Chapter 7
*~* Fury *~*
Ifeel like a lovesick teenager. I’ve hardly slept in days, my nerves are frazzled, and I could bite the head off a baby bunny as soon as look at it.
I am definitely not in a people mood today.
Walking into the kitchen, I grunt at anyone stupid enough to speak first. Grabbing a coffee and a plate of one-of-everything available, I slip out the back door and park my ass on one of the picnic tables we have out here.
Realizing I have no cutlery, I groan when I have to run the gauntlet of the kitchen once again.
Just as I’m about to stand up, Breaker appears and dumps some knives and forks on the table. I hope my eyes convey a thank you, because my mouth isn’t going to.
Tucking into my food, I wait for what I’m sure is going to be another lecture. When nothing happens, I glance up and Breaker is sitting with his back to me, looking down the compound.
“When you’ve got your head out of your ass and can be civil, we’ll talk,” he says as he drinks his coffee and I finish the last of my meal.
Hearing me push my plate to one side, Breaker turns on the seat and faces me.
“You’re not doing yourself any favors with this fuckin’ stupid attitude, Fury.
Most, not all, but most of the brothers are rooting for you, and you’re stomping around like the villain from a movie.
Grunting and snapping like a… I don’t know what.
I can’t think of anything to match your crappy attitude. ”
Sighing, I drink my coffee and don’t say a word for a moment.
Nothing that comes out of my mouth lately seems to be very pleasant.
“I don’t need reminding what an ass I am every time I look at someone and see it in their eyes.
I already have that memo in triplicate. I need to find the solution, not keep being reminded that I’m the problem. ”
“You sorry son of a bitch! The only one who is focused on you being the problem is you. We’re all concentrating on Jamie and keeping her safe.” Breaker is showing his frustration toward me.
“How the fuck do I do that when Pres has a fuckin’ restraining order on me? I can’t go near her, so how do I protect her? If anything were to happen, by the time I could get to her, it would be too late!” I slam my fist on the table, and the coffee cups fall over. Luckily, they are both empty.
“You don’t give her enough credit. She has plenty of protection with her.
I took her home yesterday, and she picked up her personal armory.
The only thing she said she regretted she didn’t have was her old hunting rifle.
Otherwise, she’s got enough firepower to protect herself.
I cleaned her Sig and her shotgun, sharpened both her knives, and she has enough spare ammunition in each room to withstand a siege. ”
“I knew she had a shotgun, but not the rest. She enjoyed going hunting with her dad when she was younger. We talked about going hunting together. I guess that won’t happen now.”
“Will you listen to yourself, man? For fuck’s sake.
Get a grip and start being a bit more positive.
Just because you can’t be next to her 24/7 doesn’t mean you can’t protect her.
Find the asshole behind this and take him out.
You need to get out of this funk you’ve put yourself in and get back into manhunt mode. ”
“I’m going to call Shawn again today and see what he’s come up with. He was being cagey when we last spoke, and that’s not like him.” Taking my cell from my ass pocket, I drop it on the table so I don’t forget.
“Smoker tells me you’re on the ball with a new vehicle for Jamie. He seems impressed with your choice but won’t let on what it is you’ve bought her. Says that’s for you to announce, not him. If you’ve impressed Smoker, that’s no mean feat.”
“I’ll tell you, but you have to keep it under wraps. I don’t want it to become common knowledge. Deal?” I look at Breaker to see what his reaction is to that.
Holding up his right hand with his little finger stuck up, he says, “Pinky promise. You can be such a dick, Fury. How are you going to keep it a secret when she’s going to be driving around in it?”
Taking his pinky with my own, I give it a shake, feeling like a fool. “It’s not the fact that it is a Ford pickup that is the secret,” I add.
“Then what is the big secret?” Breaker asks.
“The freakin’ thing is armor-plated!” I grin at him with a smile so wide it could cause an eclipse.
“You bought her a bulletproof pickup? That’s freakin’ genius, Fury.”
“Not just bulletproof. Armor-plated. They could throw a grenade at her and she’ll be fine.
She can drive over a landmine and still walk away.
It wasn’t cheap, but I don’t care about the cost. If they come at her again, they’ll be the ones getting the surprise of their lives, not Jamie.
Only me, you, and Smoker know, and that’s how I want it to stay.
Not even Jamie is to know. There’s no point going to all this effort and then advertising the fact.
It could give us the edge we need to catch them in the act. ” I sit back, pretty smug with myself.
“She’s gonna see you in a different light when you give it to her, that’s for sure.” Breaker raises his eyebrows at me with that statement.
“She mustn’t know it’s from me. Smoker is going to deliver it and sell the idea to her it’s from the insurance company. If she gets a whiff that I’m involved, she may refuse to drive it. What would I do with the damn thing then?”
