Brawn

 

“Okay, do we have time to go over the gritty stuff?” I asked after she sent her email to Amanda.

 

“There’s gritty stuff? Oh, of course there is,” she said.

 

“You didn’t think this was going to be easy, did you?” I asked her, laughing. “You’re talking about trying to take down a man who has connections with people who can make you disappear without a question. Yes, there will be gritty stuff.”

 

She narrowed her eyes. “Something’s different.”

 

“Probably. Let’s get down to business, then.” I knew what she meant, but we didn’t have time to get sidetracked to talk about our feelings. I was beginning to understand her feelings even if she’d been reluctant to open up about them.

 

But we had work to do. I drank the last of the bourbon in my glass and set it down.

 

“What are you thinking?” she asked. From her tone, I couldn’t tell if she was asking about my idea for a plan or my feelings. I went with the plan.

 

“You organize things with the law enforcement officer you talk to later tonight. Tell them to be ready. I would recommend using your phone to either record the conversation or as an open line so the officer can hear what’s going on.”

 

“An open line?” she asked.

 

“Yeah, call the officer and put the phone on speaker. Then, have him mute his end so you can’t hear him but he can hear everything that goes on in the room perfectly. He’ll be able to record it, too, so you’re good there. If he’s unwilling to do that, then you can at least use the phone as a voice recorder. There’s an app for that factory-installed in most phones. If you don’t have it, download a free one,” I explained to her, pulling up my phone to show her the recorder.

 

“Okay.” She looked like a deer caught in the headlights while she listened to me.

 

I put a hand on her knee and gently stroked her leg. “You’ll be fine,” I said, forcing myself not to think about her body while we talked.

 

She nodded. “What about you guys?”

 

“I’ll have to talk to Shift or James, but we need to be around. I’d prefer to have some guys without their kuttes on the jobsite, looking like workers. I know we can blend in, but I also know your father watches like a hawk,” I said, thinking out loud.

 

“No, it’s fine. I’ll keep him busy. You guys show up after I do. No bikes. He’ll know,” Maria said quickly, and I could hear in her tone how eager she was to contribute.

 

“Great. Yeah, we can all ride out in a pickup, like the work truck I kept.” I grinned. “I can bring that baby out of retirement and use it to get a few guys in there. We don’t want too many, but we need to be ready in case anything goes wrong.”

 

“Goes wrong?” she asked.

 

I shook my head. “Don’t let this scare you. You’ve come too far already to get scared by anything that’s left ahead of you, okay?” I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her so she was facing me. “Okay?”

 

“Yeah, okay. Besides, you’ll be there.”

 

“Damn right, we will be. Our old ladies have embraced you, whether you realize it or not, and everyone thinks you’re my old lady anyway,” I said, putting on a dismissive tone. I didn’t want to get into that discussion anyway.

 

She blushed and smiled. “If they say so,” she said.

 

“Right,” I laughed. “Look, if your dad tries anything stupid, or if any of his connections show up to try anything stupid, we’ll be there. We’ll be packing; we always are. We’ll handle it before the police have a chance to respond. And we’ll get you out of harm’s way. Got it?”

 

She nodded vigorously but didn’t say anything as the smile left her face, replaced by worry.

 

“Look at me, Maria. I need to know you understand what I’m telling you. If anything goes sideways, we’ll be there to back you up,” I said again, driving it home.

 

“I got it,” she said finally.

 

“Good. Now, the main reason I want to be there is so when they come to get your dad, we can swoop in and grab you. I want you to get out of the way as quickly as you can when they storm the jobsite. Get away from your dad and away from the cops. We’ll grab you and head out quietly,” I explained.

 

She laughed. “Always trying to kidnap me.”

 

“I’m hoping one day, when I try to whisk you away, it actually works. So far I keep having to take you back, like I have to do tonight,” I joked. There was no need to be too serious about it. It was going to be a breeze.

 

“Speaking of which—” She turned and closed her laptop. “I need to get back before my father gets home.”

 

I started to reach out to her face, but decided against it. I didn’t want to complicate things even more than they already were. We needed to work on simplifying shit, not making it worse all the damn time.

 

“Look, it might be best if I call you a cab,” I said. “That way I’m not riding back over to your dad’s and risking causing more drama than it’s worth.”

 

Her expression faltered. Her shoulders slumped, briefly. She composed herself again almost immediately and put a smile back on her face. “I get it. Not a bad idea.” She pulled her backpack on over her shoulders. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” She said it as a question.

 

“You know it. Call me when you’re on your way so we know when to be there,” I told her. “If there are any problems between now and then, let me know.”

 

“I will.” She leaned forward and kissed me lightly on my cheek before turning and walking toward my door.

 

I stayed where I was and pulled out my phone to call for a cab to come pick her up. I watched her walk away as I told him where to get her and where to take her. I waited a few minutes and walked outside behind her as she got in the cab. I walked up to the driver side door and tapped on the window. When the driver let it down, I slipped him a couple of bills.

