Chapter 7
I’d gone back and forth to Paige’s place four times today, but still, there was no answer.
I was about to pick the damn lock after the fourth time of no answer, to be sure she wasn’t hiding from me or lying in there dead.
However, I was prevented by one of her neighbors.
I was eyeing the door when a throat being cleared had me turning. There stood an older gentleman. I’d put him somewhere in his late sixties. He was examining me through narrowed eyes.
“That’s the fourth time you’ve knocked on Paige’s door today.
I’m about to call the law unless you can give me a good reason I shouldn’t.
Who are you, and why are you so hot to see her?” he asked.
He didn’t seem intimidated by my cut, which was unusual.
“Sir, I need to speak to Paige.
It’s rather urgent.
I’m not here to cause trouble or to harm her.
There’s been a horrible mix-up that’s my fault. I need to talk to her about it and assure her I’ll fix it.”
“Don’t you have her phone number?”
I did, but I wasn’t sure she’d talk to me if I called.
I didn’t want to say that.
My hesitancy made him scowl.
“Boy, if you’re blowing smoke up my ass, don’t.
Either you tell me what’s up, or I’ll call the cops.
And don’t bother to threaten me.
I’m not scared to die.”
I held up my hands.
“Sir, I’m not about to harm you.
And if you feel you have to call, do, but I must talk to her eventually.
I promised my friend that I’d do it as soon as possible.
We’re both worried about her. She lost her job yesterday.”
Distrust changed to concern.
“So that’s why she and Fenrir left so suddenly.
She hadn’t mentioned a trip, and then, out of nowhere, she came to tell me they were taking a trip.
She always lets me know in advance.”
When the man mentioned the name Fenrir, I remembered Tiago mentioning it once.
He said how possessive he was of Paige.
I’d forgotten she had a man.
Fighting the flash of distress I felt, I responded.
“Did she say where they were going? Or when they’d return?”
“She said they were going on a road trip and would be back later this week.”
“Let me introduce myself.
My name is Scorpion,” I said, holding out my hand.
He took it, shook it with a firm grip, and introduced himself.
“My name is Alvin.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Alvin.
I know you have no reason to trust me or do it, but I’d like to ask a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“When she returns home, would you call me? I’d prefer you not tell her I’ve been here, but if you feel you must, do it.
I need to see her.
I’m working to get her job back.”
“How could you get her job back?” Alvin asked.
“Well, I hate to admit it, but I’m the bastard who got her fired in the first place.
So you can see, I have a lot to make up for and explain.”
He whistled.
“Well, maybe I should tell you when she returns so I can watch her punch you in the face.
Boy, I don’t know what made you do that, but whatever it was, you clearly don’t know Paige.
Give me your phone number, and I’ll consider calling you.
That’s as much as I’m willing to promise you.”
It was better than nothing, so I didn’t waste time.
We exchanged phone numbers, and when we were through, I nodded to him.
“Thank you, Alvin.
I hope you have a good evening.”
“I bet it’ll be better than yours.
Good night,” was his reply.
Without another choice, I left and headed home.
I knew what my first stop was.
I had to see if Micro could trace her movements.
Knowing him, he could. I wasn’t badgering him to tell me if he had a report yet.
It was almost seven o’clock when I got to the compound, so I tried Micro’s house first.
He lived on the other side of me, on the same side of the street.
My house was the first on that side, followed by his, then Crash’s.
On the opposite side were Diablo’s, Butcher’s, and then Thunder’s house. The other members still lived in the clubhouse, though I thought a few were ready to move out.
I rang the doorbell, even though we typically walked into each other’s houses.
We used to do it to Diablo until he got Jauhnna.
When there was no answer, I went to the clubhouse.
Walking into the common room, I was greeted by a few of the brothers who were hanging out. I returned their greetings. I didn’t see Micro in the central area, so I went to his office. Like Diablo and I, he kept one there. His door was closed. I hesitated to knock, but then I decided that if he were busy, he wouldn’t answer or tell me to swing by later.
