Brody (The Bang Shift Book 1) Read online

  As soon as he freed the car, he hopped back into the wrecker and parked it across the lot and away from that woman, taking his time to lock it up. He noticed some of the other mechanics hovering around her, helping her move some luggage and other stuff into the rental that blessedly arrived while they were gone.

  Blade and Hunter seemed a little too eager to help her, and he noticed they each brushed up against her more than once. He bit off a growl, which surprised him. So what if they found her attractive? She was a sexy woman. But Bear managed to help too, without molesting her in the process. Surely, Blade and Hunter could manage that too. Roc and Gauge kept working while Colonel talked to Bill. His son must’ve followed him out here because he sat in the car, waiting in the air-conditioning. Brody shook his head. Scott not only stood outside while Brody had hooked up the car, but also volunteered to help. Bill’s boy was probably the same age, if not older, and a worthless piece of shit.

  Whatever. It didn’t matter to him. He grabbed his portable tool case and stalked up to the garage as Scott got in the rental car and Xan glanced over at him.

  “Thanks for your help,” she said as she opened the door, keeping her eyes on him, making him just a little uncomfortable in his chest and a lot uncomfortable in his pants.

  He nodded once and turned away, focusing a little too much on putting his tools up. He couldn’t talk to her. He didn’t want to talk to her. That woman was off-limits. He didn’t see a ring on her finger, but she had a kid. That was strike one.

  And he knew her from somewhere. Strike two.

  Those were reasons enough for him to avoid her like the plague. He didn’t need a third.

  Thankfully, he heard two cars pulling out, and when he turned, she was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was fucking ridiculous that he’d be avoiding a woman as if he was scared of her, but he had no choice. He would avoid her. The attraction was strong enough that he could’ve possibly talked himself into dumping his no-baggage rule where her kid was concerned. But the fact he knew her was a deal-killer. She hadn’t acted as if she knew him, so that was good, but he couldn’t take the risk of her recognizing him before he could figure out why he knew her.

  And he may never know.

  Before he turned back to the tools, he saw Colonel watching him. Shit. He was caught staring after that woman. He didn’t need his boss busting his balls.

  Too late, he was headed this way.

  “What do you think of our lovely new citizen?”

  Brody shrugged as he wiped his hands.

  “That much, huh?” Colonel chuckled, then sobered. “I have a job for you,” he murmured.

  A job. That only meant one thing, and it wouldn’t involve vehicle repairs. He was referring to the side jobs he and the other mechanics did. The truth was, Colonel’s handle was more than just a nickname for a supervisor. He was the leader of their secret mission group. They were mercenaries who took on vigilante-type jobs the feds either didn’t want to do themselves or private citizens wanted done with no trace left behind. The government contracts they got were the less savory ones, and the law looked the other way on their private gigs because they didn’t do anything they hadn’t done for the government. The guys on his team were all just shady enough to do whatever was necessary to get them done and had no problem blurring that legal line…or erasing it completely.

  The shop doubled as their headquarters, so they jokingly called themselves the Bang Shift. Besides the hotrod connection, it was also a nod to being the hired guns that they were. As far as Brody was concerned, it was the perfect arrangement for a man good with his hands who had no memory of his past, and no hope of a future.

  “Whatcha need?” This job was the perfect distraction. It’d give him something to focus his attention on besides that maddening woman.

  “Xan Bradley. That’s your new assignment.”

  Xan spent Saturday morning unpacking their things and going through the stuff Agent Parsons had sent, making a list of what she still needed to get. The FBI always tried to do their best to make her comfortable when she and Scott had to move. It was the least they could do since she was the reason one of the men they’d sought was now behind bars. She’d only hope that Marco stayed that way.

