Chapter Thirty
Garrett walked into the bar and took a seat.
The biker gang harassed other patrons and felt up the server every time she brought rounds for the table.
The thought of Riley working here made his hands curl into fists.
He hated it when men acted like pigs. It made him wonder how much of their actions Riley put up with.
One of Kenny’s henchmen sat beside him at the bar. “You waiting for anyone special?” he asked, signaling the waitress to pour him a beer.
“Yeah. Tell Kenny I want to meet. I already know the address of the club, so he won’t need to send me an escort. Tell Bernice I expect her there, too.”
“Do you have his woman?” the fat slob asked him, drinking his beer.
“No. I haven’t seen her. Maybe she’s already on her way back to the club,” he lied.
“If he doesn’t want to discuss business with me, then I suggest he move along down the road.
It’s too much of a coincidence he showed up here,” Garrett said, placing a twenty on the counter.
“I expect when we finish our business, he’ll have no reason to stay. ”
“I’ll make the call. Stay here,” the biker said, sliding from his stool and pulling out his phone.
Garrett leaned against the bar, letting Matthew film the bikers selling drugs and snorting them in the darkened corners. By the time they finished, none of them would harass Riley and Tara again.
“He’s not here. Kenny said he’ll meet you next Thursday at three,” the biker told him.
“I’ll be there,” Garrett said, walking out of the bar.
When he got into his truck, he spoke out loud. “Did you get everything?”
“You bet your ass, I did. Two have active warrants out on them, and the other, a recent parolee, snorted his product up his nose,” Matthew informed him.
Garrett drove back to his empty cabin. He sat in the driveway thinking about Riley and Tara, and if he only shut his big mouth, they’d be inside waiting for him. He restarted his truck, drove to the barn, and saddled Brutus. He gave a carrot to Storm, promising to ride her tomorrow.
Guiding Brutus toward the cabins, he told himself he wanted to check on all the survivors.
Now, Riley and Tara stayed there because of him.
Riding Brutus, he let his thoughts drift to her father.
How did he find them when they moved? Why didn’t he press charges against Riley and go through legal channels?
After Riley’s confrontation with the man, he seemed to have disappeared. Did he go off on another drinking binge or give up? Something told Garrett the man who found them every single time didn’t plan on giving up easily.
He nodded to the guard on duty as he urged Brutus toward the back of the cabins.
The lights shone in the one Matthew told him they were staying.
He pulled the horse to a stop as he watched Riley sit at a kitchen table, picking at her food.
She wiped her eyes a few times, making Garrett feel like shit.
He caused this. Struggling with his decision to wait until he rid the town of Kenny and his gang and got them away from Riley, he turned the horse around.
Riley sniffled and picked at the heated meal she found in the freezer.
What did she plan to tell Tara? Her sister was fond of Kara and her family, not to mention the ranch crew.
She once dreamed of having one exactly like this.
Her mom and dad living in the big house, and Tara enjoying a small home on the hill, where she loved to slide down in winter.
Riley dreamed of one beside the green pastures with the field full of horses on one side and cattle on the other.
She wanted goats in the barn, close to the house and the garden, and a chicken coop.
It seemed the closest she’d come to having chickens resembled a fast-food joint.
Pulling out her phone, she checked for a text from Tara.
Then, she recalled the conversation with her new friends.
Did she really have a problem with control?
She only tried to keep Tara away from her father.
Maybe over the last year, things grew worse between the money, changing apartments, and tacos became more than a meal on Tuesdays.
They ate them all the time. Staying with Garrett let her cook some of the foods her mom always made, making it feel like they found a home.
Her stomach twisted in knots, and she pushed the food away. “Snap out of it, Riley. You gave your virginity to a man you hardly knew. And when the chips were down, he showed you his true colors.”
Tears trailed down her cheeks, and she let them fall. Tomorrow, she’d pick up Tara, save up some money, and then they’d start over all again.