by Amber Burns
“That’s his girl,” Wilson heaved himself up off my couch. “She was in a towel when we walked in. Leave the girl the fuck alone,” he lowered Cole’s arm. “Don’t be stupid,” Wilson returned to instructing me. “Do what you’re told from here on out. Keep your girl from singing about what happened here, and as soon as you’re pulled, that’ll be the end of this.” He paused for a second, his eyes narrowed. “Your phone tapped?” I shook my head, because as far as I knew they hadn’t taken that step. “Martinez will be by to get the details. I’ll get you a throw away we can communicate on.” He patted Cole on the back and started towards the door. “Develop a signal to get him out of the clubhouse when we have business to talk about. Tillman,” he looked at Ted. “Let’s get back and hammer out details.”
Ted nodded and didn’t offer me anything as he passed. He followed Wilson out the door, and it left me with Cole. Cole had an intimidating air about him, his expression was always narrowed, and he looked like a mad dog ready to attack.
“Consider yourself fucking lucky,” he growled before following the others out the door.
My heart had been hammering in my chest so hard that it had begun to feel painful. I turned and jerked open the bedroom door. They’d only seen a glimpse of Tara, but I didn’t doubt they’d be able to recognize her if they saw her again. Just like I didn’t doubt she heard every word we exchanged. She was dressed in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, the sweat stains suggested she just put her dirty clothes back on. Her hair was still wet, dark curls tumbled around her face, and her eyes were narrowed to slits. Safe to say she was pissed.
“The fuck are you doing, Chase?”
“I don’t know if you could hear the tension,” I motioned back towards the door. “But they wanted to kill me. They figured out I’m a cop.” I let out a shaky breath. “I had a fucking gun held to my head. What the fuck am I supposed to do about that, Tara?”
Her eyes widened as she took me in, her small hands came to cup my face, and she closed the distance between us. “You’re okay, you’re okay,” she was trying to talk me down. I must have looked panicked. “We can go to the Captain and get you out of this. You don’t have to go back to them, and you’ll be okay.”
“I can’t back out of this now,” I jerked away from her. “If I do that, what’s to keep them from killing me? And you?” I turned away, and my hands started tugging at the length of my hair, it had gotten way too long. “They saw you, and they know you’re a cop, too. I didn’t think this would get fucked so fast,” I started to choke on my breath as I saw how this would play out. It was like my life just decided to play in front of my eyes way after my life had been threatened.
“We can get you out of this now and get you out of here,” she came around and grabbed me, her arms going around my waist tightly as she tried to curb my panic. “We can get you to a safe place,” her eyes connected with mine and I saw the worry.
I came back to myself, I felt the strength in her arms around me, and I felt my heart start to ache for a different reason. I wrapped my arms around her neck and pressed my forehead against hers.
“I’ll ride this out. Because it's what’s expected. It's what I have to do.”
Her arms tightened, “You’re not allowed to die for this, Chase. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Too late,” I laughed a little, starting to relax. I cupped her face again. “Don’t go to the Captain with this. I can make this work, I’ll make it work. Just trust me.”
She nodded as much as she could. I didn’t resist the urge to kiss her, I caught her mouth and pressed every bit of stress and fear I felt into it. It wasn’t sexual by any means. When I pulled away, that ache in my chest was still there. It was like a tightness that refused to relax. It wasn’t hard to deduce why it was there.
“I love you,” I said after a breath.
I heard her breath catch, and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders again. She relaxed into me. I didn’t expect an answer, I didn’t want to hear whether or not she felt the same. I kissed her again, just in case rejection was there. I didn’t want to hear that either.
“Go home,” I murmured against her mouth. “We’re going to keep doing like we have been. We’re not going to change the routine unless we have to.” I pulled away from her. “Go home and watch to make sure you’re not followed.”
She nodded and started towards the door, she only paused for a beat. “But what about you?”
“I’ll get it handled,” I nodded and walked her the rest of the way. I opened the door. “Be careful.”
“Stay safe,” Tara said quietly before going down the stairs.
15
I slept like shit; I tossed and turned. I couldn’t get comfortable or shake the unease that the night had created. When three am rolled around, and someone pounded on my door, I wasn’t shaken from a fitful sleep. I rolled out of bed like I was expecting them to bust into my apartment. I had my pistol in my hand and leveled at the bedroom door. It became obvious when another round of pounds rained down on my door that no one was busting in.
I got up and pulled on a pair of shorts. I kept my pistol close, and I went to the door. I peered out the peephole and spotted Ricky. He didn’t look armed, but I wasn’t taking his innocent appearance for face value. I opened the door slowly and kept a cautious aim at him with my gun. He saw me and slowly raised his hands, palms up.
“Paranoid?” He asked carefully.
“Don’t think I have a good reason to be?”
“Oh no,” he grinned. “You do. But, c’mon brother, I’m not armed. Cop or not, we’re still brothers. You know that right?”
