Page 13 of Gunner

The way he ate hadn’t changed, although he was no longer hurting for money and food. Since his release from prison, he’d been a model citizen.

“That pretty blond from next door who was getting into his car when I pulled up?”

“Yeah.”

“Something going on there?”

“Nope.”

“Too bad. Alice would be over the moon if you were dating someone. She’s been worried about you since your partner died.”

“She doesn’t need to worry. I’m fine. Busy. Did you visit her today?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m here. No one has contacted her since the whole prison shake down. Don’t you think it’s time to pull her from the prison? She shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

“She volunteered, Jasper. In fact, I was against it, but she insisted.”

“Well, it’s gone on for too long now. I never liked the idea of her doing this, especially in her condition.”

“I’ll be pulling her next week if there’s still no contact with her.” I sighed. “If not for those bikers fucking up everything, we might have caught the culprits by now. Why would they still try to source babies from the prison when they now know we’ve figured that out?”

“Exactly. I don’t feel comfortable with her locked up anymore. That’s my whole life in that prison cell.”

“I know. Believe me, I know. I’ll start on the procedure to get her pulled.”

“Then I’ll be able to sleep better tonight.”

“Listen, man, I know you didn’t want her to do this, but it took guts for her, a civilian, to volunteer when we were getting nowhere with the investigation.”

Jasper ran his tattooed fingers through his curly black hair. “Since we both got out of the slammer, she’s been doing everything she can to pay it forward, but she’s about to be a mother now. I want her to relax. We both made mistakes, and it’s time to put them behind us.”

“I agree. Don’t worry. Once the baby gets here, she won’t have time to run around, always volunteering for projects.”

Jasper stayed for almost two hours. I humored him. I was the reason he was alone and missing his wife. He could have filled his lonely night with a chippie on the side while my sister was in prison, but he’d chosen to visit me instead.

When he was ready to go, I walked Jasper to the front door. He honked his horn once as he backed out of the driveway. I’d hated him for dragging my younger sister down into a life of drugs and stealing, but over the years, I’d been forced to admit the truth. It had been the other way around.

A motorcycle roared, and I straightened and tightened my grip on the door.

Gunner?

The motorcycle zipped by, going too fast to see who the rider was. The tension in my shoulders eased. What was I thinking? Of course it wasn’t Gunner. He didn’t know where I lived, and that asshole was all talk. He didn’t intend to actually contribute to the case. He wouldn’t even hand over his club register.

Why had he volunteered to help if he had no intention of doing so? His sole purpose so far was to aggravate me each time we met.

Then drop your pants and bend over my desk. I’ll bet you it’s the best ass-licking you’ll ever have.

A shiver ran down my spine. Gunner’s gravelly voice sounded so clear it was as if he was standing next to me. He was fucking with me. Everyone knew the president of the Blood Hounds was a homophobe. Yet my dick didn’t seem to understand the meaning of that.

“I need to get laid.” I slammed the door shut and winced at the crack. Zeus bounded over to investigate. “Sorry, boy. Want to go for a walk?”

He yipped, turning around to nudge me toward the door.

“Just a minute, boy.” I laughed. “I need to get some shoes on.”

Zeus and I walked to the park. Only a few people were around due to the late hour. I unleashed him, and we played catch until he got distracted and chased after a squirrel. I took pity on him and allowed him to run uninhibited for a while, keeping an eye on him, then calling him back. With his years of training, he never disobeyed. I’d insisted on getting pointers from his handler in the K-9 unit when I adopted him.

We jogged back home. When we arrived, Asher was pulling up in his yard. I waved at him but didn’t give him a chance to call me.

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