Page 25 of Jake
Matt chuckled. “Of course you would. But I don’t need to tell anyone. Knowing myself is all I need.” He handed her another full magazine, then clipped a fresh target to the carrier, then sent it back into position with the press of a button. “Two more magazines and we can call it good.”
Heather picked up the mag, slammed it home and took aim. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy shooting, but she had other things she needed to get done. She wanted to make sure she had everything for her trip and that she’d gathered all her things up from where they’d been scattered around Matt’s house over the last couple of weeks.
Still, that he was going to loan her a weapon, and that he was taking the time to make sure she knew how to use it wasn’t anything small, and she did appreciate it. Even if telling him as much would make him start to question her sanity. Well, maybe not start. She was sure she’d made more than a few decisions in the past that had already started that line of thought, but she didn’t need to push anyone, especially not Matt, with all he’d done for her recently, farther in that direction.
“Let’sgrabsomethingtoeat,” Matt said as he turned the key in his pickup. “That way you can finish packing, and we won’t have to worry about cleaning up afterwards.”
“Sure. What do you have in mind?” She’d learned in the time she’d been staying with him that Matt didn’t cook much. It wasn’t that he couldn’t but who wanted to cook for one person? She did it frequently, but it wasn’t that she wanted to, or liked to. Her reason was that she got tired of nothing but eating out and fast food. Besides, her cooking tasted better. But today, with other things to do, she’d take it.
“What do you have left to do to be ready?” he asked once they were seated in what she’d discovered was his favorite diner and had given the waitress their orders.
“Not a whole lot. I want to make one last pass through the house to make sure I’ve gathered up all my junk. You don’t need to put up with my shit in your way, especially if I’m not there.”
“I’ll miss having you around.” He tilted his head to one side and watched her. “It’s been nice having you around again. I didn’t realize how much I missed being around family, and you and your brothers in particular.”
Heather shook her head. “I don’t know why anyone would miss those fools.” She couldn’t resist teasing him. “I see them way too often to suit me.” Well, she had before she’d come up here.
Going to Craig had been her first thought when she’d known she had to get away from Mitch, but as soon as she’d thought it, she’d dismissed it. She couldn’t endanger his family. The same with Billy. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to put more distance between her and the club he’d all but sold her too. No, she couldn’t put her brothers or their kid in danger. That had meant going to someone who didn’t have the same entanglements, and who had what it would take to help her figure things out, at least until she figured out what to do about Mitch and those people. Maybe then it would be safe enough to go back to Alabama, if only to see her family again.
17
Jakehadahardtime keeping his eyes off the road into the ranch. Heather had texted twenty minutes before, letting him know she was in Gillette and on her way. Now he was impatient to see her again. And nervous to make sure she was okay. This morning he’d finally heard back from Hex and his inquiries into what was going on in Mobile with her ex and whoever he was mixed up with.
In catching up, Jake had found out the name of the club that Hex was in down there. A club called the Savage Warriors. Once he’d found that out Jake had contacted Gizmo to see what the tech captain of the original chapter could tell him about the Warriors.
It had taken longer than he’d liked, though not as long as the information from Hex had, but Jake couldn’t have been more shocked if the Warriors had been the club Heather’s ex was mixed up with. Not that they were. No. It was even more shocking.
After doing some checking through channels, Giz had let him know that the Warriors were another club like the Souls. One that looked like a one percent club, but in reality, was filled with undercover agents from different agencies. After Gizmo had given him that bombshell, Jake had pulled out the burner he kept stashed just for this purpose, found a few minutes of privacy, and reached out to his handler at the DEA to verify.
Because his undercover situation wasn’t like most, he and his handler didn’t have the usual relationship or even regular check ins. The club as a whole did check ins with the various agencies, those were done on a regular basis, usually behind closed doors and from a secure connection. Then each brother had their own contacts, but only reached out if they needed to verify something or if there was a problem somewhere along the way.
It had taken him a few hours, but Marc had confirmed that the Warriors were another club like the Souls, that all the members, including Hex, were attached to some government entity, working to clean up the country, from the dark side of the law.
Now he knew he could trust the info from Hex, but he wondered if he should let his old buddy know what was going on, and how to do that and make sure it stayed secure. Because as much as he wanted to take care of things for Heather, he couldn’t risk his brothers’ lives to do it.
He rubbed the back of his neck and scanned the horizon again as he tried to figure out how to handle the thing with Hex and the Warriors, but Hex had told him what he’d been able to find out about the situation. That Mitch owed a club some serious money. Word on the street was he’d been dealing for a club and had come up short. No one was sure if he was using from the supply, he’d been robbed or just given it away, but he owed a quarter of million dollars.
From what Hex had been able to find out, he’d offered to pay the debt by giving the Wandering Sons, which was the club he’d been selling for, Heather, as the president had a thing for her. The Sons’ president had agreed, but only to let her cover the interest, but before the exchange could be made, Heather had disappeared. Now both the club and Mitch were looking for her, though from what Hex had said, the Sons didn’t seem all that invested. From what he’d said, they’d take an interest if she was in the area, but they weren’t searching the country for her.
That cocksucker she’d been living with was a different story. Hex said Coleman had called her family and everyone they’d known searching for her, no one seemed to know where she was, or if they did, they weren’t telling him. The longer she was gone, the more desperate he became. Jake had no doubt it was in no small part because every day his debt increased.
Jake took a deep breath and pushed the thoughts of Heather’s ex and the trouble he’d gotten himself into out of his mind. He scanned the horizon again. A wave of relief washed through him when he spotted the plume of dust on the road from the highway. She was here.
He headed out to intercept her before she pulled the truck into the driveway. It would be easier if they pulled the trailer back here to begin with, rather than have to jockey it around to get it where it needed to go later.
“Hey, I wasn’t expecting you to be waiting on me,” Heather said through her open window after easing the truck to a stop in front of where he stood on one side of the road.
“I thought it would be easier to pull the trailer into it’s space as you pulled in, rather than move it later, after you’d pulled all the way into the yard.”
“Sounds good. Where you want it?”
“Over behind the bunkhouse. You want me to drive it back there or hop into the passenger seat to give you directions?”
“Passenger’s seat is fine,” she said, hitting the lock button on the door.
Jake went around the front of the truck and slid into the passenger seat. Before she put the truck back in gear, he leaned over the middle seat, which was folded down to look more like a console than a seat. “I’m glad to see you made it safe.” She turned toward him and before she had a chance to realize what he was doing, or stop him, not that he thought she would, he dropped a brief, chaste kiss on her lips, then settled into his seat. “You’re going to want to take the right fork over here. We’re going to stay on that side of all the buildings.”
Heather stared at him for a moment, and he wasn’t sure if it was surprise, or if she had something she wanted to say. Either way, she didn’t say anything but put the truck in gear and followed his directions.