“You think Raven knows about any of this with Mayra?” Pipe asked.
Wrecker shrugged. “Raven could have the plans to world domination in her head and there ain’t a chance in hell she would share that shit with me.”
And yet, I was the reason shit was hitting the fan with Mayra. Wrecker couldn’t even get a handle on his own sister. “So, what am I supposed to do with Mayra when we get wherever the hell it is that you’re sending me?”
“Figure it out.” Wrecker stood up from the table and glared at everyone. “I have a meeting with Oakley this afternoon. Try not to find any stray women wandering around in front of the clubhouse while I’m gone.” He stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.
“Well,” Clash drawled. “He ain’t fucking happy.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Nickel retorted. “There is a ton of shit going on right now, and adding this to the mix might have sent him over the edge.”
“This isn’t my fucking fault,” I insisted. “I’ve maybe said ten words to this chick before she came to the clubhouse. Raven was the one who brought her here, not me. I just got stuck with watching them.”
“Yeah, and now you thought you had the easy one by scraping Raven off on me.” Clash chuckled and shook his head. “I think you got the short end of the stick on this one.”
Clash had been in charge of Raven for a hot minute. He was in for a rude awakening soon enough when it came to her.
“Just think of it as a vacation,” Pipe suggested. “All you need to do it keep her out of the eye of the Banachi’s ‘til we get things all settled with Oakley. Pretty sure shit is going to hit the fan with Jenkins soon too, so this was something we did not need right now.”
I knew Pipe was right, and I got why Wrecker was so pissed, but to be blamed for all of this shit was ridiculous. The only thing I could do to get back on Wrecker’s good side was to follow through with what he asked and make fucking sure that I didn’t fuck it up. I pushed back my chair and stood up. “Guess I better get packed up and get Mayra away from your women. Cora mentioned mimosas so there is a good chance they could all be three sheets to the wind.”
Everyone laughed knowing how true that could be.
I headed out of the room and toward the back of the clubhouse.
When I had walked into church not knowing what Wrecker needed us for, I figured it wouldn’t have anything to do with me.
Fuck, had I been wrong.
*
Chapter Five
Mayra
“I sooo wish I could have a puppy.”
“Puppies don’t stay puppies forever.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Then they become big puppies. I need one,” I declared. For the record, mimosas loosened my tongue like nothing else. I had just let the whole Girl Gang know that I wanted a puppy. I also had only had one.
“I’m gonna go get more champagne. You bitches drank a whole bottle in five minutes.” Nikki slipped back into the clubhouse and slid the door shut behind her.
“We are six people. Did she really think that one bottle was going to be enough?” Cora rolled her eyes. “She better come out with two more bottles or she’ll just be running back in there five minutes from now.”
“Hopefully she doesn’t run into Raven. I can’t believe she turned down day drinking with us,” Karmen whined. “Are we really that bad to hang out with? I haven’t even unleashed my inner pirate yet.”
“It’s more like morning drinking,” Wren giggled.
“She’s apparently going to need some convincing to join the Girl Gang. Here I thought we were pretty damn cool but she doesn’t want anything to do with us,” Alice pouted.
Raven was a tough one to crack. I was surprised she had taken a shine to me at the club but I could tell that Raven didn’t like many people, so I didn’t take for granted that she didn’t hate me. “I’m sure she’ll come around.”
“Says the only girl in this house she talks to,” Alice snorted. “I’m like her sister and she won’t even talk to me.”
“You’re banging her brother. That does not make her your sister,” Cora cackled.
Alice waved her off. “You know what I mean.”
Cora shook her head. “I don’t. That’s the whole problem when I talk to you.”
“I brought three bottles because you should have seen the glare Raven gave me when I asked her what she was working on.” Nikki set the bottles down on the table in front of me. “I mean, damn. You would think I asked for her first born or something.”
Karmen held up the carton of orange juice. “We need more of this, though. I think someone is going to have to go to the store. I didn’t plan for mimosas when I went grocery shopping.”
Cora pointed over my shoulder. “Boink can go get it.”
I turned and watched Boink walk out the sliding door. “I gotta talk to Mayra.”
“You can talk to her after you go get orange juice,” Karmen suggested.
Although, if he waited ‘til then, I really doubted I would be able to string three words together if I drank anymore. “Everything okay?”
“Just gotta talk to you, M-baby.”
“M-baby?” Nikki whispered. “I don’t know how, but that was hot.” She fanned her face, and Alice threw her head back laughing.
“First Wrecker and now Boink. Pipe is going to paddle your ass,” Alice cackled.
“Mayra,” Boink called. Something wasn’t right. Something had happened in that meeting, and my stomach sank when I looked closer at him.
Boink wasn’t happy. “I’ll be right back, guys.” When I was within distance of him, he grabbed my hand and pulled me back into the clubhouse and down to my room. He pushed open the door and pulled me inside. “What is going on, Boink?”
He moved to the closet and pulled it open. “We need to go.”
“Go?” I asked.
He grabbed my small suitcase and tossed it on the bed. “Yeah. Now. Wrecker said you and I have to get out of here.”
