“What’s the good word, Veep?”
Cade Everett lingered in the backroom of Pub 22, nursing a beer, as he scrolled through his smart phone. He barely registered the approach of George with his bulging belly and scraggly beard bellying up to the table without so much as an invitation to stay, let alone sit, and Lenny.
“What’s that fancy phone say that we can’t?” George continued. Cade couldn’t help but roll his eyes at George’s arrogance when it came to modern times. Thinking like that would keep the Alphas in the dark ages, just when they were trying to move back into the light. At least the new Boss Man was down, even if he stayed scarce for the moment.
“Just doing a little research,” Cade said.
“What the fuck is that about?” George asked with a bellowing laugh, as he slapped Cade’s back, pulling a loose cigarette from his vest pocket, as he struck a match on the heel of his boot, a slim stream of smoke leaving his lips. Forced to blink, as he slightly shifted his head, Cade slowly glared back at him, his jaw clenching as his hand curled into a fist under the table.
“Watch yourself,” Cade warned. “Pretty god damned sure I still outrank you. Would you make that bitch move with the Boss Man?”
George scowled liked a little boy called out on the carpet for tracking mud through his mother’s house. Not that the Pub was some pristine palace, but the last thing Cade would tolerate was this meathead’s disrespect.
“Whatever, man,” George muttered under his breath, even as he continued to smoke. “Play your fucking computer game.” Cade bristled at the insult, and he wrenched George’s free wrist behind his back as he rose to his feet. The big man cried out in pain, his cigarette falling to the floor in a smoldering heap of ash, as Cade stood tall and leaned in close to his ear.
“You want to say that again?” Cade threatened. “Maybe a little louder this time?”
“I…Jesus fuck, Cade. That shit hurts!”
“It’s supposed to,” Cade said, taking just a little bit more time to grind his nails into George’s skin. If he wanted, he could draw some blood; at the very least, the man would have a bruise to rival the marks on the girl’s forearms. Never one to lay hands on a woman, even a stranger whose face was starting to morph into a memory that he couldn’t quite place, there was no excuse for George’s actions. Cade waited until George finally bobbed his head, apologizing and saying it wouldn’t happen again.
“See that it doesn’t,” Cade hissed. “Remember your fucking place, prick.”
As soon as George nodded, Cade flung him aside like a damp towel, George’s gut protruding over his waistband, as the man and his chair crashed to the floor. Lenny started to scamper to his friend’s side, but Cade stepped in front the George’s fallen form, staring down into Lenny’s wide eyes, as he cracked his knuckles before his chest and silently challenged him to make a move in defiance.
“Cade, I—”
“He’s a big boy,” Cade said. “Let him find his own way back to his feet.”
Lenny stood aside, and Cade returned to the table and his phone. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as George moved to his knees, slowly but surely crawling up the wall to his feet. He massaged his wrist as soon as he was up and started to stomp off. As soon as he was at Lenny’s side, he looked back to Cade, waiting with heavy breaths until Cade deigned to look up at him again, staring with a frown and letting the silence hang in the air for several long seconds that felt as if they stretched into hours or longer.
“Something else?” Cade finally said. “You want to test your luck? Or do you have a real question?”
George huffed into the hair, his fingers still surrounding his injured wrist, as he licked his lips.
“The skirt,” George said. “She coming back around?”
“What’s it to you?” Cade said, the vein in his neck starting to throb.
“Just asking,” George said, trying and failing to sound meek, as Lenny ducked into the invisible line between the men’s glaring eyes and forced a small laugh.
“Didn’t…he didn’t mean anything by it,” Lenny insisted. “Probably just wants to make sure he…he, like, keeps his distance, you know.”
“That makes sense,” Cade said slowly, rising back to his feet, as he pushed past Lenny, stopping short of gripping George’s collar. “You get that she’s off limits, right? Stranger or not, girl has my mark on her. And if you even think about looking at her cross-eyed, next time I’ll rip your hand off. We clear, Georgie Boy?”
“She must have been some fine lay,” George snorted. Cade’s blood boiled, and he wheeled his arm back, ready to slam his fist into the man’s smug face when George bolted back, seemingly having learned at least some of his lesson, even if he couldn’t resist one last barb before heading back to the bar.
