Chapter 21
Cleaning Up the Town
Tessa
Meanwhile…
I panicked when I was told that Bronson planned to burn down my home or shop. I was frazzled and stunned that anyone could be so cruel as to eliminate everything I worked for just because I chose not to participate in his illegal schemes.
I knew I couldn’t be at both places at once and was determined to stay at the shop in the hope that if they chose to strike, they’d be deterred when they saw the lights on. Probably not, though.
Imagine my surprise when half the business owners in town showed up at my door.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
Don speaks up for the crowd. “We need to stop being bullied. Sasha called and told us what Bronson has planned. We’re here to make sure the son of bitch doesn’t get away with it.”
Clara adds, “Sasha alerted the phone tree.” She scans the people who have come to help. “We’ve had enough. Standing together makes us stronger and sends a message.”
I can’t help but get emotional. The thought of all these people coming to my rescue is overwhelming. Most don’t even know me, and yet here they are.
“I don’t know what to say.” My throat is clogged with emotion.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Don takes the lead and disperses the crowd into smaller groups as they set up a perimeter, securing the store from all directions.
“Maybe I should go to the house, then,” I say to Etain and Sasha.
“No need. Liz has that covered,” Sasha returns.
“Liz?”
“Well, not on her own,” Sasha says with a giggle.
“The town’s decided to step up and stop being afraid of Bronson and his gang. Liz is with Dina and a dozen others. Plus, the entire neighborhood is on watch. They want the town cleaned up from people like Bronson,” Etain says.
They’re taking a huge risk. Bronson could direct his anger toward any one of these people, and he doesn’t play fair. I begin to feel guilty for putting them in danger.
Obviously, I should never play poker, because my expression says exactly what I’m thinking, and Clara calls me out on it.
“Enough,” she says. “You’d be the first person to step up and assist any one of us.
Whether it be watching the shop, or visiting to check in on us.
I know as well as I know my own name that you’re the woman who would go above and beyond to make sure we’re okay.
So, enough of those crazy thoughts in your head.
We’re here. We’re staying until we get the all clear from Hawk or Motown. ”
It isn’t until much later that I notice that Ruth isn’t anywhere to be seen. I ask Sasha if she’s at the house by any chance.
“Let me check.” Sasha proceeds to make calls to see where Ruth might be. Her frown says that something is amiss. “No one’s seen her.”
“Oh God!” I gasp. I rush outside and look down the street. The lights of the bar are on and lots of people are going in and out. It could be that she’s behind the bar, as always, serving customers, but my gut says otherwise. As I make a beeline for Ruth’s place, Tacitus takes hold of my upper arm.
“Hold up. Where do you think you’re going?”
“Ruth’s not here. She’s not anywhere. I’ve got to go check on her,” I say, trying to get out of his grip.
“You can’t go running over there without backup,” Tacitus insists, refusing to let go. “Joe,” he calls out to one of the younger guys. “Come along with me. We’re checking on Ruth.”
“Sure thing,” Joe replies. Joe’s the second-generation owner of the sports equipment and athletic wear store.
He’s a big guy and played major league baseball for a couple of years until he blew out his knee.
You’d think he’d be bitter about it, but instead, he settled into life back in his hometown, married his high school sweetheart, and will soon be a father.
We walk down the street, Tacitus staying close. When we go inside, the place is buzzing with patrons. The bar is lined with people. Servers are busy taking orders, and the bartender is too busy mixing drinks to even notice us.
Tacitus walks up to the bartender and gets his attention. “Where’s Ruth?” he asks.
The bartender scans the room, shrugs, and replies, “She must be in the back. I haven’t seen her in a while.”
Tacitus goes through to the office in the back, with Joe and me following.
“Make the call, bitch, or I’ll kill you right now,” a deep, angry voice shouts.
“Fuck you!” That’s Ruth. “Go ahead, pull the trigger, you piece of shit. It’ll be the last thing you do because my boys, my Riders, will hunt you down like the dog you are and skin you alive.”
I let out an audible gasp and attempt to rush in to save Ruth, but Tacitus claps a hand over my mouth and pulls me back behind him. He puts his fingers over his lips, telling me to be quiet. Then he shoves me back into the bar.
“Stay here with Joe. Count to ten, then call Ruth on her cell. You just keep her talking. I’ll do the rest.” Tacitus turns to Joe. “You keep her out of the way. No matter what happens, keep her safe. Got me?”
“Yes, sir,” Joe answers.
“Ten seconds,” Tacitus reminds me, then walks in the direction we came from.
