Chapter 28
Five hours after they left the safe house, the large group was now sitting down at a restaurant and ordering food. They had a day of laughter while getting the three men ready for what they had hoped would be a successful mission.
After ordering their lunches, they all kept their conversation going over the most mundane things. No one wanted to talk about the mission in case there were ears nearby that would recognize them if they went to the club.
“So, since no one else is going to ask, I’m going to.” Showalter quipped, looking over at York. “I noticed that stick got taken out of your ass this morning. That mean you two finally put us all out of our misery and fuck?”
“Fuck you!” York gripped. “No, we haven’t had sex nor are we sleeping together. He’s my partner for this and that’s it. Yes, if the need comes, we can make it look like we’re intimate.”
“Ok, now I’m going to have to ask, if you’re not fucking, then why are you riding bitch on the back of his bike. I can understand Diesel on the back of mine and Pratt on Highlander’s. But you rode with Jacko.” Viper asked, staring his best friend down.
“Saving the planet.” Jacko responded, shifting restlessly in his seat, not looking at anyone.
“Do we need to have the birds and bees’ conversation. You two fucking would save the planet too.” Pratt pointed out, before taking a drink of her water.
“Sorry but Jacko nor I are the type for one-night stands.” York commented, shifting in her seat, not staring at her friends.
“Since when?” The entire table asked at the same time.
“If you’re not attracted to each other just say it. If I need to, I can get Kermit out here or Houston.” Viper advised the two before squinting his eyes as he witnessed Jacko sneak a peek at York, who was blushing.
Diesel started a soft chuckle. “They are into each other but afraid to follow through with it. They are afraid this assignment is why they have that attraction and are fighting it instead of finding out if it could be the real deal.”
“Chickenshits!” Pratt and Showalter muttered at the same time Diesel did, causing the three women to laugh and touch their noses. Viper and Highlander just shook their heads at Jacko and the women’s silliness.
“I’m not going to fuck her because you two are pressuring us.” Jacko gritted out at the group.
“Dude! That’s not what we’re doing. We’re letting off steam because we’re all nervous as fuck. You two are our focal points. York used to give as good as she got in the past which tells us a lot.” Pratt answered, glaring at York before sticking her tongue out at her.
“And what’s that lass?” Highlander asked, pulling her towards him to kiss the side of her head.
“That Peppermint Patty here is afraid that her attraction to Jacko is one sided and that he’s only doing this because Viper asked him to do it instead of him wanting to do it. She thinks he likes Showalter and is considering asking for the trade out.” Diesel answered for Pratt when she realized the look that York had on her face as she snuck looks between Jacko and Showalter.
“No offense, but Jacko doesn’t do it for me. I have a certain type I am interested in, and he just doesn’t get the kitty purring if you know what I mean.” Showalter stated, reaching over to touch York’s hand. “And hon, he is very interested in you. When he thinks no one is looking, he watches you. Yeah, I’m saying this in front of him and fuck this sounds like high school right now. After this, I’m kicking your ass if you make me feel like we’re in high school again, but you’re good enough for a man like him. That last asshole you dated did a number on you and I want to kick his ass.”
“Um what the hell are you talking about?” Pratt asked, sitting straight in her seat at the same time Diesel did leaning forward, their elbows on the table.
“Shit! You didn’t tell them what that Darren fucker did to you did you?” Showalter sighed as she leaned forward, copying Diesel and Pratt’s position on the table.
“No!” Diesel growled, glaring at York across the table.
“The man whore, and I say that loosely, cheated on her several times and then told her she was imagining things. When she caught him personally, TWICE. The second time she caught him with Sampson from Charlie Team.”
“Son of a bitch” Diesel and Pratt huffed simultaneously.
“Are you talking about Darren Hardsel?” Jacko asked, confusion evident in his voice.
