by Carolina Mac
He picked up the guitar case and held it close to him. “Do you still want to sleep with me now that I’m not like… part of your mission?”
Annie smiled. “I’m having a beer. You sort yourself out.”
“I’ll take a shower.”
Annie finished her beer and changed into her nightshirt. She was propped up in bed watching the news when Dougie came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.
He’s a mess, but he’s not dead.
He dropped the towel on the carpet on his side of the bed and slipped between the sheets. “I’ll help you take Langois out.”
If I believed for a second, you’d give up your club that easily, I would have been dead years ago.
Annie turned the TV off.
CHAPTER TEN
Wednesday, January 28th.
Riverwalk Hotel San Antonio.
DOUGIE woke early, glanced around the room to get his bearings and remembered where he was. How could he forget with this amazing woman beside him? He’d known her less than a week and he was in deep. He’d never been in love before, but he knew he was there now. No doubt about it.
She had his heart and his soul, and he wanted to give her his trust, but that would come later when he felt safer and he was on solid ground somewhere far away from here.
Annie opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Getting up already?”
He rolled over and took her in his arms. “Might be a bit early.”
“Way too early.”
BLAINE and Farrell were up and dressed in their room down the hall. A breakfast tray had been delivered and Blaine was on his third cup of caffeine.
“You buying into Dougie, the nice guy changing sides act?” asked Farrell.
“Not for a fuckin second. You?”
“Not me, and I hope Mom knows what she’s doing.”
“She can read bikers like nobody before or since.”
“Hope you’re right. I don’t want her getting hurt.”
Blaine nodded and made a call. “Greg, you and Fletch stay on the clubhouse. I need to know where Langois is, so Annie can get in position. Andy and Rick were successful in getting a tag into his house out in the sticks. That would be the ideal place to take him out. No neighbors around.”
“I’ve got a local precinct doing a patrol on the Dog’s condo, in case they try to burn it down again. It’s a rental. He don’t own it, but that won’t matter to those fuckers.”
ANNIE ordered breakfast while Dougie was in the shower. He was like a stick of dynamite in bed. Something she’d been missing for a long time. Jesse didn’t have the energy or the stamina because of his heart and she didn’t love him any less because of it. It was just fun to have some wild sex for a change—even for the short term. She wondered about the guitar, but there had been no time to get into it.
“Got anything for me, Greg?”
“Nobody here yet, but the boss said Rick has the house tagged. Boss thinks the house might be the best place to take him out.”
“Okay, I’ll take a drive out there today and look for a spot.”
“A spot for what?” Dougie walked naked out of the ensuite toweling off his mop of hair.
“Good spot for me to take Langois out.”
“Jesus. You say that out loud?”
Annie giggled. “Coffee’s here. Let’s have some breakfast.”
Dougie pulled a pair of boxes out of his duffel and stepped into them. “I didn’t think sex could get any better than our fist time, but again I was wrong.” He shook his damp hair. “I’ve been wrong a lot lately.”
“You’re more relaxed this morning.” Annie walked from the bedroom to the living room area and Dougie followed. She picked up the carafe and filled a cup for him.
“Relaxed,” Dougie chuckled. “I’m almost limp.”
“I don’t know what you like to eat.” Annie lifted the lids and looked at what the kitchen had sent. “You said you never eat breakfast. I ordered scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages.”
“Anything is fine. I am hungry. I used a lot of calories between night and morning.”
The door of the suite opened, and Blaine let himself in with the extra key card. “Hey, Mom, Dougie.” He strode across the room, chains on his Harley boots clanking and black hair flying. “I’ve got men on Langois’ house and on the clubhouse. I got extra manpower from the city and put those boys on Dougie’s condo, so the fuckers didn’t burn it to the ground. I’m waiting on info, so I can set something up.”
“Want coffee, sugar pop?” asked Annie.
