A kind man, underneath that scruff and muscle and stoic glances.
I got to work and settled into my office. It was going to be a very long day of paperwork. Which was fine with me, because I had yet to really familiarize myself with the plant and all of its levels. I sat at my desk and got to work, typing away on the computer and making notes. But every time I came across something that reminded me of Brewer, he was at the forefront of my mind.
His thick, dark hair.
His raging amber eyes.
His lips against my neck.
His hands against my skin.
I closed my eyes and leaned back into my chair. It had been a few days since our encounter, and I hadn’t seen him. Granted, I’d been very busy with bussing Ana to and from school as well as working long hours, but since my schedule had finally leveled out to match her school schedule, Brewer’s assistance wasn’t needed. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t missed. I wondered when I was going to see him again. When I’d be able to look up into those dazzling eyes and lose myself in him again. I felt alive. Beautiful, for the first time since realizing I didn’t love my ex any longer.
He permeated my thoughts and sent my head into tailspins I almost couldn’t get myself out of.
“Makenna?”
“Yes?” I asked.
“You’re needed on floor three. And bring an accident form with you.”
Shit.
I gathered up my things and took off for the nearest elevator. I slammed my thumb into the number ‘three’ and the elevator lurched to life. The thing reminded me of my car before Brewer got his hands on it. Creaking. Rickety. Groaning whenever it had to work too hard.
Maybe Brewer’s magic touch could fix this damn thing, too.
The elevator let me off on the third level and I followed the sounds of crying. I walked into the room and found a woman sitting there, holding her hand and biting down onto her lower lip. I set my clipboard down and knelt in front of her, trying to see the kind of damage that had been done. This manufacturing plant worked with a lot of heavy machinery, and anything could’ve happened to this woman. Her hand could be smashed. Or torn open. But I didn’t see any blood dripping along her skin. I cupped my hands around it and she flinched, then my eyes trailed down to her wrist.
She had dislocated it.
“Has someone called an ambulance?” I asked.
“I did before I came to get you,” the man said.
“Okay. Ma’am?”
“Yeah?” she asked.
“My name’s Makenna George. Can you talk me through what happened?” I asked.
“I-I-I, um…”
I cupped my hands lightly around the woman’s hand and she flinched. I’d seen this before and I could tell what was wrong.
“Something is wrong with your wrist. The paramedics will be here soon to set it. But I need to know what happened so we can prevent it in the future,” I said.
“I-I-I was just… working,” she said. “And um, I got tired, so I took a step forward to help with the lever I had to pull to stop, um… the uh…”
“Conveyor belt?” I asked.
“Yeah. The belt. A lot of product was coming out wrong, so I figured there was an issue with one of the machines somewhere.”
“On it,” the man said as he rushed out of the room.
“What happened then?” I asked.
“Am I going to lose my job? I can’t lose this job. I have three kids and my husband can’t work and-”
“No one’s losing anything,” I said in a calm voice. “I just need it for the incident report so the company can cover your medical costs.”
“Oh-oh-okay,” she said. “Well, uh… I slipped, and the lever caught the wristband we all have to wear for work. And before I knew it, pain rushed up my arm and I was dangling by the wristband from the lever.”
“Okay,” I said as footsteps resounded behind me. “I think the paramedics are here. They’re going to get your wrist set, get you in a sling, and then you’re going to go to the hospital.”
“I really need to work today. I just got back from vacation.”
“I’ll take it out of your medical leave, so you’ll still get half pay. But you do have to recuperate from this. You can’t work while hurt, but I will make sure you’re taken care of in the process. That’s my job. Okay?”
“Yes, Miss George.”
I grabbed my clipboard and moved so the paramedics could take care of her. I knew the second I walked into this plant that those wristbands would be an issue. And it seemed as if they had claimed their first casualty on my watch. Which meant the company would have to cover her medical costs. Which meant a very serious fight, because companies never wanted to do that kind of shit.
But I was going to make sure they did.
The rest of my day was spent going back and forth, trying to talk to someone who had any sense when it came to those bands. They needed to be removed and replaced with something else. Yes, they were special bands that helped employees to clock in and out faster, but come on. We couldn’t use something else? Anything else? Jewelry wasn’t permitted on the plant floors, and then we fucking hand them a bracelet to wear?
That didn’t make sense.
When three o’clock came around, I was glad to be out of that plant. Glad to be rid of the fight I knew was coming professionally. I got into my car and drove off to Ana’s school, ready to pick my daughter up.
I couldn’t wait to hear how her day at school had gone.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
“Hey there, sweet cheeks,” I said as I scooped her up.
She gave me a big hug as I opened her door.
“How was your day?” I asked.
“It was awesome,” she said as she climbed up into her seat. “We had a ‘show and tell’ day, but we had to talk about someone instead of showing something.”
“That sounds like fun,” I said as my daughter buckled herself in. “Who did you talk about?”
“Brewer.”
My eyes caught her stare in my rear view mirror.
“What did you talk about?” I asked.
