Brock and my dad hugged. The day I was talking to my mother and he came up, it had suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t heard his name so much as mentioned since I’d been home. It looked like him and my dad had been in touch. Before I went to prison, he was always at the club house. My whole life, actually. Brock was five years older than me, the product of one of my dad’s hook-ups with a porn star who went way south on heroin. By the time he was sixteen and I was eleven he was riding with the club and I was a little jealous. My mom raised him the same as she did me, but for whatever reason, he always resented her. He and I almost did come to blows a few times over that. I used to hate the way he talked to her. I thought he owed her a lot more respect than he showed her.
He and my dad were always so much closer than my dad and I was. He was the kind of son that my dad had imagined for himself and his only failing in my dad’s eyes was that he was not my mother’s son. I had to assume that many of Brocks issues with my mother were because he knew that.
All the guys started getting off their bikes so I did too and that was when my dad hollered at me to come over. Terrance’s dad, my dad and Brock were talking until I walked up and then there was sudden silence.
Brock looked me up and down and said, “I’ll be damn string bean, look at you! You have muscles in your neck now that look strong enough to hold up that big old head.”
“Fuck you!” I yelled with a grin.
Brock came closer and grabbed me in a hug. “Welcome home, kid.” he said.
“Thanks,” I said.
I noticed Brock’s patch and it said, “President.” There was a guy about Brock’s age standing a few steps back. His said, “Vice President.” Brock started his own fucking club. I had to wonder how well that went over with my dad. Not that my dad expected Brock to take over for him. For some reason, he’d always wanted me to do that. I over-heard him tell my mother once that it was because Brock was too hot-headed. Whatever it was, it had been the source of a lot of tension between him and our dad over the years. I guess they came to a compromise.
“All of our shipments go through Brock,” my dad said.
“What?” I thought I’d heard him wrong.
“Everything goes through your brother.”
“Brock? You have your own business. You’re trafficking now?”
Brock looked at me with his pale blue eyes and for a second it looked like he had something important or profound to say.
But he opened his mouth and said, “Something like that, little brother. You and our dear daddy just have to keep the crates sealed and keep them coming and I’ll keep making sure they get where they need to go.”
Our dad was looking at Brock in a way that told me there was more going on between them than either of them cared to share with me. I knew I should have walked away already. Brock thought I was part of this. Being part of this can easily land my ass back in prison. But I couldn’t turn back now. I couldn’t make myself do it. All of this was somehow going to lead me to finding out who set me up and I was obsessed.
I did have to wonder what my dad’s angle was. He knew that I wasn’t a part of this, yet he’d purposely invited me along on this ride and called me over just to tell me my brother was in charge of all the shipments. I got the feeling my dad was trying to tell me something, but I didn’t know what. It would be nice if anyone in this family ever just said what was on their fucking mind.
“Brock is kind of a middleman,” my dad said. “He makes the deals and then makes the switch. The crate for the money. That keeps us safe and it makes the men we’re dealing with more comfortable.”
“Who keeps Brock safe?” I asked, jokingly. The guy next to him stepped forward and Brock stopped him with a meaty arm.
“Your big-brother ain’t ever needed a babysitter,” Brock said.
I felt an old flare of anger shoot through me. He used to call my mother the babysitter. I was pretty sure it was a stab at her. For some reason he was trying to piss me off. One thing my dad had always been right about was that I was smarter than my big brother. I counted nine guys on that side of the fence. I was not taking those odds. He and I just passed a look that told him I knew he was being an asshole and told me he didn’t give a fuck. What a messed up family this shit was.
Brock hugged our dad again before taking off. I got a clap on the shoulder and another, “Damn, I just can’t get over how good being in the joint was for you.” I let that one slide too.
On the way back to our bikes I asked my dad, “Why did you want me to come today?”
My dad shrugged and looked back over his shoulder at his other son. “I just thought you might like to see your brother.”
I watched my brother ride back towards his safe house and I wondered if he’d be so mouthy if we ever met up one on one.
Chapter Eight
Olivia
I had just gotten out of my car at the bar when I saw the bikes coming up the road towards the bar. I wanted to get back in and go because I could see that Terrance was with them and I wasn’t prepared to talk to him yet. It was too late though, they would all see me slinking away like a criminal. I stood next to the car as they came back in. Terrance parked his bike after Bull and his father parked. But he followed them inside and didn’t even look at me. It was a relief. I was surprised to see Dax with them. I couldn’t help but salivate just a little bit as he stepped off his bike. He was so freaking hot and the bike just intensified it for me.
“Hey gorgeous,” he said as he took off his helmet. “Feeling weak yet?”
I smiled at him and surprising even myself I told the truth, “Every time I look at you.”
He laughed and said, “Good answer. What are you up to today?”