“I had a gun pointed at my head,” I told him. “Brothers don’t do that to one another.”
“Cole is kind of dramatic over shit like this,” he put a hand to his chest. “Not me, I see the brilliance that saved your ass.”
I lowered my gun and motioned him in, “Everyone know?”
He shook his head, “Wilson is keeping it on a need to know basis. So, no not everyone is privy to it. As far as I’m aware only Wilson, Ted, Cole, Freddie, and I know,” he closed the door behind him. “How often do you have to wear the wire? Do you have it on now?”
I snorted and shook my head, the only thing I had on was basketball shorts. “Not taping that shit to my dick, sorry,” I said lightly as I waved a hand at my state of undress. I walked to the couch and sat down heavily. “I have to supply at least eight hours of time with it on a day.”
“You spend that time at the shop?” He looked interested. “You didn’t wear it that night?”
I shook my head, feeling the restlessness start to catch up with me. “No.”
“The girl that was here with Wilson and them… she your girl?”
I didn’t even know, so I answered honestly: “She’s my partner.”
“Fraternization?”
“What?”
“Obviously you tapped that,” he came to sit beside me on the couch. “That’s one of the reasons you were doing the bare minimum, right? You said it was girl issues before. Now unless that was just an excuse, you’re breaking a rule already by fucking your partner.”
I stared at him for a few heart beats, trying to figure out just what he was getting at.
When Ricky noticed my confusion, he just shrugged it off: “You’ll figure it out when you get some sleep. Just remember. Once all this is over, all said and done, you and your girl have to go back to being partners. If your CO finds out how close you guy there’s a good chance you won’t be partners anymore. Roger?”
I nodded because this was something I already knew. Having another man point it out wasn’t something I liked to swallow.
“What do you suggest?” I asked, looking for another perspective.
“Ride this out,” he smirked at me a little. “Like all things, you ride it out as long as you have to. Then you make a decision. Is being a part of the five-o something you want or is being free better?”
“You’re telling me t
o quit being a cop?”
“I’m telling you to keep your options open and think about what really makes you happy,” he released a sigh. “I came here so late because I had work and research to do.” He scratched his jaw as he seemed to think about some things. “Are you worth all this trouble?”
“Taking me out would be more trouble,” I point out tiredly.
“Maybe, maybe not,” he shrugged. “But that’s not the point, right? Why bother with you?”
“Why’d Wilson tap you?” I turned the question around. “Why are you in the Brotherhood? Why is there a Brotherhood for that matter?”
I could’ve kept going, but he waved his hands for me to stop. “That’s enough man. I get it. You’re here due to orders, I can respect that. Tomorrow after your shift, we’ll do the first part of pointing the fingers at the Aces. You don’t have a weak stomach do you?”
That confused me. “Am I going to be back to scrubbing the kitchen?”
“I don’t think Cindy would object to that, but naw man. Just do me a solid and skip breakfast in the morning. Make sure you have your wire on and ready for it,” he stood and went to my door. “Get some sleep. Hopefully, your acting skills are good.” He paused after he opened the door, “If Wilson was going to give the command to kill you, you’d be dead by now. Don’t let it keep you up anymore.”
Then he walked out, like all of this wasn’t a big deal.
I found myself wondering what Ricky did for the club. He didn’t work at the shop, he was only filling in now to help with the cleanup from the drive by. Other than that he kind of just hung out, though he was there for the original confrontation with the Aces. But now, I was starting to worry about just what he did and how it would involve me.
16
Another pounding at my door woke me up at eight. It wasn’t Tara. She had a key, plus I hoped she would be letting me have some space while I figured out how to handle all that had happened and how I was found out. So, I reasoned, the pounding couldn’t be from Tara. I rolled out of bed and found my gun, though I didn’t bother aiming it at the door this time. Its weight in my hand was more of a comfort than anything else. When I peered out the peephole, I saw Ricky. I sighed, I didn’t think he meant this early in the morning.
I unlocked the door and jerked it open, “Why are you an early riser?”
He shrugged. “I got shit to do today. C’mon get dressed. Don’t forget to wire up, we’re going to need that.”
“How are you up this early?” I asked again as I wandered back to my bedroom.
“Coffee, it's the breakfast of champions. C’mon, cupcake, chop chop. We make this too late, and we’ll just look like a pair of hooligans trying to create a setup,” he clapped his hands as he rushed me. “Dress for a hike. Don’t wear your cut either. We’re going for a long walk.”
I pulled on a t-shirt and opted for a pair of basketball shorts. I was getting my boots on when I finally woke up enough to realize what he said.
“We’re going on a hike?” I called from my room.
“Yeah, I got a car to take us there, we’re going to look like two regulars that enjoy nature. Trust me on this.” He came back into my room, and I watched him snoop while he spoke. “If we took our bikes or wore our cuts it’d be more suspicious. As far as this is concerned,” he found the recorder and motioned to it. “It won’t know what we look like. As far as the people listening to it will know we just took a break to go be one with nature or some shit. You ever been hiking before?”
