1. Gauge
GAUGE
I linked my hands and settled them behind my head. “I don’t know if I subscribe to the theory that Char is the target.”
Deac raked his hands down his face as he drew in a sobering breath. “Don’t worry, I don’t, either.”
“You don’t?” Dallas asked.
“You do?” I asked as my brow furrowed.
Plug ground his teeth together. “You mean to tell me we got all this fucking info on this bitch, and we still don’t know who she’s coming after?”
Rat snickered. “You guys are making this way too complicated.”
“He’s right,” Rico, the practically silent prospect, said before he cleared his throat.
“Care to expound on that?” Deac asked flatly.
Mace motioned with his head for Rico at the back of the group, and he meandered toward the front.
He turned his body and skated through the crowd, barely touching the elbows of his massive brothers that towered around him.
He went and stood by Deadlock, yet another one of our crew members that was all action and little talk.
The two of them exchanged a glance that I wanted words for.
“What?” I asked.
“Why the fuck do we always have to ask for opinions?” Deac growled. “Just spit them the fuck out already.”
“I think we’re just a whirlwind,” Deadlock said in his southern drawl.
Dallas tilted his head. “How do you figure?”
Rico and Deadlock exchanged another look before Rico lifted his fingers into the air.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Deac asked as he raised himself up. “Speak, goddamn it!”
His voice ricocheted off the corners of our hidden sanctuary, but Rico didn’t even flinch. “You guys have made this so personal because of that woman we’ve got here that you haven’t even stopped to consider that we now have proof that this is also personal to that agent.”
I looked over at Deac and Dallas, whose faces contorted with confusion. Fucking hell, we had been thrown so much information and so much shit over the past few weeks that it muddled our brains.
“How did this all start again?” Deadlock asked.
“Doc, and the signal he threw,” I said.
Rico pointed at me. “Exactly. It started with a customer of ours being compromised. Do we still have any idea who the hell compromised him?”
“You think it was this woman?” Dallas said as he pointed to the picture on the table.
“She’s a hell of a common denominator, if I’ve ever seen one,” Plug said breathlessly.
I swallowed hard. “So we’re assuming this woman—who pretty much comforted Char while her father was being arrested—is also behind the attack on the mechanic shop, Bait’s death, and Doc’s signal?”
“Hell of a rapsheet,” Deac said flatly.
Deadlock nodded slowly. “Soooo… maybe instead of chasing our tails trying to find all of the information, we should start with the first thread we were handed. Where the fuck is Doc in all of this?”
My eyes widened. “Plug!?”
He shook his head, though. “We’ve dealt with so much that I figured I’d spare you guys the useless information that I found. I already chased that angle.”
“You did?” I asked.
“And?” Deac glowered.
Plug shrugged. “It’s like he’s disappeared.
I can’t locate him anywhere. It’s like he’s vanished, or something.
I can’t get in touch with his contacts. I can’t find any of those goonies he brings with him.
Nothing. I mean, I keep tracking daily to see if anything pops up, but there hasn’t even been so much as an obituary.
And trust me, my program has scoured them. ”
My head tilted toward the ceiling. “Oh fuck.”
Rico pointed at me. “Bingo.”
“Now it’s clicked over,” Deadlock said.
“We have to stop assuming that she doesn’t know anything and assume that she knows everything,” Plug said.
“Including how to get to us,” Rico added.
We missed the obvious. We were so caught up in Char and the bar and trying to yank information out of seemingly nothing that we completely forgot about what the hell happened to Doc.
And now, he was in the wind. Or dead, like Bait.
Either way, the only person who could give us any answers was long gone.
Which was most likely exactly how that bitch wanted things.
“But what about Char?” Dallas asked as he pointed to the picture. “There’s clearly a connection.”
Mace nodded. “A personal one for her. I mean, how would you feel if the little girl you saved from some shithole of a situation suddenly popped up on your radar again associated with more people you consider bad? I’m sure that’s gotta be a huge fucking trigger.”
Rat grinned. “But, if she’s emotional like that, then we can use that to our advantage.”
I smirked. “Just like she’s played into our emotions, we can play into hers.”
Deac held up his hand, though. “And Baitfish? How the fuck does his death factor into this?”
I had the answer, but he wasn’t gonna like it. “Remember what happened to your father?”
He snarled as he whipped toward me. “Choose your next words wisely, Gauge.”
