Sami fired and none of the cans fell. “Shit.”
“Relax. You haven’t shot a weapon for a long time. Just relax and try again.”
It took two more rounds, but she finally hit one of the cans. She jumped around like she’d won a giant stuffed animal at the fair.
“Careful, babe. We don’t celebrate too much while holding a loaded weapon.”
Sami giggled but calmed down. He let her fire off several rounds until she’d knocked all the cans down.
“Great job. I’ll set up more cans and then it will be Sadie’s turn.”
Sadie gulped. “Do I have to?”
“You do,” Jason nodded firmly. “It was Sheriff Ryan’s idea. Logan and Meyer thought it was a good idea, as well.” Jason had noticed the chemistry between Sadie and the two men. He hoped it would lead somewhere, but in the meantime, her protection was his and Gabe’s responsibility. A responsibility they took seriously.
The mention of the Sheriff and her new employers seemed to get her attention. She lifted her chin and nodded. “Okay, I’ll learn.”
He set more cans up on the log, reloaded the clip and inserted it into the pistol, and then pressed it in her hands. She was shaking a little and he let her relax and aim as long as she needed to. Her first shot went off wildly, along with her next several. She’d emptied two clips before she finally hit one of the cans.
Sami lifted her arms in victory. “Yes! That’s the way. Shoot ‘em in the balls, Sadie.”
Jason choked on his own spit trying not to laugh. His woman was bloodthirsty. He’d hate to be this Ray guy if he came around now. Sami wasn’t the beaten down, cowed woman who had arrived in Plenty mere weeks ago. Nor was this the sweet, naive girl who’d left a few years ago. This was a woman who could clearly take care of herself. He and Gabe better watch their damn step or she’d have their hides.
Sadie seemed to be in the spirit as well. She pretended to blow on the muzzle of the gun and grinned. “I think I’m a natural at this.”
Jason ran his hand through his hair. “This day is not turning out as I planned. I didn’t expect you to enjoy this so much.”
Sami rolled her eyes. “You think only men like shooting a gun? Chauvinist.”
“I’m not a chauvinist. Can we get back to things? Sadie, why don’t you go ahead and empty this clip.”
She did and managed to hit two more cans. Jason eased the gun from her eager fingers, ejected the clip and slipped it back into its case. He would clean it later.
“I think that’s enough for the day. You did well. I want you ladies to take this seriously. This threat is real and your need to defend yourself is real. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” He looked at Sadie’s fading bruises. “Or hurt again. Seriously, I mean it.”
Sadie nodded. “We’re taking it seriously. Aren’t we, Sami?” Sadie gave Sami a warning look and Sami toned down her jubilance immediately. Looked like there was a spine of steel underneath Sadie’s soft-spoken way.
“We take it seriously,” Sami said. “I’m just excited, that’s all.”
“It’s okay to be excited. It’s okay to be happy. I wasn’t trying to bring down the entire conversation.”
“Well, in that case.” Sami jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him. “Can we go to the diner for lunch? It’s pot roast day. Please? Pretty please?”
He was sure he’d gotten through to her about the seriousness of the situation, and he couldn’t refuse this woman anything. He loved the pot roast at the diner just as much as she did.
“Three pot roast lunches coming right up. Do you want pie or cake to go with that?”
“Pie.”
“Cake.”
Both Sami and Sadie answered at the same time.
“I think we can do both. Let’s get in the truck and head out. I’m starved.”
As they drove away, Jason took a look into the rearview mirror. He only hoped protecting them from Ray Campbell was as easy as teaching them to shoot.
* * * *
Gabe twisted open a longneck and leaned against the kitchen counter. Brayden, Falk, and Josh had a crowd this Monday night for poker and everyone appeared to be having a good time eating, drinking, and shooting the shit. Gabe wasn’t planning on staying late tonight though. He’d dropped off Sadie and Sami at the diner for their Monday night dinner and he would be picking them up as well. He didn’t want them out and about by themselves until Ray Campbell was behind bars.
