by Ryan Michele
Wrong Way moved out of the door as we all took steps back. These guys weren’t holding guns on us therefore we lowered ours, but kept them in our hands. We weren’t taking chances. Trust was built and earned. These two didn’t have that yet.
“Calm down. We’re not here for trouble,” Marcus said calm as could be. “Just want our shit and we’re out.”
“So, get it,” I responded as the large door went up at the side of the building and our truck backed up, stopping just inside the door. The crates were heavy as hell, but we put them in and it was their job to get them out.
Marcus whistled, and two more guys came out and started to empty the truck. We all kept watchful eyes.
A phone sounded, and Xavier pulled it out. “Yeah.”
“Fuck.” His eyes came to me and whatever it was, it wasn’t good. “Yeah, whatever you can,” he said, disconnecting.
“We have company. Got guys in a ten-mile radius with eyes. Two white unmarked vans just crossed the ten-mile marker. My guy ran the plates and they’re stolen.”
Fuck.
Xavier turned to his guys. “Double time. We need out of here in five.”
“You get that shit off my truck now or we leave with it,” I growled, turning to my brothers. “All of us on our bikes ready.” My focus went to Wrong Way quickly going up to him. “Soon as that shit is gone, you pull out and we’ll be on ya. If it comes to it, we’re out; don’t give a fuck if their shit’s still on it.”
“Right.”
I had no fucking clue who these people were, and we didn’t know a hundred percent that they were coming for us. A setup could always happen. But fuck if I was taking any chances with my brothers or myself. “What way are they coming? And who are they?” I asked Xavier, looking to my watch and noting the time.
“North and fuck if I know. Once I do, I’ll let you know.”
I nodded, heading out of the building with my brothers on my heels. “We go south until we know it’s clear then head west.” The order came out quickly as everyone got on their bikes and waited.
As the seconds ticked by, unease crept up my skin. I hated when that shit happened; it always meant bad things were coming. I needed more bad shit like I needed a hole in my head. Keeping my eyes on Wrong Way, he was watching what was going on in the back of the truck with the camera we had installed and out of the mirrors.
Fuck. We needed to go. Whatever was going on with Xavier and Marcus wasn’t our gig, and fuck if I wanted any part of that shit. I had enough on my plate as it was.
Checking my watch, three minutes had passed. Those were some long fucking minutes. Strange how most of the time, life went so fucking fast you couldn’t keep up. While other times, like these, it went at a snail’s pace.
Firing up my bike and listening to the others revved up beside me, we continued waiting.
That bad feeling was trying to wrap around me like a snake. Looking over to Wrong Way, he caught my eyes as and held up an index finger while I shook my head in the negative. We were done waiting, fuck that and fuck them.
Using my hand to motion, Wrong Way nodded, threw the truck in drive, and took off. I heard the clatter of crates hitting the concrete but didn’t give that first fuck.
Wrong Way peeled out of the spot and we followed, noting off to the left through a clearing the two vans coming our way. Fuck that. This shit was their problem not ours.
Gunning it, we were able to get out without a white van in sight.
16
Rylynn
My fingers flitted over the screen typing in the letters quickly. Made it. Take care of yourself. Clicking send, it was done. I tossed the phone to my bed and watched it bounce once then settle. He said to call, but something inside of me couldn’t do it.
Maybe it was the fact that I had to let him go now. That our time together was finished when I wanted anything but. His life was in Alabama though, not here.
The comment about being on the back of his bike wrapped around my soul. I’d been stupid to think it meant anything but the actual words. There was no hidden meaning he was trying to convey, and I was twisting it in my head. That splash of hope could be a very dangerous thing.
“Get over yourself, Rylynn.” Shaking my head, I grabbed my laptop and responded immediately so I could get paid. She responded immediately. That was one thing off my list to do.
My cell rang, and my belly instantly had flutters. I grabbed for it seeing Mom on the screen. “Hey,” I answered, disappointment filling me but not showing it.
“Hey yourself. Come over for dinner tonight.”
Looking down at the papers scattered all over my living room floor, I replied, “Can we do it another time? I’m working on some things.”
“What kind of things?” She pushed, but I wasn’t giving her anything.
“Mom.”
“You can talk to your father about it.”
That wasn’t happening. “Relax, Mom.”
She coughed. “I made pot roast.” I loved my mother’s pot roast, it was the best thing to ever come out of a crock pot. The thought of it had my stomach rumbling. “Please come home, Rylynn.” Her tone changed from fierce to a bit sad. Her sadness relayed on me.
She was going through the death of her father, and I knew me coming to dinner was just making a point that we were a tight family and there for each other. That we loved each other and appreciated the time we spent together. I needed to give that to her.
“Alright. But I can’t stay too long.”
“See you at six.” She disconnected without hearing me say bye. Guess she got what she wanted and was done. So be it.
Pulling up to the house, the sense of home wrapped around me like a warm glove. It had so many memories considering I’d lived here my entire life. The outside got a pick me up with new green siding that my dad installed, but everything else was the same.
The walk up to the front door curved into an L-shape and all the bushes, although a bit bigger, were the same as well.
