BENT AT THE ALTAR

by Claire St. Rose

  “Tony Daniels?” she squawked, cutting him off.

  “Yeah. Do you know him?”

  She was quiet for a long time. “We need to talk. Tonight. Call me when you get in the parking lot and I’ll unlock the door.”

  “Stella? What’s going on?”

  “I’ll explain it all when you get here.”

  ***

  Gabriel pulled to a stop in the parking lot of Stella’s apartment complex and switched off the Suburban. He sat for a moment then scrubbed his face with both hands, trying to get the blood flowing and to wake himself up. He picked up his phone and dialed her number.

  “I’ll unlock the door. Just come in,” she said after several rings, her voice thick and slow.

  He trudged up the steps, rapped once softly on the door, then push it open. She was standing in the family room dressed in a long light blue sleep shirt, and though there was nothing particularly sexy about it, he still wanted to take her to bed and hold her.

  He silently closed the door then took her into his arms. “I’m here.” She returned his hug a moment then pulled out of his embrace. “Now, what’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Tony. He stopped by last night a little after midnight. When he arrived, I thought he’d forgot what day it was, but he wanted me to go away with him. He said—”

  “Wait,” he interrupted. “Back up a minute. What are you talking about?”

  She sighed and moved to the couch where she sat, waiting until he did the same. “Tony and I were lovers. It was kind of a friends with benefits thing. Anyway, he stopped by last night and asked me to run away with him. He said he’d come into a lot of money and he was making changes in his life.”

  Gabriel was still reeling from the fact Tony was sleeping with Stella. “How long has this been going on, and were you going to tell me?”

  “Almost two years, and no I wasn’t going to tell you, not unless you want to trade stories about all the lovers we’ve taken since you abandoned me. I ended it last night and told him I couldn’t go with him. And before you get all pissed off, I haven’t slept with him since you and I…” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged. “You surely didn’t think I spent the last four years pining for you, waiting for you, did you?”

  He stared into her eyes a moment then shook it off. “No. I’m sorry. You’re right. I knew you were sleeping with someone because of the condoms. It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Did he say where he was going?”

  “No, not that I remember. What I do remember was how excited he was. He said he’d come into money. I had no idea that he’d stolen it from you.”

  “Not me directly, but the club.”

  “How much?”

  “About a hundred grand. That was our seed money to get the club up and operating. We have to get it back.”

  She nodded. “That’s a lot, but the way Tony was talking, I thought it was millions. He tried to bribe me into going by telling me he would open a bakery for me.”

  “Why did he want you to go with him?”

  She smiled and looked at her feet. “He said he loved me.” She looked back up and met his eyes and gave him a ghost of a smile. “I loved you, but you leave me, then four years later, I have two men who say they are in love with me.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “No.”

  He wanted to ask the obvious question, but couldn’t bring himself to, so he stuck to the business at hand. “Does Tony have any family around?”

  “I don’t know. He and I weren’t close. The only thing we shared was my bed.”

  Gabriel heaved a large sigh. “Okay, in the morning, will you call him?”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll be honest with you. I want you to set him up. I want you to pretend you changed your mind and you want to meet him. Find out where he is, or having him come back here, something like that. Are you willing to do that?”

  She stared at him and swallowed hard. “If you catch him?”

  “ When we catch him, we’ll get our money back. How hard he wants to make it is up to him. But you have my word we won’t kill him. We’re not that kind of club and we don’t want that kind of heat.”

  “What will you do?”

  “If he rolls over right away…” Gabriel shrugged. “Probably kick the shit out of him as a reminder that stealing is wrong. If he wants to play the tough guy, he’ll end up in the hospital with some broken bones and he’ll be hurting for a long time. But make no mistake, we will, eventually, find him. It’s what I do. And the longer it takes us, the worse it will be for him.”

  “And if I choose not to help?”

  He sighed. “This has nothing to do with you, not directly anyway. I’ll just be gone longer while I track him down.” He looked at her then took her face in his hands. “Hey, I love you, okay? Nothing will change that. I want your help, and it will make it go easier on Tony if we catch him sooner rather than later, but if you don’t want to, I understand. It won’t change anything between us.” He pulled her to him and gave her a gentle kiss to reinforce his words.

  “What if he comes for me for setting him up?”

  “If he hurts you or Katrina, I’ll kill him myself. Do you think he would do that?”

  Her eyes opened wide. She’d never seen Gabriel so hard and she had no doubt he was capable of carrying out his threat. “No, I don’t think so.”

  He nodded. “He didn’t strike me as that stupid either.”

  She licked her lips, her stomach churning. “When do you want me to call him? Now?”

  “No. In the morning, before work.”

