“Decker called. He was working on the connection when the fire happened and only caught a hint of a car leaving. He’s been checking out other security cameras around here to see if he can spot the same kind of car around that time to get a license plate he can run. I haven’t checked back with him yet. Prez ordered church as soon as you two were back. I’m supposed to call when you got back. He’s sending over two prospects to keep an eye out here while we head over to the clubhouse,” Dinand informs me.
“Call him to get the two prospects here,” I grunt. “We need to unload the mare and the goat, put them in the pasture and then we’re ready to go once they arrived.”
I stalk to the trailer while Dinand’s voice flows out behind me. “Goat? You guys bought a goat?”
“Yeah.” I open the trailer. “It’s a buddy for Houdini to hopefully stop him from escaping.”
“Smart,” Dinand mutters while he helps me get the mare out.
Fenna walks in our direction and I hate to see the sadness written all over her face. Her eyes puffy, the corners of her mouth turned down and those worry lines on her forehead, everything tugs at my heartstrings and I want nothing more than to hug her close and take on everyone who wronged her.
But for now, I’m focusing on getting the animals safely into their new home. All of us watch how the mare rushes into the pasture that’s just for her. Fenna breeds and trains miniature horses, this means her pastures are smaller than the ones we have for our livestock. There is a piece of land behind the house that would work for a pasture for my horse, though.
For now she’s keeping the mares separate until we can observe them together. We do however place the goat into the secure pasture of the stallion. All of us have our forearms placed on the fence while we watch both the goat and Houdini interact together.
“Perfect fit.” Ewald chuckles.
A happy sigh comes from my left and I notice a small smile tugging her soft lips. I wrap my arm around my woman’s waist and pull her close to place a kiss on the top of her head.
“You did good,” I murmur.
“Yeah.” There’s a smile in her voice and a soft giggle when Houdini jumps up and puts all four hooves into the air, lands, and darts away, the goat follows his weirdness and they both enjoy the freedom the pasture offers them.
The rumble of bikes draws our attention. Two prospects park their bikes and stalk toward us.
“One keeps an eye on the front, one out back. This means no fucking phone in hand or chitchat on the side of the house, get me?” Dinand growls and narrows his eyes at both prospects.
I guide Fenna toward my bike and straddle it, waiting for her to warm my back before firing it up. Her arms slide around me and at the same time my heart gives a firmer squeeze to pump the blood through my veins.
Dinand and Ewald are right behind us. The reason we’re heading to the clubhouse might be a shitty one but the feel of having my woman on the back of my bike is damn perfect. Wind in my face, her arms around me while her tits are pressed against me.
There’s nothing or no one on this fucking earth who will take this away from me. I will make damn sure with the help of my brothers to find out who is doing it and end it. It’s a short ride to the clubhouse and when we enter I notice the old ladies are gathered in the main room while my brothers are already waiting in church.
Harlene steps forward and hooks her arm into Fenna’s and pulls her toward the couch where the other old ladies are seated. “Why don’t you join us while the men huddle in church?”
I take a moment to watch the women exchange warm smiles and greetings. Knowing Fenna is looked after, I step inside church.
I haven’t even closed the door when Decker says, “We have a serious issue, Redding.”
Swallowing a curse, I question, “How so?” and take a seat right next to Roper, my VP.
“I managed to track down the chick who has been coming to the bar when you’re behind the bar. Kayla Florentine, twenty-three years old, had a brief marriage for about a year. Her ex filed a restraining order against her and she spent eight months in a secure mental institution. And her brother? August Florentine? He just walked out of prison a few days ago. Pyromaniac. Doesn’t come as a surprise I was able to find another camera shot of the car speeding away from your old lady’s property and caught a license plate that links this fucker to it, huh?”
“He intervened at the diner when his sister walked up to you, he’s probably acting on lies his sister is feeding him. We need to get ahead of this fast,” Weston states. “Decker, what are your thoughts about handling this?”
“I would suggest to put both Redding and his old lady in lockdown. We could let them stay here or at her place. We need to double security and reach out to one of my FBI contacts to let them take over. This can escalate quickly. The fucker was just released from prison for arson and he turns around and does it again. His sister, Kayla? She tried to lock up her husband to keep him tied to her so he couldn’t cheat on her. And I mean literally tied to her because she drugged him and strapped him to the bed. She took great care of him, but yeah…it’s illegal and twisted in the head to hold people against their will. There are a lot more details about what she did and how she did it but I’m going to spare you guys the twisted shit and just mention the woman is a nutjob who probably thinks Redding is hers. This thing can go from zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye, not to mention, the brother is an added risk.”
Roper and Weston both nod but it’s Roper who speaks up. “Reach out to your contacts. We’re going to need backup on this one, sounds to me like the both of them need to be kept behind closed doors.
“Yeah,” Colt grunts. “This Kayla probably made up a relationship with Redding in her head and Fenna is in the way. Her brother probably believes her and thinks Redding is treating his sister badly, flaunting another woman in front of his sister, cheating on her, whatever imaginary shit that chick is sucking out of her thumb.”
Oak clears his throat. “She’s sick, she needs proper care and people around her to help guide her through those thoughts.”
“It’s why we’re letting Decker reach out to his contacts. This sure ain’t something we can handle ourselves without shit getting ugly,” Alfie grumbles.
I rub my temples and try to wrap my head around this, letting my thoughts stray over every encounter I had with this woman to see if I did something to draw out this reaction.
“Hey,” Weston quips and smacks his flat hand on the table in front of me. “Don’t try to figure this thing out by yourself or even try to understand these people and their motivations or actions.”
“Prez is right,” Decker grunts. “In the years that I worked for the FBI I ran into some batshit crazy people and have seen some twisted shit. Motive, sanity, reason, all those things fly out the door and the brain is just too complicated and we’re all balancing a thin line where logic and reason might blur and crazy shit happens. Point is, we fix this shit and we fix it the right way. Like Oak mentioned, the woman needs help and we’re going to make sure she gets it to see reason. Her brother, though? That fucker needs to pay for the shit that could have happened.”
“Absolutely,” Dinand snaps. “If Ewald and I weren’t there?” He shakes his head and mutters a curse. “Houdini would be in that stable and the fire wouldn’t have been put out so he would have died. Hell, the stable is close to the house, that could have gone up in flames as well.”