Page 8 of Shadow Strike
“No apology needed.I’m sure her intentions are good, and it sounds like you need help.”
She gripped the edge of the bar.“What exactly did she tell you?”
“That you’ve received two extortion demands in the past month.That the amount has escalated, and there was a personal threat in the most recent one.”
Regan glanced at her mother, who had refilled George’s glass and was chatting with their favorite regular.“She was thorough,” Regan said.
“She’s worried about you.”
“She doesn’t need to be.”
Yes, she does.CB slid the pictures back into the envelope.“She’s your mother.Comes with the territory.”
Regan sighed, and it was filled with loving aggravation.She topped off CB’s coffee, as if buying herself time to decide whether to tell him the rest.
“You know who I am,” she said as she returned the pot to the burner.
“I do.”
“And you came anyway.”
“Who I am and who you are doesn’t change the fact that you’re being harassed.I work for a company that handles this exact type of situation.”
She studied him, her dark eyes liquid pools.He’d been evaluated by a lot of people in difficult situations, so it didn’t bother him.In fact, he stared back, letting himself be an open book.Hell, he’d let her stare at him all day if she wanted.
Finally, she grabbed her own cup of coffee.He tried not to look at her ass when she turned her back to him.Failed.Luckily, she didn’t catch him.“The notes came from the Canon Outlaws,” she said, holding the cup close to her chest but not drinking any as she faced him again.
“I assumed.”
“Then you know that going to the local police isn’t an option.”
“I know it’s complicated.”
“It’snotcomplicated.Two deputies are colluding with them.The judge who handled the last Outlaw-connected case plays poker with—” She caught herself.Looked at him.
“My cousin Ryder,” he finished for her.
A pause.“Yes.”
Outside, a loud truck pulled into the lot.One of the lunch customers laughed at something.
Handle carefully.“I haven’t been part of the Outlaws since I left for the Army when I was eighteen,” he said.“I have no loyalty to or affiliation with them, outside of taking care of my father, who has suffered a stroke.I’m not here to tell you what to do.I’m here because your mother asked me to come and because the threat is real.I’m good at handling this kind of problem.What happens next is your call.”
Regan stared at him again for a long moment.He got the impression she was trying to find an angle.“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“Fair enough.”He stood and placed a card with his personal number on the back next to the coffee cup.“I’m here to help if you want it.”
He nodded to Lucy on the way out, who gave him a smile.
The summer air was sharp and clean, and the mountains were enormous above the roofline.He walked to his truck.Sat.Let the debrief run in the back of his mind the way it always did after a first read of a new situation.
She knows who I am.She knows the Outlaws.She’s scared for her mother, and she’s not going to admit it.She’ll call.Probably tonight.
He looked at the envelope Lucy had given him.Opened it and pulled out the photograph with his mom.She looked so happy.She’d had no idea what was coming.
CB returned it to the envelope and placed it on the passenger seat.He’d give it to Wade on Sunday.
He pulled out of the lot, heading for the SPS compound.Half a mile up the highway, he passed a black pickup truck with tinted windows idling at a food stand with a clean view of Hill’s Tavern.
