by Jamie Begley
Lowering her eyes, Jo reached for the cash in her coveralls.
“I’ll take care of it,” Rider called out as he went to the fast treats section next to the side of the counter. “What do you want on your hot dog, Jo?”
Her mouth grew dry when Claire looked up from the register to stare at her accusingly.
“Uh … uh …” Jo looked away from Claire to Rider. “Mustard, onion, and relish. Plenty of onions.” Her gaze returned to Claire. “Rider is helping me out tonight.”
Feeling like an idiot for explaining, she clutched her cash as she saw Claire ring up the coffee. Rider’s presence with her had assured that her free refills would no longer be forthcoming.
Busted, she put the lids on the coffee as Rider made their hot dogs and carried them to the register.
“You forgot the onions.”
“No, I didn’t.” Rider picked the sour and onion chips up and moved away from the counter.
“What are you doing?”
“Switching the chips. I like plain better.”
“I prefer …” Miserably, she shut up when Claire’s stare went from accusing to angry. “Fine.” Snatching the bag out of his hand, she grabbed her hot dog and coffee and went to the door, leaving him behind to pay.
“Excuse her, Claire. Jo takes her job seriously. How’s your night going?”
Jo wanted to throw her hot dog at him. Instead, she went out the door and refueled her two tanks.
“If he doesn’t come out by the time I’m done, I’m leaving his ass,” Jo said out loud, seeing Rider standing at the register, talking to Claire through the window in the store.
Jo stopped watching them to look at the numbers clicking off on the pump, not understanding why she was becoming piqued that Rider was staying longer than necessary in the store.
When the handle of the gas hose clicked off, she was shoving the nozzle back into the pump when she saw Rider walking across the parking lot.
Stepping on the step of her truck as she opened her door, Jo looked across the hood. Rider had opened his door, placing the coffee and hot dog inside.
“You sure you don’t want to stay here with Claire?” Jo wanted to bite her tongue when he gave her a satisfied look.
“I’m sure.” Bending his head, he got inside, then snapped the door closed.
Jo turned the heat on high as soon as she got inside. Then, pulling to the side of the parking lot, she reached for her hot dog and took a bite.
Rider opened the chips, placing the bag between them to share with her. Taking two sodas out of his jacket pockets, he gave her one. “I thought this would go better with our dinner.”
“Thank you.”
“How’s your hot dog?”
“It would have been better with onions.”
“I saved you from getting sick. Claire told me the toppings aren’t fresh. The owner hates to throw anything away.”
About to take another bite of her hot dog, she stopped and looked at it suspiciously. She was about to put it back down when Rider laughed.
“You’re safe. Claire throws the old hot dogs away when the owner goes home.”
“Were the chips old, too?” Jo asked, reaching for one.
“No, that was a matter of preference. With the storm, it’s going to be a long night, and I need to keep my strength up. If you want, you can open the barbecue.” He set the other bag of chips closer to her as he demolished the last of his hot dog.
“The plain is fine.”
They sat in companionable silence as they finished eating, the heat in the cab encasing them in a warm cocoon.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s why I came back to Treepoint. Nothing else is like it.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Jo backed out of the parking lot, scraping Main Street before making a turn at the red light. She waited for Rider to ask her where they were going. When he didn’t, she realized he was enjoying being out.
“Weather like this makes it hard to ride your motorcycle.”
“Yeah, I usually keep myself occupied with work, but after a couple days, I’m ready to ride, whatever the weather. That’s why I keep cars for when I get stir-crazy.”
“Do you miss being in the Navy?”
“No, I like the men I served with, and they’re all here.”
Edging onto a private driveway sideways, she plowed the snow from behind a closed garage door as she felt Rider’s gaze on her. When the front porch light came on and a tall man came outside, she stopped, rolling her window down.
“Jo, I told you I have a snow blower.”
“Evening, Dr. Price. I was in the neighborhood and didn’t want you having to worry about getting your car out of the garage if you get called in for an emergency.”
Dr. Price folded his arms across his chest. “The hospital’s blocks away; I could walk there.”
“It’s too cold to stay out here arguing with me. Besides, I’m done.”
“Jo, you’re so hardheaded you could play for the Broncos.”
“Nope, I don’t like football. Get inside before you take a cold. I’ll see you in church.”
Rolling her window up, she went farther down the street, doing the same to another driveway. This time, she honked her horn when the porch light came on.
Doing an arc in the cul-de-sac, she plowed the other road.
“That was Dr. Matthews’ house, wasn’t it?” Rider asked in the dark interior.
“Yes.”
“He’s Lily’s doctor.”
“I didn’t know that. You learn something new every day.” Reaching for her thermos, she took a sip of the hot coffee as she turned back down Main Street.
Jo heard him lift his own coffee. Then she took her eyes off the road when she heard him rolling the window down to spit it out.
“How can you drink that stuff? It tastes terrible,” he complained, setting his mug back down.
“Oh, sorry about that. It’s decaf.” She took another sip of hers. “I was trying to hurry and there wasn’t enough in the caffeinated one.”
“But you had enough to fill yours?”
