Chapter 5
Getting A Lot Done In A Day
Hammer pulled into the school to drop off Jaden with time to spare. They’d made good time.
“Sorry you had to get up early, son.”
His son shot him a very frank look. “I’d rather get up early and grab breakfast on the way, than take a chance on eating Shelby’s food when she’s mad at you.”
“She not going to put rat poison in our food. You’re just being paranoid.”
“Nope. That’s not her style. She’d just spit in it.”
Jaden put the emphases on the word spit and Hammer felt his expression turn dark. Maybe his son was on to something there. That did kind of sound like Shelby.”
“We should learn to cook for ourselves.” Jaden tone was adamant. “Or you could just stop sleeping with the ones who cook for us.”
Hammer could tell his son was now teasing him. He smiled slightly as he responded. “Falls in the category of possible but not probable.”
Jaden snorted a laugh as his friend approached them.
Hammer nodded cordially, “Good morning, Trevor. I heard you busted that bully up pretty bad. Good job.”
The other boy beamed. “I didn’t think I could do it, but somehow I did.”
“Man has to fight sometimes. It’s an unfortunate fact of life.”
“I’m no good at it though. I wish I could fight like Jaden.”
“Well if your mother approves, you can come and train with me and Jaden a few times. Just enough to be able to protect yourself.”
The boy’s face lit up. “Really? I can come to the club house and train? That would be awesome!”
“Only if your mother agrees. Tell her to call me.”
“Thank you sir.”
Hammer watched the boy’s high fiving each other and Jaden murmured. “Way to go Dog.”
It made him feel old that he didn’t understand their lingo. Oh, who was he kidding? At thirty-six, he was getting old. Just then Jaden’s teacher walked out. Shit was looking good today. She was wearing a dark navy pants suit with pink edging. It looked professional but somehow sexy as hell. It clinched in at the waist and the swell of her breasts were barely visible near the neckline. She had a cute habit of adjusting her glasses every now and then. Was it a nervous habit or did her frames need an adjustment. Whatever the reason, it was cute as hell. For a brief moment the wind kicked up and tiny wisps of hair blew back from her face as she bent down to speak to a kid. The woman was literally breathtaking.
“Don’t be staring at Ms. Stuart that way, Hammer.”
He recognized the voice immediately. “Hey, Dianne. How’s it hanging?”
Letting out an exasperated breath, she complained. “How it is that you’re so popular with women, I’ll never know.”
“Come on over to the dark side and find out.”
“You know that you aren’t my type.”
“Yep, your men all have to have grey hair. What went wrong Di? Didn’t your daddy love you enough?”
“You know better than that shit, Hammer. My father was fabulous.”
“I’m serious, doll. I’ve always wondered what you see in older men. You and I have been friends forever, you can tell me.”
Rolling her eyes, she snarked. “Acquaintances, not friends.”
“It’s a small town everyone is acquainted with everyone else. We actually talk occasionally. That makes us a little more. Hell, if not for me, you wouldn’t have passed high school geometry.” His gentle teasing worked wonders on loosening her tongue.
She blew out an exasperated breath. “I don’t know really. Why does anyone like another person? They’re more mellow, understanding, less controlling and they let just me be me. There isn’t all this pressure that younger men put on me. I love the way they smell and feel…you wouldn’t understand.”
“I say go for it. Got a new one in your sights yet?”
“No. The last one ruined me for all men I think.”
“Speaking of which, Marlow says hi.”
Rolling her eyes again, she asked. “So how is the sexy bastard?”
“Sorry as hell. You’re all he ever talks about when he drinks. I know you probably don’t give a shit but he misses you like crazy.”
“Yea, well the feelings mutual. Too bad he screwed up a good thing. Speaking of men who can’t stay faithful, stay the hell away from Alina Stuart. She’s a good person.”
“And I’m not good enough for her, right? Message received”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
Changing the subject he jerked his chin towards two men. “Know anything about the men over there?”
