Rider came in, giving him a reprieve from Killyama who was watching him eat every bite as she leaned lazily against the counter with her arms crossed in front of her.
“What’s for breakfast?” Rider asked, staring curiously down at his plate, missing the tension between the two of them.
“Pancakes and bacon,” Killyama told him. “Sit down, and I’ll make you a plate.”
Train eyed Rider over his bite of pancakes. He had sat down and was happily watching Killyama make him a plate. Frowning, he saw her microwave the syrup before pouring it over his large stack.
“There you go. You want coffee or juice?” Her sweet voice had Train’s hair rising on the back of his neck.
“Both. I’ll—”
She put a hand on Rider’s shoulder. “You go ahead and eat while it’s still hot.”
Train chewed off a piece of his crispy bacon, seeing Rider’s gloating expression. The brother was knocking on Heaven’s door, and Train was going to answer it if Rider wasn’t careful.
Killyama went behind the counter to load the dishes with the pans she used to make breakfast as the kitchen gradually filled and the members piled up their plates.
Viper, Shade, and Cash sat down at the table with him, while the rest of the members went to the dining room to find a seat.
The men ate as their wives were drawn into a conversation with Killyama while making their plates. When they didn’t come to the table where the men had saved them a seat, the men tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, but their low discussion was hard to hear.
“Rider, go see what they’re talking about?” Viper encouraged, staring at Winter, who held Aisha, not making any attempt to join him.
“I’m eating. Make Train. It’s his fault Killyama is here and they’re listening to her.”
Train started to get up, but then sat back down at Viper’s glare and Killyama asking him if he wanted anything.
“I was going to get another cup of coffee.”
“I’ll get that for you,” Lily offered.
The men’s table went silent as Lily refilled his cup, bringing it to him and then hurrying back to where the women were talking.
“Why didn’t you ask Lily what they’re talking about?” Train whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Shade.
“Because I’m clearly the only one at this table who has a dick, and I’m not worried about what they’re talking about.”
When Killyama said something to Rachel and Winter that had them arguing, Lily hushed them. Four pairs of eyes turned to the table where they were sitting before resuming what they were talking about with lowered voices.
“This is bad.” Cash was the closest to the counter, but his back was turned to it. He leaned back in his chair until it only had two legs on the floor, trying to overhear the conversation.
“Can you hear anything?”
“I thought you weren’t worried?” Train asked Shade.
“I’m not. I’m just curious.”
“Then walk your curious ass behind the kitchen counter and see what they’re talking about,” Viper snapped.
Rider started to get up. “Jesus, I’ll do it.”
“You need anything, Rider?” Killyama asked irritably.
“Uh … Is there any bacon left?”
“No, it’s all gone.”
“Never mind, then.”
Train and the rest of the men at the table blasted Rider with a look, causing him to hide behind his coffee cup.
“Killyama, I thought you were supposed to meet T.A.?”
Train didn’t know which brother kicked him under the table, but it hurt like a motherfucker.
“She texted to tell me she’s running late. Finish your breakfast.”
Killyama’s sharp response had him scooting his chair backward from the table, out of range from another kick.
“Yes, ma’am.” Train found it hard to choke down his late bite.
“I’ll give you another ten percent of the company if you break up with her. I’ll even let you pick which woman you want here. You like Dawn? She hasn’t been here in a while.” Viper’s cajoling voice dropped to a whisper as the women finally started toward their husband’s sides.
“I’ll give you my truck. I know how much you want it.” Cash barely managed to stop from falling backward as Rachel moved by him to take a seat.
Train nearly jumped out of his chair when Killyama placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I have to go.”
He was conscious of the brothers listening to every word.
“I get off at four. Am I going to see you tonight?”
Viper’s and Cash’s scowls had him wishing he had texted her that question after she left.
“Nope. T.A., Crazy Bitch, and I are spending the night in Berea, Ohio. We have tickets for the first two days of the Cleveland Brown’s training camp. A few of the players are looking forward to seeing us again. They’re going to introduce us to some of the rookies. One of the players offered to pay for our hotel room tonight. It might be a couple of days before I see you again. We won’t back for three days. Could be longer if we can score another ticket for the third day of training.”
Train frowned.
When she started to move away, he caught her hand. “Aren’t you going to give me a kiss before you leave?”
Laughing, she patted him on the back. “You’re so cute when you’re being silly.”
She started toward the swinging door before changing her mind and going to the counter. All of the men’s eyes watched her as Killyama picked up a brightly colored pink box, and then went to the refrigerator to take out a plastic container, stacking it on the pink box. Closing the fridge with her hip, she then opened a drawer, pulling out his six-pack beer cozy, dangling it from her pinky.
“I almost forgot my stuff,” she said, beaming proudly that she hadn’t forgotten her pilfered items.
“Is that the rest of my birthday cake and the pork chop casserole Stori saved me for lunch?” He didn’t mention the cozy, knowing he would never see it again.
“Yes, you have a problem with that?” Glaring at him, she stopped by his chair.