“I’m the one driving.” Jo tried to hold back a gurgle of laughter, not succeeding. “I need to be alert.”
“It tasted like sludge.”
“I don’t imagine many customers buy decaf.” She was wiping her tears of laughter away.
“Try none.”
She laughed harder when he opened the barbecue chips to take the taste away.
“That shit could grow hair on your chest. Want to see?”
Jo stopped laughing, reaching out to punch him lightly on his arm when she saw he was about to take his jacket off.
“Stop! I don’t want to see your hairy chest!”
Jo braked sharply, turning into the gas station and pulling alongside the front so he could get out.
“Go pour your mug out and get another cup.”
He didn’t get out as she expected, but gave her a curious look she couldn’t interpret.
“You’re ditching me, aren’t you?”
“Don’t tempt me.” Jo stopped the engine, giving him the key. “Hurry. I need to plow the hospital parking lot. You can flirt with Claire on Wednesday night.”
Rider took the keys, then started to get out, but he couldn’t resist giving her a gloating smile.
“Do I hear a spark of jealousy?”
“What you hear is my stomach growling. Get me another hot dog when you’re in there.”
20
Rider took the steps two at a time toward the clubhouse. If he rushed, he would have enough time to shower before Jo showed to pick him up.
Gaining the front porch, he saw Moon on duty.
“What did you do to get guard duty?”
“Nothing. Viper and Shade want to talk to you. They’re in Gavin’s room.”
When Moon didn’t meet his eyes, Rider knew it was bad. Was he the one in trouble?
He had spent each evening driving ar
ound with Jo. He had badgered her with texts each day until she would agree to let him go along. He was in a good mood, having only needed to send her three today before she had given in and told him she would be there at six.
Had Curt done something? Lily hadn’t gone into labor yet or Shade wouldn’t be waiting to talk to him with Viper.
He knocked on Gavin’s door, opening it when he heard Viper’s voice.
“You want …?” Rider broke off when he saw Gavin seated on the couch at the other side of the room. The brother’s change of appearance had him standing at the door with his mouth hanging open.
Gavin had cut his hair, and not only had he shaved it, but he had shaved one side clear off. The cleanly shaved part was tatted with ink that completely covered where his hair had been going down to the side of his neck and shoulder.
“Jesus, brother, that’s a sick tattoo.” Rider didn’t know what else to say. He took a step toward the couch, wanting to see the details closer.
“Close the door, Rider.”
Viper’s order had him turning back to do as told.
“You wanted to see me?” he asked, still unable to take his eyes off Gavin.
“Have a seat. We need to have a talk.”
Rider took the empty chair beside the desk. When Shade stepped away from the desk to go sit on the couch next to Gavin, a feeling of dread rose up.
Viper’s mouth opened and closed as if he was trying to find the words to begin. He had served in the military with the men and spilled blood with them and for them. To know they were leaving it to Viper to discuss in the privacy of his old bedroom, it wasn’t going to be good.
“Just spit it out.”
“Jo’s playing you.”
“Bullshit.” Rider felt the room spin around him, his mind plucked back to the past, while his body still sat in Gavin’s room.
“Brother, I would rather rip out my tongue than lie to you about this.” Viper’s jaw clenched as he pushed a button on the computer at the desk.
Rider saw the security footage of the camera he and Shade had planted on Jo’s property. Four separate screens showed the outside of Jo’s house, the inside, the entrance of the junkyard, and her metal garage.
Viper pushed another button, changing the footage. Rider didn’t say anything as he watched.
The footage showed Jo driving into the junkyard. Rider looked up at the date of the recording before watching Jo get out of her truck and go inside her house. Viper sped the recording until Jo was moving around in her living room, doing dishes, and sweeping her kitchen floor. Viper stopped the footage when he saw her reach for her phone.
Whoever had called Jo must have upset her from the expression on her face. She kept shaking her head no before she slammed her phone down on the coffee table and put her boots back on. Grabbing her coat and phone, she left in a rush.
Viper stopped the recording.
“Moon was watching the footage and called Shade.”
“Why didn’t Shade call me? I was the one who wanted the cameras placed to watch her.”
“Shade felt it would be better for him to handle it in case it was Curt trying to lure her out. He was afraid you would take Curt out without our permission.”
“Where did she go?” Rider had no doubt Shade had followed her.
“She went to a back road behind the lake. I almost didn’t find where she had made the turn. I had to hike to keep them from hearing my bike.”
“Who’d she meet?” Rider grabbed the arms of his chair to bring his mind back to the present.
“Aly.”
“Aly?”
“I was as surprised as you. When I asked her to discount Jo’s clothes for the auction, she acted like she didn’t know Jo that well. She’s been telling all the women in the club she wants to be a member, but so far, if any of the brothers make a move to talk to her, she’s more interested in discussing shoes than fucking.”
“You asked Aly to discount Jo’s clothes? Why?”
“Because we’re dumb as fuck.” Viper kicked the leg of his desk. “We wanted you focused on Jo, not our wives.”
Rider nodded at Viper’s confession.
“Could you hear what they were talking about?”
“No.”
“Any ideas?”
