“You’re in a good mood this morning,” Cyra said, sitting down beside Quinn.
Quinn nodded with a grin. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“I don’t know how. I slept on one of those cots last night and my back is killing me.”
Quinn’s smile grew wider. “I slept pretty good.” She didn’t mention that was after Arsen had fucked her until she was so exhausted she could have slept on a pile of rocks.
After their romp in the back of the factory, they had redressed and snuck back to their cots, nobody apparently the wiser. But goddamn had he given it to her. She’d had four of the most face melting, brain shredding, toe curling orgasms of her life last night, and for the first time she could remember, she was totally, utterly, blissfully, satisfied. Whether it was the excitement of where they were, or she was finally no longer afraid, or the way he had looked at her when he promised to protect her, she didn’t know. What she did know was, that at the earliest opportunity, she was going to get him alone in his big bed, and see what he could do there.
“Lucky you,” Cyra muttered, then glanced up at the door to Church. “They’ve been in there a long time.”
“Yeah. Planning what to do about the Horsemen.”
“I hope they come up with something soon. I’m ready to sleep in my own bed again.”
Quinn nodded and grinned. She was ready to sleep in a bed too, but not her own.
***
“Are you sure that will work?” Arsen asked.
Gage nodded. “I know it’ll work.”
Arsen turned Gage’s idea over in his head. It was clever as hell…if it worked. Gage seemed confident and he trusted his brothers. “Okay. Let’s do it. Anyone have a problem with Gage’s plan?” None of the five men did.
“What are we doing for cover? The cops are going to be crawling up our ass when this goes down,” Zane said.
“Any ideas?” Arsen asked.
“Can’t the brothers say we were here?” Phil suggested.
“That will work, if we can’t come up with something better. But I would like someone other than brothers to swear they saw us.”
They talked the idea around but got nowhere. The suggestions were getting more and more crazy when the rap came on the door. “Lunch!” Michelle’s voice called.
“We’ll pick this up after lunch. Gage, you take a couple of brothers and go get what you need. You’re the key to this whole operation, so I want you to have plenty of time do what you need to do.”
“It shouldn’t take long to set up, but I’ll go right after lunch. I’m out of ideas anyway.”
The five men were the last ones to sit down. “How’s it going?” Quinn asked as she sat down at her place.
“We have a plan. The problem is how to get away with it. After the Horsemen hit us yesterday, we’re going to need an airtight alibi because the cops are going to be all over us,” Arsen explained.
“Just having us swear you were here won’t be enough?” she asked.
“Probably, but it would be better if someone other than members of the club could account for us.”
She thought about it as she slowly chewed. It would be tricky. They needed to be where people could see the club, but at the same time, being out in the open exposed them to the Horsemen.
“How many are going?”
“Five, why?”
“When?”
“We want to be there fairly early. Just after dark probably. We need them to be awake and alert for this work. Why?” he asked again.
“So you should be back by eleven?”
He bobbed his head as he thought. “Something like that I guess.”
“What if,” she began slowly, “we have a big barbeque at a park someplace?”
“Okay. And?” he asked as the brothers near him listened in.
“And there are forty-five of us here. Will anybody miss five? You park your car nearby before you arrive, then you slip away later in the car. Leave the bikes at the park. Do what you have to, then come back and ride away with the rest of the group. That big Indian of yours stands out, people will notice it. You go back and get the car later, or I could drive it there and you pick me up and take me to the park, then do the reverse on the way out.”
“I don’t know about that idea,” Arsen said slowly. “I don’t like the idea of being outside the compound. That makes you exposed.”
“Do you really think the Horsemen are going to ride into a public park and start gunning people down after yesterday? Besides, how would they know where we are? If you get to the Horsemen’s clubhouse and they’re not there, call us, and we come straight back here.”
Arsen looked at his brothers. “What do you think?”
“Udall park isn’t far from here. It’s Wednesday, so I bet we can still reserve a pavilion,” Zane said.
