“Hey! I’m at the lake right now!” I crowed. “Which campsite are you heading to?”
I hadn’t meant to be quite so loud, but I was excited to see my dad. It’d been nearly three months since I’d seen him last, and I missed him dearly.
“Bodcau Dam, like I usually do, girly girl. I’ve already got the campsite for the week,” he informed me.
My dad usually showed up around Christmas every year, and stayed for a couple of weeks at a local campsite.
He stayed in his truck cab, which was his home away from home, even after my repeated attempts to persuade him otherwise.
Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I turned around the room looking for Sebastian. “How close are you to Bodcau Dam?”
“Very. It’s just around the corner. You passed over the dam on the way in. About five minutes or so,” he said.
“Did you hear that, daddy? I can be there in about five minutes,” I told him.
“How about I just come and pick you up? Who’re you with, anyhow?” He asked.
I smiled.
Poor Loki.
“I’m with my boyfriend at his friend’s house. He lives about five minutes from the dam. And I can...” I was interrupted.
“What’s the address?” he asked in his don’t fuck with me tone.
I turned to Sebastian again, but he’d heard the question already and was holding his hand out for the phone.
“Hold on, daddy. Sebastian’s going to tell you the address,” I said, just before I handed Sebastian the phone.
“Hello? Yes. No. Yes. No. 505 Lakeside Dr. Once you turn on the dam, go about two miles and take your first left. I’m the second to last house on the right.”
He held the phone out to me, and not surprising, he’d already hung up.
Sebastian’s face was filled with amusement as he looked at me, and then turned to stare at Loki. “You ready for this?”
I, too, turned to find Loki’s head resting on the couch, and his eyes closed. His lips were turned up at the corners. “Sure thing. Just what every man wants is to have his girlfriend’s truck driver father beat him up.”
“He won’t beat you up. He’ll give you shit, but he won’t beat you up,” I explained.
My dad was a big man in my opinion, and protective to boot. He was really worried about his baby girl, and hated any man I dated on general principle.
Then my attack happened, and it took everything I had not to run when I was within touching distance of any man.
I’d had to convince dad, on numerous occasions, that I would let him know the second I had feelings for a guy so that my dad could have him checked out.
Which I’d neglected to do. For quite a long time, now.
“Whatever you do...tell him we just met. Okay?” I pleaded.
By the look on Loki’s face, I knew he wouldn’t be going along with my little plan; but a girl could hope.
Chapter 13
Autocorrect can go straight to he’ll.
-E-card
Loki
“At least don’t volunteer that we’ve known each other for nearly nine months now...okay?” She pleaded, eyes glancing warily from me to the red semi-truck sans trailer pulling up.
I looked over at her worried green eyes. “I’ll do the best I can, but I’m not promising anything,” I agreed reluctantly.
She nodded once. “Just, humor him. He’s going to be really pissed. And he’s going to try to intimidate you. Don’t let him. And don’t hurt him.”
I don’t know what, exactly, I was expecting to happen. However, the man stepping out of the truck was about the size of Channing. In height and build. He also looked a lot like her, only he had flaming red hair, and a beard that could rival Silas.
The look that landed on me when he caught sight of my arm around Channing’s hip wasn’t a nice one, but I’d be damned if I moved it.
“Be nice,” she said in warning.
“I’ll try,” I said again.
At my assurance, she took off at a run and barreled into her father.
He caught her easily, strong and steady, wrapping his hands around his girl and burying his bushy beard into the crook of her neck.
“I missed you, girly girl,” he said gruffly.
The man was obviously a smoker. He sounded like he smoked no less than a pack a day.
But to each their own.
“I missed you more, daddy. I’m glad you made it back for Christmas,” she exclaimed.
“I wouldn’t have missed Christmas with you for the world. You know that.”
They both got quiet after that, and I noticed a change in both of their demeanors, as if they were remembering what used to be.
They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms for long moments before Channing disengaged from her father and walked back towards me.
My arms went from across my chest to around her waist.
“You Bryce?” he asked as he eyed my hands.
I reluctantly let her go, and offered my hand to him.
“Bryce Rector. Friends call me Loki,” I confirmed.
“His name is Colton,” Channing blurted.
He glared at me ignoring his daughter’s introduction. “Well, Loki, looks like you have some catching up to do. Let’s take a walk.”
Giving Channing a small peck on the cheek, I looked back at the window where I could clearly see every single one of the men and women inside watching the show, and gestured to Channing with my head.
Sebastian met my eyes and nodded.
Walking around the side of the house, I moved in the direction of the lake.
Channing’s father stepped in beside me, and we both stayed silent until we were well away from the house.
“What do you do for a living?” He asked.
Looking at the rolling waves of the lake, I answered. “I’m a detective with the Benton Police Department.”
I hadn’t noticed he’d stopped until I was nearly at the peer.
Turning, I found him staring at me open mouthed.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” he said loudly.
I shook my head, and then pointed down to the badge that had somehow fallen behind my cut. Then I moved the cut upwards and turned so he could see the gun at my kidney.
