Chapter 8 Cookies and Contraband
Amelia and Nicki sat on the chairs at the side of the garage together and watched as the guys secured the delivery truck.
Almost three tons of strategically concealed firearms and ammunition, sold off to the Leemans, were ready to go for the first of three transitional deliveries.
The elevator shook from the weight of the final lift.
Trevor instructed Luca and Vinnie where to place the last packages before they secured the truck.
The girls looked at each other with a nervous smile and back at their boyfriends, sharing the same hope: that the delivery across the border will go smoothly and they all come back on Sunday in one piece. No injuries, no arrests.
Trevor ran over and snuck a quick peck on Amelia’s cheek.
She blushed.
“Trevor, focus, guy!” Tyler shouted in frustration.
“Sorry, Alpha,” Trevor replied.
The girls giggled.
Nicki took another one of Amelia’s cookies she had brought in from the café where she worked.
There was a nervous excitement in the air. A hesitancy to pull off a delivery that large. The forced cooperation with the despised Leeman rivals, and the prospect of having these cross-border boys trips come to an end by September. The end of an era. And a large revenue stream.
On the one hand, Nicki was giddy at the fact that Dorien Enterprises was going gun-free. But on the other, it was like a part of their identity was gone, and there was a silent sadness about it.
Even if they did want to retire from the gun trade eventually, and gradually phase out their operation, they wanted to do it on their own terms, on their timeline, not because their rivals stole their territory in a hostile takeover.
It blemished the undefeated reputation that they held for over a decade.
A defeat. The loss of a war.
“I’ll be right back,” Nicki said to Amelia.
She headed to the security portable outside to meet with Cliff and Sasha.
“Hey guys, still no word from Tommy?” she asked, almost expecting the same answer again at this point.
“No, ma’am,” Cliff answered helplessly.
Nicki let out a disappointed sigh. She thought he would definitely be back for the delivery as the guys had also expected. But he was gone for the second week now and there was no sign or word from him. Other than his letter.
Nicki’s eyes darted over to a small suitcase in the corner. “Whose is that?” she asked curiously.
“It’s mine, for the weekend,” Sasha replied.
“Oh, that’s nice, where are you going?” Nicki asked excitedly.
Sasha looked at her, puzzled. “Uh, to the boss’s house?”
There was an awkward silence.
Cliff stretched his lower jaw out and took a sip from his empty coffee mug.
“Uh, Mr. Dorien told me that I will be staying in the guest bedroom for the weekend, while he is away in Vancouver. To stay with you, Miss,” Sasha explained delicately.
A flood of feelings rushed through Nicki.
“No, no, Sasha. There must have been some sort of misunderstanding. I get the need to attend different places with me, OK, even that was a stretch. But not to stay with me overnight! That’s ridiculous! Please take the weekend off. Really.”
Nicki’s confidence took a hit with Sasha’s unmoved face and silent refusal.
“I’m sorry, Miss Nicki, but I was strictly instructed by Mr. Dorien to stay the entire weekend with you and to not let you out of my sight. Within reason of course, I won’t follow you around the house! I’ll keep to myself but Mr. Dorien said you are not to stay home alone overnight.”
Nicki held her unimpressed look longer.
“Sasha, I know you are very dedicated to Mr. Dorien, and I appreciate your loyalty to him, but I’m about to speak to him right now about this and we will get this all sorted out,” Nicki said, putting both of her hands on his wide shoulders and gave him a little wink.
She loved Sasha and his protection services, but having him sleep over in the guest bedroom while Tyler was away was obviously an absurdity.
Nicki stomped back into the garage just as the truck door was being sealed.
Tyler patted the guys on the back in his approval. “We’re rolling out in one hour, boys!” he announced.
The crew dispersed right after helping themselves to more of Amelia’s chocolate-chip cookies.
Trevor took Amelia’s hand and finally got to kiss her as they walked out of the garage.
Tyler smiled at Nicki as she returned and picked her up with a half spin.
“Um, honey, when were you going to tell me about a man, other than you, sleeping in your house for the weekend, practically with me?” Nicki asked as lightly as she could.
“Oh, that. Yeah,” Tyler said, nodding his head. “Um, right now?”
“Oh, really? Cause Sasha is all packed for his weekend away! Tyler, honestly, don’t you think this is a little overboard?”
Tyler released her back down. “No. I don’t.
Baby, there is nothing to discuss here. I’m not going to even be in the country, not any of us are!
If the Leemans start poking around, this is where they’re going to start.
There’s no way you are staying home alone while I’m gone.
There’s just no chance,” Tyler explained before kissing her on the lips.
She did not respond in kind.
“No, Tyler, I’ll be fine! There’s alarm systems and cameras everywhere, please! Don’t make me do this. I love Sasha, and I feel safer that he goes everywhere with me, but this is too much!” Nicki pleaded.
“No. I’m sorry, baby, but no. Sasha stays with you and that’s it. I can’t worry when I’m out there on the border, baby, I have enough stress,” Tyler said definitively. His face was serious and he looked down at her with a helpless sorrow in his eyes.
She hesitated.
“Well… what if I stay here all weekend? At the Compound? As in sleep in your office bedroom?” she asked. “And, I’ll have Boon sleeping in the bedroom with me,” she offered to sweeten the deal before the sale.
Tyler shook his head. “Wow, you’re stubborn, eh? But I like that idea actually. More security, more cameras, and Sasha sleeps on the living room couch inside. Or no deal.”
“Fine,” Nicki agreed hesitatingly. “Hey, have you heard from Tommy at all?”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “No, and fuck him. He’s selfish for not showing up today.”
“But aren’t you worried about him? It’s been two weeks and we don’t know where he is! Just that he is somewhere in California.”
“So what? We don’t need him. He’ll be back, don’t worry,” Tyler said and kissed her again on the lips. This time, Nicki caved and kissed him back.
“That’s what I thought,” Tyler whispered and grabbed her tighter and tickled her waist.
Nicki giggled and tried to pull away.
“Where do you think you’re going, huh? Trying to get away from me? You know you can’t run from me,” he added.
Nicki giggled louder at his tickling.
“Please text me when you’re there, after it’s all done, OK?” Nicki asked.
“I will, baby,” Tyler said and patted Nicki on her bum playfully.
“I love you,” he whispered into her ear.
“I love you too, honey,” she replied.
They kissed under the fluorescent garage lamp shades.
A little while later, after a cup of Nicki’s famous coffee and Amelia’s delicious cookies, the crew hit the road in a three-truck motorcade; enroute to Canada to deliver three tons of assault rifles and ammunition, dressed up as pistons and crankshafts.