And he knew she had. He cut his look to her, his eye wide brilliant eyes so beautifully lined with dark lashes. Laura’s breath caught, he was so handsome. “Really?” he demanded. “Can you brave it? We are safe. I promise.”
“Yes, of course,” she agreed.
“The housekeeper is here and she is making us up some breakfast. She has fresh tortillas going.”
Despite Will’s statement that all was safe, he sat on the side of Laura nearest the voyeur. The boisterous sound of the morning runners entering the house calmed her. She felt better now knowing there were more people in the house. Having Knights’ Disciples around was like having a personal army. The runners came straight to Will and Laura on the deck.
“Morning,” said Lucas with a smile.
Even though the Knights’ Disciples were understandably untrusting of her younger brother, Laura liked that they were spending their time together civilly and positively. Pete, Darren, and Lucas and an Ocean Beach Disciple name Brett simultaneously cocked their head upward to the man watching their every move.
“Is this guy jacking off to us or what?” asked Lucas.
“Recognize him?” Will asked softly.
“No not really,” said Lucas.
“You?” Will asked Brett.
Brett answered, “I might. We could certainly find out. These places behind us are all rentals. Hard to say who lives in them. I know a few of the owners. Not sure if I know who owns the one the guy’s in. It is split up by level so it’s a much multi-tenant building right now. But if we look up who owns it, I can say whether I know them and we can find out who he is.”
Will looked right at Laura and used her words. “Sold.”
“Or I can beat it out of him,” Lucas offered seriously.
Will scowled at him. “Once a Marauder always a Marauder?”
“I wasn’t a Marauder. I got away from them. I am here. I want to be a Knights’ Disciples. I was once on that path. I am on it again. I will prove it to you.”
“Whatever you say,” Will said facetiously.
The housekeeper, Mirna, came to the door to announce breakfast was ready.
“Do we eat out here? Or do we go in doors?” Pete asked. “I don’t really want Skippy up there to check out how much salt I put on my eggs.”
“I understand but I don’t want to go inside either and make him think he’s bothered us,” said Will.
Laura was struck with inspiration. She started fake sneezing her head off. She didn’t let on that she was pulling their leg.
“I’m allergic to something out here,” she said
That was that. The crowd milled inside the house to the dining room to eat there. Once they were situated, Will leaned into Laura. His body, his energy was so warm and electric. “Well played, Goldie Locks.”
“Well,” she replied weakly.
He gently, firmly gripped the ticklish part of her knee under the table. Because she controlled her reaction, the effect spread throughout her. She wondered immediately if it was obvious as it felt. Her breath was tight and she was dizzied, so turned on by him. He reached over her and poured her coffee, then passed the carafe around the table.
There was some discussion of who the voyeur might have been. It wasn’t necessarily a Marauder connection stalking Lucas. He could have been lots of things, including high. They were reminding each other not to think the worse.
Laura thought it was strange, though, that Will didn’t tell the table that they had lost power in the elevator. When Mirna came out to ask about, Will knew that the power had been lost in the entire house.
Pete asked questions. “The power shut off?” Pete inquired.
Mirna confirmed. Laura started to share about the scary elevator ride but Will cut her off. “Why don’t we change the subject,” Will interrupted. “We’ll look into it, Mirna It was probably a one-time deal.”
Will’s words acted like a signal of some kind. Just as he uttered them, there was an unexpected clunking on the deck following by a pounding on the sliding glass door.
“That’s not friendly,” said Darren and the men, including Lucas, rose, on the ready.
Laura stood up as well. Will said, “No. In fact, I want you to go in the kitchen with Mirna just in case.”
“In case what?” Laura demanded.
“Now!” he bellowed. He looked like a fiend and she did what he was told.
It was if they had their plan rehearsed. Two Disciples went to the sliding glass door and the other two dispersed, one to the front door and Laura could hear the other take the stairs down to the garage. Laura and Mirna remained in the kitchen as ordered. Alas, Laura didn’t speak Spanish and Mirna didn’t speak much English. Both women did the same thing: they were very still and listened.
“Yes?” Will asked bluntly as he opened the slider.
“Yes?” Is that all you can say?” said the man.
“You’ve been staring at us. I figured you can tell us why,” replied Will.
“Why don’t you let me in and I will tell you why,” said the man. His voice was high-pitched for a hefty man but cocky. His hand kept traveling to, or trying to travel to, his waistband. But his fearful eyes were on Will and he hesitated.
“Why don’t you just say what you have to say and get the fuck out of here,” said Will.
“I have a message for Luke and for Will,” he said.
Laura and Mirna peeked out the window onto the deck.
Knights’ Disciples and Lucas now surrounded the man. Lucas spoke, “Now why the hell would we want to hear a message for those two bitches.”
