Chapter 17 Brutus
brUTUS
“One large double chocolate mint with fudge at the bottom!”
I walked up to the ice cream counter and took the triple scoop cone from the man. “Thanks.”
He nodded at me, not even recognizing me. “Have a nice day.”
“You, too.”
The little bell above the door jingled above my head as I muscled out the door of Wrecker’s ice cream shop.
Licking at the massive triple scoop this place called a large, I found myself back out on the pavement of the place I called home.
Redd Valley. The first crisp day of fall was just around the corner.
I could tell because the mornings were chillier.
The trees, ever so slightly, had a red tinge in their coloring.
I was ready for it.
I turned and made my way to Cap’s military surplus shop.
There was always a line outside the door of that place and it made me cringe at how bare the shelves were.
Cap would hate the look of it. I could tell that they were hurting without our help.
We were usually the ones that stocked the shelves while Cap dealt with the books for his business.
I wished I could have hopped in and helped.
I made a mental note that Cap needed to hire someone for that back room of his.
I walked around the back of the buildings to make sure the cameras were still working.
Sticking to the alleyways when downtown became busy was the only way I could go unnoticed.
While most of Redd Valley didn’t know my face like the other guys, since I didn’t own a business in town or anything, I was the perfect candidate to walk around with my face hanging out.
Though there were a few people who nodded their hellos in my direction.
I never had a passion like the other guys to open my own business.
I made enough in the military and invested well, and with the money I made with the crew being their head of security and an extra hand in whichever one of their places needed help, got me by just fine.
I never felt the need to be rollin’ in the dough, so to speak.
That was enough for me.
As I walked by Doc’s clinic, I dipped in through the side door.
I knew someone would recognize me here. I was always at Doc’s clinic helping out with something or another.
There was always a patient who needed help moving, or needed help getting back out to their vehicle.
There was a large elderly population in Redd Valley.
I didn’t like them moving anymore than they needed.
“Hey, hey, hey!” one of Doc’s nurses said just as I slipped through the side door. “Was wondering when we were going to see your face around here again. Can you help?”
I paused as I looked at the nurse. I did my best to conjure her name, but I couldn’t find it. “Depends. Only here for some supplies.”
“Ah,” she said as she held up her finger. “We just restocked the closet. Have at it.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
“But if you can help us later, we could use the water coolers changed out.”
Oh, was that it? I waved my hand in the air and licked at my ice cream. “I can do that. Let me gather what Doc needs, and I’ll get them changed out. All four?”
“Yes, please, if you could be so kind.”
“Not a problem.”
I slipped into the supply closet for the clinic and walked over to some hooks that had various bags hung on them. Doc’s instructions were clear: fill the black and tan duffle bag with four of everything from the shelves.
Thank fuck, Doc was practically OCD about his shelving.
Everything was labeled and sorted accordingly.
“Oh hey! Lisa told me you were back here.”
I turned at the sound of the janitor’s voice. “Hey, Hef.”
He smiled that crooked, semi-toothless smile of his. “You finally decided to open up your own clinic or something?”
I looked down at the duffle bag I was zipping up. “Hardly. Doc just needs some things.”
“You ever thought about opening your own business like the other guys?”
I hefted the bag off into the corner. “Nah.”
“Well, not for nuttin’,” the man said as he reached for the gauze, “but this town could use some of that security patrolling you always do.”
“You think?” I asked as I walked over to the massive blue water jugs for the dispensers.
“Yeeeeah! And you know all these bougie parents around here would pay good money for bodyguards to accompany their kids to things like prom and stuff. You’d be good at it.”
I just nodded again. “Yeah, I suppose I would.”
“Think about it. Could really be a good thing for all of us.”
“Will do.”
He took his gauze and his coat off the hook and shouldered out of the closet.
But his words left an imprint. If anything, I figured one day, especially with my piloting experience, maybe I’d open up an airstrip.
Or take over the rundown, private one around here.
I never thought about opening up my own security business or anything like that.
It got my gears turning as I heaved the first water jug out to its dispenser.
It didn’t take long to change out the dispensers, and I was thankful that no one else stopped me.
The whole point of this venture was for me to be unseen, though at the clinic that was a bit hard.
Everything was lit up like the Fourth of July with bright, blue-white lights that felt like they tried to sear the fear of God onto someone’s corneas.
Maybe Doc should have his fucking eyes checked.
After my work there was done, I made my way back to my bike with the duffle bag slung over my shoulder.
