Page 47 of Dozer (Rolling Thunder MC #14)
Chapter 47
Daisy
My parents were seated side-by-side at a table set for six people. I sat in front of my dad, which put Dozer in front of my mom. Zeke sat beside me, and the other attorney pulled a chair to the side and sat so he was on the end, facing everyone, kind of.
A spread of appetizers was on the table, including a plate of fried pickles, which I happen to love , but I didn’t pull any to the small plate in front of me. Everyone had a glass of ice water, and I assumed they’d told the wait staff to stay away unless someone came to get them.
I found it interesting no one mentioned frisking Gen, and that they let her through without so much as looking her way, but once we were past the screen, my mother looked to Gen, then to me, and said, “The woman with the camera needs to leave.”
“I’m sorry I spoiled your plans and made it so it would be hard to kidnap me.”
“The wedding video was enough,” my mother said. “The one posted two hours later wasn’t at all necessary.”
“At least I didn’t say my parents are the ones threatening me.”
“We’ve done no such thing,” my father said.
Dozer put his hand on my shoulder, and I closed my mouth before I argued with him. I was right, but we were here to smooth the way forward. Master was right to silence me.
“Senator Chanel, Mr. Hearst,” Master told them, “Genesis can certainly step outside, if that makes you feel better. Daisy and I have nothing to hide, but if you do, we can offer you some privacy, certainly.”
“My personal life isn’t open to the public,” my mother said, “so yes, we’d like some privacy for the first time we’ve spoken with our daughter in over a year.”
Dozer nodded to Gen, and she stepped outside the divider, but I knew Dozer had a button cam on him recording the whole thing. Tennessee law is the same as New York — only one person involved in the conversation has to know about it in order for it to be legally recorded.
“Let’s not rehash what’s brought us here,” Dozer told them. “What can we do to move forward?”
“Annulling the marriage will be the first step,” my dad said.
“Not an option. I’m in love with your daughter, and she tells me she feels the same.”
It was at this moment Brain showed up, sliding around the corner, and he grabbed a chair from a different table and moved it so he was sitting on the other end, between my mom and Dozer. He was in a suit as well, complete with a tie, and he looked even more professional than my dad. It’s hard to outdress my dad, but damn if Brain didn’t manage it.
“I don’t talk to my folks very often, but my brother and I have formed something of a relationship in recent years,” Brain said as he sat and leaned back in the chair. “The two of you are on a committee together, yes?” he asked my mom. “He says you’re also working with him on a bill you intend to put forth soon.”
Mom looked at Brain, then Dozer, back to Brain, and finally to me. “It looks like you’ve learned more from us than we realized.”
“I’m not looking for power, Mom. You forced my hand, so my only option was to show you I can’t be so easily pushed around.” I know how to appeal to my mom, so I hurriedly said, “How’s this — I can go on social media tomorrow and say I’ve been estranged from my parents, but when they found out I was having trouble relating to my safety, they contacted me and offered to help, and I’m happy to say things are looking up.”
She didn’t look like that would be enough, so I added. “I honestly don’t want to cause problems for you, but we’re going to have to figure out how you can live your life while I live mine, without interfering in either direction.”
“You can’t be married to a biker,” my father said. “And especially not a man in a one-percenter club. We raised you better than this.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say they hadn’t raised me at all, but Dozer touched my hand just before Brain told them, “I believe if you focus on the good we do, you’ll find the public won’t see the biker aspect in such a negative light. Regardless, she and Mr. Stevens are certainly married, and the union has been consummated so there won’t be an annulment.”
My face went hot at that, since Brain had basically just told my parents I’d been fucked a few hours ago — and I absolutely had.
Mom lowered her voice to say, “We can backdate a psych report to show she wasn’t of sound mind, we can—”
Dad put his hand on her shoulder, pulled back a little, and when she went silent, he said, “A payment, then. One hundred thousand dollars, either in cash or deposited into your account, Mr. Stevens. However you’d like it. We’ll call it a wedding present, but it means you’ll sign whatever is necessary for an annulment and agree not to see our daughter again.” He looked at me. “We’ll send you to the art college in London. Not doing so was apparently a mistake, and we’ll rectify it immediately.”
“I don’t want or need your money,” Dozer told him. “Whether Daisy accepts the offer of college is entirely up to her.”
“Stop biting your lip,” my mother said, exasperated.
I hadn’t realized I was, but rather than tell her I’m an adult and I’ll bite my lip if I want, I kept to the topic and told my dad, “Part of me wishes you’d let me go to the college I wanted to from the start, but mostly, I think I’m glad you didn’t, because I’d have never met Dozer if you had. I’m his wife now, and we don’t need your money.”
My dad looked back to Dozer. “Half a million, given creatively in shelters so it’s legal and aboveboard, but also tax free.”
“As Daisy told you, we don’t need your money, Mr. Hearst. The answer will be the same no matter the offer, so don’t bother climbing higher and higher.”
“I’ll climb higher,” my mom told Dozer. “Two million dollars. It’s a solid offer. Tax free. Daisy isn’t likely to meet the terms for any of her trust funds, so it’s your only hope of extorting us for money. Now or never.”
