I sigh, my mind calming a little. “All right. Thank you.”
“No problem, man. Just remember, you owe me one.”
“Yeah? So that takes one off all the times you owe me, right?”
He laughs. “That sounds about right.”
Saying good-bye, I hang up and walk into the clubhouse, ready to get church over with already. I just left Ali not even twenty minutes ago but fuck if I don’t miss her right now. It’s only been a few days since I told her about part of my past but she’s already embedded herself in my soul, and I know there’s no letting her go. I don’t even care that she makes me watch those stupid fucking TV shows as long as she’s in my arms and I get to hear her sweet laugh as I make fun of the people on the screen.
“Dude,” Chance says from the couch next to the door as soon as I walk in, “you’re not even trying to hide how whipped you are anymore.”
“Shut the fuck up, Chance,” I growl, shoving him, and he laughs but it’s not convincing. Chance may give me a hard time about Ali but I know that he wants to find a good girl and settle down, too. After all the shit he dealt with from his mom growing up, he wanted a family, and even though he’s found a sense of family in the club, he still wants more. He’s tried a few times but it just didn’t work out. That’s what happens when you try to turn a hoe into a housewife.
“Church,” Blaze barks from the doorway before turning and disappearing back inside. Everyone stares at the spot he just was for a moment before standing up and filing in. I glance over at Chance, and he shrugs. We take our seats as Blaze waits for us at the head of the table, a grim expression on his face. Once we’re all seated, he bangs the gavel on the table and clears his throat.
“Listen up, y’all. We’ve got two jobs this week, and they are both at the end of the week so I want extra surveillance leading up to the transfer. We don’t need another situation like last time. Storm’s eye is just starting to go back to normal.”
“Yeah, fuck you,” I half-heartedly say to Blaze, and he barely cracks a smile as chuckles ring out from around the table.
“Now, I plan on takin’ both of them over to Emma and Nix’s so I want two of you to go out there and beef up security. The last thing we need right now is trouble at their place.”
“What exactly are you wantin’ out there?” Smith asks.
“Lights, cameras, and motion detectors, at least. Maybe an electric fence along the front and sides, too.” Smith’s eyebrows shoot up, and he looks over to me for an explanation but I’ve got no idea what’s going on with our president right now. I glance around the table, and the same concern is etched across everyone else’s face as they all stare back at Blaze.
“Next Friday is the first job. Her name is Sammy, and she’s Biche’s girl.”
“Shit,” I curse under my breath as the men around the table echo the same.
“As you might remember, Biche is the piece of shit that set Henn up and got him locked up. He’s moved up the ranks since Henn’s arrest, and no doubt he’s got guys keeping an eye on Sammy. Her best friend is the one who called us. Sammy is on board and ready to leave but she has no access to a phone or anything. We’ve got to figure out who’s watching her without being seen ourselves and form a plan to get her out of there without alerting the bodyguards.”
“Understood, Prez,” Moose says, nodding at Blaze. Blaze just nods in response, looking down at the sheet of paper on the table in front of him.
“The other one is on Saturday. Her name is Nadia, and she’s got a three-month-old baby girl with her. Husband is a shrimper so he’ll be gone all day, and it should be fairly easy.”
“You know better than to say that, Blaze,” Streak says, and Blaze sighs as he nods. His face falls even more as he looks down at the paper in front of him and runs his hand through his hair.
“This morning, I got a call from the nurse that helped Dina out when she came into the ER.”
“She got a new girl that needs help?” Red asks from the back, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans back in his chair. Blaze shakes his head.
“Dina was brought back into the ER last night with a serious brain injury, five broken ribs, and a lot of internal bleeding. They were able to stop the bleeding but when they examined her, it became clear that there was no brain function, and her mother made the decision to turn off life support.”
A hush falls over the room, and I feel like I can’t breathe as the past tries to assault me. It feels all too familiar.
“It’s unclear right now what happened. She may have gone back to him or he may have found her. All we know is that no one can find her boyfriend but Rodriguez is looking for him.”
“She wouldn’t have gone back,” Chance says, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You don’t know that, Chance. We’ve been doing this long enough to know better,” Blaze says.
Chance slams his fist on the table, and everyone turns to him. An outburst is completely out of character for him but I know how seriously he takes helping these women. “No. She wouldn’t have gone back. He was right there when we were picking her up. He begged her to come back, and if she didn’t fold then, she wouldn’t have gone back to him.”
“Look, Chance,” Fuzz says, slapping a hand on his shoulder, “we all want to believe that she wouldn’t put herself in that position again but we just don’t know.”
“Anything else?” Blaze asks, scanning the table, and I nod.
“Yeah, I got a call just before we came in here, and the Ian situation is taken care of. He’s got himself an all inclusive five-day, four-night stay in the sick bay.”
Blaze turns his gaze on me, and it’s obvious how much Dina’s death is eating away at him. “You sure?”
“He got the message loud and clear.”
He nods, looking down again as he sighs. “Heard. But keep an eye out. The bastard was deranged six years ago so I can only imagine how messed up he is now. If we need to go further with this, we need to do it smart.”
“Understood.”
He studies me for a moment before nodding and turning back to the table. “Smith and Fuzz, I want you to take care of the security at Nix’s place. They’re waitin’ for you.”
“On it, boss,” Fuzz says, shooting Blaze a mock salute while Smith nods in agreement. This is what these two live for. Emma and Nix’s place will be harder to get into than the White House. Blaze nods and bangs the gavel on the table, storming out of the room before anyone else can even stand.
I’m sure he’s taking the Dina situation pretty hard but it’s best to let him work it out himself. We all knew when we got started doing this that we wouldn’t be able to save everyone, and if she went back to him then we did all we could for her. The memories that it brings up, though, propel me forward. I can’t get out of that door fast enough because the only thing that’s going to make me feel any better is waiting for me at home.
* * * *
Dusk is falling over the neighborhood, the streetlights just starting to come on as I pull my bike into the driveway and shut it off. The entire drive home, I was swallowed up by memories that haven’t plagued me since the day I met Ali, and I’m eager to get back to her. Climbing off the bike, I start toward the front steps, knowing that I can’t leave Bear unattended all night or I’ll come home to more holes in the drywall. I’m pretty sure the dog’s got some kind of separation anxiety, and he loses his shit when I leave him alone.