Making the Cut (Saving Dallas 2)

Shit.

I couldn’t leave Luke’s house. I would have to wait until he got back. Maybe then we could do it together, and weed these flower beds. The thought of us together, weeding flower beds made me smile.

“Something funny?” Luke asked, pulling under the carport.

“Would you weed flower beds?”

“Fuck no,” Luke said without hesitation. He put the truck in park and got out, holding his hand out to me. “I have to draw the line somewhere.”

I laughed at him and hopped down from the truck.

“Okay babe, get your shit. I have a few phone calls to make. Fifteen minutes, we still have to go by and see the PROSPECT,” Luke said in his no-nonsense voice. I shot him my impression of his signature smirk and was rewarded with a smile. He was already on the phone and I watched him as he strolled around the driveway with one hand in his pocket. He looked so good in that white t-shirt. He caught me staring and mouthed, “now” to me. I shook my head and walked into the house.

The familiar smell of old books filled my nostrils. My library was a wonderful place. Often I thought of Frankie, Crazy and Dennis standing in this very spot. They had poisoned my home, my life and my family. I hope Luke killed them all. I shook off my thoughts of death and brutality, and made my way to my closet to begin the impossible-pack for an undetermined amount of time in less than fifteen minutes. Yeah, that shit wasn’t gonna happen.

Jeans, shorts, dresses, shirts, sweats, pajamas, bras, panties, heels, tennis shoes, flip flops, slippers, two suitcases and my traveling jewelry box covered my bed twenty minutes after Luke told me I only had fifteen. I grabbed my makeup, brushes, toothbrush, curling iron, hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner and three different kinds of body wash from the bathroom and deposited them on my bed. I looked around the room to see if there was anything else I might want or need. My laptop, a couple of books and my iPod should be enough to keep me busy for a while. Luke walked in and stopped in his tracks. His eyes grew round at the mountain of shit on my bed.

“Dallas, babe, no.” He said looking at me like he was trying to be very patient, but I was pushing it.

“I need this stuff, Luke! Who knows how long it will be before I get to come back?” I exclaimed, standing my ground. Luke would not win this battle. I had agreed to stay cooped up in his house and away from my job for him. The least he could do was let me take whatever in the hell I wanted. Luke let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hand over his head.

“Fine, but you have five minutes to squeeze whatever you can into a suitcase. What’s not packed when I get back, stays.” Game over.

Not only did I get everything on the bed packed, but I had managed to add a few more layers to it. By the time Luke made it back, which was actually more like ten minutes and not five, I had my complete luggage set packed and laying on the bed-all six of them.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” I heard Luke murmur as he grabbed the two largest suitcases and hauled them out, not bothering to use the wheels on the bottom. I ran around the house unplugging things and making sure everything was locked while Luke carried the rest of my bags to the truck and not so gently threw them inside. Bitching about it wouldn’t have done me any good. Luke seemed worked up about something, and I didn’t want to give him any reason to snap at me, so I kept my mouth shut.

Once we were loaded, and the house was secure, we pulled out and headed to the hospital to see Marty. I regretted that I hadn’t thought to bring him something, but by the look of the speedometer and the way Luke was weaving in and out of traffic, we were in a bit of a hurry.

“Is something wrong?” I asked cautiously. Luke waited several beats before answering me. I think he was deciding whether or not to tell me the truth.

“We thought we had a lead on War, but it turned into another dead end. Frankie is not where we thought he was either. So now I have a shit load of manpower, a bunch of brothers who are thirsty for blood and no fucking bad guy to go and catch. To make matters worse, the word is out that there are other chapters in town and now I have to worry about people getting the wrong idea.” He didn’t sound like he wanted to talk about it, but while I had the chance; I wanted to push for more.