  As she looked over her old and new clothes, she sighed. The comfortable, casual clothes from discount stores were a far cry from the designer, one-of-a-kind outfits Marco had wrapped her in. She’d been a trophy wife, so she had to look the part. Long, silky hair perfectly styled. Long, manicured fingernails—the real kind. He wouldn’t stand for fake nails, which was ridiculous since he’d been discussing her getting a breast enlargement at one point. But the clothes—the clothes would’ve made a movie star jealous. Only the finest threads to cover her bruises.

  Had she liked all her designer duds? Hell yeah. She was a chick who’d grown up poor and was thrust into a horrible marriage. The clothes had been a perk. They’d been her the-glass-is-half-full moment to her marriage. When Marco would send her out for a new pair of Christian Louboutin shoes or a Louis Vuitton bag, she’d almost felt loved. It wasn’t until after speaking with the feds that she’d realized all her shopping expeditions had been orchestrated to get her out of the house or away from her husband so he could conduct his business, and after she’d learned how he’d made his money, she didn’t want to keep anything that was purchased with it.

  Cheap clothes off the rack? Yeah, she’d take those any day and revel in them if they meant her freedom.

  After she finished hanging up her clothes, Xan went into the living room where Scott was setting up his PlayStation. “In your bedroom,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Ah, c’mon, Mom. The TV’s bigger in here.”

  “You heard me.” She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, uncapping it as she walked back into the living room. “Have you finished unpacking your stuff?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Uh-oh. You’re breaking out the ‘yes ma’am’. You must want something bad.” She chuckled, taking a swig.

  “Mommy,” he said too sweetly. “I could really use the latest edition of Battle Warfare.”

  “There are starving kids around the world and you want me to spend sixty bucks on a video game just because you could use it? I don’t think so.”

  “Ahh, Mom, what if I mow the lawn all summer? Will you buy it for me then?”

  “First of all, summer’s almost over. Second, you have to mow the lawn anyway.” She started to walk to the front door to assess the yard situation when he jumped in front of her.

  Scott looked a lot like his father. He had the same chiseled jaw, same brown hair. But he got his blue eyes and smile from her, and already at six feet, he was taller than Marco. There was just enough difference that he wasn’t a constant reminder of the horrible father he had, but the similarities were startling at times, especially after Scott had gotten as big as he had, and she had to remind herself Scott wasn’t like Marco.

  She was leery of men, but she wasn’t afraid of her son. Oh, he had his moments of teenage moodiness, and like other young men who liked to test the limits of their parents, he pushed her when he could. But she did everything possible to counter the bad Collins genes in his system with love, support, and understanding. Her boy really was a good kid.

  “What if we go in half?” he asked with a hopeful smile, and she tried her best not to smile in return. So he wanted to play a war game. It was much better than living it.

  “I’ll consider it.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” Grinning, he kissed her cheek before walking away.

  She shook her head and walked outside. The yard was small and the flowerbeds were in shabby shape. She could weed them later and maybe plant some flowers before fall set in. It wouldn’t take much to liven up the place.

  “Yoohoo?” a female voice called from behind her.

  Xan turned around as she stood back up, facing the approaching woman. She looked to be around her age with aubur
n hair pulled loosely in a ponytail and a voluptuous figure spilling out of her skimpy shorts and tight tank top. “Can I help you?”

  “Oh no, girl. I was just coming over to introduce myself and welcome you to the neighborhood,” she said as she walked up to Xan. She offered her hand to shake. “Hi, I’m Roxanne Willis, but you can call me Roxie.”

  Xan shook her hand briefly and smiled. “Xan Bradley. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Same here. You gettin’ settled?”

  “Trying to. We still have to run to town and get a few things.”

  “Well, this is a small town and the neighborhood is quiet, so you’ll like it if that’s your thing. If you like partying and the night life, then not so much. There’s not much to do out in these parts. So where’re you from, anyway?”

  Xan was used to all kinds of neighbors. She didn’t even have to think about her answers when people probed her about where she’d been in life because her responses flowed without effort. “All over. I’m a traveling nurse, going where the needs are.”

