Page 48 of Breathless
“Don’t prejudice me against the appointment before I get there,” Chaney warned. “I need to do well if I want to get a job other than a fast-food restaurant.”
“Sure. Let me go get dressed and we’ll go.”
“I’ll go put cheese toast in the oven,” she said.
Leland pacedthe interior of his Chieftain awaiting a very important phone call. He’d decided to bite the bullet and reach out to his Arizona brother Seth Masters for advice. They’d always had a good working relationship and he felt he could trust him to guide him in the right direction where his men were concerned if nothing else. He also knew that Seth would shoot straight with him and let him know if talk between the other brothers had started about him. That would mean their superior had reached out to other corners without him being the wiser.
Sweat prickled his brow, and he went to adjust the AC temp but noticed it was set on sixty-eight. Low enough to keep theRV cool. Was there something wrong with his unit? Or was he sweating from nerves?
His phone rang and he jumped, answering his question. It was his nerves. They were on edge. This whole deal had him frazzled. He let the phone ring a few times as he breathed in and out to calm himself before answering.
“Hello,” he finally said.
“Leland, it’s Seth,” his brother said. “How are things in Colorado?”
“Hot and humid right now. How are they in Arizona?”
“It’s like Hades here. But typical for this time of year. But I don’t think either one of us set up this call to talk about the weather. What can I do for you?”
“No. I didn’t reach out about the weather. I have a staffing issue that I thought you might be able to help me sort out,” Leland said, jumping right to the point. “I’ve never had this happen and I don’t know if I’m just having a run of bad luck or if I have a viper in my employment.”
“Hmm. That does sound serious. What’s going on over there?” Seth asked.
“I reached out because I know we are close. Closer than I am with the other two brothers, and I value your confidence. I hope you can keep this between the two of us?”
“Of course. I feel the same,” Seth agreed.
“I’m sure you have been made aware of the raid that happened on my house back in June. That was just the start of it all. Since then, I’ve had to regroup. Pull in new men, promote up. And these guys are not worthy of their positions and that may be where this all stems from. But I’ve had three of my guys arrested this month alone. I feel cursed, that I need to get out of the area, but I know until my men stand trial I have been ordered to stay put and lay low.”
“You are in a tough situation. I agree. You may just be having a run of bad luck like you said. Have you examined your team completely?”
“I have and everyone looks clean. The only one that is in question is missing and he was brought on by Nuchols before the raid. The guy appeared trustworthy, but he turned out to be a screw up in so many of the tasks he was assigned. After the raid he may have just run scared. I don’t know, but what if he was a plant?”
“Have you searched for him?” Seth asked.
“It’s been hard to do since my crew is low in numbers right now and I am also searching for the two girls that I know have been tapped to testify against Nuchols, Bidle, and Polaski,” Leland explained. “If I didn’t have to stay hidden away, maybe those girls would already be taken care of. But they are being watched by the Brotherhood Protectors.”
“One, who said you have to stay hidden away?” Seth asked. “Just because you are laying low doesn’t mean you can’t go after those girls yourself. If your men aren’t getting the job done, and that is what it sounds like is happening from what you are telling me, then it sounds like it’s time to step up and do the job yourself. If I need to come over there to help, I will. My operation is running smoothly right now. You say the word and I’m there.”
“You’d do that?” Leland asked.
“In a minute,” Seth said. “Second, just because the Brotherhood Protectors are on the job doesn’t mean that you aren’t able to get to those girls. I’ve heard of them, but we’ve got unlimited resources. Do they?”
“I have no idea who is backing their operation. I just know they seem to be everywhere these days,” Leland said.
There was a pause. “The more I think about it, the more I think I do need to come to Colorado with a few of my men. I’ll be there in two days. Will that be soon enough? I need to wrapup a few things and put in a chain of command for the current operation I have going on and then I’ll be there. I’ll reach out when I arrive.”
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you,” Leland said. “And thank you for your support.”
He hung up and wiped the sweat from his brow. There definitely was something wrong with the AC unit. The thermostat was still set on sixty-eight, but it was not that cool in here.
He grabbed a baseball cap and dark sunglasses and went outside to check the unit, but it appeared to be working fine. So was his generator. He scratched his chin and looked around at the many parked RVs in the storage area. Nothing looked suspicious or out of the ordinary and he eventually went back inside. He decided to adjust the temperature by upping it to seventy degrees to see if that would change the interior temp for a while before he lowered it back to sixty-eight degrees. If that didn’t work, he’d have to resort to contacting an air-condition repair shop because it was pushing ninety-degrees outside. Which was unseasonably hot for this time of year.
In the meantime, he got comfortable. He changed into casual shorts and a t-shirt. It wasn’t like he was expecting to do business with anyone today. He didn’t even anticipate one of his minions showing their faces out here after what had been going down.
That thought hadn’t left his mind when a knock came at the door. He swore under his breath, went to the nearest curtained window to peep out, before he stomped over to answer it.
“Drake, get in here before someone sees you,” he barked. “What brings you by?”
