Out of the Shadows (Renegades)

by Ana Stone

  Stella palmed her forehead sharply. “Damn, I must be having a senior moment. Yes, but I forgot to bring it. If you could follow me back to the shop, I have it there. We can finish this up and give you the keys today.”

  “That would be fantastic.”

  “Great. You got your stuff stored or do you have to have it shipped in?”

  Roxy’s spirits fell a bit at the question. Aside from her clothes, her laptop and her car, she didn’t own anything else. “Shit.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Sorry, ma’am. I was so excited about the house I didn’t stop to think that I don’t have anything to put in it. I may need to rethink.”

  “I might be able to help you out,” Stella patted her arm. “A tenant in another house bolted on me and left a houseful of stuff. We have it stored at the shop. I’d be willing to work you a deal to rent or buy if you see anything you like.”

  “Really? Why?”

  Stella laughed. “You’re not used to folks being nice to you, are you, Roxy Quinn?”

  “No, ma’am, not really.”

  “Well you’re in Harmony now and we help each other out. Particularly the Justice clan. Now let’s get a move on and get back to the shop. If we move fast, we just might be able to wrangle some of the boys into moving that furniture you’re gonna love in for you after work.”

  Roxy smiled. “Are you for real Mrs. Justice?”

  “As real as it gets, honey. Now get in that beast and let’s get going.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Roxy climbed in her GTO and backed out of the driveway to leave Stella room to back out. Once she had, Roxy followed her toward town. She pulled out her cell phone and she drove and dialed the number Chief Phillips had written on the napkin with the salary offer.

  “Harmony Police Department.” A male voice answered.

  “Chief Phillips, please? This is Roxy Quinn.”

  “Hold on.”

  A few moments later the Chief came on the line. “Mrs. Quinn?”

  “Make that Deputy Quinn, sir,” she said into the phone. “If the offer’s still open, I’ll take it.”

  “Well, all righty then,” he replied. “How soon can you start?”

  “Just as soon as I get moved into my new place. Oh, and talk with Randy. You don’t care if I moonlight at the shop, do you, sir?”

  “What you do on your time is your business. Give me a call in the morning and we’ll set up a time for you to come in and sign everything and let Mellie get you measured for uniforms.”

  “I will. Thank you, Chief. I won’t let you down, sir.”

  “I’m sure you won’t. Talk to you in the morning.”

  Roxy ended the call and sucked in a big breath. Her heart was beating a little fast. She couldn’t believe she’d done it. Taken a job as a cop and on her way to renting a house. After a year on the road, having no place to call home and being alone, it was a little unsettling.

  It was a lot more unsettling when Stella turned into Renegade Custom Rides. Roxy stopped on the street, heedless of whether there was traffic behind her, waiting for her to make the left-hand turn and drive through the open gate in the fence that encircled Renegade Custom Rides.

  Crap. Stella Justice’s shop was Renegade’s. She sat there a few moments longer. She should probably just drive on. Go back to the hotel, gather her things and hit the road.

  But her foot wasn’t moving on the accelerator. A dozen arguments for and against raged in her head. Just because there was a club didn’t mean there was any threat to her. Just because her father had been a one percenter and rode with a club composed of criminals didn’t mean the Renegades were the same. Harmony was a quiet, peaceful town. If the club was a threat, the Chief would have warned her.

  And Stella’s last name was Justice.

  Damn. She made the turn and pulled into the lot. Of all the fool reasons, letting one look she shared with Zeke Justice determine her decision was insane. And yet, she knew that was the reason she was parking her car beside Stella’s truck. If Zeke Justice was in Harmony then she wanted to see him again. If for no other reason than the fact that since the day she first laid eyes on him, her feeling had vanished. Maybe if she saw him again she’d figure out why.

  There were eyes on her before she stepped out of the car. She could see three men inside the garage. All three of the bay doors were open. The first bay revealed a car on a hydraulic jack with a man beneath it working. The middle bay held a 1970s Dodge Charger that was hoodless and sporting a coat of primer. There were two men bent over working on the engine.

