Counter To My Intelligence (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 7)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  When we hit the highway forty-five minutes later, it got easier.

  I stayed at least ten car lengths behind him at all times, because I knew he’d make me in a heartbeat if I didn’t.

  The only reason I saw where he was going was that I could see him turn at least three intersections away.

  So I followed him as best as I could, eyes scanning my surroundings.

  Finally, I caught a glimpse of him turning into what I thought was a cemetery, but I couldn’t quite tell since it was so far away.

  But my suspicions were confirmed a few minutes later when I pulled up behind his bike.

  Silas was nowhere to be seen, though.

  So I got out and started walking, saddened by the hundreds of graves that were in the graveyard.

  It was an old one.

  Some of the headstones I passed on the way there were from the 1800’s.

  I’d walked perhaps a thousand yards or so, just topping the tip of a hill, when I saw him.

  He was sitting on a camping seat, one of the ones that had three poles and folded out into a triangle.

  He had a beer in his hand and his back to me.

  So I saw the cut clearly on his back, the huge scary, wraith like woman with her weirdly colored eyes staring at me hauntingly.

  Beyond curious, but knowing he wanted to be alone, I turned on my heels and left, giving him the privacy I knew he wanted.

  Well…not privacy…just not me.

  And that didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.

  But I did make a phone call.

  “Hello?” The man on the other end of the line answered.

  “Hey,” I said. “This is Sawyer.”

  “I know,” the man said impatiently.

  I looked at the phone to make sure I’d called who I thought I’d called, and was surprised to find that I did.

  “Umm,” I said, hesitating now that he’d answered so tersely. “Your dad’s at a cemetery drinking a beer with a tombstone. Should I be worried?”

  There was silence on the other end for a very long time before Sebastian finally cleared his throat.

  “Which cemetery?” He asked finally.

  I looked up at the sign I was standing under and said, “Bayou Road.”

  His swift inhalation was audible over the phone line, and I started to worry.

  “Should I go check on him?” I asked anxiously.

  “No. Leave him alone. We’ll be there.”

  I didn’t get a chance to ask who ‘we’ was, because he’d hung up on me before I could say anything otherwise.

  It was another twenty minutes of me sitting on the hood of my car, staring up at the streetlight that was trying to decide if it wanted to turn on or not, when I heard them.

  It sounded like hundreds of motorcycles, but was more like ten.

  I sat up and looked behind me to where I could hear the noise coming from, and smiled when I saw six men.

  They pulled up behind me, each of them wearing much the same as I’d seen Silas put on before leaving the house.

  “Hey,” Sebastian said.

  “Hey,” I replied back.

  He gave me a long look. “What are you doing here?”

  I blinked. “I, uhhh….followed him.”

  “You followed him?”

  That came from the big man.

  Kettle this time.

  “He’s not going to just let you follow him,” Trance said.

  I shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t see me.”

  The blonde one, Loki, with the scary scar across his throat snorted, bringing my attention to him.

  Him I didn’t know as well yet, but I could tell he was laughing at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  He smiled, showing off a row of straight, white teeth.

  “Nothing. Just find it funny that you think he didn’t know you were following him,” the man explained.

  I shrugged. “Well, he hasn’t said anything, and I’ve been here for forty minutes now. I would think I’d at least get a glare or a ‘fuck off’ from him had he known I was here.”

  That earned me a couple of hard stares, but it was that of his son that caught me by surprise.

  “Why do I feel like I’m not getting the entire truth from you?” He asked. “Where’d you pick him up at if you were following him?”

  I couldn’t very well say ‘your father’s house’ to him. I wasn’t sure who knew that I was staying at Silas’ house. They knew we were in a “relationship” of sorts, but not that I was living with him.

  Not that there was much of a relationship.

  We fucked.

  That was about the gist of it.

  “Well, I gotta go. See y’all later,” I said, scooting off the hood and rounding the car.

  I dropped into the seat and was happy that they moved out of my way without me having to tell them to.

  Waving at the six of them, I pulled back onto the dirt road, did a three point turn, and started back the same way I came, my shadow of prospects following in my wake.

  I was happy that Silas wouldn’t be alone.

  I only wished we had the type of relationship where we could talk about what was going on with each other, because I’d love to know that he was okay.

  ***

  Silas

  “Your girls’ are doing great,” I told Tunnel. “Your little one is starting school soon. Only daycare, but school nonetheless.”

  I took another sip of my beer, aware of the eyes that were on me from the top of the hill.

  She hadn’t been very inconspicuous as she followed me.

  She was good, yes. But not trained. And not good enough to fool my seasoned eyes.

  But she stayed far away, and for that I was thankful.

  This was the time I used to chill out.

  I tried to come out here every Friday night, rain or shine, and share a beer with Tunnel Morrison, the man that I couldn’t prevent from dying.

  That marked eight brothers that I’d lost since I’d come in as the president of The Dixie Wardens MC, and this one hurt ten times more than all the rest.

  Tunnel had been young.

  Too young.

