“Oh, somethin’s coming alright.” Griller laughs. “Our man here is getting married on the weekend. You know he’s got himself a ball ‘n chain.” Everyone laughs, and the ribbing starts. Of course, I’m the butt of all the jokes.
Later that afternoon, I’m finished inspecting the compound fencing with Saddle when I see a vehicle pull up at the gate. Leo waves us over, and when we get close enough, I see it’s the ladyfrom the craft shop. “Let her in, Leo,” I shout and point to a spot in front of the clubhouse for her to park her vehicle.
“Hello, Breaker,” Alicia gives me a huge smile. “I have the orders that Pattie placed. I wanted them out of the shop, so brought them over. Can I give them to you so I can get back and open up again?”
I’m thanking my lucky stars she isn’t trying to hit on me because if she had I’d have had to tell Molly. I won’t keep secrets from her, because I’ve seen many relationships end badly through stupid secrets being kept. “Yeah, Saddle here will give us a hand.”
We grab a box each, and Alicia carries a smaller one. Once inside, I tell James to fetch the rest, even though he was cleaning behind the bar.
“This box is a small gift I did as a thank you for the order. It was a huge order for the shop, and I really appreciate your business.” Alicia hands the box to Saddle as he is nearest to her, and when he opens it, there are twelve mugs, all with the MC logo on the front. Alicia picks out one of the mugs and turns so we see it states boldly ‘Whack—President’.
“Oh, he’s gonna love that,” Saddle smirks.
No idea where he came from, but Whack is standing behind Saddle, trying to look over his shoulder.
“This is a gift box from Alicia. Mugs with the club logo, and one specially for you, Pres.” Saddle smirks as he passes the mug to Whack.
“That’s fuckin’ awesome, I love it. Thank you.”
Now, Whack surprises us all when he leans over and kisses Alicia on top of her head. She blushes to her hair roots while stuttering, ‘You're welcome.’ She quickly makes her escape and bustles out of the clubhouse, stating she has to get back to the shop.
We all watch her go, then turn to Whack who is also watching her, but he has a look in his eye I’ve not seen before. He takes his mug and heads to the kitchen. I follow behind, watch him wash the mug, fill it with coffee and carry it to his office. He looks like he won a million-dollar prize!
“If Pres is happy with a mug wait until he gets his hoodie!” Saddle chuckles, and I can’t help but chuckle along with him.
Thursday and we are back in church. I’m hoping this isn’t going to be a near-daily occurrence, but I know we have to have updates on what is going on.
Ghost and Riddle are in church, so this is a report on what they have found. Whack quickly tells Ghost to report and we all wait patiently for the information he has found.
Ghost speaks first, although we can see Riddle wanted to speak. “Thanks to loose lips around the town we slowly built on the information you knew, Pres. This Stephan Haroldson is controlling the trafficking, but he’s doing it under orders from his father. It looks like he may not have a choice, but only time will tell on that one. They come into a new town, stay low, and integrate slowly into the community. But all the while they are marking who they are going to grab. They make a list of who will fit orders. Hair color, length, eye color, size, how big their tits are…it makes me want to vomit.”
Whack nods. “You’ve been doing this for years, Ghost. You’ve saved a lot of women from being kept as sex objects for vile men. I can only speak for myself, but I’m proud to know you, Ghost,and I am sure once he’s gotten over his tantrum, Thorn will be too.”
Ghost says nothing, but everyone can see the hurt he has over his son, and how much he wants to put things right. We can only encourage Thorn to give him a chance. Maybe getting them both in the same room would help?
Riddle grabs our attention. “I would like to stay on the edge of that town. Work in the bar maybe, but keep my eye on what they are doing and as soon as they make a move out of town I’ll contact. It will give us a heads up, and a head start.”
I watch Whack for his reply, but I can see the validity of the move. Being in a town where they have run out of options means they are warming up for the next town. We need to be ready.
“Okay, but I want daily contact. Not text, I want actual verbal contact so I know it is you, and that you have not had your cover blown,” Whack is in full Pres mode, and we all know it. Riddle gives a nod of understanding.
“Since we haven’t been seen together, I can go back and forth with no one thinking something is going on. I can get the information from Riddle, maybe spend an hour in the bar, diner, store, anywhere where gossips hang out. Maybe hear some extra things that way,” Ghost suggests.
“Okay, are you all thinking we can move forward with Riddle and Ghost’s idea?” Whack asks and I give a verbal ‘Aye.’ Which is followed by all the officers.
I’m smirking because Bri has finally spoken to Saddle. Yeah, it was only a single word, but it was a word. Maybe the ice is breaking at last. When Saddle walks over to me with a smirk onhis face, I slap his shoulder. “You think you are getting back in Bri’s good books?”
“I fuckin’ hope so. I don’t like this not speaking to each other. Well, her not speaking to me. I don’t like her being hurt either. I will never put myself in that position again.”
“No, it wasn’t a good move on your part, brother.”
Before we can say more, or even move from where we are speaking in the kitchen doorway. Floss saunters over and reaches out to touch Saddle. He snarls, and I mean it’s as cold as ice, and nobody would not understand its meaning. “Touch me and you die.”
I side-eye Saddle and see he’s deadly serious. Flicking my eyes to Floss I suck my lips in when she blinks a few times while making her mind up if Saddle is serious or not. She must decide he is when he keeps the ice-cold look on his face. Turning to look at me, then smirking Floss steps toward me. Aw, no, this shit isn’t happening. “Touch me and I’ll tell Molly.” I give an evil grin, and since we all know Molly is no pushover and can more than hold her own, Floss huffs, then turns and walks away.
“Good move that, Breaker. I never thought of threatening her with Bri. I’ll remember that one.” Saddle chortles as he walks away, and I’m sure he’s imagining Floss or the others getting a beat down from the old ladies.
The barber shop is opening today, and we are all interested in seeing what Andy and Thorn are going to call the place. I hope it’s not something stupid like Cut Above or Scissor Happy.