  “Oh, you working at the hospital in Conway? Surely you ain’t working in Little Rock? That commute’s a bitch.”

  “No. I’m working here for Dr. Peters.”

  “Oh, that’s right. Joann’s quitin’ after she has that baby. She’s due any day now.”

  The front door opened, making Xan turn around to watch Scott walk out. Her son shamelessly stared at Roxie’s breasts before looking at her eyes. The boy needed a father to teach him how to look at a rack without getting caught. Xan felt as if she’d be betraying her sisterhood if she coached him on that.

  “Scott, this is our neighbor, Roxie Willis.” She turned to look at Roxie. “This is my son, Scott.”

  Roxie smiled brightly. Xan felt her mother claws extending. She didn’t know Roxie from a hole in the ground, but the last thing she wanted was some cougar prowling around her son.

  “Oh, this is great,” she said excitedly, then turned toward her house. “Chad!” She whipped her head back around. “I have a boy too. Looks about your age.”

  The boy in question came out of the house across the street and headed their way. Xan was relieved that Roxie’s sudden interest in her son seemed more genuine now.

  “Yeah, Mom?”

  “C’mere and meet our new neighbors.” She turned back to Xan. “It’s just the two of us. His daddy left when he was seven.”

  Chad closed the distance between them and nodded to Scott, who returned the manly nod of recognition.

  “Chad, this is Xan and Scott Bradley. Y’all, this is my son, Chad. He’ll be a junior this year.” Roxie wrapped her arm around Chad’s shoulder and rubbed it affectionately, motherly pride shining in her eyes, and Xan’s relief from her earlier assessment grew. Roxie wasn’t interested in her son. She was just animated.

  “Scott’s starting his junior year too.”

  The boys looked each other up and down, and Scott’s eyes narrowed briefly. “You got Battle Warfare?”

  “Nah, but I got Bloodbath Four,” Chad said, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. “You wanna play?”

  Scott shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t matter much to him, but Xan saw the excitement in his eyes. Her boy loved those damn video games, and if Chad was anything like him, then he just found his new best friend.

  “I’ll be back later, Mom,” Scott said casually as he followed Chad.

  She fought a smile as she nodded at him.

  “I swear Chad is drawn to those games of his like a fly on a honeysuckle. If your boy’s the same, they’ll be fast friends.”

  Xan laughed. “I was thinking the same thing. It’s nice to have someone his age around and someone to show him around school if they hit it off.”

  “Oh, Chad’ll give’em the dime tour.” She paused as she looked around, her gaze landing on the car in her driveway. “Say, what’re you doin’ with one of Laverty’s cars?”

  “Who?”

  “Bill Laverty. He owns Laverty Rentals in Conway. Rents cars and limos.”

  “Oh, I, er, had some car trouble just outside town. Had to have the car towed.”

  That piqued her interest. Her eyes gleamed and a wicked grin flashed on her face. It seemed like the smallest thing got this lady’s attention. Xan wasn’t used to expressive women. Hell, she wasn’t really used to women period. She understood why she never got too close to men, but she never really got close to women either. Attachments were hard to break, and once a gal got a girlfriend, those bonds were solid. Men could be dumped. Friends couldn’t.

  “So, you met the hunks of Sheppard’s Garage?” She laughed seductively. “Girl, those men have women coming for miles just for a dadburned oil change. If they made a mechanic’s calendar with nekkid photos of those guys, every woman in the tri-county area would gobble them up.”

  Now that she believed. Those men were gorgeous, but it wasn’t the lot of them that’d kept her up last night. It was one long-haired Viking who did. Every time she shut her eyes last night, she’d pictured his massive body towering over her, him ripping her clothes right off, buttons flying, lace disintegrating. She’d fantasized about him possessing her in every way. She’d spent the night in one fantasy after another, torturing herself with what that man could do to her, with what she could do to him.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet,” Xan finally managed to say, forcing the erotic images from her brain.

