8. Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Joker
“Morning, sunshine,” I say into the phone.
“Morning, asshole,” Nate replies.
“Aren’t you a big ball of sunshine this morning?”
“Fuck off. I got news.”
“News?”
“We have a name for the mystery woman.”
“Mystery woman?”
“Are you just going to fucking repeat everything I say, or are you going to shut up and listen?”
“Shutting up.” I can’t help my smile. Fucking with him is so easy. “Good news or bad?”
“Haven’t decided yet. Her name is Kara Smith. Mean anything to you?”
“Nope, can’t say that it does.”
“There’s probably a reason for that. As far as we can tell, she didn’t exist before two years ago.”
“How’s that possible?”
“I don’t know. You’re the fucking genius. Figure it out and tell me.”
“Well, it’s not a real name for starters. That would be my first guess.”
“Uh-huh. Give me more.”
“I’d say it means she has something to hide.”
“Right, but what?” This is where Nate and I work so well together. He knows I have to think it through and he prompts me with the questions to get me there.
“So, this name just happens to appear about the same time we started trailing the idiot asshole. Like she knows we were trailing her too. Which means we aren’t as good as we think we are, or there’s someone on the inside who’s feeding her information.”
“Which way you leaning?”
“I’m leaning toward Ranger wasn’t as careful as he thought he was before we picked up the trail and he got made. And once he was made, even after we took over, the belief is that someone was still following. But does she think we are following her or him?”
“And does that change her behavior and choices?”
“Right. If she wasn’t worried about anything, she wouldn’t have created this alias. So, that’s even more evidence that she has something to hide.”
“Thoughts?”
“Maybe we need to turn our focus on her instead of him? Because I have to be honest, man, I’m tired of following him.”
“Of course you are. Now that you aren’t worried about what he’s doing to your girl.”
“She’s not my girl.”
“Yeah, okay.”
We go through this every single time we talk. “She’s not.”
“If you say so.”
“I do. Can we move on now?”
“Sure, what’s the plan?”
“We need some guys to look into where she came from, what this name has under it, where she sprouted from.”
“Already on it. And this is where you come in.”
“Lay it on me,” I tell him, my interest piqued.
“The only thing we can find so far is that she’s got a place in Rockton.”
“Rockton? That close? Then why all the secrecy and dinners in Rock Hill?”
“Good question. I have a theory that she’s somehow connected to all the shit that went down that your friend Davis was a part of.”
“You think she’s somehow connected to the Pavlov family?”
“Or the bikers.”
And now it’s starting to make sense. “You want me to call Davis to find out how our friend Drago is doing?”
“Seems like a plan to me. See, this is why we keep you around. You’re good at this shit.”
“I’m good at everything, fucker. Is this all we have?”
“It’s more than we had yesterday, but yeah, it’s all we got.”
“What about the fucker?”
“You mean your girl’s ex?” I can hear his smile.
“Remind me to punch you next time I see you.”
He laughs, both of us knowing it’s our way of showing respect and love to each other. “Well, if he was cheating on her when they were together, we didn’t know. But he’s making his rounds now, that’s for sure.”
“I’ve seen. Ginny seems to have missed it all, but he’s not being discreet in front of the rest of us, and there isn’t enough fucking bleach to wash my brain of those images.”
“Summer’s going to end though, and she won’t be able to avoid him then, will she?”
“I’d say probably not. And I know she’s worried about that. She doesn’t want him to cause her to lose her job.”
“Joker, friend to friend here. When are you going to admit your feelings for this girl? It’s eating you up, man.”
“I’m her friend. That’s all I am, and all I can be right now.” It doesn’t matter what I want. And I’ll tell myself that as long as I have to until I believe it. “Look, I’ll call Davis and see if he’s up for a ride. Not sure how much info his friend will willingly give him. He was only there like a week.”
“Worth a shot. We have to start somewhere. Your gut hasn’t been wrong yet, and I also think there’s something here. Let me know what you find out.”
