Page 22 of Jake
“Because I wanted the request to come from me. I wanted him to know I’m doing what I can to make sure you’re safe.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and made a silent plea for patience. He could do this, he wanted to, but he wasn’t used to explaining himself, at least not to anyone but his club leadership, and even then, only when he screwed up. “Another thing, though. I want you to give him my number.”
“So you can plan against me?”
Jake forced himself to take a deep breath before responding. “I can get his number elsewhere. I’m asking you to put us in touch with each other so he can let me know if your asshole ex shows up there. It would be nice to have a heads up if he’s headed for us.”
“Oh. I guess you have a point.” She sounded disappointed, and maybe a little let down that she couldn’t argue with him about it.
It reminded him of how fiery and opinionated she’d been in school. Was that because she liked to argue sometimes? Did she need a little safe conflict to feel secure? It wasn’t a deal breaker for him, but he wasn’t doing it over the phone, where he couldn’t read her body language and where he couldn’t kiss away any anger the disagreement might cause.
“You know, you make it really hard for a girl to stay pissed at you,” she said.
“It’s a gift.” Jake couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as he imagined her rolling her eyes at his quip.
“It’s something,” her tone was deadpan. She let out an audible sigh. “I guess I should go. I have one more thing to add to my to do list today. You’ll let me know as soon as you have an answer? How sure are you they’ll agree?”
“I have little doubt I’ll get the go ahead. The question is where to have you set up and if there’s power. Oh when you give Iceman my number have him send me how big the trailer is too. That will give me an idea of where we can fit it.”
“Alright. I guess I better get started, or I’ll never be ready by morning.”
“If you need an extra day to be ready, take it. I’ll be here.”
“No. I can do it. I’ve been a lump on Matt’s couch for long enough. I need to do something, even if it’s just something different.”
“If you say so.” He wasn’t going to engage her now, even though he got the feeling that was what she was after.
They talked for a couple of moments longer, wrapping up plans and saying goodbyes, before they rang off.
Once off the phone, Jake went back to the common area, where most of the two chapters of the club were gathered, as it was almost lunchtime. He caught Lurch’s attention and tilted the top of his head toward the barn where they kept the equipment, as it would likely be at least mostly empty this time of day.
“What’s up?” Lurch asked.
Jake gave him a brief overview of what he’d learned a couple days earlier, as well as his history with Heather and what little he’d been able to learn about this Mitch since.
“I’d like to see here again. But it’s not feasible for me to go up there, not now. And I don’t know how long it will be until I can get away for that kind of time. But she’s hiding and we think we’ve found a solution.”
“Why does it feel like this place is becoming a sanctuary for battered women?” Lurch said with a shake of his head. “Other than that you know her from a million years ago and you want into her pants now, give me a good reason to tell you yes.”
“Aside from you having a hard time turning away a woman in need? How about it will put the Kings in our debt. They’ve been protecting her, or else she wouldn’t have been on the run. If we are keeping her here, that’s another stop, another layer of people to catch and stop him before he gets to her.”
“I like that element. Tell me what’s her plan. We’re fresh out of space, and I met her, she didn’t seem like the kind to want to camp in a tent, even short term.”
“She’s not,” Jake admitted with a grin, “but her cousin, Iceman, has a fifth wheel he’s willing to let her borrow, if we’ll let her park it here.”
Lurch stared at him a moment. “How big?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Jake checked his phone. “I take that back, it’s thirty-two feet.”
“So not small but not huge. I don’t care if she parks it here, but you’ll be responsible for her. You know how it works. Let’s go check with Tuck and see if he knows about anywhere we can at least hook her up to electricity.”
It took them a few minutes to find Tuck, he was in the horse barn brushing what Jake recognized as his favorite gelding. The horse he rode when he needed to go out on the ranch to do something.
Lurch explained what was going on, and asked if there was any place they could plug it in.
“Yeah. That pole out behind the bunkhouse? It has a power box for an RV on it. There’s also a sewer hookup out there somewhere not too far away. Though you might have to kick around a little to find it,” Tuck said.
“There’s actually a hookup?” Lurch watched the ranch owner, his head tilted to one side.
“Yeah, the foreman lived in a trailer out there while your house was being built.” Tuck shrugged as he continued brushing down the horse. “Might as well get some use out of it, though it might need a little work before it’s usable. Do we have anyone with electrical experience?”