“You have a point, Fury. She isn’t your biggest fan currently. Good move though. It will come out eventually, and she must appreciate the thought and cost that you put into her safety when it does. I need to move my ass. People to see, places to go, and all that. Catch you later.”
As Breaker walks back into the kitchen, I pick up my cell and place the call to Shawn. After five rings, I know he isn’t going to pick up. That’s a new turn of events, too. I’ve never known him not to pick up.
Taking the club’s SUV once again, I leave the compound and I’m halfway into town before I realize that I didn’t acknowledge whoever was on the gate. That was bad on my part.
Driving by Jamie’s practice, I’m just wondering where the hell she could be when my subconscious registers a vehicle in the driveway of the house by the practice.
That was Molly’s house when she first went to work for Jamie, but I thought it was empty now that Molly and Breaker had their own place.
So that’s where she’s gone. I never thought of that, but it’s so obvious that she would want to be close to her work, even though she can’t be there.
I’m still going to swing by her other place, just in case I spot anyone snooping around.
They may not know about the little house by the practice.
Driving through town, I can’t help but feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
At least I know where she is now. That’s such a relief.
I still can’t get my head around who would want to hurt her.
I don’t know all of her past, but I’m sure that if she had a skeleton in her closet, it wouldn’t be something worth maiming or killing her for.
Using the SUV’s Bluetooth, I try to contact Shawn again. On the second ring, he picks up. “Hi, Fury. Sorry I didn’t pick up earlier. I was chasing your query.”
“I’ve never known you not to pick up, Shawn. What do you have for me?” I ask quickly.
“Honestly? Nothing. Not a damn thing.” To say Shawn’s statement surprises me is an understatement in itself.
“What do you mean, nothing?”
Shawn sighs as he answers. “I’m sorry, Fury, but no one knows anything.
It’s a complete mystery. There are no hits or contracts or any type of underworld business involving a Jamie Grant.
She doesn’t exist except that she exists as a doctor.
I don’t know who wants her harmed or why.
I’m still digging and I won’t stop until I find something but as it stands, no one in my world, as vast as that is, wants her harmed. ”
“That makes no sense. Does she have any history before becoming a doctor?” I’m grasping at straws here, but there has to be a reason for this.
“Hell, yes. She was born, and a typical young girl, a bit of a daddy’s girl.
Went hunting and fishing with him. Swam and partied with the local teen crowd.
Went to college, university, med school, became a doctor, had a couple of short-lived relationships.
Got involved with some unsavory character from a biker gang, and then someone tried to run her off the road.
Well, more than tried. There is just nothing remarkable about her life other than it is so unremarkable. ”
I snap at Shawn, “I am not unsavory, and I am not in a biker gang. I’m in a motorcycle club. There is a difference between a gang and a club.”
“You are most certainly unsavory, and I don’t walk in the right circles to argue semantics over a gang and a club.
Fury, I’ll keep digging and get back to you as soon as I get anything.
” The phone goes dead before I get to say anything else.
I’ll give the asshole unsavory the next time I see him face-to-face.
Pulling up down the street from Jamie’s house, I notice there are flower pots near the front door, full of plants in full bloom.
I don’t remember those being there. The lawn has been mown, and it has crisp, sharp edges along the path and the sidewalk.
It looks like a US Marine’s bedsheets, it’s so neat and tidy.
What the hell? Is she putting the place up for sale?
It looks like a professional has been around and prepped it ready for pictures or viewings.
As I’m processing these thoughts, the front door opens and that damn handyman comes out of the house. Now, what the hell! That’s the second time I’ve seen him leaving the house. At least she hasn’t walked him out and kissed him as he leaves.
What am I thinking? She isn’t even here. I don’t think she is, anyway. I didn’t see her at the practice house, though. What if she kissed him before he left? She wouldn’t have moved on to another man this soon, surely? Maybe he just took advantage and moved in on a vulnerable woman?
I’m going to watch out for this snake in the grass.
If I’m out of the picture, then so be it, but he’s not taking advantage of her like this.
I bet he’s only after her for her money.
I hope that’s all he’s after. What if he wants her for some other nefarious reason?
What if he’s the one who is trying to bump her off and then take the lot?
Her practice must be worth quite a tidy sum, without the value of the two houses.
I need to speak to Molly about this guy.
Find out just how much she knows about his background.
She hired him, so maybe she knows more than she’s letting on.
What if they’re in cahoots? Molly practically runs the practice now.
Perhaps I’ll confront her with what I know?
Or should I go straight to Breaker and then he can do some digging?
Looking back at the house, I see Tim the handyman planting more flowers in a bed under the front window. Tim the handyman or Tim the con man?