I hung up with Nate two hours ago. Davis, Ranger, and I sit outside the bar in Rockton that used to be ran by the biggest drug runner up and down the range. His son took it over, and as far as I know, there’re no more drugs running through those doors.
Davis looks at me, the tired look of a new dad dragging down his features. “So, while I appreciate the break, why do we need to be here?”
“We need to know if he’s seen someone,” I tell both of them.
“Does this someone have a name?” Davis asks.
“Ranger knows her as a plain woman eating tacos with Keith. We’ve come up with the name Kara Smith.”
“Kara Smith? Isn’t that kind of—”
“Normal? Plain? Simple?” I interrupt him to finish.
“Something like that.”
“Almost too normal, plain, and simple, isn’t it?” I ask, raising my brow.
“Do you have a picture of this ‘normal, plain, and simple’ woman?” Davis inquires.
“Working on it.”
“So you want me to go talk to the man whose dad I helped put in prison to see if he’ll help us find a woman you know nothing about other than a name and maybe a picture at some point today?”
“Basically.” I shrug. “Let’s go.”
“Fucker. I need to start asking more questions before agreeing to anything.”
“Probably, but I do have pictures of her,” Ranger helpfully tells him. “They aren’t great, but hopefully good enough to get a recognition.”
“Well, let’s go.”
“What a fucking waste of time,” I growl as we leave the bar less than an hour after arriving.
“You knew it was a long shot,” Ranger reminds me.
“And he said he’d start keeping an eye out,” Davis adds.
“I guess that’s something. Would suck to have to start surveillance here on top of everything else.”
“It would take you away from my sister. Wouldn’t want that.” Davis gives me a shit-eating grin.
“We’re friends.”
“You were friends before the wedding. What you’ve been since you came back is something different.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Look, let’s cut the shit, can we? Everyone is aware of your infatuation with my sister. Well, everyone but my sister. So, what’s your plan? How are you going to get the girl?”
“Just so we’re clear. You’re good with a relationship between your sister and me? Isn’t that like supposed to be a no-no or something?”
“Only in those books you all keep reading when you visit us. I’d be overjoyed to know my sister was with a man like you.”
I stare at Davis, not sure how to describe what I’m feeling. I’ve never had someone give me their blessing. And her brother? One of my best friends? This is just too much for me to process right now.
“I think you made the man speechless,” Ranger says, trying to bring some levity to the heavy emotions in the air.
“He is a man of few words, usually, but this is extra quiet,” Davis agrees, grinning.
I roll my eyes at the two men making fun of me. If they weren’t so special to me, I’d punch them. Or something.
“Whatever, assholes. As for Ginny, if there’s ever anything to happen, it’ll be on her timeline, her terms. I’m not sure she’s ready to move on. I don’t know how long it takes to get past what she went through.”
“And what exactly did she go through?” Davis narrows his eyes at me. “What do you know?”
“I know that if you had paid attention at all, you’d have seen her close up and shutdown. She changed during her time with him, and not in a healthy way. He convinced her she wasn’t good enough, man. And with her past? It was the validation she needed to accept the bare minimum in life.”
“Then it’s your job to make sure she never accepts that again.”
“Working on it.”
“Good. And I’ll keep calling you whenever she thinks she’s sneaking out of the house to come hang out at the bar.”
“You and your dad are terrifying when you work together, you know that, right?”
“What can I say? I guess naming my kid after him broke something in the man. He likes me again.”
I look at Davis. There’s joy behind the words. He’s happy that his dad is talking to him again, even if it’s scheming behind Ginny’s back. I’m not going to bust his bubble. “I’m glad you all are talking. You deserve it.”
“Oh, and if you ever hurt her or make her cry, I’ll kill you.”
“There it is,” I laugh. “It’s official. I’ve had my life threatened by the brother.”
“Guess it’s meant to be.” Ranger slaps me on the back. “Let’s go.”
We head back to Boulder Canyon. No new news on the mystery woman or what her game is, but permission to officially make Ginny mine? Not a total waste of a day. Not at all.