by Wilder, L.
His dark hair was still damp from his recent bath as he came rushing towards me in his favorite blue pajamas that fit snug around his pudgy belly. After setting my things down on the table, I reached down and scooped him up in my arms, cradling him close against my chest. The tension I’d been carrying for the last few hours immediately started to fade as soon as I inhaled his sweet scent. “Hey there, sweet boy. I missed you today.”
He giggled and squirmed as I trailed kisses along his cheek and neck. “Have you been a good boy tonight?”
“He’s been a very good boy,” my mother answered as she reached for her purse and keys. “He’s had his dinner and his bath.”
“Great. Thanks for watching him today.”
She gave me a quick hug as she replied, “You don’t have to thank me, Reece. You know I love spending time with my grandson.”
“I know you do, but I still hate putting you out.” She gave me one of her scolding looks, which I completely ignored. “Since he hasn’t had any fever today, he should be fine to go back to daycare tomorrow.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind watching him …”
While I appreciated her help, my mother had always been a little overprotective where he was concerned, making me feel like she didn’t completely trust that I was capable of taking care of him on my own. “I’m sure. He’ll be fine.”
“Okay but call me if you change your mind.”
“I will.” As she started out the door, I told her, “Oh, and tell Dad I said thanks for the tool box. It’s really come in handy.”
“You know … you could just call and tell him yourself.”
I’ve never really understood why, but my father had always been harder on me than anyone else in the family. Maybe it was because I was the youngest, or maybe it was the fact that I was so much like him. Either way, he wasn’t happy when he discovered that I was pregnant, and he was quick to let me know that he thought I’d ruined my life. Even though I understood his disappointment, his words stung, and for the past two years, I’ve been trying my damnedest to prove him wrong. My mother was very aware of the struggle I had with my father, so I simply answered, “Please, just tell him.”
“If that’s what you want.” She stepped out into the hall, and before she closed the door, she called out to Tate, “Love you, punkin. I’ll see you soon.”
Once she was gone, I glanced down at Tate, and when I saw the sleepy look in his eyes, I knew it was past his bedtime. I carried him over to the rocking chair, and as I nestled him in the crook of my arm, I whispered, “My big guy is tired.”
A pout crossed his face as he spat, “No.”
“Oh, yes you are.” I started rocking him as I continued, “I bet you’ll fall asleep fast tonight.”
“No.”
At almost two years old, Tate’s vocabulary was sometimes limited, and he seemed to think that no was the answer to everything. “We’ll see about that.”
“No.”
With his eyebrows furrowed, he stuck out his bottom lip, which tickled me to no end, causing me to laugh. His little pouting session quickly ended as he started giggling right along with me. After several seconds, we both settled back in the chair, and the room fell silent as Tate started to fiddle with a strand of my hair. It wasn’t long before his little eyelids grew heavy, and he started to drift off to sleep. As I sat there holding him close, I remember how horrified I was when I discovered I was pregnant. I thought my life was over, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I loved being a mother to Tate. In fact, becoming a parent had been the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I felt guilty that Jackson hadn’t gotten a chance to experience it.
I thought back to that weekend at Jackson’s apartment, how we spent hours just talking and sharing our hopes and dreams. I remembered the softness in his voice when he spoke about having a family one day. I found it endearing how he talked about wanting children, which only made me feel even more guilty for not finding a way to tell him about Tate. It wasn’t that I hadn’t tried to let him know that I had gotten pregnant on one of those fateful nights. I tried calling him several times and even went by to see him at his clubhouse. It was right after Tate turned one. I thought if I went to see him in person, I might actually get to talk to him, but when I arrived, I saw that he was with another woman, and I lost my courage. A part of me hoped that once he’d heard that I’d come by to see him that he might try to reach out to me, but he never did. I finally gave up and decided to raise Tate all on my own.
There were times like the first time Tate walked or said his first words that I second guessed my decision, but with each day that went by, it got harder and harder to muster the courage to go to him. It didn’t help matters that he was a member of motorcycle club. I’d grown up in Memphis, and even though my parents tried to shelter me from the atrocities of the city we lived in, I’d still heard about the gangs and motorcycle clubs that ran rampant in the streets. I didn’t know a lot about Satan’s Fury, but I knew enough to know they weren’t a group of Christian riders who’d dedicated their lives to making the world a better place. But as I looked down at my son sleeping soundly in my arms, I found myself wondering if it was time for me to overlook the whole club thing and finally tell Jackson that he had a son. Deep down I knew breaking my silence was the right thing to do, but the timing just wasn’t right. I finally had a chance to make something of my article on the cartel, and I needed all of my thoughts and energy focused on getting it done. So, for the time being, Jackson would have to wait.