“Got it, Cade,” he said, a hint of mockery in his tone. “Can’t speak for the Panther pricks if they show up again.”
The rivals return to the bar had not escaped the forefront of Cade’s consciousness. Dawn still lingered at the forefront of his mind, as a nagging question tugged at the back of his brain. But two Panthers just appearing out of nowhere, making like they wanted nothing but a mug of suds when the Alphas had just come home to roost smelled far more rank than George’s stinking breath.
“Lenny?” Cade called out, as the little man tried to take his leave. “Hang back a second.”
Doing as he was told, Lenny let Cade lead him back to the table, righting George’s fallen chair as he ordered the man to sit.
“What’s up?” Lenny nervously asked. Seemed strange that the man could even wear the bright red A emblazoned across two steel bars, one stick for their fallen comrade, a matching bar for the new set of hands at the helm. He predated Cade, having slipped into the fold on his brother’s back and hung on tight when the Alphas were the only family he had left. Probably the best thing for the little guy; how the hell would someone like Lenny even hope of making it without some kind of protection at his back?
“The Panthers?” Cade asked. “Hear anything I need to know?”
If nothing else, Lenny could always be counted on to keep his ears open and his trap shut.
“Nothing…nothing you didn’t see Cade,” Lenny said softly.
And Cade had seen Norman Long and Atticus Dwyer loitering before the bar, as he took his time rubbing down Dawn’s arm with some ice from out back, his first glimpse of her creamy limbs when she lowered her leather and made him hard with a single look. Her short dark hair rested above an alabaster neck, and he knew in that moment that he’d have her before the night was out.
But still there were the Panthers.
“And what did I see?” Cade asked Lenny.
“Um…they were wetting their whistles?” Lenny said, trying to make a joke.
Nice enough guy but such a fucking loser, he thought. “I got that much,” Cade said. “Sure there was nothing else?”
“They…they like seemed surprised that we had even set up house again,” Lenny said. “You were the one that got all—”
Lenny stooped himself short, slapping his hand to his mouth, as he lowered his eyes.
“I’m not gonna hit you,” Cade said with a weary sigh. “And that’s bullshit. They had to know as much.”
And they made eyes at the girl. Even in that moment, he felt like she was only his to have and keep out of harm’s way.
“Sure thing, Cade,” Lenny said, his hands shaking against the tabletop, as he furiously nodded his head. “Guess we…guess we better keep an eye on them, right?”
“I’ll let the Boss Man know,” Cade said.
“You… you seeing him soon?” Lenny asked.
“We all are,” he reminded him. “Back at the barn.”
“Right!” Lenny said. “Time to make all our plans, right?”
“Absolutely.”
Lenny started to drone on about the girls bound to be on tap along with the beer, but Cade’s mind was already starting to wander. Boss Man left it to him to get the lay of the land before they pounced. Panthers aside, there was still the girl. Part of him wanted to bring her into the fold and present an old lady at long last. She looked the part. Smelled and tasted even better.
But it wasn’t until she was gone that he shot awake in his sleep. It was not a coincidence that she just stumbled upon the Pub and fell into his arms.
“Gonna be a high time,” Lenny continued. “Got my eye on a certain—”
“Good enough, Lenny,” Cade said, as he waved him off. “Let’s say you head out front. Wet your whistle.”
He didn’t catch the derision in Cade’s voice, smiling as he slapped his palms to the table and hurried off. Once he was alone again, Cade returned his attention to his phone, scanning through the browser as the girl’s name rested unspoken on his lips.
Smith. Dawn Smith. Her surname sounded too safe, but he’d thought nothing of it when he saw her body and felt her inside him. Being the only member of the crew to dwell in anything even close to the twenty-first century, the Boss Man wanted him to get a handle on the major players in town before the Alphas even crossed over the border. Some faces stayed the same. Mayor Wright split her time between town meetings and running a bakery. One of the many perks of Plainfield was that the government body had other priorities. The police force looked a little different. Instead of Lomax, once firmly planted in the club’s back pocket, the new man in charge was called Bauer, balding with a huge head resting above surprisingly long limbs. It might take a little maneuvering to get him on their side.
And what would the media have to say?