“Maybe one cup. I’ve had three already and I’m pretty wired. But I’ve got to get this wrapped and get back to Austin, I’m in the middle of something.” His cell rang, and he looked at the screen and held it up, so Annie could see the black cat. “And here it is now.” He gave a little laugh.
“Hey, Cat, are you at the office?” Blaine gave a wave, left Annie’s suite and went back to his own room.
Annie giggled and scooped eggs onto her plate.
“Who’s the black cat. His girlfriend?”
“No, Cat Campbell. The new Governor of Texas.”
“Fuck, I’m in the wrong circle.”
Annie patted his hand. “No, you’re not. You’re with me.”
“Where do you live if you don’t live in San Antonio?”
“Not far. About an hour from here on my ranch. I raise horses.”
“Horses and antiques?”
“Appaloosas. That’s right. Both.”
“You must be busy.”
“I am busy. I have a couple of other businesses too that keep me out of trouble.”
“I don’t know anything about making a living outside of a club and I’m thirty-eight years old.”
“You have a guitar. Can you sing?”
“A little and I’ve written a few songs. Garbage, mostly. Sure, as hell wouldn’t feed me or keep a roof over my head.”
“Can you fix a bike?”
“Not bad, yeah.”
“You’d make a dandy bodyguard.” She reached over and touched his huge biceps.
“Guess so, yeah.”
“I might need to replace Jack.”
“Why?”
“He belongs on Blaine’s team and I just borrow him. I haven’t replaced my own bodyguard since Winger died.”
Dougie stood up and retrieved his leather jacket from the back of a chair. He took the gift-wrapped package out of the pocket and gave it to Annie. “I got you something before we had our fight at Lone Star.”
Annie smiled. “That was sweet. I’m glad we made up.”
“Jesus, so am I.”
Annie stared at it for a moment, then carefully took the paper off. When she lifted it out of the box, tears welled up in her eyes. “I love it. Thank you.” She held out her arm and Dougie fastened it for her.
A Sabo charm bracelet with one charm—a bulldog.
Annie slid over onto Dougie’s knee when he sat down and kissed him. “Such a sweet present. Thank you.”
“I love you, Annie. I’ve never said that to a single woman in my whole life.”
Annie buried her face in Dougie’s tattooed neck and cried.
So hard to kill them when they get attached.
WHAT did Cat want?” asked Farrell.
“She’s holding a big meeting on crime in the state and wanted to know if I had time to talk.”
“When is it?” Farrell checked the calendar on his phone.
“Friday, the twelfth.”
“We might be done by then.”
“I’ll have Lil and Hammer get some stats together in case I can make it.”
“Why didn’t we bring Hammer down here when we needed manpower so goddam bad?”
“He’s better somewhere he can complain, and I can’t hear him,” said Blaine. “He gets on my fuckin nerves.”
Farrell snorted. “He’s a bit of a whiner.”
“A bit?”
“What do you make of Mom and the Dog? I know
that’s how she does her job, but I worry what Jesse is gonna think of it if he finds out.”
Blaine shrugged. “She’s working, Farrell. I don’t think you need to worry. It will be over and done. Besides, Jesse left her and moved back to Quantrall. She’s been depressed ever since he left.”
“Might be temporary,” said Farrell.
“Will be, I’m sure of it.” Blaine’s cell jangled, and it was Kramer. “Special Agent Kramer. Were your bosses pleased with your bust?”
“Ecstatic, Ranger Blackmore. Can’t thank you and your team enough. Got a lot of baddies off the street too.”
“Glad I could help, sir.”
“Thanks again. Hope we get to work together in the future.”
Me, not so much.
WHAT’S TODAY?” asked Dougie.
“Wednesday,” said Annie.
“I thought of something that might help your cause, girl.”
“What?” Annie was concentrating on removing her nail polish.
“On Wednesday nights, we have church, then Langois and some of the guys play pool at Sharkey’s. It’s on the way out of town on eighty-seven.”