“I was out looking for a job,” I said, proud of myself and the tiny bit of progress I was making moving forward with my life.
“Good for you,” he said. “I was actually just going to tell you how nice you look today.”
I was dressed in a nice pair of black slacks and a white blouse. I’d left my hair down and curled it on the ends. He said it so seriously and sweetly that I felt myself blush.
“Thank you,” I said, “I went to apply for a hostess position at a restaurant, I didn’t think the jeans and t-shirt would do.”
The manager had been on site when I dropped off the application so I’d been really happy that I’d dressed nice.
“I’d hire you,” Dax said with a grin and a lecherous look.
“I bet you would,” I said giggling.
“Walk with me,” he said. “I promise not to bite unless the wildcat in you comes out.”
I smiled and then laughed nervously. We started walking along behind the bar. There was a dirt road and a bunch of empty fields between the bar and the foothills. The hills were pretty with the flowers growing across them and the long green grass flowing in the wind.
“Do you want to change first?” he asked, taking in my outfit once more.
“No, I’m okay, thanks.”
We walked quietly for a few minutes and then he said, “I talked to my dad.”
“You asked him about the emails and the tape?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, since you were out on a ride with him, I guess it’s okay to assume that it went well?”
“It went…okay. The ride is another story altogether. I think he’s up to something, but I have no idea what. As far as the set-up goes, he denies everything, but I didn’t really expect him to admit to it if he did it. He did say that a lot of people have access to that computer and he forgets to shut it down a lot. He used the fact that I snooped on it myself as an example. He told me to check the security tapes if I didn’t believe him.”
“Wow, so what do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think. I found myself wanting to believe him.”
“Of course you did. He’s your father. We want to believe that our parents won’t cause us any harm or lie to us.”
“Are you thinking that yours did a
nd mine likely is too?”
I stopped walking and looked at him. “No, Dax. I’m not thinking that. My father lied to everyone. It was what he did. One thing I’ve noticed about Bull, although I don’t agree with ninety percent of his lifestyle, he has never seemed to be ashamed of anything that he did enough to lie about it. He lives by that M.C. code and although I find it ridiculous, he swears by it, right?”
“Yeah…”
“Have you ever known him to break one of the M.C.’s rules or codes?”
“No, I’ve never seen it personally.”
“Isn’t there some kind of rule against causing harm to one of your “brothers”? Wouldn’t this apply to that?”
He looked like he was thinking about it and then he said, “That makes sense. I hadn’t thought of it that way before. I’d still like to have hard evidence. I’m going to sift through some more tapes. I went through some the other night but jeez, it’s such a mess it’s going to take me weeks at this rate. I could use a little help, if you have the time,” he said.
I had the hardest time out in the open, looking at his face and into his sexy green eyes without jumping on him and attaching myself to his lips. I knew that I shouldn’t be putting myself into a situation where it was just going to be him and me in close quarters, although at the same time the thought of it excited me to my very core. Dax needed answers and if he didn’t get them soon, I was afraid he’d go off and do something stupid in search of his revenge that would land him back in jail.
“Sure, let me know when,” I said.
“I was thinking about now,” I told her with what I thought was a charming grin.
“Oh, sure,” I said.
I was going to have to fight myself from giving into him again.
Chapter Nine
Dax
I could tell that she wasn’t sure about being alone with me. I liked flirting with her and I would love to have some more of that hot, sweaty sex with her, but I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable so I promised myself I’d back off a bit while we worked.
We went back into the back office and started pulling out boxes. As we went through them, we did the same thing we’d done last time and just separated them by the date that was written on the outside of the case and made little piles with them. We put the bare ones we found in a completely different box just to get them out of the way.
It was quiet and I was trying to think of a subject that wouldn’t make either one of us uncomfortable when she said, “I registered for the fall semester.”
It caught me by surprise.
“Wow…that’s great,” I told her. It was great. I was happy for her and happy to see that she was planning to move forward with her life. I was a little jealous that I wasn’t going with her though. “And you’re looking for a job?”
“Yeah, I’m starting small. I only signed up for two classes and I thought I could get a part time job too. I delivered three applications out today. I’m hoping for the hostess position. The hours would work well with a school schedule, I think. I need to find some direction in my life. Sitting around and not knowing what I want to do and not having anything to do is killing me.”
“I think it sounds like a great plan,” I told her. “I’ve been having the same thoughts myself.”
“Yeah, I guess you have a better excuse for not having a job and not going to school than I do. I let my life fall apart piece by piece and I hardly noticed it was happening. Part of it is to also get as far away from this club as possible. I just don’t see any good coming out of hanging around here.”