“All the fun stuff we did on our day. Like going to get food and books and driving around with his car windows down.”
“Well that does sound like fun,” I said as I buckled my seat belt. “Anything else?”
“I told them about how we played the tickle game and how he’s ticklish under his arms.”
“He’s what?” I asked with a grin.
“Oh yeah. He told me not to say anything, though. So, don’t tell anyone.”
I laughed as I pulled away from the curb and headed home.
Looked like the big bad Brewer’s secret was out.
“Can I play with him today?” Ana asked.
“With Brewer?”
“Yeah. I miss him.”
I turned off the main road and into our neighborhood as my stomach rolled.
“I’m sure it doesn’t hurt to ask. But we should see if he’s home first,” I said.
“Yeah!”
But when we rolled past his house, it didn’t look like anyone was home.
His garage door wasn’t open and his bike wasn’t in the driveway or on the side of his house. All of the lights were off and I couldn’t see any movement in the windows. I parked my car in the driveway and helped Ana out, and her eyes immediately whipped over to his property.
“I don’t think he’s home sweetheart,” I said.
“Can I go knock on his door?”
I looked down at her and saw a sort of begging look in her eyes that I couldn’t say ‘no’ to.
“Sure, but only knock a few times. Okay? He might be sleeping or something.”
“Then he needs to wake up. It’s the afternoon already,” Ana said.
I bit back a giggle as she dashed over his property and hopped up onto his porch. Her hair bounced around her shoulders and her fist drew back so she could knock. But when he didn’t answer, I watched her face fall. She came back w
ith slumped shoulders and tears in her eyes and it broke my heart.
And it made me wonder if I was making a mistake attaching myself to my neighbor the way I was.
“He’s not there,” she said with a sniffle.
“It’s okay,” I said as I scooped her up. “I’m sure he’ll be back later and we can see him then.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“I promise,” I whispered into her ear.
I walked my daughter into the house and got her set up at the kitchen table. She had a few activities to do for homework, but nothing she couldn’t handle on her own. She sat there quietly as I pulled things out for dinner. I figured a nice spaghetti would be easy to throw together. I boiled the noodles and browned up the meat for the sauce. I spiced things up with some herbs and grated some fresh parmesan to pour over it. I even pulled out a loaf of garlic bread and got it into the oven so it would be hot and fresh by the time the spaghetti was done being assembled.
And the entire time, I thought about Brewer.
I wondered what he was doing, and then I figured he was probably working. What did he do for a living?
I furrowed my brow as I stirred the spaghetti sauce.
Come to think of it, I didn’t know much about him at all. What he did for an income, or even his last name.
Was Brewer his last name? Or his first name?
“Do you hear that?” Ana asked.
My ears perked up as Ana scrambled down from her seat.
“Brewer!” she exclaimed.
Then, I heard it. The sound of a motorcycle revving off in the distance.
Had Ana been listening out for him?
She rushed to the door as I pulled the spaghetti off the stove. I drained the noodles and set everything on the table, then walked over to where my daughter was peeking out the window. I stood behind her and pulled the curtain back, then rolled up the blinds so I could see. And sure enough, there he was. With his dark hair and his stoic stare and his thick legs, walking his motorcycle into his garage.
Brewer was back.
“Can I go play?” Ana asked.
“No. You need to eat dinner first,” I said.
“But he doesn’t know I came by,” she said.
“That’s why I’m going to go tell him myself,” I said.
“Are you going to ask him to come eat with us?”
“I’ll offer it up and see how he feels about it.”
“Make sure he comes.”
“He’s his own person, Ana. If he doesn’t want to come eat, I’m not going to make him.”
My eyes turned back out the window as Ana scampered off to the kitchen table. He had a leather vest around his body. I hadn’t seen that vest before. I squinted my eyes as his back turned to me completely and I saw what was stitched into his vest. There was a skull with horns, and it looked like the words ‘Dead Souls’ were stitched into the top of it.
Then, I saw something that froze my blood.
I watched Brewer pull a gun from his back before he started fiddling around with it.
“Is he coming!?” Ana asked.
“I don’t think so, sweetheart,” I said. “I think he’s sick.”
“Sick? Why?”
“I don’t know. Brewer just doesn’t look well. He’s holding his tummy and doesn’t look very good.”
I watched Brewer tuck the gun back into his belt as the garage door came down, shutting him off from the rest of the world.
“Awwwww, but I wanna see him,” Ana said.
“Another time,” I said as I turned around. “Now I don’t want to hear another word of it. You have dinner and then we have a movie to watch.”
“Can Brewer-”
“No,” I said sternly. “Now leave the man alone.”
I watched Ana’s defeated look drag back to the table. I hated being so stern with her, but this was serious. This man I knew nothing about was walking around in some sort of leather vest with an emblem and a damn gun behind his back. A gun that he carried with him. Not just kept in his house. Who was Brewer? Why the hell did he need a gun? And what the hell was a ‘Dead Soul’?
I had some research to do. And until I had answers, that man wasn’t coming anywhere near my daughter.
