3. Chipper
Chapter 3
Chipper
“How long are you going to watch that phone?”
My gaze went from my phone to Trace’s smug face. “As long as I want.”
He joined me at the booth. I’d already ordered my lunch, though as it sat cooling in front of me, it wasn’t the only thing on my mind this morning.
“What are you fretting over?”
I looked around then back at him. “Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“If I told you, you’d get your panties in a twist.”
“One, I don’t wear panties, and two, if it’s about who I think it is, I won’t. I’ve given you the brother speech already. Hurt her, you die.” He shrugged.
I chuckled. “I could take you with one hand behind my back.”
“Ah, that may be so, but I have a secret weapon.”
“And she fights dirty,” Stella commented. Trace let her in the booth and before I could say more, she stole a fry off of my plate.
“What can I get you folks?” The waitress came over, keeping me from getting into an argument about my feelings.
I begrudgingly took a bite of my burger. If I wasn’t careful, the two across from me would play shrink and to be honest, I wasn’t up for it. They’d probably break my brain. Trace knew I had feelings for his sister. She was a few years younger than us. That didn’t matter to me. Someone who didn’t know her would see a beautiful, determined, and strong-willed woman. I saw that, but there was more to her than just what you saw. She was tough as nails, as good with a wrench as she was people, and her kindness was never-ending.
I’ve seen her stare down cops, some of the guys in the club, and even me, then turn and be sweet as pie to a customer. She was one-of-a-kind in so many ways. I didn’t deserve her, but I wanted her with every fiber of my being.
“Hey.” Something hit me in the face. I jerked back to see a fry on the table.
I scowled at Stella. “Woman, stop being you for five minutes.”
“Bite me.”
“Your boy toy doesn’t share.”
She snorted out a laugh. Trace was not amused. That brought a smile to my face. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t a real offer.”
“Say what you mean and mean what you say, my mom always said.”
“Well, shut up. I mean that. You gonna tell us why you’re moping around like a puppy that’s lost its favorite tennis ball?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Man, come on. I know you, don’t bullshit me.”
“She deserves better.” There…I’d said it. I wasn’t ready to say more, so I picked up the burger and took another big bite. Opening up that much was more than I usually did. I wasn’t one of those ‘happy to share my feelings’ kinds of guys. I kept that soft shit to myself.
The silence on the other side of the table had me gazing over at them. Trace was shaking his head, but it didn’t stop the tornado beside him.
“You’re fucking delusional if you believe that. Look, I know Trace can be a bit of an asshole, but no one would be better for AJ than you. Tell her how you feel. I’ve seen her watching you. That is not the look of an uninterested woman; I can tell. Just don’t push her. Let it sink in and you keep tapping at that shell she has around her.”
As she spoke, I chewed, thinking back over the last couple of years. She had been in a relationship with that dick Tom. Something had happened between them, she’d never really said what, and I wasn’t going to pressure her. Trace tried and yet, she still refused to say. She’d thrown herself into work, and eventually she seemed to come back to herself. There are those people who just have to work it out alone. She’s allowed to do that, no matter how much I wanted to object and step in.
“You may be right?—”
“May, oh, you poor delusional SOB. I am right; there is no maybe. If you don’t try, then you’re not the man I thought you were.” Stella glared at me as she spoke.
I huffed out a laugh.
“I think you may be trying to get me killed.”
“Nah, not today. But I was being serious. Tell her you have feelings. Put in some fucking effort, man.”
“I’ll think about it.”
When their food came, the topic of conversation went to the reason we were meeting. We had a bounty to do. Stella would, as she had become accustomed to, play bait. The man we were after liked to frequent a bar on the outskirts of Alto. The dive bar was full of roughnecks, so we had to make sure we played it by the book. Get him outside and away from his ‘friends’ before we took him down. This was our go-to move as of late. Distract, snatch, and haul ass.
He wasn’t a heavy hitter, but he had ties to some pretty nasty people. That was the thing about bail jumpers. Some were running scared and others were looking for a fight.
“When do we leave?”
“Around four. It’ll take about an hour to get there, and then we are out as soon as he’s cuffed. I need you to be extra careful, baby. This place has a real rough crowd. If you get hurt, not only will Wayne try to end me, he might get the boys to help.”
Stella gave him a dry look and snort-laughed again. “I’m always careful, and Daddy will not hurt you.” We both stared at her. I knew her father, and he definitely would. With my luck, he’d come after me too. Not that I’d blame him.
“Okay, let me rephrase this. He wouldn’t come after you for that at least. Work is work. He knows the risks just as I do. Shit happens to the best of us.”
We went back to eating after that. Planning a trip an hour away was easy enough. We did them all the time. When we left the diner, we had a plan that was hopefully foolproof. Saturday nights could bring out the real crazy in some of these fuckers.
“What kind of hell hole is this?”
I chuckled at Stella’s commentary. She always gave a play-by-play when she could. For this one, Trace and I were split up. He was parked at a table in the back, scowling and growling at everyone. Stella was at the bar having come in on her own about 20 minutes ago. I was outside in the truck, watching the live view from the small camera on her necklace.
