31 - Bear
Bear
It felt good to be driving my Ford again instead of the Cornerstone truck.
Had me feeling more like myself, which, given the last few weeks, was starting to get a little murky.
And unlike the work truck, this baby ran smooth.
The only sound was the tires chewing up the gravel, and that was exactly the type of quiet I needed to think.
I pulled into the old iron yard, cutting the engine a few feet from our designated meeting spot.
I looked around quickly before getting out.
The place still smelled like wet rust, diesel exhaust and cold grease.
It was a graveyard of rotting pallets and twisted rebar, the type of place that you’d immediately think of when someone mentions they know a place where you can hide a body.
I zipped my jacket all the way up and climbed out, glass and gravel crunching under the soles of my boots.
After a few minutes of waiting in the frigid wind, I finally saw them; Dax’s mother and brother emerged from the shadow of a rusted shipping container, moving with a slow slouch.
His mother pulled ahead with her arms tightly crossed over a faded winter coat.
The brother trailed behind like a leashed dog, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
I noticed his beady eyes kept darting back to my truck. I clenched my jaw.
“You sure know how to keep an old lady waiting,” his mother chided immediately and I raised a brow. “It’s freezing out here, for God’s sake.”
I didn’t point out the fact that they clearly spent some of that time hiding in the container. She had a condescending way of making you feel like shit without having to be explicit about it. I couldn’t stand people like that but it was fine. I wasn’t here to make friends, anyway.
“Here,” I said, handing over the envelope I’d kept tucked in my jacket. She looked at me with suspicion, but eagerly opened it anyway, and when she saw the number I’d scrawled down, her eyes popped.
I dipped my head towards the check in her hands. “That’s enough to get your son out of debt and then some. I added a bonus on the condition that you stay out of Dax’s life from now on. Is that understood?”
Hearing that, the spell cast by the check violently broke. She gave an ugly laugh of disbelief. “You think this little check of yours is enough to dictate what I do with my own son? I will not be told how to handle my boy, especially by some thug who does his dirty work for him.”
I immediately snatched the check out of her grasp and she sputtered, looking furious now.
“Then I guess you don’t agree to the terms,” I said simply. “It really is that easy. You two leave him alone, and you get the money. Or don’t and see how long it takes to pay back those sharks you have on your tail.”
I told Lane that I wasn’t someone who let himself be bullied, and I didn’t stand for letting those I cared about be bullied either.
I meant every word. For all our differences, Miller was more than just one of my crewmen.
He was a man who was trying despite all the shit that life kept throwing at him, and I had to commend him for that.
I was willing to do whatever I had to in order to tie up this loose end. I was playing nice for now, but if they wouldn’t budge, they were going to force my hand to try other tactics.
His mother cut a wordless look to her son and my instinct snapped into place. The guy was fast but sloppy, and he telegraphed his moves before he started them. Rookie mistake.
He flung a wide right hook as if on cue, and I knew to pivot instantly.
Unfortunately for me, the cold meant my bad leg pulled stiff enough to sabotage the turn.
I took the brunt of the strike across my left shoulder and jaw.
His fist connected with a wet, heavy crack.
My head snapped back, surprised at the street weight behind that hit.
It rattled my teeth for sure but it lacked real form. He was all unguided brawn.
Still, the force rolled me onto my heels and my bad knee caught the worst of the uneven, muddy gravel. A sharp, familiar spike of cold pain shot up my thigh, threatening to buckle my stance.
I had to forcefully lock the joint out, my boot skidding in the black sludge as I absorbed the momentum. Their mother was cheering in the background, encouraging her son to “teach me a lesson”. Okay, I guess.
I reset my stance while working my jaw, mentally running through the situation. This petty scrap was nothing. I rebuilt bridges under mortar fire to save men I barely knew. Here, I was taking punches to protect my electrician and a client who completely dismantled my solitary life.
Cornerstone wasn’t just a business anymore. Miller wasn’t just some random guy I was tasked with keeping off the street anymore. He was my friend, just like Sy. Lane was my heart. The three of them were my pack, my team. My family.
Dax’s brother must’ve mistaken my defensive stance as hesitation because he came in for a double-leg takedown like a total dumbass. This kid really thought he could drag me into the mud. I dropped my hips, clamped my forearms over his neck in a headlock and drove my weight downward.
I utilized a simple inside trip, leveraging my frame to throw him off balance despite the fact he had height and reach on me.
He hit the packed gravel face-first with a wet, heavy thud.
Before the kid could roll over, I planted a work boot right between his shoulder blades. Frantic gasps turned to a wheeze.
His body immediately went slack, his palms splayed out in surrender in the mud. I didn’t press hard enough to snap anything, just enough to let my body weight communicate that I absolutely could.
Their mother was screeching now, pacing back and forth. “Get your hands off him, you bastard! I’ll have you locked up for this!”
I looked up at her calmly, my breath not even catching. “Shut up, Donna. Listen to me very carefully.”
She looked like I’d just slapped her, hearing me deign to use her first name for the first time.
I leaned down slightly, increasing the pressure of my boot enough for them both to be part of the conversation. “I’m going to say this one last time and never again. You don’t know who you’re messing with. Stay away from Dax,” I said, articulating every word so there was no misunderstanding.
She went pale and I took my boot off the kid’s back. I took out the check again and let it fall onto his back, then turned mine and made my way back to my truck.