Page 57 of Tangled Threats on the Nomad Highway
Bama Bastards were rolling to Baker inforce. As were RWMC from the Big Bend charters. And the last he’dheard both Twisted and Wrench were coming from Louisiana withdozens of men at their backs. Of course, the Freed Riders werehere, with more riding in every hour as Gunny rousted theirmen.
Sour saliva flooded his mouth for thehundredth time. He leaned over and spat into the darkness.
This is my fault.
As fast as word had spread about his displaywith Marian today, flying north to Birmingham as well as making itsway to Bane’s ears within hours, he had to assume Scar had heardabout it too. That meant if he’d been on the fence with Marian’simportance to Einstein, everything today had simply cemented hisknowledge and probably pushed him to act.
I promised her I’d keep her safe.
His gut ached, a hot burning buried deep,causing him to bend double in pain.
He’d talked it through with Bane until heran out of air. Everything except the fact Marian didn’t know hisdisplayed feelings were real. The consensus between them had beenthat Scar wasn’t stupid. He could and had learned from mistakes inthe past. His mistake in the last engagement had been to trustLauren and Makayla’s safety to underlings. That meant he’d probablykeep Marian close.
“I just don’t get what he hopes to get outof this whole situation.” Einstein leaned back as he talked tohimself, head thudding against the hard surface. “Not mycooperation with whatever fucked-up idea he’s got; he’s not thatcrazy.” Einstein’s activity over the past few years had ensuredScar hadn’t been able to return to his previous world. He’d forcedthe man into hiding, putting his life on hold. “Maybe he’s—fuck, Idon’t know. I can’t get a read on it.”
“Neither can I.” Bane stepped out of thedoorway, letting the screen door settle gently into place. “I’vebeen over it and over it, and I don’t see where the win is for himin this.” Einstein’s gaze locked onto Bane’s face, the man’sexpression taut and pained. “Unless the win is fucking you up worsethan you already are. If he made this personal in his head, then itmakes the smallest amount of sense. Even as a kid he was always abully, always needed to be the winner. Wanted to come out on top nomatter what. What if he’s trying to break you?”
“Or if he’s trying to draw me into the open?If he does and is successful in taking me out, then his life can goback to a closer version of normal.” Einstein pressed his folded-uphand against his belly, pushing hard to make the pain go away. “Ifthat’s his game, then he leaves Marian alive.”
“If it’s my version, then she’s probablyalready dead, and he’s just biding his time to reveal what he’sdone. He’ll build it up and up, string you along for days, weekseven.” Bane tipped his face to the ceiling and clenched his jaw.“Fuck.” The growled word held a heavy burden of anguish. “Thenhe’ll drop the hammer, just when it would hurt you the most.”
“I don’t like that scenario for what’shappening. If he wanted to take away my world again, he could havekilled her there on the sidewalk. He would have to know that I’mclose to the boys, too. Hurting Luke by taking her was calculated,even if the location was chance—I mean, they didn’t make plansuntil this morning.” Einstein blew out a slow breath. “She works inthe back of the flower shop. That means she had the opportunity totell only two people not me or her family.” He pushed off the walland stalked to the railing, turning his gaze outwards again,thinking. “What do you know about the owner, and the girl, Whitney?Noah isn’t from Baker, right? Where’d he come from?”
“Noah?” Bane’s surprised bark of laughterwas wrong, and Einstein hated how it echoed back to the porch fromthe tree line. “No, he’s not from here. Somewhere out west.Mesquite, I think?”
“Dallas area?” The door behind Bane opened,and Gunny came out, followed closely by Truck. “That’s FRMC area.You know him at all from there?”
“You talkin’ about Noah Penrose?” Truck’squestion came with a tilted head as he tried to catch up on aconversation he’d stepped into the middle of. “Not Dallas. I wannasay New Mexico.”
That had the hair on Einstein’s armsprickling into gooseflesh. “How close is Mesquite, New Mexico, toEl Paso?”
