He nodded as he picked the dirt from beneath his fingernails with a pocketknife. “If you need another person, let me know.”
Not a fucking chance. “You know I will. Anyone got any questions?”
The room stayed silent.
“Any other gripes, or complaints, or bullshit I should know about?”
They all looked around the room at one another, but still stayed silent.
“Good,” I said as I clapped my hands together three times. “Then, church dismissed.”
Normally, the guys stayed to chat for a while. You know, crack open some beers. Throw some rocks out into the ocean while shooting the shit on the back porch. But, today, their anger got the better of them. They all stormed out of the clubhouse, leaving the three of us to listen to their heated boots clunking against our expensive floors before they busted out the front door. The roar of motorcycles gearing up and revving down the road damn near shattered the fucking windows of our clubhouse, but I simply shook my head.
“Fucking temper tantrums,” I murmured.
“They’re right, you know,” Trooper said.
I shot him a look. “Be careful with your next set of words, Troop.”
He stood to his feet and made his way for the door. “We have to figure out what’s going on with Naomi. We need to know if she’s a risk that needs to be handled.”
I scoffed. “Seems like you and Dutch have been handling her just fine.”
Dutch finally stood up. “We still know the drill, though.”
His gaze locked with mine as I drew in a deep breath. “I’ll figure it out. And when I do, I’ll let you guys know. But until then, she’s been no threat, and there’s been no attack on us. Hell, for all we know, her fiancee--.”
“Ex-fiancee,” Dutch said.
I waved my hand in the air. “What the fuck ever. Whoever the hell that man is to her, for all we know, he’s grateful she’s out of the picture. So, quit bellyaching and go get ready for the job. We’ve got a long night of preparations ahead of us if all goes well with the meet-up.”
Trooper called out from the hallway. “I’ll get on those patrols. We need to make sure our regular routes are good to go.”
“Dutch?” I asked as he slipped through the doorway himself.
He paused, his shoulders pulled taut. “I’ve doubled down on security and shored up those empty spaces Naomi talked about.”
I nodded. “Good. Then, all three of us can go tonight. Let’s get to it.”
“Hey,” Trooper said as he stuck his head back into the room, “anyone feed Naomi before we started church?”
The three of us looked around at one another before I groaned. “Fine, I’ll put together something for her. Just go do your jobs. I’m tired of looking at you.”
Troop smirked. “That makes two of us.”
“Three,” Dutch said as he finally turned to face me.
The look of anger behind his eyes gave me pause. “You got something you want to say?”
His jaw moved, almost like he were chewing on his tongue or some shit. “No.”
“Good. Then, get the hell out of my hair and go do your damn jobs. I’ll get the girl fed.”
“You should know that she didn’t eat dinner last night, either, then,” Trooper said.
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Any particular reason why?”
“No clue. Just figured you should know,” he said as his voice faded away.
