Chapter Nine
Janet
Amazing how quickly I could lose things. I’d had the glass cleaner before I left to see the lawyer. The glass cleaner and a whopping big roll of paper towels, all set to clean that new display cooler. Could find them now that I needed them? Not at all.
I grumbled to myself as I wandered around the store, looking on, under, and behind everything I could think of.
Just when I was sure some magical creature had spirited them away on me, I stepped into the little cubicle of a bathroom just off the workroom, and there they were, sitting innocently on the sink.
Good thing Thor was still outside tinkering with his bike, or he’d be laughing. Absentmindedly misplacing things was one of my bad habits, and for some reason he found it hilarious. I carried them back out front and set to work cleaning the case.
I knew Thor was out front, but I couldn’t see him or his bike. I hadn’t taken the brown paper off the windows yet. I wanted to have the inside looking pretty and full of flowers before I did that.
I hummed as I worked. Life was good, and I was happy.
It had been a little dicey when I first walked out on the family, but things were falling into place now.
I had an awesome place to live, a guy who really cared about me and came with his own version of a family, and soon I’d have the floral shop I’d always dreamed of.
My phone chirped and I pulled it out of my pocket. The twins sent me a picture of Willow, Sophia’s dog, dressed in biker style complete with goggles. The furry little mutt was adorable, and she had the patience of a saint. Another picture came in and I scrolled to see it.
A thunderous crack broke my happy bubble.
Can’t be a gunshot. Not in the middle of town. Must be a car backfiring .
A second crack followed on the heels of the first.
Shit. That is gunfire.
Thor !
The front door was locked, and I didn’t have the code memorized yet.
I raced to the side door and opened it cautiously, peeking outside.
I could see Thor -- he must have moved to the side of the building when the shooting started.
I couldn’t see any blood on him, and other than being super angry he looked okay.
I followed his line of sight and saw the shooter on the roof of the apartments across the street.
Thor glanced over and motioned me to get back inside. My phone was still in my hand, so I lifted it and snapped off a few pictures before the shooter disappeared through the access door.
I retreated inside. This was not a wrong place, wrong time attack. It was too deliberate, and the gunman must have been up there for some time, just waiting for a clear shot.
I tried to wrap my head around that.
Someone wanted Thor dead. My Thor.
I looked at the pictures on my phone. They were blurry, and at that distance I couldn’t make out any details but maybe someone with better tech skills could blow it up enough to recognize the shooter.
Thor lowered the kickstand with a little more force than necessary before sliding off the bike and stalking to the door.
I backed up to let him in, and then threw my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder so he wouldn’t see how close I was to freaking out.
His arms came round me and his head rested on top of mine, enclosing me in his solid presence.
Yeah. I loved him. I could admit it to myself, but I wasn’t ready to say the words out loud. Not until I was sure I wasn’t the reason he was in danger.
Other than being really angry, he appeared to be safe. He held me tight for a few minutes. “I’m fine, just fucking pissed. I could see the fucker plain as day. Had him in my sights. If I’d had my damn rifle I could have ended this right here.”
“They’d just send someone else.”
“I know.” He snorted. “Assholes. Whoever is after me is too damn cowardly to show their face. Hiring someone else to do their dirty work.”
I remembered my phone and lifted my head to look up at him. “I have pictures. Not good ones but maybe someone can make something out of them. Maybe trace the sniper back to whoever hired him.”
“Pictures?”
“Yeah. On my phone. Of the guy with the gun.” I pulled my phone out and turned it on, pulling up the photo app and scrolling to the last few images. “See?”
Thor took the phone from me and squinted at the screen thoughtfully. “Shadow might be able to do something with that. He’s a fucking magician with this kind of shit. Okay if I send them to him?”
I nodded, and he keyed in Shadow’s info and hit SEND before handing it back to me.
“I need to let Ace know about this.” He pulled out his own phone, and it lit up with an incoming call before he had a chance to do anything.
A wry smile curved the corners of his mouth.
He hit accept and held the phone up to his ear. “Yeah, Ace?”
