Dice (Blackwings MC: Croftridge #3)

Chapter 6 – Dice

6

DICE

“ W e need to talk about how we’re going to keep you safe before you go home.”

Daphne briefly scrunched her nose before she sighed. “I know, but it feels weird. Are we sure this is necessary?”

“No, but it’s better to take precautions that aren’t needed than to not take the ones that are needed.”

“Did my dad tell you to say that?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s something I’ve learned from experience. And even then, sometimes all the precautions in the world aren’t enough.” Suddenly, I was back in the diner, slipping on my brothers’ blood, trying to pump life back into Evie’s body, screaming for anyone to help me.

“Dice!” Daphne said sharply. I blinked, and the room came back into focus. Daphne was standing directly in front of me with her soft hand cupping my cheek. “Are you okay?”

Without an ounce of shame, I closed my eyes and leaned into her hand. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“What happened?”

“I was remembering a time when the precautions we took weren’t enough.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly.

I didn’t. Not at all. But I thought it might be beneficial for her to hear. Taking her hand in mine, I led her to the bed and gestured for her to sit. Then I sat down beside her and told her about the worst day of my life.

“Oh, Dice, I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” she said and wrapped her arms around me.

“Me, too,” I admitted. “But I didn’t tell you that story for sympathy. I told you because I want you to understand that we don’t mind going to extra lengths to make sure people are safe. It may seem like it’s over the top, but we’ve seen what can happen.”

“Hold on. A few months ago, my dad said something about him and Buck having an exciting morning saving lives. Is that what he was talking about? Were they there?”

I nodded. “I would assume that’s what he was referring to. They showed up out of nowhere and jumped right in to help. He wasn’t lying, either. Your dad saved Edge’s life, and Buck helped with Ranger after he tended to Irene.”

“I’m going to have to have a chat with that man about the importance of details when storytelling.”

“In his defense, he probably left out the details for your safety. The shooter was from another motorcycle club. It turned into a huge ordeal. The less anyone knew, the better.”

“In that case, I suppose I can let it slide.”

“So, about your protection?”

“I don’t know how any of that works. What do you have in mind?”

“Your office has cameras and an alarm, right?”

“Yes.”

“How often are you there by yourself?”

“Only when Jan needs to leave early for an appointment and no one else is there, which isn’t very often.”

“I was thinking we’d have someone escort you to and from work. If you’re going to be in the office, I don’t think anyone needs to be there. If you’re going to show a house, I think one of the guys should go with you and check the house out first. We can leave before the clients arrive but remain nearby in case we’re needed. As for when you’re not working, well, one of us will need to stay at your house. How does that sound?”

“I’m fine with most of it, but I don’t know how I feel about one of you staying at my house. I’m sure you’re all nice guys, but I don’t really know any of you that well, and I don’t want to be uncomfortable in my own home,” she explained.

“That’s understandable. Would you be okay with me staying with you? Before you answer, it won’t hurt my feelings if you say no.”

“I suppose that would be okay. My dad seems to like you, and he’s always been a good judge of character.”

“Great. I’m sure you’re ready to get home, but I need to run by my house and get a few things. I can do that now, then come back and pick you up. How does that sound?”

“That’ll work for me.”

When we arrived at Daphne’s house, Diablo ran around the front yard, sniffing and peeing on as many things as he could before Daphne opened the door.

“Let me go inside first,” I said. I started to reach for my gun, but decided to leave it in its holster so I didn’t scare her.

“Do you think something’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

“No,” I assured her. “I’m just being cautious.”

“Take Diablo with you. He’ll let you know if someone’s in there.”

Diablo and I went inside. He ran upstairs while I checked downstairs. Together, we quickly cleared her house.

“It’s all clear,” I told her and escorted her into her house.

She walked into the living room and took a seat on the sofa. “Normally, I’d give you a tour of the house and show you to the guest room, but if I go up those stairs, I don’t think I’ll be coming back down them again today. And I’m not ready to go up for the day.”

“Don’t worry about it. We can get everything squared away later. Is there anything I can do for you right now?”

