After he finally made his way over to me, I was surprised by his furrowed brow and intense expression. He just stood there staring at me for several seconds, and having no idea what else to do, I mumbled, "It's you."
"Yeah. It's me."
"I'm sorry … I don't actually know your name."
"It's Shadow." Before I could respond, he took a quick glance around the parking lot and asked, "You out here alone?"
"Yeah … I was just about to head home."
"You shouldn't be out here by yourself. It's not safe," he growled.
Surprised by his fierce tone, I became even more nervous and started to ramble. "I'm okay. My friends are inside. We were watching the band. I'm not sure if you've heard of them … the Smoking Guns. They're pretty good. Not exactly my thing. A little loud for my taste. Not the loudest one I've ever been to, but close. At least I had an excuse to leave early … I have a shipment coming in tomorrow morning, so I need to be at the store early. What about you? Are you here to see the band, too?"
"Not exactly." Without giving further explanation, he asked, "Where's your car?"
"Um … it's right over there," I answered as I pointed in its direction.
He leaned to the side as he looked around me and grimaced, clearly not impressed by the state of my vehicle. "That's your car?"
"Yeah. I know it's not much, but it gets me to where I'm going."
Just when I thought the moment couldn't get any more uncomfortable, Jason stepped out of the bar, and as he glared at the burly biker standing next to me, he shouted, "Hey, Alex? You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm good. I was just about to leave." When he didn't move, I said, "You're going to miss the closer if you don't go back inside."
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yes, Jason. I'm fine."
"Okay. Don't forget to text me when you get home."
"I will. Don't worry."
Once he was gone, I turned my attention back to my biker. He studied me for a moment, his eyes lingering on my mouth for only a fleeting moment; then, without saying a word, he started walking towards my car. Having no idea what he was doing, I just stood there trying to wrap my head around exactly what was happening. He turned around and looked over at me then said, "I thought you were leaving."
"I am." He cocked his eyebrow as he motioned his hand towards the driver's side door. Feeling like a complete idiot, I rushed over to him and quickly unlocked my door.
He watched me get inside and asked, "You okay to drive?"
"Yes, I'm fine." He again stared at me for a moment like he was trying to decide if I really was okay. "Seriously. I had one beer two hours ago. I'm fine."
"Good."
I expected him to step back, but he just stood there looking down at me. I felt warm all over, my heart was pounding so loudly that I was certain he could hear it. I felt my face turning red, and not wanting him to see my body's reaction to him, I said, "Your motorcycle is really something. I bet it's awesome to ride on a night like this."
"It is."
"Okay, well … I guess I better get going." With a bit of hesitation, I put my hand on the door handle and as I started to close it, I said, "Thanks for walking me to my car."
His expression softened as he moved out of the way and said, "Be careful."
"I will. Thanks."
After I closed the door, I gave him a smile and a quick wave goodbye, then started my engine. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I glanced up at my rearview mirror, and a chill ran down my spine when I noticed he was still standing in the same spot, watching intently as I drove out onto the main road.
"Damn," I muttered to myself.
Shadow
Once I'd informed Gus about everything Boon had told me, he called everyone into church. Since our runners were under the gun, Gus made the call to up our watch on our boys. In hopes of deterring any further hits, he instructed us to have eyes on them any time they were on the streets. After assigning our rotations, he gave the order for Murphy, T-Bone, and me to bring in Hoss, hoping that he would lead us to Jasper. As soon as we were dismissed, Murphy and I headed out to our bikes while T-bone followed us in his SUV. We'd tried to track him down for over an hour when Murphy spotted his shiny, souped-up 2018 silver Chevrolet Dually parked by the front door of Newman's. With its lift kit and oversized tires, the damn thing was like a flashing neon sign, making him impossible not to be noticed. When we pulled into the front of the bar, the last thing I expected was to find the girl from the bookstore standing all alone in the parking lot.
Seeing Alex there was a distraction I didn't need. I should've been focused on the task at hand, but the mere thought of something happening to her while she was out there all by herself had me coming unglued. The gut reaction confused me. At the moment nothing seemed as important as making certain she was safe. I wasn't sure why I was so driven. Actually, the feeling came as a shock to me, but I didn't hesitate. I just started towards her.
When I reached her, I noticed just how beautiful she looked. Her dark, thick hair fell softly around her face, and I was completely spellbound by her flawless olive skin and captivating dark eyes. Somehow, I gathered my wits enough to ask her if she was okay. Once I got her back to her car, I thought that would be the end of it-but I was wrong. As I stood there watching her tail lights fade into the darkness, I found myself longing for just one more moment with her. It was a feeling I wasn't accustomed to. Hell, I wasn't a man who longed for anything, and it was fucking with my head. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard, "Yo, Shadow. You coming or what?"
"Yeah. I'm coming."
As soon as I made my way over to them, Murphy asked, "She a friend of yours?"
"Not exactly."
"I don't know about that. She was looking pretty friendly to me." T-Bone snickered, but his smirk quickly faded when he noticed the expression on my face. "Hey, man. I was just saying."
As soon as we stepped inside, my brothers' interest in Alex was quickly forgotten, and their focus returned to finding Hoss. The band's music was blaring as we started shifting through the crowd, and as I listened to the lyrics, I found myself thinking about what Alex had said. She was right. They were loud, obnoxiously so, and I was relieved when Murphy turned to us and yelled, "He's at the bar."
T-Bone and I followed him over to Hoss, and when he noticed that we'd come up behind him, he bowed his broad shoulders and gave us a smug look. With his country accent in full swing, he snickered. "Well, lookie here. It's the brothers of Satan's Fury. What brings you fellas down here? You checking out the band."
"Don't give a shit about the fucking band, Hoss." Murphy took a step towards him as he continued, "We came here looking for you."
"Well, how ‘bout that. I'm honored. What can I do you fer?"
"You can tell us where we can find Jasper."
He inhaled a quick breath, and it was clear from his expression that the question had caught him by surprise. "Fuck if I know."
"Now, we both know that's not true," Murphy growled. "So, let's just skip the bullshit and tell us where he is."
He adjusted his ball cap and asked, "And why would I do that?"
"Cause you're going to be in for one hell of a night if you don't," T-Bone warned.
His eyes narrowed as he grumbled, "You threatening me?"
"You know us well enough to realize we don't make threats," Murphy barked. "So, I'm gonna ask you this one last time … Where the fuck is Jasper?"
He stood up and stuck out his chest as he replied, "Well, I guess you're gonna have to make good on your fucking threat, cause I ain't gonna tell you shit."
Murphy gave T-Bone the nod and said, "Alright, then. Have it your way."
Even though Hoss was a fairly big guy, trained to handle situations just like these, he was no match for T-Bone. With one hard blow to the jaw, he had Hoss flailing backwards. He was trying to regain his footing when I reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt. People started to scatter as I pulled him forward and slammed my knee into his gut. He hurled forward, clutching his stomach as he gasped for breath. Before he could regain his composure, Murphy grabbed his head and slammed it against the counter, knocking him unconscious. When he dropped to the floor like a two-ton weight, T-Bone looked over to me and said, "Let's haul this motherfucker to the truck and get the hell out of here. This fucking band is giving me a headache."
We got him restrained and loaded into T-Bone's SUV, then Murphy and I jumped on our bikes and followed T-Bone out onto the main road. Hoss was still out of sorts when we reached the clubhouse, but he could walk, which made it easier to get him down to the holding cell. Once we were inside, Hoss's eyes widened with panic. "What the fuck?"