Page 52 of Biker's Baby

TWENTY-THREE

Abe

Work wasa drag without Glenn there to talk to.

I was able to focus on the job better, which made my boss happier than normal. But it also made the hours drag. And, since I didn’t spend all my time thinking about Glenn, Iris was on my mind – as usual. Not that I minded that too much.

I fantasized about her often, that was for sure, and it always made my day that much better when I did. So while I paid careful attention to where the new guy was to make sure I wasn’t his next workplace accident victim, I also wondered what Iris was doing back at home every spare chance I could.

By the time I got off work, I felt like I had been there for twice as long as usual. I knew that came from the fact that Glenn wasn’t there with me, and I wondered how he was doing. I still appreciated the fact that he had told me he was going to help me with Iris and her situation, but now that he was laid up with that broken leg, I knew there wasn’t a thing he could do to help me.

Even if the spirit was there, he wasn’t physically going to be doing much for the next few weeks, even up to a couple of months.

But he insisted he’d still be able to keep an eye out for Joel when he was around town, though I wasn’t sure how often that would be. He had enough ways to have his needs delivered to him, I didn’t think he was going to be out of his apartment without me being the one to give him a ride.

We were close enough that I felt he wasn’t going to ask any of the other members of the MC for help. And if we were together, well, I was there to keep an eye out for Joel as much as he was.

Still, there wasn’t anything I could do about that now. I had to just take things as they came and hope for the best. I hadn’t seen or heard anything about Joel since Iris had gotten that note, and though she had said that it was his handwriting, that was as much as we had seen of him. He hadn’t been snooping around the house again from what I could tell, and I hadn’t seen any sign of him or his truck around town.

Of course, I wasn’t stupid enough to let my guard down. There was a chance he was waiting for me to do that so he could take the chance to strike. He wasn’t getting the jump on me. I would make damn sure of that. So, I often kept an eye out no matter what I was doing while I was around town.

No matter what time of day it happened to be, I watched for that same truck that had been parked outside the house that day.

I rounded the corner to get back home, and my heart skipped a beat. There was another bike parked along the street. It was in front of the duplex next door, but still close enough to my house for me to be put on guard.

I looked up and down the street, not seeing anyone who looked like they could be the owner of the bike. But then, I realized it was foolish for me to think that there would be someone sneaking around. There weren’t that many people after me, and Iris had never said anything about Joel being a biker. In fact, if he was a biker, it might have been easier to deal with him as I could make it biker related instead of personal.

Still, it was a nice bike to have parked out in the middle of the street, and the only thing I could do was slow down and hope whoever owned it would show up while I was still getting ready to head inside my own place.

Clearly, whoever it was hadn’t made Iris uncomfortable. She hadn’t texted me at all about a strange person around the place. So this person must have been reasonably normal if she hadn’t found a reason to let me know about it sooner.

It didn’t make me feel much better, but as I put my own bike in park and stepped off, the owner of the other bike stepped out of the duplex. I didn’t have to assume that this person owned the other motorcycle. The moment he stepped into view, I saw the emblem of another MC on the front of his leather vest.

He had dark skin and an entirely bald head. He was tall like me, with a bright, disarming smile. Though it would take a lot more charm than that to get me to put my guard down. I wasn’t about to be overly friendly with a rival MC member, no matter what they were like.

It wasn’t just that he wasn’t part of the same MC that I was, but the fact that I knew someone was going to find out about this. He was evidently moving in right next door, and it wasn’t going to take long before it was put on Tad’s radar. I didn’t have to be the one to tell him, either.

There were enough other members of the MC for anyone to see the man around town then see his bike near the duplex for them to bring it up to Tad, and I knew he would come for me as soon as he heard the news. I wasn’t sure how I would handle that right now, but then, I hadn’t even officially met the guy yet.

“How are you?” he asked. “Nice bike.”

“Thanks, I was just thinking the same about yours,” I told him. “You live around here?”

“Moving into this place next week,” the man said. “I’m Trey.”

“Abe,” I said.

“The Black Cats?” He nodded toward my helmet.

“Yes indeed. And you’re a Cobra?” I asked, nodding toward the emblem he had on his vest.

“That I am,” he proudly replied. “We’re hoping to make some positive changes around this town, so you’re probably going to be seeing a lot of us. I hope we’re not causing any offense by being here.”

“You know how it goes with MCs,” I said, dodging the question. I wasn’t going to tell him that I had strict orders to kick him out of town as soon as I saw him. I didn’t care what Tad had said. That was something I couldn’t do to someone who had done me no harm and seemed to be friendly enough.

On the other hand, I knew it was going to come down to something like that once Tad did find out. Perhaps it would go above both our heads, and the presidents of the clubs could work this out on their own before it came down to that. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be the one to break the news to this guy.

“You’re right about that,” he said with a laugh. “Anyway. I hope that we can set aside our differences and be good neighbors at least. I don’t have anything against you.”

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