Chapter Fifteen
Winter fought the urge to turn around and look for Kevin. She didn’t want to see him, and just as importantly, she didn’t want him to spot her any sooner than would happen naturally. Because she knew she had little chance of stopping him from seeing her.
I can’t control him, but I can control how I react to him, she reminded herself as she kept her attention on Bishop.
“Ready to get out of here?” Bishop asked.
Winter nodded.
Bishop tossed several bills on the table then stood. “Come on, let’s go.” He held out a hand. She took it and let him pull her to her feet. She let him walk her out, carefully keeping her gaze ahead so Kevin wouldn’t see her looking for him, or even have any idea she knew he was there.
Outside, they went to his bike where Bishop unlocked the hard case and handed her the helmet again before speaking.
“Want to go back to the clubhouse or for a ride?”
“A ride would be nice.” She strapped the helmet on then waited while he mounted the bike and climbed on behind him.
He started the bike and pulled out, and she clung to his back as they made it through traffic toward the edge of town.
When he hit a stretch where he could crank it up and ride, she sat up straighter and closed her eyes as the wind hit her face and blew all her worries away.
If Bishop had any kind of bar on the back of the seat, even just a short sissy bar, she would have let go of him and spread her arms, but with nothing to even slow her if she slid off the back of the bike, she wouldn’t risk it.
They rode until the sun set, then Bishop took them back to the clubhouse.
When they arrived, he parked and stowed the helmet before taking her inside.
Noise hit her as soon as the door opened.
How could it be so loud inside and yet she’d heard nothing until the door opened?
They must have some killer insulation in the building.
She wondered where it was hidden, because from the outside it looked like just another warehouse in a yard full of warehouses, though the interior didn’t give that feeling.
Hmm. Maybe insulation was part of that change.
She didn’t have long to think about it as things quieted. They stepped inside and several spotted them. As more people saw them, the noise died down until someone turned down the stereo, currently playing, “Sweet Child of Mine.”
“I guess now’s as good a time as any,” Bishop said before raising his voice.
“I’d like everyone to meet Winter.” He wasn’t yelling, but somehow his voice seemed to carry through the whole room.
She wondered briefly how he did that but kept her mouth shut.
“Winter is a club princess from an ally club. She needs our protection for a while, so she’ll be around.
You all had better treat her like a princess of our own club.
” He fell silent and she could see him scanning the room, meeting eyes here and there as he let his words sink in.
“If I hear of anyone disrespecting her, you’ll answer to me. Got it?”
Several, “got its,” and a few “10-4s” were called back to him. Bishop nodded once and looked at Winter. “We need to talk to Bulldog, but you want something to drink first?”
“What is it with you all pushing for something to drink?” She tilted her head to one side as she watched him. “I know it’s not that you’re trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage. You don’t seem to care what I drink, as long as I’m consuming something nearly all the time.”
“This is the desert. You’re not from around here. I don’t want you to get dehydrated and sick. It happens faster than you’d think because it’s so dry here and you often don’t realize how much you’re sweating.”
She stared at him for a moment. So, offering her drinks was his way of taking care of her. She nodded once. She wasn’t sure why he was trying to take care of her, but right now she would take it and not argue. She didn’t have the energy to argue.
“I’ll take a glass of water then.”
Moments later, she and Bishop headed down the hall to where Bulldog’s office was, a bottle of water in her hand.
She paused behind Bishop as he knocked on the open door, then followed him inside and let herself be pulled onto his lap as he sat.
She would have preferred being a bit more subtle but it wasn’t like they wouldn’t figure out there was something between them with her in his room. Bulldog watched them, brows lifted.
“I sure hope I’m not going to have to beat your ass,” Bulldog said to Bishop, his eyes flicking from the Sgt. at Arms to her then back again.
“It’s fine,” she said. And as long as no one else thought they could fuck around with her, it would stay that way. The Sons president stared at them for a moment, blinked, and shook his head.
“I assume this”—he waved one hand back and forth at them—“is not why you’re here?”
“It’s not,” Bishop said. “We just got back from dinner. I took her to The Porch.”
“While I appreciate your choice of venue, I fail to see why you’re telling me about it.”