Plainfield Plough. Small potatoes to be sure, and it wasn’t like the major markets would give them a second look unless the club got sloppy and gave them some kind of a reason to think that the Alphas were back in search of their well-earned pound of flesh. He’d taken hardly any time scanning the photos of the names on the small town paper’s paltry website.
But now…
Scrolling through the directory, he slipped to the end of the alphabet.
Right there, in pixilated color, the name Dawn Sawyers hit his eyes. Sounded far more real, and the girl in the picture wore much less makeup, her hair longer and curled over her perfect neck in a loose bun. But no question that they were the same eyes, the same smile looking so proud and sure.
And Cade stuffed his phone into his pocket, as he headed out of the bar.
“Hey, Cade!” Lenny called out as he rushed by him. “Where are you—?”
“Something I have to take care of,” he said without looking back. “Hold down the fort.”
“Me?” Lenny asked, nearly choking on his beer as the rest of the Alphas laughed at his expense.
“Any of you,” Cade groaned. “I’ll be back.”
The day was just turning to night, as Cade climbed on his bike and hurried away from the outskirts of town. As he weaved over the road and under the trees, Cade kicked himself for not looking at her more carefully, for not remembering where he had seen her before. No excuse for such a lapse in judgment; there would be a price to pay if his mistake came to light. It might spoil the whole show for him and for…
Still the thought of having to silence her when he only wanted to kiss her again pressed down on his heart. Why couldn’t she be someone else, just any girl, instead of someone akin to the Panthers, instead of an enemy?
Hitting the Plough’s main base of operations, Cade parked in an alleyway and waited. What was his plan here? Barge in, hope that she might still be there, as she prepared to find him again and play him for a fool? No. Too risky, and it would open the Alphas up to all kinds of unwanted exposure when they were working overtime for stealth. Maybe he should wait until the building grew dark. Believing that he could crack the code without sounding the alarm, he imagined having the personnel files at his disposal, finding out where she lived and confronting the girl on her home turf. Just the thought of having to cause her any harm turned his stomach. However, if she really was a spy for some other side of the square, he had to deal with her. He had to ascertain what she knew and find a way to keep her quiet. The club was at stake, as was his life.
And maybe hers if she said too much to the wrong person.
Cade kept waffling between what felt like a thousand different courses of action when Dawn Sawyers emerged from the building with a bag over arm and her keys in her hands. Looking more like the girl from the website, her shorter hair aside, he took note of her conservative slacks and cream-colored blouse. There was a skip in her step, as she rushed to her car, and as soon as she revved up her motor, Cade watched her pull out onto the street, and he took a deep breath so he could follow at a distance and see where she would go. No way she was going back to the Pub dressed like that. Probably a good thing. George and even the likes of Lenny would be on her, call her a traitor before she even had a chance to spin her story and plead for her life. It was better for him to cut her off at the pass.
Whatever that might mean.
Cade stopped one block back, as Dawn left her car and headed up a small staircase. He watched as she unlocked her door and headed inside. No need to loot the Plough now; he had her locale. Pulling his bike deeper into the shadows, Cade fingered the gun in his holster. Only if push came to shove. Not a second sooner. Better to not have to do it at all. But to buy into her lie…
Was it something else? Was she just trying to take a walk on the wild side on a hunch and hope to have some fun? Hoping that it might be as simple as that, Cade took a deep breath, as he approached her door. Surprised by the sight of his hand shaking to rival Lenny’s quiver, Cade knocked and waited. His heart pounded in his ears, as he heard a pair of blinds shift open and fall again just as fast. She had to have seen him. No turning back now. Would she let him in? Or would he have to bust his way inside?
“Cade? What are you doing here?”
Once again she looked like his type of girl, her long legs spilling out of a short denim skirt under a sheer silver top. Dawn’s eyes seemed to know that she was caught, but she laughed it off and took Cade into her arms. He melted into her mouth and returned her kiss, wishing that he didn’t know. Easing her inside, as her arms winded around his waist, Cade kicked the door shut and reached behind his back for the lock as Dawn backed away and teasingly smiled.
“A nice surprise,” she started. “Guess you just couldn’t wait to get me back.”
“I…you look awesome,” he started.
“You think so?” she said, doing a little twirl, as he caught her in his arms again and pressed her close to his chest.
“But it’s not really your style. Is it, Miss Sawyers?”