Chapter 20

They rolled into Silverspur just after sunset, and pulled up to the Insurance building.

A huge figure, dressed in all black, walked from the shadows and to the rear of the SUV and unloaded the items Bob pointed out. The area around his emerald green eyes were the only thing exposed.

He carried half of the bagged items in one hand, his rifle in the other, and led the group into the building.

The briefcase, laptops, cell phones, wooden box containing the Cuban cigars, the appointment book, and the small leather valise containing the assortment of thumb drives were spread out on a table.

‘The nerd’ was almost salivating as he slipped on cloth gloves and examined the electronics.

‘Seven’ opened a metal clipboard and pulled out an inventory sheet, then began to list and describe each item. He took several digital photos of each, logging the file numbers on his papers.

A sample of each ‘package’ was taken and sealed in evidence bags, then packaged for the lab.

The first thing to be logged and sealed for evidence was the Cubans. ‘The Nerd’ wanted to examine the box further, but the cigars were too much of a temptation around some of the guys in the unit.

As Bob was about to suggest the evidence be locked away until morning, ‘Nerd’ shouted, “GOT IT! I knew it was a puzzle box!”

Everyone looked over to see the bottom of the box rotated 180 degrees around a pin in one corner. Underneath was several fitted slots with one containing another thumb drive.

After everyone had a chance to ogle the nifty little box, Bob did lock up the non-electronic evidence and they all left to head for home.

‘Nerd’ would remain and do his computer stuff, likely into the wee hours of the morning.

Tommy noticed that ‘Seven’ walked Lisa to the door of Beth’s car. He rested his hand gently on the back of her upper arm as she climbed inside. They smiled at each other and spoke briefly before he closed the door and walked to where Tommy and Nia were standing.

“Nia, meet Seven ... Dalton Andersen.” He looked at Dalton, “Dalton, meet the love of my life, Nia Gunn.”

Dalton shook her hand formally, palm up and holding her fingers as if he might actually raise the hand to his lips and slightly nodding and leaning forward a bit at the waist, the way a gentleman is supposed to shake a woman’s hand.

Being over-read on manners, Nia noticed immediately.

“It’s nice to meet you Dalton.” She replied with a slight knee flex. Not a curtsy, but a slight nod to the custom.

She also noticed the strength in his hands were strikingly offset my the gentleness in his grip on hers. The power to likely crush her fingers tamed by gentleness.

He immediately turned his attention to Tommy. Almost too quick for politeness, but not quite.

“So,” He stammered. “Um, what’s the story with the blonde? Lisa. You guys know her pretty well?”

“Yeah, but you’ll have to ask her for her story.” Tommy said. “She’s a really nice girl though. Not a floozy or a bimbo. And really smart too.”

Dalton nodded, “She asked me to lunch. I mean, she asked me to come eat lunch at the Diner.”

He looked at Tommy kinda asking a question and kinda pleadingly, “Can I buy you lunch tomorrow?”

Tommy laughed. “No buddy ... I’ll buy YOU lunch tomorrow.”

He added cryptically, “But don’t get your hopes up unless you can see past some of your opinions and preferences, cause you’re gonna be disappointed if you can’t. She’s had it rough, and she’s human.”

The big guy looked kinda crushed. He asked, “Really? That bad?”

Tommy laughed. “No brother, not really bad. Just kinda ‘unique and different’ compared to what you’ve been walking around preaching about recently.”

He paused for a moment then added, “If you’re not busy, follow us home. We’ll talk.”

A broad toothy smile illuminated Dalton’s face, and his green eyes seemed to shine a little in the low light. “Right behind you guys. Let me go grab my stuff and lock up my office. I’ll see you out there.”

Nia looked at Tommy with a wry smile.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Meddle in affairs of the heart?”

Tommy kissed her quickly, then said, “I think I did a pretty good job with Skye and Bob. Just call me Cupid.”

They laughed as they climbed in the SUV.

It felt good to be home.

Bob and Skye begged off on visiting and headed home almost as soon as Tommy got his and Nia’s stuff unloaded into the house.

Not even 15 minutes after Bob had turned out of the driveway, the motion detector on the gate dinged and a rumbling sound could be heard coming closer to the house.

Dalton parked his Red 1977 step side Chevrolet 4X4 and shut the V8 down.

He almost didn’t have to step down from the cab, despite the 6-inch lift kit and 35” tires.

Nia noticed he walked with a solid yet fluid gait, like he was dancing across the driveway.

She began to hope that Tommy’s matchmaker skills were as good as he thought. This guy would perhaps be really good for Lisa.

She turned and went about trying to put together something for supper.

Tommy opened the storm door. “Come on in. You’ve been here before, so make yourself at home if you want something.

