Dice (Blackwings MC: Croftridge #3)

Chapter 2 – Dice

2

DICE

I had just poured myself a cup of coffee when Phoenix walked into the garage with a concerned look on his face.

“Hey, Prez. Something wrong?”

“I need you and Ink to ride out to Irene’s house. The one that’s for sale in Cedar Valley. Earlier today, someone attacked a real estate agent before a scheduled showing and some damage was done to the house. Her homeowner’s insurance will take care of the repairs, but I want to make sure the place is secure until the repairs are complete.”

My heart sank at his words. I only knew of one real estate agent, the one who showed Irene the diner, and I hoped it wasn’t her. “Who was the agent? Are they okay?”

“It was the agent who’s been working with Irene, Daphne Clark. They took her to the hospital, but I don’t know any more than that.”

“Do they know who did it?”

Phoenix shrugged. “I didn’t ask. Why? Do you know her?”

“No. I’ve only met her once.”

He gave me an appraising look that made me feel like he could see right through me. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”

“Thanks, Prez. We’ll head to Irene’s now.”

On the way to Irene’s house, I couldn’t stop thinking about Daphne. I’d only met her one time, but she’d left an impression. I wanted to know what happened to her and if she was okay. Apparently, I wasn’t doing a good job of hiding my inner thoughts.

“We can stop by the hospital first if you want,” Ink said.

“What?”

“Come on, man. You’ve been in your head since Phoenix said Daphne’s name. There’s no reason we can’t stop by the hospital and check on her.”

“You don’t think it would be weird if we showed up at the hospital?”

“Tell her Irene asked us to stop by on the way to her house. We can get flowers from the gift shop and say they’re from Irene.”

It was completely out of character for me, and I couldn’t explain it, but I had to know what happened.

“All right. Let’s do it.”

When we arrived at the hospital, I started to second-guess our decision, but Ink didn’t let me back out.

“Come on. We won’t stay long if she seems uncomfortable. Just act like we’re doing Irene’s bidding.”

With a confidence I was completely faking, I waltzed up to the front desk and asked to see Daphne Clark.

“She’s in room two,” the lady said and pointed to a door. “I’ll buzz you in.”

When I heard the lock click, I pushed the door open and walked over to room two. It was closer than I expected, and I wasn’t prepared for the door to be opened, or for Daphne to be looking directly at me.

I lightly knocked on the door as a formality and gave her a sheepish smile. “Can we come in?”

She seemed to recognize us and nodded. “Uh, sure. What are you doing here?”

“We’re going over to Irene’s house to make sure it’s secure. She asked us to stop by and check on you first. This is Ink, by the way.”

“Hi,” Ink said. “You doing okay?”

“Irene’s such a nice lady. I’m okay. I mean, I’m not, but I will be. Just some bumps and bruises … and I may have cracked a finger or two.”

“You’re going to have one hell of a shiner by tomorrow.”

She sighed. “Yeah, that’s what the doctor said. Thankfully, that’s all it is.”

“Can we ask what happened?”

Without hesitation, she told us the story of how a masked man attacked her at Irene’s house.

“So they got the guy?”

“Yes, they did. He was here, too, but I think they’ve already taken him to jail.”

“Do you know who it was?”

“Yeah, they said his name was Daniel Garrison.”

“I meant, do you know him?” I clarified.

“Oh, no. I have no idea who he is or what he wanted.”

Something about the way she answered didn’t sit right with me. “Are you sure about that?”

She looked down at her hands and gently traced a bruised area with her finger. “I’ve had a lot of weird stuff happen recently. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”

I had a feeling it wasn’t a coincidence, and my protective instincts flared to life. “What kind of weird stuff?”

“A few flat tires. My mailbox has been knocked down twice. My dog was bitten by a venomous snake—inside my house. A rock shattered the glass in my sliding door. All in the last few months. And now this.”

“Is your dog okay?” I asked.

“It took a while, but he’s fine now.”

“The things you mentioned seem like more than coincidences. Can you think of anyone who might be angry with you or want to harm you?”

“Yes, and no. There are a handful of people who don’t like me, but I really hate to give credit where credit isn’t due.”

I raised my right hand. “I promise to give no credit.”

