Page 33 of Trick
I reluctantly gave him the information, and he pulled out his phone and sent off a text to Bull, receiving a reply almost immediately.
“He’s on it,” he told me, setting his phone on the coffee table next to mine. Before he could say anything else, the roar of straight pipes coming down the road caught our attention.
“You told Uncle Bill?” I recognized the sound of that particular bike. He’s been riding the same one since I was a little girl and kept it in pristine condition.
“He needs to know, and I’m not gonna keep it from him. I called him as soon as I got off the phone with you. He fucked up his back again last night, otherwise he would have been here sooner.”
I got up and opened the door, watching as he gingerly dismounted his bike and hobbled up to the porch.
“What did you do to your back this time?” I asked, greeting him with a kiss on his cheek.
“Nothin’,” he grunted. “Now, what the hell is this I hear about an email?” He carefully lowered himself onto the highbacked chair next to the couch, wincing in pain as he sat back.
“I’m going to get you a heating pad,” I said, hurrying down the hall before he could object.
Once I had him settled with it, I asked again what he had done. He scowled and shook his head, but Trick volunteered the information.
“He decided Tony wasn’t getting his beer fast enough, so he reached over the bar for it himself, and almost fell off the bar stool in the process.”
“I was thirsty, dammit,” my uncle muttered, pouting like a little boy, rather than a seventy-something year old biker.
I bit my lip to hide my smile, then schooled my expression when he pinned me with a glare.
“Enough about me and my old bones, girlie. Now, somebody better tell me what the fuck is goin’ on.”
Trick gave him the rundown, reading each email aloud to him. The earlier ones that I had deleted without reading were varying forms of“I love you and I’ve missed you,” nonsense, none of it containing my name or personalized in any way. When he read the last email containing the threat, Uncle Bill cussed a blue streak, threatening to disembowel my ex.
“I’m gonna rip out his intestines and choke the shit out of him with ‘em!”
“I just sent his info to Bull to check into him, and hopefully he can track the emails to confirm who sent them.” Trick paused for a moment, then traded looks with my uncle,having some kind of silent conversation. Judging by the somber looks on their faces, it wasn’t a friendly conversation, either.
“We need to consider the possibility that this may not be Beau, darlin’.”
That made me pause for a second. The thought hadn’t even entered my mind.
“Is there anyone else you’ve had an issue with?”
I shook my head at Trick’s question.
“Anyone who’s paid you a little more attention than they should?”
“No,” I insisted.
“What about that Dustin guy?” Trick pressed.
“Who the hell is Dustin?” Uncle Bill asked, and I quickly explained, adding that he’d never been anything other than nice, even after being turned down for a third date this morning.
Trick gave a satisfied smirk at that news, then said, “Well, we’ll have Bull investigate him anyway. Give me his info, too.”
“Dustin Ellsworth,” I shared reluctantly. “I’ve never been to his place, so I don’t know his address. It’s a condo somewhere downtown. I don’t know his birthdate either, but he’s thirty-one.”
Trick’s fingers flew over his phone screen, presumably texting the information to Bull.
“You’ll need to stay at the clubhouse at least for tonight,” he said absently, focusing on sending the text.
“No,” I immediately responded, shaking my head. “There’s no reason for that just because of a stupid email.”
“There’s no way in hell we’re leaving you alone, unprotected, after you got a threat like that…and make no mistake about it, Lauren, that emailwasa threat. ”