Dalton nodded and pulled a glass from the cabinet without even having to look for the right one. He grabbed a soda from the fridge and sat down at the Table with Tommy.

Nia asked, “You wanna stay for supper Dalton?”

Dalton looked over at Tommy.

Tommy shook his head, “Don’t look at me for the answer, SHE asked you. Just tell her.”

“Yes mam,” Dalton told her. “I can stay. If you’re sure.”

Nia laughed, “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure. And my name is NIA, not Mam.”

Dalton blushed a little and said, “Yes, I’ll stay for supper Mizz Nia. Thanks for offering.”

Nia laughed. Lisa was gonna eat this boy up, or eat him alive.

“So,” Tommy began, “What were you interested in knowing about our Lisa?”

He shrugged, “Well ... Everything, I guess.” He kinda studied the table for a minute. “I can’t really explain it, but I felt something tonight when I met her. Like a magnet in my chest pulling me toward her.”

“And she seems so sweet and nice ... I just gotta get to know her.”

Nia harrumphed, “Sweet and nice? Yeah, that’s Lisa alright.”

“Except for when she’s killing three men in an elevator without batting an eye.”

Tommy cleared his throat and gave Nia a cross look.

She just shrugged and winked at him.

Dalton asked with wide eyes, “That was HER? Lisa? SHE is the one who killed El Jefe and those two goons?”

Tommy nodded, wishing this part would have waited. Dalton might revert to his weirdly narrow morals and think even worse of Lisa.

“Yeah ... Fraid so ... Six shots from a .357 revolver in under 15 seconds. All kill shots.”

“Cool!” Dalton said. Surprising Tommy.

“Not really.” Tommy said flatly. “She’s not out of the woods yet regarding possible triple homicide charges, and she’s just as likely to get a price put on her head by the cartel at any moment.”

“Lisa’s ... umm ... a little bit prone to acting before she thinks. Kinda impulsive if you will.”

“You gotta watch her sometimes, or she will choose the most logically direct conclusions, language, or actions ... without giving things the proper amount of consideration.”

“So, she says what she means instead of beating around the bush and playing games?” Dalton asked. “And that’s a bad thing in this age of fake whores and thirst trap sluts?”

Tommy chuckled. “Just take it easy around her brother. She’s not a dumb blonde, but she’s also not as socially adept as most folks.”

“Talk to her and get to know her before you make any decisions or form any opinions of her. She’s a sweet girl with a big heart that’s been stomped on a few times.”

“If you wanna ask her out, just know that she needs a rock solid guy that can see beneath her exterior and appreciate her for who she is. Someone who won’t use her.”

The big guy scowled at Tommy, “You know me better’n that, Bubba.”

And he studied Tommy’s face a moment.

“What are you trying to NOT tell me? Just spit it out already. Don’t let me walk into something I don’t need.”

Tommy sighed, “Okay, I’ll lay it out for you as straight as I can.”

“Lisa is not only a gorgeous and sexy woman, she’s also on the brilliant side of smart. She just missed being the valedictorian in High School.”

He paused to let that sink in a moment.

“But part of that is because she is also on the autism scale to some extent. I’m not sure exactly what that means, so she will have to tell you if she wants you to know. But I do know she said it causes her thinking to ‘jump’ to the first logical conclusion based on the facts she has on hand.”

Tommy laughed, “She tried to get Nia to leave me. She decided that because of what she had heard about me ... my cover story ... Nia needed to be ‘rescued’ from the ‘bad man’.”

“She came here, into my home, without fear, and told her to pack her shit and leave with her. Was even ready to tangle with me if she had to to save Nia.”

Dalton laughed, his body shaking and his laughter booming loudly.

“So ... Did she whoop ya? Or did you manage to evade and escape?”

“Beth rescued me.” Tommy replied.

He winked at Nia. “Her and my ‘bride-to-be’.”

Nia chimed in, “Dalton, don’t let Tommy make her sound bad. Lisa has a good heart. She’s gonna find her prince one day and make that lucky man a good loyal wife.”

“She just needs a ‘firm hand’ sometimes to help her stay on the right path. Otherwise she lets her analytical and literal way of thinking cause her to kinda ‘chase rabbits’, so to speak.”

Dalton thought a moment and asked, “What else ya got? So far she just sounds extremely interesting.”

He looked at Tommy with a twinkle in his eyes, “How bad can the rabbit chases get?”

Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Okay, here is a really good example of what we’re talking about...”

“When we were dealing with the fake FBI guys, Lisa found out about the bounty on my head. Her first reaction was that we needed to ‘hunt them down and kill them first’ before they could harm me.”

Tommy shrugged, “That’s how her mind works. She knows what is proper, she just reacts with the most expedient solutions at times.”

