by Pj Fiala
“He keeps two in here. He always carries in his boot and his back holster. There’s a pistol under the bar attached to the underside, in case we need it in a hurry. That’s the one he used last night. The police have it now. The rest he keeps in his apartment.”
Dog walked forward and looked around the floor behind the bar. Glancing across the bar floor, he turned and caught JT’s gaze—his lips forming a straight line.
“So, you’re missing one that we know of.” He pointed to the empty spot in the drawer.
Kayden lifted the shotgun laying in the drawer from its resting place. She sniffed close to it and looked up.
“This one he bought a few years ago at an estate sale. It hasn’t been fired in a while. The missing one is his favorite. A Mossberg 500.”
JT watched his father’s face and the expressions rolling over it. Glancing at Kayden, he saw a strong but worried woman.
Ryder and Gunnar began picking up the bar stools and righting the tables. Dog scratched the back of his neck and let out a heavy sigh. He turned to Kayden.
“I’ll go with you to his apartment and check his other guns. What time is he being released?”
Kayden put the shotgun in its spot, picked up the few pieces of glass laying in the drawer and closed and locked it. She flipped through the keys on her key ring and said, “Around eleven o’clock.” She tilted her head toward the kitchen door, glanced at JT, and turned to leave with Dog right behind her.
JT grabbed a broom from the kitchen. Stepping back into the bar, he began sweeping glass, but his thoughts were all over the place.
“Hey. JT?” Ryder spoke softly, his strong arms resting on the bar, his black t-shirt stretched across his shoulders.
“Yeah?”
JT walked closer to Ryder. Gunnar joined them.
Ryder’s brows furrowed. “This is weird. What do you think is going on here?”
JT set the broom against the bar and crossed his arms in front of him.
“I don’t know. If she knows anything, she’s not saying.” He pointed his thumb behind him. “There’s no clientele here which means no money. We’ve got a missing gun in a locked drawer. Oakes shot one of those guys last night; Kayden and I saw him limping out to his bike. The blood trail…” He pointed to the blood on the floor. “Leads right outside. Oakes isn’t talking. He’s saying it’s some kids. No way those were kids leaving last night.”
Gunnar cleared his throat. “Were they wearing colors?”
JT stared at his brother for a moment. Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t know. They parked on the east side of the bar; the yard lights don’t shine over there.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think it’s the mica. He could sell this place, but he hasn’t. I’ve asked Kayden about it; she says they don’t talk about personal stuff. She won’t ask him to sell the bar because he bought it for her when she was little. She doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. Same for him.”
Ryder shook his head. “That’s fucked up.”
Kayden and Dog walked through Oakes’ tiny kitchen and into the living room. The only furnishings were a sofa, a well-worn recliner, two end tables, and a large coffee table with magazines haphazardly strewn across the top. Kayden pointed to a framed photo on the wall above the recliner.
“It’s Dad’s favorite picture from Iraq.” She watched as Dog leaned forward and grinned as he examined the picture. He stood studying it for a long moment; Kayden remained quiet as she let him have his memories. He turned and nodded at her. “We had a good day that day. We’d captured twenty Iraqis and were celebrating on base. Of course, we couldn’t have any alcohol there, but we drank soda and talked smack well into the night.” He took a deep breath and glanced back at the photograph once more, his finger gently brushing the face of one of the men. “Lance was still alive then. He was killed two weeks after this picture was taken.”
Kayden cocked her head. “Lance?”
Dog’s voice hitched, “My best friend.”
Nodding, she suddenly remembered her dad telling her about Lance saving Dog’s life and losing his own in the process.
Quietly, she said, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Dog nodded once and heaved out a deep breath. Looking toward the coffee table, he held out his hand. “Shall we?”
Kayden knelt in front of the table, inserted a key into a lock just under the top and slid open a secret door revealing four perfectly placed pistols and two more shotguns. Both of them looked into the drawer and saw each spot filled. Dog leaned back and looked around the room. “Any other hiding spots?”
Kayden stood and wiped her hands on her jeans. “Yeah, in his bedroom.”
She led the way into the bedroom, and the first thing she noticed was that the bed was unmade, and the room smelled stale from being closed up. Her father was usually meticulous. There was some other unusual odor; she couldn’t place it. Wrinkling her nose, she knelt in front of the nightstand and unlocked the door. She pulled out the upper hidden drawer and there lay two more pistols. She looked up at Dog. “I don’t know of any other hiding places.” Looking into the bottom of the nightstand, she saw a metal box laying on the bottom. She pulled it forward and flipped the top. Her eyes were transfixed by the pile of cash laying in the bottom. Hundreds, fifties, and twenties—no small bills. She quickly closed the lid and latched it. She shoved it to the back of the nightstand where it had been. Her heart hammered in her chest after seeing the stash of cash. She’d wondered here and there about how her dad had money when things were tight. He always said it was from his savings, but people don’t usually keep their savings in a lockbox in their house.
She wanted to talk to JT about it and get his thoughts; she knew he was suspicious of the situation and the growing dread in her stomach that her father was involved in something illegal was beginning to burn. As soon as that thought flitted through her head, her fingers shook, and her head began to pound. JT would be leaving soon. She’d need to deal with all of this herself.
