Counter To My Intelligence (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 7) (30 page)

Just like his father did.

“Go on. I’m sorry,” he said gruffly.

I shrugged. “Anyway, we were talking about gambling for some reason, and it kind of escalated to whether we actually had any ‘bookies’ in the area. When he said yes, I asked him to tell me where I could find one, jokingly, in case I ever needed one. And he told me all I would have to do was to look forlorn while gambling at the poker table at The Horseshoe.”

Sebastian nodded. “Okay.”

“So it kept going from there, but I finally got a serious answer out of him that a bookie’s name in the area was ‘Black Jack.’ How a lot of people still owed him a ton of money and that he was a not man to cross. He said he’d seen Shovel nearly beaten to death over his gambling debts while he was cleaning up the club,” I explained. “When I asked him whether or not Shovel still owed this man money, he said that he did. And if Shovel was smart, he’d never come back here. Because this ‘Black Jack’ guy knows every low life in the city, and if he ever got wind that he was back, Black Jack would let his underground army know, and they’d find him in a heartbeat. And that’s what the note says.”

Sam’s eyes went to the note.

“21. Shovel. Horseshoe,” Sam read. “So what, he wants us to go to The Horseshoe’s black jack table and, what… ask for Black Jack?”

I nodded. “Yes, I think that’s exactly what he wants you to do.”

Sam shrugged, as did Sebastian.

“Ain’t got nothin’ else.”

Ninety minutes later, I was down to my last fingernail when the two men came back to the house after a quick trip to the Black Jack tables.

“You were right,” he said. “Old Black Jack was pretty happy to hear that Shovel was back in town. Apparently, not only does Shovel owe Black Jack money, but he’d also gotten kind of handsy with Black Jack’s wife years ago. He wants Shovel to know that he hasn’t forgotten.”

Ouch.

That sucked for Shovel.

But if it got me Silas, I didn’t care who it hurt in the process.

“And? Where’s Silas?” I asked worriedly.

Sebastian shook his head. “It’s gonna take some time, Sawyer.”

I wanted to yell, ‘Silas doesn’t have time!’ but I just barely managed to hold it in.

I knew they were both aware, just as much as I was, that he didn’t have a lot of time. Especially since he’d most likely had a motorcycle wreck before he fell into the hands of
that
man.

And I just knew it was Shovel that had him.

There was no other explanation for it.

I closed my eyes and thought about where Shovel might have taken them.

I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea, but Sam shot it down almost immediately.

“What about the old clubhouse y’all used to have. Where’s that? Shovel hasn’t been out of prison very long, so I bet he hasn’t had the time to replenish his money supply. So where would he go that wouldn’t cost a lot of money?” I asked.

“This is the old clubhouse,” Sebastian explained. “And the only place that has low income housing is by the interstate. But that was the first place we went when we started looking.”

“Shit,” I exhaled. “That sucks.”

Both men nodded, and it was then that I realized that we were the only ones in the room. Several of the guys had stayed with me while Sam and Sebastian went to the casino.
Now they were gone.

“Where’d everyone else go?” I asked.

The men didn’t bother to look up.

“They’re out looking. But you’ve been coming up with some really good ideas, so we’ve been staying here to help you jog your memory in that hopes that you’ll remember something that might help,” Sam said.

I nodded in understanding.

“Alright then, tell me what it is that you need me to do that’ll get y’all out there looking for him. I’ll stay wherever you want me to stay,” I told them.

Both men looked at each other, but it was Sam who spoke.

“You know, we’re not really used to dealing with understanding and compliant women. But what we really need for you to do is stay at the clubhouse until further notice,” Sam explained.

I nodded, immediately getting up to head into the bedroom where I quickly packed a bag. I was back in the living room within five minutes.

“Ready when you are,” I said.

They both acted so similarly and so much like their father that it hit me how close they could be, but yet weren’t.

Did they even know how much Silas loved them?

I decided to ask them during the silence that continued in the truck.

“Do y’all know how much your dad loves you both?” I asked hesitantly.