Dalton nodded and grinned, “And we don’t do that?”

The two men thought that was extremely funny. Nia didn’t.

Dalton asked again, “Anything else?”

Tommy nodded, then answered carefully. He dreaded this part because of how Dalton sometimes thought on things.

“Lisa has created a ‘persona’ to protect herself. She plays up the ‘dumb blonde’ whenever she thinks that is how people are perceiving her.”

He sighed, “And she also presents herself as a lesbian to throw men off her trail.”

“More than that, she might or might not have had a girl-girl type relationship with Beth before Steve. I’m not sure, and I don’t care. But I know how you are so I thought I’d tell you up front.”

He took a breath then added, “She was a waitress at the strip club before she went to work at the Diner. She hated it, but ... Silverspur ... and she had to eat.”

There. He had said it out loud. Dalton would either try to understand Lisa, or he would dismiss his thoughts of asking her out.

“You think just cause a girl works at a strip club she has to be a whore or something?” Dalton asked.

“We’re men, Tommy. We have no idea how hard it is on women these days.”

He shook his head and pointed at Tommy, “And if she acts dumb or butch to fend off the men who likely hound her, or just want to get in her panties and use her, then she is far above the little tramps who just ‘go with the flow’ and screw anyone who asks.”

He paused, but then sat back and added, “As far as her having sex with girls goes ... I think I can wait for HER to explain it before I try to pass judgment. I might be opinionated at times, but I do have the ability to to be understanding.”

“As long as a woman is faithful and monogamous to ME while we are together, I can let the past be the past.”

Dalton took a long drink of his tea, then suddenly looked at Tommy.

“You’re worried I’ll do or say something to hurt her, aren’t you?” He asked.

“Yes. I kinda am.” Tommy said. “I’m sorry, I just care about her.”

He shrugged. “If it’s any consolation, I also didn’t want you to catch feelings and then get hurt when you knew her past.”

Nia chose that moment to set a big pan of steak Fajitas on the table, and a plate of warm tortillas. She returned with salsa and sour cream.

Plates and silver were next, and she sat beside Tommy.

Dalton reached out for their hands, just as Tommy was about to dig in.

Tommy chuckled as he took Dalton’s hand and reached for Nia’s.

“Sorry bud, I forgot.” Tommy said.

Nia smiled at Dalton and winked at Tommy after the big guy had finished blessing the food.

Dalton just dug in and began eating, complimenting Nia on the food.

About halfway though the meal, Nia asked Dalton, “Did you really mean it when you said Lisa’s past doesn’t matter?”

Dalton swallowed a bite. “Sure. Why would I not accept someone if they had truly changed and were trying to live life the right way? I mean, it’s not like I am perfection in thought and deed myself.”

Nia nodded, “Well if you and her manage to work well together that’s all that matters I guess.”

“Just remember what Tommy said ... Lisa is special to US. And I think when you spend a little time around her you’re gonna see why.”

Dalton just grinned as he chewed. Nodding.

After another swallow, and a gulp of tea, he told her, “I’m opinionated when it comes to these modern women. I’ve related my thoughts to Tommy on several occasions after I broke up with one. I think he might have thought I was a prude, or that I was too conservative or religious. But in truth I’m just old fashioned and picky.”

“I believe One woman and One man make a relationship. No cheating. No playing around.”

“I want what my parents had. I expect it. And I won’t settle for less.”

He laughed and winked at Tommy, “As long as I don’t get into a relationship with Lisa and then walk in months later to find her in bed with her ex, I might be able to keep from hurting her feelings.”

Tommy winced at him, but he shook his head and laughed again.

“Don’t sweat it Tommy. That girl wasn’t for me, plain and simple. But you gotta try or you’ll never know.”

He turned serious. “Maybe Lisa will be the one, and maybe she won’t, but neither of us will ever know a damned thing if I don’t try to get to know her. And part of that is being willing to listen with understanding and compassion to her story.”

With a little shrug he added, “And if we’re not soulmates ... at least maybe we can become good friends.”

He stood and took his empty plate to the sink, washed it off, then stuck it into the dishwasher.

Nia looked at Tommy and giggled softly at his smirk as Dalton did this.

Tommy said kinda loud, “Don’t be surprised by that Nia, not only does Dalton do dishes, but he’s also a really good cook.”

Dalton turned and gave Tommy a sarcastic look.

“Yeah, Yeah ... go ahead and say it... ‘I’m gonna make someone a good wife one day’.”

He looked to Nia, “He says that every time. It would seem weird if he didn’t.”

They all laughed.

Dalton and Tommy spent another hour and a half outside on the back deck talking. At one point Nia walked by with a load of laundry and saw Tommy sitting with his face in his hands, Dalton leaning across with his hand on Tommy’s shoulder and speaking to him.