“I could go for a drink and a snack, but I have no idea what’s in the kitchen. I probably need to order some groceries,” she said apologetically.

I opened the fridge, followed by the pantry. “Looks like your dad and Buck made sure you were fully stocked before they left.”

“Of course they did. I should’ve expected that. Can I have a zero-sugar ginger ale and a bag of Cheez-Its? And help yourself to anything you want.”

“Thanks,” I said and placed her drink and crackers on the table beside her. “Do you need anything else?”

“If you can hand me that blanket,” she said and pointed to a blanket at the end of the couch, “I think I’ll be set for a while.”

I covered her with the blanket and made sure the television remote was within her reach before I took a seat on the other sofa. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to go back to work tomorrow?”

“Honestly, no, but I’ll only be in the office tomorrow, and Andi said I could leave early if I needed to.”

Personally, I thought she needed to take a few more days off, but I kept my opinion to myself in case there were other factors I was unaware of that affected her decision, such as her personal finances.

She picked up the remote and tossed it to me. “I’m probably going to fall asleep, so you’re welcome to watch whatever you want. My dad has all the channels and streaming services.”

“What do you like to watch?” I asked.

“I don’t really watch a lot of television. Occasionally, I watch movies, but I prefer reading or listening to books.”

“How about a movie then?” I asked.

“As long as it’s nothing scary or extremely violent.”

I clicked on one of the popular streaming services and scrolled through their selection of movies. I wasn’t really interested in watching a movie, but I went through the motions and used the opportunity to ask her some questions.

“Can I ask you something about your divorce?”

“Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Why is it taking so long?”

She exhaled slowly, and I briefly wondered if my question had offended her. “Some of that’s my fault. At first, I was being petty and refused to file for divorce. I mean, he was the one who cheated and left me for another woman, and I just didn’t think I should have to pay for it. When six months went by and I hadn’t been served with papers, I realized I would have to be the one to file if I wanted to get divorced. Then it took around a month for me to decide on a lawyer and another month to get an appointment. I was under the impression that it would be quite simple since we didn’t have children and didn’t have many assets to speak of, but apparently that’s not the case since he can’t be located to be served.”

“You can’t be the first person this has happened to. There has to be something you can do.”

“My lawyer said I had to prove that I had made a significant effort to locate him and suggested I hire a private investigator. So, I contacted a few PIs in the area. Do you know how much they charge? Anywhere from one-fifty to two hundred dollars an hour. And none of them would even give me a rough estimate of how many hours it might take to locate him. I wasn’t willing to potentially spend thousands of dollars to try to find him. When I explained this to my lawyer, he said there was nothing else he could do and told me to let him know if I changed my mind. At that point, I decided to track him down myself before forking out the money for a private investigator. A couple of weeks later, the police showed up at my house. I thought they were going to accuse me of stalking him, but to my surprise, they said his mother had reported him missing and wanted to know if I knew where he was or if I’d had any contact with him. I told them I hadn’t and explained that I was also looking for him. I called my lawyer and told him what was going on, and he told me I couldn’t proceed with the divorce process until the missing person case was closed. So, I’m kind of stuck until he’s found.”

“That doesn’t seem right to me,” I said. “What if he’s never found? Are you supposed to wait seven years, or whatever the standard timeframe is, for them to declare him dead?”

“I didn’t think about it like that. I just kind of went with it because it seemed, I don’t know, rude, or maybe insensitive to continue pursuing a divorce when he’s actively missing,” she explained.

“You’re too nice.”

“Not really. When I heard he was officially missing, I was relieved that I didn’t have to pay for a private investigator to find him. Then I felt bad for thinking that way.”

“Because you’re kind. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have felt bad. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you should feel bad for finding a silver lining in a bad situation.”

“The whole thing has been exhausting. I don’t understand why he made me do all the work. He’s the one who cheated, and he’s the one who left. I wasn’t going to let him stay, but thankfully, that wasn’t an issue I had to address. Anyway, it was obvious he wanted a divorce, so why didn’t he take what was being handed to him? It’s all paid for. All he had to do was sign the damn papers.”

