“Did you get this?” Saul asked as he showed Dallas the email.

 

“No. What’s Abana want?” Dallas asked, shading the screen of Saul’s phone with his hand so he could read the email. “What’s he talking about?” he asked when he was finished.

 

“I have no idea.” Saul looked at the email again. “We can’t move the shipment up, can we?”

 

Dallas shook his head. “No way. It’s already on the water. It’ll be in Corpus Christi in a couple of days. Figure a day in customs, then we can get it to him. But he wasn’t supposed to take delivery for, what, another thirty days?”

 

Saul reread the email. “How the hell did he lose so much hardware? And, more importantly, why does he think we had anything to do with it?”

 

Dallas shrugged. “Damned if I know.”

 

Saul nodded and began to type a reply. “Let me see if I can find out what the hell is going on. Why the fuck did this have to happen now, when we’re tied down with this shit?”

 

“It’s been pretty quiet today. Maybe we can start pulling back.”

 

“Maybe,” Saul muttered as he stared at the small screen and typed with his thumbs. “But it’s Sunday and only the second day. Let’s see what happens tomorrow before we claim victory.” He finished typing and pressed Send. “Let’s see what Abana has to say. Maybe we’re just not reading his email right.”

 

The two men looked up as a woman approached, and Saul dropped the phone into his pocket out of habit. “Mr. Houston, Johnny wants to see you.”

 

“It’s Saul, and okay. Lead the way.” He looked at Dallas and shrugged then followed the woman.

 

She led him to the edge of the crew when a voice cried, “Lock it down!”

 

She put her hand in his chest and placed her finger to her lips just as a tone sounded. “Speed!” someone else called from his right.

 

“Action!” Johnny said. Saul took a step the side and watched as Angela and Bradley had a lengthy discussion about something, a long boom with a fuzzy mic held over their heads as they slowly walked, a camera rolling along with them on tracks. When the tone sounded again and the crew began to move, the woman cut a weaving path through the crew.

 

“Let’s do it one more time. Bradley, I want you to put a little more oomph into it, okay? Remember, your dad was just killed and Tanya is being blamed for it.”

 

“Johnny, Saul is here,” she said then stepped back out of the way.

 

Johnny turned away from the screen he’d been watching. “Saul, good. As soon as we complete this shot, we’re wrapping, finishing, for the day. Good job on the crowds today and last night. Best three grand we’ve spent yet. We’re going to be shooting some second unit stuff tomorrow. Can you spare some men for that?”

 

Saul grinned. I thought bikers used a lot of slang. “Second unit? That means you will be on two locations at the same time?”

 

Johnny gave him a crooked smile. “Yeah. First unit is this one, where the stars are. Second unit films all the other stuff. Drive-bys, establishing shots, close-ups of hands or props, anything that doesn’t have the stars in it. Second unit is pretty low key, but with all the trouble we’ve had…” He paused and shrugged. “Tomorrow we’re going to shoot establishing shots, buildings and the like, so the audience will know where we are when we cut to an interior. If you can spare the men, it might be helpful when wrangling the crowd.”

 

“I think we can work something out. How many?”

 

Johnny shrugged. “I have no idea. Probably not more than ten or twelve. Like I said, there is no star power to draw the crowds, and the shots are usually quick without a lot of elaborate setup. Even having people in the shots isn’t a problem so long as they aren’t mugging or looking at the camera. That’s where you come in.” Johnny grinned. “Want to give your guys some walk-ons?”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“We’ll put them in the scene for crowd effects if you want. You’ll have to lose the colors, but otherwise…”

 

Saul snorted then grinned. “Our faces might break the cameras.”

 

Johnny chuckled. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Most of the Pagans he’d see so far were good looking guys. Especially Saul. Tall and well built, with broad shoulders and a trim waist, he had the triangular shape women loved. Add in his sun-kissed skin, muscular arms, and the slight swagger in his walk, he had the classic rugged American hero look. Not only did he have the body, but with his strong chin and cheek bones, deep brown eyes and sandy blonde hair, Johnny knew the camera would love him in a close up. Saul had leading man written all over him and Johnny wondered what would happen if he were to put the guy in front of a camera.

 

Saul nodded. “We’ll make it happen.”

 

Johnny grinned. “Excellent. That’s a four am call at the hotel for the second unit. See Hayden Jefferies. He’s the second unit director and he can tell you what he wants.”

 

Saul pulled out his phone and typed a moment so he wouldn’t forget. “Hayden Jefferies, La Palacio Hotel, 4 am,” he muttered as he typed. “Got it. Anything else?”

 

“No, that’s it. First unit has a 10 am call at…” he paused. “Shit, I can’t remember now. Patricia! Where are we starting tomorrow?”