“Yeah” York said softly, shrugging her shoulders. “At first things were great. He was at the apartment when he wasn’t on shift. Fixed dinner, even helped with shit around the apartment. We’d been together a couple of weeks when he changed. He suddenly started doing things with the guys, or so he said. First time I caught him he was with some chick from the club I found him at. He claimed I was overreacting and that he was just helping the girl get home. The chick said some not so nice stuff. Same with Sampson. I wound up clocking her pretty good when she started running her mouth.
“Holy shit! That’s when you got suspended for the day?” Diesel asked, a memory coming into play at the statement.
“Yeah. When the captain found out what had happened…Sampson ran to her and lied about what really happened. She couldn’t help but laugh and told me just for the punch I was suspended for the day. Sampson got a week for lying about what had happened. When IA started to get involved, she backed off. Turns out she knew me and Darren were dating and did it on purpose because she had been chasing after him for months.” York admitted to her friends.
“That bitch!” Pratt spat, smacking the table causing York to jump.
“Oh, I’m so going to fuck with her when we get back.” Diesel rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “No one does that shit to one of my girls.”
“You’re the chick the guys in the department felt sorry for.” Jacko mumbled as realization dawned on him exactly who York was.
“What do you mean felt sorry for?” Showalter asked, glaring at Jacko.
Viper couldn’t help but mutter a string of curse words at Jacko’s statement. “Renee, when was the last time you saw Darren?”
“Three months ago. He stormed into the apartment and started screaming at me…”
“Wait, three months ago you were out of work for two weeks…” Diesel trailed off trying to figure out what happened.
“He assaulted her put her in the hospital for two days. I found her when I stopped by her apartment on the way up to mine. I called the captain and an ambulance. She begged me not to tell you guys. She promised me she would tell you guys when things calmed down because she didn’t want you guys going to jail for murder.” Showalter ousted York.
“Wait, doesn’t this Darren fucker work with my brother?” Pratt realized, pulling her phone out, dialing her brother’s number.
Viper reached over and pulled Pratt’s phone out of her hand, disconnected the call and handed it to Highlander who was getting ready to say something. “He’s been dealt with. He’s currently in jail awaiting assault with a deadly weapon charge, attempted homicide and a slew of other charges.”
“You didn’t say anything either.” Diesel accused, upset with Viper, as she pulled away from him.
“I didn’t realize that’s who she was. Jacko and I never saw her.” Viper advised his wife, pulling her back to him.
“They are right. Her name was kept out of the investigation for safety reasons since they don’t know who Darren was working with or for. He was basically a plant for an organization to get heads up or answers to anything pertaining to them. Dom is still trying to figure out who it is. Darren isn’t saying shit to anyone on who his boss is.”
“I don’t think Darren Hardsel is his real name.” York announced to the group.
“Why not?” Jacko asked, his arm going around York, who moved to his side.
“Sampson called him Jetson, not Darren, when I walked up to him.”
“Wait, you said she called him Jetson?” Showalter asked, sitting up straighter.
“Yeah, why?” York asked, looking at Showalter in confusion as she moved away from Jacko when she realized she was leaning into him.
“The case our team is working on has a seller involved with a MC that can no lon…” Showalter stopped and looked over at Diesel her eyes going wide.
“Jetson is part of the Golden Fangs. He’s connected to my brother!” Diesel concluded looking over at Viper, her heart speeding up at the connection.
“Shit, this changes everything. If Darren or Jetson, whatever his fucking name was, is connected to the Golden Fangs then we need to have it looked into. We need to get back to the house, contact Oz and the captain to give them the heads up. This isn’t good.” Pratt seethed as she stood up, the rest of the group following behind her.
“Red is right. We need to get back to the house and do some more research. We need to look at those photos we’ve gotten and see if we can identify some of the players the others have found. Let’s check in with sarge when we get there and see if anyone else is visible or if anything has gone on since we’ve set up.” York agreed, her demeanor changing to the strong woman they all knew and loved.