She smiled, which is what I was hoping for. But the smile disappeared from her face when she answered my question. “I’m going through a divorce, and my soon-to-be ex-husband is not making it easy. He’s the first person I’d suspect, but he’s nowhere to be found. His mother and his best friend are definitely not my biggest fans, but I don’t think either of them would harass me. And then there’s my mother. I don’t have a great relationship with her, but I don’t think she’s to blame.”

“Well, that’s a good start.”

“Did you say your mother?” Ink asked.

Daphne nodded. “Yes, I did. My mother’s a two-faced cunty bitch. Sorry. That was crass.”

I pointed to my cut. “There’s not much you could say that would offend us.”

“That may be, but it wasn’t professional.”

“Sugar, you’re in the hospital. You don’t have to be professional right now. We’ve invaded your space. Please, by all means, speak freely.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Knock, knock,” a nurse said before he entered the room. “Good news, Ms. Clark. The doctor said you can go home. Is it okay if I go over your discharge instructions with your friends here?”

“It’s fine. Go right ahead.”

While the nurse went over her instructions, I thought about what she’d said. I didn’t think the things that had happened to her were coincidences or a run of bad luck. It sounded like they were being orchestrated, and I wanted to know why.

“Are you ready to go now?” the nurse asked.

“Uh, I’m going to need a few minutes to arrange a ride,” Daphne said.

“We’ll take you home,” I offered.

“Oh, no. I don’t want to be any trouble.”

“You live in Croftridge, right?”

“Yes.”

“So do we. So, it’s no trouble.”

“Crap. I forgot about my car.”

“Where’s your car?”

“I guess it’s still at Irene’s house,” she said. “With a flat tire.”

“We’ll take care of that for you.”

“Say what now?”

I chuckled. “We own a garage. One of the guys will bring a tow truck to pick it up. They’ll take it back to Croftridge, fix your tire, and bring your car to you.”

“Thank you,” she said and started digging through her purse. A few moments later, she held out a credit card for me.

“Put that away. This one’s on the house.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but I stopped her. “You were attacked while trying to sell a property that belongs to one of our people. It’s the least we can do.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she covered her mouth with her hand. “Thank you,” she whispered.

That was the moment I realized she needed our help more than I originally thought.

“Come on. Let’s get you home.”

While Daphne was being wheeled out to the patient discharge area, I called Phoenix to let him know about the change of plans.

He chuckled into the phone. “I knew it. Badger, you owe me twenty bucks.”

“What?”

“I told him you’d come back knowing what happened to that girl—if you didn’t come back with her.”

“It was that obvious, huh?”

“It was to me.”

“Well, I’m glad I could win you some money,” I said. In all honesty, I didn’t care that they’d placed bets on me. I knew it was all in good fun. “Listen, can you ask Byte to see what he can dig up on a Daniel Garrison? That’s who attacked Daphne. Also, she mentioned that she’s going through a divorce, and the ex-husband isn’t being cooperative. Maybe he could check into him, too? She’s had a lot of strange things happen recently, and I don’t think they’re random.”

He sighed. “Every damn one of you is a sucker for a damsel in distress.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes, I’ll get Byte on it. Are you bringing her here?”

“Do you think I should?”

“I think you should offer her a place to stay. She’s hurt, and it sounds like she’s scared.”

“She’s got a dog. I don’t know what kind, though.”

“So bring the dog. We already have several running around here. One more won’t make a difference.”

“All right. I’ll offer and see what she says.”

“Sounds good. I’ll send Flint and Diesel to take care of Irene’s house and pick up Daphne’s car.”

“Thanks, Prez.”

I waited until Daphne was in the truck, and we were on our way back to Croftridge before I brought up staying at the clubhouse. “While they were bringing you out, I called and spoke to our club’s president to let him know what was going on. He’s sending two brothers to pick up your car as we speak. I also told him about the strange things happening to you. Between those and the attack today, he wanted me to let you know that you’re welcome to stay at the clubhouse if you don’t feel comfortable going home.”

“Oh, thank you. That’s a very kind offer, but I have to go home. I have a dog to take care of.”

“You can bring your dog to the clubhouse.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. We’re a dog-friendly bunch. Several of the members have dogs that come to the clubhouse. You’ll have your own room and bathroom, and your dog can stay with you.”

