Chapter 24
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
Haze
“Never asked you why Sinclair wanted you for the security job at the station,” Sawyer says the next day in the office.
I glance at him. “What’s it to you? It’s a job ain’t it?”
“Yeah, but from what you told me, Willow’s dad hates you.”
I rub my chin. It escaped my mind Sawyer is sometimes an observant little shit, and he was here the day Cameron came for the impromptu meeting in my office. I haven’t heard from him since. Only one text asking if anything had changed, which it hadn’t.
“Hate is such a strong word.”
“Okay, you hate him then.”
I clear my throat. “If you worked as fast as that mouth ran, I’d be able to take the rest of the year off,” I mutter.
“If he worked that fast, we could all take a vacation,” Logan agrees, sitting back in his chair. “Lessen the load.”
Sawyer flips him the bird.
“I’m just sayin’, weird that Cameron Sinclair is bein’ nice to you all of a sudden.” Sawyer just won’t let it drop.
“Didn’t say he was bein’ nice, did I?” I glanced at my brother. “Did those words come out of my mouth?”
“Nope.” He smirks at Sawyer.
“You two take the same grumpy pill this mornin’?” Sawyer shakes his head.
“The more important question is, how are all the updates goin’ from your end?”
He shrugs like it’s nothing. “Business as usual. Kinda.”
I frown. “Kinda?”
“You asked me to update the mainframe security and create a new maintenance schedule.”
I turn my finger around, indicating for him to hurry the fuck up. “And?”
“This clearly has somethin’ to do with Willow. I mean, a protection order?” He whistles low. “Is she in some kind of trouble?”
“We’re bein’ cautious,” I tell him. “Because that’s what you do when somebody you care about has a high-risk job. Any more questions, you little punk? Or do I have to slap you silly to shut that damn mouth up?”
Logan chuckles. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
“It’s just if you need me to do anythin’ else, all you gotta do is ask,” he goes on. “I’m almost done with all the updates.”
I scratch my chin. It would be good to have an extra pair of eyes on the surveillance footage. Rock and Jett have been scouring the tapes, but it’s a slow process. I can only be in so many places at once.
I sigh. “This is between us, and only us, got it?” I thumb behind me. “The girls don’t know shit and we wanna keep it that way.”
Sawyer sighs. “Your secrets are safe with me, and I kinda figured somethin’ is goin’ on with Willow. I do have half a brain in my head.”
“There’s been a serious threat,” I say. “And we’re here to make sure nobody gets close to her. Rock and Jett are lookin’ over surveillance—”
He pouts. “You got the twins to hack in and not me?”
“The less people that know, the better,” I grit, pointing at him. “So you keep your trap shut. That’s an order.”
He signals the Scout’s honor salute. “What does Willow think about it all? Just takin’ it in her stride.”
I take a pause, but it’s long enough to say a thousand words.
“Ah, she doesn’t know.” Sawyer cottons on. “And you wanna keep it that way.”
“Yes,” I bark. “At this point there’s no reason adding more to her plate than she already has. When the time is right, I’ll let her know.”
Logan shakes his head. “You’re fuckin’ crazy, bro. She’s gonna flip when she finds out you lied to her.”
I don’t look at him when I reply, “I wouldn’t call it a lie, more of an intervention for her own good.”
“You’re playin’ with fire, bro,” Logan retorts. “And we all know it.”
“Fuck off.” I don’t need my big brother’s approval how I handle this situation. “I’m doin’ what I know is the best course of action. You don’t have to like it.”
“What have we got so far?” Sawyer says. “Or can I take a lone guess at it?”
“Not much to go on,” I say with a sigh. “This jerk made some crazy ass death threat letters, and they were intercepted by forensics, who informed Cameron—”
“Wow, so the whole department is in on it,” Sawyer pipes up, annoying me further. “That’s gotta suck.”
“Not the whole department,” I say. “As I said, the less who know the better. This will just put Willow into a state of panic, and she has enough stress on her shoulders as it is.”
Logan points at me. “I still think you should fess up. Hidin’ shit from her won’t sit well, and she is gonna find out. She’s not stupid. Then what?”
“I’ll tell her before that.” I’m not letting these two get into my head, but I still start to pace. “I’ve got it figured out, so the two of you can go about your daily business and not worry about me and mine.”
“Little hard not to when we care about Willow, too,” Sawyer adds. “She’s done a lot for this city. People like her because she’s trustworthy. She gets the job done. Not many around here that make promises and stick to them.”
That’s just who Willow is. After last night’s marathon in bed together, I woke up with a new lease on life.
I love waking up with her in my arms. She cussed me out because she slept in, but it was minor details.
I kept reminding her she’s the boss now, but of course, she thinks she has to set an example every single day she shows up.
My girl has a work ethic like nobody else I know, certainly not me, not even close.
“So what did Rock and Jett find so far?” Logan asks, sticking to the subject at hand.
I sigh. “Not a great deal. A delivery person brought the mail in, so we can rule out him hand deliverin’ it, which wouldn’t make sense, but we had to be sure. Weirder things have happened.”
“There are some pretty creepy dudes out there,” Sawyer agrees. “I can do a deep dive into the system. If Sinclair doesn’t even trust his own, then there’s somethin’ to be worried about.”