“What? Why? What happened?”
He unzipped the suitcase and finally looked up at me. “Does the name Leo Banachi mean anything to you, Mayra?”
I felt the blood drain from my face. They had found me. “I…uh…They…”
Boink shook his head. “I don’t have time for you to throw a line of bullshit at me. You were in trouble and you didn’t tell me. You didn’t fucking tell anyone. The God damn mafia is after you and you didn’t think it was anything you needed to share. Pack,” he thundered.
I blinked back the tears that were rushing to my eyes. It wasn’t my fault the Banachi’s were after me, and I didn’t think they were going to find me so I didn’t think it was a big deal to tell anyone. To me, the more people who knew were more people I put in danger. “I didn’t want anyone to—”
“Whatever bullshit you’re going to spew, I don’t want to hear. We have twenty minutes to get packed and out of the clubhouse. Wrecker was already pissed at me for the shit with Raven at the club, and now you just brought a whole shit-ton more of hate down on me from him.”
“Boink, I didn’t mean to…” He stormed out of the room not caring what I had to say.
“Pack your shit,” he called.
I looked down at the empty suitcase, and the tears I had been holding back ran down my cheeks.
This isn’t what I had wanted. None of this was supposed to be happening.
“Boink,” I called pathetically. He had to understand, I didn’t want anyone here to get hurt because of me. I ran down to his room and skidded through the door. “Please, you have to listen to me.”
“The time for me to listen to you is long fucking gone.” He grabbed a pile of clothes from his dresser and dumped them into a duffel bag on his bed. “Pack your shit. Eighteen minutes. Your ass is in the truck whether or not you packed your shit. You’re not staying here any longer putting everyone in danger.”
“They’re not going to find me, Boink. There’s no way they can.”
> He looked up from the duffel bag. “Really, Mayra? They’re not going to find you? As we speak, Banachi’s men are closing in on Oakley’s club. You think Oakley or the girls at the club aren’t going to give you up?”
No, no, no. This isn’t supposed to be happening. “Just let me go by myself, and I’ll fix this.”
He laughed low and shook his head. “The time for you to fix this shit is long fucking gone, Mayra. Pack your shit, get in the truck, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
“But…I…” I gulped and my eyes darted down to the floor. I didn’t know what to say. I got why he was so mad at me. I should have told him, but I didn’t because I didn’t want him to have to get involved. “I’m sorry, Boink. This isn’t what I wanted.”
He scoffed. “I don’t know what you wanted, Mayra, but from what I gather, all you cared about was yourself and no one else.”
He was wrong. I cared about everyone here and didn’t want them to get hurt. “Just drop me off at the bus stop and you won’t have to worry about me.”
I ran back to my room. My throat was clogged with all of the tears and emotion I had been holding back for weeks.
I grabbed all of my clothes out of my dresser and my worn-out jacket. This was all I had that was mine. Raven let me borrow everything else I wore.
The things I owned barely filled half of the suitcase.
My life was pathetic. My life couldn’t even fill a small suitcase.
I grabbed the small Snoopy figure off the dresser and tossed it on top of my clothes. I couldn’t leave that behind. It was the last thing I had of my mom’s.
After I lifted my mattress and grabbed the envelope that was going to hopefully save me from everything, I tucked it into the lining of the suitcase and zipped it shut.
“You done?” Boink stood at the door with the duffle bag stuffed full in his hand. Even he had more things to pack than I did.
I nodded. “Got it all.”
He grabbed the suitcase and looked at me as he set it on the ground. “You sure this is it?”
It was light. Three shirts, two pairs of pants, underwear, and a jacket didn’t weigh much. “That’s everything.”
He nodded. “We’re going out the side door. I don’t need the other chicks asking questions about why we’re leaving.”
That’s how much I had messed everything up. I couldn’t even say bye to anyone. It was going to be like I wasn’t even here.
I followed him down the hallway and turned into a room I had never been in before. Boink opened a door on the opposite wall. We walked down an alley between the clubhouse and a brick wall that led to the parking lot. “We’re taking the truck.” He nodded to a beat-up Bronco.
He tossed our bags into the back and looked over at me. “Get in.”
Gone was the man who was kind to me not even an hour ago. Replaced with a man who looked at me as a burden.
I had to get out of here.
I had to come up with a plan.
*
Chapter Six
Boink
It was fucking pouring out, and I could barely see the road in front of me.
Mayra was sleeping in the passenger seat with her legs tucked underneath her butt.
I had been an asshole to her earlier, but I was fucking pissed.
I had been exiled from the clubhouse because of her.
We had been driving for twelve hours. We stopped twice for gas, and we were still almost twelve hours away from the address Clash had given me.
The gas gauge said we had a half of a tank, but I decided to pull into the gas station on the side of the road. I could fill up the tank one last time, and hopefully by the time we got back on the road, the rain would have let up.
I pulled next to the pump and nudged Mayra awake. “Filling up again.”
She nodded sleepily and sat up. “I could use the bathroom,” she said quietly.
I pushed open my door and flipped open the gas flap.
