7. Gauge
GAUGE
I held my breath as she padded toward the steps. I slowly let it out as she made her way up to the second floor. And when she slammed her door closed, I drew in a deep, solid, full-bodied breath.
“Well, that could’ve gone better,” I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose.
Deac pushed away from the table. “Church. One hour. And I swear to hell on high, the first person to suggest bringing her into this meeting will lose their goddamn leather cut.”
“What about Plug?” Rat asked.
“We’ll fill him in later,” Deac said as he made his way out of the room. “One hour, everyone.”
As the guys scattered to burn off the wait, I tilted my head back. I took one look at the ceiling. One look at the floor that Char padded across. I wanted to stay loyal to her. I wanted to keep filling her in on things. After all, I promised her.
But whoever this woman was, she wasn’t good. A federal undercover agent going rogue? That was a dangerous human being. That woman crossed some serious fucking lines without any worry of the consequences, making her both reckless and foolish. And all for what? Some closure? Some sort of God complex?
Does Char need to be rescued from us?
I was still chewing on that question when the hour ran out.
“Gauge!” Deac barked.
I hopped out of the chair and walked around the table. “Coming.”
The thought of her being in our presence when she didn’t really want to be around us made me sick to my stomach.
It threatened to push my entire dinner back up my throat, but I managed to keep my wits about me.
I pulled up the rear, being the last of the guys to make my way into our own personal sanctuary.
Deac stood at the head of the table, his head bowed and his hands clasped behind his back.
It had been a long time since I’d seen him in such an official position, and it gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, we’d finally got out in front of this bitch.
I slammed my hand into the button that closed the door and we all listened to it hiss shut.
Deac used his lowered voice to address us.
“At the very least, this woman is harassing Char, and it won’t stand any longer.”
He looked around the room as I took my position up over his left shoulder.
“But,” Deac said as he lifted his finger into the air, “at the most? She’s fucking with us.”
“Do we have any theories as to what happened with Doc?” I asked.
“Yeah, did Plug bring you anything on what happened to him after the transaction?” Rico asked.
“Have we heard from that man at all?” Deadlock asked.
“Deac?” I asked as I gave him a soft nudge. “What’s rattling around in that head of yours?”
I knew when he was thinking. He always looked like his father when he was doing it. Pursed lips. Narrowed eyes. A bowed head and hands clasped behind his back so he didn’t fucking kill anyone in the process.
Deac lifted his head. “What if that’s how she figured out about us?”
“I’m not following,” Mace said.
“Figured us out how?” Rat asked.
Deac chewed on his lip. “She’s an undercover agent, right? Working some case or whatever?”
“That’s what Char said,” Dallas said.
“So,” Deac said with a shrug, “what if she found out about us because she was undercover with Doc?”
Rico tilted his head. “You think her case is Doc.”
“That… makes a lot of sense, actually,” I said.
Deac snickered. “Don’t sound so shocked.”
Dallas stepped up to the table. “So she found us through trying to take down Doc, and Char is just a coincidence that she ran across that she feels she has to rectify?”
Our President held his head high. “She bruised our girl when she realized that none of the plans she made for Char’s well-being were executed.
That’s an emotional reaction, and the only one that’s important.
Char is a blind spot for her. A blind spot that she’s willing to throw away her entire career for. I say we lean into that.”
Dallas shook his head, though. “There’s still the option of staying sitting ducks until we’ve got more information. Or, at the very least, confirmation of some of these theories we’re floating.”
I sighed. “It all makes sense, though. It ties everything together.”
Dallas leaned around Deac’s body and stared me down. “But running in like chickens with our heads cut off without any shred of proof beforehand is what’s gotten us into this situation so far.”
“Can it,” Deac said.
Dallas straightened up and I fixed my face as Deac spoke.
“Goddamn it, I hate being a sitting fucking duck,” he growled.
I shook my head. “It’s the only one that keeps us on the offense, though.”
“The only two important parts of all this are Bait and Char,” Rat said. “So how do we get justice for Bait and keep her safe? In my opinion, that’s the only question we have to answer.”
All of the guys looked around the room at one another, but eventually, all eyes returned to our President.
Who turned his stare toward the ceiling. “Let’s wait and see what Plug can dig up.”
Whoop-whoop! Whoop!
I whipped my head toward the sound of sirens.
“The fuck is that?” Rat asked.
Deac furrowed his brow as he turned toward the hidden hallway door.
Wee-woo! Wee-woo! Wee-woo! Wee-woo!
Rico pointed to the door. “Are those?—?”
“Sirens,” I glowered.
“Out. Now. Everyone out!” Deac commanded.
I barely got my hand slammed against the button before the guys ducked on the floor.
The sound of sirens crept closer, and my heart sank to my toes.
The crew barreled down the hallway, fucking shaking the foundation of our clubhouse as the sounds of sirens grew closer.
Dust kicked up outside, ushering the cars closer to us.
Tires squealed against the sand, speeding toward us in the distant middle of nowhere.
“Who the fuck is coming out here hot like that?” Deac growled.
I rushed to the window and peeked outside. “I don’t see anyone yet.”
A gun cocked behind me before the glint of the metal caught my eye, and it was Dallas who brought a gun into my field of vision.
“Just in case,” he said as I turned to face him.
But it was Char who soared down the stairs like a graceful swan and scooped that gun right out of his hand.
“No need,” she said as she tossed it to Deac.
He fumbled with the gun as he caught it. “Char, what the hell are you doing?”
She whipped the front door open and peered over her shoulder at us. “Whatever you guys do, don’t make a move and let me do the talking.”
“Talking for what?” Deac snarled.
Char simply looked at me and winked before she slipped out onto the porch.
All of the police cars and an ambulance came screeching to a halt in front of our goddamn clubhouse.