31. Dax
DAX
It took longer than I would have liked to get everything settled so we could leave but I had to go back and grab our bikes and stash them in Harper’s garage.
I disabled the garage door and took the keys with me so it would hopefully keep anyone from messing with them.
Putting Harper in joke of a back seat with her bag still bundled in her blanket I then maneuvered Picasso into the front passenger seat.
Leaning against the car I called Brian.
“Dax, God I’ve been so worried about you, you dropped off the face of the earth,” Brian blurted when he answered.
“I’m all good, just needed to deal with some stuff on the down low. Look I don’t have a lot of time to explain things but I need you to spread the word that Diego De Leon has teamed up with the Mad Dog’s MC and their gunning for us,” I explained.
The silence on the other end had me frowning.
“Does this mean it’s true that you took out his kid?” Brian asked.
“No Brian, I didn’t take out his kid. I didn’t even know he had one. They are spreading rumors to stir shit up in our house and seeing how you are questioning me on this I’d say it’s working. Tell me Brian you still with me or do I need to consider this your resignation?” I demanded.
Everyone knows when you’re in as deep as Brian is there is no leaving the empire alive. I liked him because he was a good guy and did his job perfectly, but I couldn’t have someone so high up questioning things when we are headed for war.
“If what you're telling me is that they killed Jeff just to make us doubt you then I’m all in. His wife just had their first kid you know, he didn’t deserve to go like that.
Hell it could have been me they picked to make an example out of.
Don’t worry Dax I got your back, I trust you to tell me what I need to know.
Now what can I do for you?” Brian asked, his tone all business.
“I need you to send a clean up crew and oversee them personally to the address that I send to you. They went after someone very important to me and I need to make sure that this is handled with the utmost care so nothing falls back on her,” I instructed.
“Sure things boss, sounds like you’ve had a busy night two clean ups in one evening they’re not fucking around are they,” Brian sighed.
“No they sure aren’t, I’ll have more information for you in the next twenty-four hours. They wanted a war then there gonna get one and regret the day they fucked with my people,” I growled and hung up.
Rubbing my forehead I took a moment before I slid into the car and started it up. Glancing back at Harper she met my eyes with a little more life in them. I smiled and she gave me a half hearted one in return letting me know that I hadn’t lost her completely.
I’d never been a fan of her tiny little car but as we wove through traffic I was starting to appreciate its value.
The sky was starting to lighten slightly with dawn approaching and I was even more thankful to get out of the city before the rest of the world woke up.
Once on the more open rural roads it was smooth sailing.
The quiet in the car was relaxed and I left it that way.
“Ugg,” Picasso groaned as he started to wake up rubbing the back of his head. “Why does my head hurt so much? Wait, why the fuck am I in a clown car?”
Looking at him out of the corner of my eye I smirked. “It seems we need to work on your infiltration skills. Nothing like a pistol whip to the head to make a great story for your first hostage rescue.”
Picasso glared at me then he caught sight of Harper in the back seat and relaxed a little. “Looks like you weren’t lying when you said you didn’t need my help.”
“Hey I tried to tell you, this isn’t my first rodeo. The cesspool of people I have dealt with puts you in all kinds of situations, you have to learn to manage. Six on one is a personal favorite of mine, it makes it challenging enough that I have to actually try,” I gloated.
“Dax are you saying this is normal for you?” Harper whispered her eyes wide in horror.
The grin on my face fell as fear grew in my heart that she might never look at me the same after that conversation.
“This is something I wish you never had to learn about me Harper. I did everything I could to keep you clear of all this. I promise once we are safe and you get some rest I will answer any questions you have, if you want to ask them.”
She turned her gaze away from me but didn’t say anything more. Once again the car fell into silence but this time it wasn’t so comfortable. I pressed the gas down further needing to get free from the tension that was building in the small space.
As I pulled up right in front of Eagle’s house I wasn’t surprised to see all the lights on, a beacon guiding me back.
The internal sigh of relief to be back caught me by surprise as I opened my door.
