He watched until Cash got in his truck and squealed out of his driveway before sending a text to Knox that Cash was heading to the club. Knox would send a deputy car to watch the place until Cash returned.
Cash drove into the parking lot three minutes later. Getting out, he ran toward Viper’s backyard, disappearing into the woods where the other men had gone.
It drove Rider nuts not being able to do anything other than watch the screens, but the one on duty wasn’t allowed to leave. They had to coordinate the brothers into a deadly force that kept the women and children safe.
When Viper came out, going to the woods with his gun and locking the door behind him, Rider knew they were tracking something or someone. He wanted to call Shade to ask what was happening, but he didn’t, keeping his eyes pinned to the screens to make sure the others remained safe from harm.
His eyes flicked to Jo, who had fallen asleep on the couch with the television on. Assured she was safe, he waited for Shade to call or the men to reappear.
In the military, one of the most nerve-racking things to do was wait and watch as his brothers-in-arms went out on a mission. It was no easier to do so now that they were out of the service.
The Last Riders had formed a bond that would never be broken. It went beyond blood and tears, to the deep core of trust they held for each other. That no matter what secret they had confided, not even threat of death would force them to repeat it.
Rider watched as the brothers came out of the woods, leaving Moon and Diablo to guard Viper’s house while the others made their way down the hill toward the factory. He knew they were coming to examine the footage.
Rider automatically opened the door, saving them time opening it themselves.
“Show me,” Shade said, taking a seat next to him as Viper and Cash stood over their shoulders.
He already had it ready, so he set the footage running.
“See?” Rider stopped the tape and then pushed it again at Shade’s sharp nod.
“What did it look like to you?” Shade turned his head to ask Cash.
“Like someone’s head wearing a baseball cap.”
“That’s what I thought.” Rider continued to let the footage run until Moon and Diablo appeared, then he let the camera go back to real time. “What did you find?”
“I found where a trip wire had been cut.” Shade pulled a fine wire out of his pocket.
“Fuck. I was hoping I was wrong.”
“You’re never wrong. That’s why I was already dressed when you called,” Shade said grimly. “Moon and Diablo will watch Viper’s house until Cash and I can repair it in the morning. I want to make sure whoever it was didn’t find our other sensors.”
“Any ideas who it could be?” Viper poured himself a cup of coffee that Rider hadn’t had time to drink.
Rider got up, pouring himself a cup, thinking aloud. “Whoever cut that wire had to have come from the woods. I didn’t see anyone else on the other cameras.”
“It could have been a hunter, and he could have realized he had set off a trip wire and took off.” Cash rewound the footage on another screen at least three times before he stopped it.
“I don’t think it was a hunter, and I think there were two of them. I’ll know more in the morning when I can go back out in the light.”
“I don’t want you going alone. Take Train and Shade with you,” Viper ordered, setting his cup down on the desk. “It could have been Curt or one of his cousins. Shade and I were talking yesterday. We’re surprised he has yet to pay you back for firing him.”
“Curt would come after me, the factory, Mag, or Jo before he would go for you. Whoever was out in the woods was targeting your house,” Rider said as he resumed watching the monitors.
“I agree with Rider.” Shade rubbed his eyes tiredly, his weariness becoming more apparent. “I still think someone deliberately opened those gates at the rodeo, and Knox never found out who broke into the church’s office three months ago. The Porters never found out who lured Logan away from his house. They thought it was the Hayes, but what if it wasn’t? Something is going on, but damn if I know what it is.”
At that, Rider took his eyes away from the monitor. “What if Aly is right and someone did kill her parents, but it wasn’t Curt? We could be looking in the wrong direction.”
Viper nodded in agreement. “Then I suggest we start looking in the right direction before one or more of us end up just as dead as the Warrens. Knox has been trying to get an independent opinion on the accident. Let’s get our own. Shade—”
“What’s that?” Rider pointed to a camera showing Aly’s home. He hadn’t taken his eyes off the cameras as Viper had talked.
Just as he cut off what Viper was saying, a bright light flew from out of sight of the camera to land on the porch, igniting it in flames.
The brothers ran out of the security room, leaving him to watch them pile into Cash’s truck.
Before they could get out of the door, Rider was already calling Knox, relaying the information, then calling the fire department.
After The Last Riders’ homes were shut down under steel shutters and the brothers were mobilized in their emergency positions, Rider watched as Aly ran out of the back of her house screaming, with F.A.M.E following.
Aly had warned them that whoever had killed her parents would be after her to get their property, and she was right.
The fire spread across the porch like kindling wood, greedily lapping up the exterior and spreading toward the roof. Before the fire department could get there, it was completely encased in fire.
Rider spent the rest of the night monitoring the cameras.
It was dawn when Viper escorted Aly to Cash’s truck, and the brothers climbed into the back to head back to the clubhouse. Rider knew Viper would keep Aly under protection until they could find out who had firebombed her house. It was a decision Viper had to make.