“Are you sure? Because I’m probably going to take you up on your offer. I was actually thinking about staying at a hotel tonight. I just don’t think I’ll be able to get any sleep if I stay at my own house.”

“Absolutely. We’ll stop by your house to pick up your dog and whatever else you need before we go to the clubhouse.”

Daphne rattled off her address so I could enter it into the GPS. When the map popped up on the screen, I recognized the area immediately. “You live right down the street from Byte.”

“Byte,” she repeated. “He was with you the day I showed Irene the restaurant, right?”

“Yes. He’s the one she introduced as her son.”

“Right. The guy with the crutches. How’s he doing?”

“Great. All healed up.”

“That’s good to hear,” she said and grimaced.

“Are you okay?”

She exhaled slowly and braced one arm across her stomach. “I guess the pain medicine they gave me is wearing off. My side is starting to hurt.”

“Did they give you something to take at home?”

“Yeah. They sent it to the pharmacy on the corner of West Georgia Road.”

“We’ll go pick it up first.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry to be so much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” I assured her.

Fifteen minutes later, Ink pulled up to the drive-thru window at the pharmacy. “Hello. I need to pick up a prescription for Daphne Clark.”

“We just got it like five minutes ago. It’s not ready yet,” the girl said.

Before I could say anything, Ink flashed her a smile and leaned closer to the window. “You see my buddy’s girl in the back seat? She was brutally attacked this morning by a would-be thief. She was able to fight him off, but she got pretty banged up in the process. We just picked her up from the hospital, and she’s in a lot of pain. Is there any way you could fill her prescription so we can get her home? It would mean a lot.”

The girl glanced at Daphne, then back to Ink. “Of course. Give me just a few minutes to get this ready for you.”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” he said.

“Oh, you’re good,” Daphne said.

“I have no problem flirting for a good cause.”

“It’s very much appreciated.”

Five minutes later, we were on our way to Daphne’s house with her prescription in tow.

“Here you go,” I said and handed the bag to her.

She reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle of pills, as well as a piece of paper. After looking at it, she shook her head and held it out for me. “I think this is for Ink.”

I took the paper, looked at it, and laughed. “The pharmacy girl gave you her phone number.”

He shook his head. “Nope. Not happening.”

“Why not?”

“Did you see her? She’s way too young for me. Plus, she was wearing a pink sweater and had a bow in her hair. That kind of outfit clashes with my tattoos.”

“You have to stop,” Daphne groaned. “Laughing hurts.”

“I’m sorry,” Ink apologized. “I’ll try to behave.”

“Just give this pill time to kick in. Then you can resume your normal activities.”

“I can work with that.”

When we arrived at Daphne’s house, I helped her out of the truck and walked with her to the front door. We were halfway there when I heard the barking, which turned into a mix of growling and barking as we got closer. Once we were on the front porch, there was a loud thud against the front door, followed by some serious snarling.

“What kind of dog do you have?”

“A Doberman,” she said distractedly. “Shit. I can’t find my keys.”

“Do you have a spare hidden around here?”

“Hell, no. Do you know how many houses are broken into with spare keys?”

“Yes, I do, but a lot of people don’t.”

She walked over to a rocking chair on the porch and sat down. “I must’ve lost my keys this morning.”

I looked at the door and examined the lock. Then I motioned for Ink to get out of the truck and come to the porch.

“Think you can open that?”

“I can pick the lock, but there’s no fucking way I’m opening that door with whatever beast that is on the other side of it.”

“Diablo’s a big baby.”

“He sounds like the kind of baby that will eat anyone who isn’t his mama,” Ink said.

“Is it okay if Ink picks your lock?” I asked.

“That’s fine. I have a spare key in the house.”

While Ink worked on her lock, I called Flint to ask him to look for Daphne’s keys while he was at Irene’s.

“We already found them,” he said.

“Great. Let me know when you’re back in Croftridge, and I’ll come pick them up.”

“Dad said you’d probably be at the clubhouse. Do you want me to bring them by there?”

“Yeah, that works. Thanks, man.”

“No problem.”

“They found your keys. Flint’s going to bring them by the clubhouse later today,” I told Daphne.

