Chapter Twenty-Two
AS ELIAS LEANED back against the kitchen counter, his cousin ogled the women as they organized ingredients to make enough potato salad to feed an army. His teammates shifted their positions to stand between their wives and Blackthorn’s leader.
When Doug’s roving gaze drifted to Iona, Elias straightened. “Eyes up here,” he snapped.
The Blackthorn Riders frowned. “Hey, you can’t talk to our president that way,” one man protested.
“Your president needs to remember the manners Gran taught us.” Now, let’s see what Dutch did with that tidbit of information.
The MC members exchanged confused glances. Dutch smirked. “What gave me away?”
“I recognized the mannerisms and the disgusting attitude toward women. You haven’t changed at all. I’d hoped you would have matured enough to put those attitudes from the medieval days back where they belonged.”
His cousin tilted his head back and laughed. “It’s about time you figured it out. For a man who is supposed to be so smart, you sure are dumb, cuz.”
Elias let the insult roll off him without responding. Nothing new there. Doug had delighted in belittling and insulting him as they grew up. Not that he saw his cousins that often. Since Eddie never spent over six months at the same place, Elias’ interactions with his family were few.
No significant loss, in his opinion. Black sheep littered his family tree, and not one of them was worth anything. His lips curled. No doubt they thought he was the odd one of the bunch, working as a police officer and serving in the military.
“You’re cousins?” one of his enforcers asked, looking from Doug to Elias and back. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“Wanted to see how long it took my goody-two-shoes cousin to realize who I am.”
The men turned to stare at Elias. “How come you didn’t recognize him?” another enforcer asked, suspicion growing in his eyes. “You sure he’s your cousin, Dutch? Maybe you made a mistake.”
“Oh, no. I know for a fact that is my cousin Elias.”
“How?”
“It’s that scent in the room.” He breathed deep. “Can’t you smell it?”
His men frowned. “I don’t smell nothing,” the first enforcer said. “What do you smell?”
“Holier-than-thou cologne.”
His men roared with laughter.
Elias’ face burned. Nope, nothing had changed. Doug still had to make him look stupid. “What are you doing here, Dutch? We didn’t invite you to our party.”
He snorted. “What party? I see nothing but a bunch of wusses taking orders from women. Isn’t that right, Elias?”
“I see men who know how to take care of the women in their lives.”
His cousin tilted his head back and roared with laughter. His men followed suit. “You just proved my point, E. I don’t spoil my Old Lady. She’s supposed to take care of me, and I like it that way.”
Noah and Seth stepped up on either side of Elias. “Does your Old Lady know about your outdated philosophy about women?” Seth asked.
Dutch’s face flamed. “Of course she does. We talk like other couples.”
Iona shook her head, pity in her eyes. “I’m surprised she stays with you. I wouldn’t stay with a man who treated me like a slave or his possession.”
“You need someone to teach you manners, Iona. Since Elias isn’t man enough to do it, offering my services would be a pure pleasure.”
And that was enough. Elias wouldn’t let this devolve into a contest with Iona caught in the middle.
Besides, no one was touching Iona. Yeah, he recognized that look in his cousin’s eyes.
Although facial surgery might change the outward appearance, it couldn’t touch the inside of a man.
Men only changed when changing meant an enormous benefit to them.
To Elias’ view, Dutch had threatened Iona.
“Enough.” Seth stepped closer to Dutch and stared the man down. “We have several things to do tonight, and you’re a distraction, Dutch. Can’t have that when things could go south with law enforcement any moment.”
Dutch stiffened. “What are you talking about? Why would the cops be sniffing around here?”
“Because Merriweather is dead, and we’re the obvious choice for the role of bad guys. Blaming strangers in town is easier than blaming people you pass on the street and go to church with on Sundays.”
“Have the cops been hassling you?”
“They’re very interested in our whereabouts. But that’s not the point. We have things to do.”
A frown. “What things?”
Seth scowled. “We’d wanted this to be a surprise, but I suppose that’s impossible now.”
Dutch’s frown morphed into a glare. “What are you talking about?”
“We went to the grocery store so we could prepare lunch for the Blackthorn Riders tomorrow.”
The MC members stared. “You already took care of breakfast for us,” Enforcer One said. “What’s up with feeding us again?”
“We’re putting you to a lot of trouble, especially considering the cousins didn’t recognize each other.” Seth paused. “Why is that, Dutch? Did you have a facelift?”
“I was in an accident, a bad one. After I healed up, I asked a plastic surgeon to work on my face. He told me he couldn’t put my ugly mug back the way it was before the accident. I told him to do whatever was necessary so I wouldn’t scare little kids.” He pointed to his face. “This is what I got.”
“It’s not a terrible face,” Enforcer Two said.
Dutch chuckled. “My Old Lady agrees with you.” That brought more laughter from his cronies.
“Why do you have a new name?” Elias asked.
“It seemed wise since one of my enemies caused the accident that gave me a new face.” He scratched his jaw. “A new name to go along with a new face.”
Elias stared. “If you wanted a new life, why didn’t you get out of the MC world?”
“I didn’t want out of the MC world, just out of the area where trouble dogged me.”
His men roared with laughter.
When the laughter subsided, he turned to Seth and Noah, pointedly ignoring Elias again as well as the rest of Echo unit. “What do you want?”
Seth’s lips turned down. “We told you. We want to help.”
“Not buying it, Seth. Nobody does anything for zero payback in our world. Let’s have it. What do you want?”