I attempted to slip out of his grasp so he could talk to his Prez privately, but he tightened his arm around me.
The conversation was short. Ace had been with Shadow when the pictures came through.
Thor explained what had gone down. I could hear Ace, plain as day as he barked out the order for Thor to get our asses back to the compound ASAP.
The call disconnected, and Thor pocketed his phone.
He let out a deep breath. “You heard?”
“Yeah.”
“You okay with it? Prez will likely want both of us to stay at the clubhouse until this is over.”
I nodded. “Whatever it takes. I want this over too. I don’t have to be out of my other place till the end of the month, and it’s probably not a good idea to open the store until this is over.
” The last few glorious nights flashed through my mind.
“And I’ve already brought over enough clothes and things here for a few days. I can pack them up to go.”
“Thank you,” he said softly. “I know you’re still on the fence about the whole old lady thing, so this means a lot to me.”
I didn’t have an answer for that, so I kept quiet. Now was not the time to bring up my family connections. Soon, though.
I went to pull away so I could go pack, but he grabbed my hand and drew me back into the circle of his arms. Sliding his fingers through my hair, he tugged my head back and seared a sizzling kiss across my lips.
When he lifted his head, he looked calmer. “Let me check outside first and make sure the coast is clear. Just grab what you need. I can send a prospect back to get anything you miss. I’ll lock up down here.”
I took a deep breath and nodded.
Thor pulled out his gun and checked to make sure it was loaded. I’d never seen him do that before. He’d always made a point of shielding me from the rougher parts of his life. Motioning me to stay back, he sidled up to the door and slid outside in one fluid move.
Suddenly, he wasn’t the comforting, loveable guy I knew. He looked tough. Dangerous. Every bit an ex-SEAL turned bad-assed biker. I suppose it should have scared me, but it just made me realize anyone who thought he was an easy target was in for a surprise.
I just hoped they weren’t related to me.
* * *
Thor
This shit had to stop. There was no longer any doubt. I was the target. Not like it was the first time, but now I had Janet to worry about, and I’d be damned if I’d let her end up as collateral damage.
I prowled the perimeter of the building and parking area. I couldn’t see any visible threats, so I waved Janet out, sweeping the rooftops around us with my gaze as she made the run from the side door and up to the apartment. I backed into the stairwell and kept watch, gun at the ready.
I knew from countless operations in hostile territory that the danger was likely over for now.
The enemy would want surprise to be on their side when they launched the next attack, but it never paid to lower your guard.
Janet came back out in less than five minutes, a bulging backpack slung over her shoulders.
“Ready?”
She nodded and followed me to the bike. We strapped on helmets in record time, and I fired up the engine.
“Hold on tight,” I hollered over my shoulder. On the off chance that some fucking asshole was watching us, I had no intention of being predictable. Yanking the handlebars around in a tight circle, I headed straight for the vacant lot behind the shop.
Janet’s arms tightened around my waist as the bike jumped the curb and bounced over the rough ground. The lot extended past the main road, and we exited onto one of the older side roads. I zigzagged my way through town and headed out to the club’s compound.
As we approached the club, I could see four prospects guarding the gate, twice the usual number. I took that as a sign that Ace expected trouble. The prospects recognized me and opened the gate wide enough for me to blast through without slowing down.
The long line of bikes in the parking area showed most of the guys were here already.
I pulled up at the top end of the row and killed the engine.
Janet slid off the bike and pulled off her helmet.
Shaking out her hair, she gave me a wan smile and placed her helmet on the back seat. “That was… intense.”
“But fun, right?” I hung my helmet on the handlebar.
She wrinkled her nose, a doubtful look on her face. “Sure. Might have been, if I hadn’t worried about someone taking potshots at us.”
I slung an arm over her shoulder, and we headed up to the clubhouse. As we climbed the stairs, Deuce appeared in the doorway. “Prez called church in ten minutes.” He nodded at Janet. “Nice to see you. I think Sophia’s out back at the shooting range with the twins.”
“Thanks.” Janet shifted her gaze to me. “I’ll go catch up with Sophia while you’re in church. I haven’t talked to her much since this all started.”