Whoever had burned Aly out of her house was working with the same ones who had cut the wire to distract them from mobilizing the brothers in force, making them waste time before searching for whoever had thrown the Molotov cocktail.
Rider looked at the screen showing that Jo was still asleep. When she found out Aly was staying at the clubhouse, she was going to assume Aly was fucking one of them, thanks to all the gossip Aly had told Jo.
Rider shrugged the thought off. He was tired of playing nice guy. It was time to turn up the heat with her.
He had given her a subtle warning the night before and again yesterday. The new year was going to bring a lot of changes for Jo, not all of them good … and some were going to be downright naughty. He had to get a start on getting on the naughty list again this year, and Jo was just the woman to help him do it.
29
Jo carried her thermos as she walked toward her garage. It was strange being able to walk to where she would spend her day instead of driving the tow truck that was standing alone in the yard.
Opening the garage, she sat the laptop down on the workbench, opening it and placing it so she could see it easily from most areas of the garage. Opening her thermos, she then poured herself a cup of coffee, reminding herself she should buy a coffeepot the next time she went into town. Now that her business was in the black, she could splurge on necessities, and a coffee pot was definitely a necessity.
Jo glanced at her watch, seeing it was only seven. She was itching to get started on painting Rider’s car.
Withstanding the temptation, she went to the scrambled heap of metal in the corner of the garage, taking a drop cloth with her. Spreading the tarp out, she started removing the parts, placing them on the tarp.
Blowing a tendril of hair off her face that had escaped her ponytail, Jo carried the carburetor to the workbench. She had to talk herself out of ordering a conversion kit to make Cash’s motorcycle fuel injector, knowing Cash would have a heart attack if she suggested it.
She was breaking it down when she glanced up at the laptop and saw Rider entering her dri
veway. It was only eight. She hadn’t expected him until noon.
Jo kept working on the carburetor, masking her features with a friendly smile as he walked into the garage. She refused to search for signs that he had spent the weekend in bed with a variety of women, one of them being Aly.
Rachel had texted her Saturday morning as she was about to go to the grocery store that Aly’s house had burned down from something that had been thrown on her porch. Knowing Aly had been right about Curt not stopping until he had her parents’ property was terrifying. She only hoped Knox would be able to prove that Curt was the one responsible.
Rachel had also told her that Viper had offered to let Aly stay until she found another place to live, or until she could rebuild her house. Or until she decided she wasn’t going to stay in Treepoint.
Jo hadn’t bothered to call or text Aly after finishing her talk with Rachel. They had never been friends, and after her refusal to help talk Rider into eliminating Curt, they had only talked through letters. One from a lawyer stating she was being sued, and the other one she had sent through certified mail with a check paying off her father’s debt.
“Good morning,” she said as Rider came up behind her to stare down at the carburetor.
“Morning. I see you’re hard at work.” Grimacing, he poked at the metal. “I won’t miss having to work on one of those.”
“I almost ordered him a conversion kit.”
“Bite your tongue. Cash would have fired you on the spot.”
“That’s what I thought, which is why I’m going to try to fix this one or pull one off one in the graveyard.”
Rider hopped up to sit on the bench, watching her. “You have a good weekend?”
“Sure did. You?” She concentrated on what she was doing to keep from looking at his face.
“I’ve had worse, but I’ve had better. We need to get a coffee pot in here.”
“I was thinking the same thing this morning.” Reaching for cup on a shelf above her head, she set it down next to his thigh. “Help yourself to my thermos. When we need more, I can go to the house to make some.
“Miss the good old days when you could go to the diner?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure I will. Old habits are hard to break.”
“That’s for sure. I miss waking up to fix you breakfast and having someone to watch movies with.”
Startled that he had missed her, she looked up, flushing. “I didn’t miss you,” she tried to joke, needing to recover from her embarrassment. “I fixed myself a hamburger last night for dinner and ate two slices of onions. I even ate it with sour cream and onion chips.”
Her joke backfired when he leaned forward, making her stiffen when she felt him run his nose along her neck, stopping at her ear.
“I would have never known if you hadn’t told me. You smell like my perfume.”
Her head flew back like a hot wire had poked her. “I’m not wearing perfume.”
Rider laughed, leaning closer, then leaning back. “Quit shooting those sparks out of those bluebonnet eyes of yours. I’m just joking.”
“You wouldn’t know a good joke if it bit you on the ass.” Fuming that he had succeeded in making her take his joke seriously, she moved her thermos to the other side of the table.
“Try me.”
Her mouth dropped open at the look he was giving her. Blinking at the crazy image that appeared in her mind of her actually biting him on the ass, she grabbed a cloth to wipe her hands off.
“You ready to paint your car? Or do you want to spend the rest of the day bugging me?”
“Do I get a choice?”
“No.” She was already heading toward his car.
Sliding inside, she backed it up slowly, driving to the area she had sectioned off for painting. Getting out, she then went to a locker that held the supplies, giving Rider one of the plastic suits to wear before taking one for herself.
“Suit up.”
“Damn, I’ve been waiting most of my life for someone to say that to me.”
