Chapter 17
Riptide
Islurped my milkshake loudly and grinned to myself when Jacob shot me an irritated look. The man hardly ever spoke. It was becoming my mission in life to annoy the shit out of him.
As soon as my watch read ten-thirty, I saw a balding man in a wrinkled suit hurry into the outdoor seating area. His eyes landed on me and when our gazes locked he nodded and came over.
“Derek Skore?”
“That’s me. I take it you’re Marvin?”
He nodded and looked around like he was afraid we were being watched. He set a briefcase down on the table and flicked the clasps open. “I have the paperwork here.” Another darting look around, then he licked his lips and held out the documents.
“Why so nervous, Marvin?” I asked as I looked over the permits.
Marvin was competent enough that I wasn’t worried that he was fucking me over.
Static would have made sure he knew better than that.
He was the one who’d given me Marvin’s information.
Once other Derek had mentioned that he had contacts and handled these kinds of things, I’d collected the information from everyone I knew.
“I’ve never… Never mind. It’s nothing.” He fiddled with briefcase on the table. It had a false bottom in it. He lifted it up and slid it to me so I could place the money inside.
I had the cash wrapped in paper. I removed it from my bag and placed it inside his briefcase.
There were people walking past on the sidewalk, but no one was paying me any attention.
I’d already scouted the restaurant and there weren’t any security cameras out here on the patio.
There shouldn’t be any witnesses of our exchange.
He snapped the case shut and frowned at me. “I used a different inspector’s name and back dated the paperwork. Jim died last year. When you get caught, don’t breathe a word that I helped you.”
I arched a brow at him. “Do I look stupid enough to do that, Marvin?” When he didn’t answer fast enough, I leaned forward and pinned him with a dark look. “Or maybe you think I’m some kind of fucking rat. Is that it?”
“No, no, no, no, no.” He shook his head, placing his briefcase protectively in his lap. He stood up and moved away. “I-” He gave up on whatever he was going to say and bolted.
Jacob and I gave each other an amused look.
“You know some interesting people, Brother Derek.”
I chuckled, but I was barely listening. The rough and rugged sound of multiple motorcycles pulling into the parking area had caught my attention. I grinned at the waitress as she dropped our food off.
“We should get back.”
“Relax, Jacob,” I told him, slapping him on the back. “Food just got here. It would look suspicious if we just took off. Besides, then we wouldn’t get our lunch.” I picked up my burger and took a huge bite.
Jacob scowled at me, but picked up a French Fry and bit into it. “Fine, but we’re leaving as soon as we finish.”
“No problem,” I told him, burger stuffed in my cheek like a chipmunk.
We were only a few bites in when black leather caught my eye.
I couldn’t believe how strong the urge was to go over and wrap them all up in a hug.
Lockout, Hush, Butcher, and Toxic all strolled toward our table as if they had all the time in the world and nowhere to be.
Fuck. I’d even hug Butcher at this point. I missed my brothers.
Anticipation raced through me as they got closer, but I kept my eyes down on my food. Letting Jacob catch me looking at them would give away what was about to happen.
Toxic bumped into our table as he tried to squeeze into the table next to us. We were the only people outside on the patio, so Jacob gave a hefty sigh of irritation. The stainless steel and wire mesh table rocked, spilling our sodas and my milkshake all over.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Butcher snarled at me, before I even had a chance to say anything.
My laugh was incredulous. Leave it up to Butcher. “My problem?” I asked, casting a disbelieving look at Jacob. “Your friend ran into our table.”
“And your fucking coke is all over my boot,” Butcher growled. There was a sparkle there in his hazel eyes. He was enjoying this. Asshole.
“Sounds like a you problem,” I commented.
“Brother Derek,” Jacob cautioned.
“Brother Derek? What the fuck are you? Amish?” Toxic asked, getting in on the game.
Lockout’s lips twitched, but he and Hush stood back and let the two younger members pick the fight.
“None of your fucking business,” I said, shoving to my feet.
“I’m going to make you lick all the soda off my boot, you pansy ass mother fucker,” Butcher threatened. He reached over the table and suddenly I was flying through the air.
I winced right before I landed on the table closest to Lockout and Hush. So much for going a few days without having bruises. We were going to have to make this look real. I couldn’t risk sending too many texts. The one I was able to send was a risk to begin with.
I hit the ground with a jarring thud as I rolled off the table. Lockout hauled me up by the front of my shirt. There was an apology in his eyes as he cocked his arm back. His fist plowed directly into my face and I felt my nose break and gush blood.
That fucker. He knows better than to mess with my face. It’s too pretty for this shit. Those assholes had already broken my nose a few weeks ago. Now this.
He shoved me back into Hush, who hooked his arms around mine, preventing me from retaliating. A quick glance over was all we needed to see that Butcher and Toxic were keeping Jacob busy. I quickly relayed everything I’d learned.
“You have a month, Rip,” Lockout muttered. He threw a punch into my side and I grunted in pain. “Four weeks from today, and we’re coming to get you. Anyone who’s innocent can come with us. We’re killing the rest.” Another punch caught me in the ribs and caused stars to dance in front of my eyes.
“Got it,” I mumbled, before breaking away from Hush and launching my elbow back into his stomach. He let me go with a bellow of pain and I hit Lockout with a jab cross combo.
