Six

The last two drunks weave their way across the room, bouncing off chairs, tables and each other until they stumble out the door. I shut the door behind them.

'Finally.' June, the bar tender, rolls her eyes as she wipes down the counter top. 'Thought they were never gonna leave.'

Tell me about it. Well, I'm outta here, see you tomorrow.' I stub out my cigarette and drain the last of my beer from the glass. And I almost make it out the door. Almost.

'Hey, Shepard!' Chris calls me back. 'You gotta minute?'

'Sure.' I glance at my watch, stifling a yawn. So much for me getting home any time soon.

'Tomorrow.'

'What about it?'

'Change of plan. Simpson's incapacitated so I need you to go with Robinson.' Chris jerks his head towards the guy who's just vacated the seat opposite, his long term second in command, Dave Robinson.

'We got a long drive ahead. So make sure you fuel up that shit-heap motor of yours.' Dave smirks at me.

'Why? Where we headed?' Two weeks in, and this—whatever the hell it is—is the first major deviation from the routine I've somehow settled into. My days spent dropping in to collect money from the people on my ever-growing list. Then gravitating back to the bar, working the rest of the night there breaking up fights and throwing out troublemaking assholes.

'Not your concern, Shepard,' Robinson sneers, as he saunters towards the door. 'Just be here, eight a.m.—that's all you need to know.'

'Jesus, what the hell is his fucking problem?' I mutter to myself, obviously not quietly enough though, 'cause Chris catches what I'm saying. Cackles.

'Dave don't trust no one, Tim. Never has. Seems to think you're hanging around 'cause you've got designs on taking over or some shit like that.'

'Well then he's even more of an idiot than he looks. Now you gonna tell me what the hell is so important that you expect me to go running around being his dogsbody?'

'Sit down.' Chris points to the chair opposite him, his expression serious again. 'Theres something else I need you to do for me. It's why I'm sending you with him tomorrow. I need someone I can trust.'

'Morning.' Leigh's voice is silky soft, heavy with sleep. Her lips are like velvet against my neck, my chest.

'Hey there, beautiful.'

The corners of her mouth lift into a hint of a smile as her fingers run through the thick dark hair covering my chest. 'What time is it?'

I glance at the clock, groaning inwardly, half seven already. 'Time for me to get moving.'

'Already?' She props herself on one elbow, squints over my shoulder at the alarm clock, checking out the time for herself.

'Yeah, sorry.' I huff out a breath, half-heartedly throwing back the covers. 'Told you last night, remember? I have to get an early start today.'

'Pity.' Her words are barely more than a whisper as her hand drifts further south. 'The one time we finally get a little time to ourselves, before the kids wake up. But I guess if you gotta go...'

Leigh shrugs, shifting away from me, my body already aching for her touch, yearning for the warmth of her body nestled against mine.

Screw it. Go meet Robinson or stay here, with her? That ain't exactly a difficult decision to make.

I rest a hand on her hip and draw her back into my arms, before reaching up to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear as I murmur, 'Reckon I still got a little time, work can wait...'

'So, you gonna tell me what we're doing all the fucking way out here, or not?' I demand as Robinson finally grunts out an order, gestures that I should pull in out front of the rundown roadhouse opposite, alongside a row of a half-dozen or so motorbikes. The first words he's spoken to me since we left Tulsa, other than asking me who in hell do I think I am before calling me an arrogant fucker for daring to show up late, then barking at me to head outta town towards Oklahoma City.

'Simple. We're picking up a delivery. So all you need to do is stay out here while I take care of the business side, then once the deal is done you get to load up the gear. And what you don't do is try to get involved, and you definitely don't open that big mouth of yours and speak to anyone. You sit here, in the motor until I tell you otherwise. Understand?'

Not bothering to wait for any acknowledgement from me, Robinson pops the catch on the passenger door, slamming it behind him before striding across the gravel lot towards the shack-like building. Two heavy-set guys, arms inked with tattoos stand either side the door, and he pauses for a second, shakes hands with the one on the right, before the two of them disappear inside.

Leaning forwards, I fiddle with the car radio scrolling through a whole load of static and country shit, eventually snapping the dial to off when its obvious I ain't gonna find shit worth listening to out here.

I glance towards the building. No sign of Dave. How in hell is Chris expecting me to find out shit, when I'm stuck out here? So despite Robinson's instructions, I grab my shades back off the dash and open the car door, swing out my legs. The crunch of the stone chippings beneath my boots attracts the fat guys interest, so I make a show of stretching, then circle round, kicking at the tyres. I do a good enough job of making him suspicious though, 'cause he's moved away from his post, is heading right towards me.

'There a problem?'

'Nah.' I rub at the base of my spine. 'Just my back's seizing up sitting in there. And sweating like a pig.' I grin at him, slide the pack of cigarettes out of my jeans pocket, taking one for myself before offering them to him.

'Cheers.' He loiters beside my motor. Watching me out the side of his eye. 'You new?'

'Something like that.' They likely to be long?'

'Dunno.' He shrugs. Looks like he's got about as much idea what's going on as I have then. 'Hat depends. On whether your boss man is happy to meet Brannigan's terms, or if he's dumb enough to try to negotiate.'

He drones on and on, but I don't hear anything, my mind stuck on that one word. Brannigan.

Been years since I heard that name. Years I've spent doing whatever my PO told me, working shit jobs on the nine to five to make ends meet and all the while prove to him, to Leigh, to anyone else who gives a shit, that I'm actually worth something. That McAlester and everything that happened there was a blip, something to be shoved to the darkest corners of my mind and never ever thought about, let alone brought up in conversation. Something that up until two minutes ago I could pretty much pretend never happened—or not to me anyway. Maybe I'm overreacting, and it's one of those freaky coincidences. I mean surely to God there's got to be more than one person in the whole damn state with that name?

I go to take a drag on my cigarette and suck the smoke deep into my lungs, my hand trembling—just a little, but enough for me to notice, and let my arm drop backup my side. My mouth is dry, so I can barely speak. But I need to know, so I force out the words that are sticking in my throat. 'Brannigan? He the big cheese around here then?'

'Jesus, you really are wet behind the ears, aren't you? Yeah, this is Mitch Brannigan's operation. And seeing as you're new I'll give you one bit of advice, for free.' He tosses the cigarette butt down to the gravel, grinds it out beneath his heel. 'Don't go getting any ideas, Mitch ain't someone you ever want to get on the wrong side of.'

'Right. Cheers.' I force myself to move, slumping down behind the steering wheel, my fingertips massaging my temples. Stay in the car, keep my head down. No reason Brannigan'll ever even see me. No need for our paths to cross, not when I'm nothing but the lowest of the low, Robinson's goddamned gopher, only here to hump boxes into the trunk and then drive. And even if he does, what's to say he'll even remember who I am or what I did? After the best part of ten years?

The door swings open with a creak and Robinson's voice booms across the void between us. 'Hey, Shepard! Wake the fuck up and get your ass over here! Now!'

A/N: Huge thanks to anyone who's still reading :)

If anyone's interested in the background, Tim's time in McAlester and his previous encounter with Mitch Brannigan are in of one of my other fics, Cars and Girls.