  It was the sight the third bay afforded that captured her attention. A man kneeling beside a Harley stood and looked her way. Shirtless, with faded jeans, black boots and a bandana tied around his forehead, Zeke Justice’s gaze was as potent from a hundred feet as it was from three.

  Roxy felt her breath hitch and cursed herself for it. What was it about Zeke Justice? Sure he was handsome and well-built but so were many other men in the world. It wasn’t just his looks. There was a presence about him, the way he held himself, the intensity of his expression and that look that seemed to penetrate through right to the center of her.

  He possessed something she didn’t know how to define or describe, something that pulled at her. It was almost the same kind of emotion a soldier felt when he or she stepped back onto home soil after being in theatre. That coming home feeling that made you weaker than any threat or fear you’d faced in combat. That overwhelming need to engulf and cling to the ones you loved.

  It was insane. There was no reason for her to feel that way. He was a stranger to her.

  And yet there she sat, unable to break the visual connection between them, incapable of stopping the riot of inexplicable emotion that overpowered her.

  “Hon?” Stella’s voice at her window had her jerking her head toward the intrusion.

  “Oh, sorry, ma’am” Roxy apologized.

  She got out of her car, careful not to look in Zeke’s direction and followed Stella to a door with a plaque beside it that read “office”.

  “Coffee?” Stella asked as they entered.

  “No, thank you, ma’am.”

  “Ok, have a seat. It’ll just take me a minute.” Stella crossed the room to one of the desks and took a seat. She pulled open the bottom drawer of the desk and pulled out a file folder. After she placed it on her desk she rose and went to the other door in the room, the one Roxy assumed led to the garage.

  “Zeke! Where’s Eli?”

  “Went to pick up lunch.” Came the reply.

  “You got the keys to the storage?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Well open it up, would ya?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Thanks.”

  She turned and gave Roxy a smile as she returned to her desk. “Let’s see.” She opened the folder and rifled through it. “Yep, here it is.”

  She pulled a thin stack of pages, stapled together from the folder and handed it to Roxy. “It’s pretty simple. Rent’s due by the fifth. You don’t pay, you get charged a late payment. You miss a month and I kick you out. It’s for one year.”

  Roxy nodded, scanning the document as Stella talked. It didn’t take long as it was a simple three page lease agreement. “Looks good,” she said and stood. “Got a pen?”

  Stella plucked one from a holder on her desk. Roxy signed the lease and passed it to Stella who did the same. Stella then picked up the lease and stood. “Let me make a copy of this for you and we’ll go take a look at that furniture.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Roxy wandered over to the door leading into the garage. There was no sign of Zeke but four other men in the garage did look her way. She turned back towards the interior of the office and watched as Stella made copies.

  In a few moments Stella had the copies stapled together and was handing them to Roxy. “Now before I forget…” She rumbled in the top desk drawer and withdrew a set of keys. “These are for you. The power is alrea
dy on but you’ll either need to get it transferred to your name or write me a check each month when the bill comes in.”

  “Whatever you prefer,” Roxy responded.

  “And we have someone cleaning the pool. You can do that the same way. Or do it yourself.”

  “How much is that?”

  “Fifteen a week.”

  “Would it be all right with you if I wrote you a check now for the year and not have to switch it over to my name?”

  “Fine by me. Cable is on but just basic. You’ll need to set up an account with the cable company. They usually only take a day or so.”

  Roxy nodded and pulled out her checkbook. She wrote out a check to Stella for the pool service. “Oh, what about the yard?”

  “Got a guy who mows and trims for a hundred a month. I can give you his name.”

  Roxy did some quick calculations. She should be able to swing that expense on her pay. “Thank you, ma’am, I appreciate that.”

