Ruined by the Rebel

5. Triton

We’d just finished gettingeveryone caught up on the recent events involving the Vasquez cartel when Aldis’s phone rang. He was president of the Rebel Hearts and usually the first person someone in town reached out to when trouble ended up on their doorstep. Aldis told us all to take five while he handled whoever was on the line. I got up to stretch my legs and grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I’d been spending too much time on my bike and not enough time at the gym lately. My muscles were tight.

“Triton, got a sec?” Aldis summoned me over. “The new preacher had a visit from someone the cartel sent. Sounds like they threatened him and he’s pretty shaken. Do you have time to head over and see if you can give him any suggestions?”

“Yeah, sure. Any idea what kind of threat we’re looking at?” I hadn’t been in a church in years though my foster mother had expected all of us boys to go every Sunday while I was growing up. I could still remember filing into one of the pews in front and feeling like everyone in the building was staring at us. Depending on who Mama Mae was looking after, sometimes we filled two or three pews.

Aldis shook his head. “I didn’t get specifics. Why don’t you take Chance or Drak with you when you go?”

“Will do.” I’d trust either one of those guys with my life. We’d met shortly after each of us joined the Navy. If I had to pick someone to have my back, they’d both be at the top of the list.

I walked through the maze of couches and chairs and found the two of them sitting next to each other arguing about whether the Astros might make it to the series this year. “Aldis wants us to head over to the new preacher’s place. Someone from the cartel paid him a visit this afternoon.”

They didn’t need more info than that to get up and follow me outside. The day was too pretty not to ride over on our bikes, but I didn’t know what to expect, so I opted to take my truck instead. I led the way with Chance right behind me and Drak bringing up the back.

We passed the spot where I’d picked up Bess earlier in the day. I could picture the way her hair had sparkled in the sun and the faint flush that swept over her cheeks the first time she looked at me. I’d never mixed club business with my personal life, but something told me Bess was going to push those boundaries.

Too soon, I pulled into a long drive shaded on each side by tall pecan trees. I’d heard rumors the cartel had run the last preacher out of town, but official word was that he wanted to find a posting closer to his wife’s side of the family. They new guy had only been in town for about a month, and I hadn’t had a chance to meet him yet.

“Any idea what this is about?” Drak asked as he punched the doorbell.

I cracked my knuckles while we stood on the stoop. “You know as much as I do.”

The door opened and she stood behind the screen, still wearing the hot pink t-shirt she’d had on earlier.

“Bess? What are you doing here?” My pulse jacked up while my mouth went dry. Seeing her again had me just as tongue tied as I was that morning.

“Shh.” She put a finger to her full lips. “My dad can’t know that we’ve already met.”

“Wait. Your dad…” My brain figured it out faster than my mouth. “Your dad is the new preacher?”

Nodding, she opened the screen door. “Please come in. My parents are in the kitchen. Can I get you something to drink?”

“We’re fine for now,” I answered for all of us.

“What the fuck?” Chance whispered. “When did you hook up with the preacher’s daughter?”

“We didn’t hook up.” Didn’t mean I hadn’t stopped thinking about the possibility.

“So, this little birdie is available?” Drak asked.

The glare I gave him was enough to put an end to that line of questioning. Bess was mine. It would have sounded childish to tell them I’d seen her first so I should get first dibs. What I felt for her went way beyond a crush. I couldn’t explain it and they’d probably call me pussy whipped if I even tried.

“Dad, the men from the Rebel Hearts are here.” Bess side eyed me as we entered the kitchen.

Her dad got up from the vintage Formica table and held out his hand to shake each one of ours in turn. “I’m Pastor Trammer and this is my wife, Angela, and my daughter, Bess. Thank you for coming. Celia—she manages the office—is the one who reached out.”

I couldn’t keep my eyes from drifting back to Bess. Was it the soft light from the overhead fixture or did she look even more stunning than she had earlier in the day?

Chance elbowed me in the gut, pulling my attention back to the preacher.

“I’m Triton and this is Chance and Drak.” Standing in the kitchen of the man whose daughter I’d been fantasizing about all day was a new experience for me, but setting my personal shit aside to get the job done was one of my strengths. “Do you want to talk in here?”

Pastor Trammer nodded and looked from his wife to his daughter. “Can you two give us a few minutes?”

“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Bess shook her mother’s hand off her arm. “You’re worrying me.”