The tree though, that was the prize. A huge oak tree stood tall in the front yard, so wide around my arms couldn’t fit around it. The branches were large and sturdy. Hanging from one of them was a huge tire that my dad said came off an old tractor.
It was my favorite place to be in the world. I’d spun and swung for hours when I lived here, contemplating life and what I wanted to do with it. In that swing was when I decided it was in my blood to help people.
Even with little problems. Since I loved puzzles and solving them, it felt like the right path for me. It ended up being exactly that. I loved what I did, and it all started in that swing.
Jumping down from my Jeep, the front door opened and Mazie darted out of it, running so hard her hair had a hard time catching up with her. “Ry!” she yelled, opening her arms and running right into my stomach. Luckily, I braced or she would’ve tossed me back with her momentum.
Wrapping my arms around her, she reached my chest already and she was only ten. She was going to pass me up and end up giving me shit about it later in life. A smile came over my lips at the thought.
Loved my baby sister. There was a nine almost ten year gap between us, but to me it didn’t matter one bit. Age was just a number. Thoughts of Crow came to me. It was true I had no qualms about age. My father was older than my mother, and they were great together. If you fit, you fit.
She squeezed me hard, and I let the thoughts go. “You’ve grown like a foot since I last saw you.”
She pulled away looking up at me. “You saw me a few days ago.”
“When you reach the beanstalk, will you tell me what’s up there?”
Mazie smiled. “You know that’s not true. Mom said it was a fairy-tale, and we learned in school that fairy-tales aren’t real.”
What? What kind of teacher would tell a child that shit? They had to believe in something, and it was better that it was good than all the horrible stuff they’d find once they got out into the world. Santa, the tooth fairy—all that shit. It wa
sn’t them per se, it was more of just believing and having that hope of something else out there.
“Who’s your teacher so I can put Ex-lax in her coffee?”
Mazie’s face scrunched up. “Ex-lax?”
I chuckled. “You know that stuff that makes people poop.”
“Ew. You can’t give that to Mrs. Crator. She’s already mean.”
Mazie pulled away taking my hand and leading me up to the house. “Maybe she needs it so she becomes nicer.”
She stopped and turned around. “I gave her a Snickers bar. You know like the commercials. One minute people are mad then after they take a bite happy.”
The laughter bubbled out. “How’d that go for ya?”
Her little nose scrunched up again. “She ate it, but it didn’t help.”
She pulled me through the door, and the smell of pot roast filled the air and I sucked it in greedily. I remembered the hundreds of times coming through that exact door after school and smelling it. Then, it made my stomach growl, now, it made it roar.
I cooked, but not a lot. It wasn’t that I didn’t like to. It was more of a why when I’m the only one eating kind of thing. This right here was a treat.
“Baby girl,” my dad said, walking into the living room from the hallway. The floor plan was very simple. When you walked in, you were immediately in the living room, then through a door opening was the kitchen and dining table. Off the kitchen was a hallway that had one bathroom and three bedrooms.
It was small and that’s what my mom wanted; therefore, my father loving her more than anything on this planet, gave it to her. She said she wanted all of us close together, but sharing one bathroom sucked at times.
My dad wrapped his beefy arms around me squeezing me tight to him. He smelled of leather and the outdoors. It was unbelievably comforting. Always in his arms I felt safe and protected. It was strange because that same feeling came over me when Crow held me.
He pulled back, but kept ahold of my shoulders. “How are you?” Scary Rhys to everyone else was teddy bear dad to me. Sure he got pissed, but never, not once was I ever afraid of him. Scared he’d take away my phone or Internet access, but never physically.
“Good. Life is good.”
His eyes studied me. That was the negative of my father. His gaze was piercing like he could reach inside my brain and pull out all the information that I didn’t need him to know. Like he had this superpower, and that I didn’t like so much. For me it was the path of least resistance. Not telling him made him not lose his shit over my job because he would. Crow was right about that.
If my father knew exactly what I was doing, he’d get on his Harley and follow me around everywhere. That wouldn’t be good.
“Where were you the last couple of days?” His hands fell as he took a step back, crossing his arms over his chest in that dad-way.
“Had to go out of town for a few days. Came back today.”
“You didn’t think to let your mom and dad know this fact?” he growled, and I knew he was pissed. Here I was almost twenty-years-old and getting lectured by my father. I wasn’t going to kid myself and think this part of our relationship was ever going to change. I could be forty, with two kids, husband and dog and he’d still be this way. There was no doubt in my mind about it.
“The Keebler elves called me over to dinner.” Holding my father’s gaze was hard as hell, but I managed and saw his lip tip.
“You bring me cookies?”
I held out my arms. “Sorry, they only gave me a few and I was hungry. Speaking of hunger.” I walked past my father into the kitchen where my mother was stirring what I believed to be gravy on the stove. “Hey, Mom.”
A smile was already playing on her lips as she turned them to me. “No cookies? You know better than that.”
I walked up to her back and wrapped my arms around her, her hand coming up to pat my arm. “You’d be surprised how small those cookies actually are. Totally different than what you see in the store.”
