by Karen Renee
Ice shot through my veins. I didn’t know how this man knew Brute had spent the night with me, but I knew I didn’t like it. My instincts said the man who approached me at the bank was likely behind this.
“If you don’t mind my asking, how do you know who I am? Were you approached by a dark-haired man with a pot-belly? Because a man like that approached me outside my work and had pictures of me with Mr. Vaillant. And that seemed more than a little strange and intrusive. In fact, I thought spying on people like that was against the law.”
His head tipped an inch to the side. He tried to cover it, but I knew. The man who had approached me was still following Brute.
“Ms. Whitehall, you don’t want to expose your daughter to a man like Brute.”
Now he’d gone too far. He’d checked into me. Knew I had a daughter. By using the Ms. prefix, he knew I was divorced. But telling me who to expose my daughter to or not took things entirely too far.
“Detective Tovar, I appreciate your concern. Believe it or not, I don’t expose my daughter to any men in my life until I know they’re going to be around for the long haul. There’s no telling if he’ll call me again, but rest assured, I’ll keep your warning firmly in mind. Now if you have anything further to ask of me, I’ll need to call my lawyer. Otherwise, I think we’re done here.”
His lips pressed together and his jaw shifted to the side. He shook his head while reaching into the inside pocket of his blazer. “At least take my card. Feel free to call me if you feel unsafe for any reason. Even if it’s because of the man who approached you at work.”
I accepted his card while smiling, but it was a fake smile. As fake as the one he gave me in return.
Through the peephole I watched Detective Tovar leisurely stroll down my driveway to where he’d parked his vehicle on the side of the street. His head twisted back and he looked long and hard at my car. When he drove away, I rushed to the kitchen and poured a glass of diet soda. Coffee was fine and great, but today I needed the double hit from soda. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and saw Caleb had finally texted back.
She’s fine. A little surly. Traveling on Tuesday...can you take the rest of the week?
He needed to get his shit together at work. And to be honest, I thought he might be taking advantage. The upcoming week should have been my time with Aubrey anyway, and I normally arranged my work schedule so I wouldn’t cut it so close picking her up from extended-day.
After school pick-up on Tuesday is fine. Will this reset our schedule back to normal — you take her Saturday and all of the following week?
Again, there were no jumping dots, and I figured they might be out to lunch or something fun. Thinking about lunch reminded me the half bagel wasn’t much, and I raided my fridge. I had a small portion of leftover taco meat, so I grabbed a tortilla and the shredded cheddar and made a quesadilla.
While I ate, my phone rang. The display indicated it was Mom.
“Hello,” I said after I swallowed.
“Hello, yourself. Are you eating?”
“Just finishing up. How are you?”
She sighed. “No chit-chat, Kenzie. Tell me about your date. Will there be another?”
How much to share?
“It’s too soon to say if there will be another. And the date was very nice. He took me to a fancy restaurant and told me he didn’t care if I ordered the most expensive steak on the menu because spending time with me would be worth it.”
I popped the last of my quesadilla in my mouth, expecting her to speak. She said nothing and the silence went on for a long moment.
“I don’t like that,” she said finally. Then, “I love that! Spending time with you is worth the most expensive thing on the menu. What’s he look like? Did you take one of those self-pictures with him? You need to text it to me if you did.”
I chuckled silently. “You mean a ‘selfie’?”
“Yeah, one of those. I need a visual.”
“No, I didn’t take a selfie, though I suppose we should’ve. Except he doesn’t strike me as a selfie kind of guy.”
“What’s his name and what does he do?”
For some reason I didn’t want to tell her Brute was a biker. “His name is Sam. He’s a general contractor.”
“A handyman sounds good.”
“No, Mom. General contractors do much more than handymen. He coordinates sub-contractors to remodel houses and stuff like that.”
“Ooh, even better. Does he have family in town?”
