Page 28 of Tangled Threats on the Nomad Highway
“What’d you say to her last night? She ranfrom you, got into the house still lookin’ over her shoulder.Ratcheted her up big-time, you apparently bein’ an asshole.” Gunnyleaned harder into the contact with the other man. “What’d you sayto her?”
“Told her the truth. She was lookin’ at youlike you hung the moon. Didn’t want her getting partway down a paththat didn’t have a good end for her, so I reminded her you weremarried.” Horse sneered. “Big man. You always gotta play the hero,doncha?”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Mason moved in behind Gunny and gripped hisshoulder, a hold Gunny shrugged off, only settling slightly whenMason’s hand insistently returned to the same position. Einsteincould see how deep Mason’s thumb dug, and knew the man was using apainful grip to settle his officer. He glanced at the patch on thevest and revised his mental assessment at the reminder of today’sproceedings.His previous officer.
Sure enough, Bane was on his way and wedgedhimself between Gunny and Horse, forcing both men back on theirheels. “Back the fuck off, brother.” Face pushing into Gunny’sspace, Bane snarled the demand. “Right now.”
“You want to be her hero, Horse? Don’t actlike an ass.” Even as he took a step backwards, Gunny shouted overBane’s shoulder, “Don’t assume you know anything about this thingbetween her and me. Something my old lady not only knows all aboutbut is entirely in favor of, seeing Marian like a sister.” Gunnywhirled and glared across the fire. “Old man, you need to havebetter taste in your goddamned officers.”
“Now, no need to denigrate your presidentthat way, big man.” Blackie didn’t shift from where he sat in afolding camp chair, a bottle of beer tucked into a mesh holderbuilt into the armrest. “He’s gone from a chapter officer to a newcharter president, so you might want to watch your mouth.”
“You see Marian’s face today? See her formore than a half a minute, unless you went to Bane and Myrt’shouse? No, you didn’t, and I suspect it’s because she was afraidshe’d run into that”—he flung a hand out behind him, middle fingerextended to point at Horse—“asshole.”
“Woman’s choice. Nobody made her stay awayfrom the festivities.” Blackie leaned back, kicking both feet outin front of him as he angled one ankle over the other. “Maybe shelikes takin’ care of kids like she was. You talk to her and ask herwhat was goin’ on? No, you didn’t. I don’t even need you to answerme. Get your head out of your ass and listen to Horse, and you’llhear a different tune than the one you put inside your own head.Fuck, Bane, you got your work cut out for you.” Blackie didn’t missa beat as he turned his face from Gunny to Bane, then to Mason.“And you? You’re a far more tolerant fella than I thought.”
“Horse.” Truck’s voice was cutting as heprojected it across the firepit. “What was your intent when youtold the girl what you did?”
Einstein noted lines of stress around theolder man’s upper face. The beard made it easy to hide any tensionaround his jaw and mouth, but the tightened muscles of his foreheadand eyes made it clear as any beacon that the answer to thisquestion meant something to the man. He swung his gaze to Horse andnoted the same markers. Both men had some kind of stake in thisconversation, and it was more than just Gunny’s physicalchallenge.
“Marian’s had so much shit in her life, shedeserves something good. Way she is with Gunny, I was afraid she’dlatched on to him in an unhealthy way. I didn’t want her to getmore hurt if she followed a route that wouldn’t end well.” Horsestepped towards the fire and held out his hands as if coldsuddenly. “She’d had a kind of anxiety attack in the woods.Everybody looking at her, and with the darkness, she couldn’t getaway. Her face, man. She was genuinely terrified but pulled ittogether and kept walking. That’s a woman with some strength insideher. Then she looked at Gunny, and it was like all the fight wentaway. Marian’s gonna need that strength. Gonna need all the fightshe can get, digging her way out of the things her family did toher.”
“You want me to believe you had her bestinterests at heart when you went at her that way?” Gunny’s angerhadn’t flagged; his shout was sharp and vicious.
“Fuck, man. I didn’t go at her. I wentgentle, aimed for sweet.” Horse didn’t look away from the fire.“And yeah, I only want good things for her.”
“What the fuck are we fighting for then?That’s all I wanted to hear. You started off like she’s the butt ofsome damn joke in your head, and I wanted to set you straight. Allyou had to do was say so, man.” Laughter burst forth from every manaround the fire, and Gunny’s head swung side to side as he lookedat every face. “What?”