“I know what you’re thinking, but we’ve already had our melt downs, and we’re working on getting through it. She doesn’t necessarily have a problem with me anymore, but my best friend, who’s the K-9 officer for BPD, she still has trouble with,” I said quietly.
He started walking forward until he was standing directly in front of me.
I looked down at him, watching him survey me for long seconds, before he finally came to a decision.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for a man like you to show up. Maybe now she can stop being so scared all the time,” he said roughly before holding out his hand for me to shake.
I took it.
“Thanks,” I shook his hand. “I’d give my life for her.”
“She deserves that and more, my boy,” he noted. “I can tell you’re a good man, though. You’ve been honest with me, and I appreciate that in a man.”
I agreed. She did. Wholeheartedly. Channing deserved more than me, but I knew a good thing when I had it.
Which was why the subject of our next topic wasn’t going to be a pleasant one, and I wasn’t sure he was going to take it all that well.
I had to tell him Channing’s life was in danger all because of me, and I just knew he was going to serve me his fist once I was done. He would be mad, and I wouldn’t blame him one bit.
However, I wasn’t going anywhere, and he’d have to pry my dead fingers out of hers before I ever let her go again.
“So let me catch you up to speed on how your daughter and I met. Maybe you can offer me some insight on your daughter. What you think I should do,” I said tiredly.
So I explained all that had gone on up until this p
oint.
I told him about the undercover operation. I told him about how I met his daughter. I told him about finishing the operation, and the subpoena to testify. I told him about the death threats, and how I left for three months to try to get away from said threats.
But I also told him how much I cared for Channing. How much I wanted to keep her safe.
I asked for advice on what he thought I should do when it came to her, and surprisingly, it was good.
“Talk to her. She’s got a smart head on her shoulders. She also knows when to cut and run. Which she would’ve done a very long time ago if you hadn’t somehow gained her trust. Confide in her. She needs to be needed. And by the sound of it, you do too,” he told me sagely.
***
Later that night
“Goddamn, but I told that asshole that neither he, nor I, was allowed to open the box, but he was persistent. Put me in cuffs when I refused to open it. So I had to watch as he broke the electronic seal on the back doors,” Colton groaned. “He throws the back doors open, and I see from my position in the back of the cop car when he realizes what he’d just done. Ten minutes later, I hear the whomp-whomp-whomp, of two Apache’s heading towards us at a dead fucking sprint. Officer Dick scrambles out of the back of the box to see men start repelling from the motherfuckin’ Apache’s and landing on the ground. They were aiming weapons at everyone, and I was in the backseat laughing my ass off.”
I looked at him in stunned surprise.
“You didn’t know what you were transporting?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Negative. I only knew that it was something important. I had to call them with hourly updates. This was my fourth haul for this particular company, and I continued to do it since it paid so much. Should’ve known it was the fucking government.”
Sebastian, Cleo, Sterling, Trance, Kettle and I were all gathered around the bar at Halligans and Handcuffs, the bar and grill that the Dixie Wardens MC just recently opened.
Channing was in the corner, surrounded by all the old ladies, while Colton told us about his last haul he’d just completed.
“Goddammit, Loki, I fucking told you that you couldn’t have your dog here anymore.” Dixie growled from across the bar.
I turned to find him holding onto Lucy’s collar with a ferocious frown on his face.
“And I told you that, as soon as you refused to let Trance’s dog in here, I would stop bringing Lucy,” I said just before taking a sip of my beer.
“And I told you, that Trance’s dog knows fucking obedience! Your dog was just eating through a big ass fucking bag of tortilla chips,” he thundered.
I glared back at him. “What the fuck were the chips doing on the ground where he could reach them?”
Dixie picked up the closest thing, which happened to be a salt shaker, and launched it at me. “It was on the top shelf of the pantry, dillweed!”
I caught it effortlessly, but could think of nothing to say. “How the hell did he get up there?”
“Fucking Silas left a ladder leaning against the far wall,” he grumbled as he let Lucy’s collar go.
Chuckles filled the air around me as I called Lucy to my side. “Sit down, you big bastard.”
He sat, laying his head next to Kosher’s.
Kosher was Trance’s K-9 dog, and the polar opposite of Lucy.
Lucifer a.k.a. Lucy, was dark where Kosher was light. Lucifer started out as a Ben, and slowly changed to a Lucifer.
He ate couches.
He ate walls.
He ate my clothes.
Anything that was left within his eating distance was fair game to him. Which was why he was now kenneled during the times I was gone.
I tried to take him everywhere I went, other than work, but it was obvious if he was going to continue living up to his namesake, that I couldn’t continue bringing him here.
Silas wouldn’t tolerate it for much longer, and then I’d never hear the end of it.
“Alright, Dixie. After tonight, I won’t bring him with me anymore,” I pouted.
He turned around and left without another word.
“You really going to leave him at home?” Trance asked with a raised eyebrow.
