Cowboy Bikers MC #10 by Esther E. Schmidt
CHAPTER FIVE
– REDDING –
I steal another glance at the woman who is checking out goats and release a happy sigh. Who knew just looking at a woman could give such a comfortable feeling? Last night we connected in a solid way. Not just our bodies but the late evening discussions afterwards is what grounded the both of us.
No more fake anything; what we have is real and we’re both in it for the long run. Finally. I knew she was special when she walked inside the bar that night but as always, time can be on your side if you want something bad enough.
And I want her. With every cell inside my body. It was hard enough not to sink myself inside her sweet pussy again last night. First thing I did when we passed a store this morning was buy the biggest box of condoms.
Like many other things we discussed last night, she offered to get a birth control prescription so we can ditch the condoms as soon as possible. The both of us want kids but she’s right to explore “us” before adding anything else.
For now, we’re only going to add a goat right next to the new mare we just picked up and is loaded safely inside the trailer. Fenna is checking out young ones while I notice an old man who has an older looking goat right next to a few others.
Strolling over, I point at the animal and question, “Afternoon, sir. How old is this one?”
“He will be ten by the end of the year. There’s still a lot of life in ‘em. He was a buddy for my granddaughter’s horse but the horse was sold three weeks ago. We’re not getting another horse and he’s been lonely, best thing to do is look for another owner to give him a few more years.”
I nod and give the man a smile. “I think I know the perfect home. My old lady is breeding miniature horses and the stallion is a bit of a wanderer.”
“Ah, he keeps escaping on ya?” The old man chuckles. “My granddaughter’s horse used to get bored as well, it’s why we bought Goaty here to keep her company.”
I feel a hand on my lower back and a soft, “Hey,” coming from beside me as Fenna joins us.
“I found us the perfect goat,” I quip and point at the brown animal lying comfortably on the ground. “Almost ten years old and a former buddy of a horse.”
“Perfect,” Fenna muses and leans over the fence to slide her hand over the goat’s head.
The old man accepts the first offer Fenna makes and it doesn’t take long for us to put the goat in the trailer.
“Want to eat something before we hit the road again?” I ask and I can tell by the way her eyes light up, she’s liking the idea.
We stroll toward one of the stands where they are flipping burgers when my phone rings. I grab it from my pocket and notice it’s Dinand calling. A hint of concern slices through me because I asked him to finish working on the fence for Houdini.
“What’s up?” I grunt.
“Someone just tried to set fire to your old lady’s stable.” His statement makes me stop dead in my tracks.
“Come again?” I mutter, wondering if he’s shitting me.
“No worries, brother. Ewald and I managed to smother the fire and none of the horses were in the stable since the mares were in the pasture and Houdini was in the one we were working in. We haven’t been able to check the security feed yet. I don’t know if it was up and running but we did put up the cameras and let Decker know to handle the rest but that was hours ago so. That’s all the info I have at this moment but I thought I’d let you know anyway instead of coming home and seeing part of the damage. It’s only on the outside, though. Fucking lucky we were here otherwise no one would have noticed and the stallion would have been in there, right?”
“Right, brother.” I manage to keep the anger pulsing through me at a minimum since he’s the one I should be thankful for. “Thanks, man. Appreciate it. We’re heading back right now. See you in a couple of hours.”
“No rush, we got this,” Dinand says before the connection ends.
“What’s wrong?” Fenna’s voice is thin and laced with worry.
“First you’re thrown face-first into a wall and then they try to set fire to your stable. Don’t worry, the damage was kept to a minimum because Dinand and Ewald were there to catch it in time. Who knows if they are connected or separate incidents, though, my money is on a connection. What and who I have no clue, but we’re gonna find out.”
She swallows hard and brushes past me to head for my truck. I have to up my speed to keep up with her and when I finally do, I take her by the arm and spin her around. Acting on pure instinct I wrap her in my embrace and pull her flush against my body.
