Page 2 of Cruise

War took his place and waited for Baron to close the door.

“We’ve got a little situation that I need to update you about. I got a call from a friend who is still in the Army. He wanted to update me on a situation and see if we could help. An officer who had previously harassed a female warrant officer has taken retirement. My friend was near him as he was packing. He made direct threats against her and basically said he’d be tracking her down. Unfortunately, my friend was sent out before he could contact her. Once he was back from field training exercises, he contacted her but it had been three weeks. My friend notified her about what was said and also gave her our information and us her information. It sounded like a bad situation, so Remi and I contacted her.”

Cruise’s nervousness grew as War talked. The itch at the base of his neck was warning him of impending danger. He’d never ignored it before and he wasn’t now. “Who is it?”

“Willa Danvers, call sign Hurricane.”

Cruise stood up, kicking his chair back. No, no, no. Not Willa. How could she have been dealing with this and never said anything? Was it while they were working together? When did it happen? He thought they were friends. Why wouldn’t she have said anything?

He wanted, no needed to punch something.

“Cruise, son, are you okay?”

Baron’s words and a hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his head.

“Who was the officer?”

War tilted his head, scrutinizing Cruise’s face. “Does she mean something to you Cruise?”

“She could if dumbass would quit denying what he felt for her.” Slice’s words had Cruise saluting him with his middle finger.

“Well, when we talked to her, she’d recently buried her dad. She’s all alone and heading here. A couple of the Texas Chapter brothers will be bringing her stuff but she’s flying her helicopter here. The building the bail bonds just had built is wide and tall enough to allow the helicopter to be stored. Jesse looked at helicopter dolly specs and is building one if she can’t find one to be here by tomorrow. Willa is leaving tomorrow, early in the morning.”

“Why won’t you say who the officer is?”

“Because I need to know you won’t go off on your own to take care of him. We’re brothers and we’ll handle it as brothers. Scoop and Sarah will start compiling information on him tomorrow. I’d like us to get some of the information first hand from Willa, too. We need to figure out where we can have her live. I think…”

“Wherever she is, I’ll be too,” Cruise pounded his fist on the table to make sure War understood.

“If you’d let me finish, I think there are three options. Option one, she could be in one of the rooms at Locks’ house. The steel doors and lock down options make it ideal. Option two, she could be here in the clubhouse. There would be more brothers to protect her but the clubhouse, although behind the fence, is closer to the road than Locks’ house. Option three, she could be in Winnie’s empty house. With Winnie’s house being behind Locks’ from the road, it offers a little bit of privacy but she wouldn’t have all the men at the clubhouse around. I think they all have positives and negatives. Any discussion?”

“I’d say Winnie’s or Locks’ house would be the best option. Since she’s stopping overnight at the Texas Chapter, it’s feasible he could connect her to our MC,” Slice suggested. “I agreealthough I think she’d be safe at the clubhouse too. I don’t care where I sleep so if she’s at Winnie’s with Cruise, I’m happy to guard outside.”

Cruise appreciated Slice having his back. He wished their Texas Chapter was closer. If it was he’d ride down to fly back with Willa. A need to ensure her safety beat inside him.

Speedy, Roam and Rascal had been quiet, not offering any advice yet. Cruise knew Speedy pretty well from working at the garage. Rascal was one of the originals who had taken Cruise under his wings and shown him the ropes. He’d also done one of Cruise’s tattoos for his fallen brothers. Roam, who also was a tattoo artist, had inked his Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC tattoo. Each was special to him.

“I agree that we should have Willa give us her say but I think Winnie’s old house would be perfect. Cruise wants to be with her. We could rotate two other guys on shifts around the house and on the compound on patrol. I’d have them vary their route so there isn’t any routine,” Roam suggested.

At least Roam understood, Cruise wasn’t letting Willa out of his sight while she was in danger.

“If we’re good, let’s get some rest. Once Scoop has some info, he’ll be sending it to all of you to review. We need to get this taken care of because with the sleigh rides, we’re going to have a lot of people in and out of the orchard. I don’t want them in danger.”

Cruise walked out of council knowing he wouldn’t be resting. He headed into the Clubhouse’s main room for a drink. He walked behind the bar, grabbed a glass and a bottle of whiskey and dropped into one of the recliners.

Willa was so strong and the thought of what she’d gone through, shredded his heart. He still remembered that exact moment he knew he loved her. They’d all been kicked back around a fire, relaxing in their off time. She and Slice hadbeen arguing on the best movie. Willa was positive it was Dirty Dancing. Slice had told her no romance would ever be the best movie. His choice had been the A-Team.

Willa had looked over at him, asking for his opinion, trying to prove she was right. He could have cared less about the movies but he’d wanted to see the smile spreading on Willa’s face again. He’d agreed with her and she’d jumped up and done a victory dance. Her exuberance and love of life had him admitting he had more than friend feelings for her.

At the time, he’d known he’d be a lifer in the Army. In his core, he’d always known he’d protect his country and the innocents. Even though Willa embodied everything he wanted in woman, he’d shoved his feelings back down deep in the friend zone.

Now, the woman he dreamed of was in danger and he was going to do whatever he could to protect her and let her know exactly how he felt about her.

Chapter Two

Willa packed the last few items she was taking with her. She’d packed light in the military out of necessity but after being home for a few years, she’d collected some things. She’d adapted after serving by keeping up her piloting skills, hunting with her dad and a side business as personal assistant to some local businesses. Flying was her love but she also had a head for numbers. Numbers made sense and she had a knack for finding discrepancies. She also enjoyed going antiquing and finding pieces of furniture to refinish. She’d filled her life but there had been something missing. Now with her dad gone, she had other things to occupy her time. And at some point, she needed to start going through all the stuff her dad left her.

It didn’t seem like it was real that he was gone. Her mom had died when Willa was in middle school. She and her dad had always been close. He’d served in the military as a helicopter pilot. When he’d returned home, he’d given flying lessons andflew charter flights with his helicopter. He’d been the one to instill Willa’s love of flying. He’d taken her up from an early age.

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