Page 12 of Jagger
I wasn’t saying I was going to marry her tomorrow, but I could see our future laid out in front of us and I liked what I saw—marriage, kids, a dog, some land for her horse, and countless hours riding my bike. I wanted to show her the world if she would let me.
After finding a table near the side of the room where I could keep an eye on things, I pulled her chair out, and when she sat down, I asked, “What do you want to drink?”
“Surprise me,” she responded.
I kissed her fully on the lips until I heard a few catcalls behind me, then I reluctantly pulled back. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, darlin’.”
Cheyenne walked up and patted me on the back. “I’ll keep her company. Roughstock asked if you could come into the office for a minute.”
She gave me the narrow-eyed look that she got whenever we discussed Blur, so I instantly knew something was going on. I nodded and remarked, “I’ll have a prospect bring you two some drinks.”
“Thank you,” Jackie said, and I kissed the top of her head before walking away.
This past week, I hadn’t been as attentive to my search as I had been for months. I ordered the ladies some margaritas from Comet before walking to Roughstock’s office. On instinct, I pulled my phone out of my cut and placed it into one of the bags on the table outside the office. A prospect—I forgot his name since he’s not on radar—gave me a nod and stepped aside for me to knock on the door.
There was a hierarchy within the club that the prospects had to follow, and respect was the biggest rule. We are patched brothers, and they are nameless prospects until they earn our trust and show the proper respect. It wasn’t mean, but it was the reality of our club. Some of the old Bastards rules still clung to the walls, even though we were Sinners now.
Phantom opened the door and stood off to the side, allowing me to walk in. The door closed behind me as I took my seat as Phantom sat beside me. Roughstock was sitting behind his desk, looking at his computer, and when he closed the lid, I saw anger on his face.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I just got an email from the Madman. Blur was captured on a Callahan camera yesterday morning,” he said. Leaning forward, I eagerly waited for him to continue. “It was just outside a small town in Louisiana called Hathaway. Mostly farms and swampland, but there was a new ATM installed at the only gas station there, and it captured who he believes to be Blur.”
“He believes? Either it’s him or its not,” I remarked, and it was Phantom who explained.
“I said the same thing when the report came in earlier this afternoon, so I called him while you guys were finishing up with the ranch work. Before I brought this to you, I wanted some kind of understanding of what the email was saying. After talking with him, this is the best I can understand.” He tooka swallow from a bottle of water before he continued. “The Callahans decided to deconstruct Blur’s life, and they uncovered something interesting. He was adopted when he was three years old. Apparently, he became a ward of the state of Mississippi when he was removed from an abusive home. The family he was placed with moved to New Orleans for work when he was around ten, and from there, his life seemed normal. Graduated, joined the military, got out, and came up here to South Dakota. Lived in Pierre for a few years, then he came to Rapid and prospected for the Bastards. His financials seem to start increasing about eight years ago, around his fifty-fifth birthday. That’s when they believe he either started, took over, or stumbled onto some kind of trafficking situation.”
“So, why are the Bastards protecting him? Was his adoptive father a member of the chapter down there, or was he somehow involved in the purge that killed Jamison’s father and sent him running for all those years? Because so far, nothing you’ve told me gets us any closer to Blur,” I returned, feeling angry that Phantom was having to do my job.
I was supposed to protect the club, and I failed. They should have taken my cut for letting someone get close enough to Nitro for him to get hurt.
“From all indications, his adoptive family were good people. His brother is a doctor in Texas, and after James Callahan interviewed him, they ruled him out as being involved. He said they haven’t spoken in over twenty years, and he had no idea how his brother could’ve been mixed up in something so vile, but it didn’t surprise him,” Roughstock said.
“So, how do we determine if it was Blur or not on the camera?” I asked.
“Devlin is going to send one of his guys down to do some recon work, but it looks like he was gassing up and heading toward the interstate. They can’t be sure if he lives there, wasvisiting, or was just stopping through. Without a second image or some indication of direction, they don’t have an answer,” Phantom tacked on, and I sat back in my chair, anger course through my body.
“The question still stands. Why is he being protected?” I asked, and no one had an answer. “What’s our next move?”
“We go out and enjoy our evening. There’s nothing else we can do right now,” Roughstock reasoned and stood from his seat.
Phantom and I stood, and just as we got to the door, Roughstock turned and looked at me. “You need to stop blaming yourself for whatever you think you did to fail Nitro. There was no way for any of us to know what was going on with Blur, and we certainly couldn’t have foreseen him turning on Pops. He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself, and I want you to stop, for your own peace of mind.” I started to shake my head, and he gripped my upper arms, causing me to snap my gaze to him. “Go out there, have a drink, smoke a joint, and spend some quality time with your woman. You two haven’t had the chance to be alone since you claimed her. Show her some fun, dance, then get the fuck out of here and take your woman to bed.”
I smirked, and he released me as Phantom shook his head, mumbling, “You’ll never see me claim a woman. I like variety.”
Turning to him, I laughed and said, “I guarantee you’ll be the next one to fall.”
His eyes grew wide, and Roughstock joined me in laughing as he opened the door and we walked out, leaving Phantom with his mouth hanging open. He loved to profess being a bachelor, and seeing the sheer panic was comical, helping to alleviate some of the guilt I carried about Nitro.
We walked across the room, and I couldn’t help but smile when we got close to the table, and I saw Cheyenne and Jackie visiting with some of the older ol’ ladies. They were laughing and having a good time, and Roughstock nudged me and smiled.Walking to the table, we joined them by dragging a few chairs over, and for the next couple of hours, I watched the woman who was quickly claiming my heart show how much she belonged here . . . with me.
At that moment, I knew I’d do whatever it took to keep her safe and make her mine. I just hoped the fickle finger of fate didn’t fuck us before we got to our happily ever after.
And I wasn’t sure I even believed those existed, but I was willing to try anything to keep her.
Chapter 7
Jackie