He, too, had been on the receiving end of Lucy’s destructive mouth, and I ended up having to buy him a new stock for his AR-15 to pay for the one Lucy had destroyed.
I shook my head. “Nah, I’ll just tie him to a run outside. That way he’s not cooped up in his cage.”
“We used to have a Rottie like him. Although it was a girl. Her name was Bonnie. She died during the hurricane with my Margery,” Colton admitted sadly.
“I didn’t know that. Channing’s very closed off when it comes to her mom. I only got the bare bones explanation, and never pushed for more,” I replied carefully.
I knew Hurricane Katrina was catastrophic, but it’d never really touched me like it did everyone else in the lower half of Louisiana. Like it had Channing.
I’d seen how much it hurt the one and only time I’d asked about Channing’s parents, and hadn’t brought up the subject since.
“Yeah, she doesn’t like talking about it. I don’t blame her. She was with her mom when the tree they were holding onto collapsed. Channing had managed to hold onto what was left of the tree limb, but Margery was swept away. Channing blames herself. I blame myself. It was an all-around horrific thing, and she’s never been able to get past it. She’d already been traumatized from that impersonating fucker trying to rape her, and then that happened. Needless to say, she’s just lucky to be doing as good as she is,” he told me.
The men around the table had conveniently found something else to look at, but I knew they were listening.
Anything that affected me, affected them. They were like a bunch of old nosey women who spied out the window at the neighborhood. But I was grateful. I liked that I always had them at my back.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Colton,” I said truthfully.
He shrugged his shoulder. “Been a long time, now. Life has a way of pulling the cards that it thinks is best for you. Sometimes you win with the hand you’re dealt, and sometimes you lose. But the hand you’re given is only won by the skill of the player. I’ve just got to trust in that; otherwise, I’d have nothing to look forward to.”
“Did you learn anything else while you were meeting with the chief and following up on the leads he had for you?” Trance asked.
Everyone at the table silenced, and they listened for my reply.
I really shouldn’t have been talking about an active investigation, but after today, it didn’t much matter.
“No, not really. The Chief took me off the case. Put Hernandez on it. He said I was too involved, and I happen to agree with him. That’s not to say that I’m going to be just laying back and letting everyone else take care of my shit though. I was able to learn that Varian will be transferred to Huntsville the week after Christmas. He also gave up five other men and women; none of which admitted to murdering and raping anybody,” I said as I ran my fingers through my hair. I was frustrated beyond belief.
“Does my girl know you’ve had a man on her since that second murder?” Colton asked as he took a pull on his beer.
I looked at him sharply. “No, should she know? I didn’t really want her to know. She freaks out enough when a cop is within ten feet of her. I can just imagine what she’d do when I told her she has a cop and a couple of bikers following her around everywhere she goes.”
Colton laughed. “I guarantee you she already knows. She picked them up the first time they were sent over to watch her.”
I looked at him incredulously. “What makes you think that?”
“I taught that girl everything I know. I was a pararescuemen in the air force during Vietnam. I got out when Margery got pregnant with Channing, and I got back into business with my pop. Channing grew up on a shrimper, and I taught her everything I knew during our down time. She knows. I
guarantee you,” Colton smiled widely.
My eyes narrowed on him, then I got up and headed to the table in the corner.
The table was a corner booth that held five max, but there were five women, a toddler, and an infant packed into the booth.
Channing was squeezed into the middle. Adeline and Viddy were closest to her with Baylee and Minnie on the outsides.
Minnie was the wife of another member of The Dixie Wardens, Porter. Minnie was a tailor, and the one who did all of the work for the club’s colors. She was also the one I’d be going to as soon as all the shit around me was done swirling. I wanted her to customize a property patch for Channing.
I already had it all planned out; all I needed was to get my life fixed, and then I’d make her mine.
Chapter 14
I won’t get jealous. I won’t get jealous. I won’t get jealous. Okay…who’s the whore?
-Channing to Brittany
Channing
Blaise was crawling over the five of us, using our thighs as balance beams.
I was holding Adeline and Kettle’s baby, Saylor, close to my chest, breathing in her little baby smell.
She was making the cutest snoring noises that made my insides warm and gooey.
“No, what I’m asking is, if you found out your husband was cheating, would you make friends with the mistress?” Adeline asked Viddy.
I rolled my eyes. They’d been going on and on about this for ten minutes now. It was like they were arguing with a brick wall.
“No! Because Trance would never cheat on me,” Viddy re-emphasized for the tenth time.
Adeline balled up her fists at her sister. “You little shit! That’s not what I mean!”
Viddy thumbed her nose at Adeline.
“My ex-boyfriend cheated on me. I found out when I answered a 911 call. The girlfriend had an allergic reaction, and they’d called the ambulance. Then I show up, and I have to save her slut ass,” Baylee grumbled.
“Were you living with him at the time?” Adeline asked her.
Baylee shook her head. “Yes, I was living with him, which was incredibly awkward. When I got home from my shift, he’d boxed all my shit up nicely and set it outside. Asshole.”
Keys To My Cuffs (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 4) Page 12