“Walking a duty trail count?”
He laughed a little, “Not really, but it's close enough. It can be therapeutic. Granted, what we’re going to do today isn’t. But if you ever feel stuck or trapped I definitely suggest picking up the hobby,” he handed the recorder with its mic to me. “I want to see you put it on, then I’ll go back out and start up. Just play along, feel me?”
I nodded and rolled my shirt up, I found the medical tape and then carefully taped the mic on the line between my pecs. I used a bit more tape to secure the wire then I stood, turned on the device and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“Sunday, September tenth,” I announced before I tucked the recorder against my hip and secured it with tape.
When I looked up Ricky had vanished I stood there clueless until I heard the knock at my door. I went to answer it, confused, until I saw him standing there.
“Hey Chase,” he gave me a grin. “It’s a beautiful day outside, I thought I’d take the opportunity to enjoy it and go for a hike. Cole suggested that I should see if you wanted to join me. How bout it man?”
‘Uh, sure,” I rubbed the back of my head and took a glance outside around him. Ricky was here alone. “I guess I got the day off. I could use some fresh air.”
He gave me a thumbs up, “Get dressed and get some coffee. I got the perfect spot, and it's a helluva hike.”
“If you’re cool you would’ve brought me one,” I turned around to finish getting ready to go. By the time I came back out, I saw Ricky typing furiously at his phone. “Everything okay?” I called out.
“Yeah, I just was giving the old lady a check in. You ready to go?”
I nodded but felt jittery. I wasn’t sure what to expect. We went for a car ride, and I found myself looking for signs that he just wasn’t going to drive me out to the middle of nowhere. Ricky seemed amused by my discomfort. After about thirty minutes I stopped worrying and figured I’d offer up some small talk.
“I never really pegged you for an outdoorsman.”
“Never judge a book by its cover, my friend,” he shrugged a shoulder. “Everyone has their hobbies. I bet you wouldn’t get that Eddie was into poetry, would you?”
“I want to call your bullshit.”
“If you ask him, he’ll deny it,” he chuckled. “But it’s a hobby he picked up going to a group. It's a way to cope. You gotta find an outlet for all the things you feel when you get back into civvy clothes. Hiking is something I got into. Getting lost in the woods is dangerous, you might run into a wild animal, you might hurt yourself finding an incline,” he paused to glance at me. “You might get lost and not come out.”
“If you did any kind of service and get lost in the woods and can’t find your way out you need to give up your ribbons,” I grunted.
“Never underestimate mother nature.”
It was another forty-five minutes before he pulled off the side of the road. It was a stretch of highway that looked similar to the road we went down to shake up the Crazy Aces. I didn’t say as much to him, but I gave him a pointed look. He gave me a smirk as he unloaded a light backpack and put it on.
“I didn’t bring anything,” I complained. “I didn’t expect that this would be this big of a hike.”
I watched as he pulled a small cooler out and put two bottles of water into the bag.
“Like I said, never underestimate Mother Nature,” he closed the trunk and started to lead the way into the woods. “I haven’t got a full load because I wasn’t planning on camping out. So there are just the essentials for a short hike. Plenty of water, trail mix, pocket knife, compass, and a first aid kit for just in case.”
“Boy scout?”
“I wish, I’d have a bigger bag in that case.”
The woods that we were walking in were thin. I wished I could identify the thin trunked trees, but I didn’t have a name for them. It was chilly, but there was a warmth that I could feel that would be coming on the higher the sun got. We walked in silence and the noise we made echoed out, but it didn’t seem to stop the chatter of birds and squirrels. I knew there were ulterior motives behind this hike, but I was enjoying myself. Even with the lack of sleep, I felt the stress from the following night seemed to lift off my shoulders.
It was after a mile that we stopped for a breath and Ricky pulled out the compass.
“Thanks for this.” I nodded to him as I paused to take a swallow of water, “I didn’t think I’d dig this. But there’s something relaxing about it.�
�
Ricky shot me a grin over a shoulder, “I could always use a buddy for hikes. Though if you’re going to want to do this again, I’m going to make you go for long ass walks.”
“I’ll consider it after today,” I wiped my brow, sweat gathering at a temple. “How far do we intend to go today?”
He hummed as he eyed his compass and looked like he was considering it, “We got about four more miles to go. There’s this one spot I found that had a great view, so it's definitely worth the trek.”
I got a smirk with that comment, and it left me with an uneasy feeling. He was taking me to see something that I would’ve probably have preferred not to see. But, this was something to frame this other group with, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to be shown. Regardless, it was important for me to see this. Dread made it a helluva lot less enjoyable. This wasn’t about pleasure. So the walk was less about stress relief and more about just paying attention to my surroundings.
