Chapter 5
CHAPTER
FIVE
Sawyer
“What do we know about Nova’s ex?” I say, just as Haze looks up.
“Why are you askin’ about him?”
I don’t wanna give him all the details, but if Nova is worried, then the boys need to know that he could be in town. And if he is, we will be ready for him. “Don’t go in guns blazin’, but Nova thought she saw him the other day and I wanna be sure that fucker isn’t in town.”
Haze scratches his chin. “When?”
“The other night, in some dive bar.”
“How do you know that?”
“We’re friends.” I shrug. “She tells me things.”
“Huh.” We’ve had the discussion over and over, but I hear it coming. “You two aren’t messin’ around, are you?”
“If we were, you wouldn’t be the first to know.”
He does a double take, then flips me the bird. “Funny fucker.”
“What I know is that he’s a weasel. He skipped town and never came back. I’ll be honest, I haven’t looked into him in a while. Figured he probably od’d or some shit.”
“Be great if he did,” Haze mutters.
“You don’t mind if I do?”
“Not at all, but if you find him, you let us know. Me, Brew and Logan wanna make sure he never touches another woman like that ever again.”
I nod. “Of course.” I palm the back of my head. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
He gives me a chin lift as I make my way back to my office.
I don’t tell Haze about Nova being in my bed yesterday, he’s on a ‘need to know’ basis, and he definitely doesn’t need to know that. He wouldn’t understand, none of them would.
Things got a little… heated, yeah, but she’s a beautiful woman who I care about.
It’s normal to have a reaction like that.
Just as it’s normal to jerk off in the shower…
Well, maybe not. I feel sick to my stomach about that, and even though I know it’s natural, she’s my friend.
And she was in the fucking kitchen making pancakes.
It’s true she flirts as much as I do, but a deal is a deal. I’m no fucking saint, but we have a special bond, and once you have sex, that changes things. Frankly, I don’t want things to change. I like them the way they are. I just don’t enjoy my palm in the shower while she’s in the apartment.
I really slipped up there, but I had to relieve the tension somehow. I should’ve waited until she left, but she was right about one thing: we both have needs. I didn’t really misunderstand her words, I just couldn’t believe they came out of her mouth, but they did.
Over breakfast, the conversation was lighthearted, and she gabbed about her plans for the week. It seemed wrong and intrusive to go back to our position snuggled up in bed an hour earlier, as much as I wanted to, so I let it drop.
We both have needs. Now I can’t stop thinking about it.
It’s my fault. I knew the kissing thing was gonna be too much. We don’t do it all the time, just a peck here and there, but last night… Last night was more than we’ve ever done, and I groped her in my sleep. I should’ve slept on the couch no matter what she said.
My feelings don’t come into it, only hers do. I know she may think she wants me, or my body, but there are too many layers to me that are damaged to even pretend I’m normal.
I’m never gonna be normal.
I’m always gonna be some version of fucked up.
It’s ingrained into my soul, and frankly, she can do better than me.
Nova is younger than I am, she has her whole life ahead of her.
Now she’s on the straight and narrow, there is nothing she can’t do.
Anyway, looks are only skin deep; it’s a blessing and a curse that I have a ‘pretty boy’ face.
That doesn’t mean shit. My heart — or what’s left of it — is guarded.
Not so much with her, or my brothers in the MC, but I know I’ll never be fully whole.
You can’t when you’ve lived through literal hell.
I know first hand that Hell really does exist on earth, while I don’t wanna live in the past or be negative, surviving that whole traumatic experience was soul destroying.
There were times I wasn’t even sure I was gonna make it, or wanted to make it.
By some miracle, I made my way out the other side.
Out of shame for my past, I didn’t try to find my brother or my mom. I let them think I was dead, because that’s how worthless I felt. I can never get those years back, but I can try to be a good son and brother. It’s the least I can do for disappointing them so much.
My mom is a beautiful, delicate soul, and my dad? He died a couple of years back so I never got to see him again. She remarried and Chris is totally cool. He’s also Ryder’s dad, but that’s a whole other story.
I sit behind my desk and look up to the ceiling.
Now isn’t the time to have a panic attack.
Though I’m having those less and less these days.
I’ve also never slept for six hours straight without waking up in a nightmare.
I have Nova to thank for that, but I can’t ask her to sleep in my bed at night because I find her soothing. That would be weird.
I look down from the ceiling as someone knocks at my door.
Nova is standing in the doorway.
“Hey, you. I’m doing the coffee run — are you okay?”
She’s wearing her usual attire: a short-sleeved blouse with the Nomad Brothers Security embossed logo, tight black pants, and flats. She tied her hair up in a high ponytail, her makeup pretty and natural, except for the sparkly pink lip gloss.
Our eyes meet and I smile. “Hey. Yeah, I’m fine, just a busy workload. Did you draw the short straw?”
“Shows how much attention you pay. I’ve been doing the coffee run every Monday for a year.”
“Oops.”
“I know, all you boys just think the coffee magically appears.” She rolls her eyes.
“I’m happy to give you a hand.”
“It’s fine. I’m just tired.”
“Didn’t sleep well without me last night?”
Her eyes widen for a second, but she recovers quickly. “You have a better mattress than I do, so I blame you.”
“Sure, that’s what it is.”
“I was gonna get you a cinnamon roll, but now I don’t know if you’ve earned it.”
No matter how many times I apologized for putting my hands on her, she brushed it off. It’s pretty embarrassing that I even did it in the first place. God knows what she’s really thinking. No wonder she took off like a bat outta hell not long after breakfast. I can’t say I blame her.