 

“You weren’t here,” I said in a low voice.

 

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

 

“Thanks,” I said and tapped the top of the car to send him off. I looked into the backseat when the car passed me, making eye contact with Maria. She looked confused, but I had my reasons for sending her away the way I did.

 

If Lucas Kelly knew Maria had come to my house, it would have blown the entire operation. He would have figured out that she was spying on him. He would have known I was planning on mobilizing The Twisted Ghosts against him. He would have known he had been found out, and that wouldn’t have ended well for anyone.

 

I pulled my phone back out as I walked inside.

 

“Hey, brother, what’s up?” Shift asked, happy to hear from me. I could hear the thumping bass of his strip joint in the background.

 

“I need some help, brother. We’ve got some information to help us take down Lucas Kelly.”

 

“You’re calling for help? Is everything okay?” he asked, concerned.

 

I laughed. “Okay, yeah, I’m calling for help. And I’m calling before shit goes sideways, okay? Funny.”

 

“Hey, I don’t mean any offense, man, but you’re the last person to call for help. What’s going on?”

 

“Maria has found some connections to Carlisle and a few other mob guys.”

 

“Carlisle? Damn, I thought we forced him into retirement.”

 

“Well, he’s still retired from gambling. He’s using real estate now to help him launder money, and he’s using a lot of it. He owns several office parks in the area, and guess who built all of them,” I said, trying to build the suspense.

 

“You did,” my brother replied. He laughed hard at me. “You built those damn buildings for Lucas Kelly, and the whole time, he was working for guys like Carlisle. Oh, man, this is good stuff. I’m crying over here.”

 

“It’s really not that funny, Shift,” I insisted.

 

“The whole time, you were telling me you thought he was in deep with these guys, and you were right, little brother. So, she’s figured out who he’s working for. I’m sure that’s where a lot of his money is coming from, too.”

 

“Oh yeah, definitely, but she can’t find any definite proof. Anyway, tomorrow, she’s going in and she’s going to try to get her dad to confess on tape. She’s going to try to have a cop listening the whole time,” I explained.

 

“And you want some guys on site just in case shit goes sideways.”

 

“You got it, brother.”

 

“Hell yeah. I know the drill. No kuttes. Normal clothes. Packing. Blend in. Man, it’s like the good old days. I just hope we get some action while we’re there. Don’t want to get all dressed up with no one to punch in the face.”

 

And that was where I differed from most of the guys in the MC. I didn’t mind a fight if it found me, but I wasn’t looking to start one just for shits and giggles. I didn’t see the point of it. It wasn’t fun. It didn’t feel good. But to guys like my brother, that kind of action was like a drug.

 

“It’s likely to happen, Shift. I think he’s got a few mob guys on payroll watching the jobsite. So if they figure out we’re there, they’re liable to start something,” I told him.

 

“Excellent. I’ll call James and Mark to let them know. Head on over to the clubhouse to get everything together, man. We got you and your old lady’s back.” I could hear the smile on his face in his voice.

 

“She’s not my old lady, Shift.”

 

“Bullshit. Look, don’t be afraid of it, brother. If you don’t tie her down, you’re going to lose her. She’s too smart to hang around if it’s not going to do anything for her. Don’t forget, I’ve met her. She’s too good for you, bro,” he joked.

 

“Whatever. Just call the guys and let them know I’m on the way.” I hung up the phone. He didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. Too good for me. Too smart to hang around. Shift could talk some shit when he wanted to.

 

I took my bike out to get my work truck from the place where I’d hidden it. I put the bike in the back so I could leave it at the clubhouse when we left for the jobsite in the morning. I drove to the clubhouse and pulled in to find James and Shank waiting for me.

 

“Brawn,” James said, embracing me. “Been a while, brother.”

 

Shank just nodded and stood there with his arms crossed, trying his best to be intimidating, but he was one of the guys I felt had no business being there. We weren’t all cut out to be The Twisted Ghosts, but he was our president’s son, so what could we do?

 

“Did Shift talk to you?” I asked as we walked inside.

 

“Yeah, and we put the word out. I’ve got a few guys coming by tonight who’ll be ready to help you in the morning. I figure we can grill out this evening and hang around the clubhouse tonight so everyone’s ready to go first thing. Sound good?” James asked with a crooked smile on his face.

 

I laughed. “Man, you don’t give a shit what we do as long as we can turn it into some kind of party, huh?” I asked him.

 

“Hell yeah. What’s the point of all of this if we can’t enjoy it, brother?” He clapped a hand on my back and wandered off, leaving me with the members playing pool downstairs.

 

James was like a father to most of the guys in the MC. He’d been around and he’d seen some pretty dark shit, but he hadn’t let it get to him. He was an inspiration. He’d be the first to tell anyone who asked that anything we did was just to preserve our lifestyle and make sure other people after us had the chance to live life as freely as we did.