“He mentioned his dad lives in town and owns a gym. And he said something about stepsisters, but—”
“So his father got divorced at least once, eh?”
“Are you looking for a new man, Mom?”
She scoffed. “No. Don’t put words in my mouth. Does your man work out at his father’s gym?”
“He didn’t say exactly, though he did say his father would kick his ass if he didn’t work out with one of those big tires like you see on the fitness shows and stuff.”
“Sam must be very fit.”
I felt my eyebrows rise on my forehead. “You could say that.”
She laughed. “How fit is he?”
Rubbing my chin, I took a long moment before answering her. “He’s... I don’t know, Mom, he’s the biggest man I’ve ever seen, but he doesn’t look like he spends every waking moment at the gym either. Does that make sense?”
“Sort of. What are we doing about Thanksgiving?” she asked apropos of nothing.
I sighed. “I don’t know. As crazy as things have been with Caleb, I wasn’t planning to drive.”
“I figured that, but if Sam’s still around, I’m willing to drive.”
I took a deep breath. “Mom, it’s entirely too soon for you to meet him.”
“Well, it’s been too long since I’ve seen my princess of a granddaughter.”
“I’m not discouraging you from coming out, I’m saying I’m not going to arrange for you to meet B—, uh, Sam while you’re here.”
“What were you going to call him? Have you given him a nickname already?”
I would go straight to hell for lying to my mom. “He’s a junior, so he goes by Brute sometimes to keep himself separate from his Dad.”
The silence on the line felt heavy. “How would you know that if you haven’t met his father?”
“He mentioned it in a text message since I didn’t get his name when we first met.”
“My girl, what’s going on with you? How did you not get his name when you met him?”
I shook my head. “It was all unexpected, Mom.”
“Well, if you had a selfie you could send me, I might actually believe this malarkey you’re feeding me.”
“If there’s nothing else, I got laundry to do and a nap to take before watching M.S.U. football later.”
“Out late, were you?”
I chuckled at her incessant nosiness. “Bye, Mom!”
Chapter Ten
Mighty Are Falling
Brute
Brute pulled his truck into the forecourt of the compound with minutes to spare. He jogged to the back door of the clubhouse, but when he made it inside, he saw brothers moving toward the room for church. That meant he didn’t have time to change clothes.
Roman and Cynic were striding down the hallway toward him. The snarky grin spreading on Roman’s face made Brute scowl.
“Save it, Ro. Don’t need any shit right now.”
“Didn’t say anything, man.”
He entered the large room. As he walked to his seat, Joules and Block whistled catcalls at him. With a glower, he shot them the bird and settled into a chair next to Har.
His best friend leaned close. “Be glad Stephie stayed home. She saw you dressed like that, she would be all up in your business about last night.”
He caught Har’s green eyes. “Sounds like you need to teach your woman how to stay out of people’s business.”
“You pretty boys ready to get this started or what?” Cynic asked from
the other side of Har.
Brute scowled, but Cynic’s eyebrow rose and his lips tipped up.
“Yeah. Call us to order,” Har said.
Cynic did his sergeant at arms duties, then Har ran down Callie approaching Brute, Cynic, and Block.
“We think she’s been coached by Detective Tovar,” Har added.
Joules shook his head. “Thought it was Dennizen’s case?”
“Yeah, but Tovar’s his partner,” Block said.
“One more thing,” Brute said, and when he had everyone’s attention, he continued. “Someone’s been following me.”
“The fuck?” Har hissed.
Brute glanced at him and gave a quick nod. “Yeah. Woman I just started dating was approached Thursday evening by some asshole with a potbelly, dark hair, and a beard. Showed her a picture of me outside my office when Callie approached me. Took the picture right when Callie tried to shove me, probably so he could claim I’m seein’ Callie or some shit.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed. “And this new chick didn’t buy that?”
