Page 47 of Coyote
We left Rufus picking up his teeth in his driveway and went looking for the other three. There was chance that the women were picked because they were nearly impossible to compromise. It made sense they would go after hard targets because what would be the challenge in having sex with a dozen easy women.
We needed Hacker’s help finding out their addresses and places of business. It took all damned day long, but each and every one of them was about as stupid as Rufus. It was pretty clear most of the others hadn’t even thought about getting around to approaching Bethany. One was even stupid enough to tell me he’d been saving her for last because she had a kid, and he didn’t want no stretched out loose holes to fuck. I beat on him extra hard.
Breaker was cheerful and seemed to be having the time of his life. Tracking down these fuckers and beating the shit out of them put spring in his step. He was really in his element. It’s like we had inadvertently paired together two of his favorite things, tracking targets, and fighting. Who would have guessed that my normally mild-mannered brother-in-law would have such diverse hobbies.
***
We came home at the end of the day, tired and hungry. It was late, Callie and Bethany were curled up on the sofa under throws, talking like old friends. Seeing this all go down in my own home really hit me in the feels. This felt so right to me, like how Bethany and Nessa fitted into my life and family so well.
The women in our lives had saved plates for us in the kitchen. We took turns microwaving them and wolfed our food down so fast I barely tasted it, then Breaker and Callie took off.
After eating I took a quick shower, I should have done it before the food, but I didn’t want to draw attention to what me and Breaker had been doing that afternoon. We’d cleaned up at my shop before heading to my place, so the worst of the blood had gone, but I’m sure Bethany suspected that something had gone down. From the looks my sister gave Breaker, she certainly did.
I was exhausted as I’d not really slept more than a couple of hours in the last day and a bit, Nessa had conked out and Bethany looked tired too. We’d chatted a bit after dinner, but I hadn’t wanted to say anything about what happened around Nessa. Instead, I told Bethany about the family day that was happening at our clubhouse next weekend. It was something fun to lighten the mood. Every so often Storm would organize one, it was like a big cookout for all the brothers and their families. We usually had grills set up and loads of attractions for the kids. Callie had already told Bethany about it, and she thought it sounded great, even Nessa got excited when I told her there’d be an inflatable castle.
“Shall I carry Nessa upstairs?” I asked.
“Seems a shame to move her, she looks so cozy there,” Bethany murmured.
The little girl was curled up on the floor with Ruby at her side. Both were lost in their dreams. For a moment I wondered what little girls and dogs dreamed of—whatever it was, it must be a damn sight better than what I had going on in my mind. I was relieved that we’d caught up with Rufus and given him and his sick buddies a beat down, but part of me wasn’t sure that they were to blame for the fire.
Storm had spoken to one of his insiders at the precinct and apparently there had been another arson attack in Patterdale a couple of weeks earlier, so they were tentatively looking at a link. So maybe it was just random, and not linked to either Bethany or Reggie.
“I’ve got this,” I told her as I cradled Nessa in my arms and carried her upstairs. Bethany moved around me opening the door and turning down her blankets. Ruby woke up and followed us.
In this moment I felt like we were a team, Bethany and I. I loved everything about this idea. When I slid this precious little girl into bed and tugged the blankets up to her chin, her mother added several stuffed animals so she would see them if she woke up in the night.
Her new doggy friend didn’t even put up the pretense of sleeping in her own bed tonight. She jumped on the bed and curled up at her feet. I looked at Bethany and smiled, she looked radiant as she watched on.
“You think it’s okay if Ruby sleeps on the bed?” I whispered, “I can take her dog bed into our room if you think that’s better?” Because in my mind now it was our room, not mine.
“Ruby seems sweet, and it’s clear that she’s used to snuggling at the end of her old owner’s bed. I think they’ll be fine,” The little dog opened her eyes briefly before tucking her head back down.
Bethany reached out to pet the dog before we left the room, picking the baby monitor on her way out.
Once we were in the bedroom Bethany quickly shed her clothing and climbed into the bed. When she rolled over to watch me undress and her eyes lit up with appreciation, it made me feel seen and desired. I couldn’t get undressed and in bed fast enough. Last night we didn’t make love because neither of us were feeling it after the horror of seeing Reginald’s house go up in flames. I didn’t know what would happen tonight as we’d both had a hard couple of days, so I was equally happy at the thought of a long, unbroken night of sleep with Bethany cuddled up in my arms, as I was to a night of passion.
She took a deep breath before speaking. “I guess you didn’t find Rufus. Am I right?”
“Oh hell, no. We found the stupid fucker alright, and I gave him a beatdown to remember.”
“What?” Bethany exclaimed. “Did he admit to setting the fire?” Her voice was filled with worry.
I snorted a laugh. “As near as Breaker and I could figure out, he had nothing to do with that.”
Her mouth fell open. “Are you sure? If Rufus didn’t do it, we’re out of suspects.”
“The cops are thinking it might be a serial arsonist. There was a fire last month, so they’re looking into a link between them.”
Bethany nodded thoughtfully.
I concentrated on explaining what went down with Rufus. “We went through his phone. It seems that Rufus and three of his asshole friends were playing fuck a beautiful woman bingo. Whoever won, got a pile of money.”
Her expression blanked out so fast it had me concerned. “What the actual fuck?”
“Breaker found a list of twelve women on his phone and e-mails between him and his buddies negging each other about who was going to clear the list first. The goal was to have sex with every woman on the list at least once and move on to the next. It wouldn’t have made sense for any of them to risk killing you, because they couldn’t win the game that way.”
Bethany frowned. “They could have just replaced me.”