Chapter Forty-Five
Ansel
Harlan opened the door and peeked his head in, his long black beard an eyesore Ansel couldn’t tolerate.
“Get out,” he growled, and Harlan practically slammed it in his hurry to get out of sight.
It had been nearly two days since Johnny had checked in, and Ansel knew something had happened to him. It wasn’t like Johnny to ignore him.
His cell rang with a number he didn’t recognize, and despite his reservations, he answered. “Hello.”
“Ansel Atkinson?”
“Yes.”
“This is Margaret Pace with Caribou Medical Center in Soda Springs, Idaho. We have a Johnathan Beyer in our critical care unit. I apologize that it took me so long to contact you, but I had trouble tracking down his emergency contact information.”
“What happened to him?”
“Unfortunately, he tried to accost a woman, and another person intervened. He’s taken a rather severe beating and is resting. When he is in better shape, he’ll be transferred to the Department of Corrections.”
“Thank you for the call.” He hung up on whatever she was trying to say next.
Ansel threw his empty whiskey glass at the wall, shattering it with a loud crash.
How the hell had Johnny let someone get the drop on him?
He’d been handling difficult and dangerous situations for Ansel since they were kids.
Whoever took Johnny out must have been one tough son of a bitch.
Ansel walked out into the bar, hollering at the top of his lungs, “Everybody who’s not a member, get the fuck out!”
Several of his boys dumped girls from their laps and started ushering everyone out of the bar.
While they cleared the place, he went back into his office and removed the bug from his light, flushing it down the toilet. Then he went through the rest of the bar while his guys watched, searching for more with his bug detector. He found two and flushed those as well.
When he felt like it was as clean as it could get, he addressed his crew.
“Johnny got pinched. The only thing that’s gonna keep us in the clear is getting back what’s mine.
Timmy and Clyde, make sure that no one can tail us.
I don’t need a party following and crashing.
” His steely gaze traveled over the stony faces of the men he rode with, and he added, “The rest of you, let’s load up the cars, ’cause we’re heading to Idaho. ”