  “So, which one helped you? It wasn’t Teddy, was it?” Her smile faltered a little.

  “Teddy? I don’t think I met—”

  “Bear,” she said suddenly. “The younger bald guy with a goatee and green eyes. You can’t miss him.”

  From the sound of Roxie’s voice, she never missed an opportunity to look at him, and since she singled him out from the group, Xan figured Roxie had a little thing for the big lug.

  “Oh yeah, Bear. I met him. Just didn’t know his real name. Brody, er, Brutus is the only one who introduced himself with his real name.”

  She seemed a little relieved by that, as if keeping his real name a secret from her somehow meant he wasn’t interested in her. She was fine with that. Brody was the only mechanic who got her engine running.

  “Brody, huh? I only know Teddy’s real name. He doesn’t like it. His family used to call him Teddy Bear, which fits because I think he’s a big ol’ softy, but now they just call him Ted, or so I’d heard. I figured he dropped the Teddy part when he moved here. The only one in that group that’s from around here is Hunter, but he grew up being called that. Apparently, he has a horrible name, so we’ll never know what his real name is.” She giggled as she flung the red hair flowing out of her ponytail over her shoulder and propped her hand on her hip. She seemed giddy at the prospect of gossiping about the town hunks, and Xan was apparently a glutton for punishment. She could feel the question forming on her tongue. She didn’t need to ask it. She needed to keep her head clear, needed to forget about—

  “So, what do you know about Brody?”

  Chapter Three

  When Monday morning finally rolled around, Brody was no closer to finding a way out of this torturous assignment than on Friday when he’d been given it.

  He recalled Colonel’s words. Keep your eyes glued to her ass. Where she goes, you go. Report back Monday morning at our regular debriefing meeting. We’ll go from there. When he’d tried to get answers as to why he’d had to do that, his boss had given him the cold shoulder, as was his right. It was Brody’s responsibility to follow orders, not question them.

  So he’d scoped out her house, watched her talk to her neighbor and her neighbor’s kid. The boys seemed to have hit it off because they stayed over at the Willis’ house all afternoon, and then the Willis boy stayed the night with Scott.

  Brody strapped on his leathers before getting on his Harley and revving the engine, thinking that he was happy Xan’s boy had found a new friend. He wished he knew how hard it was making friends at that age, but seeing as how he didn�
��t remember his youth, he could only guess. But it seemed pretty hard at that age. Hell, it was tough making friends as an adult.

  He knew he had a tough time trusting the guys at work and eventually befriending them. Roc, Blade, and Bear were already there when he came on. He hit it off with Bear and Blade right away. Bear was Colonel’s unspoken second-in-command, so he was like another boss. But Blade became his brother from another mother. They were tight. Sure Blade liked to get under his skin and pull stupid-ass pranks, but his carefree personality seemed to counter Brody’s don’t-fuck-with-me attitude.

  Roc, on the other hand… Brody shook his head as he backed his bike out of his driveway and headed down the main drag to the shop. Roc was a mean son of a bitch. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. It took Brody years to get comfortable enough around him without always being on alert, ready to kick his ass. Roc was vocal about everything. If he didn’t like something, he’d make sure everybody knew. Brody had never seen him snap at an innocent person before, but Lord help the perps they’d taken in. Some of them got a beating beyond necessary at the hands of Roc. He was a hard-ass and made no apologies about it.

  Gauge and Hunter came along after Brody. Hunter had been from around here and moved back after something went down in another city. He didn’t talk about it much, and Brody never pushed for answers. Gauge also had a haunted look about him, but he was still the newbie, and Brody didn’t trust him fully. It took time to earn his trust. Granted, Gauge hadn’t done anything to make Brody question him—he lived by the book, doing whatever he was told and never complaining, but it was to the point it seemed almost too practiced—he just hadn’t earned his keep yet. Both of those guys had secrets they didn’t share, and Brody respected their privacy. He had his own secrets.