“I think there’s a Safeway, or something, across the street. We could all go in there and get on their surveillance tape,” Phil suggested. “That would be a good place to leave the van as well. It wouldn’t look out of place there, and if we stop for burgers, ice, beer, and the like, nobody would question if one of the old ladies drove up in it, then left on the back of a hog.”
“We’ll make sure those of us going on the trip are noticed. We’ll go in and pay for the pavilion and the like,” Zane suggest. “This might just work. It’s better than anything we came up with. Simpler too.”
“If word gets back here before we do, and the cops track us down, we’re fucked,” Arsen pointed out. He agreed it was a good a plan as any they had come up with, and better than most, but he always liked to play the devil’s advocate to make sure they hadn’t overlooked anything.
“The only fool proof way to not get caught is to not do it,” Zane said. “I think we should run with Quinn’s idea.”
Arsen looked around. “Agreed. The only thing that bothers me is…does anyone else feel stupid she thought of this in two minutes when we couldn’t come up with something as good in twenty? Or is it just me?”
The brothers and old ladies close enough to have been listening in snickered. “It’s not just you,” Zane grinned.
“The women have always been the brains of the club,” Michelle teased. “We just keep you men around to move heavy stuff.”
Quinn sat back and smiled in satisfaction.
***
“Why do you have to go?” Quinn asked later as they prepared to put their plan in motion. Gage had returned with what he needed and was busy constructing their surprise.
“We’ve been over his before,” Arsen replied.
“I know,” she said quietly, not meeting his eyes as she looked at her feet. “I feel like my life is beginning to get back to normal. You’re such a big part of that now. If I were to lose you…”
“You’re not going to lose me,” he said firmly. “Gage’s plan is a good one.”
He’d told her what they were going to do after lunch and she nodded in agreement. “I know. But something can always go wrong.”
“Then we’ll deal with it.” He grinned at her. “Relax. After tonight our problems will be over.” He brought his lips close to her ear. “Tonight, after the barbecue, we’ll be at home, in our own bed.”
She didn’t miss that he had said our bed. She looked up and smiled at him. “It’ll be nice to not sleep on the cot again tonight.”
“We might sleep…some.”
The implied promise made her shiver in anticipation. He had devastated her last night, and she looked forward to testing him again. “That means you have to come back.”
He smiled and pulled her into a slow, luxurious, kiss. “A down payment on tonight.”
***
At four o’clock, the Blades mounted up and rumbled out of their compound in force, thirty bikes strong. Toni, with three brothers in support, left early in the van to make their shipment drop and would meet them at the Safeway.
The Blades wandered through the store buying meat, bread, chips, drinks, everything they’d need to host a barbecue. Arsen, Zane, Gage, Phil, and Berk made sure to get themselves noticed by chatting up the women at the registers. The rest of the club following their lead and engaging the staff in conversation.
Bikes loaded down with supplies, they moved across the street to Udall park, where Zane paid for the pavilion they rented as Arsen and Gage hovered in the background. They took their sign showing they had reserved the pavilion and joined the rest of the brothers waiting outside.
They set up at their pavilion, Gage’s Street Glide sitting on the sidewalk while pumping out tunes. As expected, a park official showed up and told them to move the motorcycle. Arsen tried to reason with the man as Phil, Zane, Gage and Berk clustered around, putting on a good show to get them noticed, but he finally agreed and ordered Gage to put the bike back in the parking lot.
Gage grinned as he walked up. “They’ll remember us now.”
Two hours later, Arsen pulled Quinn into a loose hug, the other brothers doing the same with their old ladies. “We’re leaving. If we’re not back by the time the park closes, stall as long as you can. We’ll be hauling ass, but we’re cutting it fine.”
She kissed him softly on the lips. “We’ll make it happen. If we have to, I’ll ride your bike out.”
“Oh no,” he chuckled. “I saw what happened to the last bike you rode. We’ll be back.”
“You better. You’ve promised to help keep me awake tonight.”
He kissed her again. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”