Page 35 of Jackal

Once the second interview was complete, my shoulders slumped, and I blew out a heavy breath. Because of the positions, both were quite lengthy, and it had been a while since I had to have my professional face on for so long. Both would require minimal interaction with other people, aside fromtwo other researchers, give or take, depending on the role and projects.

The idea of not having to talk to strangers all day was refreshing, and being behind the scenes to create advancements was a dream. Even if it wasn’t mental health-related, working to improve lives and better understand the mind and body was fascinating. Although, I’d seen Outbreak plenty of times, and the thought of being part of a team for something like that did scare me a little.

Closing the lid to my laptop, I giggled. It would seem I was afraid of a virus but not scared of humans, even though I had reason to be scared. Honestly, the virus thing worried me, but not so much that I’d walk away from it. It was still part of science and medicine and was probably exhilarating.

After growing up sheltered from the world, the idea of a few risks wasn’t off-putting, but quite the opposite. Even though my path had taken me down some dangerous roads, it was my journey–not the one I was supposed to be on but the one I took.

Standing and stretching after being stuck in a chair so long, I grabbed the laptop and went to put it in my room and swap shirts before heading to the clubhouse to fill Lacy in on the interviews.

If I saw Jackal…great. If not, also fine. It wasn’t like I couldn’t stop thinking about all those tattooed muscles and long hair swaying as he plowed into me. Nope. I had this under control. For sure.

Chapter 20

Jackal

I managed to keep eyes on Shiv on Monday, but steer clear of her. She had interviews and then caught up with Lacy after. She had more interviews Tuesday. Keys and I kept looking at surveillance of the businesses. I’d know quickly if any of the ladies tried to leave and the guys at the exits were keeping an eye out, as well.

Falcon and Eagle already told Daisy and Lacy to stay put, so my main issues were Cindy, Penny, and Shiv. Cindy wouldn’t make an effort to hide it, but I could see Penny trying to sneak off. Keys had already added some motion detection cameras around their house and the perimeter of the plot the clubhouse was on. We had over twenty acres, but most of it was just trees. Only about two were cleared for the clubhouse, garages, shed, and a few open areas for partying or hanging out. The two houses on the lot were against the tree line within that two acres, but visiblefrom the clubhouse.

Keys also hacked into Butch’s phone records, but I knew it would be a dead end. He wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wouldn’t be dumb enough to organize a takeover on a club phone. We recovered his bike from the airport the day he exposed himself as the rat but he must have had his personal phone with him.

The Trans Am hadn’t been spotted anywhere and if he’d been planning this for a while, he probably had another bike lined up. If he had taken off on his, we’d recognize it before we recognized him. Even if he was sporting a different cut.

Being holed up with Keys the last couple of days made it easy work to ensure the ladies didn’t take off, and watch Shiv squirm a little. She went to the clubhouse Monday and Tuesday and while she was chatting it up with her friends, she was looking for me.

I loved the look of annoyance on her face. That one eyebrow cocked high and that grimace could rival any biker I’d ever run across. I’d fix that look soon enough, but this was two birds with one stone–find these assholes and wear her down so she’d admit how she felt.

Hawk and the others made it back late Tuesday, and Keys and I hadn’t come up with much new info. I put out a few calls to some old friends to see if anyone knew about the Hellbound Heathens while we continued to go through hours of video, trying to piece things together. Once Shivana was back safely in her room, I touched base with Hawk on the quiet couple of days, then headed to my own room to get some shut eye.

Now that the guys were back and her interviews were done, I had the task of trying to explain why she couldn’t go house hunting. Hawk still wanted to keep things locked down for now. I’d also be heading out a few times this week with some guys to get eyes on the streets and see if we ran into any HellboundHeathens. We’d put some of the trackers back on and see if we got any company. It was best for the ladies to stay put while we tried to draw out these fuckers.

After staying away from Shivana the last few days, though, I was ready to be back in her personal space. This week would give her a good taste of the life, though. Part of me wished this all happened before I lost my control so she could see how it would be and maybe she’d understand why I was so hesitant. But it was too late for that now, and better to get her used to it sooner rather than later.

She’d been here for weeks now, and while it was somber and tense, not a lot of activity happened until those fuckers decided to slash my tires in broad daylight. Everything else had been behind closed doors, away from the prying eyes and ears of the ladies.

Making my way downstairs, I walked into the bar and looked around. It was quiet, but a few guys were eating, a bunny was behind the bar, and Hawk was in his seat. No Shivana, though. Midweek and midday, it was normal to be slow and a lot of the guys were at their jobs. It wasn’t quite lunchtime yet, but I’d slept in since it was so late when Hawk and the guys got back from the run, and we caught up.

Hawk waved me over, so I headed that way and took a seat. “Hey, Prez. Get any sleep?”

He nodded. “Enough. You?”

“Enough. I’ll be good for tonight.”

“I’m riding with you tonight. We’ll do the trackers after we do a little scouting first.”

“I got your six.”

“It’s great to have someone I know I can trust.” He sipped his coffee, and his eyes went over my shoulder. The way his brows rose made me turn.

“Umm…Hey stranger,” Shivana said as she crossed her armsand cocked one of her hips out. “Hello, Hawk. My apologies,” she said as she smiled at him. “To you.” Then her eyes whipped back to me. “Not you.”

This should be fun. “Hawk, I’ll see you around later.”

“After dinner, man,” he said. “Good to see you, Doc.”

She smiled at him again. “Always a pleasure. Again, my apologies.”

Hawk waved her off. “Not a problem. Have fun.”

---