Chapter Eleven
“Well,” Titus interjected. “I suppose it’s better than a female mechanic?”
Reno snapped her gaze over. “Bite your tongue, little man!”
She shook her head. “You sure?” Reno asked. “They say large men have a little—”
“Reno!” Her mom chided her. “Don’t be so rude.”
Reno rolled her eyes. “Fine but I was gonna say brain, Mom.” She snickered. “He needs to ride his big, wide Harley into the twenty-first century. I love tinkering with engines.”
“And you bake too?” Titus asked.
“You’d better hope so, cause I saw you gulp down a plate of my brownies earlier.” Reno laughed.
“Gulp down?” he retorted.
Ursala shook her head and tried to explain Reno’s cracks and humor, “She does this. Teases and jokes her way through stuff.”
“Maybe?” Reno said. “Remember when we were stuck in that Walmart parking lot?”
Ursala nodded her head and laughed. “You made up a game about what names the customers going on and out had.”
“Yeah, cause Walmart Weirdos are funnier than any freaks anywhere.”
Titus laughed. “I would love to hear some of the names.”
Reno seemed to ponder on this then she said, “Well, there’s Buttcrack Sally.”
Crank’s mouth popped open in shock.
“She earned that name because...Well, we just cannot tell where the buttcrack actually ends or where it even begins.” Reno grinned.
Chuckles rolled around the room.
“Then ole Smelly Belly Jelly Roll.” Reno smirked. “No buttcrack cause she’s just as jiggly coming or going.”
Titus burst into laughter.
“Then Jack the Hacky Sack.” Reno nodded.
Crank slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid to ask.”
Setting a mock serious expression onto her face, Reno nodded her head slowly and firmly as she warned, “Yes, yes... be very afraid.”
Titus, Bouncer and a few others laughed loudly now. They then glanced over at Crank who looked a bit spooked.
“What’s the matter?” Reno asked her father.
“Nothing’s the matter but you really remind me of your mother. We had a game and she would see if she could make me—”
Ursala placed her hand over his mouth.
Reno stared at her mom and got beady eyed. “That won’t work. I have access to my old man now and I will ask MANY questions.”
“Oh, crap,” Bouncer muttered as he chuckled.
“Yeah, if it was to make him laugh...good luck with that,” Titus explained. “Some of us can’t figure out if he’s called Crank because he’s fast on a PC, fast at fixing a bike or if it’s because he’s cranky as all hell?”
Everyone in the room laughed.
Their teasing didn’t really bother Crank.
Maybe in the past it would have. He supposed the name of Crank did fit his personality all these years.
He hadn’t been a cheerful person. He didn’t like parties, bars, or most anything the guys did for fun.
He had only ever lived in fun when he had his Ursala with him.
He nodded at Reno then got up and after he kissed Ursala deeply, silence hit the room again.
Crank thought with satisfaction...Yeah dudes, he had his woman now, let that soak in.
With a huge grin on his face, he let her go then headed down the hall to his office.
He had just sat down and got started when the door opened.
Hot Rod came in, he then sat down at his own desk and said, “I figured I could help. Tell me what you need.”
Crank sat back in his chair and said, “Find any and all children born to Franklyn Todd Lawler. Search the entire state of New Mexico.”
“Does that include you and your brothers?” Hot Rod asked.
Crank nodded. “But I need you to dig even deeper. My father had several affairs while being married to my mother. I need to know if he left any mini hims along the way.”
Hot Rod shook his head. “Damn brother, that’s harsh.”
“I left his house a long time ago, I’m just trying to get caught up.” Crank snorted.
Hot Rod typed commands into his computer.
Crank began pulling strings again and went to where those same strings took him. The rest of the world faded away in his mind and the new strings began to reveal the world his father had built up over the years.
Hours later, Hot Rod cleared his throat. “This Tommy character found me looking. Reno must have called her. Fucking spooky that she broke through my three firewalls too and I never even noticed.”
Crank snapped his gaze over at him.
Hot Rod handed him a lone piece of paper. “She sent me this to an email I have that no one ever knew about.” He shook his head in amazement.
Crank looked curious as he took the paper.
It was a birth certificate. Not his, not his brothers but an entirely different birth certificate.
He read the name on the paper, “Franklyn Meyers. Mother Samantha Meyers, father, Franklyn Todd Lawler.” He looked up at Hot Rod to ask, “Is this the only one?”
Hot Rod nodded. “So far, there could be more? But you know who that is right?” he motioned to the paper.
Crank shook his head. “Who is it?”
Hot Rod sat back in his chair and looked disgusted as he announced it, “That’s our own Frankie. He’s been a member of our MC for the last five years.”
Things clicked in Crank’s mind and he concluded, “Ten to one, my father put him here to spy on me. To keep track, to watch and see if Ursala ever came back to me.”
Hot Rod nodded. “And probably to try and stop her from giving you that book,” he said softly. “And if she did, he was supposed to let dear ole daddy know. Your dad is probably on the way here right now with enough guns to stop whatever he thinks you might do about what you found out.”
Crank rushed to his feet. “I have to stop him from trying.” He tore out of the office and down the hall to the main room. He got there to see a few of the brothers still sitting there drinking coffee.
He looked at Pyrite and asked, “Where is Titus and Ursala?”
Pyrite motioned toward the kitchen.
“And Reno? Where is she?” Crank shouted out as he made his way to the kitchen door.
Pyrite joined him and said, “They are all in the kitchen. They said they were going to start lunch.
Crank pushed the kitchen door open and gasped at what he saw.
Titus was lying on the floor along with Ursala. Both were passed out and Reno was missing entirely.
Crank rushed to his woman and turned her over.
She groaned. Opening her eyes, she looked confused and in pain. “Oh, my God, my head is killing me. What happened?” She tried to look around and frowned when she couldn’t find her daughter. She clutched at Crank’s shirt and whispered, “Where is Reno? Where is she?”
Crank wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t know yet but I’m gonna kill him when I find him.”
Ursala paused and asked, “Who? Who took her?”
“Frankie Meyers,” Crank replied as he looked over at Titus, who Pyrite was helping to sit up now.
“He used a damn taser I think?” Titus groaned. “All I knew was I was zapped from behind and I went down.” Titus’ body swayed a bit as he gripped Pyrite’s shoulder to steady himself. “Frankie did this? Why?”
He handed the paper still in his hands to Titus.
Titus just stared at him. “What is this?”
“Frankie’s birth certificate. Seems dear old dad left a little piece of himself behind, just like we guessed.” Crank growled. “If he hurts my daughter, I’ll kill him for sure.”
Ursala sobbed and buried her face in his shirt. “We have to find her before he hurts her. I can’t lose her now!”
Crank hugged her close. “You won’t, we won’t lose her. Not now, not ever,” he vowed. “And when I find him, I’ll kill him.”