Order (Tattoos and Ties 2)

Fuck.

Keyes ground his teeth together and mumbled out, “I’ll pay you back.”

“That’s unnecessary. Keyes, this is Marc Manners. He’s agreed to take your case.” The lawyer’s hand came out, and Keyes stared at it, refusing the handshake until Clyde cleared his throat and whispered his name. Dammit. He finally reached out to clasp it, not looking the guy in the eyes.

He had to get the fuck out of here. There was too much bullshit emotion and spending the day caged like a motherfucking animal hadn’t helped his perspective. He hated that shit, being stuck inside like that. No wonder convicts beat the hell out of each other.

Keyes took a step for the door, giving a side eye to the older attorney who had his head bent toward Alec, talking quietly. They looked so fucking pretty together. Keyes looked back over his shoulder to Clyde. “Can you give me a ride back to the shop? I’ll call Dev to leave my bike there.”

If Dev would even take his call. But if he didn’t, Keyes would know for sure how far his brothers had gotten in trying to figure out who the fuck Alec was.

Why had Alec come?

“I will, Clyde,” Alec answered, his voice hard, drawing every eye his direction. Alec held the attention of room and ignored Keyes like he had tried to do with Alec. Alec extended a hand to the attorney beside him. “Thank you for all you’ve done today. I’m not sure we could have gotten him out so quickly.”

The older attorney looked like he had an infinite amount of patience. He was completely unfazed by Keyes’s attitude. “Keyes, we’ll need to meet in the morning. I’ve carved out time and scheduled with Alec.”

Keyes didn’t say a word, just kept walking toward the door.

“We’ll be there,” Alec said, again his tone was swift and firm, leaving no question as to whether what he said would be done.

“Call me when you get a minute. I want to know what’s going on,” Clyde said, inserting himself in the swirl of tension surrounding them that seemed to be multiplying by the second. Then Clyde said what Keyes should have. “Thank you for everything, Alec.”

“I’m sorry you had to leave work. I didn’t realize he called you or I could’ve stopped you,” Alec said with attitude and accusation in his tone. They seemed to be following him, and he pushed through the door, seemingly ignoring everything as he scanned the parking lot and beyond, looking for any sign of his brothers.

The door swung shut behind him, momentarily drowning out their voices until Clyde was there, pulling him into a hug, a comfort Keyes didn’t want and didn’t deserve. He kept his body rigid but bent enough to allow Clyde his moment.

He didn’t participate in any of the rest of the conversation as he walked the length of the sidewalk down the side of the building. He knew the club members’ practices for surveillance better than anyone. They were sneaky bastards. There was no hiding in plain sight, which caused his anxiety to double.

Alec walked about three feet behind him, following as he turned the corner. Keyes scanned every direction, looking for threats.

“My car’s this way.” Alec took a step off the sidewalk, walking out in front of him. Keyes resisted the urge to grab his arm in a protectionary move and put Alec behind him. Instead, he double-timed it to pass Alec, walking several feet ahead of him. He heard the doors of the car unlock, and again, he scanned the entire parking lot from this new angle, his inner thoughts chanting a kind of prayer, willing himself to not miss one single detail.

As Alec opened the driver’s door, Keyes lowered inside the vehicle on the passenger side. Instead of starting the sports car, Alec placed both hands on the steering wheel and stared out the front windshield as he said, “Why didn’t you call me?”

“Why would I call you? Why are you here?” he asked in a sudden burst of anger, turning to face Alec.

“Because you went to jail today, Key.” Alec swung his head Keyes’s direction, but he might as well have said, “You’re the dumbest person on the planet, Key” with all the condescension lacing every syllable.

“And you put yourself right in front of the club. They had to have seen you, Alec.” He tried to mimic that same “you’re dumb” tone, but failed.

“They can’t possibly know who I am. I never spoke to any of them. Clyde handled the whole group. I stayed at a distance even as your friend got irate. They left pretty quickly after arriving. There’s no way they could have known who I was or that I was there for you.” Alec explained all this as if the notion was absolutely ridiculous, and he reached out to push the button to start the car, pressing the gas pedal to add to the loud rumble.