“I do.So do you.Security awaits.”His arms didn’t loosen, and neither did hers.
“Jock, I gotta go.”She hated the way her voice broke and betrayed her.
“Baby.”Jock let her go at her own pace, slipping down his body in a sinuous line.
“I’ll be back in five days.You better pick me up.”
“I’ll be here.”
She pulled away and turned, swaying her ass from side to side as she walked up the steps leading to the security concourse.At the top she turned to look, and as expected, he stood at the bottom with his hand over his heart.They waved at each other, and she turned to get into line to be questioned and X-rayed.
Early, as she liked, because the metal in nearly every extremity seemed to set off all the alarms on their machines.
***
Jock
He pulled the truck up in front of the clubhouse.Looking around, he recognized most of the motorcycles on the parking lot, which meant a lot of the officers of the chapter were in residence.That boded well for the meeting he’d asked Wildman to call.Hopefully they’d end the meeting with a plan.
“If not, then I’ll just have to go solo.”He opened the door and climbed out.
“Hope you aren’t trying to say you’re gonna be going rogue, are ya?”
Jock turned to find Twisted standing next to his truck.“Nope, not planning on it.”
“Oh, good.Let’s get inside before Wildman gets a bee up his pants.Him and Pony have some ideas, but I told them to can it until you got here.”
“Thanks for that.”
“Heard you were like a poppa bear guarding that dog.I get it.I cannot abide someone who hurts animals on purpose.”
“Same, Prez.Hard same.”
They walked through the front door, Jock trailing Twisted into the main room.The officers had laid claim to a seating area near the back, and they made their way over.
“Pull up a chair and cop a squat,” Pony said, kicking a nearby chair with one bootheel.“Wanna hear about this dogfighting ring.”
“Don’t know it’s a ring yet, but we need to dig and see how many other than Maynard have been found with chemical burns.”
“You named him already?”That was Cherry, in from Baton Rouge for the day.He was the enforcer for that chapter and was a brother that many of them had called on for support.
“Before they even got him out of the alley.”Pony was laughing.“Hell of a name too.Can’t really shorten it to anything.”
“You’re out of the will, Pony.”
“Nards.He could call the dog Nards.”Wildman was laughing so hard, he nearly couldn’t get the words out.
“He’s not going to call the dog Nards.”Jock glared at Wildman.“He, and everyone who values their brotherhood, are going to call the dog Maynard.Like a whole-ass name.Maynard.Also—” He gestured to everyone seated around him.“—y’all are all assholes.”
“But we’re your assholes, brother.Gotta love us.”Twisted nodded.“Now, read us in on all the details.What you know, what you think, what you anticipate.”
“Okay, well, from the vet, Kent, we believe there are at least two more dogs that have been found dead with chemical burns.”
“I’ve got an in with the sheriff’s department.I can see if they know anything.”Pony picked up his phone and tapped out a note.
“That’d be good.If this is a repeating event, maybe we can get ahead of the next one.”
“You said your dog didn’t have any bite injuries?”Wildman leaned forwards, elbows to knees.“That might mean they didn’t get what they wanted out of him.Might accelerate the process for them to get the next dog.”
