Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Mercury
After Orion and Finley leave and head to check on the status of the shop, and start unpacking the delivery that had been dropped off, I take up her mantel and sit by the phone, crossing my fingers that Daniel calls and gives us the go-ahead to come on tribal land.
In the meantime, I’m plotting for us to hit the hidden bunkers we found deep in the mountain ground.
That’ll be happening tonight once night has fallen and we have the stars and moonlight to guide us.
Sutton puts a plate loaded with food in front of me, along with a fresh cup of coffee. “Thanks, Sutton,” I murmur.
“Just because your woman wanted sugary goodness for her breakfast doesn’t mean you need to suffer,” she teases, setting her own plate down.
One by one, the rest of my cousins come and sit down, and soon, we’re eating and joking around as we get ready to face the day. “What do y’all say about heading up close to dusk?” I ask.
“I thought we were going to wait to see if Daniel called back first,” Pisces replies.
“We are waiting for that, of course, but what we found needs to be explored further. I’d like to know if we hid our presence there well enough or not, and whether or not there was any activity last night,” I supply. “It’s not on tribal land, so we have free rein.”
We were able to dismantle the transmitters without messing with the tripwires, which is sure to have gotten at least one of those fuckers out there to nose around to see why things are no longer working.
It’s my hope that they dropped something or maybe even left tracks to another location.
At this point, I could spend all day every day out there seeking the answers we’re looking for, but my cousins aren’t used to doing that, so I’m trying to keep my desire to dig in deep to myself.
“You make a good point,” Gemini slowly says, his head nodding. “Sitting around doing nothing doesn’t sit right with me. We may not have your level of skill as far as tracking goes, Merc, but we’re able to help, I’m sure.”
I scoff because we were all well-trained by our fathers. “I may have more time out in the field, but y’all know what you’re doing.”
“Don’t downplay your skills and knowledge, Mercury,” Aries chides.
“We know you’ve gone through a fuck ton of training that we never did and it’s perfectly okay with all of us.
The good thing about how we were raised is we all have a variety of skills we bring to the table.
That’s going to help us build a club that we can be proud of while also allowing us to stop these assholes. ”
“I wish we could go to the shop and give Orion a hand,” Pisces murmurs.
“Why don’t y’all go? I have to work anyhow so I can listen for the phone,” Sutton suggests.
“Hercules and some of his crew are here preparing the area where the barndominium is being placed, so I’ll let him know to keep an eye on things,” Gemini states. “Let’s go help our cousin realize one of his dreams come true.”
When we roar into the lot, I look through the open bay door and notice that O and Finley are hard at work.
I can see the sweat dripping down their faces from here and decide to send Aries across the way to grab a few water bottles from the convenience store.
But when I glance at him as I shut down my bike, he’s already striding in that direction, having read my mind like we tend to do since we’ve known each other all of our lives.
“He’s like a damn savant,” I joke as the rest of us dismount, toss our helmets on the handlebars, and head into the garage.
“It’s because we know how each other thinks without us having to say anything,” Gemini reasons, shaking his head. “It’s nice at times, during others, not so much.”
“Isn’t that the damn truth,” Pisces utters as we catch Orion and Finley’s attention.
“What are y’all doing here?” Orion asks as he wipes his hands on a shop rag to get rid of the grease.
“What are you playing with that’s got you so greasy?” I inquire as Finley walks over to the sink and washes her hands.
“We were oiling the lift,” she answers, shooting me one of her dick raising smiles.
“What’s with all the boxes that are only halfway unpacked?” Pisces asks as he walks over to one and peers inside. “Fucking hell. That’s a lot of small packages to unwrap.”
“That’s why we set it to the side. It’s going to be boring, tedious work,” Orion grumbles. “I like getting my hands dirty, don’t get me wrong, but they like tinkering with machines, not inventory.”
“You’re such a baby,” Finley teases him.
“Well,” I say, clapping my hands. “Put us to work, tell us what needs to go where and we’ll help y’all out.”
“Speak for yourself, Merc,” Aries grunts as he walks in with a bag full of bottled waters in his hand. “I got enough to supply us for a few hours. Is there a fridge around here somewhere so I can store these and keep them cold?”
“In the break room,” Orion tells him, pointing down a narrow hallway that leads to the back alley. “I just plugged it in this morning once I noticed the paint was dry.”
I make a mental note to order cases of water, the electrolyte drinks that Orion prefers, and their favorite sodas so they’re stocked up and hydrated. Since my woman will be working here, I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure she’s comfortable while she plays with cars and bikes.
As Aries saunters the way he was directed, we notice a rusted car pull up and park. When the engine shuts down, two women step out, mirror images of each other. When Finley gasps and covers her mouth with her hands as she dances in place, I go on alert.
“Paloma!” she shouts as she drops her hands and lets her feet move her forward in a mix of a sprint and the tango.
As she rushes to the woman who stepped out from the driver's side, I glance at Gemini and ask, “Do we know who they are?”
“Nope, not a clue,” he answers. We both take our fight stance.
Arms stubbornly crossed across our chest, our legs wide and our feet planted on the concrete floor.
Once the women break free from their hug, I notice the woman who made Finley do the happy dance introduce her to the other woman.
After those introductions are made, Finley grabs her ‘friends’ hand and drags her over to us.
“Guys! Remember I told you that one of the Blackfeet women helped me once when I was hiking?”
“I recall something about that,” I remark, my eyes still trained on the females. I don’t know them so I’m cautious about how I interact with them here.
Finley narrows her eyes on me and says, “Don’t be a jackass, Merc.”
“Not being a jackass, wildcat. This is me being who I am,” I counter.
“Well… stop it,” she hisses.
“Can’t stop being who I am,” I remind her.
She harrumphs before stating, “We’ll work on it.
” I hold back the roll of my eyes because that’ll get her temper flaring.
And whereas I like her sass, I prefer it when we’re not in the company of strangers.
A smile plays on my lips as I remember the night before; she took no prisoners and gave as good as she got.
Personally, I want to take her back to the house and have a repeat performance.
Unfortunately, there’s work to be done, as well as two females who have shown up unannounced and unexpectedly.