Chapter 29
*~* Cannon *~*
It’s been three days since we went to the ranch and discovered our dead brother, Bandit.
Officer Tanner has been here each day and has kept us updated as to when we are likely to have the body so we can bury him.
I have to say, he has been very respectful about it.
When he came yesterday, he was in a very bad mood.
Apparently, when he asked a technician at the morgue when they would release Bandit, he was told, ‘It was just a biker, who cares?’.
This did not go down well with him, and he almost assaulted the technician.
Luckily, the medical examiner was present and overheard the comment.
The medical examiner, according to Tanner, was an exceptional woman by the name of Emily Pesci.
He believed she is of Italian descent and bore hallmark Italian beauty, such as high cheekbones, dark eyes, long brown hair and a confidence that said she knew exactly what he was thinking.
When he began describing her body, I stopped him there and said I’d got the picture.
I think at this point he realized how much notice he had actually taken, as he blushed.
She told him that she would look at getting Bandit released as soon as possible, especially as he was the only one that anyone had asked about. He said he could hear her ripping into the technician as he left.
Tanner stayed for most of the evening, and he is a good fit with everyone here. I’ll have to speak to Pres about him, I think. He’d probably jump at the chance of the feeling of belonging that the MC gives you. Bill is a good man, too, but I don’t see him taking to the biker lifestyle.
Pres sent Ghost to collect Mateo this morning for an appointment with Jamie at the practice. I went along for the ride and to see where Spirit lives. You never know when you could be called on, and it’s always good to know how to get somewhere in an emergency.
I was surprised when we got out of the SUV and Ghost told me to stand still and not move whatever happened. I was about to say screw it when the furry missile from the bar and a freaking donkey walked around the side of an old cabin. Remembering the bar, I stood exactly where I was and waited.
Spirit appeared a second behind them, and she only gave me a cursory glance. “Stand still while they look you over, Cannon. Bruno. Look ‘em.”
The donkey eyed me suspiciously and then took two turns walking around me. When he was satisfied, he walked back and sat beside her.
“Spectre. Look ‘em.” The furry missile looked at me before walking over, and that look was scary. He looked into my soul and instantly knew all my dirty secrets. If I had to go up against either of these animals, I wouldn’t do so willingly, but I’d rather take my chances with the donkey-sized Rottweiler than the Malinois, any day of the week.
The Rottweiler would chew you up and spit you out.
That Malinois would chew you up, jam you under a log and come back for more at his leisure.
“You have a knife in each boot. I wouldn’t reach for them if I were you.
” She turns and Ghost motions for me to follow.
We walk along a trail in the woods, and she occasionally takes us off the trail, presumably to bypass a trap of some kind.
I don’t ask what as I’m not sure I want to know.
Seeing another cabin, this one very much more habitable than the previous one, I see Mateo sitting on the porch.
I’m surprised when Spectre looks at Spirit briefly and then runs to sit by Mateo.
“He’s obviously made himself at home,” I mutter to Ghost.
“Actually, the dog made the first move when they first met. He is not in the least touchy-feely, and I wouldn’t recommend testing that out.
He lets Mateo pretty much do as he likes with him.
It didn’t sit well with Spirit at first, but I think she’s good with it now.
” Ghost grins when Spirit turns and gives him the middle finger. “Or maybe not.”
Mateo has a bag at his side, so he knew we were coming and that he’s probably heading back to the clubhouse.
Spirit walks straight past him and into the cabin, the Rottweiler in tow.
She leaves the door open, but the Malinois doesn’t follow.
I notice that as Mateo stands, he’s still favoring his ribs, and it doesn’t look like he’s faking it.
Seeing me watching, he states, “It’s getting better, but it’s not quite there yet. ”
Taking his bag from him, I get a decidedly suspicious look from Spectre, along with a curled lip, and I make sure I keep on the opposite side of Mateo to those teeth. Mateo just grins, saying, “Don’t worry, Cannon. He’s a pussycat, really.” I don’t answer that simply because I don’t believe a word.
We wait for Mateo to have his appointment, and he came out half good and half pissed off.
He’s on the mend, which is a positive, but he’s also cleared for going back to the clubhouse and very light duties.
Something I don’t think neither he nor Spirit wanted to hear.
Back at the clubhouse, he asks if he can take an SUV and go to the bar.
Whack asks if he can ride his hog as the SUVs are all booked.
Mateo thinks he’ll be okay if he takes things steady, and maybe someone could shadow him just in case it gets too much.
Walking out into the compound, I pull my truck around to the front and show Mateo the bike that Stephan’s goons had loaded onto her. I get Ghost to give me a hand, and we take her from the truck. I sit on it, turn my nose up, and state that I prefer mine. Offering the seat to Mateo, he sits on it.
“What is there not to like, Cannon? She is gorgeous. I bet she throbs down the road.” His smile is huge and getting bigger with every second. I throw him the keys.
“Try it then. Just don’t drop it.” I signal to Leo, who’s on the gate, and he opens them for Mateo to slip off onto the road.
Hellion follows on his hog, and we all wait for them to return.
We’re about to walk inside when we hear them coming back.
Mateo looks like he’s had all his birthdays and Christmases at once.