 

The woman who had come for him flipped through her notes. “At the convenience store. 2209 Jacaman Road.”

 

“Know where that is?” Johnny asked.

 

“We can find it.”

 

“See you there. Oh and, Saul, we’ll have plenty of water available,” Johnny said as he gave him a grin and a wink.

 

Saul chuckled. “You heard about that?”

 

“Saul…” Johnny began then chuckled, “everyone heard about it.”

 

“Am I in trouble?”

 

Johnny’s grin spread. “Personally, I think she needed it. Just don’t be too much of an asshole.”

 

Saul smiled and gave him a small salute before walking away.

 

***

 

“Any word from Abana?” Dallas asked as he lounged in his chair in the Pagan clubhouse, sipping a beer. Katalin, his old lady, was sitting on the arm and sipping a beer of her own. Most of the brothers were gone, but a few were still hanging around, discussing the news that Abana’s compound had been hit.

 

“Not a peep,” Saul said.

 

“Why the fuck did he think we were involved?” Andy asked.

 

“No idea.”

 

“What are you going to do?” Maria, Caleb’s old lady, asked.

 

“Nothing,” Saul replied before taking another pull from his beer. “Not until I hear back from him and find out why—” He paused as the door opened.

 

“Hey, baby,” Alicia said as she ambled in. “Muriel said you were here.” She planted a long wet kiss on Saul.

 

“Yeah. Just winding down and cooling off,” Saul said. Alicia was just a club girl and she wasn’t in the loop.

 

“I’m free tonight if you want some company.”

 

He grinned. “I might.”

 

She swayed into the kitchen and returned with a beer of her own and a fresh one for Saul, handing him his before lounging on the arm of the chair as Katalin was doing. “How goes the security gig?”

 

“Not bad. Hot as hell just standing around in the sun.”

 

“I wish I had been there last night when you kicked that guy’s ass.”

 

“You heard about that?”

 

Alicia smiled. “Maria told me.”

 

“Jesus, nothing is secret around here,” he teased, though he knew none of the old ladies would ever talk about the club’s off book activities.

 

Alicia grinned. “Watching you kick some punk’s ass turns me on.”

 

“Not that you need much,” Haven, Andy’s old lady, said with a grin.

 

Alicia smiled back and tipped her beer in acknowledgement. She couldn’t help it if she was horny all the time. Of course, having Saul in your bed would be enough to make Mother Teresa horny. “What can I say? I’m just a randy slut,” she grinned, causing everyone to laugh. She’d never been shy about her abundant sexual appetite.

 

“I’ll shoot you a video next time,” Kyle chuckled.

 

“Please do,” Alicia purred, playing to her friends.

 

“There wasn’t a lot to see,” Andy said. “Hell it was over in…” He paused as there was a rap on the door. The Pagans looked at each other as the women moved away and clustered farther back in the room. Nobody came calling on a biker clubhouse…nobody with half a brain anyway. The men rose and pulled their pistols. It was probably nothing, but better to be sure.

 

As Andy, Caleb, Dallas and Kyle hung back, out of the line of fire of the front door, Saul approached, his weapon up and ready. He peeked through the peep and then turned to grin over his shoulder. “Relax,” he said as he opened the door. “Bradley. What are you doing here?”

 

“Hey man. I wanted to come see how the other half lives. I hope you don’t mind.”

 

Saul thought about it. The clubhouse was theirs, and they jealously guarded their privacy, but how often you have a Hollywood star pay you a visit? “Come on in,” he said as he stepped back.

 

“Thanks,” Bradley said with a smile as he stepped into the clubhouse. “This is amazing,” he said as he looked around. The walls between the rooms had been taken down, opening up the living room, dining room and kitchen into one large area, with a wide opening into the enclosed and finished single car garage for additional space. The main room had been decorated in leather and wood, with Harley and Pagan memorabilia on display through out the room. The kitchen, or what was left of it, housed a sink, dishwasher, and huge refrigerator, but no stove and very few cabinets.

 

“You know, I’ve always wanted to do a movie where I could play a biker. Do you mind if I take some pictures of this place…as inspiration for an art director?” Bradley asked as he pulled out his cell.

 

“Actually, I do. Sorry,” Saul said holding up his hand.

 

Bradley grinned and tucked his phone back into his pocket. “No problem. This part of your gang?”

 

Saul chuckled and gave his head a small shake. “First off, we’re not a gang, we’re a club. We—”

 

Bradley held up his hands in surrender and smiled. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to offend.”

 

“Don’t worry about. As I was going to say, we don’t go around mugging little old ladies, smashing windows, or terrorizing the common folk. We’re just a group of men and women who enjoy riding together.”

 

“Club. Got it.”

 

Saul grinned. It was impossible to dislike the guy. “This’s Dallas, my VP, and his old lady, Katalin.”