“What was that, blondie?”
I watched Stella turn to face the bartender. “I said, what kind of drink is this?” That in fact hadn’t been what she’d said, but she moved right along. “I want the good stuff, not this watered down crap.”
The bartender scowled but nodded. She walked to the wall behind the bar and pulled down a new bottle. “How about Jamison?”
“As long as it ain’t watered down. A girl can’t get a buzz off of water.”
The bartender, a redhead with a tattoo of stars long her brow and down her cheek, nodded. “Guess you might be right.” She poured a double shot and slid it to Stella. “On the house.” She wiped at the bar then leaned in more. “I’ve not seen you around here before.”
Watching Stel get hit on was fun. I could almost feel Trace’s “mine” coming from the booth he was in. But he stayed cool. If he blew it now, Stel would probably beat him into submission. She truly enjoyed her job here. She wasn’t always bait though. Under the playfulness was a complete psycho. I mean, bad ass. There’s no outsmarting her. The woman seemed to jump a step ahead when no one was looking. It was a good thing she was on our side. If she ever went evil… Well, she’d give Satan himself a run for his money.
“I get you’re flirtin’, I appreciate the sentiment, but let me save you some trouble. I’m the girl that likes the wiener, not the clam.”
I barked out a laugh. I swear the woman was a complete and utter nut job. Who goes around and says shit like that? Even the bartender laughed, nodding at Stel. “Fair enough. Holler if you need another drink.”
“You bet.”
A half hour later, our mark came in. “Here we go,” I muttered to myself. It was like watching one of those suspenseful scenes in a movie. He made his way around the bar, stopped beside Stel, and the moment she smiled at him…he was a goner. They talked, flirted, and in the end, her whispering “wanna get out of here” had him taking her hand and all but dragging her out of the bar.
The takedown was easy. When they came out, I moved in behind them, grabbed his arm, and told him why he was being detained. Two hours later, I was pulling up at my house, tired, needing a beer, and fighting with myself about going to check on AJ. If I went over there tonight, in the mental space I was in…I’d fuck things up.
I dragged my ass out of my truck and into the house. Tomorrow, I will go to the shop and check on her. That was neutral territory, not her private space. I could do that.
The shop lights were still off when I pulled up at 7:45am. That was unusual. This shop opens every day at 7:00am. It has been that way since we were kids. I exited my truck and walked around. Maybe the bay door was closed ‘cause she was out in the back? Nope. Nothing. I pulled my cell out and hit her number. The phone rang and rang until her voicemail picked up.
“You’ve reached AJ at Daniel’s Service Center. I’m away from my phone, but if you leave a message, I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.”
At the beep, I left a message. “AJ, it’s Chip. I’m at the shop, and you aren’t here. You okay? Call me back.”
Ten minutes I waited and nothing. I called her four more times before I started to worry. I hit Trace’s number and waited. It went to voicemail, so I called right back.
“What?”
“The shop isn’t open, and AJ isn’t answering her phone.”
That woke his ass right up. “Where are you?”
“Leaving the shop now. I’ve tried her multiple times.”
“Maybe she just slept in. Was there a note in the window or anything?”
“If there had been a note, I wouldn’t be calling you,” I growled.
“Fine. Meet me at the top of the road to the house. We’ll start from there. House first, if she’s not there, we’ll ride the roads to the shop. I’ll call Charlie too, just in case there has been a report of an accident.”
“All right, I’m on the way now.”
“Maybe she’s out on a tow and forgot to put the note in the window.” He sounded hopeful. I wish that was the case.
“The wrecker is in the bay.”
“Fuck, okay, see you in a few.”
I dropped my phone into the cup holder and headed up the road. The Daniels’ homestead was about fifteen minutes from here. But I couldn’t get through the gate off the main road because it stayed locked. The farmhouse had once been used as a dog kennel and training facility, not to mention it held her dad’s prized car collection.
So safety measures were still in play. It made her safer, so I wasn’t complaining. If push came to shove and she had to get out, that truck of hers with its souped-up engine, winch, and reinforced metal grill bars could bust out of it like a finger through wet paper.
I didn’t wait too long for Trace. He pulled up, hopped out, and used his key to unlock the gate. It had an automatic sensor that would open it for AJ, but everyone else had to either have the key or her here to get through. I needed to work on getting a way in…in case of an emergency.
We followed along the long driveway and had to stop twice to pull downed limbs off the road. The storm last night was a hard, fast one, and I guess it hit harder out here in the middle of nowhere, Texas. The closest neighbors were about three miles up the road, so it wasn’t like she had help right next door if something happened.
“I think this is why the shop is closed.” Trace and I both grunted as we tugged what had to be a treetop off the road enough to get by. “I’ll come back out later and make firewood from all of this.”
The storm could have knocked the power out. Pulled a line down, any number of things. I could only hope that was what was happening here.
I’d be happy when I could see her, know that she was really okay and not in danger of some kind.