“Oh, thank goodness,” she said.

“Got it,” Ink announced and stepped back. “The beast is all yours.”

Daphne gingerly got to her feet and walked to the door. She leaned against it and started speaking softly. “Diablo, baby, it’s me. I’m hurt, so you have to be easy.” As if he understood what she said, he stopped barking and jumping around. “Good boy. Now sit.” She opened the door and stepped inside. “Good boy. Place.” Then she motioned for us to follow her. “You can come in.”

Neither of us moved.

“I commanded him to place. He won’t move from that spot unless I tell him to. Well, he will if I’m in danger, but he knows I’m not right now.”

“Are you sure?” I asked skeptically.

“I promise. He’s exceptionally well-behaved.”

I wasn’t as sure as she was, but I slowly entered her house. Ink hesitated a bit longer than I did before he stepped inside.

Surprisingly, the dog didn’t move from his spot. He also didn’t take his eyes off us and followed every move we made.

“This is a nice place.”

“Thanks. It’s actually my dad’s house, but he offered to let me stay here when I told him I was moving to Croftridge,” she said. “You guys can have a seat in the living room. I need to go upstairs and pack a bag.”

“Do you need help?” I asked.

“No, I think I can manage.”

“Are you going to take him with you?” Ink asked.

Daphne tried not to laugh. “Yes, I’ll take him with me.”

“Let me know when you’re finished, and I’ll bring the bag down for you.”

“Thanks. I won’t be long.” With that, she headed for the stairs, and blessedly took Diablo with her.

“That dog is scary,” Ink said.

I shrugged. “He’s doing his job and protecting her. He’ll probably be fine once he gets to know us.”

“You can be the guinea pig for that.”

“Are you scared of dogs?”

“No, I’m scared of being bitten by dogs. Particularly big dogs with sharp teeth. How much do you think he weighs?”

“He was a hundred and two pounds at his last vet visit,” Daphne said from upstairs. “And he’s never bitten anyone.”

I looked up to see her standing at the railing of her open hallway. “The acoustics in this house suck. You can hear everything no matter where you are.”

“Sorry,” Ink said sheepishly.

She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. He is scary. That’s one of the things I like about him. Anything that wants to get to me will have to get through him first. Well, maybe scary isn’t the best word. He’s intimidating.”

“He’s both,” Ink said.

While Daphne went back into her bedroom to finish gathering her things, Diablo sat right outside her door, staring down at us.

“Are you going to be able to drive with him in the back seat?” I joked.

“Fuck off, dickhead.”

“I’m ready,” Daphne said.

“Have fun with that.”

I ignored Ink and slowly made my way up the stairs. Instead of continuing to her room, I waited for her to come to me. She handed her bag to me and placed her hand on Diablo’s head. “Diablo, this is my friend, Dice. Say hello.”

Diablo raised his paw in the air and brought it forward twice before he put it down.

“Good boy,” Daphne said. “Can Dice say hello to you?”

Diablo leaned forward on his front paws and slightly lowered his head, though he kept his eyes on me.

“You can pet his head,” Daphne told me.

Slowly extending my hand, I reached out to pet his head. “Hello, Diablo.”

Suddenly, Diablo stood and moved forward to rub his body on my leg.

“Voila! You’re friends now,” Daphne announced.

As I continued petting Diablo, I watched him warily. To my surprise, he seemed like a completely different dog—like the big baby Daphne claimed him to be.

“You couldn’t have done that when we first got here?” I asked.

“I could have, but I really don’t know you guys,” she admitted.

“That’s fair.”

“And it was kind of funny watching y’all walk on eggshells.”

It was then that I noticed the empty bag in her hand. “Do you want me to take that too?”

“Not yet. It’s for Diablo’s stuff, which is downstairs.”

Diablo stayed by her side as she packed his food, toys, leash, and blanket. “Okay, I think I’m ready to go.”

“Did you get your spare key?”

“No, I didn’t. Thanks for reminding me.”

She rifled through a drawer in the kitchen until she found what she was looking for. “Okay, now I’m ready.”

When we walked out to Ink’s truck, I tried not to laugh as Ink guided Daphne to the seat behind him, leaving Diablo to sit behind me.