“The thing is,” Bishop continued as if the president hadn’t spoken, “we’d been there for about forty-five minutes, maybe an hour, when guess who should walk in?”
“I’m guessing the fucker who’s been following her?”
“Ding, ding, ding. You got it in one. The thing is, you’ve got her phone and we were on my bike, so he couldn’t have been tracking either of them to find her.”
“Son of a bitch.” Bulldog looked up at the ceiling for a moment then back at them.
“I don’t know enough about all that shit to figure it out.
Let me get Hammer in here.” He picked up his phone, tapped out a text, then set it aside.
“He should be here in a few minutes. Did that fucker say anything, or start shit in any way?” He watched the two of them for a couple of seconds.
Bishop shook his head. “We didn’t give him a chance.
He showed up as we were finishing eating.
I dropped enough on the table to cover the tab and tip, then we hightailed it.
We rode for a bit, then came back here. “Are you wearing the same thing now you were wearing earlier? Carrying the same bag? Could he have dropped a tracker in your bag?”
“Same clothes but no bag this time. I put my ID and a card in my cut. But it doesn’t seem to matter what I wear, he finds me all the time.”
“Could this encounter be a coincidence? Does he live anywhere near there?”
“I’m not sure.” Winter spoke up. “I can’t be sure but I got the impression he lives on the far side of town.
” She shifted on Bishop’s lap, trying to get a little more comfortable.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her a little closer, then took one of her hands in his and held it.
As much as she hated looking weak, she liked that he wanted to comfort her.
A knock sounded on the door, drawing her attention to a man who stood at least six feet tall, if not a bit taller, his shoulders nearly as wide as the door and hands so big they looked like his fists would be the size of volleyballs.
He wore the same cut as all the other Sons of Sin except the patches on his shoulder read “Hammer” and “Tech Sgt.” Winter could only be glad he would never use them against her.
Though, she couldn’t help but wonder how freaking tough and mean Bishop had to be in order to have beaten this man out as Sgt. at Arms.
“Just the man we were waiting for,” Bulldog said. “Come in and close the door, we’ve had a couple of developments and could use your expertise.”
The newcomer did as he was bid, then sat in the chair next to Winter and Bishop.
“Hammer, this is Winter, it’s her phone you’ve been working on. Did you find anything?”
“Nice to meet you,” Hammer said, holding out a hand in her direction.
She leaned forward enough to shake, then leaned back again.
“Nice meeting you too.” See, she could be polite.
“Speaking of...” He reached into the inside pocket of his vest and pulled out two phones. He glanced at them then held one out to her. “Here you are. I didn’t find anything that shouldn’t be there. I’m not sure how he’s tracking you.”
“That’s why I called you,” Bulldog said, looking toward Winter and Bishop and giving her an almost imperceptible jerk of his head toward Hammer.
Bishop recounted what had happened at the restaurant, while Hammer frowned. As Bishop talked, Hammer’s frown turned into a scowl.
“Which location?” he asked when Bishop was through talking.
“Tempe, why?”
Hammer lifted one shoulder and let it fall.
“Well, he lives in Sun City and works over near Camelback Mountain. If it was the location on Indian School, then it might have been a chance encounter, but as far as I know, he has no reason to be in Tempe, unless it was to see what you’re up to.”
“But how did he know where I was?” Winter asked, trying and failing to keep her frustration out of her voice.
“Hmm...” Hammer cranked his head from side to side, cracking his neck. “You didn’t have your phone, you weren’t in your car, so the usual suspects are out. I assume you’ve already considered bags and clothing?” He looked from her to Bishop, then to Bulldog and back again.
Winter nodded. “We’ve considered them and can’t figure it out. That’s why Bulldog got you involved.”
Hammer nodded slowly, the expression on his face and the distant look in his eye telling her he was thinking about the options.
“Any other electronics you carry with you? Earbuds, a smart tag on your keys? Anything?”
Winter shook her head. “Not that I can think of. I do have a tag on my keys, but I didn’t have them with me.”
“Where are they?”
“In his room upstairs.” She tilted her head to Bishop.
“So, let’s go through what you had with you. Take a look at it all and make sure there’s nothing imbedded in it that’s somehow sending him a signal.”