Have Gun, Will Travel (The Bare Bones MC #5)(48)
I had to giggle. Using a piece of equipment on a sting that you’d registered under warranty was a typical dweeb thing for Tobiah to do. He’d done some brilliant work for the club, but I knew a nerd like him couldn’t resist not registering an electronic gadget. It had probably never occurred to him he’d be using it in a shootout. He probably just flew it to make sure no one was sneaking into his pot plantation.
Now Sax smiled mysteriously. “But as it turned out, when they were online hacking into Tobiah’s warranty information, an affiliate ad for SizErect, which is exactly what it sounds like, caught their eye.”
I was glad I didn’t have anything in my mouth, because I did a complete spit take. “Our father in heaven! You’ve got to be kidding!”
Sax sipped his wine with confidence. “I kid you not. Apparently it has many satisfied customers. Four point five stars overall.”
I held my hand to my mouth. “I’d hate to be the guy putting one star, admitting it didn’t work.”
“I’m sure those guys used pseudonyms.”
“So Tormenta’s goons bought some SizErect.”
“Right. Because the system thought they were Tobiah, he was able to get their credit card information. The gangsters didn’t charge Tobiah—they were honest about their impotence. Right now he’s tracking the card’s usage. It was used once at a gas station in Payson, the biggest town close to where he was hiding a few days ago. We doubt he’s at the same hideout, although he’s got them all over. But if nothing pings before noon tomorrow, we’ll go back up there.”
I sat back in my chair and admired him. “Makes sense.” My heart actually swelled in my chest, causing me pain, I was so full of love for Zane Saxonberg. I’d never dated a guy who was brave enough to storm a major cartel kingpin’s hideout. Baldy Avery was a small-time hoodlum back in high school, and he hadn’t gotten much farther lately, either. If he couldn’t shoot his adversary, he’d run. I just knew it. And Roscoe didn’t even pretend to be a hoodlum. He was a cable guy. Yes, a cable guy. Thinking on it now, I couldn’t believe I had ever hooked up with him. I still hadn’t heard from him, but I cared less and less. He hadn’t even given me the satisfaction of breaking up with him.
Yes, Sax was damaged goods, but not in a bad way. He was vulnerable. His feelings were so close to the surface they sometimes bubbled over, but that was a good thing. I felt I’d always know where I stood with him. He was a good man trying to do the right thing.
“Tobiah said he’s got an even better tactic to use the next time. I dread what the hell it could be.”
“A rocket-propelled grenade launcher?”
“Sarin gas? Actually, Wolf’s got the tactical smoke grenades covered. Anything that slightly sounds like something a cop would use, he’s on it.”
I grinned. “And he’d say that, too. ‘I’m on it.’ Like they do in cop shows.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that in real life, but Wolf Glaser does all the time. I think Ford’s getting some kind of retribution on me, or I did something to him in a past life, but he’s really out to get me, sticking me with Wolf Glaser.”
“He’s harmless. Wait, I don’t mean against the enemy. I think he can be pretty bloodthirsty against the enemy.”
“That’s what’s scary about him. I’ve seen gung-ho guys like him before. Sure, they’re effective killing machines. But it’s the way Wolf goes about it that’s frightening. He just seems gleeful, like a kid playing video games, like it’s not real.”
“Yes, he’s definitely got that unreal sense about him. Like he’s just a 3D participant in everything going on around him, and nothing he does has any effect on anyone.”
“Let me refill your wine. Polish this bottle.”
Sax obviously didn’t want to discuss Wolf anymore. He seemed to have something else on his mind as he handed me my glass. He stood, indicating I should follow him to the outside deck, where a clearing of blonde buffalo grass swished quietly in the early evening breeze. I doubted he wanted to admire the view, and I was right.
“Bee. I wanted to ask you about the abbey in Colorado. Seems like everyone other than me knows why you left.”
“You’re not going to ask me why I joined to begin with?”
He cracked a smile. “I presume you felt the calling.” He added ominously, “If I can understand these things, I think I can cut loose those other women.” He was bribing me. It worked.
“Yes. I enjoyed the ceremony, the rituals, the formalities. I gave up my desire to marry and married Jesus instead. You have to understand I thought it would last a lifetime, Zane. Otherwise I never would’ve made it as far as novitiate. Giving up everything and allowing ritual to take over absolved me of all responsibility for my life. It was a giant burden off of me. I saw how God was with me every moment of every day.”
“But you don’t anymore.” He seemed to want to skip past the God part. But I guess I would rather have talked about anything other than why I left the convent.
I looked at my hands. There was no getting out of this one. “No. I’m completely chagrined with their hypocrisy. The sisters were sneaking booze and popping pills right and left, but they dared to point the finger at me.”