  She paused as she thought about it. “Okay. I’ll do it. But you promise to not hurt him?”

  “I can’t promise you that,” he said. “He stole from us. He has to answer for it.”

  “But you won’t torture him or something, right?”

  “Not unless he makes us.” He could see he was losing her. “Stella,” he said softly. “You have my word we’ll use the minimum amount of force necessary. That’s why you can help us. If we find him in the next day or so, and he gives us back the money, we’ll kick his ass and leave it at that. He’ll be sore for a few days, but he’ll recover.” He paused again. “I’ll make it part of the deal with the club. I’ll find him, but we’ll go light on him if he rolls over. Okay?”

  “And if he doesn’t ‘roll over’?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “That wouldn’t be in his best interest, but we won’t kill him. You have my word on that. You have to trust me.”

  She swallowed hard then nodded. “I’ll do it.”

  He smiled and kissed her again. “Good girl. That’s the right decision. I’ll make sure the club knows the price of your help.”

  She smiled slightly. “Now that you’re here, can you stay? I need you to hold me.”

  He smiled then rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. “Yes. Go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute. I need to send Doc a text.”

  She nodded then left him alone as he typed away on his phone. After sending his message, letting Doc know he had a lead and he would see him later in the morning, he retired to her bedroom. After undressing he crawled into bed with a long sigh. He pulled her into a comfortable spoon and sighed deeply again as she snuggled in, her arms going around his.

  He kissed her on the shoulder, and she sighed, making him smile. He could feel sleep tugging hard at him and he realized if he was going to keep doing this, he needed to bring at least a toothbrush and a razor. As he held her, he tried to think of all the things that could go wrong with Stella’s phone call, but didn’t get very far before the darkness of sleep took him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Stella dialed Tony’s number, then placed the phone on speaker. They’d just dropped Katrina off and were sitting in Gabriel’s SUV in the parking lot of her apartment complex. She looked at him as the phone rang, thinking he wasn’t going to answer.

  “What do you want?” Tony said, his voice hard.

  Gabriel nodded and she launched into her sp
iel. “I called to say I was sorry. I’ve been thinking about what you said Monday night.”

  There was a long pause. “And?”

  “I was wondering if we could get together to talk about it.”

  “I think you made your feelings pretty clear Monday.”

  “Cut me some slack, Tony,” she flared. “You pull me out of a sound sleep by banging on my door in the middle of the night, then demand I run away with you right then and there. How did you think I would react? But I’ve been thinking about what you said.”

  There was another long pause. “Okay, I guess I can see that. Sorry. I was excited, that’s all.”

  “So can we meet?”

  “I’m out of town at the moment.”

  Gabriel smiled and made keep going gestures. “You are? Where are you?”

  “Greensboro.”

  “North Carolina?”

  “That’s right. I told you I was making changes in my life.”

  Stella looked up as Gabriel held a piece of paper up for her to read. Ask about money. “You said you inherited some money?”

  “That’s right.”

  “A lot?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  She could hear the suspicion in his voice. “Because, Tony, I have Katrina to worry about. I have a good job, but if I quit, and you don’t have a job, how will we live? I can’t take that chance until I’m sure we can make it. Are you working?”

  “No, not yet. I haven’t decided what I want to do. But there will be plenty. I don’t know yet how much I’m inheriting, but maybe as much as a million.”

  She looked at Gabriel as he shook his head. “But you don’t have it yet?”

  “No, I’ve got it. I just need to, uh, wait for the paperwork to go through. Don’t worry about the money. Once we get settled, we can open a little bakery, just like you’ve always wanted. Wouldn’t you like that?”

  She smiled, despite herself. “Yes I would. But until it gets on its feet, how will we live?”

  “You let me worry about that! Stella, I’ll take care of you, I promise! I won’t treat you like Gabriel did. I’m better than him. Can you meet me in Greensboro?”

  Gabriel nodded his head, mouthing tomorrow.

  “I think so. I have to make arrangements for Katrina. Can we do it tomorrow? Where?”

  “That’ll be great! You won’t be sorry! Uh, let me think. I know! Come up on I-85 toward Raleigh. There’s a Lowes Home Improvement right on the interstate. It’s easy to see. It’s on Elm, or Elmsley, or something like that. I’ll text you the exit number. We can meet there, in the parking lot.”

  “Okay. But this is just to talk about it, understand? I’m leaving Katrina, so no matter what, I have to come home.”

  “That’s okay! I understand! I’m not going to try to kidnap you or anything. I just want a chance to talk to you, when you’re wide awake this time.”

  She forced a small giggle. “Okay, so long as we’re clear. Were you planning on us living in Greensboro?”

  “No, not necessarily. We can go anywhere you like. I just stopped here to look around.”

