Stetsons and Stakeouts

by BA Tortuga

  “I’ve never met him. Never seen him even.”

  “Bad ink, man. Bad.” He winked over. Someone would call when the whole thing was over.

  “Mine’s good.”

  Wait. Wait, Bonner’s? Bonner’s ink?

  “I appreciate you running him off.”

  “Where do you have ink?” Gianni wanted to see.

  “My back. What does it matter?”

  “Because I want to see it. Soon. I want you to come to the house, caro. Tonight. I mean it. I’ll come looking for you.” He leaned in. “You aren’t her husband. It will be our secret.”

  Bonner opened his eyes very wide. Ah, the attempt at innocence. “What?” Then the smile came. “I ain’t no cheater.”

  “No. No, and neither am I.” He should have been clearer that he’d known Bonner’s little secret.

  “I’ll see you tonight, then,” Bonner said.

  His phone beeped, so he pulled it out to check. Colt’s text just said, He’s gone.

  He shot back, Excellent.

  “It over?” Bonner asked.

  “For now, yeah. I’ll bet anything he’ll try to come back, but not today.” Gianni stood. “Go talk to the lady. I’ll see you, and your tattoos, tonight.”

  Bonner grunted—it wasn’t an agreement, but it wasn’t a no.

  “I really will come looking. Don’t make me.” Right now he had hours of work to wade through.

  He didn’t wait for the answer. He headed home. He wanted a sitrep, and he needed to hear from Xavvy and Chris.

  Jesus. Chris was at the house when he walked back up, sitting in his kitchen with a cup of coffee and a piece of some kind of pie.

  “Hey, bud. Long time no see.”

  “I know! It’s amazing.” Chris winked. “No one wants to give me a statement.”

  “No one!” He staggered back, hand over his chest, all dramatic and shit.

  “I guess I could ask Snake.” Chris was a shit.

  “Oh, I’d pay to see that, man. I truly would.”

  Chris shook his head. “So what’s the deal? Why’s he here? Snake, I mean.”

  “Apparently the pregnant lady is, uh, in a family way from Snake.” Jesus, that was…. Ew.

  Chris wrinkled his nose. “You’re not serious. Dude, that’s… nasty.”

  “Maybe he went to hell when she left him?” He waggled his eyebrow.

  “So, your foreman… doesn’t know?”

  “Doesn’t know what?” Had he missed something? Gianni didn’t think so.

  “That he’s married to someone having someone else’s babies?”

  “Chris, she’s his sister.” Hadn’t he told everyone that? Maybe Colt was the only one who knew.

  “Oh!” Chris’s eyes went wide. “Oh, dude!”

  “Yeah. She’s hiding out.” He made a kung fu pose.

  “Impressive. So…. Wait. Wait. You just happened to hire the brother of the girl carrying Snake Rogers’s baby?”

  “Yep. Well, Jerilyn did.” Gianni waited for the hilarity.

  “Buddy, that’s a lot of coincidences.”

  “You have no idea.” He rolled his eyes. “Did I mention I knew him?”

  “No…. Does Jerilyn?”

  “No. I slept with him for a fabulous fucking weekend after a job when he was just a kid. Not underage, mind.”

  “So you knew him knew him?” Chris’s eyes were big as saucers.

  His cheeks heated, and Gianni had to chuckle. “And I know him now.”

  “Are you shitting me? You’re here on a job and you’re fucking a local?”

  “He’s not a local. I mean, he wasn’t. I met him in Padre.” The more he explained, the more bizarre it all sounded.

  Chris stared at him. “What? Did you bring the motherfucking circus to town?”

  “No, that was Xavvy.”

  Just as he knew it would, that made a cloud fall over Chris’s face. “He’s hurt, man.”

  “I know. I want to put eyes on him.”

  “How? You want me to arrest him? We could have him in the tank for a day. Get him some help.”

  “That’s a good idea. Then I can sneak in and debrief.” And Chris could vent his spleen.

  “Yeah. They won’t be watching me that close.” Chris sighed. “I’m worried about him.”

  “So haul his ass in. It will give him cred.” If he couldn’t get away, he would send Colt to chat.