Logan and Meyer joined him in the kitchen, Meyer grabbing a slice of pizza and Logan opening a soda.
“Damn, the pizza in this town is out of this world,” marveled Meyer. “Much better than anything we got in LA.”
“LA isn’t known for its pizza.” Logan laughed. “Listen, we’re glad we ran into you. We’re still working on the background for Ray Campbell but I think we’ll have the full dossier tomorrow.”
Gabe’s lips twisted. “How about a preview?”
Meyer shook his head. “Sorry, we need to confirm what we’ve found first. I don’t want to tell you something then find out that it wasn’t true. We deal in facts, and facts only.”
Ryan came up behind Logan and slapped him on the back. “Did I hear something about facts? Do you have any information yet?”
Logan held up his hand. “Not yet. We were just telling Gabe we don’t want to say anything until we know we are one hundred percent correct. Hopefully, we’ll have something concrete to tell you tomorrow. We have several calls out for confirmations.”
Jason joined the group, tossing a few pretzels in his mouth. “Did Sadie help you with the investigation? Today was her first day. How did it go?”
The normally unsmiling Meyer’s face lit up. “She did great. We didn’t have her do anything with this investigation but we have her going through files and organizing things. She’s going to do a good job for us. I’m glad we hired her.”
Zach and Chase Harper sidled up and helped themselves to pizza and a beer. “What did we miss? We just got here.”
Ryan laughed. “Fatherhood putting a crimp in your schedule? You do look a little tired.”
Cassie Harper, Zach and Chase’s wife had just delivered a baby girl two months ago. They were over the moon with happiness but still adjusting to having a tiny tyrant keeping them up at night and basically running the household. Zach bit into the pizza with relish. “I love our little angel but it would be awesome if she slept through the night. Poor Cassie is more tired than we are. We offered to give Sabrina bottles at night, but Cassie is determined to breast feed.”
Mark and Travis had been hovering around the perimeter of the group but perked up at the mention of baby Sabrina. “Has Cassie tried pumping? That’s what Becca did so we could feed Noah at night.” Travis started filling his plate with wings and chips.
Chase shook his head. “She hasn’t had any luck pumping.”
Jack Parks rolled his eyes and grimaced. “Listen to us. We’re men, for fuck’s sake. We should be talking about sports and boobs, not babies.”
Travis grinned. “Technically, I was talking about boobs.”
“All I’m say, is we’re one step away from handing in our man card. Next thing you know we’ll be comparing notes on how to be more understanding when the woman are PMSing. Shit. Now that Jillian’s pregnant, I’m not getting all sensitive,” Jack declared.
Ryan pointed to Jack. “Yes, you will. You go all gooey when you see Jillian. Don’t even pretend you’re Charles Bronson. You’re more like Mr. Rogers.”
Jack blushed as the men laughed and ribbed him some more. It was all good-natured as Gabe knew every man here was head over heels for their woman. Even Logan and Meyer looked smitten with Sadie, although it was early days yet.
Mark opened a fresh beer. “I find getting Becca a nice glass of wine really helps her cramps and mood swings.”
Jack groaned and the men laughed some more. Jason finally stepped into the middle of the group to get their attention. “Listen, I do have somethin
g to bring up. This waiting around for Ray Campbell to show up is starting to wear on me. I think it’s wearing on the women as well. If we learned anything from when Danny Trent came to town is that we need to be on the offensive, not the defensive.”
Chase rubbed his shoulder where Trent had shot him. “I’ll agree with that. What did you have in mind and how can we help?”
“Maybe we could set some sort of a trap. Lure him here and then catch him before he has a chance to hurt anyone.”
Ryan rubbed his chin. “It could work. I agree, sitting around and waiting isn’t the best idea. What were you thinking we’d lure him with?”
Jason nodded toward Logan and Meyer. “Right now, I’d say money would be a good lure, but perhaps these guys will have something even better from their investigation.”
Logan leaned forward on the counter, propped on his elbows. “No matter what we find, money is a powerful motivator for any criminal.”