Her gaze shifted to the two suspicious looking guys hanging out across the street. Her brows creased as she studied them for a brief moment. “No, I’ve never seen them before.”
The men immediately turned their backs to him when they saw that they were being watched. They weren’t wearing cuts or club colors but they did look Latino.
“Think they are trouble. You’ve got good instincts for that kind of thing. I should probably call the police?”
Hammer shook his head. “And report what, that they’re standing on a public street? Better off just leaving it to me, Di.”
The bell calling everyone in for the start of the day rang loud and clear through the chill morning air. Dianne nodded, “Thanks, Hammer. Tell Marlow I said hello and that I still think about him all the time.”
“Fuck, this ain’t high school, Di. Call him or text him or send him a goddamn e-mail like a grown up.
“Fine.” She stalked away mad, but Hammer smiled. She still had the hots for his VP alright. The shit between them was far from over. Pulling out his cell phone, he called the man.
Marlow answered on the first ring. “What’s up boss?”
“I noticed a couple of strange men hanging out across the street from Jaden’s school. Can you send some of the prospects around to sit on the place?”
“They’ll be there inside twenty minutes. I’ll let you know what we find.”
“You do that. Bumped into your pretty redhead this morning. Said to tell you hi and that she still thinks about you sometimes.”
Marlow couldn’t keep the shock from his voice. “No shit? It’s been a goddamn year.”
“Well word on the street is she ain’t hooked up with anyone since you. She said you ruined her for other men.”
“Now, I know you’re fucking with me.” The disappointment in his friend’s voice was almost too much to take. Hammer knew all too well the pain of finding a good woman, only to fuck it all up and lose her.
“Get your ass over here and find out. If you’re lucky, you can kill two birds with one stone.”
“I’m on it, boss.”
♦♦♦♦♦
Hammer hung up and hung around until he saw Marlow and four of his men approaching. Since he was running late, he headed over to the attorney’s office. As he drove, his mind wandered back to Jaden’s mother. She had been sweet and innocent. Though they didn’t have a lot in common, they’d been in love. She’d been the first person to show him genuine love and caring. It had felt like drinking the sweetest tasting water after a lifetime of thirsting. Losing her had been difficult. In the last ten years, his primary focus had been on raising his son and running his club. His brothers were his family now. Nothing else even mattered to him.
He walked into Cavanaugh’s Law Offices still worried about his crew.
“Hey Elaina. They’re not working you too hard are they?”
She glanced up at with a sexy smile. “Night and day. A girl just can’t catch a break with these guys.”
“Bastards, the lot of them. Can’t believe a nice girl like you got wrangled up with a bunch of fucking lawyers. Hell, they’re worse than us outlaws.”
She smiled knowingly. “You got that right, handsome. These good old boys do things that would make hardened criminals cringe.”
“Don’t worry, girl. I got your back. I’ll let them know you need a vacation.”
“And a raise.” She deadpanned right back, smiling.
He chuckled as he strolled right past her, letting himself into the attorney’s office. “George, can we cut to the chase. I have a lot on my plate today.”
The older man was rummaging through a file cabinet on the far side of the room. His posture stiffened, giving a clue to the irritation he felt. He spoke without looking up. “Ever think about knocking before you barge into a man’s office?”
“Fuck that shit. For a thousand dollars an hour, I’ll come and go as a please. What’s up with my crew?”
“You already know the particulars of their arrest. I filed a motion for bail. You can have them back for five grand each.” The older man still didn’t looked up from perusing files and it Hammer recognized it as a mark of disrespect. It aggravated him into a dominance display he would have normally kept in check.
“That’s a bargain.” He growled. “Get it done. I want them both home by lunch.”
Finally the well-dressed man looked up to meet his eyes. “I’m not a bail bondsman, Mr. Hark.”
Hammer pulled out two stacks of money and tossed them onto his desk. “There’s twenty grand there. Get them out within the hour and you can consider the rest a tip.” It was Hammer’s way of pointing out exactly who worked for who and why.