She didn’t quite meet my gaze, and I put a finger under her chin to lift it. “Cheer up. I’m not that easy to kill, and we’re safe here.”
She gulped and nodded her head shakily. I wished there was something, anything, I could say to ease her mind. Sometimes shit got real, and as much as I wanted to sugarcoat it for her, this was the life.
We entered the clubhouse, and a wall of noise hit us.
I wasn’t kidding about most of the guys being there and they weren’t a quiet bunch.
We made it through to the kitchen without stopping, and I nodded at Mom who was busy making piles of snacks.
She loved cooking for large groups, the more the merrier.
Willow, Piper’s little terrier was guarding the floor, making sure no crumb that fell from above accidentally landed on it. She glanced over and wagged her tail when she heard us but didn’t make a move to come over and greet us. She had her priorities.
Mom stopped filling little pastry tarts with some kind of meat mixture. “Glad to see you two in one piece.”
I grinned and snagged a cookie from a heaping plate. “Pushing up daisies isn’t in my five-year plan.”
She shook her head. “Plans change. Make sure yours don’t. You’ve got an old lady to worry about now. Time to settle down and take things a little more seriously.”
“I’m not his old lady.” Janet’s voice lacked conviction.
Mom tilted her head. “You might not be wearing his cut yet, but it sure looks like you two are joined at the hip. I’m betting if you go sit on anyone else’s lap out there in the common room, we’d have a fight going in no time.”
This wasn’t the time to get into the old lady argument again, although I appreciated Mom coming down on my side. I could hear the noise in the other room quieting down as my brothers started heading to the cabin out back where church was held.
I always thought church was a good name for it, although it didn’t fall that way with some people.
None of that holier-than-you crap. For bikers, church was a place where we met and talked about shit that was important to us.
We listened to each other and made decisions based on who was in favor.
Everyone got a vote. That’s how decisions were made, and we all stood by those decisions, even if we didn’t agree with them.
Majority ruled. A brother didn’t do anything that could affect the rest of us without taking it to church.
If a brother wanted to make someone his old lady, he’d go to church and make sure it was okay with everyone.
I’d already let them know I planned to make Janet my old lady, so to them it was a done deal even if she hadn’t agreed yet.
Most of my brothers thought it was fucking hilarious that she wasn’t on board.
“Almost time for church. Let’s go find Sophia and the twins.” I urged Janet toward the back door.
“You should get the twins to give you shooting lessons.” Mom opened the oven and stuck a tray of those tiny meat pie things in. “They’re better shots than a lot of the guys.”
A bit of an exaggeration. The twins were good, but as ex-SEALs the Riptide brothers were all crack shots. I’d be happy if she got the twins to teach her though. “They taught Emma, and it saved her life.”
“Yeah, she told me. She thinks I should learn. Sophia does too.”
We headed out the back door. I could see Sophia and the twins over at the shooting range. I glanced down at my watch. Two minutes until church. Ace wasn’t okay with a guy being late. “You okay if I leave you and head over to church?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She turned toward me and brushed her lips over mine. “Go do what you gotta do.”
* * *
I made it to church just as Ace motioned to Rattler to close the doors. The noise quieted down and everyone’s attention focused on the Prez.
He didn’t beat around the bush. “Someone’s targeting Thor.
We don’t know who, and we don’t know why, but we’re going to find out.
You all know about the ambush behind the bar where he got knifed.
Well, today a sniper took a couple of shots at him.
They set up on a roof overlooking the flower shop his old lady is leasing from us and waited.
That’s not random. We need to get the assholes behind this before they try again. Any ideas?”
It was a tough one. Hard to make a plan when you didn’t know who you were targeting or why.
Ideas were thrown out, considered, and then discarded.
Beast, always a fan of immediate action, wanted to put up a reward on the dark web for info.
Shadow pointed out that would just bring out every crackpot looking to make a buck and cloud the issue.
We debated ideas for almost an hour without any results when the door burst open and Sophia stumbled in.
Her eyes wild, she screamed at the top of her voice. “She’s gone! They have her. They took Janet!”