“What if I flutter my pretty lashes, like this?” I do just that and she shakes her head once more.
“I said you had pretty lashes once and how unfair it was because long lashes on men are so wasted, and it just goes straight to your head.”
I grin, then give her a chin lift. “I just wanna be sure you’re okay about the other day.”
She lowers her voice once more. “I’m more than okay. And I took your advice.”
I pique a brow. “Oh?”
“Yeah, it’s Manny’s birthday this weekend and the girls are throwing a party at the clubhouse, or a surprise location. Be there or be square.”
“Good, at least I’ll be able to keep an eye on you there.”
She pokes out her tongue. “Meany.”
“If you call me again at three in the morning to bail you out, you’ll find me to be more than just a meany.”
“I feel another lecture coming on.”
“I’m kidding. You know you can call me at any time of the mornin’ or night and I’d come no matter what.”
“Thanks, Saw, you’re the best.” She thumbs behind her. “I better go or Brewster and Hazey-boo-boo will get mad if they don’t get their caffeine fix.”
“Alright then.”
I watch her take off. Two seconds later, Brew walks in. “H said you’re lookin’ into Nova’s fuckface ex,” he barks. Good news travels fast.
“Yeah, I assume he filled you in?”
“That guy’s a dead man if you find him. Nova played it down, but I know he put his hands on her.”
I don’t confirm or deny. I know he did. She told me one night after she’d been drinking.
He hurt her in ways that are unimaginable for my precious girl.
I can’t say that I’ll keep my promise of not maiming him myself if I find him first, but I’d keep him breathing so the brothers can finish him.
The bayou is too good for that asswipe, though it is good for hiding dead bodies.
“If he is still alive, he’s got it comin’.”
“Do we need to put a prospect on her?” Brew asks.
I shake my head. “I’m on it.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I sigh. “You know we hang out.”
He points at me. “That better be all you’re doin’.”
I know Nova is like a little sister to them, but they forget she’s twenty-seven, not exactly a kid anymore.
“Pinkie promise.” It’s kinda the truth, but I don’t need my nose broke by Brew, he punches hard and he’d knock me the fuck out.
“Don’t think I don’t see what’s goin’ on with you two.”
I sigh, albeit a little dramatically. “We’re friends. Besties. She needs a guy friend to steer her away from all the assholes that swarm around her, trust me, I have her best interests at heart.”
Brew can’t really argue there because he knows it’s true. Instead, he grunts and stalks off.
“Good talk!” I yell after him.
My phone chimes and I glance down at it.
Pipes
Yo, bro. Are you still alive? Haven’t seen you in a hot minute
I wince because he texted me over the weekend and I never got back to him.
Me
Sorry, little bro, been busy. Wanna catch up after work?
Pipes
Sounds like a plan. Ready for me to beat your ass at pool?
Me
You can try
Pipes
Later
Pipes and his ol’ lady Casey have been going strong for a while now. She’s a paramedic and a damn good one. Casey has helped the club out in the unfortunate event that somebody needs medical attention, let’s just say sometimes that’s often when shit goes down.
I have to duck out quickly to run a few errands and when I get back, Nova isn’t at her desk, but my coffee and two cinnamon rolls are sitting on mine.
She is the sweetest. There’s a love heart written in pink pen next to my name in black.
I’m gonna take a lone guess that it was her, and not the barista.
Somehow, it tastes that much sweeter knowing she did that with her signature pink pen.
I spend the rest of the day knocking out jobs and looking into Bobby James Foster.
First, I check his social media and find that he hasn’t posted anything in over two years.
I also check the public records to see if anything has shown up there lately, as well as running his name through a couple of my databases.
I’ll feel better once I know if this fucker is dead or living.
If he’s living, then I’m certain eventually I’ll track him down. It’s a challenge I’m willing to accept.
I get a ping on the Michigan State Department of Corrections website.
Son of a fucking bitch. How did we miss this?
I figured after all the rumors about him when Nova first showed up here, the fucker had ended up in a ditch somewhere.
He’d literally dropped off the face of the earth.
Nova said he had ties to some pretty shady drug dealers, so maybe they’d dealt with him.
But no. Bobby fuckface Foster was in jail.
I check the records for his release date — the motherfucker is still in there.
I check the Bureau of Prisons in Detroit to see if there’s a release date, but it comes up blank.
Not all parole dates are public record, so I’m gonna have to check the prison records in a little more detail.
By ‘check’ I mean hack. If he were registered for inmate tracking, I’d find him immediately, but since he’s still in jail.
.. I dig a little deeper and find out he was arrested for violating his parole.
Bobby was found with a pipe and a decent amount of crack.
Not enough to get a life sentence, but enough to get you charged with possession and intent to sell. He’s serving two years.
I pick up the phone to buzz Brew on the intercom, but his phone rings out, a few moments later, Haze is in the doorway. “You good?”
“I am now; Bobby’s in jail.”
“What the fuck?”
“Got two years for possession and intent to sell, tryin’ to find out when his release date is.”
Haze shakes his head, folding his arms over his chest. “How did that slip by us?”
“Public records state he changed his name from Reynolds to Foster. Mother’s maiden name, maybe he’s got mommy issues? He’s fuckin’ slippery.”
“Or he’s avoidin’ people who want him dead. Like us.”
I crack my knuckles. “Either way, he’s a dead man. I’ll have his release date in a jiffy.”
Haze nods. “Good work. Might help Nova with her paranoia.”
I’m not so sure about that, but there were some creeps in that bar. It’s likely it was just some dude trying his luck. It’ll make her feel better, anyway, and right now? Both of us could do with some good news.