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CHAPTER TEN

MASON

“Do you remember me telling you about Mane?”

“Couldn’t forget even if I wanted to. She’s the reason you decided not to come home,” Maverick mumbles. “Not that with that cushy job you had before taking off that you’d be coming back to Trucktown anyhow. Especially now that you’ve started the process of reclaiming who you were.”

“I worked remote for a lot of years, Maverick,” I scold my younger brother. “I only had to go to Knoxville once a month for three days. No reason for you to be complaining, you saw my mug often enough.”

“Whatever. Is there a point you were getting to with Mane, big brother?”

“Yeah. Due to my relationship with her, I’ve been asked to join the Kings and I accepted. I can’t tell you a lot, but I can let you know that we get cases via email that we investigate. Last night, a report came across that Cotton is abusing Laura and she’s in need of a rescue.”

“Bullshit,” Maverick spits out.

“My thoughts exactly,” I add. “We think it may be a setup and were hoping you could contact him and on the down low scope things out for us. I don’t want Cotton getting hurt because we don’t proceed or do as anticipated.” Then a thought enters my head and I ask, “Are there any new deputies in town?”

“You mean horseface?” he snickers.

“So there is someone new on the force? Don’t you find that weird since Trucktown never hires any recruits outside of the residents?”

“It’s the talk of the town,” Maverick states. “He’s a fucking asshole. He’s been issuing tickets for every little thing. Even the obscure shit that honestly shouldn’t be on the books any longer is fair game. Mrs. Jones, who has had her vegetable stand since before we were born, got one for not having a permit or some shit.”

I whisper a few curses under my breath because only a dick would ticket an old lady who is a pillar of the town.

“I’m not sure if I should be telling you this or not, but he grew up with Julia.”

“The bitch that hounded, stalked, and terrorized you on top of any woman associated with you?” Maverick asks, his voice coming out as a growl.

“That’d be the one,” I acknowledge.

“Motherfucker,” he spits out. “He’s fucking dirty, Mason. We all know it but we can’t prove it.”

“That’s the impression we have too,” I convey. “We’ve started following his paper trail, but so far, nothing’s coming up that says he’s anything but law-abiding.”

“What can I do to help, Mase?”

“Just stay low, Mav. Check on Cotton from time to time and report anything to me that you find ominous,” I say with caution.

“Don’t worry about Cotton, I’ve got him. Will this bring you to town, big brother?”

“It may, Mav, but again, we have to be careful because this piece of shit wants to get to me. I have a feeling he blames me for Julia and her choices.”

“You’re not responsible for her being a psycho bitch,” Maverick says, sounding offended.

“Sane people understand that, Mav, but I don’t get the feeling he’s a well-adjusted individual. Promise me you won’t confront him.”

“Trust me, Mase, I have no plans on going anywhere near him.”

We talk a few more minutes about the family and he catches me up on the town gossip before we hang up, but not until he swears he’s on his way to visit Cotton. Candy Sue is going to be one pissed off lady.

* * *

Trekking down the hallway, I locate Ella and tell her, “Maverick is on his way to check on Cotton. He’ll be catching me up later this evening with his take on things. And we have confirmation that there’s a new officer in Trucktown and it sounds like it’s Julia’s friend.”

“It is,” Jagger confirms my suspicion. “He started greasing the wheels for a transfer once Julia stopped checking in with him. He’s devious but he isn’t stupid, he’s put two and two together and knows the club is responsible for her disappearance.”

“My family and town being in danger is the best way to pull me out from hiding and he knows it,” I hiss. “He wants me to pay, and if that means involving innocents in his revenge scheme the better.”

He just better not go after my family because all bets will be off.

“This is a club issue,” Gunner advises. “This needs to be brought to church.”

“Hydro’s going to flip,” Ella murmurs. “I can’t believe our operation has blown back on the club.”

“It’s not the King's fault,” Kruger states.

“It is,” Ella counters. “This was the result of one of our cases. We didn’t cover our tracks well enough or something because Julia found a way to connect us to Mason.”

“That shouldn’t have been possible with all of the security measures we have in place,” Jagger sighs with defeat. “Somehow she infiltrated our system without sending off any warning bells.”

“She was computer savvy,” I tell them. “A savant really. It’s almost like a computer talked to her. I know that sounds impossible, but there wasn’t anything she couldn't do on a keyboard.”

“Wasn’t she a security expert in one of her lives?” Mane asks.

“Yes. But I don’t remember off the top of my head which name she was using when she held down that position,” Ella answers.

“That’s not important,” Gunner interrupts. “What is though is that we now know that she has information on y’all that she could’ve passed to this friend of hers.”

“Fuck! That’s a lot of damage control because there are so many rescuees out there that this could potentially affect!” Jagger thunders.

“But we delete their files once we rehome them,” Mane whispers.

“Nothing is completely deleted. There’s always a digital footprint that can be uncovered if someone knows what they’re doing,” Bull says. “It’s why we’re old school and don’t put shit on computers.”

“We have to keep some things in a file because if they make mistakes, like running into someone from their old life, accident or not, we have to move them again and I have to have their original information in order to make those decisions,” Ella mumbles.

I whistle and say, “It’s a damned if you do and damned if you don’t situation.”

“What can we do to make things more secure?” Mane queries.

“I’ll have to reach out to some of my people and see what they suggest,” Jagger clarifies. “As far as I know, I’ve done everything I can but there’s always new technology and advancements. One of my hacker or security expert contacts should know if there is.”

“Start reaching out but for now, there’s nothing we can do about it other than try to nip this problem in the bud,” Ella advises. “I’ll call Hydro and let him know to call for church.”

“You may want to do that in person,” Gunner points out. “It’d be better if you do it that way because as his old lady, and an officer, not only is it proper protocol, but if he loses his temper you’ll need to tame it before we all sit down.”

“Fuck,” Ella curses. “He’s going to be pissed.”

“But at least you’re not at fault and he’ll recognize that. He can be reasonable… sometimes. It was a club call to put her down, Ella,” Jagger reminds her.

“He’s never reasonable when it comes to Ella,” Mane mentions.

“That’s because he forgets that I’m more than an old lady,” Ella groans. “He gets all protective caveman on me and wants to lock me up after wrapping me in bubble wrap.”

“Give him a break, baby girl,” Shamus says to his daughter. “You’re the first female and officer to join the club ranks. We’re all learning how to navigate that.”

“Chauvinistic bullshit,” Ella snarks. “I’m just as deadly with a gun as the rest of you are.”

“We are well-aware, Miss Sniper,” Mane teases.

“I can’t help it if my baby is an extension of me,” Ella sasses. “She’s just as essential to me as my girl is.”

Mane leans over and whispers, “She’s talking about her sniper rifle and her motorcycle in case you were wondering. She calls her rifle baby and her motorcycle her girl. It’s a weird love-like relationship between the three of them.”

“What are you going to name your bike?” I ask her. She’s always ridden, like all the females she grew up with, but she’s recently decided that she wants one as a mode of transportation.

“I’m not sure,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “I figure once I meet her it’ll come to me.”

“So it’ll be a she, huh?”

“Hell, yeah,” she giggles. “Women are way more reliable than men are.”