  “I’ll do it this evening. Do you have a medic, or should I just call in a doctor?”

  “Who do you usually use for the jail?” He wanted to weigh his options.

  “Dr. Manor. It doesn’t happen often, but he’s my on-call.”

  “Do you trust him? The last thing I need is for someone to upset the apple cart more than it has been and get Xavvy killed.”

  “I don’t know. I’ll… I’ll just have to see? I don’t know, man. Everyone’s dealt with a lot of drama already.”

  “Then I’ll get Tom to send someone. We just need for Xavvy to be able to have some bragging rights.”

  “Thanks. I don’t want to ask anyone to lie.”

  “No, I get it.” Local LEOs had to be very careful sometimes. They had to live in their town after Gianni left. Of course, he still owned this ranch once the sting was over, and Jerilyn would be here, so he’d better get with the program.

  He shook his head. Okay. Work. “Where’s my pie? I’ll take some to the office with me.”

  “Listen to you. It’s in the fridge. I’ll storm out of here in a few minutes, just in case.”

  “Thanks, man. I know this is chaos.” He shook hands with Chris. “I appreciate it all.”

  “I’ll call in the favor.”

  “I don’t doubt it.”

  He grabbed a slice of pie out of the fridge. He would have to take one to Xavvy. He needed to get on the horn to Tom, then see what the security footage showed about the bits of the Luis and Snake confrontation he’d missed. He wanted to see what had gone down, and he didn’t want Colt to edit it. He waved at Chris, heading up to his office. Gianni got on the burn cell once he was there, dialing Tom.

  “What’s up, kid? You ready to come home yet?”

  “Nope. I need a medic who can be in by tonight.”

  “I have someone in Dallas. He can be there by tonight.”

  “Good.” Gianni sighed. “I also need some footage from the house security. All the front cameras. Not edited by Colt.”

  “Okay… is there a problem?” He heard the clack of the keyboard.

  “A whopper. The new foreman? He has his sister here, and she’s pregnant. The dad appears to be the leader of the biker gang.”

  “Huh. Small towns, right?”

  “And then some. He showed up at the main house. He’s not sure she’s here, but he’s heard it from someone.”

  “You might move them out. Get them out of your hair.”

  “Tom, I can’t do that. She’s pregnant with twins. This is the only job that kid is going to find to make this kind of money.”

  “Christ. Okay. I sent you the feed. Any movement on the distribution line?”

  “There’s someone who went rogue. Stashed a bunch of shit on my land. We have a man in the organization now, though.” They were making progress. It just seemed agonizingly slow.

  “A rogue dealer is good for you. The more destabilization you can create, the better.”

  “I have a feeling it’s going to cause a good bit.” He grinned, glad he and Tom were on the same page.

  “I miss being out in the field. Maybe I should come play long-lost uncle and just come keep an eye on you hooligans for a few days.”

  “Weirdo. I would welcome the input.” Tom was a great organizer.

  “I’ll see if I get the chance. I have another team in Denver on a meth ring. I think they’re enjoying the legal marijuana situation altogether too much.” Tom laughed, the sound deep, merry.

  “I bet they are.” He couldn’t imagine what Colt would get up to. “Be grateful I have Four-Fi
ngers.”

  “I wouldn’t set him loose on the world with anyone else.”

  “Wow. That’s either high praise or some kind of insult. The time code should be about noon.”

  The video that popped up on his screen showed the front of the house, the biker zooming around, bellering at him. Ugly bastard.

  “That’s him.” He propped his chin on his hand to watch.

  Snake was packing, the Glock sitting on his hip, but he obviously hadn’t expected to have to use it, because he never even twitched toward it. There were a lot of weapons aimed at the guy. Luis sauntered close, accent thick as paste. “You ain’ welcome, vato.”

  The guy watched all of his personnel in turn. “I want the girl.”

  “No.” No monologuing. None. He was proud of his team.

  “Goddamn it!” Snake roared. “I want the goddamn girl.” Snake revved the bike. “I know she’s here.”

  “You’re trespassing,” Luis repeated, absolutely unflappable.

