“This is the second time this fucker’s been spotted on the main road near the clubhouse. He’s been lurking around watching the road. Yesterday we started a facial recognition program over his image. You’re not going to like what finally popped up just a few minutes ago,” Phoenix muttered, his look grim.
“Who is this fucker?” Peanut demanded but the sick sensation in his gut was already telling him who it was.
“Johnny Smith,” Frankie said grimly.
“Fuck, just fuck. What the hell is he doing here?” Peanut demanded but he already knew that the sick mother fucker was looking for Phoebe.
“We don’t know how he knows she’s with us but we all know why he’s here, Peanut,” Phoenix growled. He was gripping the back of Frankie’s chair and Peanut noted that his knuckles were white. He knew that abuse was a hot button for Phoenix ever since he’d found out about Sin’s past. Peanut understood why because after Melody it had been one for him too. Johnny Smith wasn’t getting anywhere near Phoebe. Fuck, what if he’d already gotten her? This video was from yesterday and the feed that Frankie had reset to the current view outside the clubhouse wasn’t showing the black sedan.
Peanut turned and punched the wall, letting out a loud roar of anger. He couldn’t bear the thought of Phoebe in that bastard’s clutches. He reach into his pocket for his phone and he was dialing Phoebe. He didn’t breathe until she answered.
“Peanut? Why are you calling so late? Are you okay?” Phoebe’s voice was worried and a little sleepy. He let out a deep sigh of relief as the sound of her sweet voice rang through the phone’s speaker. He almost couldn’t speak for a full minute as he processed the fact that she was still safe.
“I’m okay, Lovely. Just needed to hear your voice. Everything locked up tight there?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm when he felt anything but. If that fucker got anywhere near his lovely, he was going to lose his fucking mind.
“Everything’s fine here. What’s going on Peanut?” Phoebe asked, suspiciously.
“Nothing important. I just had a bad feeling and wanted to be sure you and Jazzy were okay. Go back to sleep and I’ll be home in an hour or so,” Peanut told her, trying not to let the stress show in his voice. He knew he’d have to tell her. He hated that she’d be frightened knowing that Johnny was here looking for her, but she needed to know to be more cautious. He’d give anything to spare her from this reality, but he knew he couldn’t. He wouldn’t tell her tonight, he decided. He’d talk to her about it after she dropped Jazzy at school tomorrow morning.
“Fine, but this conversation isn’t over, Peanut. You will tell me why you were calling me in a panic, or I swear I will move back to my room until you do,” Phoebe said in a no-nonsense tone that left him grinning despite the circumstances.
“I will. Not tonight though. I don’t want you waiting up on me. We will talk about it after you take Jazzy to school tomorrow.”
“Alright,” she replied before hanging up.
“Everything’s okay I’m assuming,” Phoenix asked when he put his phone back into his pocket and turned grimly back to the other two men.
“So far. I can’t believe we didn’t notice him before. Fuck. Just fuck.” Peanut ran a hand through his hair nearly ripping it out. He’d left it down tonight and he was glad because he
“Dude, chill. She’s fine and we will make sure she stays that way. Nothing to worry about,” Frankie said as he turned the monitors back to surveillance mode.
“I know that, but I can’t stand the thought of that bastard getting anywhere near her. I will not allow that fucker to hurt her again. He needs to die but with the divorce not finalized that can’t happen until he signs those fucking papers. I don’t want her involved in any investigation the cops may do when they find his dead body,” Peanut muttered, pulling at his hair again. Phoenix grinned, his hand landing hard on Peanut’s shoulder.
“Yeah, that could become awkward. Stan called to let you know that he should have the papers ready to sign by the end of the week. This just means you get to get this shit fixed faster. You intended to ride there and force him to sign before impressing upon him the need to forget Phoebe existed, right? Well now he’s come to you instead. Like a gift.” Phoenix chuckled.
“I always intended to kill him and you damned well know it. I was just going to have it handled a few months after the divorce was finalized to make things look good. He beat her more than once and put her in the hospital a total of five times in their short marriage. A man like that doesn’t stop until someone makes him. I had a plan to wait five months after the divorce and have a hit put out on him through our contacts in South Dakota.” Peanut didn’t hide his intentions from his brothers because they had likely already suspected he’d handle it long term. He wasn’t a forgive and forget kind of man.
“Exactly, only he’s here now and that means you get him to sign the papers and wait a month or so to kill him. We can hold him at the warehouse. No need to send him back to South Dakota. Chains can handle the details of getting him out of the state before we take care of his