Mayra ambled out of the truck and looked over her shoulder at me. “I’ll just be a minute,” she said quietly. She sprinted through the rain into the store without waiting for a reply.
Something had changed about her. She was even more quiet than before. I could feel the worry and fear radiating off her. Me yelling at her when we were leaving didn’t help anything.
I knew she didn’t mean to get anyone hurt, but how could she possibly think keeping that huge of a secret wasn’t going to blow up in her face?
I finished filling up and hung the fuel hose. Mayra still wasn’t back from the bathroom so I jogged into the gas station to get some snacks for the final leg of the drive.
Three bags of chips, four candy bars, and two big drinks later and Mayra still wasn’t out of the bathroom.
“You see a girl go into the bathroom?” I asked the clerk.
They guy shook his head. “I saw her, but she didn’t go into the bathroom. She asked me if there was a back way out.”
“A back way out?” I repeated.
“Yeah. That’s all she said. I told her back by the bathrooms was a back entrance.”
I left the bag and drinks sitting on the counter and stalked back to the bathroom. I barged into the women’s and looked in each stall. “Fuck,” I growled.
Mayra had taken off.
*
Mayra
This was not my best idea.
My shirt was plastered to my body by the blowing rain, and I was chilled to the bone.
I had no clue where the hell we were and not one single car had passed me yet.
Hitchhiking to the bus stop seemed like a good idea while I pretended to sleep in the truck, but now I was seeing all of the flaws.
“You’re an idiot, Mayra,” I chattered. I had been walking for about fifteen minutes and was praying for a bus stop to magically appear.
Instead, I heard the roar of an engine behind me and turned around hopefully. I knew hitchhiking was not the brightest idea, but I planned on only getting in a car with a woman and keep my hand on the door handle the whole time.
“Oh, hell no.” The car came closer, and, of course, it was Boink.
How in the heck had he found me? I had taken off down a road that was behind the gas station and figured by the time he noticed I was gone, he wouldn’t be able to find me.
I was obviously wrong.
“What in the hell are you doing?” he shouted through the open window.
“Go away, Boink!” I shouted. I continued my walk down the side of the road, hoping he would take the hint that I didn’t want to go with him. He was upset that he had been banished from the clubhouse because of me. Well, if I disappeared, he could go back to the clubhouse.
“Mayra, get in the fucking truck! It’s a goddamn monsoon out here.” He followed next to me and crept closer to the edge of the road.
I stomped down into the muddy shoulder and forged on. “It’s raining?” I hollered. “I didn't notice. Maybe you should roll up your window so your truck doesn't get wet.” I may have been doubting my choice to hitchhike minutes ago, but I was not going to get into his truck.
No way, no how.
“Mayra, you’re acting crazy. Get in the truck!”
I shook my head and double-timed my walking. I knew I couldn’t out-run him, but if I didn’t stop, hopefully someone would drive by and think he was harassing me or something.
“For fuck’s sake.” He gunned the truck, got about twenty feet in front of me, and veered into the shoulder.
“Shit!” I squeaked.
The driver’s side door opened, and I spun around as his feet hit the road.
“God dammit, woman,” he yelled.
I glanced over my shoulder to see him rounding the back of the truck with a scowl on his face.
Now he was even more pissed off than he was when we had left the clubhouse. Shit.
I ran.
My worn Chucks slipped on the wet pavement, and I curled my toes, praying to get better traction. My head swiveled t
o glimpse him now full-on running to catch me. My feet sputtered on the road, and I felt my shitty shoes slip out from under me.
I landed on my ass with a wet thump, and I rocked back, cracking my head on the pavement. “Ugh,” I grunted. That was going to leave a mark.
My brain yelled at me to get up and keep running, but my sore ass protested, and I clamped my eyes shut to silence the pain coursing through my head.
“Fuck, Mayra.” Boink appeared over me. “Are you okay?”
I opened my mouth to talk to him but realized there were two of him. “Which one of you asked me that?”
“What in the hell are you talking about, woman?” He crouched down next to me and grabbed my hand. He hauled me up to sit and put an arm behind my back.
“It’s raining,” I mumbled incoherently.
“I noticed.” He scooped me up into his arms and headed back toward the truck. “I wanna look at your head. You smacked the hell out of it when you fell.”
“Still attached,” I sang out. I sank into the warmth of his body and closed my eyes. “A bit swirly though,” I mumbled.
“Keep your eyes open for me, M-baby.”
“I like that much better than woman,” I sighed.
He held me close to his body and opened the door to the truck. “Sit here, don’t move.” He set me down, made sure my legs were in the truck, and slammed the door.
I winced when I tried to reach for my seat belt and wondered if Boink would let me lie down in the back.
“What are you doing?” Boink demanded. He had opened the driver’s door and pulled himself up into the truck.
I tried once more to grab the seat belt. “Buckling up,” I whimpered.
He reached over and grabbed my arm. “We’re not going anywhere until I take a look at your head.”
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. “I’m fine. Just a little bump.”
“Can you sit forward?” he asked.
I looked over at him. “I just sat back.”
Fallen Lords MC: Books 4-6 Page 19