  And he’d left a wife and small child behind.

  Although it’d been a little over two years since it’d happened, it still felt just as raw now as it did then.

  Mostly because it was my fault.

  I should’ve done something…figured out that little shit head of a girl had had a hand in it all.

  But I hadn’t…and it’d cost me.

  It’d cost me a very good friend and a hole in my heart.

  It hurt every single time to see Tunnel’s wife and kid without him.

  To see how badly they were struggling.

  When I’d started to come here, it’d been because I needed the solace and peace that this certain piece of history gave me.

  To have a beer with a friend.

  But then I’d kept coming.

  And nobody knew.

  Well, nobody had known.

  Now, that silly woman who didn’t know how to leave well enough alone had followed me, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of them caught on.

  Hearing the telltale scream of Sawyer’s car starting up, and the belts screeching all the way down the road, I finally took a deep breath, thankful that she’d left me to my demons.

  I had a lot of fuckin’ demons.

  So many that it was hard to breathe sometimes.

  Sawyer was slowly helping me defeat them.

  One by one, until I could breathe deeply once again…and sleep all the way through the night.

  Grass crunching had me turning around to see Kettle, Sebastian, Loki, Trance, Torren, and Cleo walking towards me. I heard them pull up, but I wasn’t sure that they would come down here with me.

  I sighed in annoyance.

  “You know, I’ve been doing this for mo
nths now, and one call from my woman has all of y’all running out here like you have a right to be here…and drinking my beer. Perfect.”

  The men took their seats on the grass beside me, each taking a beer from my cooler without asking.

  “If we’d known there was a party, we would’ve been here to join you,” Cleo muttered darkly.

  I glanced over at the silent man, surprised he was the first to say anything.

  Cleo was an observer.

  He waited until he had all the facts before he acted and usually was one of the last to butt his nose into where he didn’t belong.

  “If I’d wanted y’all to join me, I would’ve called y’all,” I told them honestly.

  I wasn’t one to beat around the bush. I told it like it was, always had, and always would.

  “So…she’s your woman?” My nosy bastard of a son asked.

  I looked at him sitting directly across from Tunnel’s grave, and nodded. “Yeah, she’s mine.”

  “You gonna marry her…make babies with her? You realize she’s only thirty right? She’s gonna want kids,” he said defensively.

  And not in my defense either. In Sawyer’s.

  “I’m going to marry her, yes. But I’m not so sure about the kid part. I’m an old man, after all,” I admitted. “But that’s something she and I will discuss.”

  “Sam and Shiloh were pretty shitty to her last night,” Sebastian said.

  The others stayed quiet as I digested that.

  “What’d they say…and do?” I asked.

  “Just being their usual shitty selves. Putting their noses in where they don’t belong. Asking her questions about the past that upset her,” Sebastian informed me.

  My hand clenched around my beer.

  “I’ll talk to them,” I said. “Inform them that they’re about to have a new stepmother that’s younger than them.”

  They all laughed. “You gonna make her your old lady?” Torren asked cheekily.

  I raised the beer to my lips. “Sure am.”

  “After you catch Shovel?” Sebastian asked.

  “Yeah, on the off chance that he finds out about her, he’ll think she doesn’t mean as much to me since she doesn’t have my name covering her back. Or, at least, that’s my hope,” I said.

  “We’ve been looking for him high and low for the last four weeks. You can’t put your life on hold while you attempt to find him,” Kettle said.

  Kettle sounded sad for a moment there, and I looked over at him to gauge his words.

  Kettle had lost his child when he was deployed and he hadn’t been the same man until he married his woman, Adeline.

  Adeline had changed Kettle for the better, giving him a new lease on life in the process.

  “I know,” I said. “I just need a few more weeks.”

  “Why just a few more weeks?” Trance asked curiously.

  I smiled.

  “Because I have a plan,” I informed them.

  “And does your plan have anything to do with the dog you just bought from me?” Trance continued.

  I grinned. “No, that was all for Sawyer. She liked him and hasn’t really stopped talking about getting one of her own someday.”

  “Ahh,” Trance said. “Well, I can drop yours off when I drop Cleo’s police academy drop out off tomorrow. It sure is nice knowing he is going to a good home.”

  “What do you mean, mine?” Cleo barked.

  The group started to laugh at the note of panic on Cleo’s face.

  “I’ve already got a dog!”

  “Yeah, and according to your wife, you’re about to have one more!”

  Chapter 20

  If you let me kiss you, I’ll take your breath away.

  - Silas to Sawyer

  Sawyer

  “Wow, this is a big party,” Ruthie said at my side.

  I nodded and took her hand, pulling her with me.

  Today was the day that one of the club’s members came home from the war.

  He was a Navy SEAL and had been deployed in Iraq for nearly a year.

  Today would be his first day back, and the club had gone all out trying to show him how excited they were for him to be home.

  I’d never met him.

  But I’d sent him a care package.

  Heck, I’d bought the man underwear.

  “Have you been to one of these before?” She whispered, her hand tightening on mine.

