Chapter 10
TEN
Chris
Apparently, tea with a former motorcycle gang leader was what was next. Chris needed to learn never to ask that question.
“You have a granddaughter?” Susie beamed across the table at Gunnar. “We need to hear all about her.”
Chris was having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that they were sitting around talking about life with the president of the Velvet Devils—who were vastly reformed. Next he knew, they’d be swapping recipes. His mom was going to have Tyrone’s and Gunnar’s phone numbers programed into her cell before they returned to wherever they were staying—or lived.
They hadn’t actually said what they were doing in Surprise yet, or why they’d been by Buckley’s numerous times.
“Her name is Hazel, and she is the reason we stopped by the other day and today. She’s a real genius, gives her dads and me a run for our money.” Gunnar grinned and pulled his cellphone out of a vest pocket, holding it out so they all could see a selfie-style picture of a young girl suited up in a wet suit and snorkel and giving the camera a thumbs-up.
“She’s lovely and adventurous,” Susie said.
“Thank you. I like to think she takes after me,” Gunnar said, settling back into his seat.
The other riders had opted to meet up with Gunnar and Tyrone later that evening instead of joining them. Which was good because, as much as his mother might have wished it, her patio was just not large enough.
“She’s also grounded from the internet until she’s eighteen,” Tyrone added dryly.
“Oh?” Chris said. “What happened?”
Gunnar rolled his eyes. “Somehow, Hazel found out about this neighbor of yours, Cleevus Buckley, from the internet. Took her about two seconds to figure out he’s selling black-market taxidermy, and she packed to come down here on her own and torch the place. I think she gets that from me. Luckily, Dutch and Foster stopped her just as she was boarding the ferry. Dutch called and I promised her we’d talk to him.”
“Ah, but even better than you, er, talking to him,” Ivan said before Chris did, “we have legal resources. After what we saw last night, Chris is putting a call into Fish and Game.”
“I am?” Chris asked.
“You definitely are. We both saw what he has in there. Not. Legal. Some of that I bet people can’t even possess.”
They’d work out the legality of their accidental search later. They had been doing a legitimate wellness check after all.
“Fine. I guess I’m making a call.”
“She sounds wonderful, Gunnar,” Susie said. “I can tell you’re very proud of her.”
“We both are.” Gunnar shot Tyrone a glance so full of tenderness that Chris had to blink at its brilliance. “Hazel is all about protecting endangered animals and resources, she’s our very own… what’s that young woman’s name?” he asked Tyrone.
“Greta Thunburg,” Tyrone said. “If her dads ever un-ground her, we plan on taking Hazel on a trip to Iceland and Norway, see some puffins and maybe Beluga whales.”
“Yeah, except I’m afraid she’ll make us walk there instead of fly, in order to reduce our carbon footprint,” Gunnar said. The expression on his face told Chris he might actually try to walk if Hazel required it.
“Does anyone have a guess where Buckley is?” Ivan asked, bringing the conversation back around. “Chris and I asked around at the market today, and no one has seen him recently.”
“No idea, I swear on Hazel’s head,” Gunnar said.
“So that wasn’t you last night?” Ivan asked. “We heard engines and gunfire.”
“We didn’t hear anything,” Susie exclaimed.
“That does not come as a surprise, Mom,” said Chris.
“No, we went bowling,” Tyrone answered. “Massive bowling alley, forty lanes. Next year we’re going to try and convince Dutch, Foster, Becca—Foster’s sister—and Hazel to come down over winter break. Go to the Grand Canyon, visit Joshua Tree.”
While the rest of the table talked about what there was to do and the best time of year to do it, Chris made a quick phone call.
“What the hell, Hatch. You are on vacation, why are you calling?” McBride demanded.
“Let me explain.”
Five minutes later, McBride was still grumbling but less loudly and he’d agreed to reach out to his connections at Fish and Game. With a little luck and planning, the missing Cleevus Buckley would be located and would no longer be in business.
“I can’t even force you to go on vacation without you finding a way to work.”
“It’s a knack,” Chris said. “What can I say?”
“A knack,” McBride repeated. “Well, get off the phone and enjoy the rest of your time off.”
“Over and out.”
Everyone looked expectantly at Chris as he sat back down at the table. Feeling devilish, he turned to his mother. “I’d love some more lemonade. How did Ping-Pong go this morning?”
“Don’t you dare, Christopher Anthony Hatch! You tell us right now what happened on that secret phone call!”
“McBride is on it. He’ll let us—and by us, I mean me—know what he learns from Fish and Game, but he did a quick search and it looks like Buckley is a known problem, so getting a legal warrant won’t be difficult. And with any luck, agents will catch up with him as well. Could be they find out what the gunfire was about too.”
“That is great news,” said Susie. “Does everyone else want more lemonade?”
There was a chorus of yesses and soon enough, everyone’s glasses were full again.
“So,” his mom said, settling back in her seat, “sweetie, what do you and Ivan have planned for the rest of your time here?”
The next morning, Chris still couldn’t wrap his head around randomly hanging out with his parents and the ex-leader of a notorious motorcycle gang. Eventually, they’d finally made their excuses, said goodbye to Gunnar and Tyrone, and escaped back to Frank’s house, leaving Susie and Lance to work on the 1500-piece vintage hummingbird jigsaw puzzle on their own.
To be fair, Ivan hadn’t used the word escape—that was all on Chris. There was just only so much chitchat Chris could stand. And anyway, what did a DEA agent discuss casually with an ex-criminal? Gunnar was older than Chris by almost twenty years, but they’d been on opposite sides of the law for a great deal of Chris’s career. The whole thing made him slightly uncomfortable.