“When you get your investigation done, we should all meet again and discuss a plan,” Ryan said. “I like the idea of having more control this time. It should never have gone the way it did with Trent.”
Gabe tossed his beer into the trash with satisfaction. He was glad to hear everyone was on the same page as far as being proactive in going after this guy. It felt better to take action than to sit around and wait. He’d learned a hell of a lot of patience in the last few years, but this was stretching him thin. He wanted Ray Campbell out of their lives.
* * * *
Sami marveled at the group of women gathered for Monday Night Dinner at the Diner. She’d brought Sadie with her, and on her other side was Lacey. Across the table was Ava, Becca, Leah, and Cassie with Jillian on Sadie’s other side. Baby Noah was ensconced at the end of the table right next to Becca holding court. He was currently eating a soggy dinner roll and waving to everyone that came in the entrance.
Cassie held a sleeping baby Sabrina in the crook of her left arm while she tried to eat her dinner with her right hand. They’d all offered to hold the cute-as-a-button two-month-old, but Cassie shook her head and said she was used to it. Sabrina was very much a mommy’s girl and liked to be held by her, otherwise she was fussy.
“What do you think the men are talking about tonight?” Cassie signaled to the waitress for more iced tea.
Jillian giggled. “The usual, sports, boobs, sex, dirt, beer. Maybe trucks, too.”
“They think we’re talking about the wedding, but I’m sick of talking about the wedding.” Ava sighed.
Becca patted her hand. “You’re getting married this weekend, thank goodness. Then you can talk about being pregnant.”
Ava shook her head in denial. “I already told the boys I’m not getting knocked up for at least six months, maybe longer. Look at Jillian, she held out for a while.”
Jillian sipped her water. “We wanted to wait until Ryan had his hours under control. Then it took a few months to get pregnant. It’s not like they tell you in high school. Getting pregnant, even with two men, wasn’t easy. It seemed like every time I was fertile, both men were on duty.”
Sami played with her glass until finally Leah’s gaze zeroed in on her. “You’ve been very quiet, Sami. Want to tell us what’s on your mind?”
“Maybe.” Sami chewed her lip. She and Sadie had been talking a lot about Ray Campbell. “The thing is, Sadie and I have been talking about how it sucks just sitting here waiting for Ray to show up and be an asshole.”
Cassie nodded. “I think Jillian and I will say an ‘amen’ to that. We were stuck inside a house for days. At least you two get to come into town as long as you’re not alone.”
“It still sucks.” Sami rolled her eyes. “I don’t like having a babysitter. When I came back to town, it was on new terms with the men. I’m a grown woman, not a naive little girl anymore. I want to be treated like a woman who can handle her own problems. I don’t want Jason and Gabe to have to handle this for me. I got myself into this mess, I need to get myself out.”
Lacey, who had been quiet most of the evening, leaned in with a smile. “So, what’s the plan?”
“I don’t really have a plan. Yet.” Sami shook her head. “Okay, maybe I do. I was thinking I could call him and tell him I have some more money for him and lure him to Plenty. Then I was thinking I might be able to scare him. Everyone says he doesn’t have anything to hold over my head since I didn’t know what the packages I was holding at the front desk for him contained.”
“You have his phone number?” Ava gasped. “Has he called you?”
“He doesn’t have my new number.” Sami held up her phone. “I have his number unless he’s changed it. If it’s the same, I can call him anytime.”
The women all exchanged looks, silently debating the plan. Finally, Becca spoke up. “I like the idea of luring him here. You could lure him to Original Sin. Once he’s there, well, there are many things at the club that would scare the shit out of a man.”
“I doubt he’d be afraid of me,” Sami said.
Ava frowned. “How big is he?”
Sami shrugged. “Average height and build. Maybe he’s five nine or five ten, slim. Not a body builder but not a weakling either.”
Jillian tapped her nail on the table. “We can take him. If we all help, he won’t stand a chance.”
Sami held up her hand. “I can’t ask you to take that kind of a chance.”
Sadie placed her hand on Sami’s arm. “I want to. I’m in. I owe this asshole some grief.”