CHAPTER 5
Riggs
After endless hours of searching, I finally managed to get a hit on Navarro’s cell phone, and with that, I was able to pinpoint his location. I was pleased to see that he’d taken the bait and had gone to Little Rock. We all knew that he’d go there looking for information on his brother’s death. Unfortunately for him, there was no information to be found. He’d be on a wild goose chase, but that was exactly what we wanted. Now that he was distracted, we could proceed with the run. As soon as Gus contacted Cotton, the pipeline was set into motion, and the brothers and I got busy prepping for the trip. This shipment was one of our largest yet, and Gus was concerned that the hidden compartments in the horse trailers wouldn’t be large enough to hold the entire haul. I also had my doubts, especially after I saw the large number of crates we’d be transporting, but with a little southern engineering, we were able to get it all loaded and secured. Thirty-eight hours later, we met up with Clutch and the others from the Washington chapter.
As soon as we were parked, Clutch got out of his SUV and started towards ours. When he was close, Murphy rolled down his window and asked, “Hey, brother. Y’all been waiting long?”
“Just about ten minutes or so.”
Murphy looked over to their oversized bike trailer and asked, “Looks like you’ve got quite a load.”
“That we do. We’ll hang about a mile or so behind you guys, so we’ll be close if you run into any trouble along the way.”
“Sounds good. Y’all ready to do this thing?”
“Yep. We’re all gassed up and ready to roll whenever you are.”
“Then, let’s move out.”
Once he’d gotten back in his truck, Clutch pulled up behind us, and we started driving towards Mobile. Over the past few days, I hadn’t gotten much sleep, so I chose to sit in the back of the SUV, leaving all the driving to Murphy and Gunner. We’d been on the road for just over an hour. Surprisingly, the guys were quiet, so I closed my eyes and propped my head against the window. I was just about to doze off when I felt Blaze nudge me with his elbow.
“Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“Thought any more about what we talked about?”
I didn’t bother opening my eyes when I answered, “Might help if I knew what you were referring to.”
“Don’t give me that shit. You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he huffed.
“Nope. Don’t have a clue.” I lied.
&nb
sp; “The girl. Have you thought anymore about what you’re gonna do?”
“About what?”
“Tracking her down?” he pushed.
Before I could answer, Murphy asked, “What girl?”
I cringed when Blaze answered, “You remember that chick he met on my birthday?”
“Oh, yeah. The hot blonde that blew him off?” Murphy snickered.
“Yep, that’d be the one.”
“What about her?”
“He saw her the other night at the diner, and—”
I interrupted him by grumbling, “And nothing. The story ends there.”
“It wouldn’t have to end there if you’d just get your ass in gear and go after her.”
“Why would he have to go after? She’s already come to him.”
Surprised by Murphy’s question, I sat up in my seat and asked him, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I saw her at the front gate … or at least I thought it was her.”
“What? When?”
“I don’t know. A few months ago … Might’ve been longer than that. I figured she’d come there looking for you.” Murphy nudged Gunner as he asked, “You saw her, didn’t ya? Pretty thing. Real blue eyes. She was driving that red beetle. Had her hair pulled up, and she was wearing a U of M sweatshirt.”
“Nah, brother. At least not that I can remember,” Gunner answered.
“Well, damn.”
“Well? What the fuck happened? Did she make it through the gate or what?”
“Nope,” he answered. “She talked to Gauge for a minute, and the next thing I knew, she’d just up and left.”
“Why the fuck are you just now telling me this?”
“Sorry, brother. I figured Gauge would’ve mentioned it to ya.”
“He never said a word about it.”
He shrugged. “It’s been a while, man. Hell, I’m pretty sure he was still prospecting at the time. I’m sure it just slipped his mind or something.”
“Fuck.’ With an irritated sigh, I leaned back in my seat and glared out the window. “Wonder why she’d come to the clubhouse?”
Blaze shook his head. “No idea. It would take a lot for a girl like that to come to the Satan’s Fury clubhouse, so she must’ve wanted to see you pretty bad. Not sure what Gauge told her, but clearly, it wasn’t good.”
“Obviously not.” I was eager to ask Gauge why Reece had come to see me and considered taking out my phone and calling him right then and there, but quickly decided against it. I didn’t want Blaze and Murphy listening in on our conversation. The last thing I wanted was to give them more ammunition to use against me, so I just blew it off. “Doesn’t matter why she came. It doesn’t change anything. I’ve got things to tend to before I can even think about trying to track her down.”
Blaze gave me one of his disapproving looks as he mumbled, “I just don’t get it. How can you be so goddamn smart about some things, and so fucking stupid about others?”
“Don’t give me that shit. The club comes first, brother. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same damn thing.”
Thankfully, that ended the conversation, and for the next two hours, we rode in silence. I’d hoped to catch up on some sleep, but I couldn’t take my mind off of Reece. It didn’t make sense that she would make the effort to come out to the clubhouse without calling first. It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried before. She called many times, but she always seemed to reach out when I was out on a run or in a meeting with the brothers. When I had tried returning her calls, I couldn’t get through to her. The number she’d given me was a landline, so I couldn’t even text her. Eventually, I’d just given up trying. I figured she had her reasons for not leaving her new number. I let my stupid pride keep me from following my gut and tracking her down. It bugged me that she’d shut me out, and I simply couldn’t take knowing that she was happy without me. I thought it would be easier to just forget about her, but I was wrong—very, very wrong.