“I wanna help!” Mazie cried out as my mom looked down to her.
“You can’t help with the gravy, it’s bubbling and I don’t want you burned.”
Her arms crossed over her chest and as I looked up, my father had the same pose. “Awe, look it’s Dr. Evil and Mini Me.”
Mazie turned around to look at our dad, uncrossed her arms and stomped away like she always did when she didn’t get her way. I was surprised though, when my father didn’t holler at her and tell her she could help. Looked like things were changing and this was good.
Mazie was going to need a heavy hand if she was going to snap out of her being the princess of everything. Time to buck up or the rest of her life wouldn’t go well.
“Sit,” my dad ordered, pointing to my chair at the table. It was a six seater. My father and mother sat on the ends while Mazie took the spot by Mom and I took the one by Dad.
Not wanting to ‘talk,’ I said, “I’m gonna help Mom …”
My father cut me off, hard. “Now, Rylynn.”
Looking to my mother, she nodded telling me she had a handle on everything, and I sat in the chair, his gaze intense on me. I knew it was coming, and it was better to get it over with now than let it fester all during the meal.
“Talk to me. Want to know what you’re working on.”
On a sigh, I rested my elbows on the table, my hands coming up to my mouth. “This isn’t a good idea. I know your views on it. You’ve made them clear as day.”
“Want you safe.”
Letting my arms fall to the table, I grabbed his hand. It was seriously strong, rough, and calloused. “I am.”
“Put it this way. Either tell me or I have a prospect on your ass twenty-four hours a day.”
“Is he hot?” I joked, but my father wasn’t amused and I knew he wouldn’t budge. That was my father, steady as a rock. Always. Huffing out a breath, I answered, “Just two guys whose wives think they’re cheating and…” I caught myself, but it was too late because he looked at me expectantly. “A missing girl case. Seventeen. Was at a party and no one has been able to find her.”
“Want a man on you.”
Leaning back in my chair it was my turn to cross my arms over my chest. “I’m fine. It’s mostly research.”
“Ry…”
“Dad,” I interrupted, “we keep having this same conversation over and over again. I love what I do and with this mystery case, it’s a huge puzzle that I’m trying to crack. It’s actually fun.”
His head shook as he looked up to the ceiling. I was trying his patience, but backing down wasn’t an option. This was too important to me to just let it go. This was my passion. No one ever wanted their passion taken away.
Leaning in I lowered my voice. “I’m good at this, and I want you to be happy for me.”
His head righted as he leaned into me. “I am happy for you. Just don’t want anything to happen to my girl.”
Pain crossed his eyes before he wiped it clean. He missed my grandpa, and he didn’t want to lose me as well. My grandpa was here with us, I could feel it. I knew he’d be our guardian angel for the rest of our lives, and that made me feel good. To have just a part of him that I carried around with me every single day.
“I am. Promise if it’s ever too much that I can’t handle, I’ll come to you. But right now isn’t that time.” Hope filled me that he would let this go and we could move on to the eating portion of this interrogation. Loved him, but I wanted this done.
“I’m holding you to that.” He leaned back once again and grabbed a bottle of beer from the table taking a swallow. That was when I knew everything was back in the green zone and we could enjoy our meal.
I had this then I needed to check in with Naddy.
A sense of sadness washed over me because Crow entered my mind. It was strange and stupid, but I wanted him here with us, sitting around the table and eating.
It was a thought that would never come true and I squashed it, enjoying a meal with my family.
17
Crow
“Who?” I answered the phone call from Xavier instead of a greeting. We’d made it back to Rebellion with no one on our tails or in our business. It didn’t mean I let what happened go. We needed to know who the fuck tried to clap in on the shipment. It could be the motherfucker who had eyes on us. Swear to Christ if Tommy fucked us, he was dead.
It was their shipment, but our asses were there too. We needed to cover all of our bases.
“They’re dead,” he said matter-of-factly.
That was nice, but not what I asked. “Who was it?”
“You don’t need to worry. You or your club weren’t mentioned in anything.”
Anger flooded me as I sat in my office chair stiff. “You’re not hearing me. You either tell me who those fuckers were or I come find you.” The threat was hard and one I’d follow through on in a heartbeat. All bases would be covered. Always.
He sighed deep on the other end. “We have some issues with one of our runners. He’s trying to take over part of our area, and that isn’t going to happen.”
While he did give me some information, it wasn’t enough. “If I have to ask again, Xavier, you’ll be having a meeting with my gun.”
“I don’t appreciate being threatened,” he retorted, and I heard my phone give a slight crack as I loosened up my grasp.
“Alright. You wanted it,” I challenged, moving to disconnect the phone. Ravage didn’t eat shit, and that was what Xavier was trying to shovel our way.
“It was Damien Curtis. He wasn’t with them, but we took out seven of his crew who were sent here to take our shipment. How the fuck they knew is something we are working on.”
“Yeah, you fucking do that, and I want updates that he’s neutralized.”
“So this is what I have to look forward to doing business with you?” It was his turn to challenge me, and I didn’t give that first flying fuck.