Her hands fist my leather cut and I can feel her chest expand to take a deep breath, releasing it slowly while her body slightly trembles. Fucking hell, I hate not knowing who is doing this to her.
“It’s going to be okay, I promise,” I vow. “With Houdini escaping all the time, I asked Dinand and Ewald to install cameras but they weren’t sure if they were up and running when the fire was set. Like I said, we’re going to find out who is doing this and end it.”
Her head rubs my chest as she nods.
“Come on, Dinand ensured me everything was under control. What do you say we get those burgers to go since we’ll be on the road for a couple of hours anyway and you can’t handle shit on an empty stomach, eh?”
I get half a choke, half a sob as a reply and take a step back so I can cup her face with both my hands. Gently I wipe away the few tears spilling over her cheek and brush my lips against hers.
“We got this,” I fiercely tell her.
It’s only a soft murmur, but she says it nonetheless. “We got this.”
Releasing her face, I take her hand and lace my fingers with hers to guide us back to the stand with the burgers. We order our food and take it with us. The miles on the road are mostly made in silence.
Dinand and Ewald are waiting for us when we finally arrive. Fenna jumps out of the truck as soon as it comes to a stop. She rushes toward the stables and as I get out as well, I can clearly see the damage of the fire. Thank fuck my brothers were here because it looks like some kind of accelerant was used.
“Decker called. He was working on the connection when the fire happened and only caught a hint of a car leaving. He’s been checking out other security cameras around here to see if he can spot the same kind of car around that time to get a license plate he can run. I haven’t checked back with him yet. Prez ordered church as soon as you two were back. I’m supposed to call when you got back. He’s sending over two prospects to keep an eye out here while we head over to the clubhouse,” Dinand informs me.
“Call him to get the two prospects here,” I grunt. “We need to unload the mare and the goat, put them in the pasture and then we’re ready to go once they arrived.”
I stalk to the trailer while Dinand’s voice flows out behind me. “Goat? You guys bought a goat?”
“Yeah.” I open the trailer. “It’s a buddy for Houdini to hopefully stop him from escaping.”
“Smart,” Dinand mutters while he helps me get the mare out.
Fenna walks in our direction and I hate to see the sadness written all over her face. Her eyes puffy, the corners of her mouth turned down and those worry lines on her forehead, everything tugs at my heartstrings and I want nothing more than to hug her close and take on everyone who wronged her.
But for now, I’m focusing on getting the animals safely into their new home. All of us watch how the mare rushes into the pasture that’s just for her. Fenna breeds and trains miniature horses, this means her pastures are smaller than the ones we have for our livestock. There is a piece of land behind the house that would work for a pasture for my horse, though.
For now she’s keeping the mares separate until we can observe them together. We do however place the goat into the secure pasture of the stallion. All of us have our forearms placed on the fence while we watch both the goat and Houdini interact together.
“Perfect fit.” Ewald chuckles.
A happy sigh comes from my left and I notice a small smile tugging her soft lips. I wrap my arm around my woman’s waist and pull her close to place a kiss on the top of her head.
“You did good,” I murmur.
“Yeah.” There’s a smile in her voice and a soft giggle when Houdini jumps up and puts all four hooves into the air, lands, and darts away, the goat follows his weirdness and they both enjoy the freedom the pasture offers them.
The rumble of bikes draws our attention. Two prospects park their bikes and stalk toward us.
“One keeps an eye on the front, one out back. This means no fucking phone in hand or chitchat on the side of the house, get me?” Dinand growls and narrows his eyes at both prospects.
I guide Fenna toward my bike and straddle it, waiting for her to warm my back before firing it up. Her arms slide around me and at the same time my heart gives a firmer squeeze to pump the blood through my veins.
Dinand and Ewald are right behind us. The reason we’re heading to the clubhouse might be a shitty one but the feel of having my woman on the back of my bike is damn perfect. Wind in my face, her arms around me while her tits are pressed against me.