Chapter 17
Brewer
Everyone lost their fucking shit once the announcement was made. There wasn’t any yelling, but everyone kept defending the other as to why they shouldn’t be the one to go on the inside. Diesel kept defending Grave and Knox because of their relationships and Rock kept defending me because we’d been best friends since fucking high school. I kept defending Mick because he was a damn pussy and was good with numbers but not much else. And every time someone brought up Rock with his technological skills I kept telling people he’d be valuable on the outside to keep tabs on whoever was on the inside.
Which left only one option.
Me.
Diesel kept volunteering to do it, but we all knew how that would end. Everyone knew he was the President of our club, and the second he landed his ass in jail The Black Saddles would set up an attack on him. They’d also be all over Rex trying to keep him safe. Which left me. I kept to myself, and not everyone, besides my few contacts, knew what club I was involved with. I could easily go inside, unnoticed, and take care of this fucker once and for all. Rock was the only one defending why I didn’t need to be in that place, but everyone knew I was the logical choice. I had police officers I could pay off and relationships I’d cultivated that had strings I had yet to tug on. I could get it done the smoothest. I could get it done the quickest. And I could get it done without raising any flags.
I knew I was the only one that could do this.
No one wanted to talk about it, but it had to be said. Diesel dismissed church because everyone was fucking tired and he was fed up with the situation. And I knew why. We were trying to clean up our act and there we all were, debating on who the hell was going to kill Rex. Diesel ordered us to take some days to ourselves to think about all this, but I didn’t have to do any thinking.
I had to prepare myself for what was coming.
I kept my distance from Makenna and Ana. Being caught up in me at this point, spelled danger for them. But to say I wasn’t thinking about them both, was a lie. Every waking moment I thought about them. About Ana’s big, innocent eyes and her bright little smile. About how she instinctively curled into me, like she knew I could protect her. And Makenna. That woman had me turned inside out. Every fucking free moment I had, she was on my mind. But not just her body. No. Her presence. Her aura. The comfort she poured over my body just by standing next to me.
The selfish part of me wanted one last night with her, even though I knew it was wrong.
Diesel already had a church meeting on the books for tomorrow. To officially discuss the plan. I’d announce it then. I’d announce that I was volunteering for this job and I’d mount a defense as to why every other asshole in that group wasn’t prepared for something like this. And it didn’t bother me one damn bit if it pissed Rock off. I wasn’t going to let my best friend who was always an asset on the outside to risk his fucking teeth doing bullshit he wasn’t prepared to do.
I tossed my gun onto the kitchen table and shrugged my vest off.
I already had the proper authorities in place. I’d been calling in favors for the past three days. Men I’d rubbed elbows with who asked favors of me I needed to cash in. I worked on getting an onslaught of police officers and guards on my side to not only arrest me, but fill the jail so I could easily maneuver around the place. I meticulously laid plans out so this would be quick and efficient.
The issue was, it had to look real.
From the perspective of The Black Saddles, all of it had to look real.
Which meant I had to actually be arrested.
I tossed my vest over the gun and raked my hand through my hair. Shit. This was really happening. I wasn’t new to the concept of taking lives, especially to protect my own. But for some reason
, this felt different. I didn’t know why and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to figure out why, but this felt different than all those other times.
Those other times had been impromptu. Like when The Black Saddles rolled up on us the first time. Or they had been to defend the life of an innocent. Like the shootout at The Black Saddles lodge to get Grave’s woman back. But this was neither of those situations. This wasn’t impromptu nor was this a rescue mission.
The sole purpose of this was to kill.
And yes, it would finally take the heat off Knox, and possibly the RICO case. It would take care of the asshole that threatened Everly. But there was something else I still couldn’t put my finger on.
Not until I looked out the window and saw Makenna’s house.
Shit. If I did this, she already had a target on her back. For all I knew, The Black Saddles were looking into all of us. I’d let my guard down and let her crawl underneath my skin, and in a moment of weakness I’d attached myself to that woman. And she had a daughter. A helpless daughter that had no idea the kind of darkness that came with a man like myself. Hell, Makenna was just as helpless. Just as clueless to the man she’d allowed between her thighs.
I raked my hands through my hair and groaned.
If there was even the slightest threat to them, then I had to keep them safe. But I couldn’t do that if I was inside a jail cell. But then again, I had no choice. Rock wasn’t going to do this and Mick was a damn idiot, so this fell onto my shoulders. This part of the mission to clean our shit up fell onto my person to take care of. And I was going to do right by my family.
But I also had to do right by the women I’d willingly dragged into this fiasco.
When I got out, I would have to keep them safe. Taking care of Rex would cause a backlash that would send that damn group into a tailspin. And if they weren’t researching us now, they would be once word of Rex’s death got around. And it would be easy to pinpoint who murdered him once they got word I was in jail. There was only so much cover-up we could do with something like this, but we had all determined that Rex’s death was worth the shit we’d have to dig ourselves out of.
Damn it. This war had so many sides to it I could hardly keep up.
Brewer (Dead Souls MC Book 3) Page 10