I nod. “That would be appreciated.”
It’s driving me crazy that we have no leads. Nada. The prospects are still tailing Willow, and Max is on the beat when I’m not around. Nobody is getting to her, I’ll make sure of it, but that uneasy feeling washes over me.
I fill both of them in on what Max told me about Cut City Boys, Brew already knows because I tell him everything, and Sawyer said he’d happily call Star, Nevada’s ol’ lady, who’s a PI to find out any further intel on this Aaron Bolt person and if he has any living relatives.
That was something I should’ve picked up earlier, though Rock said there was no record of death, not that it means he isn’t dead, or any relatives he could find.
But having Star on the case couldn’t hurt.
People change their names all the time, especially with a father who was a serial killer.
We buried a lot of bodies that day, but that doesn’t mean Bolt is dead.
“On it,” Sawyer says. “I’ll find out what I can.”
I give him a nod. “Didn’t tell Sinclair about Bolt,” I say. “Figured he’s got enough on his plate, and if he starts diggin’ up dirt at the station, Willow will get wind and that’ll be super suspicious.”
“You seen him lately?” Logan asks.
“Nah, he’s layin’ low, and I’m sure he hasn’t laid all the cards on the table. He just knows I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure Willow’s safety. That’s the only reason he came to see me.”
Any idiot can see that, but let’s not go around giving Cameron a fucking medal. The decent thing to do is protect your kids at all costs. Even if it means conversing with a man you despise — me.
Brew appears in the doorway. “You all havin’ a meetin’ and I’m not involved?”
I roll my eyes. “Sawyer knows the whole truth,” I say. “He kinda figured most of it out on his own.”
“Not just a pretty face.” Sawyer winks.
Brew rolls his eyes. “Long as you keep your trap shut.”
“My lips are sealed.” He makes a fake zip motion across his mouth.
“We’re fucked,” I mutter.
“I love how much faith you have in me,” he sings. “Tryin’ to keep me in the dark like that? You guys are hilarious.”
He has a point. There isn’t much that gets by Sawyer, and that makes him an excellent person to have around.
“I’ve gotta head over to the station,” I say. “Only got about another week before Willow gets suspicious about why we’re still there.”
“So, is Max crashing with you?” Logan asks, sitting up in his chair.
“For a few weeks, until all this shit is dealt with,” I say. “He knows a lot of people so he could come in handy should anythin’ show up about Bolt.”
“Where were the real Cut City Boys when all this shit was goin’ down,” Brew mutters.
“In jail,” Logan and I say in unison.
He folds his arms across his chest. “Funny but you know what I mean. Mighty convenient we dealt with the fallout and we didn’t even get a visit from any of them.”
“Maybe they were just happy with us takin’ the trash out?” Sawyer suggests. “No point spoilin’ a gunfight when you can reap the rewards after everyone is dead.”
“Would’ve been good to know who we were dealin’ with beforehand,” I state. “But that’s how gang life works. They don’t go around skywritin’ it, and we had no business in Chicago. Riot killed everyone of importance, then after him, Shade finished everyone else off.”
We all shudder at the thought. We got her in the end, because she was no friend of the club. In fact, she sent bullets flying into Muso cafe, wounding some of our brothers.
“I forgot about that fuckin’ Shade bitch,” Brew mutters, which is just like him.
“Oh, speakin’ of shady people,” Sawyer says. “I did some diggin’ on the Wall Street asshole, Connor, I almost forgot.”
We all glance at him at the same time. “And?” I prompt. Why does he always pause for effect? It’s so annoying.
“Aside from a couple of parking tickets and a slight gambling habit, the guy has no priors,” he says. “But I mean, I can fuck with him if you want me to?”
I know it’s a long shot, but I wanted to rule Connor out. Like I say, I don’t trust anyone when it comes to keeping my woman safe.
“Fuck with him how?” Logan asks, intrigued.
Sawyer shrugs. “Petty shit. Routing his mail. Signin’ him up for Suspicious Rashes dot com. Using his credit card to buy flowers for the entire nursing ward, some of those chicks are damn fine.”
“I like that last idea,” I say, remembering the look on his arrogant face when he saw me coming out of Willow’s bathroom. Clearly he doesn’t like me, but is that any reason to be rude? “Do it, and make sure they all get some of those expensive chocolates everyone’s ravin’ about.”
“Dubai chocolate, it has a rich and decadent creamy pistachio filling,” Sawyer informs us, then adds by way of explanation, “It went viral on TikTok.”
“Jesus,” Brew mutters.
I stand ready to blow this popsicle stand because I need to see my woman now.
“I’ll be back in a few,” I say. “Tomorrow we’re installing all new equipment in the primary thoroughfares, so I need all hands on deck.”
“You do know I don’t actually work here,” Logan says, shaking his head.
“Yes, but it’s Willow so you’ll do it anyway,” I chime.
He closes his mouth.
Nobody can deny that Willow means something to all of us. My brothers know what she means to me, and that makes her family for life. We may have had our ups and downs, but that doesn’t make her any less of a Dawson.
We need a breakthrough before any more letters come. Even if it doesn’t appear to be escalating, nobody can be too careful. Least of all, me. I’m her protector, and no matter what happens, I will lay down my life if that’s what it comes to.