“They met for almost an hour. Jo seemed to be trying to convince Aly into something.” Shade shrugged.
“Shade, you and Viper have already been talking about it, or you would have filled me in that it went down. What do you think they were doing?”
Shade laid his forearms on his thighs. “Both women have only one thing in common as far as I can see. Knox said that Aly pressured him to investigate her parents’ deaths. When the report came back that nothing was suspicious, she stormed out of his office. Aly could have contacted Jo because it’s not like it’s a secret what Curt did to her. They could have teamed up to try to bring Curt down.”
“How?” Rider already knew, but he wanted his dark thoughts confirmed.
“You. Ember said that Aly’s asking questions. When I asked Winter what she thought of Aly, she said she and Jo went to school together. She also said Georgia was a friend of Aly’s. She said that anytime Aly went to visit her parents, she always hung around with Georgia.”
That Aly was friends with Georgia before Shade had taken her out while she was in prison didn’t bode well. Georgia had been a bully who had made Willa’s life miserable before she had married Lucky. She had also nearly taken out Shade and Lily when she had set a fire in the basement of the clubhouse.
“That’s not all.” Viper pushed the button to run footage on another part of the computer screen, showing Jo at the large metal garage at the back of her property.
Rider looked at the date and saw it was from this afternoon.
“We only placed cameras on the inside and outside of her house to catch Curt. After I saw the meeting with Jo and Aly, I went back to put more cameras in and around the garage in case they’ve met there. Knox was able to freeze her camera system until I could get in and out.”
Rider started laughing bitterly. “I’m a fucking fool.”
He was staring at the mysterious car he had caught sight of a couple times.
He scooted forward on his chair, not believing his eyes. The car he had trusted Carl with was also sitting in the middle of the garage, raised high on a lift. He sat, watching as she worked on it with meticulous care.
The brothers watched with him for a good twenty minutes before Jo wiped her hands, then touched the tire as if she was promising a lover she would be back soon.
“Train was taken in, too. None of us expected Jo wasn’t being honest with you. To tell you the truth, I hope we’re wrong. I like Jo. She’s had a shitty deal, and still has one.
“Knox isn’t happy with the accident report and asked for an independent assessment from the state. We were already suspicious that Aly was so gung-ho to hang around the clubhouse, which is why we told everyone to watch their steps around her. Ember’s doing kitchen duty for the next two months because she ignored my orders and told Aly how she could become a member.”
“Don’t blame her. Aly has been manipulating her. Not enough to fool Shade, but Ember is too nice. She wouldn’t recognize a lie if it hit her in the face.” Rider picked up a ruler on the desk, sliding his thumb along the length.
“I’m sorry, Rider,” Viper spoke when it became obvious he wasn’t going to say anything else. “We can handle it any way you want.”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault.” He laid the ruler back down, standing. “Spread the word not to let Aly in the clubhouse anymore. Make it seem like we’re on lockdown because of something Curt’s done. I’ll take care of Aly and Jo.”
“What are you going to do?” It was the first time Gavin had spoken since Rider had come into the room.
“I’m going to make them believe they’re in Disneyland and all their wishes are going to come true.” Rider strode out of the meeting. He wasn’t angry, h
is emotions too numb for that reaction.
Going to his bedroom, he took off his shirt and twirled it before making it taut and hitting the mattress instead of the woman he wanted to feel the pain of his lashes.
“If you’re in the mood to take your anger out on someone, I have some free time,” Jewell said, coming up from behind him.
He had used his foot to shut the door without waiting to see if it had closed. Jewell had taken advantage of the open door, prancing inside with only a pair of string panties to cover her pussy.
“Get out. Now.”
Rider didn’t look to see if she left. Jewell had the survival instinct of a cat. She knew when to draw her claws and when to retreat.
Leaving the mess he had made of the clothes he had laid out this morning to wear tonight, he walked back to his door, using his booted foot to slam it shut. Shirtless, he then went to his dresser to take out clean clothes and socks before going to the bathroom and taking a shower. Naked, he wrapped a towel around his hip and went out into the hall.
“Hey, sexy!” A feminine voice from the landing had him turning.
Sasha was skipping down the hall toward him.
“When did you get back?” He grinned, lifting her until her thighs gripped his hips.
“Two nights ago. You’ve either been out or working.” She playfully hit his shoulder, then twined her arms around his neck to give him a hug. “I missed you …” As he held her lightly, his towel fell to the hall floor. Sasha’s eyes widened at the flesh he was exposing. “Soo much.”
“I missed you, too, brat.” Rider set her back on her feet, then reached for his towel, wrapping it around his hips.
“Since when have you been shy?” Sasha followed on his heels as he went inside his room.
“I’m going out.”
“Again?” Sasha sat on the side of his bed as he tugged his jeans and black T-shirt on. “What’s a girl to do to get any attention from you? Drive a tow truck?” she teased.
“I’m sure you’re keeping yourself occupied.” Rider pulled his T-shirt down, covering the muscles of his abdomen before sitting down next to her on the bed to put his boots on.
“True, but baby, they aren’t you.” She placed her hand on his thigh, sliding upward to cup his cock.