The two men finally came inside. Nia could tell Tommy had been weeping, but she didn’t say anything.

Dalton headed home around midnight, thanking and praising Nia for her food again several more times.

He waved as he drove off down the driveway, the big V8 rumbling.

“So what did you think of Dalton?” Tommy asked Nia.

She giggled, “I like him. He’s really nice.”

“And I think Lisa is going to eat him up like a chocolate sundae. That boy is WAY too sweet for his own good.”

Tommy just shook his head. “As long as they don’t wind up hating each other, I’ll consider this a good deed done right.”

“Thanks for letting me talk with him a bit. I needed his expertise.”

Nia just hugged and kissed him and told him to go get his shower and she would lock up. He nodded and gave her a little spank on her butt, then headed to the bedroom.

Tommy stepped into the hot shower and leaned forward against the wall, letting the water jets beat on his skin. He literally felt as if the stress of the past few years was being washed away.

He thought of all the hard work and the hours and hours of time he spent chasing ‘El Jefe’, only to have the satisfaction of ending his life snatched away by fate. By the lucky timing of an elevator ride.

He thought about how Lisa hadn’t paused or hesitated for a second, and heard her words echo in his head, “He was trying to kill you. He was trying to kill my friends. I couldn’t let him get away with it. I couldn’t chance losing any of you.”

He softly muttered to Ken, “He’s dead now brother. It took a while, but he’s finally in hell. An angel killed him for us. I’m sorry I didn’t get him for you. I tried. I hope you understand and can rest peacefully now.”

“I’m gonna go tell Shasta tomorrow. Maybe the girls too.”

He felt his knees give out and he sank to the floor of the shower.

“I miss you so damn much. I wish we could sit and talk just one more time.”

And then he was crying. His body shook as he sobbed.

He heard Ken’s voice in his head, clear as crystal, as he knelt there under the hot spray and let all the hurt, anger, and frustration out.

“It’s all good man. You did your best. Kiss my girls for me. Maybe now you can take time to enjoy your life and your new wife for a change.”

“By the way ... Nia’s a doll. I really like her. You did good, Brother.”

His imagination? Probably.

But it wasn’t the first time he’d heard Ken like that, and he hoped it wouldn’t be the last.

Warm soft skin and strong arms suddenly wrapped around him as he crouched there on the tile. Nia just held him as the water cascaded over them.

When he finally stood, she just lovingly lathered his body and washed him from head to toe.

They’d had plenty of playtime since the wedding, and would have plenty more.

Tonight she just pressed her body to his and held him tightly as he clung to her.

They kissed and caressed each other softly as they cuddled until falling asleep.

Saturdays are for being lazy, but somehow this morning wouldn’t allow for it.

At 9 AM Tommy’s alarm began to torture their ears. He turned it off, but was still awake now.

They spent another 30 minutes in bed, making love and enjoying each other.

Then they were overcome by the call of nature and had to get up.

After relief, they showered and dressed.

Nia came out of the bedroom wearing boots, jeans, and a t-shirt. Her hair was in one long braid and she had her hoodie in her hand.

Tommy tried to hide the fact that he had forgotten about their plans to ride, but she saw the short confusion and the look of realization on his face.

“Do you want to do this another day?” She asked him. “I’ll understand.”

He stepped to her and picked her up off the floor in a bear hug, holding her with her feet off the floor.

“No baby. I want to spend the day doing nothing but riding around with you holding me. I think the wind therapy will do me a lot of good.”

He set her down and kissed her, then added, “But we are going to have to go to Shasta’s at some point today, she needs to know. Maybe we’ll go tonight though, after dark. That might be better.”

Tommy’s phone beeped ... a text ... from Dalton of course.

He wanted to remind Tommy about lunch at the diner.

Tommy just chuckled.

Nia wiped the helmets out with a damp washcloth while Tommy checked the tires and fluids.

Then, on the second try, the fuel finally made it from the petcock down into the intake and the big engine fired.

The rumble inside the shop was loud, but the vibrations in her chest made Nia almost giddy.

Tommy pulled the bike outside and as it warmed up he showed her the passenger footpegs, gave her a few pointers, and helped her get her helmet on correctly.

Her hoodie and his lightweight denim jacket were rolled and bungee corded to the backrest.

Tommy locked the shop and house, put a couple bottles of water in the cup holders, and mounted the bike.

Nia climbed on the pillion and got comfortable with her man in front of her to hold onto, and the backrest assuring her that she couldn’t fall off backwards. She was both excited and nervous as he plugged in the intercom, pulled on his thin leather gloves, then slipped the bike into first gear.

Gravel roads on a motorcycle aren’t the best fun in the world, but they were still both happy to be riding.