Page 150 of Back in the Saddle

“Seems the man’s got class as well as an over-honed sense of justice,” Eric stated.

I looked up at him. “Over-honed sense of justice?”

“Babe, this is the Wild West. Denver was Candyland compared to the trip that was LA. But this place, I’ve never experienced anything like it. It’s touch and go just driving from one place to another. I learned fast when I hit The Valley, anything goes. And Javier Montoya is the gunslinging marshal who put the star on his own chest.”

I didn’t travel much.

But I always knew my city of birthrocked.

“Do you think Javi extorted money out of his deadbeat dad to buy me this primo bar set?” I asked.

“I think if Javier Montoya wants to do something, he finds a way to get it done.”

And there it was again.

I knew I liked the guy.

“Since he put this on my welcome mat, I’m thinking our security gate doesn’t know it has the word ‘security’ in its description,” I remarked.

“Don’t worry, babe. Your gate is solid. Again, if Montoya wants something, he’ll get it done.”

Hmm.

I could think on it no longer. I had to feed my man, so I dragged the cookbook closer to me, gave the recipe a once over, then turned to the stove.

“So…my day,” I began as I started to melt the butter and olive oil. “The girls and I are gonna head into the camp tomorrow after Harlow and I get off work. We’re gonna ask some questions and see if anyone saw anything. We’re also going to set up surveillance. And get this, after Raye and Luna scouted out a good place to keep watch in that abandoned warehouse across from the camp, Raye asked, and Arthur is going to kit us out with communication equipment, binoculars and a camera with an extreme telephoto lens.”

Eric slid his hand along the small of my back (nice) as he moved from my one side to the other to open the packet of fresh fettucine I bought.

After he did this, he said, “I know. Raye told Cap. Cap told me. I sat down with Mace. The men are going to do the surveillance with you.”

My head twisted from the oil in the pan to him. “You are?”

He shrugged. “It’s a good idea. We’ll have men undercover in the camps, and they’ll have comms so they can communicate. But Mace and Lee have been uneasy about Tex and Duke being in there without backup close. If we take shifts with the Angels, we can keep a better eye on them.”

Lee was the managing partner of the Denver branch of NI&S. He was also the hero of one of the Rock Chick books, seeing as he married a Rock Chick. To end, his last name was Nightingale, so he’s the one who started the whole thing, literally, as his book was also the first book.

I dumped the mushrooms in the pan and stirred them around before I said, “Two important questions.”

“Hit me.”

“One, who’s Duke?”

“Duke’s a friend in Denver. He’s around Tex’s age. He’s a biker, so we can make him look like he’s been sleeping rough. He’s also sharp as a whip. And he’s got a few years on him, but he can take care of himself. Though, normally, he works at Indy’s bookstore.”

Indy, by the by, was Lee’s Rock Chick wife (I met both of them at the funeral, she was gorgeous and very sweet, he was the requisitehot).

“What’s question two?” Eric prompted.

I gave it to him. “You need to tell the boys they need to be all in for my corn nut, corn dog, corn chip and salsa theme for stakeouts. I’m not sitting around for hours, staring at a bunch of people who are just living their lives, hoping for the bad guys to show up, without the appropriate snacks available.”

Eric smiled. “I see stakeouts with the Angels are gonna be a whole fuckuva lot better than the ones we do on our own.”

“What are your snack themes?”

He started laughing. “We don’t have snack themes. So already your stakeouts are better.”

I shot him a smile and turned back to the mushrooms to give them a swizzle.

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