Chapter 20: Chapter 20

She’d made him leave. In all honesty, Tucker could have stood his ground and forced Talia to hash things out, but she’d seemed pretty adamant. Plus, there was that whole shock factor.

He’d never been kicked out of anyplace before, especially a woman’s home. It was as inconceivable as seeing a double rainbow.

To be fair, though, now that he’d had time to review what had happened, he knew he’d done some things wrong. For starters, he shouldn’t have freaked out about the condom. Sure, the whole pregnancy scare thing still had him twisted up inside. He couldn’t close his eyes without seeing dirty diapers and hearing babies crying. And that was to say nothing about the nightmares.

Tucker shuddered, recalling last night’s sweat-inducing moment. It’d ruined his enjoyment of a pair of tits he walked past that morning.

Then there was the whole STD accusation. He still didn’t know why he’d said that little gem. But tensions were high, and words were flying and, clearly, he was a moron. Talia was probably the most put together, classy woman he’d been with, so there was no doubt that she was clean. He needed to think before he spoke next time. If he’d done that in the first place, all of this could have been avoided.

To be honest, he didn’t even know why he was stressing. It wasn’t as if he was in love with her. They weren’t even in a relationship, and it certainly hadn’t been going anywhere special. Just two people enjoying their time together, and it’d just run out.

Funny how that made him feel a little pang of regret, though. As if the knowledge of never seeing her again was somehow going to impact his daily life. If anything, it gave him his freedom back. Now he could hook up with some of the fresh meat that’d come in with the other chapter, and he could spend more time focusing on his job. Lord knew, he’d been slacking in that department while he was off sowing his oats with Talia.

See? She’d been distracting him from the things that mattered: the club and finding Cruiz. Without her around, he’d be able to focus and get so much done.

“You’re not even listenin’, are you?” Blake slammed the gavel down, the sharp smack of wood on wood echoing around the room and in his ear.

Tucker jolted from his ruminations and sat up straight. “Sorry, Prez. Must have been daydreamin’.”

“Seems to be a problem with you today,” Blake observed. “Have you heard anything I’ve said? Anything anyone’s said?”

They were having church, a private meeting the brothers held whenever they needed to review sensitive topics and strategize.

“Depends on where you left off,” Tucker hedged.

“Fuck’s sake, Country. Now is not the time to be checkin’ out. I need your head in the game. What’s your problem anyway?”

“Pretty obvious, Prez,” Taco said from down the table. “He’s been pussy whipped, and from the looks of him, he got beat down good, too.”

“Man, fuck you,” Tucker shot back. He didn’t appreciate the suggestion, nor the resounding laughter that followed.

“That true? Your woman fuck with your head?” Blake asked.

“Again, she’s not mine, and nothing is wrong with my head.” Avoiding his gaze, he said quietly, “I’m just tired. Didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Then I suggest you catch some after we’re done here because I need you fresh for later.”

“What’s happening later?”

Blake’s eyes narrowed, his annoyance showing plainly. “Had you been paying attention earlier, you would know that while you were playing whipping boy for your lady friend, Repo was out following up on some of those leads you gave me. He thinks he found a link to Cruiz.”

“Or one of his men, at least,” Repo spoke up. Leaning back in his chair, Repo was the picture of ease in his black-on-black attire, his hair slicked back, and his white beard trimmed up nice. He still looked like Santa Claus, but the murderous edge had been smoothed out a bit.

“One of my men at the site remembers a man they didn’t recognize roaming around the building that burned down the day of the fire. Said they saw him asking some of the men for directions somewhere, but he wasn’t close enough to hear what was said.”

“Well, did they talk to this person?”

Blake sighed heavily. “No, they were busy cutting tiles for one of the kitchen floors, so they brushed it off, assuming he was there for permits, and kept working. Didn’t even remember the guy until Repo asked if he’d seen anything suspicious.”

“A detail like that, and it slipped his mind?” Tucker asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Repo told him. “I asked around. No one else remembers seeing this mystery man, nor do they remember talking so him. So, Blake checked with the city. No permit man was scheduled to come out that day. So he pulled some records next. Turns out the guy matches a description for a newbie that’s not from around here. Just started working construction last month and this is his first job.”

“What about a background check?” Tucker asked. The back of his neck was tingling, his senses on high-alert. Something about this was off. Way off.

“All clear. Not a black mark anywhere,” Blake grunted.

“Yep. Twenty-four, married six months, renting a hotel room just off the highway. It all looks good on paper until you start digging.”

Tucker’s fist clenched under the table. “What’d you find?”

“He’s a ghost,” Repo deadpanned. “Didn’t exist up until five years ago. Last known place of employment was a janitorial position at a bank that closed its doors after the stock market crashed. Whoever he is, it isn’t the person in his file.”

“You think he belongs to Cruiz?”

Blake’s fingers drummed against the table, a habit he had whenever he had something on his mind. “Sent a coupla prospects out to his hotel room this morning. Front desk says room’s been empty since last night.”

“Didn’t even stick around for the continental breakfast.” Moose shook his head mournfully.