The other women nodded. “We know you need to do this to prove to the men you can handle things yourself. But there’s nothing wrong with a little help from your friends, is there?” Becca’s eyes lit up with mischief. “I haven’t kicked any butt since Cassie’s bachelorette party.”
Every woman at the table had a huge grin and sparkly eyes. “I don’t want to get you in trouble with your men.” Sami wanted to make sure they knew what they were getting into. It might be dangerous. Ray was a bully with absolutely no remorse of any kind.
Ava slapped the table with a laugh. “Honey, that’s the best part. You’re fixing to get in trouble with your men. Why shouldn’t we?”
When they put it that way, Sami couldn’t argue. She smiled, feeling like things just might turn out okay after all.
“If you think you might want to do this, here’s the plan I’ve been pondering. Any ideas you have, I want to hear them.”
Chapter Eleven
“I’m not sure about this,” Gary protested. “What if Gabe gets mad and fires me?”
It was Tuesday afternoon and the women were gathered at Original Sin to practice the plan to scare Ray into leaving Sami alone. All they needed was Gary’s cooperation but it was looking dicey. They’d managed to get him here even though it was his day off, but he had a very dubious expression on his face when they told him he needed to let them tie him up.
“He won’t fire you, I promise. I’m just playing a little joke on him. He has a great sense of humor. He’ll love it.”
Gary’s brows were knitted together. He was a very reluctant volunteer. Lacey patted him on the back and started leading him to the back room. “It’s easy. All you have to do is let us practice tying you up. We want you to struggle a little bit, but not the first time. This will be quick. We promise.”
“Is this like the time you let all the frogs go in biology when we were in high school?”
Sami had forgotten Gary went to high school with them. He’d been in a different crowd but apparently word had gotten around about her and Lacey’s stunt.
“It was inhumane what they were doing to those frogs,” Lacey said firmly. “We did what we had to do.”
They positioned Gary in the middle of the back room and the women circled him. Since Jillian was pregnant, they’d made her the director of their little play and she was in full General mode. She pointed to Gary.
“Now you start to move toward Sami and we’ll try and stop you. Don’t struggle too hard this first time. We’r
e learning the ropes so to speak in this round.”
Gary lumbered forward and the women surrounded him, pushing him toward the spanking bench and trying to attach him to it. After much huffing and puffing, Jillian called them all together.
“The spanking bench isn’t working. Even when he’s not really trying, he’s too strong to bend over like that. We might have better luck with the St. Andrew’s cross. Also, we need to disorient him. If he can’t see clearly, we’ll have the advantage.”
Sami walked over and flipped a few switches, turning off the bright overhead lights used during the day and turning on the smaller spotlights used when the backroom was in play mode. There were plenty of dark spaces and shadows to get lost in and frustrate a visitor who didn’t know the club well.
“Better?”
Jillian nodded. “Much better.”
“How about this?” Becca held up a large piece of black fabric. “It will fit right over his head.”
“You’re not putting that on me.” Gary pointed. “I won’t do it.”
Gary had been a good sport so far, but he was digging his heels in now and Sami couldn’t let him. She hated to do it, but she was going to have to beg a little.
“Please, Gary. We really need to practice this. It’s so important to me.” She leaned in so only he could hear her. “I’m trying to show him I’m ready to submit to him. Please.” She looked up at him with her best pleading eyes and his expression softened.
“Man, is that what you’re doing? This seems a weird way to go about it, but hell yes, I’ll help you. Let’s do this.”
Sami felt a tiny bit guilty lying to a really nice guy like Gary but she sure as hell couldn’t tell him the truth. Men stuck together and he would certainly tell Jason and Gabe. Then they’d try and take care of this for her. She couldn’t let that happen.
After several run-throughs, Gary was seriously fighting back and the women were able to wrestle him to the St. Andrew’s cross and get him hooked to it without much fuss. Jillian declared their rehearsal a success. Gary looked exhausted and eager to leave.
Plenty of Chances [Plenty, FL 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 13