“You said you two didn’t have any assets to fight over, right?”

“Right,” she confirmed. “There is nothing for him to lose or gain by divorcing me.”

“Have you considered getting a second opinion?” I asked carefully.

“What do you mean?”

“Talking to a different lawyer,” I clarified.

“No,” she said slowly. “Do you think I should?”

“I don’t think it would hurt to see what someone else has to say about the situation. The club has a lawyer you could talk to. She’s always done a great job with anything she’s handled for the club.”

“Do you know how much her consultation fee is?”

“She won’t charge you for a consultation.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I smiled. “I’m sure. She gives free consultations to any potential clients we send to her.”

“Well, like you said, it probably wouldn’t hurt to see what she has to say. What’s her name? I’ll give her a call tomorrow.”

“Tina Rivera.”

She was quiet for a few minutes while I continued aimlessly scrolling through movie options. “I have a confession,” she said.

“A confession?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “Because you said I was too nice, and well, I’m not always nice.”

“Oh, this has to be good. What did you do?”

“Not long after he left, I was scrolling on social media and came across this … I don’t even know what to call it. It was a stuffed animal, but it had a vibrating part that extended and could thrust. I ordered one and sent it to his mother’s house. I included a note telling him it was a gift so he could keep fucking right off.”

“That’s hilarious,” I laughed.

“It gets better. His mother opened it and accused him of being a pedophile. He called me ranting and raving, and all I could do was laugh.”

Diablo suddenly jumped to his feet and let out a low growl while staring toward the front of the house. His growls turned to barks when the doorbell rang moments later.

“Are you expecting anyone?” I asked.

Daphne shook her head and moved to get up.

“Stay where you are,” I told her. “I’ll see who it is.”

I peeked out the front window and was surprised to see Ink and Byte standing on the front porch. “It’s Ink and Byte,” I said before I opened the door.

“Diablo,” she called. “It’s okay. Come here.”

Diablo looked at the door and huffed before he reluctantly returned to Daphne.

“What are y’all doing here?” I asked when I opened the door.

“We’re finished with Daphne’s car,” Ink said and held up her keys. “Can we come in?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” I said and stepped to the side.

They followed me into the living room, where Diablo was sitting like a statue in front of Daphne. “Relax, Diablo,” she said. “They’re friends.”

Ink started to hand her the keys but changed his mind after he glanced at Diablo. Instead, he passed them to me to give to her. “We brought your car back,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate you taking care of the tire for me.”

“About that,” Ink said. “While we were replacing the tire, we noticed something else. It looked like someone tried to cut one of your brake lines.”

“What?” Daphne gasped and grimaced, causing Diablo to growl. She patted his head. “It’s okay, buddy.”

“There were marks on it like someone tried to cut it with scissors, but that’s not how that works. I don’t think the line was compromised, but we replaced it anyway.”

“You’re sure that’s what happened?” Daphne asked.

“I can’t say for sure because I didn’t see it happen myself, but I can tell you the damage wasn’t caused by an animal or anything that might have happened while driving,” Ink said. “We took pictures in case you want to add it to the police report.”

“Do you think I should?” she asked.

“Yes,” Byte said. “The only reason people tamper with brakes is because they want to hurt or kill the driver.”

At Daphne’s terrified look, Ink added, “Books and movies have created a huge misconception about cutting brake lines. Most people are going to use their brakes before ever leaving their driveway. If not, they’ll definitely use them and notice they aren’t working before reaching a speed high enough to seriously injure or kill them. You would have known before you reached the end of your street.”

“That’s good to know,” Daphne said. “And thank you for fixing the brake line. Do I owe you anything for that?”

“Nope. It’s all taken care of.”

Daphne nodded and yawned. “You guys are welcome to stay and hang out, but I’m not going to be awake much longer.”

“I’m going to head home,” Byte said. “Gabby’s family is coming over for dinner tonight.”

“I’ll stay and keep this one company for a bit,” Ink said.

Ink and I migrated to the back deck while Daphne napped on the couch.