I expected him to fight me… to tell me to piss off, but he slowly pulled the car over onto the shoulder of the highway, letting me take the wheel. I reached in the backseat and grabbed my jacket, folding it neatly into a pillow for him. I put it on my lap and waited for him to lay down. The minute his head hit my make-shift pillow, he was sound asleep. I even managed to slip through a drive-through without waking him up.
The entire time I was driving, I was thinking about Maverick. He’d been through so much over the past year, and things were finally coming together for him. If he could get this mess settled with his club, he could have a real chance to be free, to really be happy. I wanted to do something to help him, to help the club catch the guys that were giving them so much hell. I needed to talk to Big Mike. He wouldn’t have brought my name up, if there wasn’t something I could do to help. I knew Maverick wouldn’t want me to get involved, but I needed to do this.
It was almost noon when the gas tank ran low, forcing me to stop. When I turned off the engine, Maverick ran his hands over his face as he sat up in his seat. He sat there staring out the window in a daze, and I hated that I had to wake him up.
“Hey there, sleepyhead,” I said softly.
He groaned while he stretched out his arms and said, “What time is it?”
“It’s almost twelve. We’ve made good time, and should be home in about eight hours.”
“Thanks for driving. I’ll get the gas. You go grab us something to eat, real food. Not that junk food shit you live on,” he said sarcastically.
“I’ll see what they’ve got,” I said, smirking as I got out of the car. Luckily there was a burger place attached to the convenience store, so I was able to get us both a decent lunch. I also grabbed a few snack essentials just in case we didn’t make another stop.
When I came back outside, Maverick was already sitting in the driver’s seat and ended up driving the rest of the way home. He drove with a heavy foot, so we made it in seven hours instead of eight. As soon as we’d unpacked the car, Maverick told me that he needed to go have a word with Cotton. The minute he left, I set out to find Big Mike. I worried that this might be my only opportunity to talk to him without Maverick knowing.
When he opened his door, he looked surprised to see me standing there. He cleared his throat and said, “I didn’t know that you had made it back. Where’s Maverick?”
“He went to talk to Cotton. If you’ve got a minute, I’d like to ask you about something.”
“Okay? Come on in,” he said as he stepped out of the doorway.
“So… Maverick told me about your idea?” I lied. I knew he wouldn’t talk to me about it, otherwise. His eyebrows pinched together as he struggled with whether he should believe me or not. He was struggling and didn’t know what to say.
“Well, he didn’t like the idea, so there’s no point talking about it,” he said, turning away from me.
“Come on, Mike. Don’t be like that. I really think this could solve everything. We’d just need to figure out how this whole thing would work,” I explained. I still had no idea what I was talking about, but I could see the wheels start to turn behind his eyes.
“Maverick will shit a brick if he finds out I’m even talking to you about this,” he grumbled.
“Yeah, well, what else is new? He has a conniption fit about everything,” I said smiling. I didn’t like keeping this from Maverick, but I didn’t know any other way. “I just don’t see how it could work?”
“It’s a stupid idea, Henley. It’s just too dangerous. Maverick was right, using you just isn’t an option.”
“I think you both are wrong about that,” I snapped.
“It is too dangerous. Using you as bait was a stupid idea, and who knows if that tracker on your car is still working? And even if we were there waiting for them, it is just too risky. Anything could happen.”
“That’s the one thing that I don’t understand. Why would they still want me? I don’t really have anything to do with your club.”
“These men are different, Henley. Whoever they are, they aren’t the kind of people who like to leave loose ends. You’re the only one who can tie them to Skidrow’s murder, and they won’t want to take a chance on you burning them later down the road.”
It made sense, but I still found it hard to believe that these men would really come after me. “What does Cotton think about your idea?”
“I haven’t said anything to him. Maverick…”
“I’m not telling you to go against Maverick. I know you aren’t in the position to do that. It would take a lot to change his mind, but if you think it’s a good idea, you should push for it. I am willing to do whatever the club needs me to do.”
“Henley, just let it go. I’ve already told you. These men are dangerous. They aren’t the kind of guys you mess around with or you could end up getting yourself killed. Maverick’s right. We’ll find another way,” he warned.