Page 18 of Centering Kaos

“She spooks easily,” I said.

Rabbit smiled. “Relax. This ain’t my first rodeo, prospect.”

But itwasmine, and I was nervous enough for both of us. I gave him a nod.

“Morse already sent us his photo,” Tap said, holding up his phone. “You see that piece of shit, I want one of his teeth as a trophy. Fuckin’ wife beater.” Shaking his head, he slid into the passenger’s seat of the Jetta with his bag in his lap.

Rabbit looked far too excited about the prospect of beating someone senseless. Worried any altercations we started would affect Tina’s case, I would have cautioned him against it, but as he’d pointed out, I was just a prospect. Questionable mental stability aside, Rabbit outranked me. Link trusted him, and I would, too. Besides, I kind of wanted one of Matt Parker’s teeth, myself. Of course, I would have preferred to be the one to remove it. Rabbit hopped on his bike and rocketed out of the parking lot. I slid behind the wheel of the old Jetta and tried my best to keep up, but he lost us before I made it to the end of the block.

Chuckling, Tap started up the navigation on his phone. Pointing in the direction Rabbit had gone, he said, “Speed,” pointing at me, he added, “Stealth,” and finger on his own chest, he said, “Tech.”

“Ah.” Now, I understood. Rabbit was to get there quickly, my job was to get the targets out safely and without a tail, and Tap would do what he did best. “Thanks.”

Tap nodded, rummaging through his backpack. He pulled out a couple of gadgets and kept typing out stuff on his phone. I was tempted to ask what he was doing, but figured it was probably over my pay grade if not my head. If I needed to know, he’d clue me in. He pulled out a new cell phone, still in its box, and started fiddling with it.

In addition to Formation Auto Repair, the club owned the Copper Penny Bar and Grill, and had their hands in several businesses owned and run by club members and their ol’ ladies, like Ladies First. Tap, Morse, and Hound worked a side hustle that had to do with internet security, but fuck if I knew anything about it. I was only privy to the limited information I needed to complete the tasks I was given. If I wanted to know more, I had to earn my member patch by proving my loyalty and commitment to the club.

The problem was, none of their businesses had any use for my unique skill set, which made proving myself damn near impossible.

When I first arrived, I decided to try my hand at driving one of Formation’s tow trucks. Havoc took me a safe distance out of town and let me get behind the wheel. I’d never driven anything bigger than my Escalade, and I struggled with the additional controls and wide turning radius, almost landing us in a ditch. The thought of navigating that beast through Seattle’s narrow streets and insane traffic had me sweating buckets and made my ass cheeks clench so hard I thought I’d turn into one giant hemorrhoid.

Turned out a tow truck driver, I was not.

Determined to find something I didn’t suck ass at, Link moved me to the Copper Penny. Flint, the bar manager, didn’t really need me, but he had a couple of the guys train me to work security anyway. Now, I filled in on occasion, but keeping the peace by bouncing drunks out on their asses had gotten me no closer to earning my patch. Before Naomi asked me to help out at Ladies First, I was feeling pretty fucking useless to the club and wondering how the hell I’d ever prove my loyalty.

Over the past two days, I’d done more for the club than I had in the entire six months I’d been a prospect. It was nice to feel like I was part of something important again.

“You guys do this often?” I asked, watching Tap out of the corner of my eye as I drove.

He gave me a wry smile. “Do what?”

“Help Ladies First hide a woman.”

He shrugged. “Some. Usually their clients don’t have kids, so we stash the women at the fire station. Any dumbfuck stupid enough to try the club would be in for one hell of a surprise. You saw what it was like in that office. We have no love for women beaters. Emily keeps us on a tight leash for legal reasons. She has good instincts. She only calls us in when shit’s about to go sideways. We’re always prepared and uh… enthusiastic.”

Most of my club brothers seemed like hotheads to me, but Tap painted them in a different light, making them seem experienced, competent, and able to follow orders. I hoped he was right. “Good to know. What’s the plan? Anything special I need to do?” I asked.

Tap shook his head, but his gaze didn’t leave the screen as he continued to work. “Focus on getting Tina and Dylan out of the condo and to your house. We’ll do the rest.”

I wanted details, but Tap was busy, and I didn’t think he’d appreciate me distracting him with questions. Keeping my speed somewhere just south of reckless endangerment, I made good time. Tap gestured me into an underground parking garage, using his cell phone to snap pictures of the security cameras and other seemingly random things. It struck me once again how big time some of the Dead Presidents were. Sure, I’d been a professional hockey player, but there were rumors that this man used to work for the CIA. Link and Havoc were former Special Forces, and Morse… Morse had been a drone pilot and I didn’t even know what else. He sure as hell hadn’t picked up his insane hacking skills from flying remote-controlled aircraft for the Air Force.

Besides being smart and skilled, they were genuinely good people. Not a one of them had met Tina or Dylan, but they were all committed to keeping them safe. Not only because it would make Emily happy, but because it was the right thing to do. They were the kind of men who’d joined the military to help people. My story wasn’t quite so noble. I didn’t deserve to be among their ranks, but was determined to carve myself out a spot.

Regardless, my desire to get patched in had nothing to do with why I’d offered up my house as a refuge. No, my motivation was far more selfish than that. Tina’s intense hazel eyes and lush curves had been tugging at my thoughts since the moment I laid eyes on her, and I wanted to figure out why.

Also, something primal inside me needed to know she was safe.

She was a single mom trying to get away from the piece of shit she was still married to. A smarter man would steer clear of that kind of drama, but for some reason, I couldn’t. The woman hadn’t given me the slightest hint she was interested in me, but it didn’t matter. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her intense hazel eyes staring back at me.

Maybe the altruistic spirit of the Dead Presidents was rubbing off on me, but I didn’t think so. I only hoped we weren’t too late to help her.

7

Kaos

AS WE NAVIGATED the underground parking garage, Tap pointed to a tan Mazda that looked like it had seen more turns around the sun than I had. “There. That’s Tina’s car. Park in the nearest visitor spot.”

I did as I was told, and we both got out. Shouldering his backpack of goodies, he followed me. We found Rabbit leaning against the front of the building not far from the entryway. He peeled off the wall and joined us, flicking away the toothpick he’d been chewing on.

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