Dog stood—big and imposing—watching her eyes. Fighting the urge to cry and scream, she quickly ushered Dog from the room.
“We should go.” She quickly brushed past him and into the living room.
“What’s going on, Kayden?” His jaw tightened. “If Oakes is in some trouble, I’ll try and help him.”
She walked through the living room to the door. “I’ve got to go and see Dakota,” she said as she opened the back door.
They stepped outside and his cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen and said, “It’s the shop; I’ll be a while here.” She took that opportunity to call her high school friend Chris, their local contractor extraordinaire to come and fix the door and their helper, Jessie, to come in early and clean the bar. She waved to Dog and walked into the bar through the kitchen door.
She stepped into the bar, still holding her cell phone. She needed to put some space between herself and the Sheppards. She was starting to rely on them too much, and there was something her father wasn’t telling her that she needed to figure out.
She walked up to JT, her spine stiff and unyielding, her neck tight. She rotated her head and heaved out a breath.
“I’m going to visit with Dakota for a while. I need to explain that Grandpa had an accident and talk to Payton about some things. I have Chris, a friend, coming to put a new door on, and Jessie, our part-time worker, is coming in to clean. I’ll see you around, ‘kay?”
She turned to leave before he could say anything and bolted from the bar into the kitchen. Her hopes that he’d just leave her alone were dashed when he caught up to her.
He raised his voice and grabbed her arm, spinning her around. “What the hell is going on now? You come back from your dad’s apartment, and suddenly you’re bolting out the door? And who is Chris? And, how are you going to pick up your dad?” He scrubbed his hand down his face. “What the fuck is going on, Kayden?”
She watched the hurt in his eyes and swallowed. She had to get away from him; sh
e was starting to feel things she had no business feeling.
She kept her voice low and even. “I don’t need to explain myself to you, JT. What I do is my business. Where I go is my business.” She turned toward the back door, unable to look at the pain and confusion in his eyes.
Taking long strides to the garage, she unlocked the service door and quickly closed it behind her, immediately turning the lock. She strode to her bike and straddled the seat. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and reached forward to turn the ignition switch on. She hit the garage door opener and took a deep breath, bracing herself in case JT followed her.
She was relieved and a little disappointed to see he wasn’t standing there. She eased her bike out the door, pushed the button on the control in the bag on her windshield and glanced around. Dog was still standing alongside the building talking on the phone. He waved to her, and she let out a long breath and nodded.
Turning off her road onto Main Street, she breathed in deep as the wind whipped her hair and floated over her body. The heat diminished on her bike—everything did, including her worries.
She navigated past the general store and the little liquor store. She waved at her high school friend, Stacey, and her kids, as they walked toward their car parked on the street. She slowed at the stoplight in front of the hardware store where her friend Chris was just leaving carrying her new door. She pulled in next to him, and sat on her bike as he loaded the door in the back of his truck. He came back around his truck and swept his fingers through his curly brown hair.
“What’s up, Kayd?” His voice was a deep rich baritone. She’d told him all through high school that he should be in radio. He’d just shake his head and tell her he wanted to build things. He’d helped her with the bar here and there, and she was grateful he did it for drinks. Having friends was a good thing.
“Same old shit, Chris. Thanks for taking care of this.” She smiled at him, and he nodded.
“I’m on my way to the bar right now. Sorry this happened. Know who it was yet?”
She frowned and shook her head. “No. Dad says some kids, but I saw them get on Harleys and take off. Not kids. I just don’t know anything these days. The police are looking into it.”
She shook her head. Chris patted her shoulder.
“It’ll get better, Kayd. Drive safe on that thing, and for God’s sake, put a helmet on, would you?”
Kayden saluted and walked her bike backward from its parking space. “I’ll be fine. Dad’s friends from Wisconsin are at the bar right now. Treat them right, okay?”
Chris cocked his head, his brown eyes questioning. “You left them there?”
She nodded. “I needed to get away. Gotta go see Dakota.”
Turning the ignition switch on, she pushed the starter button. Her bike roared to life, and she checked for traffic before pulling out onto the road.
19
JT stood in the kitchen and watched out the door as Kayden took off on her motorcycle. Damn woman was infuriating. Too independent for her own good, and damn it all, she looked sexy as hell on that bike.
He heard his dad talking and turned his head in that direction. Seeing his dad walking toward the door, cell phone to his ear, he pushed it open to let his dad step in. Tucking his phone into his pocket, Dog nodded at JT.
“What the hell happened to make her run off like her tail was on fire?” JT blasted his dad.
Dog looked at him, his brows raised and shook his head.
“She found the guns locked up in the gun cabinet and nightstand, and a metal box in the bottom of the nightstand. She opened it up, and I couldn’t see for sure, but it looked like a large amount of cash in the box. She bolted up and ushered me out as quickly as she could.”
Dog let out a long breath. “I’m going to see Oakes and find out what that old man has gotten himself into. You guys good here?”
Watching his father’s eyes and the stern set of his jaw, JT saw worry. “What does your gut tell you, Dad?”