Laura could tell, even with the filters of the window and the distance, that Lucas’s boldness was not appreciated. Darren stood behind the man and shook his head. The other Disciples remained still as statues.
“Hey where is everyone?” Becky’s gleeful voice asked as she appeared from around the garage side of the house.
Her sudden appearance was nearly a fatal move. Everyone on the deck drew a weapon. Only the bad guy was drawing on Will. He was no match for Will. Will slammed his forearm with such force that the man released the knife. The weapon clacked against the decking as it landed. Meanwhile, Becky fainted and fell to the ground.
“Oh!” the man hollered. “I think you broke my arm!”
He was so furious that he threw a clumsy kick at Will. Will swept the man's feet out from under him and he crashed into the deck. The Disciples towered around him while Lucas tended to Becky. The Disciples hoisted the fallen man to a bench seat. Darren searched him. The man laughed wildly. Laura cracked the kitchen window so she and Mirna could listen.
"You won't find anything. If you're looking for a wallet or a weapon, you got the one and only I brought," he said.
"What's your name," Will demanded. "And who are you with?"
Brett's eyes narrowed. "He's with 5th Street L.L. L.L. stands for Los Lobos."
"If I am," the man retorted, "then you guys are in some deep shit."
Brett took hold of the man's arm. "Is that so? How about we take you to their leader and meet them face-to-face, let them know how we screwed up. How we all screwed up."
Will's tone was sarcastic. "We'll know right away if this guy is a Los Lobos. They wouldn't be too happy to find out someone went around making people think he was a member of their club when he wasn't."
"I never said I was," he answered.
Will scoffed. "You acting alone then?"
The men, except for Lucas, closed ranks around him. Lucas guided Becky around front.
"Okay," hollered the man. "I'm not with anyone. I got a call from someone out east. They asked me a bunch of questions about where I lived in relation to this address, asked me what kind of view I had of your place and if I wanted to make some money. They told me specifically to find out if someone named Will and Lucas were at this address."
"Did they coach you on how to get that information?" Will asked.
"Yeah. I’m just a guy out on medical disability. I rent th
e middle level over there," he insisted.
"I guess they didn't care if you sang, if they randomly picked you," noted Pete. "Just for the record, you're dispensable to them. They had no plan to back your play if you got into trouble. You are on your own."
"That's right. Your best bet is to work with us. Only we can save you now," said Will.
The man shook his head. "I am in deep."
"Yep," answered Will. "The question is where did the caller get the idea that we were coming out here. Do you have the answer to that?"
"No. He just said they had reason to believe you were out here and I needed to confirm."
"Did they pay you?" Will asked.
"Yeah. Half upfront. They direct deposited five hundred dollars into my bank account. I was to get another five hundred when I confirmed."
Pete and Darren took a silent cue and gathered the man up to his feet. "We'll take him down to the club and work it out, boss."
"Wait," protested the guy. "I am not going anywhere with you. What guarantee do I have that you're not going to screw me over?"
"Because right now, we need you. We're going to track who sent you money. And because we have a reputation to uphold. We just promised you if you work with us, we will protect you. And I just said it again. Unlike the people who contacted you, our word means something."
Pete, Darren and Brett took the guy off, not through the house but around it. Laura and Mirna came out of the kitchen and were sitting at the dining room table with cups of coffee. Meanwhile Lucas brought Becky inside.
Will scolded Lucas. "What is she doing here?" he asked Lucas.
"I didn't know she was coming over," Lucas defended himself. "She just showed up. You guys said it was okay if she came out here. We are starting over here. Life as usual, just out here."
Will interrogated Becky. "Yes, we did say you could come out here. We met you. We liked you. We thought you were a positive move for Lucas here. And then when we took you under our wing, we were very specific that you couldn't tell anyone you were coming out here. Not for a while. So who did you accidentally tell?"
Becky fidgeted and was evasive. In fact, she didn't have to answer. It was obvious that Will was right in his assumptions. Becky had spoken to someone.
"Listen," Will continued patiently. "If you just tell us who we can fix this thing. No good can come from dishonesty. In fact, if you don't fess up, one of us could get killed. You don't want that, do you?"
Becky didn't answer. Now Lucas wanted answers. "Hey," he urged her. "Just answer the questions."
Her hesitation seemed to fill in the blank anyway. Will started to make very good guesses. "So how did you meet her, Lucas?"
"She cut hair. I met her at the diner next to her shop," Lucas answered.
"Did she flirt with you or was it just a chance encounter?" asked Will.
As Lucas recalled, the fact that nothing had been by accident between Becky and him washed over his face while guilt showed on Becky's. She was a spy just like the guy on the deck that the Disciples had just taken away.
Becky's eyes shifted from side to side. Lucas's posture sank. By this, Laura knew, as did everyone in the room, that Lucas had made a terrible mistake in his hookup with Becky.