“Thanks. I’ll go check it out.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No.” Annie shook the black mop of hair. “You stay here until I’m done with him.”
“Even with Paul gone, there will still be my old club out there wanting me dead,” said Dougie. “They never give up.”
“I know the feeling,” mumbled Annie.
“That why you have a bodyguard? The real reason? You got people out there who want to even the score?”
“Something like that.”
Dougie smiled. “Tell me.”
“About seven years ago, there was bad blood between the Regulators and the Chrome Dogs in Toronto. Things happened. Both sides got nasty and it ended up being a war fought in Panama and all the way north through Central America.”
“Everybody knows about that war,” said Dougie. “A lot of Chrome Dogs died in that war. The Regulators won. Hands down.”
“That’s right.”
“Don’t tell me you were there?”
“I was there. The Dogs shot George and I hired four Diamantes out of the David City club for backup. We fought our way to Arizona, and I took George home to my house in Vegas.”
“How many Dogs did you cap?”
Annie shrugged. “Don’t remember.”
“Must have been more than a few if they’re still after you seven fuckin years later.”
“Must have been.”
“Never heard of a club having a girl shooter.”
“Something new every day, isn’t there?”
Dougie smiled.
“What time does the great one break?”
“About eleven.”
“I’ll have time to get my nails done when we get back.”
BLAINE and Farrell arrived five minutes later. “Thanks for the tip, Dougie. Appreciate it.” Blaine offered the big Dog his hand. “Let’s go check it out.” He grinned. “Mom loves to be in a tree.”
Can’t wait to see what kind of bullshit trick this is going to be.
“Jeeze, this is a nice truck,” said Dougie. He and Annie were sitting in the back seat, Farrell riding shotgun beside Blaine.
“Thanks. I put a lot of after market stuff on it. Bought the roll bars with a bonus I got one time from a client.”
“You got a bonus that big?”
“Yeah, it was generous.”
Dougie gave directions to the pool hall and bar combo.
He better not be setting Annie up or he’s a dead man.
It took a good half hour to get out of the city, then another five minutes after that and they were there. Blaine parked in the lot and turned off the engine.
“You mind staying in the truck, Dougie? I don’t want anybody to make you.”
“Sure, okay.”
Is he too cooperative?
Dougie stayed in the back seat of the truck while they walked around. “Not many trees. A building right behind.” He turned to Annie. “See anything you like?”
Annie giggled. “Think he’s gone by now?”
“Let’s go see,” said Blaine. They circled around the building and when they came back to the truck, Dougie the Dog was long gone.
“He wanted to be way out here for a reason,” said Farrell.
“Shit,” said Blaine with a chuckle. “And I wanted to like him too.”
“I tagged his phone,” said Annie. “Stay put for a few minutes and we’ll see where the hell he’s in such a hurry to get to.”
Blaine grinned. “My Mom’s a genius.”
“No, you’re the genius.”
“Got anything yet?” Blaine asked Farrell.
“Yep, he’s about four blocks away. Okay let’s see where he is and then we’ll know what he’s up to.”
Blaine drove slowly with Farrell giving him directions.
“Okay, he stopped. He’s there.”
“Where’s there?”
Farrell pointed. “He’s in that cinderblock building next to that autobody shop.”
“Clubhouse, I bet,” said Blaine. “Let me check where the B team is residing in San Antone. Our smiling Dougie could be playing both sides against the middle.”
“Fuck that,” said Annie.
“You disappointed, Mom?” asked Farrell.
“I liked him a bit, but he’s a born liar like all the rest of them.” Annie had her rifle in her hand. She tightened the scope and chambered a round. “I’m in the mood for a drive-by.”
Farrell noticed the bracelet on her right wrist. “Haven’t seen that before.” He pointed. “That must be from the Dog.”
“A gift from the Dog this morning. Don’t worry, I already took the chip out of it.” Annie giggled. “He doesn’t want to lose track of me.”
“Fuck, Mom. Don’t take him so lightly. Dougie the Dog has a rep.”
