I thought about taking a ride over to the Pink Pony to kick Gary’s ass for thinking he could fuck around with the Sinners and our girls but knew I had to talk it over with Viper before I did anything. I grabbed my burner and gave him a call. As soon as he answered, I announced, “It was Gary. He was the one behind all the bullshit with the girls.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“How do you want to handle it? Shotgun and I could go have a word with him or I can do my thing and shut him down in ways he’d never see coming.”
“Do your thing. If the asshole tries anything else, I’ll have Shotgun bring him in.”
“You got it.”
As soon as I hung up, I got to work on making Gary’s life as miserable as possible. I started with his club’s liquor license. After I finagled the dates on his present license, I sent an anonymous tip to the Tennessee Alcohol Beverage Commission, notifying them that a local club was selling alcohol without an up-to-date license. Once I finished with that, I started in on his bank accounts, first freezing his business accounts and then his personal accounts. I could’ve stopped there, but good ol’ Gary wasn’t going to get off that easy. I maxed-out every one of his credit cards and cut off his phone, and just for an added bonus, I sent several phishing emails encrypted with a virus to all his devices.
Knowing I’d given Gary plenty to keep him busy, I decided to take a few minutes to check on all the work Marlowe had done while I was gone. I was pleased to see that she’d gone above and beyond to make sure all the receipts had been checked and logged, and she’d taken care of all the inventory as well. Since there wasn’t anything else that needed my immediate attention, I decided to go out and check on Par—Aubrey and the girls. When I reached their table, I wasn’t surprised to find Hawk and Rafe sitting with them. Aubrey gave me a warm smile and said, “I was wondering if you were ever going to make it out of your office tonight.”
“I had some work to catch up on.” I sat down next to her. “If it hadn’t been for Marlowe, I might’ve been stuck in there all night.”
“Did everything look okay?” Marlowe asked with concern.
“Couldn’t have done it better myself. I genuinely appreciate it.”
“I was glad to help.” Marlowe glanced over at Aubrey as she said, “But I’m happy you and Aubrey are back. We missed having you guys around.”
“Thanks, Lowe. It’s good to be back.” I turned to Aubrey and asked, “You girls having a good time?”
“A very good time.” She lifted her glass and took a sip. “I was just telling the girls about the day we went fishing.”
“Oh yeah? You telling ’em how I caught the biggest bass you’ve ever seen.”
"Not sure I’d say it was the biggest bass I’d ever seen.” She giggled. “It was average at best.”
“What? It was at least ten pounds... maybe even eleven,” I argued.
“It might’ve been five, but I’m thinking it was more like four,” she said, taunting me. “But you did good. It was a great catch.”
“Maybe you should’ve tried her hotdog trick,” Rafe piped in. “Might’ve gotten ya a better catch.”
“I did fine without the fucking hotdog, brother,” I barked. “And just so you know, if you’d been there and seen that fucking ten-pound bass, you would’ve told me to mount the damn thing.”
“Mm-hmm. Whatever you say, brother.”
In hopes of changing the subject, Delilah announced, “We were talking earlier about having a cookout over at our place next weekend. Maybe have a few hotdogs and hamburgers while we watch the game.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Just let us know what we can bring.”
“Just an appetite.” Hawk leaned over to me and whispered, “You had a chance to talk to Viper?”
“Yeah, I went by the clubhouse earlier, and he told me what was up.” I turned my head away from the girls. “I think I got it handled, but let’s keep the prospects on them just to be sure.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Hawk motioned his head over in Aubrey’s direction. “You get her sorted?”
“We did, thanks to Billy.” I glanced over at Aubrey, watching as she took another sip of her drink, and it was all I could do to keep myself from reaching over and pulling her into my lap. “It’s looking like she’ll be able to stick around.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“So, who’s going to be playing this weekend?” Aubrey asked with a slight slur. “Are you guys Alabama fans?”
I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not, so I asked, “You do realize Nashville is in Tennessee, right?”
“Yeah, but doesn’t Alabama win everything?” She lifted her glass and swirled it around in the air. “Roll Tide Roll and all that.”