"Well, hell, man," opening the door to the barwith one hand, Steve threw down his finished cigarette onto the snowy sidewalk."Come on in."
Hearing the shouts from inside the bar to shut the door, Jaxchuckled and shook his head. “Not today, I’m about to pick her up and go back home,but hey, how about tomorrow around this time.”
Nodding, Steve gave him an eager smile, excited for theprospect of some rare gossip from the Moby Dick of townspeople. Waving, Jaxwalked away back towards the library. He could hear the Lincoln’s door open andclose swiftly just before the engine started.
*
"So, then I told him we should just start small withone-weekend retreat, but really go all out because what does it hurt totry?" Alessia chatted excitedly next to him about the meeting with Hershenhorn.
Glancing up to the rearview, Jax confirmed the Lincoln’sfar-off position following him. Satisfaction coiled in Jax’s stomach as hisplan fell into place.
That night instead of taking his shower after Alessia's, hemade her some tea, all the while keeping his eyes on the darkness out thecabin's windows. Thankfully the asshole wasn't dumb enough to drive down Jax'sprivate drive; none of his motion sensors had been activated. But the man didknow he lived down here, Jax had seen the man's car slow down as he passed theturn in.
Not questioning his sudden offering of tea, Alessia acceptedthe laced liquid with a beautiful smile. Within the hour, she was fast asleep.Carrying her to bed, Jax passed on the shower and reclined back on the couch withhis shotgun next to him. Although he was pretty positive just what kind of manhe was dealing with, Jax wasn't going to take any chances. Showering meant fiveto ten minutes of vulnerability for him and Alessia. He wouldn't risk it.Tonight, he would sleep light, like he had been trained to do and tomorrow hewould finally take out some long-overdue trash.
~*~
“Are you sure you don’t want to just come with me?” Alessiagave him a worried look from the driver’s seat of his truck.
“I’m positive, my love. You are beginning your empire andI,” he pointed to the house, “have chores to do.”
“Okay,” she conceded forlornly. “But why do I have to takeyour coat? You’re going to get cold.”
"I won't, and I have another one," stepping up toher, he zipped up the coat until the collar was practically covering everythingbut her eyes. "Besides, if I'm not there, I want you wearing my coat. Sothe people of Gaulding will know I might not physically be there, but you arestill mine."
"Well, I hope the spirit of your jacket isn't toostrong," she shot him a smirk over the collar. “Or people will think I’myou and run away from me.”
Though it was partially what he wanted, it annoyed him toknow yet again his image in town was akin to the yeti.
“Don’t forget Whiskers,” he smirked, holding up the smallcarrying case. The kitten mewed at both of them as Alessia took the crate.
“Mr. Hershenhorn really wanted to meet him when I told himthe story of how I found him,” pausing, she looked at him with a frightenedlook. “God, don’t let me get old and desperate for company.”
Jax laughed, shaking his head. “Jesus, I know.”
Kissing her goodbye and instructing her to drive slowly, hewatched her disappear in his truck down the drive. Noting the time on hiswatch, Jax went inside—and waited.
Twenty-three minutes later, the sound of gravel andcrunching snow echoed down the driveway as the vehicle slowly pulled down.Opening the door carefully to his car a thin wiry man dressed in faded, dirtyjeans and a leather jacket stepped out. Leaving his car door wide open as ifanticipating his visit to be quick—or expecting the ease of an open door toshove someone inside, the man walked quietly up the porch.
The front door was unlocked and the bathroom door wascracked with the radio on inside. Slowly, the man crept along the woodenfloorboards in his ridiculous worn black studded boots towards the bathroom.
Making no sound, Jax stepped from behind the front doorwhere he had been standing and easily crept up behind the man. Pulling back thebutt of his shotgun, Jax hit the man hard in the back of his head, sending theman to the ground in a crumple.
*
Opening his eyes, Gary blinked a few times with a painfulmoan. The right side of his face felt like it was on fire. As he slowly startedto wake up, he felt more and more pain coming from different places. With hisarms stretched painfully over his head, Gary looked up to see them boundtogether with the zip-ties with a long metal hook between them. Tiredly, hetried to open his mouth to yell. The tight unmistakable feeling of tapecovering his mouth finally activated his panic. Twisting and turning, Gary spunfreely on the hook connected to the ceiling rafters as the toes of his bootsbarely drug across the floor.
“Good, you’re awake,” the sudden voice to his right joltedhim as he turned awkwardly on the hook to see who it was.
It was the man on the TV. The man that kissed Alessia on thenews. He had found that guy in town yesterday just by luck. Gary had heard theman bragging about her as Gary made a show of searching for his keys in hispocket. Why was he here? He watched the man leave just a few moments ago, to gomeet up with that guy at the bar.
“I don’t have too much time,” the man said. Though Gary washanging on his tiptoes, he still had to look up to see the bastard as hechecked his watch. “So, let’s get this moving, shall we?”
Pulling out a long black steel knife, the man gave him anempty bored look, Gary felt his stomach go cold and his bowels shift suddenly.Shaking his head, Gary began to yell through the tape on his mouth. It wasn'twhat he thought, he tried to yell, he just wanted to see that little bitch andmake her tell him where his car was.
The black-eyed man simply gave him an annoyed frown at hisfrantic yelling. Shaking his head, the man tapped Gary’s cheek with a knife.
“Hey, calm down and listen I just need answers and once Iget them, I will pack all of this up,” he gestured to the hook and the plasticon the ground beneath him, a detail Gary just now noticed. “And then we will bedone.”