“Come in,” he shouted.
Opening the door, I poked my head inside.
I saw he was alone.
Slipping inside, I shut the door.
“Sorry to disturb you, brother.
I can come back if you’re busy.” I offered.
“Nah, have a seat.
I had it closed because the talking was loud, and I was having difficulty concentrating.
I know why you’re here.
You want to know what I found out about Paige and her family. VP, I’ll tell you what I know, but it’s still an incomplete picture. I can speculate, but I’m waiting on one more report to confirm something.”
“I want to know, but I’m not pestering you.
I’m here about something else.
I need to ask if there’s a quick and simple way to locate her.”
“What do you mean? Locate her?”
“She’s not in St.
Augustine.
According to her neighbor, she left, and he’s not sure when she’s due back, other than later this week.
Did Diablo tell you what happened? They decided to fire her over the weekend, and by the time I went to stop them from terminating her yesterday, it was too late.”
“Yeah, he did.
He wasn’t happy.”
“Tiago and I aren’t either.
He’s coming home tomorrow.
I wanted to tell him she knew we were working to get her job back.”
“I knew he was coming home.
I gave Diablo a list of people to call to be his caregiver.
He had Jauhnna calling them.
That blows, Scorpion. Let me see what I can do with her phone number. It shouldn’t take much to find her if she has it on. At least a general area. I can’t get closer than that unless she’s on an actual call.”
“I’ll take what I can get.
You want to call me if you find something?”
“It won’t take long.
Just hang there.
Tell me.
Other than this, with Paige, how is Tiago doing? I haven’t been to see him in a few days.”
He typed away as I told him about my visit with T today and how anxious he was to be home.
Less than ten minutes later, I had an answer, though not one that told me exactly where I could find her.
“Her last call came from the Fort Lauderdale area.
That was a couple of hours ago.”
“Shit! What is she doing that far south? I wonder if she went to see someone.
She’s traveling with her boyfriend, according to her neighbor.”
“Boyfriend?” Micro asked.
“Yeah, some guy named Fenrir.
What kind of damn name is that?” I muttered.
“Some would ask the same of ours.
Since no other club has pounded on our door demanding blood, I doubt it’s a road name.
However, it’s a good one.
Fenrir is a wolf from Norse mythology. He was the son of Loki and a giantess. I can’t remember her name. I’ve never heard of someone having it as a name, but it’s different.”
I didn’t want him admiring anything about the mystery man in Paige’s life.
It made me angry to think of her with someone.
I gave a vague grunt in response.
“Is there anything else I can do, Scorpion?” Micro asked.
“No, that’s it.
I appreciate all the work you’re doing to get the other information we asked for.
I know it can take time.
Don’t work yourself to death. You look tired.” I wasn’t lying. He had dark circles under his eyes.
“You know me.
I don’t sleep a lot sometimes.
I’ve been doing that.
I’m not overworked. As for the data you want, I hope I can give you and Diablo a full report tomorrow. There was one thing I had to run down further.”
The way he was frowning and the tone of his voice told me it disturbed him, whatever he was chasing.
I had to restrain myself from asking what it was.
Instead, I stood and held out my hand.
“Thanks all the same.
Try to get some sleep.
We can’t afford to have you down and out.
You’re too damn important.”
He shook my hand but waved my compliment away with the other.
“Ah, you all would be fine.
I’m not that important.
Other than bringing stunning handsomeness to the club, which all you bastards wish you had,” His frown changed to a smirk.
“Like hell.
The lack of sleep has made you delusional,” I told him as I went to the door.
His laughter and the shout of “You wish” followed me out.
At least the silly remarks at the end made me smile.
I entered the common area and was snagged by Butcher and Thunder, our secretary.
“Come have a drink, and let’s talk,” Butcher insisted.
I hadn’t spent much time with my brothers, so I decided it wouldn’t hurt.
All I’d do was pace at home.
The silence would drive me insane.
Usually, it gave me solace.
