Chapter Seven: First Date
Bear
The routine and the discipline acquired from my army days never left my spirit. I was up at six, my feet pounding the pavement, keeping my mind and my heart clear every day, especially following Murphy’s death. Me putting on my sneakers was like brushing my teeth. I’d found a deep satisfaction in it. Once I was certain my legs were hurting enough with the burn, I jogged home and started the push ups, dips, and abdominal workouts.
Thirty minutes later, I was wiping sweat from my forehead and chugging down a much-needed jug of water. After hydration, a food refuel, a hot shower and breathing exercises, I rode on over to my second home at Wheelz. I knew Angie was going to be around somewhere because she was meeting with Mia to discuss the Mississippi case. I wanted to catch her and reconnect on the idea that it might be best if she ran the story through me.
Holbeck retracted its sticky heat for once, gracing us with a mild, sunny day. A welcome relief too, because I didn’t feel like sweating all over again. My Harley powered through the back streets as I enjoyed the sight of quaint houses and clean-cut lawns. Every moment spent on my bike was time well spent in my eyes. Being a road captain gave me a sense of inner freedom and pride.
As I eased into Wheelz and parked, I saw a number of bikes lined up. I guessed at who was inside. Looked to be Bones, Numbers, Mia and Angie. I walked into the dim bar to see that no one was on the floor. Most likely, the crew was upstairs and unless they were having some sort of confidential meeting, I was about to crash it.
At the top of the stairs, Mia and Angie were engaged in conversation. Both of them missed me at the doorway.
“Just the ladies I wanted to see.” I chuckled.
Angie and Mia both glanced up at the same time as Numbers stuck his head out of the boardroom. His suspicious stare changed swiftly to a smile when he saw it was me. “Hey, brother! We are going over financials for the casino,” he called down.
“Cool. Cool. I’m here to see Angie, it’s all good man. Everything good for the casino?” I asked, walking up the stairs as I spoke.
Numbers flipped his thumb up. “It will be. We can win it. We have phone calls to make right now. Keep you posted.”
I nodded as I looked up at him briefly. I wanted to stay focused on what I came for, which was to speak to Angie. “Ladies, are you going back downstairs? I want to talk to you about Delphia. I have an idea,” I pitched to both of them.
“I am all ears for this one. I would love to hear this idea you have,” Angie said with the sarcasm she was known for.
“Then let’s go downstairs and we can talk about it.” I had my own disarming mechanism and it worked fairly well as my cheeks plumped up from smiling at the perpetually disgruntled Angie Carmichael.
“I’m intrigued now. Sounds like you have some new information from the way you’re smiling.” Her emerald eyes narrowed at me.
Mia said nothing and we moved downstairs.
“I do have some. I think it’s going to be very valuable for you,” I teased. The stairs creaked under our weight as we moved down into the open bar area of Wheelz.
Angie slid into a bar seat as her messy blonde hair framed her face. “Straight up, no chaser. Tell us.”
Mia had her purse hitched over her shoulder like she had to leave shortly.
“Delphia is pretty fragile,” I started in. “Rocky is after her. She called me down to the gas station to check it out for her. The back security camera that looks out onto the parking lot was blown out and there was oil on the ground. She told me that the emergency exit was open the previous night she’d worked.”
“How do you know that it’s Rocky though? You can’t speculate,” Mia queried. “That’s the lawyer side coming out in me, but unless you have hard evidence, that’s not going to fly. You need cold, hard facts for the judge. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but that’s the law. You must come armed with facts and then some. The officers absolutely did botch the case… and now we’re in this predicament.” Mia slapped her hand against her thigh. It was obvious that the case had stumped her and caused her some undue stress.
My eyebrows knitted together as I looked at them both. “Mia, I know it was Rocky. It’s a gut feeling. I know the law won’t do anything, but Angie, I think I should be the go-between.”
Angie stood up from the stool, running a hand through her unruly locks. “I knew Rocky would come after her! We have to do something, Bear. Justice hasn’t been served by the law, so it’s time for Rocky to receive the Angie Carmichael version of the law.”
“Are you serious about looking out for Delphia?” I asked sincerely. It was so hard to tell with Angie if she was into a cause for herself or actually caring about the people she was covering.
“I am. This is why I’m a journalist. I do have selfish reasons in regards to Rocky’s guilt, but I care about this case seeing the judge properly and either being reopened… or Rocky going to jail.”
Angie’s somber tone had me convinced she did care this time. “Then let me ease you in and get her to open up to you.”
Mia was growing impatient as she stole a glance at her watch. “Guys, I’m on the clock. I have to go. Bear, I hope you can get her to talk. It could change everything. I’m not directly on the case anymore, but I’m assisting, and I’ve done a lot of legwork on it. Good luck, guys.”
I nodded and waved Mia goodbye as she walked towards the exit.
Angie and I were left alone. She muttered earnestly, “Get her to talk, Bear. Just get her to tell me the details. I want to bring justice to her and her family.”
“It might not be quick, Angie. Leave it with me. She’s traumatized enough, and if Rocky is following her that’s even worse. It’s better if she does speak, though. It will help a lot of things and get rid of him. If I could do it the old school way and pummel his face into the ground I would,” I remarked.