  “Okay, let’s go look at that furniture.” Stella led the way out of the office and past the garage bays. The Renegade property was laid out in a U formation. The garage on the left was the first and largest building. Beyond it another long metal building bore the club insignia. That completed the left side of the complex.

  The building that formed the base of the U was smaller. There was a big garage door and a small entrance door in the front of it. On the right were two buildings, both metal with a space large enough in between to form a parking lot. Parked there were six Harleys, a tow truck bearing the name Renegade Custom Rides, a large panel truck and two late model Dodge trucks, both black.

  As they approached the building at the end, the garage door on its front opened, revealing Zeke. He now had on a shirt, a tight black t-shirt that revealed a left arm bearing nearly a full sleeve of tattoos. His right arm had less ink, extending from the top of the shoulder to elbow.

  Roxy made herself look away from him as she and Stella entered. There were crates and boxes stacked on racks on both sides of the bay and on a center rack, nearly to the ceiling. Between the left and center stacks was a small forklift.

  Stella made her way to the back right wall and through a door. Roxy followed and found herself in a smaller storage room that was piled with furniture. “Probably dusty but most of it’s in good shape,” Stella remarked.

  Roxy took a look around. Stella was right. There was enough here to furnish the house. She made a mental checklist of everything she’d like and by the time she was done she realized she’d selected almost everything in the place except for one bedroom suite.

  “How much for everything but that queen bedroom suit?” She asked.

  “Lease or purchase?” Stella asked.

  “Lease.” Roxy was quick to respond. If things didn’t work out she didn’t want to be stuck with a houseful of furniture she couldn’t use or had to try and get rid of.

  “Hundred a month,” Stella was just as quick to reply.

  “Deal.” Roxy agreed and pulled out her checkbook. “A year up front.”

  She quickly wrote the check and handed it to Stella. “Now, can you tell me where I can rent a truck?”

  “You gonna try and move this yourself?” Stella asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Stella chuckled. “Yeah, I bet you would, but I think I can do better for you than that.” She turned and yelled in the direction of the door. “Zeke?”

  A moment later he appeared in the doorway. “Yes ma’am?”

  “Grab the two prospects and have them load all this but the queen bed group in the truck. Take it over to the place on Forrest Drive and set it up for the new tenant.”

  “Forrest Drive?” Zeke looked at Stella in an expression Roxy read as surprise.

  “That’s what I said. Can you do that for me, hon?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Zeke didn’t even look Roxy’s way. He just turned and disappeared.

  Stella smiled at Roxy. “Now, while they’re doing that, what say I treat my new tenant to lunch?”

  Roxy was surprised. “Really?”

  “Damn skippy.”

  “Well thank you, ma’am. I’d love it.”

  “Great. Let me just grab my purse. Let’s take that hot rod of yours. You can drop me back here after lunch.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Roxy smiled and followed her out. As Stella made her way to the office, Roxy headed for her car. She was passing the building she’d guessed to be the club house when the front door of it opened and three men stepped out.

  The moment the first man emerged and looked at her, something cold skittered down her spine. There was the kind of man who’d caused her too much pain in life, the kind who’d made it necessary for her to run away before she was sixteen years old.

  Tall, with dark hair that was dusted with silver, he was imposing. He wasn’t fat, but he was very big. Big meaty shoulders and arms and a thick chest. Even in middle-age, he was a handsome man. But he had the kind of eyes she equated to one thing. Evil.

  She looked away and proceeded to her car, deliberately not increasing her pace, but not looking in his direction again. She heard a raunchy comment and a low whistle behind her back but reacted to neither. She got in the car and waited, watching the door to the office.

  Stella emerged a few seconds later and climbed in the car with Roxy. “Let’s roll.”

  Roxy smiled and started the car. As she backed out she saw Zeke, standing in front of the panel truck, talking to two younger men, both of whom wore leather vests adored with the word “Prospect” in a patch on the chest.

