Taz
Taz woke up early the next morning and called Ryker. He had to get his friend on board to make his plan work. Taz had a shipment coming in for the kitchen today, and it was a big order. He had to be at the bar, but Ryker didn’t. He was hoping that Ryker would agree to take Kai down to the courthouse to start the process of getting a restraining order.
Ryker answered on the second ring, “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, sorry it’s so early, but I need to run something by you, boss,” Taz said.
“What’s up?” Ryker asked.
“Well, I have that big delivery coming and the distributor will be at the bar too. I can’t skip out on work today,” Taz said.
“Agreed,” Ryker breathed. “Can we get to the point, man? My bed is calling my name and I’d like to get back to sleep.”
“Sorry, yeah,” Taz said, “Kai has agreed to get a restraining order against that asshole, Gabe. He confronted her on campus yesterday with me standing right next to her. He didn’t care that I was there. He’s getting more aggressive and now, Kai’s told me that he’s been sending her text messages. I’m worried that he’s going to go too far.”
“How far is too far? What are we talking about here? He’s already broken into her apartment. You think he’ll do worse?” Ryker asked.
“Yes,” Taz said, “I do. I think that he’s capable of far more than what he’s already done, and I don’t want to take the chance that he’ll do it. A restraining order might help.”
“I agree,” Ryker said. “You need for me to go with Kai to the courthouse?” he asked.
“That would be great,” Taz said. “I’ve already printed off the paperwork she needs to fill out. I’ll have her do that this morning and how does around ten sound? All she’ll be doing is taking the paperwork down to the courthouse and filing it. They’ll set up a future court date and she’ll have to appear and plead her case. Hopefully, she’ll be granted the restraining order because I don’t know how much more of that asshole I can take. It took every ounce of my self-control not to beat the shit out of him when he approached us yesterday, man.”
“I bet,” Ryker said. “I would have knocked that fucker out.”
“That’s probably what he wants. Then, he’ll have easy access to Kai. I’m not playing into his hands that way,” Taz growled.
“That’s smart,” Ryker admitted. “I’ll be ready to go to the courthouse at ten. Do you want to just meet at the bar?” he asked.
“That works, thanks, man,” Taz said, ending the call. He turned to find Kai watching him from the hallway.
“I made coffee,” he said. “I’m getting ready to make breakfast, you want to help?” Sure, he wasn’t telling her the part about calling Ryker about going to the courthouse with her today, but he was pretty sure that she had heard that part.
“You called in the calvary too, from what I heard,” she said.
“Yeah, you know that I have that big delivery today, and well, I don’t want you to change your mind about going to the courthouse today. I even printed these out for you,” he said, handing her a small pile of papers.
“Most of it is instructions and information about what to expect, but if you fill these out here, it will save you some time. Ryker’s taking you in at ten,” he said.
“All right,” she agreed, taking the papers from him. “I appreciate you doing the leg work for me, and for calling Ryker.”
“How did you know that I called him? Did you overhear me talking to him?” Taz asked.
“Nope,” she said. “Harlow called me just after you called Ryker and filled me in on everything that she had overheard.”
“Well, that’s a new way to eavesdrop,” he teased.
Kai giggled, “Yeah, I guess it is. She was worried when she overheard you say that we had a run-in with Gabe yesterday on campus.”
“I’m going to have a talk with Ryker about putting me on speaker,” he grumbled.
“You do know that he tells her everything, right?” He did know that. Harlow and Ryker were tight, and there would be no way that he’d ever keep a secret from her.
“Yeah,” he said, “I know it won’t do me any good to tell him to keep me off of speaker, I just hate that she woke you up.”
“I’m grateful to have a friend like Harlow,” Kai admitted. “It’s been a long time since I felt like I fit in anywhere. I tried to fit in at college, and well, we’ve both seen how that’s worked out for me. I met the wrong people and now, I’m paying the price. But when I walked into the Smokey Bandit’s bar, to apply for the waitressing job, I instantly felt like I was coming home. I know it sounds silly,” she said.
“Not at all,” Taz said. “I felt that same way when I found the club. The guys in it are my brothers now, and it’s the first place that has felt like home since I left Paris.”