Chapter Eleven
Moose
“ W ait, wait, wait. So the safe wasn’t taken. It was opened and the money was missing?”
Deadeye nodded. “So whoever is trying to move in on our territory somehow has the code. Question is who would know the code?”
I looked at Wrench.
“Only the guys who work here. Me, Moose, Lucky, Diesel. Oh, and Loot. Those are the ones who have a reason to know it. Whether someone was snooping around and managed to find it out, I don’t know.”
Lucky, Diesel and I were all mechanics at Rust Valley and Loot was the Treasurer for the MC.
“Can we watch the surveillance footage again?” I asked.
Wrench pulled it up on the laptop and we watched the grainy, black and white video again.
The cameras were only around the outside perimeter.
He slowed the video down during the only place where the men were close enough to the cameras for us to get a decent look.
They were dressed all in black with ski masks over their faces.
One was almost a foot taller than the other, but that was the only thing that set them apart.
“No visible tattoos. These cameras are shit,” Wrench said, considering the footage again.
“Wait, that guy in the back. He’s chewing his nails like he’s starving. I hate that. Who do I know who used to do that?” Diesel asked.
“Crash,” I said as I realized what I was seeing. “Remember him? He was a Prospect, what? Two, three years ago. Pledged with his friend, Jinx. They didn’t make it in. Fought too much, didn’t follow orders. They were just immature jackasses with no loyalty.”
“Fuck, you think that’s them?” Wrench asked.
“Crash was really short compared to Jinx and chewed his nails like crazy. Plus whoever broke in had the code. They could have gotten that when they were Prospects.” Diesel said with a shrug.
“Good enough for me,” Deadeye said. We all looked at the screen for a few minutes. “We better run this up to Prez.”
Deadeye headed back to the clubhouse, aka the Black Crown, to talk to Prez and after a minute’s hesitation, I followed him. This was above my place in the club, but if it involved Hannah, it involved me.
When we arrived, Deadeye and I went into Prez’s office and told him the whole story.
“Crash. Fuck, I knew that guy was a pain in the ass. Hang on.” Prez pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contacts before hitting a button and putting the phone on the table. “Still got his number from when he was a Prospect. Let’s see if he picks up.”
“The fuck are you doing calling me?” The very agitated voice of Crash filled the office.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t after what you fucks have been up to?”
I bit my lip to keep from smirking. Prez was baiting him. We didn’t know for sure that he’d done a damn thing.
“Surprised you and your do-gooder club figured it out. The Sons of Decimation are taking over this town. There’ll be a hell of a lot less charity rides and a hell of a lot more fun. I’m talking drugs, weapons and women. Once I get my dogs back from you fuck heads to fund the whole thing.”
“What kind of coward ass name is Sons of Decimation? You come up with that name in your mom’s basement?”
I snorted, but my teeth were still on edge.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he sneered.
“What I’d like, is for you and your band of fuck faces to leave my town. Or is Sons of Decimation just you and your right hand?”
He snarled. “I got more guys with more balls than the Savage Kings.”
“So you’re telling me your Prez green lit you to attack the Kings? Does he have a death wish?”
“This is personal. Convince that little bitch to give me my dogs back, or you won’t like what happens.”
“Threaten my old lady again and I’ll kill you, you slimy fuck,” I shot out of my chair and Prez raised a hand for me to stop.
Crash’s laughter came through the phone. “Is that Moose? So, the bitch in pink doesn’t just save dogs. She fucks them too, huh? Figures.”
“You’re dead, Crash, you hear me?”
Deadeye grabbed my arm and guided me out of Prez’s office as I continued to yell every thing I wanted to do to that fucker.
Deadeye led me over to the bar. “Get him a beer and don’t let him leave,” he instructed the bartender, who eyed me and gave Deadeye a little salute.
A beer was put in front of me and I grunted my thanks, stewing over everything Crash had said while I waited on orders.
A half hour later after the executives had made a plan, we were all called in and they caught everyone up on what was going on.
The VP, Savior, started barking orders. “Loot, see if you can sweet talk that pretty little thing from the PD dispatch into giving you the address where the dogs were taken from. Odds are the Sons of Douchebags have moved on, but worth a shot.”
Loot was the club’s Treasurer, but he was the only one of us who could pass for a decent human being. He had that All-American boy next door thing going, where the rest of us looked like we’d just come out of lockup.
“Thief, Hawk, now that we have a name, ask around the usual crowd at the Crown. See if anyone’s seen them. Moose, stick with your old lady, but be ready to be replaced by the Prospects if shit hits the fan.”
With all the tension in the air, I headed back to Snuggle Squad. Despite all the shit going down, I got to spend the day with Hannah and her menagerie of animals. It was a spot of sun on an otherwise shit storm of a life. She was tense, of course she was, but she kept it together.
“You doing alright, Doc?” I rubbed a hand over her shoulder as she updated a file on a cat with stitches on its side.
She blew out a breath. “The animals can tell if I’m tense so I had to learn a long time ago to keep calm under pressure. This is a different kind of pressure than saving a dog who’s choking on a pair of underwear, but the skill still comes in handy.”
