Page 6 of Tex's Angel

On the way to work the next morning, I think about my crazy neighbor. I know she separated from her husband a few months ago. Everyone in the neighborhood was talking about how he cheated on her and she hosed him down like the dirty dog he was. I’m more amused by that than I should be, because it’s something only an unhinged person would think to do.

She’s cute as a little button, short, curvy with wild red hair. Her big blue eyes are beguiling. In other words, she’s just my type and by far the prettiest thing I’ve seen with my two eyes. If only my plate wasn’t already full, with two jobs and a son that I have to watch like a hawk. Maybe if I wasn’t so busy and if she wasn’t a lunatic to boot, we could have had a chance at love—or lust at least, I think wryly.

I shake my head and shift gears. I’m thirty-eight years old and learned early on in life not to stick my dick in crazy. Not that I think she’s into me at all. I’m big, ornery, and mean when I gotta be. It has apparently not escaped her notice that I’m socially maladjusted and never get any visitors. That had been embarrassing.

I didn’t appreciate her calling Levi a delinquent, even if it was true. I did like that she apologized almost immediately. Something about a woman who’s not too proud to admit when she’s wrong is a weakness of mine. I quickly realize that I’m spending way too much time thinking about my pretty neighbor when I should be paying better attention to my job and son.

It’s Thursday, so I’m working at the Savage Legion’s security business. They decided that after pulling some ad hoc security shit, they needed to be better organized and maybe set up their own company. They needed someone with experience to get their business back on track and I needed a second job to make ends meet. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

I walk in and find the club officers having an unofficial meeting in the bar area. It’s not even ten in the morning, so they’ve all got breakfast and coffee. Siege, waves at me. “Grab some breakfast and join us. We need a progress report on the security business.”

“You got it, boss,” I tell him, and start to give him an update on how things are going.

Before I can even get started giving my club brothers a run down, I get a call. It’s from our contact at the Las Salinas PD, so I make my excuses and take it. He’s calling to inform me that Levi was picked up with two older guys at a skate park, which is interesting, considering he’s supposed to be going to that private school I wrangled him a scholarship to, and he doesn’t even skate. I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. I don’t want my personal and work life colliding. I know my supervisors wouldn’t look too kindly on me being a patched in member of an MC. Luckily, so far, it’s not something that’s drawn anyone’s attention. Hopefully, with whatever shit Levi’s pulled that’s the way it’s gonna stay.

When I step back into the room, I see my club brothers have all scooted around the table to make space for me and someone added another chair. This is what I love about being a member of the Legion and about working for them. They always make me feel welcome, even though they were mostly all bornand raised here and I’m technically an outsider from Texas of all places.

“Anything urgent?” Siege asks.

I shake my head, “Levi’s gotten himself into trouble, but I’m gonna let him stew a while, till I get the official call from the precinct.”

After giving me a few minutes to get started on my breakfast, Siege asks, “How’s your other job going? You getting tired of helping train cops?”

I take a sip of my coffee. “Not hardly. It’s gratifying to see them coming in all innocent and wide eyed and leaving jaded, ornery bastards, like me.”

Tank laughs. “I’m sure you’re exaggerating.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Don’t think for a minute that I don’t do my best to rub the shine right off their naive ideas about being in law enforcement. I took them all out to the body farm the other day.”

Dutch makes a surprised sound. “If that doesn’t rub the shine off, nothing will.”

Rider apparently isn’t eating, because all he has is a coffee in front of him. “That place is fucking creepy.”

“Well, it’s helpful in a lot of ways. I can’t believe after what most of y’all have seen in the military a dead body would spook you.”

Rider leans over the table to glare at me. “I ain’t fucking spooked, okay?”

“Calm down, don’t get your panties in a twist,” I say with a grin and shove my plate towards him so he can grab a couple of pieces of bacon. Dude gets hangry if he’s not fed regularly.

After snagging my bacon, Rider makes to tackle my eggs, so I finish up my meal as quickly as possible and drink down the last bit of my coffee before pulling my laptop out of the messenger bag, I carry with me just about everywhere I go. “Are y’all about ready for your update?”

Siege jerks his chin at me. “Hell the fuck yes, we are. Dutch, are you gonna take notes?”

My club brother nods his head and gets his tablet out.

I get busy telling them where the security business stands financially, how many clients we have, how I’m advertising for more clients because we have good, strong brothers going without work. They take in all the information, ask a bunch of questions and after about an hour, I head to the office Rigs created for me. It’s about the size of a closet but has a window up at the very top of the room, so at least I get a little sunshine. I check my e-mails, work on the calendar of events, adding new jobs that I plucked out of my e-mail and send out electronic invoices for the jobs I just accepted. I’m just starting to get to work on the employee schedule when I get a call on my cell phone.

I was expecting it.

Obviously, our contact can give us a heads up, but even if I did want to go down to the precinct all guns blazing to see what they’d picked up Levi for, I had to wait for the official call.

“Hello, Officer Prichard. How are you today?”

“Not bad. I’m sorry to report we picked up your son a while ago on a truancy charge. Can you come down to the precinct?”

“Of course. I’m on my way now.”

I sent Siege a text, informing him I was leaving early because of an emergency with my son. He texted back immediately, asking me to let him know if I needed anything from him or the club. I hope and pray that I don’t. Imposing upon people for favors because my son couldn’t do the things he was supposed to do in life was humiliating.

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