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

by Lani Lynn Vale

  Sam’s smile was a little bit unnerving as he said, “Oh, we’ll take care of it. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that, Sawyer.”

  Chapter 24

  Maybe it’s not anger management that I need. Maybe you need to keep your stupid away from me.

  -Food for thought

  Sam

  Four hours later

  “You find him?” I asked my brother.

  Sebastian looked up from his phone and smiled. “Got him. Let’s go pay the fucker a visit.”

  I walked up to my wife where she was sitting in the plastic seats of the waiting room.

  She had Sawyer’s hand in hers as they both stared at the white doors where the doctor had come out earlier to let us know that there’d been more wrong than they’d initially realized, and they needed more time than they’d originally thought to examine him thoroughly and give us an accurate assessment of his condition.

  That’d been over two hours ago, and I was getting anxious.

  Anxious to find the man responsible for nearly killing my father.

  And, I had to admit, to tell my father that I was sorry for being such an asshole.

  I knew he didn’t deserve it…now.

  I’d had a long talk with my mother after my daughter’s baptism, and I now knew what I didn’t know then.

  That, in my father’s way, he loved me.

  All the years that I thought my father was a bad person, he was actually taking care of me. Protecting me.

  Doing the same thing that I would’ve done had I been in his position.

  And that was a bitter pill to swallow.

  I knew that I was running out of time to fix this, and it’d take a lot of effort on my part to heal that gap between us.

  But the first thing I’d do would be to take care of the fucker that did this to him. That threatened his family, putting me and my family into harm’s way.

  “I think we should just go,” Sebastian said at my side where I’d come to a stop just at the entrance of the waiting room. “There’s no telling how long this will take, and if we don’t hurry there’ll be nothing left of him after Black Jack does his thing.”

  Fuck.

  That I knew well.

  I’d heard chatter about this ‘Black Jack’ person.

  Knew he was a little less than savory in his dealings with people that wronged him.

  I hadn’t heard a single story about him that indicated the man was capable of any kind of mercy in his retribution.

  “Alright, I’ll meet you out front in ten,” I said, crooking my finger at my wife.

  My life.

  She got up after patting Sawyer’s hand and started walking towards me.

  Even after all this time, she still took my breath away.

  “Hey,” she whispered, walking straight into my arms.

  I folded my arms around her. “We’re going to go. Text me if you hear any news.”

  She looked into my eyes with those hazel eyes of hers and smiled. “Don’t get arrested.”

  I grinned down at her. “Oh, I won’t get arrested. Trust me, darlin’.”

  She laughed and pressed her lips against mine. “Go. Come back safe to me.”

  I pressed my lips against her forehead and nodded. “Will do, oh wife of mine.”

  She smacked my ass as I turned to leave, and I tossed her a wink over my shoulder, passing my brother speaking to his own wife as I went.

  He broke off just as I reached the elevator, joining me as we rode the elevator in silence.

  We didn’t speak at all the entire way to the hotel room that Black Jack had said Shovel was occupying, either.

  Both of us lost in our own contemplation of our lives.

  And, in tandem, we breeched the room with guns drawn.

  Shovel jackknifed off the bed, reaching for his gun but not making it.

  I caught his hand with a bullet through the palm, causing him to freeze.

  Sebastian was on him in the next second, and like true, good brothers, we took turns beating the absolute shit out of him.

  Sadly, we weren’t the only ones who wanted in on the action, and we stepped aside to allow some of The Dixie Wardens to get in on the action.

  Three unconscious bodies hit the floor beside us, and I turned to find the three of the four guards that attacked Sawyer over the years, laying there where Cleo had unceremoniously thrown them.

  “Caught them trying to round the back of the hotel,” he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “How’d you get them over here?” I asked.

  Cleo smiled. “Drug them by their feet one by one. Black Jack met me at the corner and helped.”

  I turned to find ‘Black Jack’ staring into the room with passionless eyes.

  He was watching as Torren and Sterling took their turn.

  “Can’t believe he thought he couldn’t be found. Fucking Silas trying to do everything himself. I told him weeks ago if he needed me, all he had to do was ask,” Black Jack muttered.

  “What’s your real name?” I asked, looking over at the man next to me.

  The man didn’t even hesitate.

  Smiling, he said, “Lynn.”

  “You work with my father, don’t you?” I asked, not really surprised.

  He nodded. “For a long, long time now.”

  “Are you really a bookie?” Sebastian asked.

  He shrugged. “When I need to be.”

  “What are you going to do with him?” I asked, indicating to the man we’d just beaten the shit out of with our bare hands.

  Black Jack, a.k.a. Lynn, just smiled. “Oh, I’m not nearly done with him yet. You see, boy, you’ve warmed him up. Given him a simple black eye compared to the beating he’s about to receive from me. He’s gone and done something real stupid, hurting the one man that has kept him safe all these years. If it wasn’t for Silas’ and that big heart of his, he’d have been dead a long time ago. I think it was all a because of a promise he made to a twelve-year-old boy that he would never hurt the man again.”