  He looked in her direction and for a moment their eyes met. Once more she was seized with an almost urgent need to touch him, to be close to him. Shaking off the feeling as best she could, she put the car in first gear and drove out of the parking lot.

  “What you in the mood for?” Stella asked.

  “Randy over at the tattoo shop says the Wagon Wheel has the best barbecue south of the Mason Dixon line.”

  “Indeed they do. You know where it is?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Stella chuckled. “You sound like Zeke.”

  “Zeke?”

  “My nephew, the one who opened the storage for us.”

  “Oh. How do I sound like him?”

  “All yes ma’am and no ma’am, like you was in the military.”

  “He was in the military?”

  “Most of his adult life. Army. Delta. Just got out a few months back.”

  Roxy knew all about the First Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta, popularly known as Delta Force. It was one of the military’s four secretive tier one counter-terrorism and Special Missions Units, Delta Force and its Navy counterpart, the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or Seals, fell under the operational control of the Joint Special Operations Command. Delta’s primary roles were counter-terrorism, national intervention operations and direct action but it was a very versatile group and was capable of conducting many types of covert missions, including but not limited to raids and hostage rescues.

  The Central Intelligence Agency’s extremely secretive Special Activities Division and specifically its elite Special Operations Group worked with and recruited operators from Delta Force with regularity.

  Roxy was all too familiar with Delta. Her husband David was Delta. It was in a Delta raid that he was killed. It was a shock to learn that Zeke was Delta. What the hell was an operator doing as part of a club?

  “Why’d he leave?” Roxy asked. “If you don’t mind my asking?”

  “Wounded in Afghanistan. Had to learn to walk again and when it looked like he’d sit a desk for the rest of his career he couldn’t face that so he left.”

  “Makes sense,” Roxy commented.

  “Oh?” Stella looked at her with arched brows.

  “My husband was Delta.” The words were out before Roxy could stop them. Now why the hell had she told Stella that? That answer was simple. There was something about Stella that made Roxy want to trus
t.

  “Was?” Stella asked.

  “He was killed.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Yes ma’am. Me, too. He was a good man.”

  “So you pick up that yes ma’am from him or you military?”

  Roxy smiled. “Guilty as charged, ma’am.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “You… how?”

  “Art Phillips. Honey I check out everyone before I do business with them.”

  “Smart.”

  “I like to think so.

  “So why’d you ask if you already knew?”

  “Just wanted to hear your answer. Art tells me you were an officer. Decorated one at that.”

  “82nd Airborne, Lieutenant Colonel, ma’am.”

  “There’s pride in those words, honey. Why’d you leave? Cause of your husband?”

  “No ma’am.” Roxy felt the old sadness and disappointment settle over her like a wet wool blanket, heavy and suffocating. “I was deployed in Afghanistan on an intelligence operation and took a bullet. Apparently I suffered a cerebral embolism during transport. Lost a lot of my memory.

  “My husband was killed before I was released. When I was finally told about it…I couldn’t even remember him. The Army was willing to let me stay, but I wasn’t ever going back to theatre again and I knew I’d go insane commanding a desk so I chose to leave.”

  “I swear to god it’s like listening to a female version of Zeke,” Stella exclaimed, and then pointed to a car that was pulling out of a parking spot at the Wagon Wheel. “There’s one opening up.”

  Roxy stopped and waited for the car to leave. She was a little dismayed over how much she had opened up to Stella. She normally didn’t do that. Not that she had anything to hide. What had happened was done; there was nothing she could do to change it.

  They parked and went inside. Stella spotted a free booth and made her way for it, speaking to everyone she saw. It was clear to Roxy that Stella was well liked. Everyone in the place seemed to want to exchange a greeting with her.

  Once they had placed their orders and had glasses of sweet iced tea on the table between them, Roxy initiated the conversation. “You’re close with your nephew?”

  “He’s more like a son. I think he spent half his life with me and Eli. That’s my husband, Eli. He and Zeke’s dad were brothers.”