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Dallas was a good kid. He was twenty-two and had passed the firefighter certification just a few months ago.
He was also the Mayor of Benton’s son. The mayor had also been a firefighter, himself, before he’d had a heart attack and his wife put her foot down, insisting that he leave the service before he died and left their young family alone.
Dallas was a quick learner, and didn’t get pissed when you told him to do something he thought was below him like I’d seen some do.
He was also interested in prospecting for the Dixie Wardens.
The Dixie Wardens was my club.
I’d joined with Sebastian over ten years ago now, and I thought of them as family.
I’d been on the fence about them when Sebastian had mentioned the club to me the first time. Benton was a small town, and I knew that the town would know everything that went on with the club. I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to be in the middle of town gossip for the rest of my life.
At the time, I was young and loved riding my Shovelhead wherever the hell I felt like it. I wasn’t so sure belonging to a club was a way to stay free, to be what I wanted to be. There was no one and nothing stopping me from riding for two days straight like I’d been known to do now and then. Then Sebastian suggested patching in, having someone to share the road with if I ever wanted it, and my life had changed.
Suddenly, I had an enormous family.
A family that gave a shit about me and, by default, my sister when previously we’d had nobody.
“Alright, I’ll be right outside. Make sure the body doesn’t go anywhere.” I tried to say as seriously as I could; which happened to be not that much.
Dallas rolled his eyes and backed out of the room until he was standing in the doorway between the hallway and the bedroom, taking up position.
I found Sebastian outside, snake still curling around his arms, and a worried Adeline standing beside him. “Do you think my other pets will be okay in that?”
I walked up on the latest comment, and Sebastian’s expression clearly said, ‘Fix this.’
“It’s not the harmful smoke from a fire. It’s just from the guy chain smoking his pot.” I tried.
“So you don’t consider pot smoke harmful at all, or is it only to animals you don’t consider it harmful to?” She asked curiously.
Uh-oh. I knew a loaded question when I heard one. The question was, what exactly was she wanting me to say? That I didn’t think weed was that bad, or that weed was the devil. Or was she only worried about her animals, and not herself?
Jesus. I hated women’s minds. Why couldn’t they just be straight forward?
“I think your pets will be fine. The smoke will clear out once we open a few windows, and you can do the same in your place.” I sidestepped.
She smiled widely at me. “Nice save you just made there.”
“How many animals do you have up there anyway?” I asked curiously.
She blushed. “Well, quite a few actually. But they’re all in cages. And it’s only temporary. I saved them.”
Sebastian, who’d been doing his best to ignore the woman until she said she’d saved them, looked at me with widened eyes.
“From a facility that wasn’t taking care of them.” She hedged.
Then little facts started sinking in, mainly in the form of a huge news story that was sweeping over the South.
A week ago, a facility in Southern Louisiana that supposedly ‘didn’t test on animals’ had some lab equipment go missing and they suspected an ex-employee. That ex-employee being about 5’5 with black hair and gray eyes, uncannily similar to the woman standing in front of me.
“Well, I think it’s time for you to get Monty back into his cage. The police will be here any minute.” Sebastian informed her, holding out his arms for Adeline to take the snake.
Adeline didn’t waste any time hustling back up the stairs without a goodbye, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued. A woman that looked like her didn’t strike me as working in a testing facility at all.
“Cops are here.” Sebastian noted a few minutes later.
My eyes turned in that direction and groaned.
