Page 90 of Givin' Me Fitz!
She did as I asked, and once I closed the door, I hopped in the front. Hobie got in next to Mom, and Fitz slid in beside me. He turned to me and smirked. “Sugar, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
I chuckled. “I bet you say that to all the guys you bail out of jail.” The three of us laughed. My mom, not so much.
I turned in my seat to look at her. “Celine, where’s Keller?”
Fitz sighed. “He’s safe, sugar. Calm down.”
We rode out to the clubhouse in Pahrump, Fitz parking in front of The Roundup where the other guys had just arrived. It was great… until my father walked out with a big fucking smile on his face.
I unbuckled my seatbelt to get out and beat the fuck out of him when Fitz grabbed my arm and Mom sat forward. “Calm down. It’s a long story.”
Long story, huh? It better be a good one…
Chapter Thirty-Four
Fitz
Earlier…
We rushed out the back door of the King’s Theater, only to be stopped by a uniformed officer in a sector car. “Gentlemen, where do you think you’re going, and why’s he cuffed?” Keller just laughed.
I glanced at Sparky, who chuckled and held up his badge. “Bail recovery agents. He skipped out on a bail hearing a month ago, and Judge Stanley called for us to pick him up. We’re taking him to CCDC now for transport to Carson City, which has jurisdiction.” He handed the bench warrant to the officer, who looked it over and nodded as he handed it back.
“Be careful. There’s a raid in progress. You don’t want to get picked up in the confusion.”
We nodded as Monty jogged ahead to get the truck. What Sparky had said couldn’t have been the truth, though I had no idea who Judge Stanley was or why they wanted Keller Abbott picked up. Sawyer would have told me if his father had been in Nevada a month ago, but then again, if Keller was in Nevada to meet with the Scorpions, maybe he wouldn’t have said anything to Sawyer. My head was spinning.
Monty came around with the trap truck, and I got Keller settled in the back seat. “I’ll get my truck and meet you at CCDC.”
“Actually, meet us at the office. I’ll explain things there.” Sparky got into the front, and Monty drove off before I could say another word.
I hurried to the open-air lot behind the casino where I’d left my truck and found Leo and Digs parked behind me so I was blocked in. “Hey, guys. Glad to see you didn’t get arrested.”
“Yeah, that was a clusterfuck. We’ll follow you.” Digs backed up so I could get to my truck, and we headed to I-15 to take us back toward South Rainbow. Why we were taking Keller Abbott to Sparks Bail Bonds, I couldn’t say, but I was pretty damn stunned by the turn of events already. If I dwelled on it, I’d probably miss my exit.
When I pulled into the parking lot and around the strip mall to park in the back, I saw Monty and Sparky had already arrived. I parked and hustled inside to find them in the conference room with Sawyer’s mother.
“Hi, Fitz. How are you?” Celine asked.
I glanced from her toward Sparky to Monty, and lastly, Keller, himself. He smirked. “It’s a pretty good story. I just need you to get Sawyer to listen to it. I think you have a way that calms his savage beast.” Celine and he both laughed.
“Shouldn’t we… When can we get him… What the fuck is going on?” My brain couldn’t keep up with what I was seeing.
“Take a seat, Fitz, before your head blows off. Judge Ruth Stanley happens to be Celine’s cousin. She’s the one who called me about Keller.” Sparky turned to Keller and tilted his head.
“Oh, my turn? Okay. Sorry we didn’t tell you what was going on, Fitz. We kept everyone in the dark so they had plausible deniability if anything went wrong. The Scorpions were making bigger plays for Cowboy land, and I couldn’t let that happen. This club was my father’s legacy, and now it’s mine, and it’ll be Sawyer’s, too, one day.
“Problem is, Boyd Townsend and Ricky Marlow got pissed because the money coming into the Cowboys’ coffers was completely legal, and they didn’t sign up for legal. They still wanted to be one-percenters, the damn fools, and they wanted to relive their glory days with the Scorpions. They didn’t give a shit if they took the club down in the process.”
“Why didn’t you tell Sawyer what was going on? He could have done something to stop them. More importantly, he wouldn’t think you betrayed him.” I was so angry smoke must have been coming out of my ears.
Keller sat forward and rested his forearms on the table. “Willy Roundtree is running the Scorpions now that Brando Carrey is in jail for that shit show with the Torrentes. I confirmed that Roundtree is only a placeholder until Brando gets out of jail. He’s still running things behind the scenes, and he wants Sawyer dead for his part in helping Dallas St. Michael get his in-laws back.
“Ricky Marlow was all set to kill Sawyer and Dallas St. Michael tonight after the kid took a dive. That’s why St. Michael was there so Marlow would assume it was his lucky night. I wasn’t about to let him kill my son, which is why I was with them so I could stop Marlow if he went for the knife in his boot.”
I slammed my hand down on the goddamn table. “No! I won’t let anyone hurt Sawyer. I’ll kill all of them before they get anywhere close to him.” I would go to jail for the rest of my fucking life before I let anyone touch a hair on Sawyer’s head.
Monty pulled me back into my seat. “Cool your jets. Nobody’s going to get to Sawyer.”