Gunny had his phone out already and wastapping on the screen. He angled the device so Einstein could seethe display as he pinched and shoved at the surface with bigfingers. The image halted, and Gunny zoomed in long enough toverify the name of the town, then out to show more of the state.Mesquite sat directly between Las Cruces and El Paso, a pipeline ofhighway between the RWMC chapter and where the Silent Deaths heldterritory.
Turning to Bane, Einstein said, “Can you getMyron—”
“Already on it.” Bane waved a hand throughthe air. “Myron, it’s me again. Got a guy we want some history on.Noah Penrose, owns the florist shop here in town, Penrose andPeonies. He’s from Mesquite, New Mexico. This is hot, man. We’relooking to see if he has any connection with Zipline.” Hisrapid-fire list of information paused, and he nodded silently,listening. After a few moments, he grunted, “Yeah. Soon as,brother. Thanks.”
Looking at the men on the porch with them,Bane shrugged. “It’s something to look at, for sure. Whitney isjust a kid. She’s from here, graduated local. Her daddy runs abunch of chicken houses for the local packing plant. JodanCavanaugh, his wife died a few years ago. She’s a real good girl.No boyfriend, something Marian has bemoaned many a time.” He shookhis head. “I don’t see her as having anything to do with this, butexposure to Marian would mean she’s been around bikers enough tonot have as much caution as your typical citizen. Might make her aneasier mark for someone looking for an in. I don’t know—thatdoesn’t feel as urgent as finding out about Penrose’s possibleconnection to Zipline.”
“Anyone know Zipline’s government name?”Einstein glanced around the group, seeing only shaking heads andlifted shoulders. “Retro’s on his way down, and Mudd’s with him,but they probably left Buzzkill or Crazy Mike at the clubhouse.I’ll get him to dig into our files.” He pulled out his phone. “Icould do it, but it’s a pain in the ass on my phone. My tablet’supstairs.” There was one ring and the call connected, just likeearlier with Gunny, and he marveled at how things had changed sincethen.
“Einstein?”
Relief washed through him at the familiarvoice. “Buzzkill. I want you to look at Zipline, see if we knowwhat his government name is. We’re trying to track through a coupleof potential contacts to see where things might land.”
“Half a second, brother.” Background noisehe hadn’t noticed until now died away, and he knew Buzzkill hadmade his way to the secure room used for most information lookups.“I’m sure we’ve got it. We trace lineages where we can. It’s made abig difference in the past, knowing where a man comes from andwhat’s in his rearview. Half a second,” he repeated, the silencedeepening around those moments when he spoke. “Zipline, originallyfrom Las Cruces. His mother married a man from Mesquite, just southof where he grew up.”
The gooseflesh was back, and Einsteininterrupted him to ask, “Was the man’s name Penrose?”
“Yeah, how’d you know? Oh, hang on, I’ve gota marker shows we’ve got more info on the family.” The system theyused had been stolen from a major genealogy retailer and featuredthe same abilities to associate various interconnected profiles.“Mother’s name was Dorcas, maiden name Terrence. Zipline’s name isWalter Terrence, and I don’t show a record for his father.Stepfather was Nicolas Penrose, had a son by a previous marriage.Noah Penrose.”
“Got it. Can you send that info to Retro andMudd, so they’ve got it when they get here?” Movement at the edgeof his vision made him look up to see Bane making an us-too gestureat the three men on the porch with Einstein. He nodded. “Loop inBane, Gunny, and Truck, please. Fuck, send it to my phone, too, soI know we had this convo.”
“Brother, if there’s anything else. Anythingat all—” Buzzkill’s voice broke at theend. “Fuck, this is unbelievable, happening all over again.”
“It’s not happening again. He wouldn’t havetaken her if he wanted to kill her.” Einstein forced the words outwith all the certainty he had in his body. He had to keep hold ofthat thought because the alternative—Not happening.“Thanks, brother. I’ll dial you back if we need more.” His phonepinged and he pulled it away to see it was the requestedinformation. “Stay close, yeah?”
“You got it, Einstein. I’m here, man,anything you need.”
