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Reuniting Monroe with her mother feels like a bigger deal than taking over the club or even hunting down the men who killed my dad. I need to do right by my honey. Our relationship has been effortless in most ways. She looks at me like I’m her hero. If I fuck up the situation and get Needy killed, Monroe might never forgive me.
Not that she’s thinking about that when we drive to Kansas. Sitting in the back seat, she mostly focuses on enjoying her first road trip with Lowell and me.
“Disney World is old news,” she says when I mention taking our kids to the amusement parks one day. “We had passes when I was little. I’d rather fly to California and try those parks.”
“What about the honeymoon?” Lowell asks.
“Indonesia,” I reply immediately. “I’d like to travel for a month, going from country to country.”
Monroe’s eyes brighten. “Is that even possible?”
“Of course.”
“You watched too much ‘Amazing Race’ with your mom,” Lowell mutters. “A month is too long to be gone.”
“Dude, I get it. You’ll miss me,” I say, spurring him to roll his eyes. “But I want to travel while I’m young and childless. Now, I have someone to experience it with.”
Monroe strokes my jaw and then smiles at her dad. “I’ve never been outside the country. Think of all the fun stories we’ll have to share with our kids one day. I loved hearing about the wild shit my mom did when she was young.” Lowell glances at Monroe, who smiles wider. “I bet you have juicy dish from your youth, too.”
Grinning, Lowell does a good job of pretending to be relaxed. But I know he’s stressed. He remains that way overnight at the hotel we stop at on our way to a town just outside Kansas City. He takes me aside—twice!—to explain how Monroe ought to wait behind.
“She isn’t trained to handle this shit,” he says, crowding me at the Mexican restaurant while his daughter dances around to music she can’t sing along with. “Monroe needs to be protected.”
“No, but thanks for trying to intimidate me. I needed the laugh.”
“Dickhead.”
The second time, he pushes a different angle. “What if we show up and shooting happens? Do you want Monroe to see Needy die? Or for you or me to take a bullet?”
Patting his chest, I explain, “If I’m going to die, I want her there to tell me goodbye. Hearing about it afterward would be worse.”
“That’s stupid.”
“What are we doing?” Monroe asks, crowding me on the other side as if helping Lowell. “People are starting to stare. I suspect they think you might make out.”
Lowell gives up on leaving her behind. I do notice he never considers asking her to obey. No, no, he wants to make me the bad guy. Typical lenient father shit. No wonder Dunning has such a foul mouth.
The next morning, we wait at a gas station parking lot for Aja’s group to arrive. My sister shows up fifteen minutes late, which is actually early for her. I take this fact as a sign that she’ll take today seriously.
Aja climbs out of the black SUV’s passenger seat. She’s ditched the nun outfit she used to contact Needy. Now, in a black tracksuit and a white T-shirt, she stops to tie her pink tennis shoes before walking to me. Behind her, two men and a woman exit the SUV.
“You said to bring muscle not patched into the Serpent’s Eye. This is all I could round up on short notice,” she says and then gestures at the big tatted monster to her right. “You remember my brother, Gully.”
“I figured you’d be a member of your dad’s club,” I tell the sandy-haired caveman biker.
“I bow to no man,” he growls dramatically.
“Yeah, but he’s got no problem with me busting his balls,” Aja says and points back at the other two. “The blond, pretty boy is my ex, Eckles. The redhead fox is my other ex, Minx. They’re tight with the Serpent’s Eye but not members.”
The fiery-haired woman gives me the once-over and then checks out Monroe. The well-coifed guy zeros in on my woman’s tits. I can’t really blame them. She’s looking all kinds of sexy in a too small Cedar Point T-shirt that I suspect she swiped from Amity.
“How hard are we going in?” Aja asks, making Eckles snicker.
“We plan to grab her when she goes to a doctor’s appointment. We’ll ride up, point our guns, look scary, grab her, and ride out of town.”
“Sounds easy,” Gully grunts. “Why are we here again?”
“Because this is personal business, and I don’t know if pointing our guns will make the assholes trigger-happy. Besides, Monroe can’t shoot for shit.”
“I can shoot fine,” she mutters despite how badly she did at the shooting range before we left Elko. “I just need the target to be very close.”
Aja grins at me. “This sounds easy. Let’s get her mom and bust out of this vanilla shithole before I start singing hymns and wondering if I can find a big strong man to think for me.”
Soon, we scope out the office building where Needy’s doctor is located. Yesterday, she faked ear pain to get an appointment. Everything is in order. Nothing seems out of place. Why am I so fucking worried?
“As soon as they enter the parking lot, we’ll box them in,” I explain while Aja leans into my window and Lowell sits in the driver’s seat. “We’ll swarm Needy’s car and grab her.”
“She usually has one escort. Two at most. Guys his age,” she says, gesturing toward Lowell, “but nothing hardcore. They’ll be armed, though.”
“Then be very scary, so they’ll be too busy pissing themselves to fire their guns.”
Aja smiles at me. “I’m notorious for being quite terrifying.”
“Without a doubt.”
“However, they might see my tits and feel less inclined to pee-pee their big boy pants. So, how about I drive your car and Minx handles ours. Then, you tatted badasses can flash your muscles at Needy’s escorts to ensure we get the response we want.”
Lowell approves of this idea. He switches to the passenger’s spot while Aja takes the wheel. I get in the back seat with Monroe, whose big brown eyes beg me for reassurance.
“The guys with Needy are small-time thugs. Don’t worry.”
Monroe tries to give me a smile but fails when her face gets stuck in paranoid mode. I know she won’t settle down until Needy sits next to her, and Lowell and I are safely back in the car. Once we’re out of town, Monroe will forget the panic she currently feels.
But for now, she gnaws violently at her bottom lip until I kiss it. “Don’t eat your face while I’m gone.”
Monroe starts to smile until Aja says Needy’s car has been sighted by her people.
“We’re on.”
Though Monroe opens her mouth to speak, she only stares fearfully instead.
“I know, baby,” I say as Aja gets ready to block Needy’s silver Explorer pulling into the parking lot.
Calming herself, Monroe offers me a weak smile. I force my gaze off her and focus on the incoming target.
In the past, I analyzed problems to death. I lost much of that hesitation when I was hunting the Killing Joes Motorcycle Club with Aja. Right now, in this SUV, the noise in my head shuts the fuck up until I feel completely calm.
The next few minutes move in slow-mo. Aja pulls our SUV in front of Needy’s. I see a man in the passenger seat. Needy must be in the back. The bulky driver honks at us. Then, he notices the black Suburban behind him, blocking his vehicle.
Our four car doors open as one. I never think to watch out for Lowell or the other two men. My instincts take over. Moving toward the silver SUV, I lift my shotgun and point it at the driver. Lowell yells for him to keep his hands on the wheel. I see the passenger muscle considering his options. Every fucking thought is written on the middle-aged man’s face.
Needy doesn’t wait for him to react. She opens her door immediately. I see him reach for her. My shotgun taps his window while Gully hollers at the men in what might be some form of English. Between the two of us, Needy’s guards are too distracted to stop her escape.
Once Monroe’s mother disappears into our Suburban, we back off toward our vehicles.
I climb into the back seat with Monroe and Needy while Lowell returns to the passenger spot. Aja doesn’t wait for us to speak before she speeds off past the Explorer and her friends. The second Suburban backs up enough to make a U-turn and follow after us.
Our two SUVs race down the main road, speeding toward the highway. I keep waiting for the cops or more muscle to take up the chase. Instead, this sleepy town goes about its business. No one follows. If payback comes, it’ll find us in Elko. For now, we seem to be in the clear.
