Chapter 24
-:- CHAOS -:-
Jack arrives at the range and I drag him through to the locker room where he’ll keep his helmet, leathers and anything else he has on his person.
“Leave everything here, even your prospect kutte. Put it in the locker. You’ll wear one of our t-shirts, so everyone knows you are staff. Now hurry and follow me.”
Jack quickly removes his outer clothing, throws on a t-shirt and runs his fingers through his hair before looking at me expectantly.
Jack has his hair shaved at the sides, short on the back and a little longer on the front swept back and on the untidy side, but styled.
He’s a great kid, and he’s going to make a fantastic brother.
He’s shown his worth with the Stooges and with Victoria.
He showed no fear of anything thrown at him, and I, for one, will be more than happy to put his name forward for full brother when the time comes.
Stating that I am role-playing as his new customer and that I have had only limited experience of firearms, I get him to talk me through the weapons in front of me.
He is thorough in his explanations of the weapons and their capabilities, but I felt he was lacking in his recommendations on what would better suit me for the scenario I gave him.
Explaining this to him, he goes into more detail, and I’m happier with his new approach.
His detailed firearms safety talk is first-class, and I can’t find fault with that.
When he shows me how to strip down a weapon, using the Glock for his demonstration, I have to slow him down.
I think we’re all guilty of being proud of our speed when it comes to this task, and I know from personal experience that you have to put a mental block in place for speed when teaching.
All in all, he shows a good aptitude for teaching, and his natural patience with people should stand him in good stead.
“Don’t get too big for your boots, Jack, but that was a good first step. You could have just found your vocation in life.” I grin at him as he puffs his chest out.
“I don’t know about that, but I enjoyed it. I can see myself getting into this in a big way. I think I could learn a lot from Winter and Target.”
“Oh yeah? You cheeky fuck. It’s not too late for you to get fired on your first day, you know!” Seeing his shoulders shaking I realize he got me good with that comment.
While Jack is having his lunch I head over to the office where I saw Winter enter a few minutes ago. Stepping inside the office, Winter is sitting next to Kimberley who is pointing out an issue with the camera on the south wall.
“I’ll get Target to check that out, Kimberley. It has been moved from its original position. Can you go back and then replay the feed? Let’s see what happened,” Winter asks before looking up at me with a questioning eyebrow raise.
“Are you still having issues with the supplier?” I ask because if she is, I’ll go see the asshole myself.
Winter grins, “No, I handed it over to Target and he had a diplomatic word with the owner.”
Now, we all know that Target, although lethal, is a calm person.
He takes a situation and analyzes it in seconds.
Once he has his mind made up on what is happening, why, and how he’s going to deal with it…
he executes his plan. But being diplomatic means he will have spoken to the owner in person and his terms laid down.
Those terms depend on how the situation played out.
“Do we have a new supplier?” I tentatively ask.
“Nope,” Winter pops the ‘P,’ all the while grinning. “We stay with this one, but we now have a ten percent discount for being such good customers.”
Kimberley laughs low and tries to keep it under her breath, but the huge smile on her face would let her down even if I hadn’t heard her.
“Okay, so you don’t need me to do anything. Cool. I’m working with Jack. Is there anything you think I need to know?” I look again at Winter and she nods.
“Yes. Pay attention to his weapon choices. He is excellent with a bow and arrow and a crossbow. He is a natural archer. His use of other weaponry needs some polishing, particularly his use of a shotgun,” Winter is ticking off on her fingers as she is speaking.
“Okay, I’ll pay attention to non-archery weapons for now. I’ll catch up later. I have to set him up at the reception desk for the afternoon, then I need to leave after I’ve done the two appointments I have on my rotation.”
“See you later, Chaos. Oh, make sure Mrs. Williamson doesn’t overdo it.
She’s been trying too hard, and you know she’s eighty-one so watch she doesn’t give herself a heart attack.
” Winter laughs along with Kimberley, but I’m grinning too, because Mrs. Williamson wants to do everything she can before she dies.
That is what she keeps telling everyone when she’s here.
My first client is a young male who wants to learn enough to get his carry permit.
He isn’t one I’m worried about, as he seems to have a good head on his shoulders.
He answered all my questions quickly and without hesitation.
He travels a lot with his job and often has to sleep in his truck cab, so wanting some protection is for that reason.
He spends a lot of time on his own and wouldn’t have anyone watching his back, and that has made him nervous after two altercations.
After I spoke to him about getting some physical training to sit alongside having a weapon, he was responsive to having hand-to-hand lessons.
I set him up with a friend who would do the lessons as and when my client could make himself available.
Good lesson, and he’s happy with the way things are heading.
Mrs. Williamson was a pain in my ass. She wanted to touch every weapon that was close to her.
She pinched my ass twice and gave me a fuckin’ wink when she did it.
I had to sit her down and give her a good talking-to.
But at her age she isn’t taking things seriously.
Her reply was that she may not be here tomorrow, so why not enjoy every minute, every hour, every day while she can.
Now, how do you respond to that? Hence, the lesson was a nightmare, but I got her to laugh and enjoy the hour so that’s what counts I suppose.