I did a round on Ranger’s tech repair shop, just to make sure those pimply-faced college kids weren’t fucking around in ways they shouldn’t have.
But things were all clear on that front.
No doubt, Ranger probably had eyes on them anyway without them even knowing.
Wouldn’t have shocked me one bit.
Ghost’s bar didn’t really need a round on it.
Mostly, I just walked the darkened outside to make sure the cameras were still working and that major shit hadn’t gone down.
I couldn’t go into the bar, though. A lot of people would notice me there, simply because I provided most of my off time bodyguarding services to the bar during the later hours it was open.
But just as I rounded the back corner to head down one of the alleyways next to Ghost’s bar, I saw it.
A black car.
With tinted windows that rolled by.
With that fucking logo plastered on the side.
“Bingo,” I mumbled as I fished out my cell phone.
Thank fuck, the alleyways were close together. The buildings in downtown shaded these areas, even with the sun as bright as it fucking was that day. I kept my footsteps silent, though I splashed through a puddle or two, and I gave myself three seconds to breathe before I peeked around the corner.
Only to see that blacked-out car stopped at a stoplight.
“Gotcha,” I muttered.
My phone came out and the pictures started. I zoomed in on the license plate and snapped a few for Ranger. When they turned left at the light, I zoomed in even further and simply held down the picture-taking button so that it took a series of successive pictures.
Then when they disappeared, I booked it across the street.
“Oh no you don’t,” I grumbled as I slipped in between two buildings.
It took me a second to locate them, but I eventually clocked them going through a drive-thru.
It was one of the more popular local burger joints in the area.
Only one in the entire state. I paused in the shade of a tree, looking like I was eating the rest of my ice cream cone and fucking around on my phone.
But when I peeked over and saw the fact that whoever was in the car was only handed two drinks, I slowly moved my phone’s camera toward them.
I zoomed in on the rolled down windows and took some pictures of the profiles of those two fucking faces.
“Gotcha, you stupid fucks,” I murmured.
When they turned back out onto the main road, I realized they were headed right back into downtown.
I slinked through the darkness of the trees that our community kept protected, using the shade to my advantage.
I kept an eye on them, watching as they drove around.
Stopping at stop signs. Stopping at yellow lights.
Doing every fucking thing they could not to draw attention to themselves.
Outside of the fact that their car was very out of place for the town of Redd Valley.
“Like a sore fucking thumb,” I said to myself.
I didn’t get close enough to get any other pictures, but after I tailed them around town for over an hour, working up a hunger after that massive ice cream cone, I knew it was time to call Cap.
I pulled out my phone and found an alleyway to perch in while the blacked-out car walked right into Wrecker’s ice cream shop.
I used the encryption software Ranger put on all of our burner phones to send him the slew of pictures I took.
It didn’t shock me when Ranger immediately called.
“The fuck?” he asked the instant I picked up.
“They’re in Wrecker’s ice cream shop now, Range.”
I heard furious keyboard typing. “On it.”
I went to hang up the phone, but heard Cap’s voice beforehand. “Brutus.”
My phone shot back to my ear. “Yep?”
“What are they doing?”
“Driving around town. For the last hour or so.”
“Shit,” Cap hissed. “They’re scouting.”
“Mhm.”
“Got them on camera in Wrecker’s joint,” Ranger said in the background.
“Send it all to our DOJ contact,” Cap said, giving the order. “Brutus.”
“Yeah, Boss?”
“I sent Ghost to replace you. Be on the lookout for him. You need to get back here.”
Thank fuck. “I’ll keep an eye out for him.”
That’s when I felt the tap on my shoulder.
It made me fucking jump.
“Jesus Christ, Gee,” I hissed as I whipped around.
The masked man chuckled. “Here to relieve you.”
Cap snickered. “Get back here, Brutus. That’s an order.”
“On it, Boss,” I said as I hung up the phone. I pointed at Ghost. “Don’t do that again.”
He held up his hands. “I make no promises. But uh, you should let me go. They’re coming out of the ice cream shop.”
I whipped around at his words and, sure enough, the two men climbed back into the vehicle, one behind the wheel, and one in the passenger’s seat.
“Good luck,” I said as I brushed by Ghost.
“Never needed luck before,” he said right back.
I didn’t stop for anything else until I swung my leg over my bike.
I was ready to get back to Anna.
I needed to know she was safe after whatever the fuck her brother dragged her into.