  “Once,” I told her. “But this one is bigger because of all the other chapters coming in. They’re having it at a warehouse for Christ’s sake. Do you think I’ve been to one of these?”

  She laughed. “Dually noted.”

  “What my problem is, is that I called that man of mine over an hour ago to tell him I was coming out here, and would be here at exactly this time…so where is he?”

  Hard, strong arms wrapped around my waist, and suddenly I was tossed over a shoulder like I was a sack of grain.

  “I’m right here, little girl. Right where I said I’d be,” Silas teased, jolting me up and down slightly.

  I turned my glare on Ruthie when she started to giggle like a savage, her hand still in my own.

  “Shut your face,” I hissed at her.

  She snorted. “That didn’t work the first day I met you and definitely doesn’t work now. So try something else.”

  I flipped her off after letting go of her hand before Silas started to walk inside the building.

  “Where are we?” I asked Silas’ ass.

  His large hand smoothed up and down the back of my thigh, getting perilously close to the goods, but stopped just when it started to get interesting and set me down on my feet.

  “You’re the one who drove out here,” Silas said dryly.

  I waved my hand in the air as if to clear it.

  “I mean, I know where we’re located. What I wanted to know was what is this place?” I clarified.

  Ruthie stood behind me as we took in the massive space.

  “And why is there a boxing ring in the middle of it?” I wondered aloud.

  Silas placed me on my feet.

  “This is where we usually have our fight nights,” Silas said, taking my hand and leading me through the crowd of people.

  Everyone was in varying degrees of dress.

  There were, of course, the sluts…or tag-a-long’s as Silas liked to call them. They were the women that hung around the club and hoped to get something…maybe a quick thrill or even just the excitement of partying with a bunch of bikers.

  Then there were the people like me, mostly old ladies by the looks of the property patches on their backs. They were wearing jeans and t-shirts, mostly. One or two had a dress on.

  Then there were the men…the bikers.

  There were bikers here a plenty.

  It was a virtual sea of black leather covering the shoulders of men in varying ages and sizes.

  “You have a fight night?” I asked, a little surprised that I hadn’t heard about it yet, and I’d been with Silas for well over two months now.

  “Yeah,” Silas said. “We’ve not had one in a while. The weather’s been fucking with everything lately. Every time one is scheduled to happen, it starts to rain. And the warehouse isn’t all that waterproof, not to mention that the parking is grass. I don’t want eight million people stuck out here in their cars. That would blow.”

  I snorted.

  Ever so honest, was my Silas.

  “It’s raining right now…” I told him the obvious.

  He squeezed my hand slightly.

  “Yeah, but this has been planned for a year now. Not like I can just up and change it. We just have to have about eight million buckets catching all the water. Luckily, we have prospects to empty them and replace them when needed,” he said, pointing out one such prospect doing that very thing. “And the party is gonna go on nearly the entire night. Hopefully the rain dries up and they can get out when the time co
mes.”

  “Who is that?” Ruthie gasped from my side.

  I followed the direction of her gaze to a man I’d never met before, but then again, that wasn’t surprising when there were about five hundred people here, and I only knew about fifty of them.

  “That’s my brother, Sterling,” Silas said with a smile in his voice. “He’s the reason we’re celebrating tonight. Made it home in one piece from another tour.”

  I blinked.

  “That,” I said, pointing at the man who was absolutely stunning. “Is Sterling?”

  I’d bought underwear for that man!

  “Come on, I’ll introduce you,” he said, pulling me behind him, skirting a bucket every now and then as he went.

  We came to a stop in front of a crowd, but Silas’ booming voice made them part.

  “Move,” Silas ordered two men.

  They weren’t dressed in their biker cuts, which was why I assumed that Silas spoke to them like that.

  The man we’d come over there to meet looked up at Silas’ barked order and grinned.

  His gaze followed Silas’ arm down until he found me and smiled widely before moving to Ruthie’s hand in mine.

  She squeezed my hand tightly once his eyes hit hers, and I barely smothered a smile as I watched him watch her.

  Finally his eyes moved back, and Silas stepped forward.

  “Sterling, this is my woman, Sawyer. Sawyer, Sterling. Sterling, Ruthie; Ruthie, Sterling.”

  Simple, yet effective, and so Silas.

  Sterling was gorgeous.

  Tall with muscular arms leading up to wide, broad shoulders. Deep green eyes and a messy mop of dirty-blonde hair tumbling over his eyes and capping a face that was the very definition of ruggedly handsome.

  His beard was pretty wicked, too.

  The man standing before me grinned as he took two huge steps towards me and then scooped me up into a bear hug.

  “Thanks for the underwear,” he said as he valiantly tried to squeeze the air from my lungs with the ferociousness of his hug. “I really needed them. They’re now my favorites due to the fact that they don’t chafe.”

  I laughed, patting his back awkwardly since I was pinned down by his arms.

  “You’re welcome. Nobody likes to chafe,” I laughed.

  He set me down on my feet, and I turned to Ruthie.