“I can do that.
Hey, prospect, we need our usuals,” I hollered over to the bar to Zax.
He was one of our prospects.
We had two.
The other was Liam.
They were three-fourths of the way through their two-year prospecting gig. As long as they didn’t fuck up, they should patch in as brothers. Zax was a few months closer to his time than Liam. Both men had shown us nothing but positive things, so I was sure they’d make it. I liked both of them. They seemed to fit.
Zax gave us a chin lift to indicate he heard me.
While we waited, the three of us found an empty table and commandeered it.
There were plenty of others if someone needed them.
After sitting, I felt the way they were studying me. As second in command of the club, I technically outranked them, even though they were officers, and Butcher had been in the club longer. He could’ve been VP, but he preferred his role as enforcer. If they started to ask things I didn’t like, I could refuse to tell them.
“Heard about the FUBAR situation at the hospital,” Thunder said, starting the conversation.
I knew what he meant by FUBAR.
It was from his time in the Army before he joined the club.
It had a couple of meanings, but the one he used meant Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.
It was apt for this current situation.
“You can say that again.
It’s gotten so fucked up it’s about to drive me insane.
And I can’t even find Paige to apologize and assure her that we’ll get her job back,” I admitted.
“Christ, the one time bureaucracy was quick to do something.
Usually, they’re in a hurry-up-and-wait mode,” Butcher agreed.
“Tell me about it.
And when that asshole administrator found out we didn’t want her fired, he refused to rescind her termination.
Said it makes them look bad, and she’ll have a basis for a lawsuit,” I informed them.
They made grumbling sounds of displeasure.
Before either could say anything, Zax came to the table.
He had our drinks.
It was the sign of a decent prospect that he memorized the favorite beverages of all the brothers. It was up to us to tell him if we wanted something different. When he sat down each of our drinks in front of us, I noted he had them right.
“Thanks, Zax.
Perfect as usual,” I told him.
He nodded, then asked, “Is there anything else I can get you guys?”
“Yeah, I forgot to tell you to bring pretzels,” Butcher said.
Pretzels were his favorite snack.
Zax grinned, took a bowl from the tray he was carrying, which I thought was meant for someone else, and set it in the middle of our table.
It was filled with pretzels.
“I just wanted to make you ask,” he said with a grin.
Thunder and I laughed as he walked away, and Butcher gave Zax the middle finger, but he smirked.
“Damn fine prospect.
Can’t wait to vote his ass in,” Butcher said as he grabbed a handful of his snack.
Risking my life, I took a few, and so did Thunder.
We got the stink eye from our enforcer, but he didn’t say anything.
“So tell us the whole story.
We want details,” Thunder stated.
I filled them in on all the particulars as we snacked and drank.
They muttered in the right places.
When I was finished, they were shaking their heads.
“That blows, VP.
Is there any way that Micro can pinpoint where she is? If you have to wait until the end of the week, you’ll lose it,” Butcher said.
“Not unless she makes a call and he’s monitoring at the moment she does.
You’re right.
I will go crazy if I have to wait, but I might not have a choice.
One good thing is that she has to come back eventually. All her stuff is here. Maybe I’ll have good news when she does. I plan to see Gill tomorrow. He’s gonna give back her job one way or the other.”
“Why don’t we come with you? Maybe if he sees a few more of us, he’ll change his mind,” Butcher said, smiling evilly.
I thought for a moment and then nodded.
“I think that’s a good idea.
Though we should run it by Diablo.”
“Run what by me?” Diablo’s voice asked from behind me.
I kept myself from jumping, although he surprised me.
He was a sneaky fucker.
I twisted to look at him.
He moved to take an empty chair at the table. He raised his hand, held up two fingers, and lowered them.
“The guys thought it might make an impact if they came with me tomorrow when I visited Administrator Gill at the hospital about what’s been done to give Paige her job back,” I explained.
“It might.
I think all four of us should do the trick.
And if it doesn’t, I’ve got something that might,” Diablo said, smirking.