  “Are you stupid?” Colt was trying hard not to smile, he could tell. “Ask him if he’s stupid or just ugly, man.”

  “Shut up. Bastards.” Snake literally spat the words out. Literally. Jesus, was the man sampling his own product? This was the leader of a sophisticated drug operation?

  “You’re sure he’s the brains, Cesare?” Tom asked.

  “No. He’s the one everyone swears is, but what if it’s someone else? I’ll talk to my inside man tonight at the jail.” Why couldn’t anything be easy?

  “Good deal. Last thing I want is some low-level dickhead.”

  “I hear you.” That part of their job sucked. More than once they’d arrested the person they thought was in charge, only to find out they were a fake front. That gave the real motherfucker a chance to slither away.

  So. They had a jump on knowing who they were looking for. Xavvy would have made the same leap of logic he and Tom had by now.

  Thank God he had a guy willing to take a fall for him.

  He stared at the screen. Huh. It was Kody who seemed to scare Snake off. The big guy had a long gun, and he made an impressive sight cocking it.

  “Damn Rangers, always stroking their barrels.” Tom was having too much fun.

  “They do seem to like horses and guns more than people.” Colt needed to watch the way he looked at Kody; at least where the cameras were showing.

  That was kinda hot, though.

  “Okay, I’ll get you your medic and send you his number. Don’t go strictly by appearances.”

  “Oh good Lord.”

  “What? He’s a good guy, and Texan to the bone.” Tom was laughing at him. Fucker.

  “Uh-huh. You’re an evil man.” He shook his head. “Okay, I’ll be good.”

  “I look forward to your report.” Tom clicked off, leaving him sitting there.

  He looked at the pie. Okay, pie. That was next. After that… well, he had to do something besides think about Bonner all day.

  He was going to get lube and condoms for beside the bed, of course. But after that?

  He was all business.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I HAVE to go, Bonner. It’s not safe here.” Bri was damn near hysterical, just tossing clothes in her suitcase.

  “Where are you fixin’ to go?” Goddammit, his head hurt.

  “I don’t know! New Orleans, maybe? How far can he follow me?”

  He shook his head, his heart pounding like a beast’s. “You are panicking. Sit down and think, for fuck’s sake!”

  “No! He was here! I didn’t do anything wrong!” She was shrieking.

  “He was at the main house! No one hurt you!” He was going to hit something. Not her. Never Bri. But the wall was fair game.

  “Not this time. You don’t know him! How did he find me so fast?” Tears were streaming.

  “He must have seen you. He must have.”

  “I can’t cope with this.” She plopped down on her bed. “Do we have any ice cream?”

  Bonner blinked. “What?”

  Had he missed something?

  “I need ice cream. I got mint chocolate chip at the store. Can you get it for me?”

  “Sure. Totally. Ice cream. Spoon.” See him. See him not kick a chair on the way into the kitchen.

  He grabbed the pint of Halo Top and a spoon, then brought it back to her. “You’re safer here than at Mom’s. You have a dozen champions.”

  “A dozen?”

  “At least.” He wasn’t leaving her to Mom’s wiles.

  “Well, he didn’t manage to see me.” She sighed, popping the top off the ice cream. “I just—why is he here in BF nowhere?”

  “I don’t know, but that’s a good question.” He sat in the chair next to the bed. “What all do you know about him, honey?”

  “Uh, he’s from Dallas originally. He was in the Army for a year, but I think he was kicked out.”

  “Does he have family here? I mean, we didn’t leave a trail, Sister.”

  “I don’t know. He said he didn’t talk to his people at all.” She licked ice cream off the spoon. “Eurgh. What was I thinking getting mint? This is awful.”

  He just stared at her. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah.” She started crying again. God save him.

  “What else do you want? I think Maria made pie today. I can get you some.” He just wanted her to stop watering the world.

  “I just want to be left alone. Just go on. I’m going to cook a Totino’s and watch Hell’s Kitchen. Just go do something. Have a beer.”

  “Fine!” He whirled around and started out of the room at a stomp.

  “Bubba? Thank you. And your cowboys. Will you tell them?”