Brute grinned. “No, but the fact this asshole fucked up by showing her a picture of her and I together first didn’t hurt. She caught on to the fact this guy has a screw loose since he’s been following me. Based on her description of him, I know it isn’t Tovar. He told her I had killed his brother, but I never knew Wreck or Massive to have a brother outside Riot.”
“Did Wreck have family in town?” Har asked.
From the end of the table, Tiny spoke. “If I’m not mistaken, about a year and a half ago, his brother moved down from Oklahoma.”
Cynic did a slow nod. “That description sounds a little like Wreck, so maybe the brother’s been following you?”
“Wreck mentioned his brother worked as a corrections officer back in Oklahoma. He’d had trouble getting work down here though, because a hiring freeze went into effect before he was officially approved. That’s why I’m not sure if he’s living here or not.”
“You know anything else?” Block asked.
Tiny nodded. “Before working corrections, he’d done a stint as a small-time P.I., but he couldn’t hack it since he didn’t have any business sense. He’d know how to follow you without you knowing it, man.”
Brute nodded.
“So, what do we do about this asshole?” Roman asked. “If he’s trying to solve this shit on his own, it’s not like we can take him out. But we still need him to stand down.”
“That is a problem,” Har said on a sigh.
“Who has Wreck’s credit and debit card? Is there anybody we can set up to maybe take a fall for it?” Block asked.
Har stroked his goatee. “Think Volt had them last, but I’ll double check. If he does, maybe there’s someone they can pin it on in Florida. That should get Tovar and Dennizen out of our hair.”
Brute frowned. “Problem is this guy is convinced I’ve killed Wreck. My gut tells me he’s just getting started. Why he’s waited a year, I don’t understand—”
“Case is probably going to be reclassified as a cold case soon,” Cynic said.
Brute sighed. “Right, but he ain’t gonna let this shit go.”
Har sighed. “We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there. Not like we can run him out of town or anything, and if he’s in with Tovar, we can’t make this guy disappear either.”
Brute shook his head.
Har looked around the table. “We haven’t seen Wreck in over a year, not since he made a scene about us getting out of drugs. Be alert to the fact this asshole might be following any of us. Surprised Brute didn’t see him, but now we know.”
Acid churned in Brute’s gut. Any other time, church ended with clear-cut decisions and plans to act. They didn’t have that, and as it stood, his ass would go to jail if they didn’t deal with this shit.
The remainder of the meeting was spent going over finances and how Twisted Talons, the club’s new bar, was doing.
When they adjourned Har caught his eyes. “Hang back, man.”
He lifted his chin and stayed seated.
When the room cleared out, Har asked, “You still have the piece?”
He didn’t need clarification. “Took care of a lot of shit during Bike Week back in March. I’ve got a different gun.”
Har’s head turned a fraction. “And the old one?”
“Roll bought it from me. His piece was too small, but the perfect size for Trixie, so win-win for them. She’s got protection if she needs it, and he’s got a better weapon.”
Har arched a brow. “How does that help? It was registered to you.”
He shook his head. “No. I bought it from a buddy who was moving. Mississippi doesn’t require registrations when buying from an individual. Another benefit of living here, if you ask me.”
Har did a single, slow nod. “No gun and no body.”
Brute cut him off. “Don’t say anything else, man. I don’t need that bad juju in my life. Besides, Dennizen may be the best cop on the Biloxi force, but Tovar is as crooked as they come. He would not think twice to plant evidence on me.”
“You’re right. We’ll see if Block got the name of Wreck’s brother. Then, I’ll call the club lawyer. Let them know about this shit so if it comes down to it, we’ll at least have it on record for possible harassment.”
“For all the good that’ll do us.”
Har shook his head. “It’s better than nothing.”
They left the room. While Har locked the doors, Brute headed to the bar. Roman sat a stool away from Riley, a sweet-butt, who was sipping a beer.
She eyed Brute up and down before licking her lips. Three weeks ago, that would have made his dick twitch, but now it was all too forward. “You look good and rested, Brute. Wanna fu—”
He chuckled without humor. “No, Riles. Just... no.”
