Page 9 of Fury
“He have a bad turn?” Davy’s question startled her and she jumped, sloshing hot coffee over her hand.
“Shit.” Grabbing for napkins, she dabbed at the darkening spots on her pants, then cleaned her hand. “Yeah, he had a turn. But he’s better. Sarge is his guy when things go south, so I call him when Ty needs someone to talk to. He’s got this place where he helps guys like Ty, vets who need somewhere they can just be, and not have to worry about civilians.” She shrugged, feeling Davy’s gaze like a weight on her shoulders. “He’s been there for a few weeks. I’d just like to know for sure that he’s okay.”
Leaning back in his chair, Davy dug in his pocket, coming out with his phone. Laying it on the desk, he tapped at the screen for a moment; then she heard a ringing. “Who are you calling?” She took a sip and waited, rolling her eyes when he didn’t answer, just grinned at her.
“Hello?” Bethy recognized the voice and shook her head at her brother, but she couldn’t help returning his smile. “Mason, man, sup?”
“Watcher, how’s it goin’? Got you on speaker, brother.” When he answered, his voice had changed, even his posture shifting from Davy, her big brother, to Mason, the president of a motorcycle club based out of Chicago. “Bethy’s here, man.”
“Bethany.” The pleasure was clear in Mikey’s tone, and that made Bethy’s throat tighten. The fact he could stay friends with her after how she’d failed Tabby, always amazed her. “How are you, honey?”
“I’m good, Mikey. You and Juanita coming back this way anytime soon?” His wife Juanita was a good friend of hers, and she talked to the woman as often as she could. “Family is always good to see.”
“Probably not, honey. Bella’s in school now, keeps Nita tied to the household more than before. Not that we’re complaining.” He was laughing at the last and Bethy heard Juanita’s voice in the background, scolding him. “You could always come out here, see your goddaughter.”
“Promise to do that soon. Give Nita my love.” Bethy leaned back in her chair, blowing a kiss across the desks to thank Davy for letting her have those moments with her friend before he steered the conversation wherever he intended when he initiated the call.
“Hey, Watch.” Davy jumped into the opening, as she’d expected. They made a good tag-team, which was why she always tried to have him in town for major negotiations. At least since that one fiasco. Not only was he intimidating as hell, even when he took off the leather vest and put on a suit, but he was smart as a whip, seeing past the words and fluff and into the meat of a problem. “You know a guy Ty’s connected with called Sarge?”
“Yeah, Sarge is ex-military. He runs a halfway house for vets trying to put their lives back together. Sup?” Watcher’s tone had gained intensity, and Bethy felt a niggling wiggle of fear. “Why you askin’?”
“Ty’s had an episode.” Davy left it at that, and Watcher filled in the blanks quickly.
“How long’s he been gone? I got a couple of numbers I can call if he’s dropped out entirely. See if we can find him.” He’d made the wrong assumption, but it warmed Bethy’s heart to know that Watcher would drop everything if their friend needed him.
“He’s not gone like that. Sarge picked him up nearly a month ago, and I’ve gotten a couple of texts but…” She paused, trying to decide how much to share. “Sarge and I had words the night it happened, and he was different after. I just…Ty’s never been gone this long and will usually keep in touch himself. He hasn’t. It’s been only Sarge texting me, and that’s been just about once a week. I’m not really worried, but Davy got here just as I was asking Dot if she’d heard anything. You know Davy, he’s all in to try and make every problem history.” There, that had glossed over the near argument, and hopefully both men would focus on Ty instead.
“What’d you argue about?”
“Had words?”
Davy’s question and Watcher’s came at the same time, and Bethy shook her head, laughing. “I just want to know for sure that Ty’s okay, guys. I’m allowed to have disagreements with people, you know. It’s not a big deal.”
“I know Sarge, and if he was pissed enough at you, he wouldn’t hesitate to make it hard for you, Bethy. He’s a good dude, but not a nice one.” Watcher’s words underlined what Bethy had been feeling, and she pulled in a breath, waiting. “I’ll give him a ring-a-ling, see if I can’t shake some intel from him on Ty. Would help if I knew what I needed to avoid talking about.”
“He just…said something I took…look, it was a long day, followed by me getting home to be greeted with a half a dozen garbage bags full of rotting deerskins and Ty in the middle of a meltdown. Sarge just was a wrong place, wrong time thing. If you can find out about Ty, I’ll pass it along to Dot, and we’ll both owe you big.” Bethy stared at her muffin, picking at the edges of the paper, studiously not looking at Davy. “Thanks, Mikey. Give both your pretty girls a hug from me, yeah?”
Silence from both men, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Davy nod. “Thanks, Watch. Talk soon.”
“Will do. Let you know soon as I hear anything. Don’t worry, Bethy.” Watcher’s voice softened. “Ty’s good, or you’d have heard something for sure. Talk soon.”
“Rotting deerskins?” Davy questioned after he disconnected the call.
Bethy tipped her head up and sighed. “Yeah, he had some idea about making things out of them and selling them. I don’t know how much he spent on them, but I took the whole load to the cabin and dumped them into a ravine. They smelled so gross.” Straightening her shoulders, she glared at him. “Now, if you’re done ordering my life for me, can we talk about this group?”
Nodding, Davy told her, “Tell me.”
***
“I like the sound,” Davy said and held the door open for her to walk through. “You got a good ear. Brains of the operation, just like I always tell everybody.”
Bethy shot him a grin over her shoulder, turning to use her key to lock the bolt. A sound on the lot across the street pulled her attention, and she twisted to see a bike slowly pulling out and into the street. A feeling of menace rolled over her skin, and she glanced at Davy to see him staring at the bike and its rider intently.
“You fuckin’ know him?” Not a bit of softness in his voice, Davy barked the question at her, and she belatedly realized she probably should have mentioned the bike that had been following her around for the past couple of weeks.
“The bike? No.” She shoved her keys into her purse, leaning over to link her arm through Davy’s. “Want me to utilize my dubious cooking skills to feed you, or wanna get something edible from the diner?” Cuddling into his side for a minute, she stayed there until she felt his arm flex in hers, and knew he was past whatever anger he’d had. “I’m not saying I’m a bad cook, mind.”
“You’re also not sayin’ you’re a good one.” He laughed and turned them so they were walking up the sidewalk.
