I try to hide the fact that my heart is racing at the thought of that piece of shit anywhere near her and wait for Dean to tell me what happened.
“No.” He shakes his head. “One of the prospects was out with his girl in Bangor and saw Ortega out with a redhead. A redhead who could have been Poppy’s twin. It wasn’t her, obviously. But the prospect was on Sam’s spare bike. And he said he felt like he’d been followed from Birch up there.”
It takes a second for my brain to connect the dots.
“You think he did it thinking he’d be fucking with Sam?”
Blood starts to pound in my ears, so I miss it when Dean agrees, but I see the nod of his head.
“I’ve been good,” I tell him. “Come with me. You’re not carrying, are you?”
Dean looks at me like I’m crazy but doesn’t answer my question. I don’t push it, either. Instead, I lead the way to the back entrance of the building and use the code to let myself in. I hold the door for him and wait until it closes securely behind me before leading the way through the hall toward Chief Townsend’s office.
Along the way, we pick up stragglers in the form of the men from my unit. Or most of them. Remy, Linc, and Dom are right there behind me when I knock on the chief’s door and walk in without waiting for a response.
“Well, I’m glad I didn’t have my dick in my hand or anything,” he says by way of greeting and then stands up when he sees we aren’t alone.
“Dean.” He holds out his hand, and Dean shakes it. “It’s good to see you again. How’s Andrea doing with that grandson on the way?”
“Shit, Alex. You’d think I was made of money the way she keeps spending it on crap they could buy for themselves. Between her and Maria, I think Lucas and I are single-handedly funding half the boutiques on Main Street at this point.”
The chief shakes his head. “When Remy and Parker had Cassie, I think my wife spent ten grand in less than a month. I got calls every other day from the bank making sure there weren’t any fraudulent charges. I had half a mind to tell them that she’d stolen the damn thing.”
“As nice as this is,” I interrupt their conversation, “I brought Dean in because of Ortega.”
Dean and the chief both sigh, and it is almost comical, if it wasn’t my life they are sighing over.
“He followed one of my men to Bangor, with a redhead in his car who could have been my daughter,” Dean cuts right to the chase. “The bike being ridden belongs to Sam.”
“Oh, the black V-Rod he bought a few years ago?” the chief asks. “Or another one?”
“No, you remember the bike he got straight out of high school? The one that could have passed for a pocket rocket?” When the chief nods, Dean goes on. “That’s the one. One of the prospects laid his bike out and needed one to use for a week. Sent him up to Bangor for one of Poppy’s baby things, and while he was there, he saw Ortega with the girl. Said he was followed, and I believe the kid.”
Dean pulls out his phone and holds it out for us to see the picture on it. A picture that makes me sick to my stomach. It isn’t just the redhead looking like Poppy. It is the black eye and busted lip that we can clearly see. And the way he is holding her against his body makes it clear the girl doesn’t want to be anywhere near Ortega.
“He wanted to be seen,” Remy mutters. “You know what that means.”
“No,” I say smartly. “Why don’t you enlighten me, Remy? Could it possibly be that he’s fuckin’ pissed that I’m the reason he spent a decade and a half in prison? Or maybe it’s the fact that between Dean and me, we made sure he had a miserable time there. Between getting his ass beat and being made to be a man named Bubba’s bitch, Ortega didn’t have a good imprisonment.”
Dean snorts. “Bubba’s actually a friend of this guy I served with in the eighties. When he found out Ortega was in for hurting someone close to me, he didn’t even ask for anything on his commissary for it. He just wanted to make sure the asshole felt some pain.” His eyes flash when he meets my glare. “I made sure he was compensated. Don’t worry.”
“What can we do?” Linc interjects. “You all know I hate men who abuse their women, and the fact that he’s picking someone because they look like Poppy makes my blood run cold. But this isn’t an overt threat. It’s not even him making contact.”
“Yep,” Dom adds irately. “And the first argument he, or a lawyer representing him, will make is that it’s just a coincidence that he happened to be anywhere near any of your men.”
“Poppy needs to file a Protection from Harassment Order against him,” Chief Townsend says suddenly. “I know it seems extreme, but Ortega’s responsible for her fiancé’s sister’s death.” He stared at me pointedly, and I nod. Even if Poppy won’t marry me until after the baby comes, she will be marrying me. The chief goes on, like our silent communication hasn’t happened, but I know Dean didn’t miss it. “He served time for it. Any judge in Birch County will approve it based on the history and the potential threat.”
Dean nods his head. “I’ll talk to my girl. She’ll do it.”
“No.” I hold up a hand to silence him before he tries to take over. “I’ll do it. She already knows I kept shit from her when it comes to Ortega. There’s only so much I can take of her being inadvertently pissed at me before I have to do something about it.”
Dean chuckles darkly. “Make sure it’s done as soon as possible.”
I already have my phone out, texting Sam to bring her to the courthouse, so I choose not to answer him.
When Sam replies with a thumbs-up emoji, I put my phone away.
“What else can we do?” Dean asks his friend. “I don’t want to kill him. It’s gonna point right back to Logan and his family, which means it’ll point back to my family. And I’m not gonna let anyone else take the fall for me pullin’ the trigger if it comes to that.”