Page 33 of Flick

He pulled away, and she waited to see what he’d say. She’d expected the room to be full of yells and jeers, but you could have heard a pin drop.

“Beth Franks, I can’t think of anything I want more than spending the rest of my life with you.”

She took a deep breath, knowing that they were on the right path.

“Fucking finally, the sexual tension was killing me,” Brew yelled.

Beth chuckled at Brew. They’d passed a milestone, and she couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

Chapter Twenty-One

Flick and Gunner carried in drink carriers with coffee and pastries they’d picked up. Even though the coffee pot was clean, Flick wanted Beth to have her favorite.

He’d been so ecstatic when Beth had claimed him last night. They’d walked down the hall to her room, but he’d stopped her at the door. He wanted her with every fiber of his being, but he wanted her for hours where he didn’t need to worry about every guy in the clubhouse hearing her moans. They were his and his alone.

When he’d kissed her and said he’d hold her all night or they could sleep apart, she’d pushed him away. She’d told him that they had all the time in the world, but he’d just gotten Gunner back.

He, Gunner, Brew, Bootstrap, and Cowboy had stayed up for a couple more hours playing Texas Hold’em. Gunner shared about the town he’d lived in and what he wanted to do. Brew and Bootstrap had tried to convince Gunner to make his home inCider Creek. Gunner had said it was tempting, but he, along with Flick, wanted to be in Bluff Creek and have Brody join them. Gunner promised he would visit because he loved Texas.

He walked into the room where everything was set up and gave Beth her coffee. She stared up at him and crooked her finger. He bent down closer, and she grasped the back of his neck, pulling his mouth to hers. Her lips claiming his had him fighting to not just grab her, pick her up, and carry her down the hall.

After thanking him very well for her coffee, she pulled away and smiled at him. “Thanks for the coffee.”

He nodded. With all the blood pooled in his groin, he tried to think of how he was supposed to reply.

“Yo, let’s get started. Flick, quit thinking about what you want to do to Beth and get back on task,” Bootstrap said, chuckling.

Flick pulled the chair out, dropped into it, and tried to concentrate on something besides her.

“We’ve focused on the bar, the appliance warehouse, and the apartments. I think we need to follow where the trucks that leave the bar on Friday and Saturday nights go,” Rose suggested.

“I agree, but I think we need to see where these other trucks go from the appliance warehouse. What I don’t understand is most places distributing appliances want to make money, meaning they want full trucks. Which, to me, would say they’d be using semis, but they’re not. They’re using box trucks, which don’t transport as much,” Cowboy said, pointing at a picture he’d put on the bulletin board.

“Maybe they’re not transporting appliances. Maybe they’re just trying to give the illusion of that,” Della suggested.

“Yeah, but we have these pictures here that look like freezers being loaded,” Dodge mentioned, pointing to a picture.

“Well, I for one am sick and tired of just taking pictures and doing surveillance. We need to do something to change it. I thinkwe plan on staking out the bar and the appliance warehouse Thursday through Sunday, and we have enough people that we follow where some of these trucks are going. We need more information, and we’re not going to get it just looking at the data,” Beth said.

“I agree,” Flick replied.

Flick listened to the majority of the people agree with their plan. Gunner was the only one who kept quiet and didn’t voice an opinion. Knowing his brother, he wouldn’t give an opinion until he’d studied all the information and come to a conclusion.

“Bootstrap and I have been discussing keeping everyone safe. We reached out to a couple of friends, and Dodge has worked to add tracking to some different items. We think anyone dealing with surveillance needs to be wearing them. I don’t want us to underestimate these people. I mean, they were willing to take a police officer when Rose’s partner abducted her. That tells me they aren’t worried about any backlash, and that sets off every alarm for me,” Brew said.

Flick appreciated Brew and Bootstrap thinking of safety because Flick had been worried. He wasn’t sure how he’d handle it if Beth was taken.

“Okay, let’s get on this. We’ll plan for starting round-the-clock surveillance Thursday, and if everyone agrees, Cowboy thinks we need sound in the house across from Beth and Flick. If we do something, we need to see what happens after,” Bootstrap said.

“What are you thinking you might do?” Flick asked.

“Well, you never know when a truck might go missing or be taken. I just want every avenue covered. I also have an acquaintance with an alphabet agency who I asked to be on call,” Bootstrap replied.

“Can you trust him?” Beth asked.

“I think with what we’re dealing with, he’d be open to a little bit of coloring outside the lines of the law,” Bootstrap said.

Flick stood up along with Beth. “Okay, shall we get our bags and head home?” he asked.

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