Chapter 29
TRUCK
This morning, before going to the gas station, I headed to the clubhouse where I’ll give the takings to Coin who is covering the accounts side for the moment.
After leaving Coin, I bump into Cap, and I mean literally walk into him because my mind was on the spectacular night I had with Rory. “Sorry, Cap, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“It’s okay, we all do it at some time or another. I’ve even seen Pres zone out now and again,” Cap replies with a chuckle. “Have you seen the finished suites on the top floor?”
“No. Are they as good as you wanted them to be?”
“Come and take a look. I’m impressed.” I follow Cap up to the first suite completely finished and ready for an occupant.
The suite is a good size and has a small kitchen area where a coffeemaker, microwave, and mini-fridge are situated. There is a two-seater couch, a cozy armchair, and a coffee table. The area is finished with a TV on the wall.
The bathroom has a shower, a sink, and a toilet. There is a cabinet with a mirror above the sink, and another cabinet below. There is also a small linen closet tucked into a corner filled with rolled towels.
The bedroom is a decent size, with a walk-in closet and a dresser. An easy chair near the window and a bedside table finish off what is a pleasant bedroom.
“These suites are great. The brothers who live here will love one of these, I’m sure. If I were still single…” said with a huge grin, “I would be more than happy to live in one of these suites.”
“I’m having one on the second floor because I want to be close enough to anything that may kick off.
Tracker isn’t having one as he’s going to have his house finished soon, and he’ll live in that.
Finger is having a house built, as you know, and the other officers have put their names on a plot of land on the compound but want to stay in the clubhouse for now, so they’ll have a suite.
” Cap follows me downstairs, and I slap his shoulder as I leave the clubhouse.
Before straddling my girl, I notice Jeremy parking his truck. I quickly make my way over to him. “Jeremy, just the man I wanted to speak with.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing’s up. But I was showing Rory how well the house was coming along, and she mentioned a mudroom or a utility room for doing laundry and shit. I don’t reckon I put them on the plans, did I?”
“No, you did not. But I added a laundry room. There is more than enough room to have a coat and boot area, like half mudroom and half laundry. I knew you guys would want one, so I just went ahead and added it.” Jeremy is looking at his phone as he’s speaking. “Is that okay with you then?”
“Yeah, that’s good. Thanks, Jeremy.”
“No problem. If there’s nothing else, I’ve gotta speak with Dime about Tracker’s place. He wants a gun room in the basement, and I’m looking at lining it out with steel sheets. Dime is working on that project, so I need to confirm if we can do that or not.”
“Fuckin’ hell, Tracker will love that. We all know he’s a weapons expert, and he has more than any one person would need. He could go to war on his own,” I state while chuckling.
Speaking of the man has him appearing, and he has Ayla in the body carrier. Walking up to us, he smirks, “Well, just the man I wanted to speak to, Truck.”
“What’s up, Pres?” I ask as I tickle Ayla under her chin. She gives that baby giggle you can’t help smiling at.
“I’ve put your name down for the charity run next year. It’s going to be for a good cause and with other clubs taking part I want a good turnout of brothers. Tracker, Ayla, Tracker.”
I frown because what the fuck is he saying Tracker for?
“Tracker is the best, Ayla…say it, Tracker!”
Oh, I get it now. Pres is trying to get Ayla to say his name next. I smirk because Ayla is showing no sign of saying his name. In fact, she is giving me the biggest smile imaginable.
I decide to get myself some bonus points with Pres, so I quickly joined in the teaching. “Tracker. Track-er. Tra-cker.” Now I say the name in a different way so whichever way Ayla likes it she may blurt it out.
Jeremy gives both me and Pres a roll of the eyes and a shake of the head before he walks away, grumbling about idiots where babies are concerned. Do I give a shit? No, not at all.
“I’m good with the charity run, Pres. I would have put my name down for it anyway. Tracker…Tracker,” I add onto the end and give Ayla a frown when she is staring after Jeremy. “I don’t think she’s concentrating, Pres.”
“Nah, she’s a daydreamer. But I’ll tell you when I die, I’m gonna gut the three of them when I arrive.
They'd best run because I’ll not forget they got their names said before mine,” Tracker is frowning and I smirk because I can imagine the four of them as ghostly beings fighting as only friends can.
Ayla kicks her feet and giggles, watching something we can’t see. I look at Tracker, and he is frowning as his eyes scan the area in front of us. I can’t see anything, but obviously Ayla can, as she bursts into another fit of giggles.
“Acker,” Ayla says, and I watch as Tracker kisses the top of her head, grinning like a fool.
“You heard that, Truck. Finger owes me a Benjamin,” said with so much amusement that I can’t help but chuckle.
“I heard her say it, Pres.”
Ayla chants Tracker, and I watch as our Pres, who isn’t a pussy by any means, softens as he kisses her again.
“You saved yourselves an ass-beating. But I won’t forget,” Pres states and I know he’s speaking to the three brothers.
Trouble is, as far as I see anyway, they are dead, so how the hell is he going to get back at them?
I watch as Pres walks back to the clubhouse, but what amuses me is the small whirls of wind that are following him. Three of them, and I’m keeping quiet because Rory is already spooked as shit about what she’s seen and heard.
Shaking my head, I know I’m going to have to be the witness. Pres is going to go back into the clubhouse and brag. He’ll make sure Finger knows he got his name out before Finger did. Yeah, I follow Pres because I know I don’t have any other option.
As I walk into the common room I hear, “Oh, fuckin’ hell, Ayla. Why did you do that to Dada?”
Cilla is giggling, and I notice there are mugs and other shit floating mid-air. The brothers are progressing with their ghostly shit is what I’m thinking. But I’m sure not going to point it out to anyone.
