Page 84 of Smitty

“Oh, no. I think it’s exactly as intimidating as it’s meant to be.”

I laughed nervously as I slipped my hand in his, feeling grateful I had something solid to hold onto as we started for the door. We stepped inside the bar, and all conversations stopped, heads turned, and all eyes landed on me. I immediately recognized several of the men from the pictures.

Preacher. Shepard. Ghost. Goose.

Their names had stuck with me after seeing them on the back of the photographs. They seemed intense in the images, but not nearly as intense as they seemed in person.

They didn’t look angry or suspicious.

Just serious.

I tightened my grip around Brayden’s hand, and he leaned in and whispered, “I’ve got you.”

We walked up to the group, and the older man with gray hair smiled and said, “You must be Brooke.”

“Yes, sir. I am.”

“I’m Preacher. It’s good to meet you.”

“Good to meet you, too.”

“Smit sent Shep some images last night, and from my understanding, you were the one who discovered them?”

“Yes.”

It was strange to hear him refer to Brayden as Smit. He’d told me about them each having a road name and how they were chosen by the brothers. He’d laughed when he told me Goose had come up with it because he was one of their best mechanics, and while he wasn’t sure it fit, the brothers were and continued to call him by the name.

Another man stepped forward and extended his hand. He had dark hair, a lean build, and looked to be in his late thirties. He gave me a warm smile as he announced, “Hey, Brooke… I’m Shep.”

“Hi.” I remembered his name from last night. He was the one I was there to talk to. I shook his hand as I told him, “Nice to meet you.”

“Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go over to the table.” Brayden and I followed him and Preacher over to one of the tables in the back. As soon as we were seated, Shep said, “Before we start, we’ve already talked to Smit. We know the position you’re in, and we appreciate you helping us out with this. We will make sure that nothing said here today comes back on you.”

“Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”

“So, you found these pictures while doing a home visit?”

“Yes. We were doing a walk-through for a minor who was in possession of a firearm.”

“And his name?”

“Jimmy. Jimmy Jones, and his father’s name is Raymond. The gun belonged to his father.”

“I would guess the firearm was removed from the home.”

“It was.”

“What do you know about this Raymond Jones?”

“He works the line at one of the factories in town… He’s married, but she left years ago.”

“Any idea why?”

“I can’t say for sure, but based on what we’ve heard, I’d say it had something to do with his drinking or the abuse.” My nerves started to settle as I told him, “I’m not sure why she didn’t take Jimmy with her. I guess it’s possible that he wouldn’t let her, but that’s all speculation.”