I’m holding my breath, then Joe starts counting for me. “One. Two…”
“Three, Four.” I count to ten, then dial Ruth. It takes three rings before she picks up. But it’s not her that picks up; it’s a man.
“Ruth is occupied. If you’d like to keep her breathing, I suggest you make your way over to the bar without letting anyone know and come straight into the back office,” the ominous voice says.
“Who are you?”
“You’ll find out when you get here, and I’d hurry if I were you. The longer it takes, the more I take it out on your friend.”
“I want to know she’s okay. I’m not making a move until I hear her voice. I want to talk with her.” I keep talking just like Tacitus asked, hoping I’m stalling enough. Then I hear a crash. I want to run down the hall, but Joe stops me.
“Kick his ass, Tac!” Ruth shouts.
Seconds seem like hours, then we hear, “It’s safe!
” from Tacitus. We race into the room to see a man with long, stringy hair, a horrible handlebar mustache, and piercing black eyes pinned to the floor, with Tacitus holding the man’s arm bent behind him and his knee digging into the man’s back. “Call Motown,” Tacitus orders.
I dial and, at the same time, go to Ruth to hug her tight. “Are you okay?” I whisper.
“Yeah, girl,” she responds, but I don’t believe her because she’s shaking all over.
“Babe, we got him,” Motown exclaims through the receiver.
“Honey, um…we…uh…”
“What’s wrong?” Motown’s tone becomes dangerously calm.
“One of Bronson’s guys got to Ruth. Tacticus has him pinned, but he wants you to come to the bar,” I spit out, sensing the urgency coming from Motown.
“On my way, baby. Gotta let you go so I can concentrate on getting to you quick,” he says gently. Just hearing his voice calms me down.
“Be safe,” I return and let him go.
“Get Ruth out of here, Joe,” Tacitus says. I start to move with them. “Sorry, Tessa, you stay with me.”
“But—”
“You’re my responsibility,” Tacitus interrupts.
“I’m fine,” Ruth speaks up. She grips my hand tightly. “We’ll wait for Motown together.”
You know when Motown arrives because it sounds like a herd of wild elephants crashing through the bar, calling my name.
“I’m here!” I cry out, and run out of the room. I see him coming toward me. I leap into his arms. He engulfs me with his massive arms and kisses the top of my head.
“I love this, baby, but I have to go give Tacitus a hand.” He guides me to the back room, where he sees Ruth. She isn’t the same gruff, no-nonsense, tough old gal she usually is. She looks scared and tired, and much smaller than her usual self.
Motown then looks down at the man still on the ground with Tacitus aiming a gun to his head. Faster than I’ve ever seen him move before, Motown lifts the man off the floor by the neck and slams him against the wall, slowly choking the life out of him.
“You did this to a woman who’s like a mother to me?” Motown says. Obviously, the bad guy can’t speak, or breathe, for that matter, but that doesn’t stop Motown from carrying on. “What did you want, huh? Were you trying to get to my woman? That’s fucked up!”
“Motown, put him down,” Hawk orders. Motown hesitates. “Now!”
“Please, honey,” I beg, tugging on his arm. I don’t want to visit Motown in a prison cell.
Motown drops his hand, and the man crumples to the floor. He no sooner hits the ground than Hawk picks up his phone and calls the police.
Motown
Two in the morning…
We should all be asleep, but the entire club is too wired to go to bed. After the police arrived and we all gave our statements, we brought Ruth back to the compound with us.
The way it all played out, the feds arrived and saw the drugs and Bronson’s men and quickly arrested them for trafficking.
They all pointed the finger at Bronson, who is currently sitting in the underground cell we have below the compound.
The feds can go chasing Bronson if they like, but they won’t even find pieces of him by the time we’re done.
With all the information that was leaked by Orion from the Pride, a full-fledged investigation is being launched into the local police departments to weed out the dirty cops. Five have already been picked up for questioning.
Neither Tessa’s house nor her shop was torched tonight, thanks to the good people of the town.
They stopped letting fear run their lives and took a stand.
The firebugs were caught by Ned and Craig Mathers.
They are two brothers who have an accounting firm in town.
Etain has gotten to know them well since she’s been working on getting her accounting degree and has been in touch with them for advice.
“Look what you did, Tessa. You started something,” I say.
“What did I do?”
“Babe, this town was being terrorized by Bronson and his crew. You stood up for yourself and inspired others to do the same.”
Tessa scans the room. “The Redemption Riders cleaned up this town. Not me.” She shakes her head.
“We only helped.” Hawk answers, “But the real courage came from all those who decided to do something about it.”