Seth folded his arms across his chest. “All right. You’re correct. I want something.”
“That’s more like it. Let’s hear your request.”
“You said you want us to help with security.”
“Yeah. So?”
“For someone who’s willing to take on a team of ten for security without a background check, you’re close-mouthed about the details.”
Dutch sneered. “I don’t see a problem here. Loose lips sink ships, right?”
“We’re putting our lives on the line, putting our Old Ladies’ lives on the line. I want details before we walk blindly into whatever you’ve got going on here. No one is putting my Old Lady’s life in jeopardy or the lives of my team.”
“Yeah? I’m not fond of walking into an ambush, either. And that’s what could happen if too much information leaks out.”
Seth gave a slow nod. “Although I can understand that, I know we owe you a favor for taking us in and providing a place to stay off the police radar.”
Elias wondered just how off the radar they were. A time or two when they were in and out of the cabin, he thought he’d seen some of Red Rock’s finest in the shadows. Did they know what was going on? Were they in on it, or were they hoping to catch Dutch and his crew with their hands dirty?
“Of course I’d help. Elias is my cousin. Blood is thicker than water, right?”
“And yet you didn’t tell Elias who you were. The change is dramatic.”
A shrug from Dutch. “Maybe E has a faulty memory, or he’s not as smart as he’s cracked up to be.”
Elias rolled his eyes. “You’re playing games again, Dutch. We don’t have time for games.”
“Who says I’m playing, cuz?”
He stilled. Not good. His cousin hadn’t minded stretching the truth when they interacted. Most of what he said was true, but which part was a lie?
“If you want our help, tell us what we need to know,” Seth said.
“If not, you’re on your own. I’m not taking my people into a dangerous situation without knowledge.
That’s how we lost too many friends and brothers in the Sand Box.
If the situation was reversed and I was the one in need of security help, would you risk your own men’s lives without asking for details? ”
Blackthorn’s leader held Seth’s gaze for a long moment. “Fair enough. I can give some details, but not everything. You understand? Not all of this is my decision to make, and I can’t tell you what the cargo is, so don’t ask. What do you need to know?”
“Where is this security gig going down?”
Dutch gave a wry laugh. “You asked the one question to which I don’t have an answer.”
Seth’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have a place for the exchange?”
“I had one. Now, I don’t.”
“You were supposed to use a building on Merriweather’s property.”
“How did you guess?”
“You and the farmer were friends. It makes sense that you would ask to use one of his barns or a large outlying building for the exchange.”
“Yeah, that was the plan. I’m thinking about holding the exchange where we originally planned. Merriweather’s place is out in the boonies. The cops don’t patrol out there.”
“You seem friendly with the local law enforcement.”
Something came and went so fast Elias almost missed it. Almost. Satisfaction filled his cousin’s eyes. So, the local cops were in Dutch’s pocket. Looked like Echo and Artemis were lucky to still be on this side of the pokey.
“Never pays to be on the law’s bad side.” Dutch grinned. “You ought to know since you used to be cops.”
“The keywords in that sentence are ‘used to be.’ We aren’t police officers anymore.”
“The people we’re dealing with can smell a cop a mile away. Although you might not work for law enforcement now, you’re so new in the outside world they’ll smell you coming. You look and act like a mixture of cops and federal agents of some variety.”
Elias scowled. “If we look and smell like the police, why would you take a chance on your business deal falling through by hiring us as extra security?”
“I need expendable bodies. You fit the bill. So, are you still interested in the security job, Seth?”
“Only if we set up and run the security for this deal.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“I don’t trust anyone who isn’t a member of my team, and that includes you and every member of your MC.”
The enforcers looked uneasy. “Orders, sir?”
Dutch raised his hand and silenced his men. “I respect that. I’ll tell you the location of the exchange.” He sneered. “To ensure we don’t have any unpleasant surprises, one of your women will stay in our clubhouse with five of my men as a guarantee of your good behavior.”
“No.”
“What’s the problem here, Seth? You say you want to help, but I’m thinking you’re telling me a tall tale since we can’t come to an agreement. If we can’t agree, the man I answer to won’t allow you to take part, and we’ll handle security ourselves.”
“Is that what you want?” Elias glared at his cousin. He was jerking them around and enjoying every minute.
“I want my partner to be happy. He wanted you and your friends to be part of this deal. If you’re not, I’m the one left holding the bag. So, no, I don’t want that to be how this goes.”
“Who is your partner?”
Dutch waggled his finger at Elias. “Nope. That isn’t a piece of information you can know.”
Seth gave a subtle hand signal.
No way. Elias scowled at his team leader.
He wasn’t backing off. His cousin had insinuated that he’d take Iona as a hostage.
That wouldn’t happen on his watch unless it was over his dead body.
Iona was his, and he would never put her life at risk for a man he knew to be a liar and a cheat.
Dutch didn’t take care of anything or anyone as well as he did his own hide.
Seth’s hard stare showed exactly what he thought of Elias’ stand.
Tough. He’d take the chewing out coming when the Blackthorn Riders were gone, but no way was he throwing Iona to Dutch’s wolves.
Yeah, he knew his woman could take care of herself, but she shouldn’t have to do it when he was around. He wanted to do the job himself.
“You know none of us will let one of our women be your hostage. The other four men are married to their Old Ladies.”
“Well, that leaves your woman, doesn’t it?”
“Nope. She won’t be your bargaining chip.”
“She will if she wants you to live out the night.”