Claiming the Knights (9 page)

             
He had to put the whole thing on the back burner for a bit because right now, they had to figure out how to handle the situation with Joel and Mr. Dalton, and whoever the hell the hit man was that tried to end his President.

              Scooter, Drifter, and Dean walked into the room where they were keeping Joel. They had gone to his trailer and did some investigating. They brought him his laptop, and a few phones they had found. Joel was still afraid for his life, but he figured he could buy himself some time by not telling them everything at once. Buy himself time for what, he wasn't sure. Even if he thought he could get out of the room, he would never make it off the property. There were cameras, and apparently mics all over. He was unaware that it was Charlie who had overheard the phone call in the lot.

             
As the men entered the room, Joel sat up from his slouched position, trying to get comfortable on the chair. “Can I help you guys with anything?” he said, wanting them to know that he was willing to do what it takes to help them.

             
Drifter took Joel's laptop from under his arm. “You’re going to find that email, and give us the info on your guy up North. He's going down. He had to know he was going after the President of the Knights.”

             
Joel nodded his head. “Anything you guys need. I get it, he needs to go down.”

             
Drifter approached him, and started to untie his wrists from the arm rests. “You even think about doin' anything stupid, you are gonna wish you were dead. Understand?”

             
“Oh yeah, I understand.” Taking the laptop from Drifter, Joel started searching his computer.

             
After several minutes, with all three men looking over his shoulder, he found the email in his deleted folder, and brought it up. Dean grabbed the laptop, and headed for the printer in the meeting room.

             
Next step was to get all the info on the hit man, and hopefully some info on a hit man to take out the hit man. As much as Scooter wanted to be the one to end that asshole, and Mr. Dalton, they had to be smart. Both the hit man and George Dalton, were well aware of the club. If they started poking around either of them, they could be busted. They were going to have to hire a fresh hit man to make this all come together. Joel was just the guy to find one.

             
Within an hour, Joel had a call into a new hit man. He told him it was a special situation and he needed him to come to Washington to plan it, and to deal with the club directly. The man agreed. He was from Chicago, and was one of the best. Because it was the Northwest Knights, he was willing to meet personally. It was unorthodox, but clubs were different than the public. He would be driving, so it would be several days.

             
They left Joel untied so he could rest. They gave him some food, and told him to get comfortable. He was going to be there for a while.

              Several days went by with business as usual. Anne was back in the club, taking care of everyone, except Dean. She stayed out of his room, let him get his own food, and ignored him at the bar. The other brothers didn't say a word. Scooter was just grateful she came back.

             
She took care of Joel in the secured room, but always had a club member with her, just in case he pulled anything.

             
Drifter was getting anxious about the new hit man showing up. But he finally got a text letting him know the guy was in Idaho, and would be there the following day. The text ended with the name Raw.

             
Drifter returned the text and let him know they were ready for him, and asked him if he needed a place to stay.

              The next morning, Raw arrived at the clubhouse on his bike. Scooter, Dean, and Drifter were there to greet him. Anne had made up a room for him.

             
Raw was tall, built, and had a strong accent. Scooter asked him where the accent was from. He said it was from a Brazilian mother and Sicilian father.

             
They showed him around the clubhouse, and his room, and told him to get settled, and meet them back in the main room so they could discuss the next steps in the plan.

             
Scooter's phone went off as they were waiting at the bar. He read the text.

Nikki: Just got a call from Judy, Sam's mom. She wants to come visit. Says George is being an asshole and she needs to get away from him.

              Scooter let the guys know that he would be back in a few. “Don't start without me. Understand?”

             
“No problem,” Drifter said, as Scooter walked out of the club.

             
Scooter walked straight to the office of the garage, where Nikki was working. She had seen him coming, and met him at the open door and kissed him.

             
He kissed her back, hard. Knowing he had to come clean, and she had a tendency to panic when things got crazy, he wasn't sure if this would be their last kiss for a bit.

             
He pulled away, doing his best to straighten out her hair in the back, where he had held her during the kiss. “Tell me what Judy said, Sunshine. Everything.”

             
Nikki told him about the conversation. George had sent Judy to stay with family and since she returned home, he was really jumpy and yelling at her all of the time. He wouldn't answer the phone, and wouldn't let her either. She wanted to use the grandkids as an excuse to get away from him. Nikki asked Scooter if her coming for a visit was even an option. He said he would let her know. She finished by telling him that Judy was concerned, because she hadn't heard from Sam, and wanted to know if Nikki had. According to George, he was in touch with Sam, but wouldn't let Judy talk to him.

             
Scooter gathered that George knew exactly what was going on. He figured George was aware that his life was in danger, and his son was probably dead, and was keeping Judy in the dark. Now it was time to bring Nikki up to speed.

             
“Sunshine, got some shit to tell you. Promise me you won't run.” Scooter pointed to her office chair. “Sit down Sunshine, you can't run if you’re sitting down.”

             
Nikki backed up until she felt the chair at the back of her knees and she sat. “What is it?”

             
“Here goes nothing,” he said, taking a deep breath, in and out.

             
“My accident wasn't an accident. It was planned. I was supposed to die.”