Picasso carefully unfolded himself from the small space trying not to hit his head again.
The front door opened a few moments later with Wes and Eagle coming to meet us.
They both made a b-line right to me but I waved them off not wanting their attention.
Wes sighed and went to Harper and tucked her under his arm and brought her into the house.
Eagle glared at me letting me know this wasn’t over as he grabbed his brother by the back of his neck and they did a strange bro hug.
Exhausted but knowing that sleep wasn’t coming anytime soon I trudged up the steps where I found Sprocket holding the door open for me.
I smiled at him when I saw the coffee mug in his hand that he held out.
Cupping it with two hands I let the heat of the cup revive me giving me the push to keep going.
Sprocket pulled me to the coffee table where he sat me down.
I raised a brow at him but he just signaled for me to wait.
Not having the energy to argue I just sipped on my coffee and looked around but didn’t see Cognac or Void.
Sprocket returned with a large first aid kit and started pulling things out that he needed.
“Pants off,” He instructed.
“Gosh, buy a girl dinner first would ya,” I teased feeling a little punch drunk.
His green eyes held mine and I saw there was no humor in his gaze.
What I found surprised me— Sprocket was angry.
Setting my mug down I stood undoing my thigh holster setting it to the side and shimmied off my jeans hissing as the dried blood caused the material to stick to my skin around my injury.
This pulled at the tender skin and caused it to start bleeding again making Sprocket’s frown deepen.
He moved with practiced ease as he cleaned my injury not speaking a word to me. His touch was gentle but thorough.
“Looks like it’s gonna need stitches,” Sprocket said, still refusing to look at me as he grabbed more supplies.
I sighed knowing this was going to burn like a bitch but it wasn’t the first or the last time this was gonna happen in my life. “You any good at those? If not I can do it myself.”
That got Sprocket's attention, his eye snapping up to mine. “How many times?”
“What?” I asked, wrinkling my brow.
“How, many, times have you had to stitch yourself up?” Sprocket asked, anger burning in his tone.
“I don’t know I’ve lost count, it’s really not that big of a deal Sprocket it happens,” I said with a shrug not understanding why he was so bothered by this.
A growl fell from his lips as he stood and walked away from me towards the bottom of the stairs. “Weston, get your ass down here right now.”
I stood from the coffee table but he whipped around so fast I froze.
“Sit. The. Fuck. Down Dax,” Sprocket demanded.
The fury in his eyes caused me to sink back down to where I was sitting completely caught off guard by what was going on.
Wes charged down the stairs his eyes scanning the room looking for what could have caused Sprocket to holler for him.
Before I could get out a word of warning Sprocket clocked Weston right in the face making him stumble into the wall.
“What the fuck man?” Wes snarled.
“How could you let her get into situations where she ends up getting hurt and having to patch herself up?! Where the fuck were you? I thought you two were a team but it sounds to me like you hide safely behind that goddamn screen while she puts her life on the line?” Sprocket fumed.
Their argument seemed to draw everyone out and now all the guys were standing at different points around the room watching everything unfold. I saw Harper observing from the top stair clutching a pillow eye glued on what was happening before her.
“You have no fucking clue what you’re talking about here asshole,” Weston shot back.
Eagle stepped in as Sprocket was about to lung at Wes again holding him back with a hand to the chest. “Easy, we need his mouth to keep working so he can explain himself.”
Sprocket growled but backed off as the rest of them circled around Wes.
“I think you better enlighten us here, Westical, before Void decides to make good on this threat from earlier,” Cognac said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Wes glared at all of them before his gaze flicked to me as if unsure of what he was about to say next.
“You guys don’t understand, I’ve been at her side through everything.
The history that we have both shared and survived in the Hidden Empire gives me a level of knowledge you will never know.
Dax is a survivor and doesn’t need a bunch of meat headed men trying to smother her in a bubble.
If she tells me she can handle something then I let her, but I wouldn’t hesitate jumping in front of a bullet for her if the need arose. ”