Page 21

Chaper Twenty

Sawyer

Tiny answered on the second ring. “Yeah, prez.”

“I’ve got a job for you. I need you and Tim Walton to drive his old truck to Mesquite to pick someone up. Get on the road now, and I’ll text you the address.”

“Sure, Bones. Who is it?” Tiny asked.

My everything?

Probably too soon to call Fitz by that term, but I was coming to realize the label was beyond the truth. I loved the man.

After what he’d just done for me by getting me to leave with TJ and Grandpa Middleton to keep the club out of the watchful eye of the police, I believed he felt the same way about me.

“It’s Fitz, the guy I’m dating. Let me call him and find out where he is. I’ll call you back with where you can pick him up.”

“Okay, Bones.” We disconnected the call, and I glanced in the rearview mirror to see a sweet scene. Grandpa was sound asleep with his head in TJ’s lap, who was gently stroking the old man’s short silver hair.

“How long since he lost his vision?” I asked quietly so I didn’t disturb him.

“It’s been about ten years. He has glaucoma. When he was first diagnosed, he was stubborn and refused treatment. They told him it was still possible to slow the progression, but he didn’t like the drops he was prescribed, and he refused to use them.

“When his vision worsened from blurry to dark, he agreed to go to an occupational therapist and learn how to do things for himself since he wouldn’t get treatment, and he was doing pretty well. He took a fall a few years ago, and that’s when I hired Rosemary to move in and help him out.

“She was good to him and took care of him without making him feel helpless. They played chess and cards—with braille cards—and she got him all kinds of devices that helped him live more comfortably and not feel as though he was beholden to her. She gave him a lot of his independence back, so I know he’ll miss her. I hate that she was killed because of me.” TJ swiped his fingers at the tears he couldn’t stop, obviously upset about the entire clusterfuck. My heart clenched at hearing the pain in his voice.

I swallowed to keep from tearing up with TJ, wondering when the fuck I’d become so emotional about something that really had nothing to do with me. “We’ll take care of your grandfather, TJ. I was going to have him stay at Fitz’s place and get him a new caregiver for a while, but now that this has happened, I’m going to find somewhere else for him. Somewhere I’m sure he’ll be safe.”

Where is that, Sawyer? No clue .

I pressed the button on my phone that I’d put into its holder on the dash so I could speak hands-free and not get my ass pulled over by a cop. “Call Fitz.”

It rang once. “Sawyer.” His sigh brought me relief. “Are you okay?” I couldn’t hold the smile at his concern.

“Yeah, babe. We’re on the way back to Pahrump. I need to find somewhere for Mr. Middleton to stay, but I’m sending Tiny and Tim to pick you up. Where are you?”

“I checked into a Best Western Hotel not too far from Mr. Middleton’s house. I wasn’t sure what else to do until I could arrange a ride back to town.”

He gave me the address, and I told him to sit tight and I’d call him back. I handed my phone over the back seat to TJ. “Text that address to Tiny, will you?” TJ took the phone and did as I asked.

“Tiny’s one of the prospects for the club, right?” He put the phone onto the console.

“He’s a member now. In fact, he’s our new enforcer. You know him?”

I couldn’t remember assigning Tiny to ever work at Cowpokes as security. Maybe Spider or Ders had done so one of the few times I’d taken some time away?

“Wow. I didn’t know he’d been patched into the club. You know, he worked at Cowpokes over the summer when you were on vacation. He was nice to us, and he made sure we didn’t have any problems with the clients. I liked him.”

I remembered going to see my mom and dad in San Diego last summer. They lived there because of my mother’s COPD. She found a doctor there she liked a lot, so she was doing fine… and then, something hit me! San Diego would be the perfect place to stash Grandpa Middleton.

“Until I can arrange to hide your grandfather, I’ll have you and Grandpa stay with me.”

I was sure it wouldn’t be easy to acclimate a man without sight to my rugged house, but they needed somewhere to settle so Mr. Middleton could feel comfortable for a while as I tried to find him a better place to stay.

Maybe I could find someone to help him out until I called my parents? I needed to search for my balls and make the call.

“Miri, it’s Bones. How are you? I guess we’ve been missing each other at the clubhouse.”

She laughed. “Cut the bullshit, prez. What’s up? What do you need me to do?”

Miriam Rey and her twin sister, Mina, were examples of the new members I’d brought in who the old guard didn’t approve of. They were lesbians, and they could throw down just like the rest of us assholes. Miri worked for the club full time providing security for the brothels and the dispensary.

Mina owned a landscaping business that serviced the southwest valley and was damn popular. I’d helped Mina with big jobs a time or two when they were short-h anded, and they were great to work for.

Mina was married to a nice woman, Gina, who owned her own hair salon in one of the multiservice buildings that were cropping up around Vegas like those orange street cones. Mina’s wife trimmed my hair, and I liked her a lot.

Miri had been single until recently when she began dating a woman I was yet to meet, though Miri seemed happier than she had for a while. The old-timers would say shit about just needing to meet a good man and get stuffed with his sausage, which pissed her off. I was grateful she didn’t beat them to death in the middle of the clubhouse.

Both women were huge assets to the club, which was why I called Miri for help.

“You know anyone who can help a sightless old man get accustomed to his new surroundings? He’s staying with me for now out of necessity, but I’m going to get him somewhere more permanent soon. I just need him to feel safe in my home.”

I’d been back in Pahrump for three days, and I’d only spoken to Fitz a couple of times. He was on a hunt with three of his coworkers and didn’t have much downtime. That was fine—but it really wasn’t. I missed him something awful.