“Care to tell us what that is?” Butcher asked.
He and our president were best friends.
“Nope.
I’ll surprise you all.”
This comment led us to grumble about him not telling us.
Amidst it, Zax returned with a shot of whiskey for Diablo.
Those two fingers were his signal to tell the prospect what he wanted.
Diablo gave him a nod and smiled.
We discussed club business and other things before it was time to call it.
I had no desire to hang out until the club sluts arrived.
It was a weeknight, but they’d still make an appearance in case anyone wanted their attention.
I wasn’t in the mood to fight off their offers. As VP, they went for me. Some hoped they could get me to make them my old lady. I had news for them. It wasn’t happening. I fucked them, nothing else. And those occasions were becoming less and less. I found them boring or simply too much of a headache.
Strolling to our houses together, we split off to go our separate ways.
Entering mine, I thought of how quiet and lonely it felt.
Until recently, I hadn’t thought that of my place.
It was my sanctuary. However, since Diablo found Jauhnna, I’d been thinking more of what it would be like to come home to someone every night. It wouldn’t be terrible as long as it was the right person. That was the tricky part: finding that person.
***
We rolled into the hospital’s parking lot on our bikes at eight-thirty.
Surely, Gill would be in by then.
If not, we’d hang with Tiago.
He wasn’t due to be discharged until later. I’d arranged to have Liam pick him up. He’d do it using Tiago’s specially equipped van. It allowed him to drive using his hands only and to load his wheelchair. It offered him freedom.
Walking in, we went straight to Gill’s office.
His assistant was at her desk.
When she saw us, I thought she’d faint.
I didn’t waste time. She knew who I was.
“Good morning.
We’re here to see Gill.”
“I-I’m sorry, but Mr.
Gill isn’t in yet,” she stammered.
“When will he be in?” Diablo asked.
“He typically gets here around nine or nine-thirty,” she replied.
“What time does he leave?” Butcher asked.
“It depends, but it’s usually between four and five.”
“And I bet he takes an hour lunch break, doesn’t he?” Thunder muttered.
“Why yes, he does,” she said.
“Bastard doesn’t even work an eight-hour day.
Figures,” I said snarkily.
“We’ll wait here.
I’d hate for us to miss him.
Or for him to run when he hears we’re here.
Oh, by the way, what’s your name?” Diablo asked the assistant.
“It’s Trista,” she almost whispered.
“Trista, please don’t message or call him to warn him we’re waiting.
That wouldn’t make us happy.
Just do your job, and we’ll sit over there and wait,” he told her.
As we walked over to the chairs Diablo pointed at to sit, she stuttered out more.
“C-can I get you something to drink? I have bottled water or coffee.”
“Coffee sounds great, but no need to wait on us.
Show me where it is, and we’ll get our own,” Butcher offered.
We had coffee in no time and sipped it as we waited.
The coffee was surprisingly decent.
Trista nervously fluttered around.
Five minutes before nine o’clock, Gill came leisurely ambling into the office. He didn’t see us at first.
“Trista, I want my coffee and bagel,” he ordered.
The asshole didn’t even say good morning.
“Ah, Mr.
Gill, you have visitors, sir,” she said timidly.
“Visitors?” he said, glancing around.
When his gaze landed on us, I saw him turn white.
His briefcase dropped to the floor.
Personally, I hated it when people reacted that way at the sight of us.
However, this time, I enjoyed it. We stood as one. Gill’s eyes bulged.
“W-what are you doing here?” he croaked.
“We need to talk.
It would be best if we do it in private, although if you’d like to stand out here where everyone passing by can hear us, we don’t mind,” Diablo informed him.
Gill debated internally for a moment, then said, “We’ll go to my office.”
He forgot about his briefcase, so he tripped over it when he moved, almost falling.
He bent hastily to snatch it up and then scurried into his office.
We were right behind him and closed the door.
I briefly wondered if Trista would call security on us. The way Gill treated her, I’d say let him defend himself, but that was me.