“What else do you have to get done today?”
She glanced around. “Everyone is fed, watered and cleaned. The pups and Daisy could do with some time outside. Assuming that is okay with my security detail?”
I couldn’t see the harm so, with four puppies dancing around our feet and one weary looking Daisy, we headed to the fenced in yard behind her rescue.
This was the first time I had been back here in the daylight.
I whistled. “Damn Doc, your animals play area is nicer than most parks.” This area had just been trees and dirt the last time I had bothered to pay any attention to it.
Now there was sod laid, toys everywhere. Puppy heaven.
She laughed. “Nothing but the best for these little sweethearts.”
“How’d you afford all this anyway? You secretly the heiress to the throne of a small country or something?”
She laughed. “Nothing like that. After I finished my Doctorate, I opened a small practice. My staff and I had a lottery pool, you know, just for fun. I can’t tell you how shocked I was when we won.”
“You won the lottery? And you used the money to build a sanctuary for fucking Peaches?”
She snorted. “Something like that. I sold my practice, planning to travel around and volunteer but realized there were plenty of animals to help at home so I built Snuggle Squad.”
The girl was a saint. What the hell was she doing with me?
“That is unreal.” One of the pups came over and plunked its little butt on my boot. “What do you want?” I smiled despite the fact that the motion wasn’t one my lips tended to make.
“You ever had a dog before?” Hannah asked.
I shook my head. “My brother, Asher, and I were half feral as it was. Not to mention, barely scrapping by. Didn’t have the money to feed another mouth.
” Our parents were addicted to whatever they could get their hands on when we were young.
I figured out how to cook, clean and most importantly, steal before I was out of the first grade. Asher was my number one priority.
“I’m sorry you had to grow up like that. Where is your brother now?”
“He lives in Springwood, in Canada where I grew up. He owns his own mechanic shop.”
“Are your parents still around?”
I shrugged. I hated talking about them. “Mom took off when I was five. Dad was arrested for drug possession when I was nine. Haven’t seen either one of them since.”
“You did a good job raising your brother.”
“He’s a good kid, but I guess I did something right.”
“You did.” She gave me a hug. “When did you leave Canada?”
“I aged out of foster care when I was eighteen, then stuck around until Asher could fend for himself. I bounced around from place to place until I met Nomad. He used to be part of the Savage Kings. Now he is more of a go-between for different clubs. His old lady, Reyna, mellowed him out. He recruited me and I liked the guys enough to stay.”
She slid an arm around my waist. “Well, I think after the life you’ve lived you deserve a fluffy little friend. By the time you leave today you are going to want to adopt all five of these sweethearts and Peaches, too.”
She grabbed a length of rope with a bunch of knots tied in it and sat down in the dirt, waving the toy in front of the pack of pups.
They were on her in a second, biting at the toy, nipping at each other’s ears and climbing all over Hannah.
She laughed as Squirt climbed her chest, nipping and licking at her chin.
These creatures had had a shitty life and in a matter of days, Hannah had them literally eating out of the palm of her hand. Daisy stayed nervously off to one side.
“What’s with the big one?”
Hannah glanced over at her and her eyes grew weary. “I would imagine her previous owners weren’t very nice. She is probably nervous around men since they were the ones she was taken from. Here,” she patted the ground next to her, not to call the dog over but to call me.
“I’m not exactly house trained, Doc, but I could learn to come when you call.”
Her cheeks flushed pink. “Noted, now sit.” I did as she instructed, realizing that she had me eating out of her hand as much as the pups.
“Daisy needs to learn that you are not a threat, that not all people will treat her the way those awful men did. It’ll take time. The best thing to do is give her space, and let her come to you. Here.” She handed me a dog bone shaped cookie in a weird shade of dark green. I took it from her.
“Now what?”
“Hold it out towards Daisy. Don’t be offended if she doesn’t take it. This is only day one of socializing her with a man. It was a male officer who saved her from that house so with any luck, she can learn to trust and find an amazing home.”
She took my hand in hers and guided me until my hand was flat on the ground with the cookie in it. Daisy sniffed the air, but didn’t make any move towards me. “Stay perfectly still.”
I did as instructed and just when I was starting to think Daisy might take a step forward, all four pups descended on the treat and I was swamped. The next thing I knew I was on my back at the bottom of a puppy pile.
Hannah laughed, so I grabbed her around the waist and added her to the mix.
She riled up the pups, scratching their ears and rubbing their bellies all while lying on top of me.
As Hallmark as this moment was, having her writhing around while her hips were pressed against mine was bringing up memories of being in her bed and what we would have done if my fucking phone hadn’t rang.
The cookie was long gone and the pups were once again focused on the rope toy. I grabbed it and threw it across the lawn. As soon as the pups had run after it, I grabbed Hannah around the waist and rolled us until she was under me.
The laughter on her lips died, and she bit her lip as she looked up at me. We were both covered in grass and probably other things I didn’t want to think about.
It didn’t matter. I’d do anything for this girl.