With a chuckle, I crumpled up the letter and walked toward the trash can with the rest of the junk mail. If someone was aiming to scare or threaten me, they’d have to be a little more specific. I did a lot of bad things.
Five
An hour after the sun went down, I was pulling into the parking lot of the pawnshop. I called earlier and found out that?
??s where Pardon was going to be, so going in to the clubhouse to see the rest of the guys wasn’t going to be a necessity.
I actually appreciated that. I don’t think Pardon realized he was actually doing me a solid, by not having me go into the clubhouse and sit through an interrogation. Though I already knew he was going to put me through one himself.
After parking my bike, I walked toward the pawnshop door and pushed it open. Pardon was behind the counter sitting on a chair, and talking to Dallas.
I rolled my eyes but kept pace as I approached the counter.
“Hey man,” I said to Pardon and nodding at Dallas in acknowledgment of his presence.
“Where ya been hiding yourself?” Pardon asked, getting to his feet. He gave me a brief hug once I was behind the counter with him and Dallas clapped me on the shoulder.
“Taking some time for myself,” I replied honestly, with a shrug.
“What brought that on?” Pardon asked.
I shook my head and fixed my knit cap to sit more comfortably. “I don’t know. I didn’t tell you guys, but I lost it on that last one. I can usually hold it together and make the point I’m supposed to before I kill them, but fuck.”
“Lost it how?” Dallas asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I can’t explain it. It was just a frenzy that came out of nowhere. Anyway, that’s why I’ve been sticking to myself lately,” I explained quietly.
Pardon and Dallas exchanged a glance and I sighed. I hated when they did that. It was almost as annoying as Dallas trying to break me with a stare.
“Anyway, you wanted to talk to me?” I asked, leaning back against the counter and supporting myself with my hands.
“Yeah. Give us a minute,” he said turning to his son, who obliged and left the pawnshop.
Pardon sat down in his chair again and I looked at him. The serious look on his face told me that this wasn’t going to be a good chat, but we were going to have it nonetheless.
“Remember that girl that came crashing in here a few weeks ago?” he asked. I nodded. “Well she’s causing some trouble for us so we took a vote. It was unanimous and we want you to handle it.”
“You can’t be serious,” I said in disbelief. “No way in hell am I doing a chick.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“Fuck,” I said, pushing myself angrily away from the counter. I know I’ve said it a thousand times, but I really did like what I do, I just didn’t want to ever have to do it to a woman or child.
“Where am I going?” I asked, giving him an angry stare.
“Don’t you even want to know what the problem is?” Pardon asked with a chuckle.
“No. Fuck all that. I don’t even want to do this, let alone know what the problem is. So just tell me where I’m going so I can get this shit over with.”
Pardon laughed and reached over to the register. He ripped off a long piece of tape and wrote down a name, an address, and a physical description.
“I want double for this,” I said, snatching the paper from his hand.
“You’ll get it. Just be careful, brother. Don’t trust anyone.”
I stalked out of the pawnshop and went straight to my bike. I could hear Dallas calling my name, but I was so pissed at what I was just tasked to do, that I ignored him. Roaring the engine to life, I secured my helmet onto my head, before I headed out of the lot back toward home.
Six