His confusion was clear, and Einstein tookpity on him. “You went about it bass-ackwards. Shoulda started witha less confrontational tone.” He glanced at Blackie. “Gotta say,you’ve groomed two very levelheaded officers, brother. Welldone.”
“I work with what God gives me. Trust me,not alla my men are capable of the same.” Blackie put a hand besidehis mouth as he lowered his voice, pretending to whisper. “That’swhy they’re not here. Can’t really take ’em out in public. Thesetwo are the cream of the crop, and I’m fuckin’ proud of them.”
“Are you sayin’ I shouldn’t be out inpublic?” Gunny dropped into the chair he’d abandoned to tackleHorse. “I’m wounded, old man.”
“Call ’em like I see ’em.”
“As do I,” Truck piped up. “Hey, Einstein, Ididn’t see a sleeping roll on your bike. You set for somewhere tolay your head?”
“I hadn’t expected the hotels to be all fullup. I’ll figure something out. I got a tarp, keep the worst of thedew off me.” Unfolding his arms from around his knees, he proppedthem behind him, leaning backwards as he stretched out his legs.“Sleeping rough isn’t a big deal. No worries.”
“There’s a couch downstairs. Be morecomfortable than rough.” Bane pointed at the second house, the oneEinstein hadn’t yet visited. “Feels weird inviting you into a housethat ain’t mine, but needs must, right, man?”
“I’d appreciate it. Like I said, I hadn’tprepared for not having a cot.” He yawned, then watched as a dozenmen around the fire followed suit. “Would you mind if I headed oversoon? Need to text your old lady and let her know you’ll have aguest?” The women who’d been with the group had retired hours ago,Myrtle among them.
“Yeah, I’ll do that, but you go on soon asyou want. There’s a closet under the stairs with blankets. Grab oneif you need it. Boys slept in decently this morning, even in a newplace with new beds, so hopefully nobody’ll bug you too early.”Bane pulled out his phone. “Sweetheart,” he cooed into it as soonas he lifted it to his head. “We’re going to have a visitor crashout on the couch tonight. Just wanted to give you a heads-up incase you hear him come in. Good guy.” Head angling down, Banegrinned. “Yeah, one of Retro’s men, that’s right. Good girl.”
“Man, he’s got it bad.” Mudd’s whisper wasawed, not mocking, and Einstein nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, he seems to. It’s a good look on anyman, showing the world they’re owned by their better half.”Einstein shifted until he was on one knee, then pushed upright witha groan. “I do appreciate the offer, brother.” Staring at Bane, helet the reality of the situation sink in.There’s nothing ofScar in him. They don’t even look alike.Talking to the mantoday had revealed an entirely different mindset, one more likeEinstein’s, and he fully understood why Bane had gone about as faras he could from the club Scar had started. Nothing in that setupwould appeal to him, and it embarrassed Einstein that he’d beensucked in and swallowed the lies. He should have known better,should have trusted his instincts, but he’d wanted the community,the brotherhood that had been promised.All I got was shit.Bane’s story had shown he’d had to fight free from family to getwhere he was today, just like Einstein. “Catch you in themorning.”
He detoured by his bike to grab his bag,then made his way along the path to the second house. Similar inconstruction to Truck and Vanna’s place, it boasted a wide porchthat was begging for a swing. The light was on, a handful of bugsswooping lazily through the bright heat. The doors were unlocked,and he entered a quiet house, standing near the door as he closedit and looked around.
A glow from the kitchen slightly brightenedthe darkness downstairs, showing him the outline of furniture—acouple of chairs and the couch Bane had promised. The banister ofthe stairs gleamed in the low light, and he marked the darkershadow underneath, knowing that would be the door to the linencloset. The silence wasn’t complete. Shouts of laughter made theirway inside from the group, muffled but audible. He could hear aclock ticking, not loud enough to be annoying, but standing out inthe quiet that surrounded him.
Einstein slipped off his boots and placedthem and his bag near the end of the couch. There were cushions andpillows he could use to rest his head, so when he made his way tothe closet, he only retrieved a couple of blankets. Dropping thoseoff at the couch, he took only a minute of further exploring tolocate a downstairs bathroom, which he used without turning on alight.
He flipped out one blanket, then the other,and shoved a pillow to one end, then stretched as he unfastened hisbelt. He removed that and his wallet, digging his phone and knifefrom his pockets, and deposited those into his boots forsafekeeping, draping his vest over the collection, confident thatin this house, no one would touch it even while he slept.