"Don't feel dumb there, sport. I'm the Sergeant at Arms. I okayed her coming out here. Christ, I even paid her to alter your appearances. So I take it you gave full descriptions to your homeys, right? Let them know what to look for?"
Becky feebly nodded.
"Okay then," Will threw his arms up in the air.
Becky started to explain but Lucas cut her off. "Shut up!" he snapped.
"I love you," she pleaded. "I was afraid."
"Wrong answer," answered Lucas.
Lucas sounded just like Will. "What would you like me to do with her?" he asked.
Will’s voice was ironically filled with amusement. "I don't know. I have a feeling we are just going to have to react soon enough. I feel a fight acomin'."
Laura trembled. Just when she was settling in to her the idea of her new life, she was completely disturbed.
"You know what? Screw it," said Will. "I'm fresh out of ideas and magic plans. If the worst happens, I will face it when it comes. But for now, I wanna go for a ride. Will you come with me?" he asked Laura.
“We can’t just leave Lucas here alone. Not even for a minute,” Laura replied.
Will and Lucas exchanged looks like they knew something Laura did not. The whole thing was really working on her. Even Becky’s face registered this and she was already agitated.
“What are you two up to?” Laura demanded.
“Never mind,” Lucas answered. “I think it would be best if you went with Will. I will catch up with the Disciples at the club.”
“But –” Laura protested.
Lucas answered her firmly. “I am a Knights’ Disciple, sis. And my Sergeant at Arms has spoken. Now let’s eat.”
“Mirna, let’s eat breakfast. Cold is fine with us,” Will said.
“I can’t eat anything after what just happened. After what’s been happening and keeps happening!” Laura paused to keep a wall of emotion from erupting. “Just when I thought we were going to finally have some peace. I thought this change was going to work.” She saw Mirna quietly set the food the she had made earlier, out for them. Laura got up. “I am helping you,” she said to Mirna.
Mirna looked at her, clearly not understanding. Lucas translated in Spanish for them. Laura looked at Lucas confused.
“I did learn something in high school,” he kidded.
Laura was not amused. “What are going to do with her?” she asked of Becky. “Take her to the club, too?”
“Don’t worry,” answered Will. “We’ll handle everything. Lucas knows what to do.”
That last sentence made Laura cringe. She knew the Knights’ Disciples had a true code of chivalry, but they were a force to be reckoned with. Would they harm Becky to silence her? She and Mirna carried out plates loaded up with burritos stuffed with eggs and cheese, and potatoes cooked in bacon grease.
Laura pinched a bite of food from one of the plates. It was incredibly delicious, even cold. “Oh my goodness, I am going to get fat if I keep eating like this. It’s amazing.”
Reflexively, Lucas conveyed the compliment in Spanish to Mirna. Mirna smiled from ear to ear at Lucas, not at Laura.
Becky socked Lucas. “Cut that out! I love you! Quit flirting with her!” she pleaded.
Lucas’s eyes were cold. His bloodless expression made Laura shiver. She didn’t think she would ever forget it. “You have a really strange way of showing it. You know we are through, don’t you?”
“You want them to forgive all the things you’ve done. You told me so. It is all you want in this world, you said. And when I need the same thing, you cut me off? They had me over a barrel, Luke.”
“My name is Lucas. Stop calling me that. You could have told me. You only care because you got caught. And from what I can figure, you showed up this morning, perfect timing, to help that guy. That guy was sent to find Will and me. I think you’re bullshit. And as far as I can see, we are done.”
“Then I am going,” Becky retorted.
“No!” ordered Will and Lucas together.
It was no use defying the two guys; both Laura and Becky saw that. Becky pouted at the table while the others ate. Everyone finished at about the same time and dumped their plates in the kitchen sink. Laura instructed Lucas to tell Mirna to go home for the day.
Will smiled darkly. “Thank you, Laura. I’ll handle this.”
Laura was fully incensed now. She wasn’t even allowed to suggest the woman go home after working hard and in light of all the drama? She was completely annoyed with Will and she let him know it. “Whatever,” she said acidly. She put on a sweet high-pitched voice to affect a damsel-in-distress. “What should I do next? Please tell me so I don’t displease you master.”
Laura’s display silenced the room. Even Mirna, who was on the peri
phery, took pause because she found Laura’s behavior weird.
Will loomed over her, blinking with disbelief before pinning her with a steely gaze. “Knock it off,” he said in a low deep voice. “We need to act like a team right now. You and I are riding up the coast and Lucas is running with the ball.”
Laura found his football metaphor dumb and she mocked him for it. “What if the quarterback gets tackled and dies, Coach?”
“Excuse us,” Will said to everyone and abruptly whisked Laura up and out to the elevator, up to his room.
Disciple: Knights Disciples MC Page 21