“Thud,” Roman muttered.
“What?” he and Riley asked at the same time.
Roman glanced at Riley, then stared at Brute. “The mighty are falling.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Shut the fuck up.”
Roman laughed. Then he put his bottle down with a thunk. “Fallen.”
He groaned, turned on his heel while unbuttoning his dress shirt, and went to his room. Alone.
After a quick shower, he put on a clean t-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts. He needed a nap and then maybe a work-out at his dad’s gym. As he climbed into his bed, he snagged his phone to check football scores, but saw a text from Kenzie.
Call me when you have a moment, please.
Part of him wanted to put this off, but his gut told him something was up, so he called.
“Hi, Brute. Um, I’m sorry to bother you.”
His lips quirked upward. “You’re not a bother to me, Kenz.”
She sighed. “Detective Tovar stopped by after you left.”
He tipped his head back on the pillow and mouthed the word, “Fuck.” After he cleared his throat, he asked, “What’d he want?”
“To be honest, he didn’t really say. He wanted to come inside, but I wouldn’t let him.”
She couldn’t be more perfect if she was made for him. He shook his head at the thought. No woman was made for him. His dad was the hopeless romantic, not him.
“Why wouldn’t you let him inside?”
She chuckled. “At first because I didn’t trust that he was who he claimed. But then he said some things, and he seemed evasive about exactly why he was here.”
“Okay,” he drawled.
“Are you a one-percenter?” she asked.
He dragged a hand down his face. “So, he brought me up?”
She exhaled loud enough for him to hear. “He told me I shouldn’t spend time with a one-percenter. I felt like a fool because I thought he was talking about the ‘one percent’ like the uber-rich. Felt like he wanted to embarrass me since I didn’t know. Then he had the gall to say I shouldn’t expose my daughter to you.”
For some reason that pissed him off. He didn’t shy away from
fights and brawls, but no way in fuck would he mistreat or encourage a child to do something wrong. “Why you tellin’ me all this?”
She was quiet for a long moment. “I don’t know. I thought you’d want to know. Thought you had the right to know.”
“That’s all he told you?”
“Well, he said you have a rap sheet as long as his leg, and he’s pretty tall – though not as tall as you. But, he also knew you’d spent the night. I asked how he knew that, and I mentioned the man who waited for me outside the bank. Might be wrong, but I suspect that guy was watching my house. And that creeps me out. Worse, this detective didn’t flinch when I mentioned the guy from the bank, and it gave me the impression he knew about that guy following you.”
Shit. He had so many conflicting emotions. She should cut him loose, or vice versa, but he didn’t want to do that. Until she did it, he would keep moving them forward. Part of him wondered if she was a weak link, but so far, she hadn’t proven to be anything but smart – if a little naïve. Yet, he knew at some point if Wreck’s brother got desperate, he wouldn’t hesitate to use Kenzie – and possibly her daughter – against him.
He wanted to hide her away in his apartment, but after seeing her pristine house, that wouldn’t do. Plus, the idea of moving in with her was ludicrous.
“Are you there?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he whispered.
“Did I do the right thing?”
“As long as you were respectful to the good officer, I think you did.”
She chuckled. “I think that’s up for debate in the detective’s eyes.”
“You’re right about that. He needs his eyes tested.”
“Should I be worried? Not about the detective, but the guy who—”
“No,” he said more forcefully than he intended. Then he spoke without thinking. “What are you doing right now?”
“I was going to take a nap before the Mississippi State game.”
She might be perfect.
Her house might be pristine, but his gut said her house wasn’t safe right now. “No, you’re not. At least not yet. Bring a change of clothes, your marshmallow fluff if you’re feelin’ sticky, and drive to the address I text you. I’ll pick you up there, so I can make sure we’re not being followed, and then take you to my place. We’ll nap, and then watch football.”