Chapter 103: Athos
*I have no intention of sticking around this piss ant town. But I plan to come back to it. – Athos*
There was a horrible sound that was intruding on his sleep. The cause of this sound must suffer. Slowly. Painfully. Ink rolled over and picked up the phone and answered without looking at the screen. He gave a very groggy grunt as a greeting. Whoever was calling him this early, better have damned good reason.
“Ink, it’s Isiah.”
Three words.
That’s all it took to wake him up. Three simple words that let him know something was wrong. A damned good reason.
“What’s wrong?” he sat up in the empty bed and tried to remember why Evie wasn’t there. Teacher in-service training. School would start in a few weeks. They had training today and she and Law were going to paint her classroom tomorrow.
“Where’s my daughter?” the man demanded and Ink heard engines revving up.
“Teacher in-service at the high school.” He got out of bed and headed for the closet.
“What about Tank? And Law?” some of the engines were moving away. “I’ve got tail gunner, go ahead and go.”
“Both at work.” He said as the background noise ended and he heard the click of the visor. “Isiah, what’s going on?”
Grabbing the first pair of jeans on his side of the closet, he pulled them on, going commando.
“We’re on our way up, make sure someone is on her at all times. I’ll call you in an hour. Need to talk to you two, Law and your officers.”
“Isiah-"
Before leaving he grabbed a blue t-shirt and a pair of socks from his drawers.
“One hour, Raymond.” With that, the line went dead.
Shoving his phone in his pocket he headed down the hall and then the stairs. He found Athos in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“Sorry if I woke-"
“What are you doing?” Ink demanded as he took the coffee from the younger man.
“Just stopped by to grab a coffee.” He said, not certain if he was in trouble or not. Ever since he had walked in on his brother eating out Evie on the couch, he was never certain if he was still welcome or not.
“Today. What are you doing today?” Ink clarified.
“Oh, um, nothing.” He relaxed a little. He and Aramis would both be starting classes at the local state university. They both had worked for Werewolf over summer. Aramis was already on campus with football. As a wrestler, Athos didn't have to be there yet.
“Go keep an eye on Evie.” He ordered heading for the garage. “Athos, answer your phone if any of us calls.”
And that’s what Athos did. He found Evie sitting in the cafeteria listening to a lecture about school and district rules. Athos pulled a chair up next to her and leaned in close to whisper in her ear.
“This shit is boring.”
“Welcome to the glamorous life of teaching. Hope you like doodling.” She whispered passing him a note pad and a pen.
Occasionally, she would make an actual note, but for the most part, she simply doodled.
“Under the new state law for school safety,” the principal was saying at the front.
“About time.” Evie murmured.
The man continued among murmurs and people shifting, “teachers who qualify and have a concealed carry permit, may apply for the educator concealed carry. Once you have this, you may carry a handgun on campus.”
“What are the qualifications?” one of the coaches from the middle of the room asked.
“It’s listed out in the packet on page twelve.” The principal explained. “You must have had a concealed carry for a minimum of five years or an honorary discharge from military service. There’s also a training class. I know that the university held a couple of classes over summer and I believe that they are having more.”
Evie grabbed a large envelope out of her bag and held it up.
“Yes, Miss Reagan?”
“I just need you to sign off on my papers.” Evie said.
“Get with me afterwards.” He said as one of the other teachers made a comment. Although Evie did not hear it, from the way others around the woman turned to look at Evie, she could guess the gist of it.
Evie rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Mrs. Davis, if you’re going to put my business out there, might as well do it loud enough for everyone to hear.”
“Feisty.” Athos chuckled quietly.
“Ink calls it my midmorning hangries.” She whispered back as the principal soothed the situation. “Not sure why, but I’ve been like this for a couple of weeks.”
His phone buzzed in his pocket, pulling it out he saw that it was his brother. Getting up to walk away for some privacy, he kissed her temple. Although he did it to so many other women in the club, he had never done it with her before. But she was engaged to his brother and it felt natural.
“Give me a moment, I’ll see if I can get you some food.”
“McDonald’s cheeseburger.” She requested. "Camille has a swim meet in a few days. The girls are probably at the pool."
As he answered his phone, he thought about how well she knew them. He was planning on calling either Camille or Priscilla for a McDonald’s run.