  “Okay. Text me the exit number and I’ll drive up in the morning. How far is it to Greensboro from here?”

  “About three hours.”

  “Ugh. Meet about one, then? You can buy me lunch.”

  “Deal! I’ll go get the exit number right now, and the address of the Lowes.”

  “Thanks,” she said softly. “I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

  “Me too, Stella, me too.”

  “See you tomorrow,” she said softly before ending the call.

  As soon as he was sure the call was ended he pulled her into a long kiss. “Meryl Steep, eat your heart out! That was fantastic! You have him hook, line and sinker. If you ever decide to give up the baking business, I can use you. You’re a natural!”

  She smiled wanly. “Yeah, great.”

  He smiled at her as he touched her face. “You’re doing the right thing.”

  “Why do I feel like shit, then?”

  “You shouldn’t.”

  “Well, I do.”

  “You’re saving him a whole lot of hurt. My crew will pick him up tomorrow, and I’ll make sure he knows the stomping he we give him would have been a lot worse if you hadn’t intervened on his behalf. If he’s smart, he’ll call and thank you.”

  She nodded and opened the door. “I have to go to work.”

  “Hey!” he said, taking her by the arm. “You’ve done the right thing. I’ll pass the word what your help cost, okay?”

  She nodded and said nothing as she stepped out of the truck. He watched her as she walked to her car, her head hanging low in dejection. Tony was going to get his ass kicked, there was no way to avoid that, but if he would roll tomorrow and give up the safe, he would let his guys deal out the beat down so Scratch and Jaunt were kept out of it. Those two tended to enjoy their work a little too much.

  ***

  “How the fuck did you get this set up so fast?” Doc asked after Royal laid out his plan to intercept Tony.

  “We have an Ace in the hole,” he said with a grin. “Stella knows him. He all but admitted he’d stole the safe and he wanted her to run away with him. This morning I had her call him and set up the meet, but we’ll be there instead of her.”

  Hammer shook his head. “You’re one slick bastard, I’ll give you that.”

  “You’re sure you don’t want some more muscle, just in case?” Doc asked.

  Royal shook his head. “No. My team can handle it. He knows us, so adding more faces he’ll recognize only increases the chances of being spotted.”

  “Okay. This is your game.”

  Royal nodded. “Don’t worry. This will be one of the easiest bags we’ll ever do. We know where he’s going to be, and when he’s going to be there.”

  “When are you leaving?”

  “As soon as Goon gets here.”

  Doc nodded. Each of the members of the club had civilian jobs. Goon worked at Auto Plus behind the parts counter. When he found out they were opening a chapter in Greenfield, and Royal was transferring, he simply put in to be transferred to a Greenfield store, and had hit the ground running. Royal had his bond runner gig, but the rest of the club, and their old ladies, were still casting about looking for work, but that was a small price to pay to be in on the ground floor of a new chapter.

  “Do you need anything else?”

  “No. I still have the expense money from the Bass job and that should cover us. I’ll wave my recovery fee, but I want my guys paid out of the club budget.”

  “Royal! No! I’ll do it for the club.” Hammer objected.

  “Same here,” Blade agreed.

  Royal shook his head, knowing the men were living on their savings until they could find regular employment. “If you do the work, you should get paid.”

  Doc nodded, instantly grasping what Royal was doing. “Agreed,” he said firmly, but then looked at Hammer and Blade. “If you want to make an investment in club later, that’s your choice, but Royal’s right. This is club business and it’s no different than getting paid for muscle.”

  Hammer and Blade looked at each other. Muscle worked a bit differently than the bond recovery side. Each member who worked muscle got an equal cut after the club took its half, but the jobs often paid far less than the recovery jobs, and members sometimes only made only fifty or sixty bucks a day.

  Zorro, the other bond runner for the club, usually worked alone, or took whoever was available if he needed help, but Royal worked differently. He had his regular team who he took out on every job, and they were all he worked with. While Goon, Blade and Hammer could, and often did, take muscle jobs, Royal wouldn’t take anybody other than his own team when he was running a fugitive to ground. If a member wasn’t available, he went out short. He was intensely loyal to his men, and his men to him, and all had followed him to Greenfield so they could continue to work with him. He took care of them, treated them as equals, pai
d them well for their work, and made sure he was always the first one in harm’s way.

  When building his team, he’d cycled through most of the men of the club, looking for the right combination of skills and attitude. His refusal to work with anyone other than his hand-picked men had caused a lot of friction at first, but the club couldn’t argue with his success, or the fact he’d never had the legitimacy of one of his collar’s questioned. After a while, they’d stopped questioning it, and let him run his recoveries as he saw fit. As a result, he’d become the most effective bond runner in South Carolina, if not the entire Southeast.