The attorney’s greedy eyes landed on the cash. He shoved the drawer to the file cabinet closed and walked towards his desk. “Well, I guess I can stretch my wings a bit for an old friend.”
“Get the charges dropped. Don’t’ much care how you do it. Consider a thousand of that a bonus for Miss. Elaina.”
George rolled his eyes. “Always looking out for the ladies, aren’t you?”
“We finished here?”
“Yes sir, we are.”
“Next time we meet, you come to me. I don’t have time to keep running uptown to meet your sorry ass.”
“I remember our arrangement. We take turns, I’ll come to clubhouse next time.”
Once he was on his bike, he called Marlow. “Any word on the strangers?”
“Your meeting with the big guy didn’t last a hot minute boss. Does that mean Dingo and Rags will come home soon?”
“They should be home by lunch. Cavanaugh is bailing them out for us. See that they’re fed and have a couple of whores ready for them.”
“Good news. We picked up your guys. One ain’t doin’ so good.”
“Great. I’m on my way. Keep them in the basement till I get there.”
♦♦♦♦♦
Thirty minutes later he was standing in the club house basement looking at the two men strung up in chains.
“Strip them down. Look for ink.”
Marlow and Decker began cutting away every stitch of clothing from the men. Hammer walked around them inspecting their tattoos. One man appeared to be in his mid-twenties and the other nearly twice that. Both had black hair and looked like they needed a good bath. One had tats sprawling over almost every inch of his torso and the other had them on each shoulder.
“Both of them are from the Grim Crew. Think the one with practically no tats is freshly patched.” He walked up to the older man. Poking a finger into the tattoo across his chest he asked. “Who’s Maria? Is she your old lady?”
The man attempted to jerk his body sideways to keep Hammer from touching him.
“I think she must be your lady for her name to be over your heart that way. Look here, you have a couple of dates. They appear to be birth dates…children perhaps?”
The man turned his face away, mumbling something about not speaking English.
Hammer grabbed his hair and jerked his head roughly back, exposing the venerable soft tissue of his neck.
“Don’t lie to me. You understand every single word I said. I can tell by your reaction. Want to tell me why your MC is hanging out at my kid’s school?”
The man spat in his face. “We look for little boys to sell. Maybe we sell yours.”
Hammer released a torrent of punches to the man’s body. “Now that we’re finished bullshitting each other, care to answer my question?”
The younger man moaned as he slid into unconsciousness. Hammer ripped a large bandage off his side revealing a fist sized wound.
“Would someone mind telling me exactly what the fuck that is?”
Marlow pulled his thumb in Decker’s direction. “You Sergeant’s packing a 45 these days. Big gun at close range, you do the math.”
“Fine. Get another damn adhesive. He’s making a mess.”
Marlow pulled another huge square and stuck it to the man’s side.
“I don’t’ know what these fuckers are up to, but we’re going to find out. Call in Rip and keep my boy covered at all times.”
Marlow nodded. “You got it boss. A couple of hours with Rip and they’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
“Have Rip talk to me before he gets started.”
Hammer could rip some information out a person, but he was quick and rough. Sometimes getting all the details takes a little finesse. Rip had a real talent for torturing information out of people. He used totally different techniques depending on whether the person was male or female, young or old, a biker or a civilian. He had it all figured out.
Hammer was in his office rummaging through his intel on the Grim Crew when Rip arrived. He had a rolled up leather pouch under his arm. Hammer knew without looking it was his tools of the trade.
“You know, you don’t need to carry the shit around with you. We have plenty of instruments that cause pain down in the dungeon.”
“I like to use my own, boss. It’s just how I roll.”
“Suit yourself, Rip. As you probably already know, we found these fuckers outside my son’s school. I need to know what they know…everything they know. Can you make that happen for me?”
“They’ll tell me everything. I promise you that. Might take a minute, but I’ll get it out of them.”
“Thanks, Rip. You always do your part to keep us safe. I really appreciate it.”
“Best get to work. We’re burning daylight.”
Hammer smiled that his friend was quoting his favorite expression back to him.