WESTON
Igave up trying to work off just the laptop they’d given me and headed out of the house toward the garage.
When I entered the space, all three bays were open, letting the breeze flow through, making it slightly less of an oven.
Scanning the place, I saw four guys working on bikes and one other welding something, causing sparks to fly around him, not at all worried that he was only wearing leather gloves and a wifebeater for protection.
When he saw me and flipped up the welding hood, I all but groaned seeing it was Sprocket—talk about giving a guy a complex.
“What’s up, Westie?” he called, setting down the torch.
“I need to head back to my house and get supplies. Dax got a little sidetracked with saving Harper and all, and I don’t have any wheels,” I explained, as I walked over and hitched a hip to sit on the edge of the worktable. “You guys don’t happen to have a spare vehicle around, do you?”
Sprocket grinned at me, cocking a brow. “You don’t want to borrow Harper’s? I’m sure she’d let you use it.”
“Yeah, I’m not getting into that fucking clown car. I have no idea how Picasso managed it.”
“Guess I can’t blame you on that. How much stuff are you needing to grab?” he asked, pulling off the gloves and welding helmet.
“Nothing too crazy, but I figured while I’m there I would gather her stuff as well. Unless you guys are planning to move into our place, then I’ll just pack an overnight bag,” I probed, even though I could guess the answer.
“Now see, this is the kind of thing that would be helpful to know if our woman didn’t run off to the beach.
” Sprocket chuckled. “I would pack more than an overnight bag, even if we decided to move into your house. This is the safer option until we know what the next move is going to be. I don’t doubt that we’ll be going back and forth for things, but this is a better command center. ”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. You haven’t seen the kind of shit that Dax comes up with.
Sometimes I think she’s watched one too many James Bond movies with all the hidden tricks and traps she’s had put in,” I shared, knowing that they didn’t have a clue what they were signing up for with Dax.
“Although I agree, for the immediate future, staying together here will be easier, at least until we get Harper situated.”
“Do you know what our little rebel has planned for that?”
I scratched my jaw, grimacing at the stubble since I haven’t shaved in a few days.
“There are a few groups that I know she’ll want to reach out to.
I just need to find out who is in the area or finished with a job that I can pull them from.
Personally, I know who I would pick, but Dax doesn’t always get along with them and I’m not sure how she would feel about putting Harper’s life in their hands. ”
Sprocket frowned at that. “Why would she work with people that she doesn’t trust, that seems out of character?”
“They’re assassins. The best in the business except when it came to killing her,” I explained, smiling to myself.
“After they watched her for a week or so, they decided that Dax was too perfect of a psycho to kill. They tried to get her to leave the Hidden Empire and join their team. When she turned them down, they worked out a deal to work together—she would send them on jobs and supply them with whatever they needed.”
“I feel like that would make her like them even more—”
“Yeah, up until they asked if Harper was single.”
“Oh fuck! They must know who Harper is from stalking her for the hit.” Sprocket laughed. “Now I get why she would be pissy with them, since she never wanted Harper to know about this life, let alone date an assassin.”
“Three of them to be exact,” I corrected. “They wanted a deal like we have with Dax. Something about less loose ends to clean up if things didn’t go well.”
“They didn’t tell Dax that, right?”
“Yeah, not their smartest move, but in fairness to them, they really hadn’t known Dax very long,” I reasoned.
“Yet, who better to keep Harper alive than the ones who’d most likely be given the job or know who else took the job?
If the best killers in the States are guarding her, then it makes it a whole hell of a lot easier.
Not to mention they are more paranoid than Dax is, which I didn’t think was possible. ”
“It sounds like you’re on the right track.
We’ll back you up on this, so I would get in touch.
What do you think they would want in return for doing the job?
” Sprocket asked as he walked over to his tool chest and grabbed a set of keys, tossing them to me.
“I doubt they would do it out of the goodness of their hearts.”
Catching the keys, I gave him a sly smile. “I don’t know about that. Even though it’s been three years, they keep tabs on Harper’s relationship status. If they didn’t need Dax so bad, my money would be on them already having made a move on her.”
“Well, if that isn’t the case, let us know what they want and we’ll help if we can.
Harper is family and we do whatever it takes for them.
Those keys are to my Defender. It should give you enough space to bring back what you need.
It’s parked in the garage near the clubhouse.
The fob should open the door for you to get in.
” Sprocket nodded as he headed back to what he was working on.
“Don’t you dare fucking get a scratch on it or I’ll put a scratch in you. I restored that thing myself.”
“No problem, I don’t drive like Dax,” I tossed over my shoulder as I left.
Out of all the guys, I could see Sprocket and I becoming friends for real. The others… the jury was still out, but for Dax, I was willing to do just about anything to keep her.