Page 72 of Pigeon

“Because Rex was shooting at us,” Reeves answers.

When Lucy simply raises an eyebrow, Reeves continues to explain.

“Then we saw Tessie driving and chose the ditch over a head-on.”

“That part, I understand. But why was Rex shooting at you?” Lucy questions while crossing her arms and, I should note, still blocking the door, so I am still stuck on the floorboard in the shape of a pretzel.

“We, uh, I, may or may not have tased his balls,” Reeves admits honestly.

“Chubs thinks the world of his club brothers, but I’m finding it hard lately to understand why. Not a complete brain amongst the group,” Lucy mutters, mostly to herself. “If the van is undriveable, we can give you a ride. Warning, though, Tessie’s driving.”

“No! The van’s fine! Really, it is. We’ll be fine,” Reeves shouts.

“I can’t breathe like this much longer. Can I get the fuck out of this position now?” I ask as nice as I know how when simply breathing is an effort.

Lucy and Tessie step back and pull the door open further. It’s easier to extricate myself now, so I only required Tessie to tug on one leg a few times before I’m standing outside the van.

“Payback for all your comments about my driving. At least I’ve never deliberately drove into a ditch,” Tessie says with a small sniff before walking back to Lucy’s car.

Lucy stares us both down for another moment before following Tessie. Because one wreck is enough for one day, Reeves and I both stand on the far side of the van until Tessie has driven away. After some effort, we get the van started, backed out of the ditch, and are on our way to our first install. When steam starts rolling out of the radiator, without a word, Reeves turns toward the club’s auto body shop.

Trigger, walking around the van, finally looks at Reeves.

“Someone run you off the road?” he asks while eyeing the bullet hole in the back door of the van.

Neither of us answer. I just hand Trigger my phone with the video paused. He looks at me first, then Reeves before he sighs and hits play. Viewing it, eyebrows so high they’ve joined his hairline, Trigger’s body jerks in laughter before he hands the phone to Petey. Because Rex was shooting at us, I forgot to stop the recording, and you can clearly hear our conversation with Lucy and Tessie. The video of Rex is funny. The fear in our voices of seeing Tessie on the road isn’t. Next time, I’ll replay things before I let others view them.

“So, you weren’t run off the road. You chose it over certain death,” Trigger says with a snicker.

“You should up your life insurance, Pigeon. Having a shit ton of money will make it easier for Ivy to move on,” Petey states before walking off, his booming laugh heard even after the door shut behind him.

We hang out with Petey while Trigger fixes the van enough for us to get to work. Reeves sticks close to the window, one eye watching the parking lot in case Rex shows up. Petey starts laughing every time a car or bike passes the shop, and Reeves snaps his head around to see if we need to hide or not. After about an hour of this, Reeves finally takes a seat and puts his boots up on a nearby bike seat. He nearly pisses himself when Rex’s voice immediately comes over the security system.

“You two fuckers can run, but you can’t hide. I have cameras every fucking where, and I’ll strike when you least expect it! Get some fucking work done today!”

Petey, using the counter to stay standing, laughs until he’s breathless. Reeves and I hustle to Trigger’s work bay and prod him to hurry the fuck up. This only makes him laugh harder, but he gets the job done, and we get the fuck away from Rex and all his little eyes in the sky.

“We have Church this evening. Rex will be there. Maybe we should have Cash do a pat-down on him before he’s allowed inside,” Reeves suggests. “No guns should be allowed in Church anyway.”

Agreeing, I shoot a text to Cash.

Cash: Why? What did you do?

I send the video and wait.

Cash: You fuck up, you pay up.

“We’re going to die alone,” I tell Reeves while I put my phone back in my pocket.

Church takes place, and Reeves and I survive. In fact, oddly enough, we’re even more nervous since Rex never even looked at either of us. That doesn’t mean I don’t keep him in my sight afterward. I made sure to sit with my back to a wall, as did Reeves. The other guys find this highly amusing, and I’m fine with being their entertainment tonight as long as I leave here still able to pleasure my wife.

“Vex, did Tessie make it home today?” I ask.

“Yep. She drove into the yard, no damage that I could see to the car, and Lucy drove it away.”

“Lucy never showed at the shop as we expected today,” Petey adds.

“Maybe we hit the ditch unnecessarily,” I say to Reeves.

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