Go Hard: A Bad Boy Sports Romance(66)
We got into my apartment and instantly the men looked around like they were scouting for danger. Once they were satisfied, Travis leaned up against the kitchen counter while the two guys sat down at the table.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked them.
“I’m good,” Gage said.
“Whisky might be nice.”
Travis laughed. “Might be early for that. Plus, we have work to do tonight.”
“Don’t matter,” he said. “Whisky anyway.”
I got a glass and poured him a drink. Travis got three more glasses and poured everyone else a drink. He raised his glass.
“To defeating our enemies,” he said.
“Here, here,” Gage answered.
We toasted and drank.
I had to admit, the whisky felt good. I was exhausted, but I was also stressed close to my breaking point. Just getting a little alcohol in my stomach helped to calm me down a little bit, and when I noticed Travis giving me a look, I suspected that was exactly what he had intended.
“So,” Travis said finally, “we’re here for a reason.”
“We’re not just getting hammered?” Flynn asked.
“Unfortunately,” Gage said.
“Putting us to fucking work,” Flynn joked.
“That’s the only thing you’re good for, Flynn,” Travis said.
“What, working?”
He grinned. “No. Fighting.”
Flynn laughed. “Damn right.”
“Can we get down to it?” Gage cut in.
“Plan is simple. I’m setting up a meeting with the Dixie Mafia tonight. I’m going to make sure their leader is there, a guy named Merton Digger.”
“Merton?” Flynn asked, cutting in. “What kinda name is that?”
“Southern,” Gage answered. “Now shut up.”
“Anyway,” Travis went on, “Merton is the leader of the Dixie Mob in this area. The Dixie is spread out all over the south, but the Caldwells only care about drug rights in Knoxville. So if we take him out, the Dixie will be like a snake without a head. The Caldwells won’t have much trouble taking over.”
“Seems simple enough,” Flynn said. “But how are you going to get him at this meeting?”
“You let me worry about that. You two are playing support. Basically, hang back and keep an eye on things. If shit goes south, I’ll need you guys to pull me out.”
“Easy,” Gage said. “Just a little snatch and grab. I can do that in my sleep.”
“Yeah,” Flynn complained. “Can’t we get something a little more fun?”
Travis gave him a look. “This is fun enough, man. You’re not in fucking Pakistan. You can’t go all Rambo here.”
“Sure I can,” he grumbled.
“What about me?” I cut in suddenly.
The three men looked at me.
“You don’t have to do anything,” Travis said. “You saw enough violence this morning, Hartley. You can sit this out.”
“No need for you to see anything else,” Flynn added soberly.
“No,” I said. “No. I know I messed up, but I can’t just let you guys take all the risk.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Gage said. “We’re making sure that risk is damn tiny.”
“He’s right, Hartley. You don’t need to be anywhere near this,” Travis said. “We can handle it. Believe me.”
“Travis, please. I want to help finish this.”
He glanced over at Gage, who shrugged. Travis looked back at me. “It’s going to get violent. Men are going to die again. Hell, we may get shot at. Are you sure you want to put yourself in the middle of this?”
“I’m sure,” I said. “I’m completely sure.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “You’re with me then. No matter what, you stay by my side. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“When do we start?” Flynn asked.
“I start now. You two sit here and don’t fuck anything up.”
“Aye, aye, boss,” Gage said, smirking. He poured two more drinks.
“Stay here with them,” Travis said softly to me. “I’m going to make a call, and then we’ll head out.”
“Where?”
“We’re paying Janey one last visit.”
I nodded. “Okay.” Travis turned and left, heading downstairs.
Gage grinned at me. “Don’t worry. Travis is the best. You’re damn lucky you’re with him and not this asshole.” He gestured at Flynn.
“Hey,” Flynn said. “I’m pretty good at killing, you know.”
“Yeah. That’s pretty much it, though.”
Flynn knocked his drink back. “And drinking whisky.”
“You’re okay at that.” Gage knocked his drink back. “But I’m better.”
The two men started arguing about the finer points of drinking whisky, and I just leaned back against the counter and watched. I couldn’t help but smile at them, despite the fear growing inside me.
Travis was the best, and I knew it. He made me feel things I couldn’t explain and he took care of me, even when I didn’t deserve it. He had saved my mother and me from Culver, and he was going to save us from everyone else, too.
I didn’t deserve this, which was why I had to see it through. I couldn’t sit on the sideline and let it all happen.
I was lucky I had Travis. I knew I was lucky. I felt it every time he walked into the room.
That man sent chills down my spine and made me want to never leave his side.
24
Travis
Hartley seemed okay. For someone who had just witnessed a violent and intense gun battle in their kitchen, she seemed like she was holding it together. Normal people would have fallen apart, but Hartley was clearly far from normal.
Gage and Flynn were probably a big help. She needed to see that I had this under control, and bringing them in probably helped with that.
I left the room and heard the two idiots already joking. They were playing it up pretty hard, probably trying to make Hartley forget about this morning. I couldn’t tell if it was working or not, but I was grateful. I felt bad that I couldn’t sit and just talk with her, but things were going to move fast now.
I got outside in the warm air and leaned up against the front of the building. I got my burner phone out and dialed the number I’d been saving for just this moment.
It rang three times before he answered. “Who’s this?” he grunted.
“Hoyt, it’s Travis.”
“Travis. How’d you get this number?”
“Never mind that. I have an issue.”
Short pause. “What’s wrong?”
“Culver. He stopped answering, disappeared last night.”
“We haven’t been able to get in touch with him either.”
“What the fuck are you people doing over there?”
“I don’t know, man,” he said. “Culver is a weird one. I never liked him, but the big boss brought him in to oversee this operation.”
“Yeah, well, he’s fucking gone, and I’m making a move on the shipment tonight.”
Another pause. “Seriously? Tonight?”
“Fuck, are you listening to me, Hoyt? This is serious.”
“Yeah, okay. So you’re doing it tonight. What’s the plan?”
“I’m not sure there is a fucking plan now that your boy Culver is missing. He gave me certain assurances.”
“Like what?”
“For starters, he was the only one saying you people weren’t trying to fuck us over. How can I trust you guys when your boy Culver disappears like this?”
“Nobody is fucking you over, Travis.”
“Culver seems like he is.”
“How?”
“The guy disappears on the day I let him know I’m taking the shipment. You don’t think that looks odd?”
Hoyt sounded stressed, just how I wanted him. “Yeah. It sounds strange. But I don’t know what’s happening with him.”
“Listen to me. You still want this shipment?”
“You know we do,” he said.
“I need two things from you.”
“Go ahead.”
“First, I want to deliver this to your boss personally.”
“I can’t do that,” Hoyt said immediately.
“Then you’re not getting shit.”
“Travis, man, come on. He doesn’t go for this sort of thing.”
“I don’t care what he goes for. You want this shit, he better be there.”
“Fine,” Hoyt said reluctantly. “I’ll pass that along. And second?”
“Second, I want you to be there.”
“Why?” He sounded nervous.
“Because you’re the only person I trust in your fucking scumbag organization. I want you there.”
“Okay, Travis,” he said. “I’ll be there.”
“Tell your boss. Tell him to meet me at the old shoe factory in the hills. You know that one?”
“I know it.”
“If this deal is on, meet me there tonight at two. I’ll have his shipment in a big rig truck. I’ll pass it over, you guys get your shit, and we’re off the hook. That’s it, straight up.”
“Straight up,” Hoyt agreed. “I’ll pass the message along.”
“Fine. Make it quick. This Culver shit has me real nervous.”
“Got it.” Hoyt hung up the phone.