There’s nothing or no one on this fucking earth who will take this away from me. I will make damn sure with the help of my brothers to find out who is doing it and end it. It’s a short ride to the clubhouse and when we enter I notice the old ladies are gathered in the main room while my brothers are already waiting in church.
Harlene steps forward and hooks her arm into Fenna’s and pulls her toward the couch where the other old ladies are seated. “Why don’t you join us while the men huddle in church?”
I take a moment to watch the women exchange warm smiles and greetings. Knowing Fenna is looked after, I step inside church.
I haven’t even closed the door when Decker says, “We have a serious issue, Redding.”
Swallowing a curse, I question, “How so?” and take a seat right next to Roper, my VP.
“I managed to track down the chick who has been coming to the bar when you’re behind the bar. Kayla Florentine, twenty-three years old, had a brief marriage for about a year. Her ex filed a restraining order against her and she spent eight months in a secure mental institution. And her brother? August Florentine? He just walked out of prison a few days ago. Pyromaniac. Doesn’t come as a surprise I was able to find another camera shot of the car speeding away from your old lady’s property and caught a license plate that links this fucker to it, huh?”
“He intervened at the diner when his sister walked up to you, he’s probably acting on lies his sister is feeding him. We need to get ahead of this fast,” Weston states. “Decker, what are your thoughts about handling this?”
“I would suggest to put both Redding and his old lady in lockdown. We could let them stay here or at her place. We need to double security and reach out to one of my FBI contacts to let them take over. This can escalate quickly. The fucker was just released from prison for arson and he turns around and does it again. His sister, Kayla? She tried to lock up her husband to keep him tied to her so he couldn’t cheat on her. And I mean literally tied to her because she drugged him and strapped him to the bed. She took great care of him, but yeah…it’s illegal and twisted in the head to hold people against their will. There are a lot more details about what she did and how she did it but I’m going to spare you guys the twisted shit and just mention the woman is a nutjob who probably thinks Redding is hers. This thing can go from zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye, not to mention, the brother is an added risk.”
Roper and Weston both nod but it’s Roper who speaks up. “Reach out to your contacts. We’re going to need backup on this one, sounds to me like the both of them need to be kept behind closed doors.
“Yeah,” Colt grunts. “This Kayla probably made up a relationship with Redding in her head and Fenna is in the way. Her brother probably believes her and thinks Redding is treating his sister badly, flaunting another woman in front of his sister, cheating on her, whatever imaginary shit that chick is sucking out of her thumb.”
Oak clears his throat. “She’s sick, she needs proper care and people around her to help guide her through those thoughts.”
“It’s why we’re letting Decker reach out to his contacts. This sure ain’t something we can handle ourselves without shit getting ugly,” Alfie grumbles.
I rub my temples and try to wrap my head around this, letting my thoughts stray over every encounter I had with this woman to see if I did something to draw out this reaction.
“Hey,” Weston quips and smacks his flat hand on the table in front of me. “Don’t try to figure this thing out by yourself or even try to understand these people and their motivations or actions.”
“Prez is right,” Decker grunts. “In the years that I worked for the FBI I ran into some batshit crazy people and have seen some twisted shit. Motive, sanity, reason, all those things fly out the door and the brain is just too complicated and we’re all balancing a thin line where logic and reason might blur and crazy shit happens. Point is, we fix this shit and we fix it the right way. Like Oak mentioned, the woman needs help and we’re going to make sure she gets it to see reason. Her brother, though? That fucker needs to pay for the shit that could have happened.”
“Absolutely,” Dinand snaps. “If Ewald and I weren’t there?” He shakes his head and mutters a curse. “Houdini would be in that stable and the fire wouldn’t have been put out so he would have died. Hell, the stable is close to the house, that could have gone up in flames as well.”
I release a deep breath. “I don’t want my old lady standing in harm’s way. Let’s get this shit done as soon as possible.”
Grunts of agreement fill the air and I hope to fuck this ends soon because I have a bad feeling burning a hole in my gut.