Inside, Gill went behind his desk to sit and put a barrier between us.
We took seats around the desk.
If he thought that piddly barrier would stop us, he was wrong.
His gaze jumped from one face to another. It was like watching a Ping-Pong game. I let him do it several times and then got to business. The less time I spent near him, the better. He irritated me.
“As you no doubt have guessed, we’re here to discuss Paige Worthy’s termination and see what progress has been made on reinstating her.
Santiago discharges today, but that doesn’t mean we’re not ensuring that the mistake made is rectified,” I stated.
Gill cleared his throat before answering.
“Mr.
Scorpion, as I told you on Monday.
There’s no way the hospital can do that.
If we did, Ms. Worthy would have a case for wrongful termination against us. I checked with our legal team, and they concur. We can’t allow that. I’m sorry that you’ve wasted your time coming here today.”
“That’s your last stance.
It won’t be undone?” Diablo asked.
“It is.
As I said, the hospital will cover your friend’s co-pay.
There’s nothing we can do about Ms. Worthy.”
“That’s a shame.
See, I believe that the hospital would find it a whole lot less of a legal mess to reinstate Paige, even if she sues and wins, than to have it known that the administrator spends his free time paying prostitutes for sex and that he has a second family in another town.
He’s committing bigamy, which is a crime.
Imagine how that will look splashed all over the media. I was so shocked when I learned this, I asked our computer guy to take what he found and put it together to be sent to the hospital’s legal and HR team, the board, and several media outlets,” Diablo said without changing his calm expression.
I was surprised at what Diablo said, but I hid it, just as the other two did.
We all gave Gill expectant looks.
As for him, the administrator was gray.
His eyes were about to pop out of his head, and he was sweating. I wondered if he was having a heart attack, not that I cared. I’d have to bring Micro a bottle of his favorite scotch.
“T-th, uhm, you, I mean, you must have me mixed up with someone else,” Gill blustered.
“I don’t think so.
And I wonder what your two wives will think when they find out about each other and what you’re doing those nights you tell them you’re working late,” Diablo stated as he tossed something on Gill’s desk.
It was a jump drive.
Mr. Gill picked it up shakily.
“Not to worry, we have plenty of other copies of it.
That’s yours,” Pres added.
He was just twisting the imaginary knife further into Gill’s heart.
“So, Mr.
Gill, what were you saying about being unable to reinstate Paige Worthy?” Butcher asked, smirking.
“I’ll make it happen,” Gill uttered.
“And it better be by the end of the week.
I’ll be making sure she’s back to work on Monday.
Oh, and I believe a pay raise is in order for all she’s gone through,” I tossed in.
We might as well get what we can.
Gill’s head was nodding so hard I thought he might give himself whiplash.
“I’ll do it.
I promise.
Just don’t show anyone those.
How do I know you won’t?”
“You don’t.
You’ll have to trust us.
As long as you do what you say you will, I don’t see a reason to hang your dirty laundry out for everyone to see,” Diablo reassured him.
“Thank you, thank you! I’ll get right on it,” Gill rambled.
His hands were scrambling on his desk.
We rose to our feet.
“Then we’ll leave you to it.
Hopefully, this is the last time we have to meet,” I told the asshole.
I disliked him even more.
It wasn’t due to the prostitutes. It was how he was treating his wives. The four of us left him in his office to do whatever. As we went to see Tiago and tell him the news, I had to say it.
“I hate that the bastard is getting away with the two families shit.
His wives should know, but I guess we don’t have a choice.”
“I said I didn’t see the need to hang it out for everyone to see.
The hospital board, as well as the legal and HR departments, don’t need to know.
However, it’s only right that his wives be made aware.
They’ll get their copies of the drives delivered as soon as Paige is back,” Diablo said.
This revelation made us all happy, and we cracked grins and chuckled.
At least a few things were turning around.
Tiago was to be sprung, and Paige would get her job back.
Now, all I needed to do was speak to her and apologize for my part in all of it.