  Jesus. My father and his big heart.

  Fuck, but do I have some serious groveling to do.

  I’d been that twelve-year-old boy.

  And it’d been because Shovel had thrown me down and hurt me that he’d beaten the ever-loving shit out of him.

  And when I’d caught him doing it, I’d asked him to stop and promise never hurt him again.

  Ahh, the naiveté of a twelve year old’s mind.

  “Well, consider that request rescinded. Do what you need to do.”

  With that, Sebastian and I left the hotel room and drove back to the hospital, yet again in silence.

  And we sat, along with our loved ones, and waited.

  Chapter 25

  I wrote a song for you. It’s called I don’t like your face. I hope you like it.

  - Sawyer’s secret thoughts

  Sawyer

  I woke when something soft touched my face.

  I blinked my eyes open and realized I’d fallen asleep in the chair again.

  My neck hurt.

  I stretched, pushing my arms up over my head.

  They collided with something hard and I gasped, sitting up from my slumped position.

  And stared right into the eyes of my brother.

  The brother that wasn’t supposed to be here yet.

  Johnson was a sight for sore eyes.

  “Johnson,” I breathed, standing up and throwing myself into his arms.

  Johnson caught me and pulled me tightly into his chest, burying his face into my neck as he hugged me hard.

  “God, I’ve missed you so much!” I gasped as tears started to roll down my face. “How’d you get out so fast?”

  “Family emergency. Called my CO and told him what happened; he told me to take off early,” he told me. “I needed to meet this man that everybody keeps going on and on about.”

  I
gasped and turned to find Silas’s beaten face staring at me with his signature smile tilting up the corner of his mouth.

  “Silas,” I breathed, letting go of Johnson to rush to his side.

  Silas smiled at me, then his eyes flicked up to my brother.

  “Glad you made it home,” he said roughly.

  His voice sounded like he’d just gargled with gravel, so I immediately reached for my glass of water and brought it to him, bending the straw to his lips.

  He rolled his eyes at me, but nonetheless drank deeply until he hit the end of it.

  He’d been out for nearly a day and a half thanks to all the pain meds and antibiotics rolling through his system.

  No wonder he was thirsty.

  “Thank you,” he said. “You okay?”

  I smiled, placing my hand against his cheek.

  “I’m perfectly fine, thanks to you. You, on the other hand, aren’t so good,” I told him.

  He had eight broken ribs, a nearly punctured lung, and he was now spleen less.

  “What’s the verdict?” He asked.

  I sat down gently on the edge of the bed, aware of the way that Johnson scrutinized us, but stayed silent.

  “You had some internal bleeding. They had to remove your spleen. Your lung was nearly punctured; luckily, though, it wasn’t. You’ve got eight broken ribs, though. Which isn’t surprising considering you were beaten black and blue. Oh, and I’m pretty sure your nose is broken.”

  He grinned. “Do I still have all my teeth?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  He exhaled. “Well, at least that’s somethin’.”

  I nodded.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Little over twenty four hours,” I answered.

  He nodded.

  “How’re my kids?” He asked.

  I smiled down at Silas. “They’re all fine. Scared and worried about you, but fine.”

  He laughed, but then just as quickly grimaced. “I know that’s a lie.”

  I shook my head. “Really, they’ve been in and out of here for the last day and a half, Silas. Even Sam.”

  He took a deep breath and sighed.

  “All it took was me nearly dying to get them here,” he laughed humorlessly. He looked at the man at my side. “Which brother are you?”

  Johnson crossed his arms and smiled his usual smile.

  “The best one.”

  Silas laughed softly, aware of the pain, but not letting it stop him from showing his happiness.

  “This is Johnson. The smooth talker of the family. He’s the easiest of my brothers to get along with,” I informed my soon to be husband.

  Silas offered his hand to Johnson, and Johnson took it, not softening his grip at all to give Silas a pain-free handshake.

  No, Johnson gripped hard and shook away, and I could see Silas wince, but he let it happen.

  “Johnson,” I reprimanded my brother. “Go the fuck away and leave me alone for a minute.”

  Johnson grinned unrepentantly. “He’d have done the same to me had the positions been reversed.”

  Silas nodded. “Yeah, I would have.”

  I pushed my brother’s shoulder. “Go. Tell the brunette at the desk that he’s awake, will ya?”

  Johnson nodded. “Sure thing, sis.”

  I rolled my eyes as he left the room but there was no real annoyance behind it. I was so happy I could burst.

  Two more brothers home, and I’d be happier than I could remember being in years.

  “Now that he’s gone, you can go ahead and tell me all of it. What’s the rest that you haven’t told me,” Silas said the moment Johnson cleared the door.

  I looked at him, studying his face and body.

  “Your sons’ kicked the shit out of Shovel. And, um, three of the four guards that… well, you know… were also taken care of by the club. That Black Jack guy, though, he really came through,” I informed him.

  The man smiled.

  Widely.