“No.” If he hadn’t felt the heavy metal of the skull and crossbones buckle on his belt, he would have been tempted to make sure it was still there.
“Good. I volunteered to bring a snack for the road trip. This will be enough for the three of us. If Sex Piston and Fat Louise were going, we’d have had to make a pit stop.”
“Why aren’t they going?” Thankfully, it was Lily who asked the question he was too afraid to voice.
“It’s only the single ladies today.” Her cell phone started shouting, “Answer the phone.” “Gotta go. You all have a great day. Have some fun! You all look like a bunch of sour pusses in the morning. Too much partying will make you old before your time.”
Killyama left without telling him good-bye, her phone now shouting obscenities from the club room.
The silence around the kitchen was so loud it could be cut with the butter knife Shade was holding.
“Brother, I’ll give you the pick of my motorcycles,” Rider offered.
Train thought over Rider’s vast collection. Collectors had hounded him to sell two of the them. He might have just received an offer too good to refuse.
Ignoring Rider’s offer, he met Shade’s eyes. The man knew what he wanted. Hell, it was what all the men wanted. And it didn’t take Shade long to get Lily to confess that Killyama had told Rachel and Winter they needed to find new replacements for their husbands; saying, if Train couldn’t handle Killyama, he didn’t have a shot in hell in taking care of three women if anything went wrong.
“Who did she suggest?” Viper questioned Lily so aggressively that Shade placed an arm over her shoulder.
Lily paled, trying to roll her eyes toward Rachel and Winter to answer for her. When they remained curiously mute, Lily answered for them.
“Moon.”
“Why Moon? She didn’t mention me???
? Rider’s fork dropped to his plate.
“She said the whole idea of having replacements was to have a man who could help you in need, not to be saddled with or one who would need caring for.”
“Did she happen to mention who she wanted? Because, Train, as much I consider you a brother, I—”
“She doesn’t want you, Cash. She wants Shade. Killyama asked if it was okay with me,” Lily told them.
Shade’s emotionless façade nearly broke when Lily continued.
“She said, if she had to see anyone naked, she could deal with it being Shade because she wanted to know if your … if you …”
“I know what she wants to know,” Shade answered grimly. “Brother …”
“I already know.” None of the brothers would step up to fill his shoes if something happened to him. The way it was going, she wasn’t even going to swing enough votes to become a Last Rider.
By the time he was seated at his workstation, he was tired and cranky, and he had a splitting headache that was turning into a migraine. He was furious at Killyama for her behavior.
He had only been working for thirty minutes before Crash called him.
“Where is she?” Train knew she wasn’t heading to the Brown’s training camp, but he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“She’s heading toward Knoxville with Hammer and Jonas. I’ll call you when I know more.”
Train texted Jewell, telling her he was going to take the day off. He needed some sleep if he was going to tail Killyama for a couple of days, which was why she had lied to him about being gone for three days. That meant the fugitive she was tracking was one they anticipated being difficult to find. Train would meet up with Crash and send him back to Treepoint.
The next time she stayed the night at the club, he was going to sneak into her phone and put a tracer on it. It would save him and Crash a lot of effort.
When Jewell gave him the okay, he went to his room, getting the much needed sleep he needed, knowing it was going to be a while before he would be able to again.
It was almost midnight when he pulled into the Waffle Stop across from the hotel Killyama, Hammer, and Jonas were staying in.
Train sat down in a booth facing the hotel. Ordering a black coffee, he gave Crash his attention.
“They’re tracking a fugitive who broke parole.”
“What’s he on parole for?”
“He beat up his baby’s mama. They already checked out the family in the area. The baby’s mama has gone into hiding. She’s got a restraining on Cooper—the fugitive—saying he threatened to hurt her and the baby when he was sent to prison.” He gestured toward the hotel. “They settled down for the night about an hour ago.”
“Who’s sleeping where?”
“They’re sharing the same room. You want me to stay?”
“No, go on home. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
“Where’d you get the wheels?”
“It’s Moon’s. Sasha drove it down for me.”
“Sasha’s at the club?”
“Ready and waiting.” Train slid Crash’s check next to his own. “Drive safe, and thanks.”
“Let me know if you need a break. I can come back.”
“If it takes longer than two days, I might have to. Someone told me I’m getting too old to burn both ends of the candle, and I’m feeling it tonight.”
“If she was my old lady, she wouldn’t be running around, chasing felons.”
“If Killyama was your woman, you’d be dead.”
Crash shook his head, leaving.
The waitress approached him for refills several times, each time making a beeline toward the cook tending the grill who kept eyeing him suspiciously. At four o’clock, two cops came in, doing the same thing. Train saw them running the license plate on Moon’s car when they left with their coffee.
He went to his car at five, expecting Hammer would want to get back on the hunt with the sun. Plus, he needed to hide out in case they stopped at the Waffle Stop for breakfast.
He was glad he had moved the car when Killyama, Hammer, and Jonas came out of the hotel. The three looked wide awake, talking as they made their way inside the Waffle Stop, staying inside only thirty minutes before they were on the road again.