Frank’s air conditioning was humming along in the background, and the house was nice and cool. Back in the bedroom, Chris scraped a towel over his head, drying his hair after a much-needed shower. Ivan was still distractingly naked, sprawled on his front across the mattress as he pored over several guidebooks on the Grand Canyon. It was all very domestic and unreasonably pleasant.
Ivan looked up from his reading and caught Chris’s eyes on him. He smiled.
“What?” Chris asked, instantly suspicious and mildly uncomfortable, as if he’d been caught stealing from a cookie jar.
“You make me happy,” Ivan said. His green eyes sparkled.
“Mmph.” Chris rolled his eyes. Although he had to admit that making Ivan happy was pretty much at the top of his to-do list. A list he hadn’t realized he’d had until recently.
“I make you laugh. Which in turn makes you happy—because endorphins,” Ivan said in a smug tone.
“Fucking endorphins.”
With a chuckle, Ivan rolled over to sit at the edge of the mattress, patting the spot next to him. “Sit down.”
Tossing the damp towel onto the dresser, Chris stepped over to the bed and lowered himself down.
“Fine, you make me laugh,” he admitted. “Yes, I always look forward to seeing you around the office. I’m going to miss that.” After returning to Frank’s last night, Ivan had finally given him all the details about his request to transfer to Radisson’s team in Portland and told him that, unless something came up, the transfer was likely to go through. “Hard to believe I make you happy though.”
“Get used to it. Because I’m not going anywhere.”
Ivan scooted even closer so that there was no space left between them. It had been a day and some change, and Ivan’s body pressed against his was a habit he didn’t plan on giving up. But they had plans, and staying in and engaging in the wild rumpus would mean they might not get to the canyon.
He leaned down, intending to grab his shorts from where he’d carelessly abandoned them on the floor the night before, when someone knocked on the front door.
“Oh my god, it’s my mother. That’s the only person it could be.”
Sure enough, the knocking was followed by Susie’s voice. “Are you lovebirds awake in there? Breakfast is ready at our pad!” His mother’s voice, cheery as it always was. “Ivan, I found some more Chris pictures to show you. But we can save them for when you get back from your trip tonight.”
“Oh my god,” Chris moaned, cradling his head in his hands. “I don’t know if I can stand this. Can’t we pretend we broke up or something? The woman doesn’t sleep! It’s not even seven a.m. and she?—”
“She loves you,” Ivan reminded him. “Both of your parents do. And, no we can’t pretend we broke up. Sorry, Dude, no can do. Can you imagine how sad Susie would be? And Lance too. Besides”—Ivan rubbed his belly—“I could do with something to eat before we leave. Worked up an appetite last night,” he added with an evil grin.
Dropping his hands, Chris stared at Ivan, at the man he loved. “You are incorrigible.”
“Sounds a lot better than being corrigible. Is it like being sheveled, as in un-disheveled? I’ve always wondered about those two words.”
Chris squinted at Ivan, shaking his head. “You are the only person I know who would wonder about those two words which do not exist.”
“Chris? Ivan?” His mom’s voice was only slightly muffled by the thin front door.
“We’ll be right there, Mom,” Chris responded, willing Susie to get a clue.
“It stands to reason that, if incorrigible and disheveled exist, then there has to be a corrigible and sheveled. And also a gruntled.”
“See you in a minute, boys.”
“We better dress and get over there ASAP. Mom might resort to picking the lock or something like that to make sure we really are okay in here.”
Chris stood up again to finish getting ready. Just how did one prepare for a day that would be spent with Ivan Morrison anyway?
“Are you okay?” Ivan asked abruptly, his words spilling out fast. “Are you okay with us?”
He sounded worried, which was so unlike the confident man Chris was familiar with that he paused with his shorts halfway up his legs. Hastily, he finished pulling them up before stepping over so he was standing between Ivan’s knees.
“Yes,” Chris said once he had Ivan’s undivided attention. “I am absolutely okay with this, with us.”
“So, this was a successful wooing? Thing is, I don’t know if I can work up the courage to try something like this again.” Ivan swiped at his forehead as if he was sweating bullets.
“You don’t have to, I promise. But why would you be worried? You’re Ivan the Undaunted.”
“Yeah, well.” Ivan shot him a weak grin. “It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors if you want to know the truth. But”—he squinted in what Chris supposed was an attempt to look threatening—“don’t tell anyone.”
“What will you do if I share your little secret?” Chris teased. He stepped back to grab a t-shirt.
Ivan looked thoughtful as he reached over, snagged his own shorts, and pulled them on before answering. “It’ll be bad for sure.” Done with fastening his waistband, Ivan’s big hands landed on Chris’s hips and he tugged him closer. “I might have to ravish you.”
Chris’s dick twitched, but he reminded himself that his parents were waiting for them.
“Oh, ravishing. I like the sound of that.” Chris waggled his eyebrows this time, earning a smile from Ivan. He’d do just about anything to make Ivan smile at him like that.
“Anytime, baby, any time.”
“Anytime except now.” Chris moved away slightly. “Mom has breakfast ready and we need to go if we want to hit the road.”
“Just know there’s a possible ravishing in your future.”
“Possible, huh?” Grinning, Chris bent and brushed his lips across Ivan’s. Anything more and they wouldn’t make it to breakfast or the Grand Canyon.