 

Saul paused as Bradley stepped forward and shook both of their hands. “Nice to meet you. Bradley Hoffman.”

 

“Over there is Andy, my Sergeant at Arms, and his old lady, Haven.” Again Bradley shook their hands as he introduced himself. “That’s Kyle, my Secretary and Treasurer, and his old lady, Maria.” Bradley continued down the line. “Finally, that’s Caleb and his old lady, Gemma.”

 

Bradley finished shaking hands. “And who are you?” he asked as he took Alicia’s hand.

 

“Alicia. Alicia Lynch.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Alicia.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Bradley. Did I see you in Smokejumpers?”

 

Bradley grinned, obviously delighted to be recognized. “I was. I was Danny McKay.”

 

Alicia’s face split with a grin. “I thought I recognized you!”

 

“You saw the movie?”

 

“I did! I loved it! The scene where you were racing out of the forest with Tillie while the fire was burning all around you…that was amazing!”

 

Bradley’s smile grew wider. “It was pretty amazing…but you should have seen it when we were filming it. All the smoke came from smoke machines, all the scenes of us in the truck were shot while the truck was on a rig so it would shake, and the biggest flame anywhere around was someone’s lighter. That’s movie magic, baby.” He gave her a leering grin as he winked and made his hands into pistols that he pointed at her.

 

Alicia oozed in close. “The scene where you and Tillie were making love in the fireproof tent…that was so hot!”

 

Bradley nodded. “Yes, well, a little fictional license there. In real life the tents are tiny and for one person only, and if there were a real forest fire around and you thought you were going to die, I don’t know how much love-making you would be up for.”

 

“I don’t care; it was still hot.”

 

Saul grinned as Alicia melted and ran all over Bradley, and he had a difficult time not staring at her breasts as she pressed into him. “How did you know where to find the clubhouse?”

 

Bradley pulled his attention back to Saul. “That was the easy part. Laredo PD knows where it is, and we have a couple of cops as consultants on the shoot. A quick phone call was all it took. I decided to borrow one of the production vehicles and come see what the place looked like.”

 

“Want a beer?”

 

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

 

Bradley spent the next hour talking with the Pagans, swapping stories, and asking questions. The Pagans answered those they could and made up sometime when they wanted to keep what the club really did under wraps. They’d been doing it for years and their patter was natural, easy and believable.

 

As they talked, Saul noticed Bradley’s hand subtly exploring Alicia, something she was encouraging. “Alicia, do you want to show Bradley the rest of the clubhouse?” he asked with a grin.

 

“Do you mind?”

 

He shook his head. If Bradley wanted a taste of the wild side, he would give it to him. “No, and take your time.”

 

Alicia rose, dragging her hand down Bradley’s arm until she gripped his fingers. “You want to see the back of the clubhouse?” she purred, her voice dripping sex and promise.

 

He grinned as he rose. “Sure. Why not.”

 

She took his bottle and sat it on the floor before tugging at his fingers as she took two steps back, then turned, pulling him along behind her. They disappeared down the short hall and they heard the door to one of the guest rooms shut.

 

Saul grinned at the rest of the Pagans. “He’ll have some stories to tell when he gets back to his hotel.”

 

Dallas snickered. “Why?”

 

Saul’s grin widened as he shrugged. “Alicia obviously wanted to, and it’ll probably be her one chance to fuck a Hollywood star, so why not let her? Nobody can say we don’t treat our guests well.”

 

***

 

It took an hour before Alicia and Bradley appeared again. They were flushed and bed tossed, but smiling. “Enjoy yourself?” Saul asked.

 

Bradley chuckled. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I have to get back before they send someone looking for me, but thank you for the hospitality. I learned a lot.”

 

“You’re welcome. If you get to a chance to do the motorcycle movie, let us know. We’ll offer our services as consultants to make sure you get it right.”

 

Bradley grinned and nodded. “I’ll do that.” He looked around again, obviously taking it all in, then gave Alicia a gentle kiss. “I enjoyed it.”

 

“Me too,” she whispered.

 

“If you ever get to LA, look me up. I’ll show you a little of my world,” he said, addressing the rest of the men and women.

 

“We’ll do that,” Dallas said as he rose to usher Bradley out.

 

As the door shut behind him, Saul turned to Alicia. “How was it?”

 

She grinned before pulling him into a torrid kiss. “He’s good looking as fuck, but I need you to finish what he started,” she breathed as she pulled back from his kiss and began to tug him down the hall. “He can’t eat pussy worth a shit and then came too fast.” She looked at the rest of the Pagans. “You’ll have to excuse us, but this can’t wait,” she called as she turned and dragged him along.

 

Saul could still hear his brothers and sisters laughing as Alicia led him into the room she’d just left and shut the door.