Page 24 of Hawk

“Of course. This is Rocky.”

Rocky waved and accepted her outstretched hand. “I’m sorry or your loss, Mrs. Winchester.”

“Thank you. Come on in.” She turned away and motioned to the wreckage. “As you can see, they left no inch undamaged.” She let out a bitter laugh and shook her head. “Even if I was inclined to pay, I’m going to be out for at least three days, and that’s if I decide to keep this place open.” Her shoulders fell and she looked absolutely exhausted.

“I’m sure insurance will cover the repairs, if that’s your concern.” But we both knew it wasn’t her only concern.

“Yeah, to what end? They’ll keep coming back, and honestly, without Mark, I’m not sure I can stay here. His blood is still on the sidewalk out front.” Tears streamed down her face, and like any red-blooded man, I was immediately uncomfortable.

“If you want to stay and keep this place open, we’ll help you however we can.” I reached out to Gio and a couple other prospects. “Starting with getting these windows boarded up until you figure out what you want to do.”

Her smile was gentle and sad. “Thank you. Mark was right about you boys, you’re good people.”

Rocky laughed. “Except for his knock-knock jokes, Mark was one of the good ones.”

That pulled a laugh from her. Rocky never failed to make people, especially women, feel better. It was his superpower.

***

An hour later, and the prospects had the windows and the front door of the bakery boarded up. “We’ll follow her home to make sure she gets there all right,” Gio offered.

“Yeah, thanks.” Instinctively, I checked my surroundings and spotted a black panel van idling on the corner. “Rocky, nine o’clock.”

He looked down the block and his jaw clenched hard. “Motherfuckers.”

“That’s the same van they used to try to kidnap Laura.” Dumb fucks didn’t even get rid of the vehicle. “It’s like they want to get caught.”

“Like I said, reckless. They’re wild cards, so we can’t count them out. Crazy knows no fucking bounds.”

“Too fucking true.”

We got on our bikes and headed towards the van, slowing down so we could see Los Ochos and let them know that we saw them too. Rocky simply glared at them, but I offered up a one-fingered salute as I rode past.

Los Ochos were young, and they were dangerous. They didn’t give a shit about keeping the heat of the law off them and they used a sledgehammer when a screwdriver would do the job. It was a bad combination for everyone. Tack on the fact that they were clearly desperate for cash, and there was no telling what they would do.

The truth was that we hadn’t given them as much thought as we should have. The whole MC had dismissed them as wannabes, but if they owed someone money, that could bring more violence to Steel City. We’d finally had a bit of peace after the shit with Maverick’s old lady, and it looked like that peace was about to be broken. Their behavior was escalating, which meant whether we wanted to act or not, they would inevitably force our hands.

The prez wanted to handle it his way, which meant for now, they got to live and breathe for another day, so I headed back towards the clubhouse. The only thing I could do was focus on myself and my promise to Laura. I would keep her safe, and if that meant putting a bullet or twenty into Los Ochos, well, a promise was a promise.

Thoughts of Laura had me wondering what she was up to, so I shot off a quick message as I entered the clubhouse, finding most of the older guys already gone.

My phone rang almost immediately, and like a fucking giddy schoolgirl, I grinned as I answered the call. “Couldn’t wait to hear my voice, huh?”

There was a long pause and then the soft sound of Laura’s laugh. “That’s what you think, but I’ve been hearing your voice in my dreams. That low grunt-y sound you make when you hit me deep.”

That exact grunt escaped.

“That’s the one.”

“Laura. What are you doing?”

She giggled. “I’m getting ready to order dinner.”

“You’re not working tonight?” I thought she was working the nightshift, but now that I knew better, I did an about turn and exited the clubhouse.

“Last minute change, a co-worker needed to take her kid to the doctors tomorrow, so we swapped. I’m doing her early shift. Want to come and keep me company?”

Did I? Fuck yeah, I did. “You need me to keep you safe from the monsters under your bed?”

---