Shelter From The Storm (The Bare Bones MC Book 6)(35)

“My name’s Travis McShane.”

Her lazy smile grew wider. “Nice to meet you, Travis.”

We might have remained locked together there like idiots for who knew how long, but an authoritative voice was at my shoulder.

“Fox. Pippa. Time to go.”

Luckily, it was Lytton Driving Hawk. “Let’s thrash it before those morons get arrested. We’re all meeting at the One Finger Salute.”

Assuming that was a bar, I helped Pippa off the table. “Sounds good, my man. Thanks for the intel.” I gathered up the blanket Pippa had been sitting on. Figuring it was used goods now I bought it, slapped some bank on the table, and took her hand. The crowd was now a flood of people navigating away from the scene of the fight, Tracy one of them.

“Tracy!” yelled Pippa. “Over here!”

Lytton and I simultaneously jumped out and grabbed Tracy from the floodtide. She looked dazed and confused.

“Shit,” she said. “They grabbed Wolf and Tobias and took them away with those zip ties around their wrists. And right after Ford told no one to get a ticket.”

Putting her arm around Tracy, Pippa said warmly, “Listen, come with me. We’re going to some bar to meet up with everyone.” She looked at me. “Is that all right?”

I knew Lytton would think she was just acting like a regular old lady, asking for permission. Only I knew she really asked me if I thought it was safe for her to go somewhere without my protection.

“How far’s the bar?” I asked Lytton.

He lifted his chin. “Two blocks up, one block to the right. Neon cocktail for a sign.”

I nodded at Pippa, and the women joined the tide of leather-clad revelers. But Lytton held me back. We took the “one block to the right” portion of the walk first.

“We need to get those morons out of lockup,” I said.

Lytton said, “The Friends are on it,” referring to those hardasses with ball peen hammers hanging from their waists. “The mall cops were basically laughing when they cuffed them, and everyone was telling them it was the best entertainment of the whole rally. Listen, I heard about what went down at Ruben Ochoa’s.”

I waited for more information to go on. I wasn’t expecting an “attaboy” for taking matters into my own hands.

Lytton said, “I understand if you’ve got a separate agenda from us. Maybe you had instructions from a higher authority.”

“I did,” I allowed.

“Seeing as how no one’s stepped up to take responsibility, we’re not sure whether they’re going to demand satisfaction from us. We’ve got to be prepared to go to the mats. During the last chapel we told everyone to be on the lookout for Ochoas. But now we’ve got to know.”

We had to sidestep around some out-of-his-head numbnuts who had parked his scoot sideways on the sidewalk and was sobbing about it, sitting on the curb. “My handmade exhaust!” he kept bawling. “My handmade exhaust! My Springer front end!”

Lytton literally stepped over the guy who had eaten asphalt. “You need to pick sides, Isherwood.” He looked sideways at me, meaningfully. His gaze was unknowable behind his shades. “It’s us or Ortelio Jones.”

I was such a hardened customer by now, my heart didn’t skip a beat when Lytton let it be known he knew who I worked for. It wouldn’t be that difficult for an MC Sergeant-at-arms to figure out who a redheaded Anglo sicario worked for. “I understand. You can’t have a guy working both sides of the tracks on your inside operations.”

“Exactly. Tobias figured out this Phil Din guy works for Jones, so he must’ve been sent here by Jones to check up on you. I just don’t know why you were tracking down poor Pippa. Were you hired by her * ex-husband?”

“No!” I stopped dead in my tracks, my hands spread wide. I even tore my shades from my face so Lytton could get a gander at my sincerity. “Don’t even think that, Lytton! I have nothing to do with that epic asshat. No, I work for Jones, I admit that. But that’s coming to an end. I just don’t know how.”

Lytton put his hands on his hips and scrutinized me. People walked in between us, so we moved a bit into a shop entryway with a CLOSED sign in the window. “I’m trying to get you, Isherwood. If you’re playing Pippa like a f*cking fiddle, we’re going to end you.”

I moved even closer to the pot impresario. “No. I’ll admit I was sent to find her. All that finished when I realized the mission was…misrepresented to me. I’m staying because I sincerely care for her now. And I need to find a way to protect her. I’m tracking down this Phil Din motherf*cker, Lytton.”

He sneered. “Yeah? Well it sure looks like you’re just kneeling there with your face in Pippa’s snatch. I need her, Isherwood. I need her scientific background and I like where she’s going with the CBD hybrids. I need her and I like her.”

I couldn’t admit my main sources of intel in the Phil Din search were Tobias and Santiago Slayer. For obvious reasons I couldn’t use my tech guy down in Nogales. “I admit my face was in her snatch too, Lytton. I admit it all. Just let me go hit that Phil Din mother. Then I’ll turn in my badge to Jones.”

“No one ever retires from the cartel.”

I knew that. But I said, “I’m just an independent contractor. Now I’ve got to go find Pippa. Do what I’m here for.”