she was free. No more chance of kidnappings, or moving around to avoid detection by people who knew she was Looney Louie’s daughter. She was looking forward to living somewhere for longer than a month. She had her man and her family. Even though they were a motley crew, she was glad for every one of them.
Chapter 19
Tank pulled up to the club, getting off his bike. He’d taken Annie to the house then came here to talk to Bone. He needed to tell him why he’d taken ten prospects to a van drop. As he walked up the stairs onto the porch, Dog walked out.
“Heard that since you have a woman now, you need an escort for a van drop.” Dog snickered.
“Shut it, asshat. I’m going in to talk to Bone about that now, there was a damned good reason for that.” Tank grumbled, passing him by. Dog began to follow him.
“This I gotta hear.”
Tank ignored him walking towards Bone’s office. The door was open and inside he saw that Tiny and Trick were both here. Fuck, he really didn’t want to tell the whole fucking club about this because he was sure after the ribbing he’d given each of these men about their women he’d be in for a lot of shit. Damn, it was times like this that he wanted a fucking smoke, but Annie would kill him. She hated them.
“About time you got back. Now, tell me why the hell I just sent ten men to a van drop?” Bone laughed, watching Tank enter the room. Tank heard snickers from the men on the couch, which he knew wouldn’t last long once he said what he had to tell them.
“I found Looney Louie.” He stated flatly, waiting for the other men’s reactions.
“Where?” Bone demanded, dropping his feet from the desk where they’d been propped.
“She’s Annie’s mother.” He told them in the same flat tone, not bothering to sugar coat it.
“What the fuck!” Trick exclaimed, at the same time Dog said in a confused voice, “What…Looney’s a woman?”
“Huh” Bone said, which worried Tank. Bone was the stew in silence type.
“The van was a gun vault. Annie was delivering it, and I heard that the Jackal’s were set to raid it when it was originally scheduled to come through, so I wanted to be sure there wasn’t trouble.” Tank continued watching Bone.
Bone gritted his teeth, then smoothly demanded, “And you’re just telling about this now because…?”
Hell, this was bad, Tank realized, and the other men in the room seem to also. They stopped talking and glanced between him and Bone wearily. With Bone it was always from calm to gun point in seconds, which was not fucking good. Deciding that he’d better get his reasons out in the open before he ended up with a gun to his head, Tank began to talk.
“Annie was scared. I couldn’t convince her that it would be okay to tell you. She fears losing us all to her mother.” Tank ran a hand over his face, fuck he needed a smoke. “I know that isn’t going to happen, but she begged me not to say anything until we got back.”
“Yes, but Tank that doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me.” Bone growled, his fist slamming down on the desk.
Tank sighed, he knew that the man was right, but he also knew that he couldn’t start his relationship with Annie with lies. “I promised, Bone. And you know that I couldn’t start a relationship with her built on betrayal.” Tank sat down in the chair in front of Bone, letting out a huge sigh. “The Jackal’s we went after, the on
es that hurt Annie. They kidnapped her to get something from her mother, and every other person she’s ever known has wanted to be friends with her only to get near her mother. When she told me that, I wasn’t able to deny her.”
“I get that. If it had been Molly I may have made the same choice, but I don’t fucking like it.” Bone told him, glaring.
“I can’t believe that Looney Louie, who’s a gun runner, is a woman.” Dog burst out, after a tense moment of silence in the room.
“Yeah, that’s fucking surprising considering that most of the contacts I have won’t give up information because this persons reputation is so dangerous. We have our own reputation, but earning Louie’s wrath was more concerning than earning ours.” Tiny told them.
“Well, I think that’s because Louise, Annie’s mother, allows people to think the worst of her, so that they don’t fuck with her. So they allow people to credit them with kills even though her mother only kills when there’s no other choice, kinda like us.” Tank told them.
“Huh, think we could set up a meet, or would our girl freak out?” Bone asked.