Pulling a bandana from his back pocket, Dog tied it around his blond head, securing it in the back. “I’m afraid to venture a guess, but he’s been my friend for a long time, and I want to help him.”
JT followed his father walking from the kitchen to the bar where his dad addressed his brothers. “Boys, I’m heading to the hospital to see Oakes. I’ve called your mom and let her know. When I get back, be ready to head to Sturgis; we should be there no later than noon.”
Catching glances with each of his brothers, he tightened his jaw. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at the time on his phone. Nine forty-five. Already so much bullshit for this early in the day. This trip sure as hell wasn’t turning out as he’d planned. Hell, he’d barely given ten minutes of thought to the Build-Off today. It’d been all he thought of two weeks ago; now all he thought about was Kayden and helping her and Oakes.
The door opened and a tall curly headed man walked in. About to tell him the bar wasn’t open, the man held his hand up in a wave and said. “I’m Chris. Kayden asked me to come and replace the door. I take it you’re her Wisconsin guests?”
“Not sure I would call us guests. Not sure what we are.” JT stepped forward and shook Chris’ hand. “I’m JT. These are my brothers, Ryder and Gunnar.” He waved his hand toward his brothers who both stepped forward to shake hands with Chris.
Sizing Chris up, he asked, “How do you know Kayden?”
Chris chuckled. “I went to high school with her.”
JT’s jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth. His back was rigid.
Chris stared at him for a long while then a grin spread across his face. “She’s smart, Kayden is. She’s independent; she’s had to be. She’s also infuriating and a bit of a free spirit.”
Letting out a long breath, JT said, “Yeah.”
Gunnar and Ryder chuckled behind him as they continued fixing a table. Chris’ gaze traveled to them and back to JT. His voice lowered. “She’s worth it, though, if you can tie her down.”
JT shook his head. “Nobody’s tying anyone down.”
A grin spread across Chris’ face. He nodded once and turned toward the opening he’d just walked in. “I’ll be putting the new door on if you need anything.” He glanced at Ryder and Gunnar and waved his hand as he strode out the door.
20
Kayden pulled into Payton’s driveway and turned the ignition on her bike. Dakota came running out the front door. “Mommy! I’m so happy to see you.”
She stood from her bike and kneeled down to scoop her beautiful little girl into her arms. She hugged Dakota close, and little arms squeezed around her neck and small lips planted noisy kisses on her cheeks. This was a healing balm that no one could bottle and sell.
“I missed you, Kota. Were you a good girl for Payton and Duncan?”
Dakota giggled, and Kayden closed her eyes. That was the best sound in the world. “Duncan came home late last night. There was some drugger in the park.”
Setting Dakota on her feet, she sighed. “What’s a drugger?”
Dakota’s tiny head tilted up to look at her. “You know—a bad guy.”
Glancing toward the front door, Payton stepped out onto the sidewalk cute as ever. Her sassy hair cropped in a short style always looked perfect. Her long thin legs bare from the bottom of her denim shorts down were model perfect. Suddenly a pang of insecurity hit Kayden in the gut.
Payton leaned into her and hugged her tight. She whispered in her ear, “You’re wearing the same clothes you had on yesterday.”
Pulling back, she stared at her friend, a sly smile on Payton’s face. “We have a little bit to talk about. And, I could use some more coffee. Not nearly enough today.”
“Come on in. I’ve got a fresh pot for us to sip on.” Payton looked down at Dakota. “You want to let Mommy and me have a cup of coffee while you, Catcher, and Ruby finish your cereal?”
Dakota squealed. “Momma. Payton’s letting us eat our cereal in the living room and watch cartoons. At the same time
.”
It was hard not to laugh, Dakota’s excitement was so real. “You’re one lucky girl.”
“Yeah. Ruby’s lucky, and Catcher is, too.”
“Yep. Go on in; we’re right behind you.” Kayden looked at Payton. “You’re spoiling her.”
Payton laughed. “It’s more for me, really. Duncan got home late last night, and we sat and talked afterward. So, I’m moving slow this morning. Let’s go talk about why you’re still wearing yesterday’s clothes and what’s going on.”
Kayden sat at the kitchen table, her fingers wrapped around her coffee cup. She’d finished relating yesterday’s events and waited for Payton’s words of wisdom.
“Well. I think you two need to get horizontal without clothes and see where it takes you. He’s smoking hot; I’m surprised you haven’t jumped his bones yet.”
Kayden chuckled. “There’s something different about him. It…he scares me in a way.”
“Hmm. Maybe because he’s special?” A teasing smile formed on her lips.
Shaking her head, Kayden took a sip from her coffee and pondered what special meant. “I can’t let myself think like that. And, I can’t let Dakota think like that either.”
“Why on earth not? You’ve been put through your paces with Rog, and before that, your nervous breakdown. From what you’ve told me, this guy seems like the genuine deal. I think it’s stupid to let him walk away without ever knowing if you two could be good together.” Payton stood and brought the coffee pot over, refilled their cups, and placed it back in the maker. “At least have some hot monkey sex first, for crying out loud. There’s no one around here that looks like him.” She fanned herself for effect.