“I’m fine. You know I can function on very little sleep.”
“True.” I pour the strong black coffee into a large mug and bring it to the living room. I hand it to Whiskey, then plop my behind on the couch. “What are your plans for the day?”
“I gotta meet up with the other officers in an hour. Club stuff.” he says before taking a huge gulp. “But I need a shower first. Too bad you already took one. Otherwise I’d invite you to join me.”
“Next time. I promise.”
I obviously don’t know where the guys went off to last night, but I have been around long enough to pick up on the signs that they were doing something stealthy and not-so very legal. I also know it had to do with all the vehicle bombs we just had going off all around town. When the locations of the exploding vehicles were only at club businesses, and mine, then everyone was put straight on lockdown, I’d be an idiot to think otherwise. I also know not to ask any detailed questions unless it’s something directly related to me or Krew. Whiskey hasn’t told me it does, so I just sit back and drink my tea.
I wonder if now would be a good time to bring up something kind of about the bombs.
“So I’ve been thinking.” I take another sip of tea.
“About what?”
“Well, now that my truck is pretty much toast, what would you say about me getting a minivan?”
“What do you need a vehicle with that many seats for?” Whiskey’s head snaps up from where he and Krew are putting together a wooden puzzle of a dump truck. “Wouldn’t another truck make more sense? You loved your truck.”
How do I give him my reasons for needing more seats without spilling the beans? Only four more days.
“As Krew gets bigger, we’re gonna need more enclosed storage space to carry his stuff.” I start counting off reasons using my fingers. “And the bigger he gets, the harder it’s gonna be for me to get him in and out of a truck that sits so high.” Two fingers.
Whiskey scoops up Krew in one arm and knee walks toward me. He passes Krew to me then joins us on the couch. “Are you sure you want a minivan? Why not an SUV? I took adrive through the Chevy dealership the other day and the new Traverse looks pretty snazzy. Those have three rows of seats and plenty of cargo space too.”
“I did look into those, but Angel let me drive her new minivan when I went with her to the boy’s doctor’s appointment last week and I liked the way it drove.” I keep talking while Krew wiggles out of my arms and begins crawling all over his dad like he’s a jungle gym. “It has all wheel drive capability and has all the fun bells and whistles I’d like in a new vehicle. My truck was what I wanted at the time, especially when I was single with no kids, but I’d like something bigger now for our future.”
“I guess that could work for you.”
“And you know Hammer wouldn’t let Angel and the boys be riding around in something that wasn’t safe or able to drive in the winter. She told me he did a bunch of research on different models before picking the one they got. Have you ever looked at it?”
“I’ve obviously seen the outside of it every day, since it’s always parked right next to our vehicles. But no, I haven’t looked on the inside.”
“It has heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, and dual climate zone controls.” I start back up with using my fingers to count all the advantages. Fingers three, four, and five are up. “There is seating for seven, and both the rolling doors and the liftgate are power. I just press a button on the key fob and they open and close all by themselves.” Reasons six and seven.
“How about we go to a couple dealerships next week and test drive a few different options?”
And now he is finally starting to see things from my point of view! I am the one who will be driving it after all.
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
If I can keep the surprise to myself for just a little bit longer, when we go vehicle shopping, he will really understand my logic. Once he has a grasp on just how many car seats we’re going to be needing in our near future, hopefully he doesn’t have a stroke or heart attack during the vehicle buying process.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
WHISKEY
WEDNESDAY EVENING
After the two hour drive back north to the clubhouse late last night-slash early this morning, me and the guys spent another hour getting our prisoners settled into their new accommodations.
When the original five members started the Rebel Vipers MC, they bought this one hundred acre plot and began making it their own. Near the back of the property, hidden away deep in the woods, is a barn not shown on any map. This barn was previously used as the carcass disposal building for the processing factory that is now our clubhouse. My guess is it’sso far from anything else because of the smell that sometimes comes from burning whatever was left of the animals they butchered.
I can’t blame whoever picked this place, because incinerating a body can produce a strong smell, but at this point I can say it no longer bothers me. I don’t know if that is a good thing to brag about, but given the amount of miscreants that our club has had to dispose of in the most recent years, I’m just too used to it now.
Along with the I-beam system up in the rafters that runs the full length of the barn, which is where the remaining five of the Gearheads idiots are currently hanging from, this barn also has a ten-foot-deep concrete-walled hole in the floor, and a drain system that leads right to the sewer.
I know our club is not a place for men with squeaky clean reputations and criminal records, but for you to be someone we bring to this barn, that we call The Pit, you have to be among the worst of the worst. If you attempted to hurt us or one of ours, and we have you chained up here, you will not be leaving alive. In fact, there will never be a trace of you found anywhere ever again.