Even after all this time, she still had me tied up in knots. It was eating away at me that I didn’t know why she’d come to the clubhouse looking for me. What she had to say must’ve been something pretty fucking important, especially if she felt the need to have the conversation face to face, but I had no idea what it could be. I would’ve liked to think that she’d come to tell me that she was wrong to leave without saying goodbye and wanted a second chance, but I just didn’t see that happening. Something told me it was something bigger than that, but it just didn’t matter anymore. With the amount of time that had passed, I needed to face the fact that she’d made her decision to move on, and I needed to do the same. It wasn’t going to be an easy task, but at least I had work to distract me.
I could feel the tension radiating off my brothers as we pulled up to the warehouse in Mobile. Like me, they were wondering how things were going to play out with all the new changes. While we knew it had to be done, none of us were thrilled that Ronin chose to move things to Mobile. We all knew Gus had given his approval on the new location, but that didn’t change the fact that we knew very little about the area, making us all the more on edge than usual. We knew that there was a risk with every drop-off. There was always a chance that our presence might be detected, either by the cops or an adversary, and we did everything in our power to make sure that didn’t happen. We were careful to ensure that no mistakes were made, and most of all, we kept our eyes and ears open at all times, paying attention to even the most trivial of details. That’s one of the reasons why it bugged me that Ronin didn’t have a barge waiting for us at the front dock. Instead, he had a seventy-foot high-performance yacht sitting there. It was dark, and Mobile was a busy port. I was beginning to think that we’d shown up at the wrong fucking dock when Ronin and his guys came strolling up behind us. As he looked down at his watch, he said, “You guys made good time. I wasn’t expecting you here so early.”
With narrowed eyes, Murphy motioned over to the fancy boat and asked, “What the fuck is that?”
“That, my friend, is a 2018 Sunseeker Predator,” he boasted. “She’ll be our new means of transportation.”
“You fucking kidding me?” Murphy roared.
“You got a problem with something?”
“We’ve never had an issue with the barges. Worked great every time. Why the fuck would we change shit up now?”
Ronin’s expression hardened as he replied, “Because you boys led a mob boss to my back door, and I had no other choice but to make some changes. Some bigger than others, but in the end, it’s all good. With the yacht, I’ll be able to get your shipment there in half the time.”
“Does Gus even know about this? ’Cause you sure as hell didn’t mention it when we were here the other day.”
“Of course, he knows, Murph.” He crossed his arms as he snarled, “You know me better than that. I’d never make a move like this without consulting him first.”
“And he was good with it?”
“Why you asking me? Call your president and check in with him yourself.”
Clearly pissed, Murphy reached into his pocket for his phone. He never took his eyes off of Ronin as he called Gus. The conversation was short, and Murphy was clearly unsettled with the change, but Gus confirmed that he did know about the change in transport. As soon as they were done talking, Murphy shoved his phone back in his pocket. With no apology given, he looked over to us and said, “Looks like we’re good to go.”
“All right, boys.” Ronin smirked. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
With the others following close behind, Blaze and I headed over to the back of the horse trailers and started unloading our cargo while Clutch and Stitch started unloading theirs. Once we had everything pulled out of the trailers, we started making our way over to the dock. As T-Bone stepped onto the boat, he whispered, “Man, oh man. This is one fine-looking boat right here. I sure would like to get me one of these!”
“And how you gonna manage that?” Gunner teased. “Planning on sellin
g a kidney or two?”
“Fuck no, brother. I’m gonna win the fucking lottery. You just wait and see,” he answered with confidence. “Two mill is up for grabs this weekend, and I plan on making it mine.”
Gunner smiled as he asked, “You got your ticket yet?”
“Nah, but I’ll get around to it,” he answered as he followed the others down the small stairwell.
“Um-hmm. I’ve heard that one before. You’ll remember to buy one right around the time they start to announce the winner,” Gunner scoffed. “I wouldn’t worry with it anyway. It’s always those crazy motherfuckers with no front teeth who win those damn things. Might as well just save your money.”
Blaze stepped up behind T-Bone and patted him on the back. “If that’s the case, then I’d say our brother here has a good chance of winning the whole damn thing.”
Just as T-Bone was about to respond, Murphy skirted by us and grumbled, “I’ll buy you all a fucking ticket if y’all will just hurry the hell up and get this shit put away.”
One by one, we loaded each of the crates into the cargo section of the yacht’s lower deck. We were all on edge as we tried to adjust to our new surroundings. We didn’t let anything get by us. We checked out every little sound and every flicker of light, so it took us longer than expected to get the full shipment secured in the various storage compartments. Once we were certain everything was set to go, Murphy and I went over to speak with Ronin. “You’re all set.”