“Good thing he didn’t. Last time I ate Maureen’s eggs, I was on the toilet for eighteen hours straight,” Taco shared. “Ruined breakfast for me for months. Still can’t look at an egg without my asshole puckering.”

Every man at the table shot him a dirty look.

“Dude, don’t no one here want to hear that shit,” Cricket said, and everyone mumbled their agreement.

Taco held his hands up all, what did I do?

Tucker shook his head and returned his attention to his president. “So he was tipped off and ran.”

“Looks that way.”

“What else do we know?”

“Well, seeing as he didn’t have the decency to leave a forwarding address,” Repo remarked, “nothing. He slipped in and out without notice.”

“So more than likely, Cruiz sent him in, he torched Blake’s building, and then he bounced,” Tucker summed it up. “Since we don’t know who the guy was, where he came from or where he went, we’re back to square fucking one.”

“Yeah, we are. Any ideas on how we’re goin’ to change that?” Blake asked, his gaze traveling around the table in askance.

Everyone in the room avoided his stare, their expressions grim. As the people who’d sworn to take care of their town, there was no greater offense than stepping onto their turf and creating the kind of upheaval they’d experienced since this all started. Worse was that they were on the losing end of it all without the first clue as to how to turn it all around.

“Well, what a sorry bunch of assholes we are,” Blake snarled. He was pissed, and he had a right to be. This was his patch the war was happening on, his business and his family that was being targeted. Out of everyone, he had the most to lose. “Well, boys, while each of you are off doing God knows what tonight, I want you to take some of that time and spend it thinking about how we’re going to turn this bullshit around. I want Cruiz found, I want that piece of shit pyro hunted down and taken care of, and I want every single one of you working tirelessly to get it done.”

“Where do we even start?” Moose asked. “We’ve already established that we don’t know who the guy is or where Cruiz is holed up at. How are we supposed to find anything without a place to start?”

“If I knew that, I would take care of it myself. Every single one of us here has a skillset. Country and Repo have each managed to put their talents to use to get the intel we’ve got here tonight. Pull your heads out of your asses and put them together, see what you come up with. Anything is better than being sitting ducks.”

Moose opened his mouth to issue another protest, but Blake slammed the gavel down, effectively shutting him up. “Meeting’s over. Y’all get the fuck out of my sight. Next time I see you, one of you better have something for me.”

Chairs scraped the floor as everyone pushed to their feet and filed out the door. Tucker moved to follow, but Blake held up his hand, stopping him.

Sitting back down, Tucker got comfortable. He had a feeling that whatever Blake had to say, it was going to take a while.

As soon as the last man was gone, his dark gaze swung to Tucker. “Where were you today?”

“Been here all morning.”

“Don’t jerk me around. You were a million miles away, and I want to know what’s on your mind. I’ve never known you to be distracted. You’re always on point, always the first to offer solutions. This isn’t like you.”

Tucker shrugged, unsure of what to say.

“Does it have anything to do with your girlfriend?”

He wouldn’t be surprised if steam started shooting from his ears. “She’s not my—you know what, fuck it. Think whatever you want. And no, she has nothing to do with anything. In fact, as of last night, she’s out of the picture.”

“You broke up?”

Tucker’s arms shot above his head. “We weren’t dating! God, why can’t anyone get that through their thick skulls around here.”

“Probably because it’s a bald-faced lie,” Blake pointed out. Tucker scowled. Blake swiped the air with his hand. “Look, I’m not going to battle over the details with you. There’s too much shit going down right now, and I honestly don’t have the patience for it.”

“Thank God.”

“But I will say this. Clearly, she has everything to do with your lack of focus, which means that something was going on between you two. More than you care to admit. It’s fucked with your head, and I can’t have my best man out in the field if he’s not one hundred, you feel me?”

A niggling of worry swirled in Tucker’s gut. “What are you sayin’, Prez?”

“Until you’re one hundred percent, I’m grounding you.”

“You can’t do that!”

“I just did. If a call comes down and we have to ride out, I can’t risk you out there with my men. We’re a team, and if even one member is weak, we all are. So, until you got your head straight, you’re out.”

“This is bullshit, Blake, and you know it.”

“You don’t like it,” Blake said, standing up, “then figure out how to fix it. I suggest starting by admitting to yourself that you’re in love with that woman.”

“What is it with you people thinking everyone needs a woman to complete them? I complete myself, dammit. The only thing I need is the club.”

Blake strode past him, his back filling the doorway. “That’s what we all say until she walks in.”

Tucker detected a smile in Blake’s voice and, out of curiosity, he rose to his feet and followed, stopping in the doorway to watch as Blake crossed the room, his strides heavy and determined. Then he saw why. Gabby and Ash were at the bar, talking to Ginger and a few of the guys. When she looked up and saw Blake coming, a smile lit her whole face, and if ever there had been any doubt, there wasn’t now. Gabby was a woman in love, and she only had eyes for Blake.

As Blake reached his little family, tousling his son’s hair and reaching for his woman to pull her in for a kiss, Tucker’s stomach dropped.

He didn’t have to wonder why. The picture of Talia’s pretty face in his mind’s eye said enough. Even if he wasn’t ready to admit it to himself, his heart already knew what was up.

Now he just had to come to terms with it.