We hadn't been able to move in weeks, and the job was coming up the first of the new year, and that was just a couple of weeks away. If we didn't get these men off our tail, we'd be screwed.
Larry Tanenbaum had been keeping tabs on Bulldog and his property since he moved into town a year ago. He made money off real estate, and this had been prime property to build some sort of resort on. Off the beaten path, tucked into the woods and near Hurricane Ridge, the ski slopes. When he made the offer, Bulldog declined it. We liked the isolation that property offered, and it benefitted us in more ways than one. With the mountain at our back, it was our own little fortress and we wanted to keep it that way.
When we found out Tannenbaum was elected Mayor, it was obvious we'd be on his radar. Easy targets with prime real estate, and he hated us to the core. We had no chance from the start, we just had to flow with the changes taking place.
Silencer, the club’s Technician was leaning against the wall. He rarely spoke, but when he did it was with purpose. “A fucker like this doesn’t get to where he’s at without getting his hands dirty. Fucks like him ain’t clean. If we search hard enough, we’ll find somethin’ on him.”
“He’s right,” Guardian chimed in. “He’s as corrupt as they come. You can smell it off him. This shit he’s been playing shows it.”
“He doesn’t like us being close because he’s got somethin’ to hide,” Brimstone stated.
"Everyone has something to hide, so why not find out what it is?"
"Silencer has a good point," Hart added. "I could set up a tail on him. Watch his wife. He's got a daughter, right?"
The mention of Tannenbaum's daughter put me on edge. She wasn’t something I was willing to risk. I’d come across Crystal Tannenbaum at a party last New Years Eve. I’d been drunk and she'd been more than willing. Unfortunately, we were interrupted, and nothing ever came out of it. But don’t get me wrong. I never stopped looking for her. It wasn’t until I found out that she was the Mayor’s daughter that I gave up my search. There was no way a woman like that would be caught dead with a man like me. So, I gave her up. Didn't mean I'd let anyone else near her. She was my own dirty little secret.
"I'll take watch on her," I quietly volunteered.
"You sure, I could easily pit a prospect on her." Hart insisted but I wasn’t having it.
"I've got the girl. You take care of the rest."
Bulldog nodded. “It’s settled then. Saddle will follow the girl while Hart, you follow his wife. If you hear or see something strange you report it immediately. The sooner we get this done the better. I don’t want shit hitting the fan when we’re in the middle of a job.”
“We’re barely out of debt, and even though the bar is finally making us some money, it’s not enough to sustain more men, let alone buy property. I need everyone to realize how important this deal is for us. The Prez isn’t fuckin’ around. We’re dead serious.” Cipher was the one who handled the money. He worked with Ferric who handled outside contracts.
“I’ve been studying the property and we are sitting on six thousand square feet of property.” Ferric added.
“Holy shit,” I muttered.
He looked over at me and nodded. “And we’re not doing shit with it. We could set up shop out here, expand the bar, get some serious construction going on with the clubhouse. This place is run down and looks like shit. This deal could give us what we need, and the power that we need to run that back road.”
Ferric was right. That back road was important and right now there was no one manning it. Bruiser was the one who found it a while back. He was searching the maps for another route to take during a run. That’s when that road came up. It had been closed down a while back due to mudslides and frozen roads, but it was still paved, and it ran right out onto the Interstate. One way in and out, and no cops to stop us. We needed more members, and we needed to state our claim on that road. The only way was to buy that land. We needed to do that quietly and without any suspicion. Word from some of the Prospects was that Tannenbaum had dealings with the Bloody Scorpions. Which meant only one thing. The ski resort would be a front, for the money laundering and the drugs that would be trafficked out of this town. Problem was, the Royal Bastards were in the way of that.
“We’ll get eyes on the Mayor. Bruiser, you just make sure you get those plans rolling. We’ll get this deal on the road one way or another.” I stated.
When the meeting closed, Bulldog pulled me aside. “I need confirmation that Brewer is involved with the Mayor. Rumors aren’t enough to bring him down. We need evidence.”
“I knew that fucker was corrupt.”
“There’s some sort of transaction going on between them. I need you to get close to the girl.She works with her Daddy, she must have seen something.”
I started to feel anxious. “How close?”
“Just talk to her. Work your magic, see what comes out of it.”
“Just talk?” I asked, concerned that he’d want me to go further. Watching her was one thing, but I wasn’t going to fuck her for information, that’s not how I worked. I knew being in the Royal Bastards we would need to do some dark shit to get ahead, but I couldn’t bring myself to use a woman. Let alone one that I wanted to keep for myself.
Bulldog gave me one of those knowing looks. “Keep it PG, Saddle. Your dick stays in your pants.”
I nodded, relieved he wouldn’t ask me to go further. “You got it, Prez.”
“We need to get this asshole.”
I walked out of the bar letting the cool wind wrap around me. Clearing the snow off the leather seat, I slid onto my bike. I needed one last ride before the storms started coming in and I needed to think, because at the moment my head was spinning with thoughts of a curvy brunette and it was for all the wrong reasons. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right and keep myself at a distance. If not, we’d both be going down a path I don’t think either of us could ever back from.
2
Crystal
Three weeks later...
I watched him from my usual corner in the diner. His back was to me. He was all muscle and brawn. Broad shoulders, powerful arms, seven feet of male heaven. He always sat by himself, his cowboy hat shielding his beautiful green eyes. He had no idea I even existed, nor did he know that I was completely and utterly infatuated with him.
I’d first seen him come into town about a year ago. The motorcycle’s engine roaring down the street as it announced his entrance. And what an entrance it was. He took my breath away every time I looked at him.
I remembered how we'd met last year. Rachel had invited me to join them last New Year's at a party she was throwing in the diner. I was new in town and my parents were throwing a posh party I sure as hell didn't want to attend. So I got dressed up, made a hasty appearance, and when Rachel offered to pick me up outside the gate, I didn’t hesitate.
I was overdressed and stuck out like a sore thumb. The only person who talked to me that night was Bulldog, and it had only been to offer me a drink. Whatever was in the concoction they gave me had my head pounding and I hid in the back of the diner, away from the noise. It was there that he’d found me. Holed up with my head down, trying to drown out the loud music that was playing outside.