“How many bikes are parked in the lot?”
“Three.”
“Let me out.”
“No,” said Blaine. “I’m not letting you out just because you’re pissed at him. We’ll wait until we get a lot bigger crowd than just him. The man wants the Rule out of business—permanently.”
“Somebody coming out now,” said Farrell. “Speed up so they don’t see the truck.”
“Dougie and Langois,” said Annie. “What the hell?”
The Rule Clubhouse. San Antonio.
THE MEETING of the Rule was called to order at nine thirty. Surveillance was still in place because Blaine had instructed that one tag be detectable with a sweeper and two not so. He figured the pres would be a lot more relaxed once they found the bug that Dougie the Dog would blab to them about. Same with Langois’ house, one tag would still be functional if they needed to listen in. Might not need Langois’ house if they got the info they needed from the meeting.
Blaine had joined Greg in the unit to let Fletch have some down time with Farrell. Greg put the sound on speaker after Langois banged the gavel down.
“If you ain’t blind, you can see that the Dog is back with us. He was on an undercover op, and getting his brains fucked out at the same time—or so he said.”
Lots of laughter. Blaine was on his feet and pacing in the truck. “I’ll kill them all,” he mumbled.
“The Dog was getting information on where in the fucking hell our guns and money were. And now we know, don’t we Dougie?”
“Our product is in the ATF warehouse in Houston and we’re gonna take all of it back.”
A lot of hollering and banging on the table.
“Shut up and listen.”
“The Cartel is super pissed they didn’t get paid for the guns and they want their money by Monday. We have to get the guns back, deliver them and have the money in hand by Monday or we’re all dead.”
“But if we steal the money back too, we won’t have to worry how fast we sell the guns, right?”
“The guns we can
get back. The money might be in some evidence locker somewhere else. We can hope it’s sitting there in the warehouse where the guns are, but it won’t be.”
“So, if we do get the guns back and get them sold in time, we’ll only break even on this round? Am I reading you right, boss?”
“If we don’t take the guns back, we have no chance of raising the money by Monday and the Cartel will eliminate us. We’ll make some profit. But most of the cash from the last shipment we sold, is history.”
“I want every member we can round up on their rides and ready to go at midnight. We should get to the warehouse around two-thirty and there will only be a couple of night guards on duty.”
“What if the crates are out of the trucks?”
“Then we’ll put them back in, asshole.”
“You believe that shit, boss?” asked Greg.
“Hard to believe they’d be so fuckin stupid, but yes, I believe it. Call everybody to the hotel and I want every last man wearing a vest.”
Riverwalk Hotel. San Antonio.
BLAINE called Travis and woke him up. “The Rule are going to attack the ATF warehouse in Houston between two-thirty and three a.m. We’re leaving from San Antone shortly. I want to be behind them and squeeze the fuckers between us and the ATF.”
“Okay, I’m awake now,” said Travis. “What do you want us to do?”
“Vests, Blackouts, shotguns, if you and Hammer want in. Leave now.”
“I’m up.”
Blaine ended his call to Travis and went on to the next. “Kramer, sorry to wake you. Blaine Blackmore. The Rule are coming for the guns tonight. They should hit the warehouse any time after two. Stay out of sight and let them come in, then take them. I’ll be behind them, so they can’t run. We’ll wipe them out.”
“I hear what you’re saying, Blackmore, and I’m trying to process the information. I’ll call my boss and see what he says. I hope I can be ready.”
Blaine pressed end. “No hoping, asshole. You be ready.” He kicked the leg of the table closest to him with his Harley boot and heard it crack. “Fucking Agencies shitting red tape out their arseholes.”
ANNIE was more pissed off than Blaine had ever seen her. She was in the bedroom of her suite firing clothes into a suitcase and drinking beer at the same time. “I’ve never had a failed mission before, I won’t have one this time. I have to get Langois before he leaves for Houston.”