“Uh… Oh, yeah, Bones. My girlfriend’s mother is a retired home health nurse. Let me ask Tanya if Mrs. Kowalski can help you out. I’ll get back to you.” We ended the call with a friendly goodbye, and I walked back into the house.

TJ had gone for a run up into the mountains because he was more than determined to fight in a week. I wasn’t sure if that was the right step, taking into consideration what had happened at his grandfather’s house a few days earlier, but if he was planning to fight and we played it right, the club could win an assload of money to make up for the money I believed the Scorpions stole from us.

Mr. Middleton was busy listening to an audiobook about endangered species, so I decided to make the call to my parents I’d been putting off. Asking for one favor was a lot, but asking for two wasn’t something I’d ever done before.

I went out the back door of my place and sat at the old patio set I brought back from the Windmill house when I bought the new one for Fitz. As I took in the sight of the backyard, it hit me that Fitz’s yard was a lot nicer than mine. Of course, that was my fault. I bought the firepit and a new table and chairs for the Windmill house, not for my house.

Sitting at the rickety metal table with a soft breeze blowing my hair, my mind wandered. What if I wasn’t the president of the Pahrump Steel Cowboys? What would I want to do with my life?

I loved my club and would be loyal to them as long as I drew breath. My brothers were my family, and we’d been able to modify our bylaws from what my father and grandfather had hoped the club would be to what we saw it becoming in the future.

We’d agreed to being a more inclusive club, welcoming people from every walk of life. Every gender. Every orientation. Without judgement or harassment.

When we revised our bylaws after I became the president, we sent them to our mother and sister clubs, expecting the pushback we’d received. Thankfully, my dad and mom fought with us, my father reaching out to the other clubs and calling in favors—though, he would never confirm that he did—the other clubs finally accepted us as associates, extending their protection to us and expecting ours in return.

Things seemed to be going well for us—up until the night TJ went to the Blue Diamond Casino to meet with that slimy promoter. That seemed to be the minute everything started going downhill.

I hated that I wasn’t sure I could count on the Rough Riders or Satan’s Stallions for support. We hadn’t called on them for help, and a part of me wondered if they’d even honor the agreement if we did. If they didn’t, I wasn’t sure what the hell we’d do. The pressure of protecting the club was like an anvil on my head, Road Runner-style.

Did I ever see myself leaving the club and working a legit job? At the beginning, hell no. The Cowboys were my life. Lately, though, I couldn’t say.

I had an associate degree in nursing from the Army as a licensed practical nurse, though I currently didn’t have a license to work in Nevada. It wasn’t impossible to get it, but I hadn’t seen the need for it if I was only going to be treating club members. Was I really thinking about this, stepping down from the presidency?

I’d been damn lucky so far by not getting arrested for anything I’d done for the club, so I didn’t have a police record, which had been a huge help in obtaining the license for the dispensary. I could go back to school and take a refresher course and get my nursing license without any issues, but would I be happy working in the medical field?

I’d never leave the club as long as they stayed on the right side of the law, but if I stepped down as president, that would be out of my control, wouldn’t it? If the members decided to resume some of the shit they used to do before I was voted in—collecting road taxes from the small businesses in Pahrump; hijacking freight trucks and fencing the cargo; distributing illegal drugs, which would cost them their dispensary license; and shit I didn’t want to think about—I was sure Fitz would walk away from me .

I hadn’t told him it would cost me my life, or damn near, to leave the club. If he knew I’d killed Tim Walton’s parents, would he run like hell and rat me out?

I stopped all those random thoughts and stared at my contacts list, touching my father’s number.

“Hey, son.” He answered on the first ring.

“Dad. How’s Mom?”

“Good. She’s on some new meds that seem to be helping a lot. We’ve been going for walks in the mornings since Grandma Abbott moved to the assisted living place. How’s the club?”

I cleared my throat. “Well, things have been better. The dispensary got hit a week ago to the tune of thousands. I suspect Boyd Townsend faked his death, and he and his old lady took off to parts unknown. We’re keeping a low profile because the cops are investigating that shit, and even though we’re letting the cops handle it, I’m not sure how long I can keep the brothers from doing their own investigation, which wouldn’t end well for Boyd or his old lady.”

Dad chuckled. “That’s not surprising. Who do you think did it—robbed the place?”

“It’s got to be the Scorpions with help from Townsend. I’m convinced he roped Hammer into going to the dispensary that day to relieve Ders and Spider because if they’d been there, the robbery would have ended much differently. And now, the Viper Kings are involved. I need your guidance, Dad.”

I went on to explain about the enforcer for the Viper Kings ending up dead at TJ’s grandfather’s house and about the upcoming fight. “I don’t know if the kid can fight. I’ve only heard talk up to this point, but if he could win, we could make up for the money the Scorpions took from us, though I still wanna kick someone’s ass over that. If they get to the kid’s grandfather, the kid will throw the fight, I’m sure. The old man’s all he’s got.” And…

“Son, I’ll come up and meet with the club. Let me get on the phone with some friends. Mom and I will fly up next week. We’ll stay through Thanksgiving, if that’s okay.”

I swallowed. “Dad, that would be great. I’ll put you guys up in a nice hotel. I’ve got Mr. Middleton and his son staying with me, so it would be crowded here.”

In for a penny… in for a pound, as my grandmother liked to say. “I’ve got someone I want you to meet, anyway.”

“Oh, yeah?” His voice sounded far away. “Celine! Sawyer met somebody.” I should have known he’d make a big deal of it, and I knew Mom would go over the top.

“It’s new, Dad. He’s a great guy. I think you and Mom will like him.” I decided not to tell them anything more until after they met Fitz. That way, they could form their own opinions.