Cody waited until the two men were gone to come out of the kitchen. Whatever was happening in West Virginia had to have something to do with the home invasion. Dax played it off to everyone, cops and club alike, that he didn’t know who the men were working for or what they were looking for. There had been six men altogether. One of them got away somehow in all of the chaos. Rocky had shot at him when he got to the front gates, but he hadn’t been able to stop him. There were three of them in the morgue and the other two spent some time in the hospital before they went to jail, yet the last Cody heard, they weren’t saying a word. But Dax was too laid back about it all. His home was destroyed and one of his old lady’s friends nearly killed…he should be tearing the town apart to find out who was responsible. Cody thought he wasn’t…because he already knew. The Irish Mayhem were from West Virginia. Cody wondered if they were the ones that needed an appraiser and if what they needed appraised was whatever they had taken from Dax. If Cody were that guy, he’d keep running. It was killing him to be in the dark, though, and as his thoughts ran through what he’d heard, he suddenly thought of the only person he’d have any hopes of getting any information from. He locked up the clubhouse, got on his bike, and drove over to Jimmy’s.

Jimmy’s bike was out front, but when Cody knocked, there was no response. It was too early for him to be in bed; the sun was just going down. Cody knocked again, this time banging hard and saying, “Hey! It’s Cody. I need to talk to you!” When he stopped banging he heard a shuffle inside and maybe a curse. Then at last Jimmy’s voice:

“Hey, man! I’m kind of busy. Can I get back to you later?” Cody could tell that Jimmy was right inside the door.

“Sorry if I interrupted before you got off, man, but this will only take a minute and I’ve already ruined it, so let me in.”

He heard a sigh, and maybe a whisper, and then the deadbolt being disengaged. Jimmy pulled the door open about halfway and Cody pushed his way inside. “Damn, man,” Jimmy asked, “where’s the fucking fire?” Cody turned to look at Jimmy and when he did, he laughed.

“Nice shorts.” Jimmy was wearing red boxers with a bright yellow waistband, one red sock, and nothing else.

“Shut the fuck up. What’s going on?”

“I need five minutes, okay?”

Jimmy rolled his eyes but motioned Cody toward the living room. Cody saw Jimmy glance nervously down the hallway as he did. He ignored Jimmy’s bizarre behavior and said, “I need a favor and you’re probably going to say no, but think about it before you do, okay?”

“What’s the favor?”

“Remember how much I love this club and how loyal I am and how I’d never do anything that might hurt it…”

“What do you want, Cody?”

“I need to know what’s going on in West Virginia. It has something to do with the home invasion, right? And the Irish Mayhem are somehow in the middle of it.”

“Why don’t you ask Dax if you ‘need’ to know?”

“Because he won’t tell me and you know it.”

“Which is why I’m not going to tell you either. Man, Dax trusts me and he just patched me in. I’m not going to jeopardize that for the sake of…what? Gossip?”

“I’m not asking you to gossip. I’m just asking you to treat me like I’m part of this club too and tell me what’s going on.”

“Why do you need to know, Cody? You’re a prospect. You need to know your place in this club. Unless Dax asks you to ride along with us, I don’t think you need to know anything.”

“Wow. Getting patched in kind of went to your head.”

“Fuck you. How about you show some respect? I bet you wouldn’t talk to Nolan or Handsome or any of the other guys the way you talk to me.”

“I’m supposed to show you respect? I sat in a fucking prison for eight years, doing whatever I was told whenever I was told to do it. I had to show respect to the guys from the club doing life in there. I had to show respect to the COs. I had to show respect to the shot callers. And meanwhile I didn’t hear one fucking word from you because you were out here disrespecting me. You owe me.”

Jimmy snorted. “I owe you? I worked for my position in the club, and Macy and I both explained to you how we ended up together. No one told you to go fucking beat some guy to death. You made that stupid decision all on your own.”