“I take it from that smile that it meets with your approval?” I pull a face to say that it doesn’t meet mine.
“Hell, yeah. If I had the cash, I’d take it off your hands, but I don’t have enough to buy a beauty like this.” Mateo is still grinning even through his disappointment.
“Well, I’ll tell you a little secret, shall I?
This piece of junk is compensation for the beating you took.
We thought it came up short in terms of financial recompense, but the joy and trouble-free miles might make up for some of that.
So. You want it, or should I take it to the junkyard?
” I hold out my hands for the keys expectantly.
“Serious? This is my new ride? You’ll have to pry these keys from my cold, dead body if that’s true.”
“Well, we don’t want to have to go to those extremes, so I guess you can keep her. Instead of going to the bar, maybe you should show it to a certain young lady?” Whack winks at him as he tells him to be back for the evening meal.
Once Mateo and Hellion are gone, Whack having previously ordered him to chaperone Mateo for the first ride out, I take my truck and head into town.
I have a chore to do that keeps getting away from me, and it’s time I put it to bed.
Pulling up in the parking lot in town, I head for the high street store I’d researched online.
It’s not a big store or part of a chain.
It’s a family-owned business that has been trading for years.
The sort of place that you go to when something means more than money and where service is the keyword.
Walking inside, I startle a customer. Taking me in with a single look, she is soon out of the door and gone.
A man trying on a watch catches my eye as he looks me up and down to see if he can take me.
I’ve seen that look a thousand times, and the answer is no, he can’t.
Obviously, he thinks otherwise as he smirks and turns back to the young lady serving him.
Finding a spot where I can watch him without being blatant about it, I glance at the items before me.
I know the exact moment shit is going to go down because he is so confident that he must have been getting away with this for some time.
Slipping the watch from his wrist, he swaps it with a similar one, handing the dummy back to the young woman.
I leave the store and stand looking in the window at the display.
As soon as he leaves, I grab his arm and swing him to the ground.
As he looks up in surprise, my fist meets his chin, his eyes roll back, and he’s out for the count.
I frisk his pockets and remove the watch, all his cash from his wallet, and anything else of value.
Taking my cell, I call Tanner and ask if he’s on duty.
When he says, “Affirmative”, I tell him to get his ass over to the jeweler's as fast as he can.
He arrives in a couple of minutes with lights flashing but no siren. “Hey, Cannon. What have you got there?”
“Thief. He was trying to switch a cheap copy for an expensive watch. The owners don’t know yet, but I’m just going to give it back to them.
Throw him in the cruiser and you can have his dummy watch as evidence.
” I watch as Tanner cuffs the guy and then, none too gently, manhandles him into the back of the cruiser.
Walking into the shop together, I speak to the young lady asking to see the watch that the man had just looked at.
When she shows me, I point out that it is a fake, and she frowns at me, clearly not understanding that it had been swapped.
When I explain what had happened, she turns to a door behind her and says something to someone in the back room.
An elderly gentleman appears and asks to see the watch. When he takes a cursory glance at it, he confirms to her what had happened. I pass the watch to Tanner, who writes some shit down on his pad and states that he will be back later for a statement. He walks out whistling.
I hand over the cash from the thief and tell them it is compensation, while I notice the man giving his stock on display a brief examination.
After shrugging off their thanks, I get down to my own business for being there.
I spend two hours going back and forth with the young lady, Abigail according to her badge, before I’ve narrowed my selection to a choice of two designs for wedding rings and a final choice of an engagement ring.
Both are understated, and I’m struggling with my final choice, a choice made easier when Abigail points to one set of rings and says, “I like the way that the pattern on this set is made up of hearts, but in such a way that you don’t realize they are hearts unless you know or look very closely.
I find that romantic, but it doesn’t make the man’s ring feminine or all gooey and girly. ”
Picking up the ring to study it closer, I see the pattern. Before she told me they were hearts, I thought it was just a knurled pattern pressed into the ring.
“That’s quite cool now you’ve told me that. I hadn’t spotted it. That’s the pair then.” I am just giving myself a pat on the back when Abigail asks what size I need for Barbara.
My face drops, and she giggles at me, “Don’t worry, we can resize it later. You would not believe how many men come in here to buy rings but don’t know their partner’s size.”
Looking at Abigail, she appears to be of similar height, weight, and size to Barbara. “Give me your hand.” Taking her left hand in mine, I slip the ring on her finger, and it fits like a glove. “This one will do nicely.”
Looking at me dreamily, she replies, “If only my Mr. Right would come in and say those words.”
A cough from behind her, has us both jump. “You left him at the altar, remember?”
“Papa! He was screwing my maid of honor the morning of the wedding! My sister! What would you have had me do? You didn’t lose any money, they finished the service together, for God’s sake.
” Abigail slams her hands on her hips and looks fiercely at her papa.
I have to grin as she reminds me of my woman.
When I go to pay, her papa interrupts. “Abigail, put this cash towards the sale price. This good man has saved us more than this and shown us that we could be open to having lost much more. He is a good man and deserves this, at the very least.”
I am about to argue, but the look from them both has me holding my hands up in surrender and graciously accepting their kind gesture.