             
“You were trying to kill yourself?” she asked him, clearly not following.

             
“No Babe.” Scooter grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Not gonna off myself. The man in the truck that cut me off was hired by George. The middle man in the deal was Joel.”

             
“Oh my God! Scooter, what the fuck? You know Joel hasn't been to work all week. No calls, no nothin'. Georgie is about to fire him if he doesn't call soon. Now I see why he isn't coming around. Why would he do that?”

             
“Georgie is aware of what's up. Been keepin' him up to speed. He is just covering for us,” Scooter told her. “We got Joel locked up in the club. Got his own fuckin' room. Georgie bein' the garage manager and boss, had to know what was goin' down to make this all work,” Scooter continued. “Our new hit man just got here today. Gonna take out George Dalton and the asshole with the truck, real soon. Thinkin' havin' Judy up here might be good to get her out of the middle of this shit. Gotta figure it all out first, so stall her for a bit if she calls back.”

             
Nikki was just staring as he spilled it all out. “Holy shit! Someone tried to kill you and Sam's dad paid for it?” She was still catching up in her head. She stood up, and reached for her purse.

             
“You can't run,” Scooter reminded her. “I am telling you everything. You have to be a part of this Sunshine.” He moved his body in front of the door.

             
“But why would Joel do that?” she asked.

             
“Apparently he is a middle man and he doesn't look at the info on the hits to protect himself. He collects his share of the money, and forwards the info. When he got the call from George Dalton, he didn't have a clue who he was talkin' to, or who he was puttin' a fuckin' hit on. Says if he would have known, he would have let us know. That's his confession so far,” Scooter explained to her.

             
She sat back down. “I am not going to run. It’s just a lot to take in.” She took a deep breath and put her purse down.

             
“You stay here babe.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Business as usual, ok?”

             
She nodded and he walked out.

             
She thought to herself, Jesus, does it ever end? Can't things be normal for a bit? She promised not to run.

             
Pete opened the door between the office and garage. “What’s my next job Sunshine?” he asked, mocking Scooter.

             
“You better watch yourself kid. He hears you, he's gonna kick your ass.” She was back to business as usual. Scooter didn't like anyone else calling her Sunshine.

             
Pete was Charlie's son, and one of the mechanics. He was a flirt, and always doing his best to make the ladies smile. Nikki was one of his regular victims. Pete had a thing for Anne's daughter, Raven, but since Anne kept her away, he didn't get to see her much.

             
Nikki got back to work, giving Pete instructions for the next car to work on, and the keys. The rest of the day went by quickly as jobs lined up, and missing a mechanic kept them all pretty busy. She had little time to stress out. She left and picked up the girls from school, and took them to Kate’s. Kate was the after school caregiver that Nikki had been taking them to since she got the job.

             
When Nikki returned to the club lot, she saw Scooter, Drifter, Dean, and another man all standing around the picnic tables at the garage end of the lot. When she got out of her car, Scooter waved her over. Her heart rate went up as she resisted the instinct to return to her car, and drive away.

             
As she walked towards them, she kept her eye on the man she was assuming was going to be the one to kill her father in-law. She was freaking out inside, but after everything that had already happened, she now knew this was in fact, the life that she signed up for. This would be the first real test for herself, and for Scooter, to see that she could handle herself as his ol' lady.

             
“Hey Sunshine, you are looking beautiful as always,” Scooter said, as he threw an arm over her shoulder, pointing towards the man. “This here is Raw. He's here to help us out for a bit.”

             
Nikki put her hand out to shake Raw's hand, and was a bit startled when he gently grasped it, and brought it to his lips.

             
“Nice to meet you Sunshine,” Raw said, and kissed the top of her hand.

             
“Name is Nikki, and nice to meet you too.” She slowly pulled her hand back. If he was trying to charm her, it wasn't working. Although she did want to thank him for the business he was going to take care of, she kept quiet. She didn't know where her place was, as far as what she was able to say to a hit man.

             
Scooter didn't seem to mind the show of affection, chalking it up to culture. “Nikki here has some info on one of the clients, but other than basic info, she is to stay the fuck out of it. She is protected by me and my club. Everything you need from her goes through me, or Drifter,” he told Raw.

             
Raw nodded. “Comprende.”

             
“You go back to work babe, see you later.” Scooter gave her a kiss on the head, and let her go.

             
As she left saying nothing, her heart was racing. She had just met a real life hit man. Sometimes it all still felt like a dream. She decided to switch gears, and count her blessings. Her gaze shifted towards the beautiful car that she now owned. She thought of how safe and well taken care of she and her girls were, not just by Scooter, but the whole club was there for her. Then it was back, the nagging about Sam's murder. The runs that she was sure weren't legal, but she didn't ask and he didn't tell. It was just the way things were.

             
As she was walking away, she heard Drifter mention a lock down. She had to remember to ask Scooter if that was something that she could know about.

              Joel was eating his lunch when the four men entered his room. He stopped eating and he set the plate aside. “What's up guys?” He was nervous. He assumed this was Raw, but he had never seen or met him in person. Knowing how the club worked, this man could be here to kill him too.