Page 23 of Cannon

Waking up again, I glance at the clock and see that it’s past nine a.m. already. Holy shit. What was in that wine? Where is my man? The bed beside me is empty, and there are no sounds coming from the bathroom. Climbing carefully out of bed, I head into the shower and try to bring myself back to life.

By the time I reach the kitchen, dressed and reasonably human, everyone has had their breakfast and gone off to their respective employments. I grab a mug of coffee, a slice of dry toast, and take a table in the rec room. Halfway through the toast, and I admit defeat. I’m not, nor have I ever been, a big drinker, and I didn’t think I’d had that much last night. My head and stomach believe otherwise.

Loud crashing noises come from the kitchen, and looking over, I see Pattie and Bri beginning the tidy-up of the breakfast dishes. Heading back that way, I give them a shush as I enter, and they both look at me, grinning.

“Well, well. Lookee here. Little Miss Lush has appeared. Didn’t expect to see you till late afternoon, if at all.” Pattie keeps smirking at my obvious discomfort.

“If you don’t keep the noise down, I’ll slink back to where I came from and stay there,” I tell her in a weak, pathetic voice.

“You certainly got through the wine last night. I didn’t imagine you as a drinker.” Bri throws this out and I’m surprised.

“I’m not normally a drinker and don’t remember too much from last night. What happened?”

“Do you remember the training session?” Pattie asks.

“Vaguely. You were on target to become a Ranger or Marine or something?” I state sarcastically.

“I’m on target for Special Forces, actually. I’m thinking of becoming a one-woman Delta Force.” Pattie slips an imaginary gun from her hip and spins around shooting imaginary targets.

“Well, good luck with that. I’m thinking more of Kindergarten Force, myself.” I slip onto a chair and rest my head on my arms.

Giggling, Bri and Pattie continue to clear the kitchen, and once the dishwasher is loaded and programmed, they each grab a coffee and join me.

“So. What do you think about us going rogue and getting your man’s truck back for him?” Pattie asks and is one-hundred percent serious.

“I think the drink was talking, and that it is a ridiculous idea. We are nowhere near ready for such a mission, if we ever will be,” Bri states clearly.

“I’m with Bri. I don’t think I’ll complete selection for the Cub Scouts, never mind the Boy Scouts. I don’t see it happening. It was a great idea, but silly at best.” I’m beginning to recall bits from the previous evening now and seem to have a vague recollection of Ghost and Hellion getting involved. “Did we ask Ghost and…”

“Yes, we gave them a hypothetical scenario, and they gave us their military opinion of what we would need in expertise and equipment. They didn’t seem as outraged at the idea last night as you do this morning.” Pattie is serious about this plan, I can see that.

“Last night they were listening to seven drunk women gossiping about a hypothetical situation, you said it yourself.” I try to defuse the situation, but she’s having none of it.

“One drunk midget and six capable women,” Pattie throws back at me, slamming her hands onto the table, leaning into my face.

“Midget? I’ll give you midget.” Grabbing a handful of hair, I slam her head onto the table. She turns her head just before impact, or I would have happily broken her nose.

Standing up straight, Pattie rubs her cheek where a red welt is beginning to blossom. “You wouldn’t have felt confident enough to do that twenty-four hours ago. We could pull off getting that truck back. I fucking know we could.” She walks away from the table, leaving me stunned by what I had just done.

“When the MC asked her to stand in for Jamie, they had no idea what they were creating, and now it’s loose and evolving faster than anyone could have predicted.” Bri shakes her head as Pattie disappears from the kitchen.

“Jurassic Park has nothing compared to what I am!” Pattie throws over her shoulder. “I eat T-Rexes for breakfast.” The laugh that follows makes me shudder, and goosebumps appear all over me.

Chapter 14

*~* Cannon *~*

Still having Vortex clinging to my every move, I take one of the club’s SUVs and we head back to the crem. Keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of either my truck or that damn sedan. Not surprisingly, we see neither, and this time I park right against the rear doors.

“Horse has bolted?” Vortex says loud and clear.

“Get fucked. None of us expected anyone to steal anything from the Bitter Slayers MC. The dumbass sons-of-bitches must have a death wish,” I grumble and hear him snicker.

Once inside the rear doors, I stop and take a good look around. The number of dark corners and small spaces strikes me as too many to investigate in a single day. Percy could be anywhere, if indeed Bandit’s theory is even half right, and he’s still here.

“Exactly how big is this Percy character?”

“I didn’t see all of him, only about six feet, and that was more than enough. It was hellishly thick, so if I saw the front half, it would be twelve feet long. It was no baby python and no freakin’ trouser snake. You can make all the jokes you want, but you don’t want to be in a small space with Percy.