Brain looked to Dozer, met his gaze, and then looked back to my parents and told them, “He isn’t going to take it. He’s in love with Daisy, and I’d like to suggest you should be happy she’s found someone who adores her as much as he does.”
Mom looked at me a handful of seconds before she said, “You haven’t worked since you left. How have you been supporting yourself?”
“Dray was bad news, and that was a lesson I learned the hard way. You were right about him, but you haven’t taken the time to get to know Dozer, and I’ve learned my lesson about…” I sighed. “I’m not prepared to talk to you about where I’m headed, careerwise, and that isn’t because I’m ashamed of it, but because I’m excited about it, and I don’t think the two of you will be, and if you’re negative about it…” I shrugged. “I don’t want to go there, yet.”
“I think I can give you some assurances here,” Brain told my parents. “She won’t be involved in illegal activities, and in fact, will be taking part in some charities that do a lot of good for our community. We all want to see Daisy find fulfillment. She’s chosen a career she can make a living from, and the MC will help Dozer find a path to help her get there.”
“And your chosen career?” my dad asked Brain.
“I’m the head geek for our organization. It gives me time at a keyboard, but also plenty of time outdoors. I belong here in ways I can’t adequately explain, and that isn’t because my parents did something wrong, it’s just that their life wasn’t for me. I’m married to the love of my life, and that means I live on a farm, with horses. So many horses.” He smiled. “Never in a million years would I have thought this would be my life back when I first left for Europe, but I’m happier than I knew it was possible to be. Will you let us help Daisy find her happy life?”
My dad looked at Dozer and said, “Help me understand how your organization makes money.”
“The Chattanooga chapter owns a restaurant, several laundromats, a completely legal gun store with an attached shooting range, a martial arts facility, and a bike shop we’ve expanded to also handle classic cars. We also raise cattle, and we’ve purchased several businesses to go along with it, so we’re completely vertical, from the cattle to the processed beef. The restaurant we’re sitting in purchases their grass-fed steaks from us, in fact.”
“I saw no arrests for drug trafficking, but there are arrests for procuring,” my dad said.
I furrowed my brow because I wasn’t aware of what he’d been arrested for. Procuring was news to me.
“Ah, our retro motor hotel. The police in that part of town have indeed harassed us a great deal, but I’m sure you saw that the charges have never stuck, yes?”
“Doesn’t mean the place isn’t full of prostitutes who’ve been well-coached.”
“If we’ve reached the end of a constructive conversation,” Brain said, “it’s probably time for us to take our leave. Please feel free to order dinner, it’s on the MC this evening. I suggest the steaks.”
He and Dozer stood together, and I let Dozer pull me up and wrap his arm around me from the side.
“I’m actually happy to see the two of you,” I told them. “I wish it could’ve been friendlier, but this wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“We worry about you, Daisy,” my dad said, standing, but he still had to look up to Dozer, probably more than he expected to. My dad’s tall and looks down on most men.
“I’m okay, Dad. I wasn’t, for a while, but I am now. I’m a newlywed, can you be happy for me?”
“You were cheated out of a big wedding,” said Mom, now also standing tall in her heels and power suit. “It feels like a loss.”
I looked to Dozer, and he gave a tiny nod, which I took to mean I could tell my mom our plans. “We moved our wedding up, in part because I want Dozer to be the one making medical decisions if I’m unconscious or there’s another problem, but we’d planned on a medium-sized fancy wedding with a huge reception, though it’s possible it’ll be a huge wedding, too. If you’re interested, I’ll make sure you get an invitation, when they go out.”
Mom looked at our hands, and I let go of Dozer’s hand and lifted mine so she could see my ring. “We’re on our way to get it sized when we leave here.”
“Silver, or white gold?”
“Titanium,” Dozer said, and I looked at him in surprise. I’d wondered the same thing, but every time I thought to ask, something else was said and I forgot. It’s a good thing it was just a tiny bit big because titanium has to be creatively resized.
“Your mother’s birthday is six weeks out,” said my dad. “If you’ll give me your number so we can text, I’d like to make sure you and Mr. Stevens get an invitation to attend her party.”
“We’d love to attend,” Dozer said, and he pulled a card from his pocket. Brain handed him a pen, and Master turned the card over and wrote a number on it. “My information is on the front, Daisy’s number is on the back.”
Master has business cards? How had I never known this?
Dad looked at the card, then at Dozer, and finally to me. “I find myself dissatisfied with this meeting, but I’ll echo the sentiment it was good to see you. You look healthy, and I’m relieved about that, at least.”
“Her nails are a home job, and it’s been months since her hair’s seen a professional,” said my mother. “All is not as good as she’d have us believe.”
I’d polished my nails myself, and I’d been trimming my hair. Most people wouldn’t know, but mothers know all, right? Or maybe she was just guessing, but she was right so I wasn’t going to try to pretend otherwise. Maybe having to be so honest with Dozer was wearing off on me.