I turned to face him. “We always believed that he was killed as a message. As a warning. We never could prove it, but we buried that man wondering why in the fuck he had to die in the first place. What if this is another situation like that? What if Baitfish was a message to us to leave Char alone?”
Deac bowed his head as he chewed on my words. Actually literally chewed. His temple throbbed every time his jaw tensed, and I wondered how bloody his cheek would be by the time he was done gnawing on it. However, once he raised his head, his eyes looked clearer than I’d seen them in weeks.
Our President was back.
“Do we tell her?” he asked.
“If you don’t mind,” I said as I turned toward the hallway, “I’d like to be the one to tell her.”
He reached out, snatching my wrist, and yanked me back around. “We have a conversation about it.”
I paused. “A conversation about whether or not to tell Char exactly who this woman is? I didn’t realize it was a debate.”
“It might not be smart to keep cluing her in,” Deadlock said. “Makes her a bigger target.”
Dallas nodded. “I’m not gonna lie, I feel the same way.”
I balked. “So we just don’t tell her? We just don’t tell her that the woman who helped arrest her father is now trying to destroy her world?”
“Look who’s getting too emotionally involved now,” Rat said with a smirk.
I shot him a look over my shoulder, but it didn’t change any of the guys’ minds.
“The more she knows at this point, the bigger of a risk it is for her. Especially now that we have an understanding of just how high this climbs,” Dallas said.
Deac nodded. “If we’re losing ourselves in this game this woman is playing, then she’s going to lose herself as well. She’ll get to a point where she does something drastic, and then we’re fucked.”
I shrugged. “So? We keep her here. Keep her safe, like we’ve been doing.”
“Yeah, and how has that worked out for us so far?” Rico asked.
I growled. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Gauge,” Dallas said as he placed his hand on my shoulder, “we know you promised her that you’d keep her filled in on everyth?—”
I shrugged off his touch. “It’s a non-negotiable contingency to her staying with us.”
Mace groaned. “Look, I hate to be that person, but if she’s a target for this woman? Then we’re all at risk with her being here.”
“He’s got a point,” Rico murmured.
“Yeah, you’d think that, wouldn’t you?” I spat.
Deadlock raised his finger. “What if we send her back to her place with?—”
Rat growled at him, getting into his face. “She’s safe here with us until we know exactly what the fuck is happening.”
“Finally, someone with some sense,” I murmured.
Rat scoffed as he came to the head of the table.
“I mean, look, we still don’t have a clear picture of what the fuck is happening.
We’ve spent weeks trying to dig through this bullshit, only to come up one man down and completely empty-handed.
Every single lead that led us to something has come from Char.
Every good idea we’ve pursued that has given us more information has come from her.
Why the fuck would we get rid of the only person who’s got any fucking clue what that woman is thinking right now?
She’s the only person who’s had any sort of contact with her! ”
“And Bait,” Deac muttered.
“And look at where that got him!” Rat exclaimed.
The room erupted into a sea of fighting words as fingers were pointed and voices were raised. It swirled around my head, blending together like surround sound at a movie theater, and I couldn’t stand there. I couldn’t listen to it. I pivoted on my feet and made my way to the hallway.
Char deserved to know.
“Oh no you don’t,” Deac growled as he grabbed my forearm.
I shook my arm and damn near tossed him across the room as I rid him of my personal space. I was done talking. I was done debating. This was just as much her life at stake as it was ours, and I wasn’t gonna go back on my promise just because we thought we had this under control.
It didn’t take a genius to see that we were scrambling.
Which was exactly what that bitch wanted.
“Gauge!” Dallas called out.
I turned around and walked backwards with my arms outstretched. “Give it your best shot, asshole!”
That’s when he cupped his hands over his mouth. “Sometimes, keeping someone that we care about safe means omitting information that could cause them to make stupid ass decisions because they’re a fucking hothead sometimes!”
It stopped me in my tracks. His words ground me to a halt as I stood there at the cusp of the hallway as it dumped into the dining room.
I had to give it to him, Char was as stubborn as they came.
Maybe even more stubborn than us at times, and I wasn’t sure what she’d do with the information I had for her.
Would she do something stupid? Would she take matters into her own hands?
At the end of the day, however, it wasn’t my decision to make.
All I knew was that I was a man of my word, through and through.