“Today’s your lucky day, then.”
Not able to resist his charming excitement, she unzipped the plastic suit and stepped into it, pulling it up her thighs before it got stuck at her waist.
“Let me.” Rider squatted, helping her lift her heavy boot to get it through the tight opening.
“I’ve got it—”
“You can return the favor in a minute.” Using his shoulder to brace his weight, he maneuvered the boot out then lifted the other foot to do the same. Standing, he then tugged the sides of the suit upward. “Raise your arms.”
“I can—” She gave in, raising her arms when he didn’t move away. When her hands slid into the armholes, he went to the zipper. “I can do that—” The zipper was closed before she could get her hands through the other side.
“My turn.”
Jo had to restrain herself from knocking him on his ass, regretting that she hadn’t painted the car before he had arrived.
“What’s the holdup?” he asked, shaking a foot to get her to help him the way he had done for her.
“I was waiting to be asked. Unlike you, I prefer to be asked for help before I get all touchy-feely with someone else’s body.”
“Bluebonnet, you don’t have to ask for permission to get all touchy-feely with my body.”
Jo went to her haunches, nearly ripping the thin plastic of the suit as she jerked his big foot through the opening before jerking herself back to her feet.
“You can do the rest yourself. I wouldn’t want to catch any cooties from your weekend activities.”
Disdainfully raising her nose in the air, she unrolled the thick plastic sheets that fell from the ceiling to keep the other vehicles from getting accidentally sprayed with paint.
“Aly told you about the parties?” He raised a brow as he zipped up his suit.
“She did. Not that I wanted to listen,” she hastened to add, turning on the ventilator before going back to the locker, where she took out two masks, handing him one. “I found it too disturbing to listen to, so I told her she could keep that to herself.”
She had already prepped the sprayers, so she was able to simply aim the long wand at his car and pull the trigger.
“What did you find disturbing? That women want to get laid? Or that they waited to be fucked by me in particular?”
At his question, she was startled into turning toward him at the same time she pulled the trigger. Horrified, it took a couple seconds to pull her finger away.
He was covered in candy apple red, even his goggles.
Jo covered her mouth, unable to prevent the gurgling laughter that had Rider rising the goggles to stare at her wrathfully.
“That was just mean.”
Laughing harder behind her hand, she shook her head in denial. “It was an acc—”
She stopped trying to explain to drop the wand and take off at a run. She would apologize when he calmed down and she could stop laughing.
Jo slapped at the heavy plastic, trying to get away from him, then found herself entangled within the folds.
“You need some help?” Rider plucked her from the floor, shouldering his way through the thick curtain and lifting her to his shoulder.
“You’re getting paint on me.” She squealed in laughter. “Hey, go back. I missed your back.”
“Hardy har har … You’re just full of it today, aren’t you?”
Jo found her ass on the worktable with Rider glowering down at her.
“Seriously, it was an accident—”
“You want to know what I did this weekend? All you have to do is ask.”
“I don’t want to know.” Her amusement vanished in a heartbeat.
When his mouth opened, she pressed her palms over her ears so she couldn’t hear what he was saying. Undeterred, he took her wrists, lowering them to her sides.
“I spent the weekend monitoring security footage. Someone tried to break into Viper’s house the same night that someone torched Aly
’s house.”
“It had to be Curt.”
“Knox paid a visit to Curt, bright and early Saturday morning. He had spent the night with Carly. She said he didn’t leave her apartment the whole night.”
“Then it had to be Justin or Tanner.”
“That was who Knox visited next. They said they spent the night in, getting drunk.”
“They alibied each other? How convenient.”
“Maybe, but Knox can’t arrest them without proof.”
“Of course, they’re going to get away with it again.”
“Sooner or later, they’ll screw up.”
“Just not last weekend.”
Rider shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“I hate that answer.”
“I’m a realist. Sometimes, there isn’t an easy solution. Like you and me.”
“There isn’t a you and me.”
Jo tried to hop off the bench, but Rider placed his hands on the table on either side of her thighs, keeping her from jumping off.
“Okay, we’re friends,” she conceded.
“We’re more than friends. I feel more than friendship for you, and I think you feel the same for me.”
“No, I don’t. You’re too arrogant. You have women lined by the day.”
“I have several days open.”
“You jerk—”
Rider lowered his head, covering her mouth. “You can have Monday,” he said, raising his lips a hairsbreadth away. Then he lowered them again to kiss her longer the second time while she refused to open her mouth, even when he nipped on her bottom lip. “And Tuesday,” he whispered, his breath stealing hers. “Wednesday is yours, too.” With one hand on her jaw, he lifted her gaze to his, drowning her in his depths. “I already penciled you in on Thursdays.”
“What about Fridays?” Jo asked with a shudder, gripping the front of his plastic suit, trying to keep herself from being swept away. She gripped him harder when he moved his mouth to the side of her neck, running the tip of his tongue up to her ear.
“That one is definitely yours. Saturdays, too,” he whispered seductively.
“And Sundays?”
“I might need Sundays off.”