“Not sure about that. It might need to wait a while, until she feels more secure with the family. Her mother doesn’t sell to the Jackal’s at least, but they seem to have a lot of her mother’s goods, which concerns me. I was pondering it today. Not sure what the hell to do about that.” Tank muttered.
“Well, we can chat about it at church, and leave out the part about our girl at least for the time being.” Bone said, making Tank’s guts, which had been in knots unclench.
About an hour later, Tank walked into his kitchen to find a goddess moving around his stove making something that smelled heavenly. He watched her for several minutes before he moved up behind her wrapping his arms around her. He began to kiss and nip at her neck feeling her lean back into him with a soft sigh.
“It’s about time you got back. I was beginning to think you’d be late for dinner.” Annie laughed, feeling his hands slipping into her shirt. She smacked at them.
“None of that, now. I want to eat a warm meal without you trying to get into my pants, old man!” Laughing, she turned in his arms wrapping hers around his neck and planting a kiss on him that made him harder than he already was. He growled, wanting more, frustrated when she pulled away smacking his shoulders.
“Go get a shower, you smell bad.”
“Damn, woman you can’t kiss a man like that then send him away unsatisfied.” Tank didn’t fight when she pushed him to the door pointing upstairs. “Go.”
“Evil woman!” He bellowed, moving up the stairs two at a time.
He jumped in the shower, hurrying to get done so that he could get back to his goddess and eat the meal she’d cooked for them. Then he wasn’t letting her out of bed for days, he thought, grinning as he climbed out of the shower, toweling off his hair. He began to get dressed, suddenly feeling very hungry. That’s when Tank felt the cold press of the gun to the back of his head, and froze. He had just put on his jeans. He wasn’t sure how the fuck whoever the hell it was got into his house, but if they’d hurt Annie they were dead.
“Move.” The man behind him said, pushing the gun into his head. “Downstairs.”
Tank followed the man’s directions for the moment, but if Annie was hurt, he wasn’t going to be cooperating. He walked out onto the landing waiting for a chance to take this asshole down. Annie walked into the hallway, probably intending to call out to him to hurry up, or maybe to come up to get him. Only she saw him on the landing with a man pressing a gun to his head.
“Get out, Annie. Go to Bone.” Tank called out, wanting her as far away from this gun as possible. His heart was pounding, and worry filled his gut.
“Rico, you shoot my old man, and I will kill you. What the hell are you doing here anyway?” Annie said, glaring at the man behind him.
What the hell was she doing? Why wasn’t she running? Wait, Rico? Why was that name familiar? Shit, wasn’t that the name of the asshole her mother wanted to send here. Dickhead had better not have it in his head that he was taking Annie. Cause that was not happening.
“Did you really think that we wouldn’t come here to get you?” The man, Rico, asked his disbelief evident in his voice.
“Yes, I really thought you’d let me live my life. I mean, really? What the hell is wrong with that woman? Does she intend to force me to run more guns? Cause that is soo not going to happen. So head back to that crazy bitch with your tail between your legs and tell her that I said hell no to her renewed job offer. Then make sure it sticks. I’m done.” Annie vehemently replied, glaring at the man with her hands resting on her hips.
Tank smiled, his woman was sexy when she got bossy. It made his dick hard. He was sure that this man wouldn’t hurt Annie now that he knew that her mother had sent him, which was a relief.
“Rico, I’m warning you. Let him go, or I will get his knife and cut off your balls.” Annie demanded.
“Damn it, Annie!” The man whined, “You’re always fucking threatening my balls!” Rico exclaimed from behind him, and Tank felt the gun move from his head. Rico stepped up to the railing, glaring at Annie beneath them.
“Well, quit being my mother’s lackey and I won’t have to, dumbass.” Annie growled.
“Annie, you showed up to a drop followed by eleven bikers, and then you ride away with them and you expected us to just not follow you?” Rico asked her.
“Umm...since I told my mother that I didn’t need a ride and that I wasn’t doing any more jobs for her, yes.” Annie bellowed. “You saw me wave to you and Tim as you went by. Why did you follow us back here?”