Lockout smiled at me as blood dripped down his face from where I split the skin on his cheek. “We fucking miss you. You’d better keep your ass safe in there.”
“Cops!” Hush shouted and he grabbed Lockout and started to pull him away. “Be careful, Rip.” With that he motioned to the others and all four of them jumped the small wrought iron railing that fenced off the outdoor patio from the sidewalk. A moment later I heard bikes roar to life and head out.
I went over to Jacob and helped him up. He was fuming, but he brushed off his clothes as though it didn’t matter.
If there was one thing Ethan taught his people, it was how to take a beating.
Something about Jacob told me there was a lot I had to learn.
He’d held his own. Butcher had a black eye and Toxic’s lip had been bleeding by the time they’d taken off. The man could fight.
“Sorry,” I told him. “Didn’t realize those assholes would jump us that way.” The bruises on his face—and those I couldn’t see on his body—made me grin to myself. He deserved far more and I’d be taking my revenge on him in a month.
“Let’s get out of here before those police officers come out here.
” Jacob hopped over the railing the same way the others had.
I pulled out some cash that Ethan had given me for the trip and dropped the bills on the table next to ours.
Luckily, I’d folded the permits and put them in my back pocket before Marvin had even left.
It would have sucked to get this far and have them be ruined.
Jacob was quiet the whole ride back and I was grateful for it. Seeing the guys had been a brief high, but now I was feeling pretty fucking low. I wanted to take Sloane and run. Fuck the cult. Fuck Ethan. Fuck everyone but her.
I knew I couldn’t do it. There were women and children here who needed to get rescued just as badly. I thought of Tilly, Janice, Audrey, and Mae. They were the first on my list of people we’d be walking out of the desert with. I hoped it would get a whole lot longer.
We went directly to Ethan’s office once we got back and I handed over the permits and the cell phone.
“Trouble?”
“Some fucking bikers jumped us,” I told him.
His eyes flicked over to Jacob, who just shrugged. “They started a fight. We held our own. They took off when some cops showed up for lunch and we did the same.”
Ethan nodded then glanced down at the documents in his hands.
His smile slowly spread as he realized they were permits not only for the land and the buildings, but for the utilities, too.
Honestly, we probably hadn’t paid Marvin enough for the miracles he’d worked, but ten thousand was what he’d asked for so that was all we gave.
“Good work, Brother Derek.”
“Thank you, My Lord.”
“Everything is going well with the shell corporations?” he asked.
I nodded. “Everything is on schedule. The money is already trickling in. Another week or so and you’ll have access to a good chunk of it and won’t need to worry about anyone tracing where it came from.
Sloane hadn’t mentioned it, but considering Ethan needed the money laundered I had a feeling most of the men paying The Order had gotten it by less than legal means. Most of them were probably like Chet. Corporate CEO types who’d embezzled from their companies.
“Good. I look forward to your next progress report. Good night.”
He always managed to dismiss people in a way that felt insulting. I gave him a silent acknowledgement and left. It wasn’t very late, certainly wasn’t evening yet, so I headed back to the house. Sloane would still be working with the kids for another hour or so.
I settled in at my desk with my laptop and dove into the work that awaited me there. My head snapped up an hour later when my wife came through the door.
As much as I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her straight to our bed, I knew she’d be irritated if I threw off her routine.
Sloane was a woman who valued a never changing regime.
She would make us dinner, and some kind of delicious dessert, then we’d eat before we settled in for the night.
I decided to let her have her routine while I asked her some of the difficult questions I needed answered. I locked up my laptop, then walked into the kitchen.
She was already at the sink, apron around her waist as she peeled potatoes. She seemed lost in her own thoughts and didn’t realize I was home. Pleasure at seeing her standing there overwhelmed me. She was all mine. It was me she was waiting on and it made me realize how fucking lucky I was.
I crept up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. My chuckle spilled from my chest along with a grunt when she elbowed me in the gut with a squeal of surprise.
“You have good aim, Wife.”
She gasped and spun in my arms, hands covering her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were-” She broke off, eyes narrowing on my face. “Rip, what happened?”
I’d forgotten about my nose. It’d hurt like a bitch when I reset it on the drive home, but now it was barely aching. “We ran into some trouble in town today. It wasn’t a big deal.”
She put her hands on my cheeks, turning my face this way and that while she studied my nose. “It’s broken.”
“I reset it.”
She patted my cheek and turned back to her preparations. There wasn’t anything to be done for a broken nose once it was reset and she knew it. “What happened?”
I told her about the fight and she laughed. “I’d have liked to see those guys beating up Jacob. I just wish they hadn’t done the same to you.”
“No one beat me up,” I growled into her neck.
She laughed, but tilted her head so I could trail my lips over her skin.
Her hands shook a little as I nibbled my way from her neck to her ear.
She gave a little moan as I sucked on the lobe of her ear.
Before I could do anything else, she leaned to the side in my arms, breaking the contact between my mouth and her ear. “Out,” she said with a smile.
I groaned and dropped my head down onto her shoulder. “You’re torturing me, Angel.”
“Well unless you don’t want dinner, you need to leave me to it. I can’t concentrate when your hands are on me.”
“Just my hands?” I asked, tone wicked.
“Or your mouth,” she admitted.
I released her and went to sit at the table. “It’s better this way,” I told her. “We have other things to talk about.”