“I’ll be back later!” I called as I whipped toward the stairs.
“Gauge, come on!” Dallas yelled after me.
I didn’t listen to him, though. I charged toward the steps, taking them three at a time until I crested the top.
I made a beeline for her room, but found her door cracked open and her presence nowhere in sight.
My stomach dropped to my toes. I set out on a search, my hound nose sniffing the air as her featherlight scent pulled me up toward the attic.
I found her slipping out of that dark room.
“Char.”
She gasped and whipped around. “Jesus, Gauge, do you ever make noise when you move?”
I tilted my head. “I wasn’t intentionally trying to be quiet.”
She clicked the door closed. “Ah.”
She looked so… defeated.
“Char,” I said as I took a step forward.
She looked up at me and frowned. “Are you okay?”
I searched her prying gaze and came up empty with how to respond. Now that I found her, it was as if I had forgotten my own native tongue.
“Gauge?” she asked as she raised her hand to my cheek. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “I have something to tell you, but I’m now struggling to say it.”
She rubbed her thumb along the stubble of my cheek. “Why?”
I nuzzled against her palm. “I made you a promise. I told you that whatever I knew, you’d know. But?—”
She closed the distance between our bodies. “But?”
I sighed heavily. “But what I know could put you in a hell of a lot of danger.”
She searched my eyes for a while as she continued stroking my cheek. “Then maybe until it’s safe, you should keep it to yourself.”
“Like I said,” Deac said as he came up the stairs behind us, “she’s catching on quickly. Gauge.”
I nodded. “Deac.”
“Gauge, Deac,” Dallas said as he brought up the rear.
“Hey, you guys,” Char said.
I wanted to gaze into her eyes forever. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Deac said.
She pulled her hand away from me and turned to Dallas. “You gonna say hey?”
And after a beat of silence passed between all of us?
“The woman knows you after all,” Dallas blurted out.
My face fell. “Are you for fucking real right now?”
Deac tossed his hands into the air. “Goddamn it, Dallas, are you fucking kidding me?”
“Wait, what?” Char asked.
Dallas rushed to Char and gripped her upper arms. “She knows you. She was part of the team that arrested your father.”
“And you were worried about me,” I muttered.
Char furrowed her brow, however. “The woman from the porch.”
Dallas’s eyes widened, and I had to admit, mine pretty much joined him. “You remember her?”
Char shook her head slowly. “God, I knew I knew her from somewhere. It’s her voice. It sounded so fucking familiar, and I couldn’t?—”
Deac pulled her out of Dallas’s grasp and crouched down to her. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, but her attention didn’t fall on him.
It lifted back up to me. “Is this what you didn’t want to tell me?”
All I could do was nod, and at that moment, I knew what it meant for someone to look deflated. Her entire body seemed to shrink as her shoulders hunched forward. A terrible yawn peeled from between her lips, unhinging her jaw and springing tears to her eyes.
She was exhausted.
We were all exhausted.
“I’m gonna go get some sleep,” Char said flatly.
“Do you need anything?” Deac asked as he raised back up.
All she did was slink between the three of us before heading for the stairs, though. “Goodnight, you guys.”
“Night,” I murmured.
“Goodnight,” Dallas said.
But all Deac did was stare after her. He watched her walk down the stairs.
He watched her turn the corner. All of us stood there, listening to her until the soft patter of her footsteps ceased to exist. I was worried, though.
She didn’t kick up a fit. She didn’t fight.
She didn’t scream or yell, or curse or cry.
She gave all she could and left behind for us a carcass of the woman we first met.
A strong, hardheaded, valiant woman who was reduced to exhaustion and ash.
I wouldn’t have any of that bullshit.
“This isn’t good,” Deac said as he turned to face us.
I eyed the guys carefully. “She deserves to know that this woman won’t stop. If our theory is correct, this woman won’t stop coming at us until she saves Char again.”
“I know,” Deac whispered.
“Yep,” Dallas said.
And as the guys lowered their heads, I took off after the woman I loved like a bat out of hell.
As much as they didn’t want to admit it, they knew I was right.
If she was going to know the truth, she needed the whole truth.
She needed to know exactly what we shielded her from.
She deserved to make decisions about her life with all the contents of its inner workings at her disposal.
Because I am, after all, a man of my fucking word.
“Char,” I exclaimed as I rushed down the attic steps. “Wait up for a second!”