“Really? You thought we wouldn’t worry because you waved at us?” Rico asked, clearly upset that she’d thought that she wasn’t that important to them.
Tank realized then that her mother and these men had no idea that Annie thought they didn’t care if she lived or died. He almost felt sorry for them. Having been with Annie for the past few weeks, he knew that she was stubborn, and convincing her that they were her family as he’d always suspected even when she denied it, wasn’t going to be easy.
“Yes, and if you don’t want your balls cut off you’ll get the hell out of my house! I can’t be involved with this shit anymore. My mother needs to find a new person to torture. Now, go home!” Annie screeched, almost jumping up and down in her rage.
“Geez, Annie! How many times do I have to tell you to quit threatening my balls. It’s just mean!” Rico whined again. Then seeming to realize what else she’d said he looked shocked before saying. “Annie, we just want to know that you’re safe. Wait, your house? Isn’t this his house? And if you recall the last time you were with a biker gang you were the one being tortured.” His last two words ended on a whisper that he was sure Annie had missed.
“My house.” Annie said proudly, making Tank feel all warm and tingly, which made him fell like a fucking pansy. “And these bikers are not like the Jackal’s. They won’t hurt me.”
“You can’t be sure, Annie. They could be just as bad, you’ve only been with them a short time and they could have controlled what you saw. We’re your family. You need to come home with us, so that you’re safe.” Rico told her.
“The hell she is boy!” Tank roared, his fist clenching at his sides.
“What do you mean us?” Annie said, her eyes narrowed. “Shit,” She said when Rico got a smug smirk on his face. “Where are they, and how many of you came?”
“Not telling, not till you agree to come with us.” Rico said, and Tank moved towards the man. Only he saw him draw the gun again, pointing it at his chest. “Now, don’t get all heroic there, big guy.” The little weasel said, making Tank want to rip the fuckers head off.
“I’m not going to tell you again not to point that at my old man again, dickweed. Now, put that damned thing away.” Annie growled, then she turned storming to the door. She stormed out onto the porch and bellowed at the top of her lungs.
“Get your fucking asses out
of those bushes and tell my mother that I don’t give a fuck what she wants I am not coming back to run her shit anymore!”
“Fuck,” Rico said, putting the gun away. “So much for the element of surprise.”
“Yeah, that was never going to end well, you know.” Tank told him, watching as the man ran a hand through his hair.
“We knew that, but we’re her family we have to protect her. If we don’t who will?” Rico asked.
“You’re not her family, boy. We are. She claimed us, and you aren’t getting her back. She belongs to the Devil’s now. And what we own we keep.”
“That’s sick asshole. She isn’t a possession.” He glared at Tank with fire in his eyes.
“No, she’s not. But she is owned, and you don’t own her, I do.” Tank said confidently before he walked out the door behind his woman to see not only several Red Devil’s in his front yard, but also about twenty men that he didn’t know.
“You’re all here?” Annie asked in confusion. “Why are you all here? Who’s with my mother?” She suddenly demanded, her eyes narrowing as she turned to glare at Rico.
“You all left her to come here and get me? What if someone fucking goes after her while you’re here wasting your time with me, dumbass?”
“I think she can handle herself, gel.” A woman’s voice called out from behind a tree as she stepped into his yard. Ah, thought Tank seeing the woman, and this was when his baby learned that her mother loved her after all, he thought, smiling.
“Mother?” Annie asked, shock making her mouth hang open.
Chapter 20
Annie had been pissed when she’d stepped into the hallway to yell at Tank to hurry his ass up, and found him being held at gun point. Rico was on her upstairs landing, holding a gun to his head. She’d been beyond mad at that moment. Why the hell had her mother sent him after her? Then she realized that he may be acting on his own, without her mother’s permission. She’d thought when he said “we” he’d meant Tim and maybe Tanner. They’d always treated her like a kid sister. It had been quite a shock to see all twenty of her mother’s men stepping out of the woods. Then she’d freaked out because if they were here who was protecting her mother.
Tank's Redemption: Red Devils M.C. (Red Devils MC Book 4) Page 14