“You know I love the springtime in Mustang Mountain, but my lord, your MC clears me out every year no matter how much I stock up,” Ruby chuckles.
The first ride of the season is coming up in a week, so we have many of our friends from across the country coming to join us. It's a charity ride that helps support the women's shelter, but it's also popular because we go to Glacier National Park and ride the Going-to-the-Sun Road. It's become a pretty popular event.
This also means the clubhouse is packed, which brings great tourism to the shops downtown, including Ruby’s Mercantile.
“What can I say, Ruby? Us MC guys can eat all day and still be hungry. We are just built differently,” I joke with her as I gather the last of my groceries for the week.
“Don't I know it?” She laughs.
As I pay for my groceries, I stare out the window behind the checkout counter, watching people pass by. That's when I see the one person I never expected to see walking down the street.
“What the hell? Ruby, if you'll bag those up for me, I'll be right back,” I say, bolting out the front door.
I know I have to be seeing things, but sure enough, as I stand out on the sidewalk in front of the Mercantile, of all people walking down the street to the café, is Howler.
I pull out my phone and call Bear, my MC brother, who worked Howler over and sent him to jail after Howler kidnapped his girl.
“Hey man, what's up?” Bear answers the phone in an uncharacteristically cheerful mood. I hate that I'm about to cut that short.
“You took Howler to Sheriff Cade, right? He was locked up, right?” I ask, needing to know.
“Of course he was. What's wrong?” Bear asks. His deadly serious enforcer voice fills the phone.
“I'm standing on the sidewalk in front of the Mercantile, watching him walk into the café a free man,” I tell him.
Bear lets out a string of curses. “There is no way he should be walking free.”
“Agreed. Let me grab my stuff, and I’ll go talk to the sheriff and find out what's going on,” I tell him.
“Keep me posted, and once you know something, you need to tell Atlas as well,” he says, referring to our MC President.
“I will. I'll call you when I know something.” I hang up and head back into the Mercantile.
Ruby is holding my debit card in her hand and has my groceries bagged up. She can read everyone here in town like an open book.
“What's going on?” she says, her playful tone from earlier gone.
“Someone from Savage Bones who should be in jail is out walking free. I'm going to go talk to the sheriff and find out what's going on. Do me a favor and stay vigilant. Maybe call Orville over to stay with you so you aren't alone, especially when you close up tonight,” I say, referring to her husband, who also happens to be the mayor.
“Okay. Let me know what you find out and if I can do anything to help,” she says.
Most people would think she was strong and fearless. Knowing her the way I do, I can see the hint of worry on her face and hear it in her voice.
She's one of the few people outside the club and law enforcement who knows how bad the Savage Bones have been getting lately. Mostly because it was her niece Emerson, who was kidnapped by them over Valentine's Day. She also happens to be Bear’s girl.
I grab my stuff, put it in the back of my truck, and make my way to Sheriff Cade’s house. John Cade and I grew up together, and he is one of my best friends outside of my brothers and the MC club. If he's going to tell anyone what's going on, it's going to be me.
When I get to his house, I notice the police car is not in the driveway, but sometimes he parks it around the back or in the garage, so I pull in and walk up to the door and knock.
Instead of John, his daughter Adaline answers the door.
“Hey, Stone,” she says with a smile that makes my heart race. Then she steps aside, inviting me in.
I was there when this girl was born, but then I left Mustang Mountain to become a cop in the big city of Denver. I didn't like being tangled up by all the legalities involved when it came to helping people. In fact, we were there to help after something happened instead of preventing it, and that didn’t sit right with me. So, I left and came back home, and things had changed quite a bit back in Mustang Mountain.
My best friend's daughter was no longer the little girl I remembered when I left. She was a full-fledged teenager, and I couldn’t get my brain to reconcile that she was the same person. Now, she's the woman that I can't get out of my head. She haunts my dreams and thoughts of her fill every moment of my free time. Not that another soul on earth knows that.
“Hey, Addy. Is your dad here?”
