Page 26 of Welker

“Eventually, I saw suspicious activity at a particularly remote home; a box truck, along with several motorcycles were parked inside an open garage door under the house.

“I was able to leave my department vehicle hidden in some trees, hiked in, and took a lot of pictures; of the van, the bikes, the men dressed in dark clothes carrying out incredible amounts of copper. A lot of the photos were inconclusive, due to poor lighting, face coverings, and such, but I got a really good shot of the MC president, Tormentor, along with his VP and several of his lieutenants, carrying valuables out. By the time I called for back-up to apprehend them, however, the group had disbursed.

“Luckily, the damage to the house along with my pictures were enough evidence to convict Tormentor and a number of his underlings, keeping them in jail until their sentencing.”

“So, if they’re in the hoosegow, who came after you?” Callie asked.

Moira grumbled.

“For an MC like the 227,” she explained, “there’s always a scramble for power after an in-house shake-up. One of Tormentor’s LTs, Mick, stepped forward, clearly deciding if he made an example out of me—the testifying officer—he’d be a shoo-in to fill his boss’s boots.”

“What do you plan on doing, now?” Sabira asked as she whisked up batter, concern in her voice.

“Catch them in the act of trying to harass me,” she said.

“You mean, get them before they kill you,” Welker growled, knowing that if the assholes found her, that’s exactly what they’d do.

“Let’s not get dramatic, Vestore,” Moira rebutted, but her reply—which any other time might have shut him down—was softened by her new look and didn’t faze him in the least.

“No drama, Moira. They had guns. They meant business, and you know it.”

“Okay. Fine. But they didn’t find me.”

“They destroyed your house, though,” Callie interjected astutely.

Moira nodded, unable to argue that point.

Welker continued. “We’re meeting Mason and the rest over at her place in an hour to put things right.”

“So you said,” Callie stated. “And I’m coming.”

“Oh, no you’re not,” Welker immediately replied. “If there’s an MC member watching, we don’t want anything or anyone leading them to you, to us…here or at your place in town.”

Moira glowered at him. “And that, right there, is why I have to salvage some clothes out of the mess of my house, and find a different place to lie low. I’m not comfortable putting any of you in danger.”

Welker glared right back. “We’ve had this discussion, Bliss.”

Yup. He could do the same, last-name-calling thing Moira did when she wanted to put him in his place. “Hotels are too public, and any short-term rental you find won’t have security. You’re better off, here.”

“Putting you and your family in their crosshairs?” Moira’s voice rose.

Wow. There’d already been a lot of firsts today, and now Moira was showing…emotion?

Welker set her straight. “I can take care of myself, and as for Callie and Sabira?—”

“I’ll make this easy,” Callie stated crisply. “We’ll head back to our place until things have been resolved. We were only going to putter here, this weekend, anyway. All the outside work on the barns has been completed, so the structures are buttoned up against the winter weather. With a few more hours of work, the heating system should be finished, too.”

They’d gotten heat pump units installed, purposely so that interior work could proceed during the cold months. “As long as we’re still on target to move in when our lease runs out next April, I’m good.”

Moira looked uncertain. “You shouldn’t have to change your plans for me.”

“Are you kidding?” Sabira piped up gleefully. “This is a gift. We’ve spent every freaking weekend here for the past few months, and I, for one, am looking forward to doing something normal for a change, like…going to a museum, or taking a hike.”

Callie looked at her partner, astonished. “Sweetie, I had no idea. You could have said something.”

The pretty dark-haired woman shook her head. “No. This compound is important to you…to us, but you know I’m not as driven as you are, and I’m not picky. If we get our place as finished as Welker’s before April, I’ll gladly move in and do the rest while we live here.”

Welker knew this was something Callie and Sabira had to work out between them, so he intervened, bringing the subject back around to their safety. “All I know is that you two need to make yourself scarce, and I’ll be more than happy to work on the interior of your place, including getting it more buttoned up for winter. My house just needs insulation in the exterior walls, and I’m good to go until spring.”

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