Page 16 of Preacher

Passing the bar, he walked behind it and reached into the cooler for a beer. Pressing the cold bottle to his aching head, he headed upstairs to find a bottle of aspirin. After that, he’d deal with the locks himself, and then he’d tackle the house.

His foot didn’t hit the first step before he heard his name being called from the kitchen. How did anyone know he was up? Changing direction, he headed for the kitchen. Stepping through the door, he saw Bones and Trip cooking. “How are the two of you standing up when I feel like a train ran over me?”

“We didn’t drink as much as you did,” Trip told Preacher as he picked up a piece of crispy bacon.

“I can believe that,” Preacher said, rubbing his forehead.

“Do not open that beer, we have shit to do today,” Bones told him, pointing a spatula at Preacher.

“Bones, I have to go change the locks on the shop.”

“We did that already.” Bones looked at his brother. “You said she was probably over there taking everything she wanted. After you passed out, I went over and changed the locks. We had extra in the storage room from when you rented the place.”

“I still need to clean the house,” Preacher reminded Bones.

“Took care of that as well.” Trip laughed at Preacher. “Did you think we’d let you deal with all of that and a broken heart?”

“I don’t have a broken heart.” Preacher looked at the beer bottle. “What I am is humiliated and pissed off.”

“You won’t make the same mistake twice. Believe me,” Trip told Preacher as he set a plate of food in front of him. “We called the cleaning service we use here, and the ladies met me over there a few hours ago.”

“What time is it?” Preacher asked the two men currently fighting over scrambled eggs and overcooked bacon.

“Eleven-thirty.”

ChapterEleven

It had been a long day from Preacher’s point of view. He’d declined going to dinner with the guys after work. The past month had been a mix of working as much overtime as Cruise and Wick gave him to lying on the sofa watching one of many sports networks.

He hadn’t heard anything from Jack. Viper had told him she was staying with friends and he didn’t need to worry about her. Preacher was relieved that she wasn’t his responsibility anymore.

Passing through Fort Bragg, he noticed a truck following him a little too closely. Speeding up, he watched to see if it pursued him. When the truck didn’t keep up with him, Preacher decided it was nothing to worry about.

Three miles down the road, he pulled into Mini Mart to grab a six-pack and snacks. He needed to make time to go grocery shopping. Not wanting to park too close to the other cars, Preacher pulled into a spot off to the side and glanced around. The parking lot was quiet for the time of night. A truck pulled up to a gas pump as he walked past. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed a car rolling into a parking spot across the road at the all-night diner.

* * *

Scout pulled the car into the diner across from the gas station. The car she, Kit, and Riley were tailing had pulled in behind another truck. Over the past two weeks, Temple, their resident hacker, had been digging through the computers they retrieved from the warehouse. The owner of the car’s signature had been all over the systems.

Somehow, he had piggybacked off Glitch’s gaming system, making it look like he and his friends were behind the attacks on the Gypsy Kings MC and other clubs in California. The guy ran with a crew of wannabe bikers calling themselves the Bone Hunters. When they read the name out loud, the entire room had burst into laughter. What a lame-ass name for an MC. Sounded more like they were looking for dick. To each their own, but why would you set yourself up like that?

The girls had been surveilling the men for the last two weeks. They needed as much information as they could get. Whip wanted the Gypsy Kings out of their hair, and she wanted off their radar. To make that happen, they needed as much information they could find on the assholes. The last thing Whip and The Muthers wanted was for Gypsy to come back around wanting more information. It was gonna be a one and done for The Muthers.

The girls backed into a spot off to the side of the building as they watched the truck that had pulled in behind the car. The doors flung open and four guys jumped out, running toward a man walking across the parking lot.

“Looks like someone’s about to have a bad fucking night,” Scout said, watching the scene unfold across the way.

“That’s some weak shit, man,” said Kit as she chowed on a bag of chips.

Riley sat in the passenger seat, biting the inside of her cheek. Without a thought, her hand reached for the door handle. “Don’t open that damn door, Riley. You’ll expose us,” Scout snapped.

“I can’t let them kill that guy,” Riley said, glaring at Scout.

Scout leaned across the console, reaching for Riley to stop her. “You don’t fucking know him.”

“He’s a fucking human being, Scout,” Riley snapped back as she rolled down the window.

“If you get out of this car, I won’t protect you from Whip,” Scout warned her as Riley pulled herself through the window.

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