Page 67 of Gotta Dig Deep
Shamu trotted into the room and pulled up short, staring at Gunny with narrowed eyes and all the attitude Horse had come to expect from the dog.
“Hi, Gunny. That’s Shammy,” Glenna offered without taking her gaze from the drive out front. “He’s my boy.”
“That’s—” Gunny choked out as he dropped to one knee, the hand not holding a pistol outstretched. “Jesus wept. That’s a Peruvian Inca Orchid. It’s a super rare breed. Holy shit, he’s gorgeous. Lookit him.” His fingers touched the dog’s muzzle reverently. “Hey, Shammy. How are you, boy?”
Horse rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t like people on first meet. And doesn’t seem to like me too much these days.”
“Yeah, brother, that emotion’s not super rare. Sorry to break the news to you.” Gunny laughed at his own joke, now running his hand over the dog’s neck and back. “You’re a gorgeous boy,” he semi repeated, and got a short lick to the side of his hand in response, the dog preening under the attention.
“Oh, fuck me running, seriously, Shamu? You like this asshole but not me?” Horse wasn’t surprised when the dog lifted his head to look his direction, a clear growl of disapproval rumbling from his chest. “See, he doesn’t like me.”
“What’d you do to him?” Gunny gave the dog a final pat, stood, and made his way to where Horse was posted up by the windows. “Musta done something. This breed is hella loyal.”
“I closed the bedroom door.”
“Aw, hell. That’ll do it.” Gunny lifted his chin to the window and the road beyond. “That drive I came up the only way onto the property?”
“There’s an old access road on the back side, but it doesn’t connect to anything, just gives out into a pasture where I’ve got a deep well for summer water.” Glenna angled herself towards Horse, slipping an arm around his waist. “Well met, seriously. I’ve heard a bit about you.”
“Lies,” the man cried with a grin. “Lies and prevarications, all of it.”
“Even the part about you being a good guy? Shoot, color me wrong then.”
Horse liked the gentle teasing already passing between them. He wasn’t surprised by Gunny’s instant adoption of Glenna, but her engaging as she was made him proud. She trusted him, trusted that anyone he brought into her orbit would be someone he believed in. Trust was earned, and he was stoked he’d gotten that from Glenna.
Shamu growled and Horse understood the sentiment. There was movement by the road, and not from the direction his brothers would come. A truck he recognized as the one Moorcock had used the other day rolled slowly towards the end of the driveway and paused, as if testing the water.
His phone chimed and he pulled it out, glancing at the screen the same time as Gunny did his own.
“Blackie’s in town. He stumbled onto a group of them causing trouble, so he’s dispatching those assholes now. Things are gonna get busy.” Horse paused to shove the phone back into his pocket. “Local rundown for Gunny’s sake. This guy in the driveway is the business leader, Moorcock. According to Retro, he’s got no official club designation, but he precedes the Monster Devils into every town they take over, smoothing the way with whatever dealings they’ve decided make sense. He had unsubtle threats the day he showed up here but wasn’t as unhinged as the property owner, Snyder.”
“I don’t see Jackson with him,” Glenna offered, peering through a small set of binoculars she’d unearthed when the vehicles first showed up. “He’s got one of the guys you called ‘muscle’ driving. And he’s on the phone right now.” She huffed. “Why don’t men talk with their hands like women do? I can’t tell if he’s agitated or calm. He’s just sitting there.”
“Some of us do.” Gunny cackled at his own joke. “My ole lady Sharon says I smack the walls every time we have a discussion.”
“That’s because you’re fuckin’ nuts. Not because you’re connected to your emotional side.” Horse squeezed Glenna’s waist. “Still on the phone, darlin’?”
“Yeah. No, he just hung up.” She grew still. “He’s checking his pistol. That’s bad, isn’t it?”
“He likely clocked us watching and is putting on a show.” Horse focused on the other vehicles. “There’s movement back by the trucks too.”
Moorcock’s truck started rolling up the driveway as the men waiting beside the road poured out of their vehicles.
His phone chimed but Gunny beat him to the update.
“Blackie’s wrapped up and is on his way.”
Glenna laughed quietly. She’d turned the binoculars on the group of men who were now trying to scale the wire fence. “You’d think they’d never seen barbed wire before. You don’t climb wire, you go through it.”
“With any luck, they won’t figure it out.” Horse pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Keep watching and call out with updates. I’m going outside to meet Moorcock and see what he’s got to say.”
“Where do you want me, brother?”
Gunny’s question drew Horse up short. He looked at Glenna, conflicted, and she flicked him an annoyed glance he could read like a book.
“With me.”
His words were filled with grit and anger, because it went against every instinct inside him. He knew Glenna would have Shamu at her side, and since the idiots from the MDMC had waited until nearly daybreak, she’d see the men coming. Probably. If he and Gunny presented a united force, and if Moorcock had any intel on the club to identify them, it might be enough to move any impending violence down the road until more backup could arrive.