Her dad let out a long sigh and gestured for us to all take a seat. “I suppose you’re going to find out soon enough.”

He waited for all of us to get settled around the kitchen table before he started to speak.

“When I got back to my office after picking up Bess at the coffee shop, Celia told me there was a man waiting for me in my office. He introduced himself as a friend of the Vasquez family. I didn’t have a point of reference so assumed he was a member of the church I hadn’t met yet. But instead…” Pastor Trammer folded his hands together and looked me right in the eye. “He explained the Vasquez family had an arrangement with the man who held this position before me. They used one of the outbuildings for storage and in return offered protection to Pastor Jennings and his family.”

“Protection from what?” Bess tore her gaze from her father to look at me. Confusion and pain clouded her gorgeous green eyes.

Her mother rested her hand on top of Pastor Trammer’s.

“Protection from them,” the pastor mumbled.

“What do they need to store?” Bess’s mom asked.

“He said it was best if we didn’t know.”

I had a feeling I already knew the answer, but I had to ask the question anyway. “Did he say what would happen if you didn’t cooperate?”

The pastor swallowed hard and looked toward Bess. “He said I had a beautiful daughter.”

Rage consumed me. I’d heard rumors about the Vasquez family expanding operations and moving more than drugs along the route they’d established. Last year, law enforcement in a town about a hundred miles south of us set up a sting in an attempt to bust them for drugs but found about two dozen young women crammed into the back of a semi instead. Since then, the family had been lying low, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they’d started trafficking people again.

“We have to go.” Mrs. Trammer got up from the table and paced the kitchen. “We can move back to Brady or maybe somewhere in Oklahoma. You can’t let them use the church property. That would make you an accomplice to whatever illegal activity they’re engaged in, wouldn’t it?”

“I signed a contract. If we leave before my three years are up, I’ll have to pay back the bonus they gave me.” Pastor Trammer looked like a man on the verge of losing everything. “We already spent that money on Bess’s tuition.”

“Surely they’ll understand these are extenuating circumstances,” Mrs. Trammer said. Her eyes filled with tears that trailed down her cheeks.

“He said we can’t do anything to raise suspicion. We’re supposed to go about our normal business and not pay any attention to what we see or hear happening in the buildings at the back of the property.” The pastor stood and pulled his wife into his arms. “It’s the only way to keep Bess safe.”

I’d taken the seat next to Bess when we all sat down at the table. She hadn’t moved for the past couple of minutes except to slide her hands into her lap and clasp them together so tightly that her knuckles turned white. I kept my eyes trained on her dad as I covered her hands with one of mine. No one was going to touch her. They’d have to go through me first, and I’d built up a reputation of not being easy to take down.

She squeezed my hand, hopefully taking the comfort I was trying to offer.

“What do you think, Triton?” Drak asked.

I was way beyond the ability to look at the situation objectively, though no one besides Bess would ever suspect it. “Sounds like we ought to go along with their plan for the time being. We’ll need to get Bess somewhere safe until we can contact law enforcement and find out how they want to handle things.”

“They said no police,” Pastor Trammer said.

“There are a few guys in the club who are on the force.” Chance nodded at the preacher. “They’re familiar with the Vasquez family and will know how to move forward.”

“Chance, can you let them know what’s going on and that we need to be extremely discreet?” I trusted him and all of my fellow Rebel Hearts to take appropriate action.

“What about Bess?” Mrs. Trammer asked.

I’d never had more than a professional relationship with a client, but I had to be the one who stayed with Bess. My schedule was wide open, and I was the best man for the job. Even though I’d trust any one of the Rebel Hearts with my own life, I wouldn’t be able to handle knowing one of my MC brothers was keeping an eye on her.

“If you trust me to take care of your daughter and Bess is willing to go with me,”—I turned my head slightly to check her reaction—“I’ve got a place in mind where she’ll be safe.”

“Where?” Paster Trammer asked.

“It’s best if you don’t know the details.”

“We’re just supposed to let you take her away without knowing where you’re going?” Mrs. Trammer walked over and set her hands on Bess’s shoulders.

“Angela, I’m not sure we have a choice.” Pastor Trammer’s voice cracked as he put a hand on my shoulder. “Promise me you won’t let anything happen to her.”

I turned to face him and looked him straight in the eye. “I’ll protect her with my life.”