“Not sure she saw it that way.”
“So, what?” His eyes narrowed as he asked, “You’re just gonna give up on her?”
“I can’t force Delilah to see things my way, Danny.”
“No, but you can do your best to make her understand.” Sounding completely sincere, he offered, “You know, I could go talk to her. Explain things the way I see ’em and maybe set things right.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Once Viper had given the word that Danny would be released, he gave him limited range of the clubhouse, allowing him time to finish healing from his gunshot wound instead of just forcing him out the door. It was a decision none of us expected. I had a feeling that Viper saw something in Danny and wanted the opportunity to see if his instincts about him were right. While I had my doubts at first, I had to admit that he wasn’t at all like I’d expected. Similar to his sister, he had a good head on his shoulders and had completely owned up to his mistakes. Hell, he didn’t even hold a grudge against Shotgun, understanding that he was doing his part to protect the brothers. As I stood there talking to him, I could see him as being a good addition to the club, but I had my doubts that his sister would feel the same. I looked at Danny and said, “I think I need to give her some time.”
“Maybe so.” Danny glanced behind him, watching the guys as they sat around the fire drinking a cold one. “How about a couple of beers? Might help take your mind off things for a bit.”
“Doubt it, but you go ahead. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“You got it, man.” He turned to leave, but quickly stopped and looked back at me. “Hey, I was meaning to ask you ... Have the guys been watching Delilah?”
“Yeah, we had to be sure she wouldn’t talk about you and everything that happened.”
“I get it. Did Delilah know y’all were watching her?”
“We didn’t keep that a secret.” I sighed. “Figured it would help motivate her to keep her mouth shut.”
“She didn’t talk, did she?”
“Not a word.”
“Didn’t think she would. Delilah isn’t one to go back on her word.” Apprehension crossed his face as he said, “So, this creeper she was talking about ... He something I need to be concerned about?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure.” I’d seen the guy and hadn’t forgotten the uneasy feeling I got after I noticed him parked outside her apartment. At the time, I hadn’t known for certain if he was there for her, but now that I did, it made my blood run cold to think he might do something to hurt her. I needed to know for sure that he had no connection to the club, so I told Danny, “I’ll talk to Viper and see if he knows anything about it.”
“Okay, sounds good,” he replied, sounding relieved. “If you don’t mind, let me know what he says.”
“Will do.”
When Danny turned to join the others, I went inside the clubhouse to find Viper. He and Menace had been going over the intel Menace had collected on Flint, the new dealer we were looking into. With the new club open and doing so well, we wanted to get product moving before our customers went looking somewhere else. Even though Viper was eager to get our first order placed, he wasn’t going to make a move until he was certain that we’d found the right guy. When I walked into his office, they were both gathered around his desk, going over all the files. “How’s our guy looking?”
“Pretty good, actually,” Viper answered. “I’m not seeing any red flags yet, so I’d say that’s a good sign.”
“That’s a very good sign. So, now what?”
“I’m thinking we’ll place a small order and just see how it plays out. If the product is as good as they say it is, then we’ll be set.”
“That’s great to hear. It’ll be good to finally get the ball moving on this. Just let me know if you need me to do anything.”
“You know I will.” He lowered the papers onto his desk, giving me his full attention. “You got something on your mind?”
“Yeah, I need to ask you about something.”
Menace stood up, and as he started out of the room, he said, “I’ll give you two a minute.”
Once he’d closed the door, Viper looked up at me and asked, “What’s going on?”
“It’s about Delilah.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know anything about a guy who’s been watching her? He drives a black truck ... been sitting outside her place and hangin’ around.”
A puzzled expression crossed his face, and I knew right then he didn’t have a clue. “I don’t know anything about it. Hell, I put you in charge of watching her, so if there’s anyone who’d know about a new guy, it’d be you.”