A van passed us going at least ten miles an hour over the speed limit, and I watched it while I waited for the two men in front of me to respond.

My question was met with silence.

Neither man said a word.

“He talks about you all so much. He’s so happy that y’all are happy. Goes on and on about your kids, and how y’all include him in your lives when he doesn’t deserve it.
Loves your wives. Loves the fact that y’all are better fathers than he was. He’s so proud he could burst. He has photos of
y’all in his offices. Did y’all know that?” I asked in a trembling voice.

I don’t know why I was telling them all of this, but I was scared, really scared.

And I wanted them to realize what they could be missing if he wasn’t found alive and safe.

I knew Sebastian better than Sam, but neither one of them had a really ‘close’ relationship with Silas, and I that just made me really sad. They had no idea what they were missing out on.

I loved my father dearly, and I knew, if put into the position that Silas’ had been in, he’d have done the same damn thing in a heartbeat.

Sam’s phone rang, and he looked down as he pulled it out of his pocket just as we pulled onto the road that led to the clubhouse.

Had he not looked up just when he did, he never would’ve seen the body being thrown out of the back doors of a panel van. The same van that’d nearly cut us off earlier in the trip in its haste to get past us.

But he did.

And thanks to his quick reflexes, he was able to stop just in time to prevent his truck from running over the body that’d been thrown out of the back of the van directly in front of the clubhouse.

My eyes closed as my breath started to saw in and out of my chest.

And when I would’ve tried to get out, I was told to stay put by Sam as they both got out to look at the man that’d been thrown.

And I knew by the look on their faces, the devastation that completely took them over, that it was Silas.

Broken, bruised, and bloody.

I closed my eyes as fresh tears, not the first of today, started to pour down my cheeks.

They were gone so long that I couldn’t take it anymore, and quickly opened the back door and circled it around to the front where both men were leaning over an unconscious Silas.

“Is he alive?” I whispered.

Sebastian looked up. “Yeah.”

He didn’t say more, but he didn’t have to.

I knew it was bad.

Really bad.

I could tell that just by looking at him.

He didn’t have a spot on his body that wasn’t covered in blood or dirt.

His shirt was torn, nearly disintegrated in places.

His boots were missing.

His face so battered and bruised that he was unrecognizable.

His salt and pepper hair stained red from the copious amount of blood.

And he wouldn’t open his eyes.

My phone was in my hand, and I had 911 on the line before I even realized I’d done it.

I handed the phone over to Sebastian when they asked to speak with someone who knew where they were exactly, and finally dropped down to my knees beside the love of my life.

“Silas,” I whispered.

He didn’t move. Didn’t react.

I placed my hands on the side of his cheek, feeling the sticky wetness beneath my fingers, but not reacting like I normally would.

Instead, I leaned over him and prayed.

Prayed that he’d be okay.

And knew instinctively that it would be a long road to recovery ahead of him.

Because when he woke up, he’d be sore as fuck, and hell bent on vengeance.

And it’d be really, really hard to keep him there knowing that there were people out there trying to kill him.

“Y’all know you’re going to have to take care of this, right? Because if you don’t, he’s going to kill whomever it was, whether he’s up to it or not, and probably get himself killed in the process,” I whispered to the two of them.

Sam’s smile was a little bit unnerving as he said, “Oh, we’ll take care of it. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that, Sawyer.”

Maybe it’s not anger management that I need. Maybe you need to keep your stupid away from me.

-Food for thought

Sam

Four hours later

“You find him?” I asked my brother.

Sebastian looked up from his phone and smiled. “Got him. Let’s go pay the fucker a visit.”

I walked up to my wife where she was sitting in the plastic seats of the waiting room.

She had Sawyer’s hand in hers as they both stared at the white doors where the doctor had come out earlier to let us know that there’d been more wrong than they’d initially realized, and they needed more time than they’d originally thought to examine him thoroughly and give us an accurate assessment of his condition.

That’d been over two hours ago, and I was getting anxious.

Anxious to find the man responsible for nearly killing my father.