  “Good,” he said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “Good.”

  “Mr. Mackenzie,” a nurse said, bustling into the room with a huge computer in front of her. “How are you doing?”

  I liked Silas’ nurse. She’d been his nurse the previous day, too.

  “I’m fine,” he said, not admitting to being in pain.

  “He hasn’t pressed his morphine pump yet, and I’m pretty sure he’s in pain,” I told her, knowing Silas would never admit to it.

  Berty, the nurse, nodded. “Got it. Mr. Mackenzie, this is a morphine pump. You can press it if the red light is lit.” She indicated by picking up a button Silas could hold in his hand and pressing it. The red light clicked off, and Silas’ glared. “Don’t worry. You can’t over-medicate yourself. It’ll only let you press it every fifteen minutes, understand?”

  Silas nodded. “Good. I have a few medications to give you, and I can take your catheter out if you’re interested.”

  Silas nodded again.

  “Excellent. Let’s take care of the catheter, first,” she said, pulling out some purple gloves and slipping them on. “Ma’am, if you could step…”

  “She’s not going anywhere,” Silas snapped.

  Berty winked at me. “Alright then, let’s do this.”

  I watched as, with able hands, she quickly and efficiently removed the catheter from Silas.

  I smiled down at my hands as I saw how uncomfortable it made him to have some woman holding his dick.

  “It’s not funny,” he mumbled once she was done.

  I lifted up laughing eyes to catch his angry gaze, and shrugged. “I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”

  “It doesn’t feel right to have anybody touching it but you,” he grumbled.

  Berty grinned, but didn’t look up from washing her hands.

  I moved forward until I could place my lips on his. “I love you.”

  He grinned. “Love you too, darlin’.”

  And even though he was still hurt and had some healing to do, I knew everything was going to be alright.

  Because Silas would make sure it was.

  He’d never stop fighting for me, and I would do the same for him.

  Because I loved him, and he loved me.

  It was just as simple as that.

  Epilogue

  Old dogs know more tricks than you think they do.

  - Silas to Sawyer

  Silas

  “I can’t believe you’re making me do this!” Sawyer grumbled under her breath as we made our way into the courthouse.

  I shrugged. “It needs to be done. You deserve it.”

  She sighed and stopped protesting, even though I could tell she was still just as pissed now as she had been earlier.

  I hired a lawyer to take care of Sawyer’s restitution case.

  The state had countered with an offer for $50,000. However, I still felt that wasn’t nearly enough.

  Especially considering how even after being released from prison six months ago, and with a full four months for the people in this town to absorb the knowledge that she’d been wrongfully charged, convicted and sentenced, everyone still looked at her differently. It broke my heart every single time I saw how it affected her and how she tried to bury and hide her hurt.

  It’d been four months since I’d had my ass kicked by Shovel, and I still felt like shit some days.

  It was harder to recover now from something like I’d been through than it had been for my younger body.

  Bouncing back the next day just didn’t happen for me anymore.

  But I had the help of a beautiful woman, who was happy and doing something she loved with her life – training dogs.

  She and Trance had teamed up after Trance saw how well she’d trained her puppy, and they were now well on their way to building a thriving business training dogs for people all over the Ark-La-Tex.

  “It’s not just for you
, you know. The government makes mistakes just like real people do. If they made a mistake with you, then they need to realize that it’s not okay. They can’t just placate you with fifty grand and call it even. You can’t really put a price on the years of your life that you’ve lost, but if you could, it certainly wouldn’t be a measly fifty grand,” I told her, once again telling her my feelings on the subject.

  She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  I knew she wanted it, though, just like I did. She was afraid.

  Afraid that she’d not get what she felt she deserved.

  Afraid that she would get even more attention for killing four people than she previously did.

  Afraid that she’d be humiliated by the court.

  All of those were very warranted concerns, but it didn’t change the fact that she needed to do this.

  “I’ll be right here,” I whispered. “Then afterwards we’re going to get drunk.”

  She turned to me and laughed.

  “We’re getting married tomorrow. You most certainly are not getting drunk the day before. I want you to look good for pictures,” she said, shaking her head.

  I winked at her. “Darlin’, I look good no matter what I do. Getting drunk the day before our wedding isn’t going to change that fact.”

  She snorted.

  “Whatever you say, Silas. I don’t think that you can hack it anymore, though. You did say that you were getting too old for this shit to me just this morning,” she teased.

  I stopped and turned her to face me.

  “That was because you wanted to have sex two minutes after I just came. What exactly did you expect me to do? I’m not fifteen anymore!” I laughed.

  She giggled, and I wanted to spank her.

  Alas, my damn cock-blocking, busybody bunch of children walked up at that precise moment.

  “Dad, seriously? You can’t say that stuff in a courthouse! Not to mention everything you just said echoed off the walls,” Shiloh said, color blooming in her cheeks.

  I grinned.

  “Is that right?” I asked, offering one arm to Sawyer and the other to Shiloh.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Shiloh grumbled.