Train spent the day following them, holding back so they wouldn’t see him.
It was getting dark when Hammer and Jonas went inside a burger joint and left Killyama outside. A few minutes later, Train felt his phone vibrate with a text message. He took his phone out to see Killyama had texted him.
He was glad she couldn’t hear him laugh as he stared at the picture she had sent him. It was of three football players, holding their helmets as they talked to whoever was on the other side of the camera.
The first message read: Missing you. Underneath, another one read: Not.
Train texted Jewell to send him the picture he wanted. When she sent it back, he sent the picture to Killyama. Sitting back, he waited for the fireworks to start.
Who took that picture of you?
I did. It’s a selfie, he replied.
Selfie, my titty.
Train waited a second to see if she was going to say anything else. She did.
You have a selfie of Shade like that?
He wondered what she would do if pulled up to that Escalade and paddled her ass.
Why don’t you find out when come over tonight? If you don’t have tickets for tomorrow, come on back now. I can meet you at your apartment. I miss you.
Sorry, lover. One of the players gave us tickets for tomorrow. Guess you’re just going to keep missing me.
Just one time he wished she would give him a small sign that she cared about him. Just one that she didn’t hide behind pretenses or insults.
Train didn’t respond and was about to shove his phone back into his pocket when she got out of the Escalade. When he saw her face, he could see that she knew he had been mad at her texts. With no one around, she had let her guard down.
An aching loneliness filled her expression, and his hand went to the door handle. He had suspected the deep emotions she held for him, but he had never witnessed them before. Now he was.
She bleakly watched a small family walk past her. The father carried a little girl in his arms while the mother carried an infant. It hit Train that she believed she would never have what that family had.
Train couldn’t understand why Killyama believed she couldn’t have her own like that. She had even told him she didn’t want to have kids.
He wanted to hold her close and ask the questions that were going to drive them apart if she didn’t learn to trust him with her answers.
Pulling his cell phone back out of his pocket, he texted her before she could go inside the restaurant.
Have fun. Text me when you get back, and we’ll meet up. Love you.
Her smiling face was worth the cut to his pride. The smiley face she texted back was as good as it was going to get for now.
Train ducked into a convenience store to use the restroom and grab himself a snack. He had just resettled back in the car when Killyama, Hammer, and Jonas came running outside the restaurant. When Hammer pulled out with wheels screeching, he knew they must have received a hot tip.
He had already been listening to the police scanner as he waited for them, so when the alert came from his phone and the scanner, his blood ran cold.
There had been an alert issued for a two-year-old boy. The child had been taken by his non-custodial father who was wanted for a parole violation. Train knew it was the same man Killyama was searching for when Cooper’s name verified by the dispatcher.
Train cussed, almost hitting a blue truck that had pulled out of a shopping lot. It blocked him from keeping a clear view of Hammer’s vehicle. Then, when the truck stopped at a yellow light, Train lost sight of them, still stopped at the red light behind the truck while Hammer had sped up.
Train nearly rear-ended the truck. Slamming his hand down on the steering w
heel, he backed up then swerved to the right into the turning lane. Gunning Moon’s motor, he shot out into the traffic, dodging cars until he saw a turn he could make that led into a drug store.
He shot through oncoming traffic, did a U-turn to make a left, and then another right onto the street he had lost Hammer. Passing cars at a speed that would have gotten him a ticket if the cops hadn’t been searching for the little boy, Train gave a sigh of relief when he saw Hammer’s SUV turn down a side street. He made the turn three cars behind them.
The streets became tree-lined as they moved farther into a residential neighborhood. He was about to follow Hammer down another street when he saw him break and park in front of a house.
Train braked, too, stopping his car. He then watched as Killyama and Jonas walked away from Hammer, who started running catty corner from them. Their bright vests were clearly visible as they walked toward a house that had a “For Sale” sign posted in the front yard.
Train jumped out of Moon’s vehicle and ran to the side of the neighboring house. He climbed over a fence on the opposite side of the tree line, seeing Hammer trying to look through the side windows then disappearing behind the house.
Train brought his hand behind his back, clutching his gun handle, as Killyama knocked on the door then fiddled with the lock box on the door handle. Jonas must have called the agent, requesting to see the house.
When Killyama raised the key in her hand triumphantly, Train tensed as she put it in the lock and turned it. Killyama and Jonas then barged inside.
Train wanted to run inside when he heard yells. Then he heard a crash from the backyard, assuming Hammer had broken in through the back.
“Get your fucking hands up!” He heard Jonas’s loud shout from inside.
Train was about to charge toward the house when Killyama came running out with the little boy carried protectively in her arms. At the same time, the police swarmed the neighborhood.
Seeing her holding the crying child brought a lump to his throat as he hurried back to his car, driving past the squad cars. He drove by a traffic jam as he headed back to the hotel where Killyama was staying. He knew she would be busy for the next few hours doing the paperwork on the capture. He could get some sleep before heading back to Treepoint.