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Tires whistles, “Looks great, man! Old man Jensen won’t be here until tomorrow. I’ve all the parts ordered that we need, and the paints. We’ve nothing else to do today. Whatta’ ya say we go get us a beer while we wait on the girls to get back. We can grab Loki, order some pizzas. Maybe watch a movie.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” We close the shop and head back to the clubhouse. We pull in and head inside, finding Loki at the bar.

“Hey, man, how’s it hanging? We’re going to order some pizzas, hang out with the girls in the movie room or game room. You in?”

He grins, “Yeah, just let me get another beer. You guys want one?” We both nod. We all go into the common area. Sitting at the table, we’re just talking shit when I get a text. Looking at my phone, it’s Bacon.

Coming in hot, someone following us. Pulling up to door.

“Tires, Loki, we got trouble. We need to get to the door.” Bacon says that they’re being followed and coming in hot. “Cruz!We’ve trouble coming. Need to get out front to get the girls.” Cruz and Stone come running, along with Grange. We all get to the door as Saige is pulling up to it. Sloane and Bexley jump out of the back from the same side and run to us. Tires ushers them inside while the rest of us remain alert, unsure where the danger is coming from. As Bacon gets out of the same door as Saige and starts ushering her in, a shot rings out. Bacon pushes Saige to the ground and covers her with his body.

Stone and Cruz run over to the front of the truck and start looking for the target. The guys that had been with the girls today start going for cover as more shots are fired. We can’t really tell where they are coming from until we hear and feel a huge explosion. Looking towards the gate, there’s a carjust inside of it. The sound of a couple of bikes starting and taking off can be heard. They were in the tree line near the gate in order for us not to see them. I run to Bacon and Saige, afraid of what I might find. My heart is in my throat. “Saige! Bacon! Are you two alright?” He’s getting up, helping her to sit up.

Bacon grimaces, “Yeah, we’re good. I’m sorry, Cotton. I should’ve noticed the tail sooner. Saige and I both could feel eyes on us at the mall when we were leaving but couldn’t see anyone. Saige, are you okay?”

She looks up at us and nods her head. “Yes. Oh my God! Bacon, you’re bleeding!” Saige gets up and goes to look at his arm. I’m looking too. It’s a complete through and through which is good.

“Stone, we need to get Doc, Wolfe, or Hawke to look at Bacon’s arm and stitch it up. Anyone else hurt?”

Stone looks over at Bacon’s arm, “Not that we can see. Cruz, Grange, and a couple of prospects are going over to get the car fire put out. See if anyone is still around. I already called Commander Thomas, they are on the way over. I need y’all to get Saige inside. Please. Baby girl, I will be inside in a minute.”

Once inside, I pull Saige to me and hug her tight. I didn’t realize how hard I was squeezing her until shepushes against my chest. I look down into her eyes and kiss her with everything I feel for her behind it.

“Wow! Finn, I’m okay. Thanks to Bacon.” I look into her eyes and nod. She lays her head on my chest for a second before pulling back, and says, “I think that man has earned his patch, finally.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll talk to Stone, but I think everyone can agree with that. I need to kiss you again.’’ I take her mouth with mine, and she opens for me right away, our tongues dancing. I kiss her hard. We only pull apart to breathe.

“Mmmhmm. Can I hug my daughter? Then we need to get into church. Now.” Stone hugs Saige as he yells out for everyone to get to the table now. Saige grabs my hand and we follow Stone. Once inside at the table with her seated beside me, I finally start to calm some. What the hell would I have done if anything happened to my girl? Seats fill up fast as everyone hurries inside the room. Tech is coming in and going straight to the tv to hook up his laptop so we can all see what he found.

Stone hits the gavel to the table. “Y’all heard what happened outside. Now, we’re going to find out who and why. Then we’re going to get this taken care of once and for all. Grange and Cruz are taking care of a couple of folks with Doc, Wolfe, and Hawke. I’ll catch them up ina bit. Tech, could you see anything on the surveillance, who they were, where they went?”

Tech pulls up the feed and we all watch the tv. The guy that was aiming for Saige was someone we all knew, and the car that he is shooting from is the one that they blew up. He runs over to a bike and jumps on. Dayna is right behind him. He was a little punk that had prospected for us and was turned away, he couldn’t follow the rules, was crude to all the girls and women. His name was Matt something. He’s the one that left Saige at the bakery the night she was taken. He also screwed around with Dayna a lot. I’m so pissed at seeing Dayna on the back of that bike, knowing that she caused this.

“Stone, I want them both put to ground!” Loki and Tires agree by pounding the table.

“Boys, y’all know we don’t hurt women. The other pissants I’ve no problem with that.”

Saige straightens up beside me. “You may not hurt women, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t hurt her. I agree that she needs to be put to ground. What if they try something else, and someone gets killed because of her and her obsession with Cotton? I want her, and I’ll take care of her.”

“Saige…”

“No!I’ll do it, and not think anything about it later. I had to do it before, remember? When we had to go undercover, and I worked that strip club with Lynch. I shot that girl that was aiming a gun at his head ready to kill him. I’ll be fine.” Stone sighs then finally nods his okay. I grab her hand and give it a squeeze. We may be the good guys, try to stay within the law, but when someone messes with us like this, we take care of it however we see fit.

Stone sighs, “Okay, let’s get a few folks out and helping Thomas find these two. If he finds them, he’s bringing them here. Anything else?”

Saige looks at her dad then the guys at the table, “Yes, I think it’s high time that Bacon got his patch. He has proven himself many times, and he went and took a bullet meant for me, he protected me.”

Stone smiles at her, then looks to us all. “Does anyone second this?”

I second it along with Tires at the same time. “Everyone in agreement?” Fists pound the table all the way around. “It’s done. Saige, you get to give him his patch. But mess with him a little first.”

Twenty-Seven

Saige

“Hey,Butterfly, we ordered pizza and we’re going to have a night in with you girls. Want to go in the movie room?”

I lean into Cotton, “Yes, that sounds good. Let’s go give Bacon his patch, then we can get them and go.” He leans down, kisses me really quick before we go look for Bacon. We find him sitting in the bar with Doc, Wolfe, Hawke, Bear, Grange, and the other prospect that had helped. “Bacon, we need to talk.” He puts his beer down and looks up at me from his seat. “I have some news for you, and I was told I had to be the one to tell you, since you are my guard. Um, I’m not sure how you are going to take this. But… um….”