“Ayla knows who the better man is, don’t you Ayla, baby?” Pres coos. Yeah, you heard it here first, the President of the Restless Demons MC cooed to a baby.
“Give her to me,” Cilla takes Ayla out of the body carrier much to Pres’ annoyance, but he knows Cilla will go ape on his ass if he doesn’t hand Ayla over. “Did you say Tracker, Ayla? Did you? You are such a clever girl.”
“She is not a clever girl. She is a traitor to her Dada,” Finger states, and honestly, I reckon he has a pouting lip sticking out.
I don’t want to get more involved in this shit, so I quickly hightail it out of the clubhouse and jump on my hog. I reckon I’ll take the long way to work after all this bullshit.
I arrive at the gas station and watch as Echo, who is Collins of course, stands nose-to-nose with a guy. I park my hog and saunter over to hear what is going on.
“You’ll pay for that gas, or you’ll regret it,” Echo says through gritted teeth.
The guy must be an idiot because he smirks as he leans into Echo while responding. “Yeah, what the fuck can you do?”
Wrong thing to say, and Echo quickly grabs the idiot by the front of his t-shirt and headbutts him so hard I hear the fucker's nose break. He follows that with a punch to the gut, which has the man doubling over and coughing. “That’s what I can do. Now pay up and get the fuck out. If you ever come back, I’ll bury you in the gas tank where nobody will find you. ”
“Nice, Echo. I can see that working,” I add, just to give his words some effect, and to watch the idiot lose all color as he now realizes there are two of us.
“Okay, I’ll pay.” Echo steps back, and we both watch the asshole head into the gas station to pay. What we didn’t expect was Xero chasing the fucker out, drop-kicking him, and then pounding shit out of him.
Turning to Echo I smirk, “Whoops, it seems the fucker pissed off Xero now. Wonder if he paid for his gas?”
Echo chuckles. “Who cares? This is the most fun we’ve had in weeks.”
Rum appears and stands with his back to the gas station door but has a smile that only tips one side of his mouth. “Have you boys finished playing yet?”
“Be with you in a minute, Rum,” Echo grunts as he gives the asshole a kick in the back. “Get the fuck out of here and never come back.”
Now, the idiot gets to his feet and limps to his vehicle. It doesn’t take long for him to peel out of the gas station and to relative safety. Had to say that because if he had stayed, he would have found himself buddies with Tank, Bono, and Pyro.
“Okay, let’s get some work done,” Rum shouts out, and we all follow him inside to do just that.
I spend an hour listening to Rum explaining the system on the computer.
How and where to place orders. Even how payroll works.
Now, I’m not sure I’m manager material, but Rum is determined to make me a decent manager.
He keeps saying he’s an old man, and he needs to know I can do the job if he’s ever not available.
I can see his point, but I’d rather he did the job than me if I’m being honest about it.
Ian knocks on the office door frame, and as I look up, he quickly asks if we need lunch fetched.
“Yeah,” I reply and dig into my wallet to hand him enough to cover everyone’s lunch.
“Get what is needed and get something for Dice tonight. He’ll be pleased to see something in the fridge for him during his night shift. ”
“Why don’t we have a tin where we all throw in some cash for lunch.
That way you won’t always be paying for it, Truck.
It’s not your job as manager to feed us.
We either bring something, or we buy it.
I’ll find a tin and tell everyone to throw forty bucks in it each week.
If we get in front, we can have a week we don’t pay, it’s simple.
” Rum is the sensible one amongst us, and his idea has merit.
I’m doing my best to save as much as I can to buy furniture for the house once it’s finished. “Okay, that works for me.”
Rum’s pen moves on the table, by itself, of course. I point to it as I ask, “Is that your wife again?”
“Probably, but I don’t mind. I like her being around,” Rum looks at the pen before picking it up, and I can see he’s giving a small smile, and not to me.
“Okay, I’m done. I’m going to check out the back where Bull is and see if he’s anything to report. I was sure Echo said they’d seen some movement around the property the other evening on the security camera.”
“Okay, I’m going to place orders for next week, and then make sure Echo knows he is on night shift next week,” Rum turns back to the monitor, and I head around back to speak to Bull.
Stepping into the office, I give a shout-out to Bull and Demon who are both sitting at one of the stations.
“Hi, Truck. How’s it hanging?” Demon asks.
Of course I give a smart-ass answer. “To the left, Demon, to the left.”
“Fuck's sake!” Bull shakes his head at me, but I can see the smirk he has going on.
“I wanted to check in and make sure all was good. Echo and Xero saw someone lurking around one night. He was around here and not at the front of the station. Dice saw nothing, so he had to have been damn sneaky. Anything been amiss?” I ask.
Bull frowns before he answers. “We have seen nothing. I’ll ask Keys to check the cameras. You know make sure we have enough and they are covering everywhere.”
“Okay. I just wanted you to be aware. Are you still locking up the back of the mechanic’s bay?” I ask because it is at the back of the gas station, and I don’t want anyone sneaking in the back when one of us is on our own during the night shift.
“Yes, it’s never open after six o’clock.
We only open it if we need to use it, but repairs are done during the day.
I’ll tell everyone to leave vehicles outside until morning.
That way, once the place is locked it will stay locked until we are opening up in the morning,” Bull pinches the bridge of his nose, showing he’s more than a little stressed.
“Demon is in charge when I’m not around, and now that we have all vehicles and brothers here, we can start to get some form of routine where safety is brought to everyone’s attention. ”
“Okay. I’ll leave it with you. I’m off now because I need to grab Grady.
School is breaking up for summer, so I’m going to have him working at the clubhouse.
Earn his keep and start him on a good road for when he prospects.
” That comment gets me the chuckles I’m after, and I can see Bull’s tension ease. That’s what I was after. Job well done.