Cody forgot that his arm hurt as he took a swing at Jimmy. He was slow, and Jimmy caught the punch and used the momentum of it to push him back, sending a lightning bolt of pain shooting through his shoulder. They both ended up on the floor and just as they started grappling, Cody heard Macy’s voice.

“Stop it! Both of you stop this right now! You’re like wild animals!” Both men froze. It wasn’t her order that affected them. Cody knew Jimmy had a girl down the hall by the way he was dressed and how he was acting…but it hadn’t crossed his mind that it was Macy. Jimmy had obviously told her to lie low. Cody pushed Jimmy off him and got to his feet. Jimmy jumped to his as well. They were both still in fighting stance and staring each other down. Neither man had looked in Macy’s direction. “Both of you listen to me, because I’m not saying this again. I was in love with you, Cody. I was head over heels in love with you. Losing you and then making the decision I made about our baby nearly destroyed me. I was never a strong person, but I was completely broken. Jimmy, you came along and helped me heal, and no, Cody…he was not being an opportunist. Believe this or not, I made the first moves on him and he tried to tell me it wasn’t right. But we fell in love, Cody, and we had a good life here. When you came back we both forgot that for a minute. But it didn’t go away. I love him, Cody. I love Jimmy. I will always have a special place for you in my heart. You were my best friend and my first love. I’ll never forget that…but I made a life with Jimmy that I want back. No amount of you two rolling around on the floor is going to change that. So knock that shit off now! I’m sick of it!”

Cody hated to admit it, even to himself, but he had been arrogant enough to believe, since the day he walked out of prison, that Macy would never want anyone but him. Even while he’d been fooling around with Harley and developing feelings for her, in the back of his mind he thought it would be Macy he ended up with someday. It hurt to hear her say she loved Jimmy, but surprisingly, not as much as he’d thought it would. He was proud of her for standing up for herself. It was something she rarely did. He finally took his eyes off Jimmy and looked at her. It dawned on him that she looked miserable. She’d looked miserable since the first time he laid eyes on her after he came home. He’d let himself believe that was because she wanted him, while all the while it was Jimmy that she wanted…she’d just felt guilty and confused. He was the one making her miserable. He’d never wanted that. He looked from her to Jimmy and finally relaxed his posture and took a step back.

“I’m sorry. Shit. You’re right. You’re both right. Nobody told me to do what I did. Nobody was obligated to put their life on hold while I was paying for it. Macy, I want you to be happy. I love you. I will always love you.” He could see Jimmy’s posture tightening again out of the corner of his eye and he looked back at him. “I’m sorry, Jimmy. You’re right. You deserve my respect. I need to remember my place in this club. I hope one day we can be friends again the way we were before, but in the meantime, I promise to give you the respect that patch deserves…and to leave your old lady alone.”

Macy and Jimmy both stood where they were as Cody went toward the door. He was almost there when Macy said, “Thank you, Cody. I want you to be happy too.” He smiled at her and nodded and then reached for the door handle, and Jimmy started talking,

“Liam is pissed about Stitch. Instead of fencing some coins that Dax had, he staged the home invasion and they stole them. The ride to West Virginia is to get them back.” Cody turned and looked at Jimmy.

“This is because of me, then. Why isn’t Dax asking me to go too?”

“Because you’re too hotheaded and unpredictable, Cody.”

“He’s afraid I’ll get someone hurt.”

“He’s afraid you’ll get yourself hurt. Dax thinks of you more like his kid than just another one of the brothers, or just a prospect. He’s going to protect you at all costs, even if it means keeping things from you so that you don’t go and do something that will get yourself killed.”

Cody felt like a bigger fool about that than he did about thinking Macy wanted him. Dax was working overtime and everyone was risking their lives because he couldn’t get his shit together. “Be safe,” he told Jimmy. Jimmy nodded. With one last look at Macy, he left the house and got on his bike. He had a lot of soul-searching to do.