“It’s more a matter of priorities, Mom. I doubt anyone else realizes I’m doing my own hair and nails. Look, the truth is, I didn’t like Dozer at first. I’d have gladly hit him over the head with a baseball bat, or maybe even sank a knife into his chest if I thought I could get away with it during the first six or so hours I knew him, but he’s grown on me, and I hope he grows on the two of you. He’s honest, and he has a strong moral code. He makes me try to be better because he is.”
“He’s a biker, darling girl,” my father said.
“He is, and it means I don’t just have him in my corner, I have all of his people, too.”
“He dropped out of high school and got his GED,” my mother said, as if it should be enough to indict him for murder or something equally bad. “And stop biting your lip. When’s the last time you saw a dentist? Are you wearing your retainer? If you aren’t careful, your teeth are going to need braces again.”
I hadn’t known he got his GED, but I wasn’t sure it mattered so I just stared at my mom without responding to anything she said. Probably best not to admit the last dentist visit was before I ran away, or that I had no clue where my retainer might be but it was likely still at their house.
“Ask him something you feel is likely on the LSATs,” Brain told them. “Not a tax question or a corporation question, but something in the criminal code.”
My parents both looked at him, and then back to Dozer, and my dad said, “Explain the difference between the Model Penal Code and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and how they relate to state and federal criminal laws in the United States.”
“Apples and oranges,” Dozer told them, “each with its own rules and guidelines. The MPC is a proposed set of criminal laws states can adopt and modify to fit their needs, but it isn’t legally binding. It’s been around since the fifties and sixties in the hopes of standardizing criminal laws across the country. It’s been influential, though probably not as much as originally hoped for. The UCMJ is federal law that only applies to members of our military. In terms of how they relate to state and federal criminal laws, the Model Penal Code is primarily a guide for states to use when drafting their own criminal codes, while the Uniform Code of Military Justice is a federal law that applies specifically to military personnel. Both systems can and have influenced state and federal laws, but neither specifically applies to the average citizen.”
“Trick question, but he nailed it,” Brain told them. “Dozer, under what conditions can a member of law enforcement enter a domicile without a warrant?”
“Exigent circumstances. If they hear someone calling for help, hear gunshots, there’s a fire. Basically, anything that points to someone’s immediate safety, or a provable risk of evidence in a crime being destroyed. Also, if an officer is chasing a fleeing suspect, they can basically follow wherever he or she goes. When a suspect is arrested, the officers can conduct a search of the immediate area. Same with impounding a vehicle — they can search said vehicle. Well-being checks, when someone requests them with a seemingly legitimate reason, allow entry into the home. And finally, if any occupant of a domicile gives consent for the officer to enter, it becomes legal for them to do so, and anything they see becomes fair game, though they need further consent for a search before they can open drawers, cabinets, and closets.”
“He who represents himself gets exactly what he pays for,” my dad told Brain, rather than Dozer.
“Which is why he has two attorneys sitting at the table with him,” Zeke said. “I’m his primary attorney, but we’ve called another expert in to help deal with this matter. One of the great things about representing these two men is I rarely have to step in and fix their fuckups. They can hold their own until I arrive.”
“From where I sit,” our other attorney said, “Both of you have realized Mr. Stevens is now responsible for any decisions made if you have her declared incompetent, and you’ve realized backdating that to have the marriage annulled isn’t going to work, even with your connections, because she’s taken this into the court of public opinion. You hoped to find another hole to dig into, and failing that, you hoped to throw enough money around to make the problem go away. I would suggest you consider the fact your daughter means more to this man than the millions you’ve offered him, and then perhaps you’ll give their union the benefit of the doubt. Parents are supposed to want their children to be happy and fulfilled, yes?”
Dad stared at the attorney a few seconds and then shifted his gaze to Dozer. “I see two men who’ve learned the criminal code because they and their club engage in criminal activities, and learning the rules in any game is an important step towards winning said game.” He looked to Brain. “Your parents wanted you to go into the law, and you refused, but you sit here telling me you’ve learned what they wanted you to know anyway? But without the degree? Without the ability to actually use what you’ve learned? How was that smart?” He looked to Dozer. “It’s true I see intelligence, but again, it’s the shrewdness of a criminal. With that being said, the two of you are clearly good at it, as you’ve avoided being found guilty during the few times you’ve been arrested. That isn’t to say you were innocent, of course, only that there wasn’t enough evidence to find you guilty.”
Finally, he looked to me. “We want you in our life, and we’d like to be part of yours. Neither of us can afford to be seen associating with criminals, but with the physical miles between us, I believe we can get away with seeing each other a few times a year, and communicating more frequently. Can we set up a once-a-week phone call? Sunday afternoon would work well for us, but if another day is better for you, let’s figure that out before we say our goodbyes.”
“We’re often out of town on the weekends,” Dozer said. “Monday night or Tuesday night would probably work better, and I’d suggest setting a time for both days, so if someone can’t be available on Monday, it’s automatically shifted to the following day.”
“It bothers me that you so frequently answer for her,” Dad told Dozer, and he looked back to me. “Monday night at eight? We’re both in the same time zone, so that simplifies things a bit.”
I nodded. “And if one of us can’t, it gets moved to Tuesday night at eight.”