  He paused just long enough to nod at her before heading right outside. He meant to go eat with the cowboys but found himself wandering, ending up on the far side of the pasture, standing at the big house instead. What was he doing? Seriously? He wasn’t actually going to… to do this?

  Gianni knew, though. He knew Bri wasn’t his wife, and Bonner wanted to ask—

  He jumped a mile when the door opened.

  “Hey, man.” Greg grinned at him. “He’s waiting for you.”

  Oh. Oh fuck. “I—”

  “Office is up the stairs, second door on the left.”

  “Thank you.” Okay. A meeting. He could act like this was a meeting. Even if his dick was so hard a cat couldn’t scratch it.

  He walked up the fancy-assed stairs, knowing he didn’t belong there. His bootheels rang on the floor, making him feel like he needed to tiptoe. He knocked on the door Greg had indicated. “Venti!”

  “Boss? It’s me.” He opened the door and peeked in.

  “Bonner! Come in. Just the distraction I needed. I’ve been in here far too long today.” Gianni turned in his big leather chair, beckoning to him.

  “It’s been a day and a half, hasn’t it?” He went to the desk, staying on the far side of it.

  “It has.” Gianni raised an eyebrow at him. “Did you need something?”

  He didn’t know how to answer that. What if he’d misunderstood? What if Gianni had been fucking with him? What if Gianni had just changed his mind? “I came to say thank you for your help today. I appreciate it.”

  “I know how worried you are about your sister and her babies.” Gianni rose and came around the desk to stand in front of him, looking for all the world like a carved god—one of the wicked ones.

  “Yeah. I don’t know how he found her. We….” God, Gianni made him dizzy with his beauty. “We didn’t leave a trail.”

  “I think perhaps it was coincidence, caro. The biker gang frequents this stretch of highway. If he had people looking for her….” Gianni held out a hand to him, and Bonner took it, heart pounding violently. Gianni pulled Bonner to him, right up against that broad chest. “I’m glad you came to me, caro.”

  “I wanted…. I thought you’d changed your mind.”

  “No, but I need to know you’re not being coerced. That you want to be here wi
th me.”

  “You ain’t forcing me to do anything I don’t want to.” Maybe pushing, sure, but forcing? He knew how to say no and mean it.

  “Excellent. I have a very private bedroom and a need to have you all to myself. Come with me, hmm?” Gianni drew him out of the office and up a half flight of stairs to a grand bedroom. The colors were way more subdued than the rest of the house, dark and masculine.

  “It’s awful pretty.” He didn’t know what else to say. It was private, sensual, sexual, and they were alone.

  Gianni even locked the door behind them. “Do you want anything to drink?” The question was polite, but Gianni looked like a hunting animal, laser focused on him.

  “I ain’t thirsty.” Not even a little.

  “That’s the formalities, then. Strip, caro. I want to see that ink.” Gianni leaned back against the big bed, arms crossed over his chest.

  “Do you now?” He licked his lips, his hands going to his buttons but not opening them, not yet. “You sure?”

  “I am. Trust me, my mind is set on you. Naked.” That smile was Cheshire cat at its best.

  For the first time, Bonner felt like he was in control, like he was being hunted and he wanted to be caught, he wanted to be turned inside out, and he wanted Gianni to work for it.

  He unbuttoned a couple, holding Gianni’s dark eyes the whole time.

  Gianni watched him carefully, gaze heated, needy. Beautiful man. His cock throbbed, his balls drawing up just from the thought of the wickedness he’d got up to with this man.

  He cleared his throat, which was suddenly dry, then unbuttoned two more buttons. He could see the bulge at Gianni’s crotch growing. Gianni never encouraged him with anything but that steady, burning stare.

  That was enough. Hell, that inspired him. He slid the shirt half off, then turned so Gianni got a hint of the tattoo on his back.

  It was a branding iron and then a series of brands, showing his big wins. Black and red and masculine, just getting the brands had given him a happy. Now showing them to Gianni was making him sweat.

  “Oh now. Look at that.” It was getting harder and harder for Gianni to keep his accent.

  He turned back to face Gianni, hands on his buckle. “You like?”