“I would love to be able to go back to school and then get a real job that will get me out of here too. That won’t ever happen though with my felonies. The fact that they’re drug felonies narrows it even further. I did talk to my mom…and my dad, actually about the tattoo shop. We had an uncomfortable family dinner last night.”
“Did your mom agree to help you?”
“We didn’t really talk about it,” I told her. “But she did want to know how much it would cost and what I would need to start. I’m sure she’ll help me. It’s going to be a lot though and I plan on paying her back so I’ll have to do a lot of tattoos.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” she said.
“Yeah, but my plan doesn’t really involve getting away from here any longer like yours does. For one thing, these guys get a lot of tattoos and they know a lot of people who get tattoos so that would be really helpful when it comes to getting my business up and running.”
“Yeah,” she said, hesitantly.
“What? You think it’s a bad idea that I hang around these guys? I’ve been around them my whole life.”
“No, the guys aren’t so bad in and of themselves,” she said. “It’s what goes on when they’re all in the back room that really bothers me.”
“Yeah, I get you,” I said. “I never wanted any part of any of that before and I still don’t. Did Terrance ever talk about it…about what goes on back there?”
The meeting that day with my brother really piqued my curiosity.
“No, he didn’t talk about anything that went on here at all. He was even vague about all of the runs he went on. When he was in a really pissy mood he would tell me it wasn’t any of my business.”
“I’ve been out of the loop for so long. I was curious what they were into these days,” I said.
I was really fishing for what the hell they were into with my brother and the crack house full of body guards in the hills.
She stopped what she was doing and said, “Really? Why do you want to know, Dax? Won’t that just lead to more trouble?”
“I’ll be careful. I actually think I might get in more trouble if I don’t know what’s going on. I went on a run with them right after I got out. We went to this old abandoned warehouse and there were a couple of creepy looking armed guys and a sharp-dressed man and a lot of crates. My dad and Terrance’s dad talked to them out of earshot of the rest of us, but I was curious about the crates. If I had to chance a guess, I’d guess guns rather than drugs. Then today I went with them and I was shocked as hell to see my brother there. I haven’t even heard his name since I’ve been out. He was acting all bigger than shit with his Prez patch. I’ve been so busy with all of this crap, trying to figure things out, that I hadn’t even realized that I hadn’t seen him around. It’s probably a good thing too. His mouth was working overtime today. Have you seen him lately?”
“No, it’s probably been six months since I’ve seen Brock,” she said.
“That’s weird, where has he been?”
She shrugged and said, “I don’t know. He just kind of faded away. I was so preoccupied with my own stuff that I didn’t pay much attention. I know something big went down between him and my dad maybe eight months ago or so. He was around less and less after that until one day he was just gone. I do remember asking Terrance what they were fighting about, but once again, he told me it wasn’t really my business. Hey, what was the date we were looking for again?” I told her and she said, “This one is two days before and goes up to that day.”
“Let’s put it in,” I told her.
She slipped the tape into the player and turned the television on. We watched as it started out with no one in the office, then as I fast-forwarded it, I saw my dad and stopped. He was just going through his bar owner routine, nothing fascinating. He didn’t even log onto the computer that I saw. I fast-forwarded it again and stopped every time I saw someone come in. None of them touched the computer though until my dad and my mom came in and my dad logged on to show her something. I assumed it had to do with their books because she had her little book with her that she used to pay the bills. They left again and I didn’t see him log out. There was a lot more tape of an empty room and then…there was my brother, Brock.
Brock walked in and looked at the computer, whatever he saw there made him smile. My dad presumably left his email logged in again. Brock went back over to the office door and looked out into th
e hall. He looked up one side and down the other. He came back and standing up, he made a few short key-stroke motions and hit another button. Smiling again, he walked away.
“What the fuck?”
“That was Brock,” Olivia said, as shocked as I was.
“Yeah, that was Brock. Why the fuck would my brother want to set me up?”
I was trying to wrap my head around this thing with Brock on the computer. We both sat there for a while. I was lost in thought and she probably didn’t know what to say.
At last I said, “We can clean this mess up. I’m done for today.”
“Okay,” she responded.
She started putting the tapes we’d taken out back in the boxes when I went on to say, “You want to go with me to get a new tat?”
“Really?”
I laughed. “Yeah, really. I’m not going for anything extravagant. I mostly just need to get out of here for a while. We can take off first thing in the morning. If nothing else it’ll be a nice ride. Come on, it’ll be fun. You can get one too.”
She laughed. “Um, I don’t think so, but I’ll go with you.”
That was satisfying enough.
Chapter Ten
Olivia
The next morning Dax knocked on door of the room around nine AM.
“Good morning,” he said, looking me up and down. Sometimes when he looked at me I could literally feel the heat from his eyes on my body.
Dirty Biker (An MC Motorcycle Romance) (The Maxwell Family) Page 80