And, I had to admit, to tell my father that I was sorry for being such an asshole.

I knew he didn’t deserve it…
now
.

I’d had a long talk with my mother after my daughter’s baptism, and I now knew what I didn’t know then.

That, in my father’s way, he loved me.

All the years that I thought my father was a bad person, he was actually taking care of me. Protecting me.

Doing the same thing that I would’ve done had I been in his position.

And that was a bitter pill to swallow.

I knew that I was running out of time to fix this, and it’d take a lot of effort on my part to heal that gap between us.

But the first thing I’d do would be to take care of the fucker that did this to him. That threatened his family, putting me and my family into harm’s way.

“I think we should just go,” Sebastian said at my side where I’d come to a stop just at the entrance of the waiting room. “There’s no telling how long this will take, and if we don’t hurry there’ll be nothing left of him after Black Jack does his thing.”

Fuck.

That I knew well.

I’d heard chatter about this ‘Black Jack’ person.

Knew he was a little less than savory in his dealings with people that wronged him.

I hadn’t heard a single story about him that indicated the man was capable of any kind of mercy in his retribution.

“Alright, I’ll meet you out front in ten,” I said, crooking my finger at my wife.

My life.

She got up after patting Sawyer’s hand and started walking towards me.

Even after all this time, she still took my breath away.

“Hey,” she whispered, walking straight into my arms.

I folded my arms around her. “We’re going to go. Text me if you hear any news.”

She looked into my eyes with those hazel eyes of hers and smiled. “Don’t get arrested.”

I grinned down at her. “Oh, I won’t get arrested. Trust me, darlin’.”

She laughed and pressed her lips against mine. “Go. Come back safe to me.”

I pressed my lips against her forehead and nodded. “Will do, oh wife of mine.”

She smacked my ass as I turned to leave, and I tossed her a wink over my shoulder, passing my brother speaking to his own wife as I went.

He broke off just as I reached the elevator, joining me as we rode the elevator in silence.

We didn’t speak at all the entire way to the hotel room that Black Jack had said Shovel was occupying, either.

Both of us lost in our own contemplation of our lives.

And, in tandem, we breeched the room with guns drawn.

Shovel jackknifed off the bed, reaching for his gun but not making it.

I caught his hand with a bullet through the palm, causing him to freeze.

Sebastian was on him in the next second, and like true, good brothers, we took turns beating the absolute shit out of him.

Sadly, we weren’t the only ones who wanted in on the action, and we stepped aside to allow some of The Dixie Wardens to get in on the action.

Three unconscious bodies hit the floor beside us, and I turned to find the three of the four guards that attacked Sawyer over the years, laying there where Cleo had unceremoniously thrown them.

“Caught them trying to round the back of the hotel,” he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“How’d you get them over here?” I asked.

Cleo smiled. “Drug them by their feet one by one. Black Jack met me at the corner and helped.”

I turned to find ‘Black Jack’ staring into the room with passionless eyes.

He was watching as Torren and Sterling took their turn.

“Can’t believe he thought he couldn’t be found. Fucking Silas trying to do everything himself. I told him weeks ago if he needed me, all he had to do was ask,” Black Jack muttered.

“What’s your real name?” I asked, looking over at the man next to me.

The man didn’t even hesitate.

Smiling, he said, “Lynn.”

“You work with my father, don’t you?” I asked, not really surprised.

He nodded. “For a long, long time now.”

“Are you really a bookie?” Sebastian asked.

He shrugged. “When I need to be.”

“What are you going to do with him?” I asked, indicating to the man we’d just beaten the shit out of with our bare hands.

Black Jack, a.k.a. Lynn, just smiled. “Oh, I’m not nearly done with him yet. You see, boy, you’ve warmed him up. Given him a simple black eye compared to the beating he’s about to receive from me. He’s gone and done something real stupid, hurting the one man that has kept him safe all these years. If it wasn’t for Silas’ and that big heart of his, he’d have been dead a long time ago. I think it was all a because of a promise he made to a twelve-year-old boy that he would never hurt the man again.”