Heading out of the range, I straddle my hog when my phone rings. Taking a quick look, I’m surprised to see it’s Mr. Stonley, the realtor. “Hi, what news do you have?” I quickly get to it.
“Hello, Mr. Styles. The house purchase is complete. All funds have been cleared. The documents are all in order. You can collect the house keys whenever you are ready. Everything in the house is yours to do with as you wish. Mrs. Gowen wishes you all the best and said she hopes you have as much love and joy in the house as she has had.”
“That’s great. I’ll come over now and get the keys. I’m on my way to the clubhouse so can stop on my way.”
“Good. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” I cut the call and fire up my hog. This is a good day, and I’m excited to show Victoria and Corey our home.
An hour later, keys in hand, I’m sitting in the clubhouse kitchen speaking to Wings and Buzz. “So, Wings,” I turn to look at him. Buzz looks at me and then Wings. I ignore him and ask what’s been on my mind. “Were you and Bethy becoming a thing?”
Wings looks at me like I just grew another head alongside this one. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Well, you were spending a lot of time with her. I just wondered if you were becoming a thing. Because if you were I’m here for you, giving you any support you may need.”
I am being honest, but Buzz is smirking and Wings jumps to his feet smacks me around the head and walks away. “You are a fuckin’ idiot,” Buzz says, then laughs behind his hand.
“Why?”
Buzz looks at me again and sees I’m being serious. “They were not a thing. He liked her. He liked her the same as all the women in the club. But there were no romantic vibes going on between them.”
“Okay. I just wanted to be there if he needed anyone. Fuckin’ hell, you’d think I asked something nasty the way he reacted.” I turn and give Wings a frown as he heads back to the table carrying a bottle of water and a BLT.
Buzz and I watch Wings get settled to eat. I keep quiet, knowing it’s best not to push my luck. Wings looks up at me and grunts before stating firmly, “No, I didn’t have a thing. We were becoming friends.”
I quickly mumble, “Okay.” I know when it’s best to remain on the outside looking in, and not poke the beast.
“So, tonight, Chaos, we are going to stake out the wood yard. Are you up for a spot of recon?” Buzz asks, and that smirk he has on his face ropes me in. He knows something. I’m sure of that.
“I’m in. Send me the time and just where you’ll be and I’ll see you later. I need to go pick Corey up from school, but gotta drop my hog off at the apartment first. I’ll catch you two later.” I don’t wait for a reply. I make my way out of the clubhouse, grab my hog and head home.
****
Sitting between two shops, a distance away from the wood supply, we are dressed as though we are homeless. I have a hoodie on and have most of my face covered. I’m raring to catch some fucker and find out why they are watching the supply yard.
“What do you know, Buzz?” I ask and lift my head slightly to watch his expression.
Sighing, as he leans onto the wall behind him, “Did you know they used to have a handyman business before we brought them into the wood supply?”
“No, I didn’t know that. But I’ve not been with the MC as long as you have.” I move my head to the right a little as I see movement near the entrance to the supply yard.
Wings shuffles nearer to the sidewalk from where he squats next to Buzz. “What else?” Wings asks.
“My source tells me that a past customer has a grievance with one of the brothers. They are brothers now so we protect them as we would each other,” Buzz states, then continues. “They all did a job for this asshole and he didn’t like how it looked when completed. He refused to pay them.”
“Oh, I see. He got the work done for free, fucker. Now it’s time for a redo and he’s going to scare the shit out of them, to again, do it free,” I snarl. I’ve seen this before and I’m not going to watch this happen.
“We’ve dealt with the fucker, so you three need to go home and do whatever it is you do in the evening.”
Whirling around and amazed, they sneaked up on us. I give the evil eye to the four brothers of the wood supply. “Fuck's sake, Herb, you nearly gave us a heart attack,” Wings snarls.
Buzz, however, chuckles. Looking at him closely, the fucker knew they were there, and that’s the only reason he opened up to tell us what he knew.
Standing I look down the sidewalk, and that is when I see the person I had thought was loitering walk away. Seems he was looking in the furnishing window and is now trying to see the yard.
“You sorted it? What happened?” I ask as I flip my hoodie off my head.
“Well, let’s see. The idiot had us do his work for free first off.
We were young, had a lot to learn, and he took advantage of that.
But we can live with it. We learned a lesson.
One we would never repeat. This time, as Buzz said he was threatening the supply yard if we didn’t do as he wanted.
We showed him, he wasn’t telling us shit,” Herb smirks.
Terry, Jorge and Lucas are smirking and holding their hands up so I can see their knuckles. They have a few cuts and bruises. Giving them a nod to let them know I’m okay with what they’ve done, I state, “I’m going home now. See my up-and-coming wife. Maybe get myself some loving!”
Wings grumbles, but I know he’s good with me finding my woman. I had hoped he and Bethy would be a couple. But sadly, even if that were a possibility, it’s not going to happen now.
Whistling to myself, I walk away, leaving them all chuckling behind me. I’m thinking Buzz and Wings need to think about settling down. They could do with a good woman!