Biker's Little Secret: Carolina Devils MC

by Brook Wilder

  As he stalked forward, his aggressive stare had her instinctively lowering her gaze. If the guards had thought that having him bound would make him seem less intimidating, they were dead wrong. He looked like leashed carnage. For some godforsaken reason, it was turning her on at possibly the most inappropriate moment in the history of the entire world. Her mind scrambled to come up with a solution. Don’t look at him and he can’t affect you. That was all the better she could do at the moment.

  Hammer sat down in the seat across the long table from them and waited patiently while the guard unchained his hands and then locked each wrist into a specially made metal cuff on the table top. His hands were spread but not enough to be painful.

  Looking away was apparently the correct answer, because she noticed that Jaden had politely averted his eyes as well. It suddenly hit her exactly how emasculating this particular situation must be for Hammer. If she’d been hoping for leniency from him, now was not the time expect such favors.

  The guard stepped outside the open door, clearly indicating that this arrangement was not one which included any privacy. She’d need to watch what she said. As the most dominant person at the table Alina and Jaden waited patiently for Hammer to speak. Suddenly, Alina found herself intimately acquainted with issues related to power that she’d never had cause to even think about before. It was proving to be a harsh education.

  “Jaden, I’m glad to see you. How are you holding up?”

  “Fine, sir. As I’m sure you know I’ve been with Miss. Stuart. She’s been real good to me.”

  “She’s a professional in early childcare development. Mr. Cavanaugh contacted me for approval before CPS sanctioned your placement in her home. I read over her application carefully and I want you to know she has my support.”

  The whole conversation was so absurdly un-Hammer-like that Alina couldn’t help but to chance a glance up at him. She found him staring at him and his expression was stone cold. In a flash she knew the truth. He literally didn’t have anyone else to care for Jaden and her act of kindness really was keeping him out of the system. Needing the woman whom he thought betrayed him, was both humbling and infuriating for him.

  “I…I’m glad to be in a position to help Jaden in his time of need. Don’t worry, I will be sure he’s safe and well cared for until you regain custody.”

  Stretching his neck, Hammer’s hands fisted in the metal cuffs. He looked incensed. Ignoring her entirely, he turned his attention back to Jaden. “It’s important that you stay at her home and nowhere else. Do you understand?”

  Jaden nodded. “No overnight visits with my friends for right now. I won’t cause trouble, dad. I promise.”

  A brief expression of humor crossed his brutish face. “I think you’re finished being a handful, son. Just hang tough and we’ll be back home before you know it. What have you been up to since I saw you last?”

  ”We visited Mr. Chow. He’s in the hospital but they think he’ll be okay. He had a heart attack or something like that.”

  “Good choice.”

  “We made you and all the other brothers care packages. They wouldn’t let us bring you yours because they said they have to inspect them.”

  Hammers head turned to Alina for a brief second before he spoke to his son again. “That was real nice. I know the brothers will appreciate the courtesy.”

  “We dumped money in everyone commissary accounts. I don’t know how long you’ll be here but with the holidays coming up we didn’t want to take a chance on you being stuck without provisions.”

  “Please thank everyone involved for me, son. How are you filling your time?”

  Glancing at Alina he responded. “We have been pretty busy with all that. Haven’t had much time to spare. We want to talk to your attorney. Will he see us?”

  “For a fuckin’ thousand dollars an hour he’d talk to the devil himself. I’d like to see him turn my son away.”

  “That’s what I thought you’d say but I didn’t want you to think we were going behind your back or anything.”

  Again glancing at Alina, he responded tersely. “I would have never thought YOU would go behind my back. I trust you, son.”

  Alina’s lips pressed into a firm line. Hammer was an expert at making it clear to his son who he did and didn’t trust. She just had to shut up and go with the flow. Hammer was at an all-time low point in his life. It didn’t make sense to let herself be upset by his anger. Heck, they couldn’t even have an honest dialogue with the guards listening in.

  She spoke softly. “Is there anything in particular that you feel we should focus on?”

  “Keep my son away from the clubhouse and out of the public eye as much as possible. Maintain a low profile and give Cavanaugh a few days to work this situation out. They can keep a person up to 96 hours before they even charge us. We all got hit with weapons charges and they’re just giving themselves a minute to see what else they can find on us. We’re coming up on the end of that time period. Cavanaugh figures he can get us a bail hearing within the next ten days.”

  “That’s not good enough. You’ll miss Thanksgiving dinner.”

  Hammer just shook his head. “We got bigger problems than turkey, doll. Best get your head around the mess you made for us.”

  Instead of arguing she just made one statement. “You know better than what you’re thinking.”

  A loud banging on the open door drew their attention. “Time’s up, convict.”

  Alina spoke before she thought. “He’s not a damn convict till he convicted of something.”

  “Whatever you say lady.” The man strolled into the room and began unlocking Hammer’s wrists. As soon as they were chained in front of him again Jaden flew at his father, wrapping his arms around the big man. He stood his small head bowed and pressed against his father’s arm. The guard seemed taken aback. Alina immediately moved forward and eased him away, holding him to her side.

  Looking up into Hammer’s tear filled eyes, her resolve to maintain control slipped. “We love and miss you, Hammer. If you need anything at all please don’t hesitate to give us a call. We’ll be working closely with Mr. Cavanaugh to get you all out of here as soon as possible.”

  His expression softened slightly as the guard pulled him backwards out of the room. Jayden jerked out of her arms and stood with one hand against the wall for a brief moment. He was clearly embarrassed by his lapse of control.

  “When it comes to family no one is really all that strong. You know, that right?”

  “Men don’t cry.”

  “That’s not true. They cry, they just don’t wallow in their negative feelings. They take their knocks, stand up, dust themselves off, and get back to the business of living life.”

  He nodded but avoided eye contact as she led him out of the building. Dianne stepped out of her vehicle and met them. Non stared wide eyed from the back seat. Though Non was sixteen years old, he seemed so much younger. Jaden didn’t say a word. He just climbed into the back seat with his friend.

  “How’d it go?”

  Alina could barely hold herself together. “Not very well. I wish you better luck with Marlow.”

  “I’m chickening out. Maybe it would be better to give him a chance to read the letter I sent and think it over before I visit him.”

  “Want to have lunch with us?”

  “Sure. What did you have in mind?”

  “Comfort food. Want to do Italian?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Let’s call Brian. I bet he’d like to meet Jaden. Non will like him because they’re both computer nerds.”

  Dianne laughed. “Sounds like a plan. You text and I’ll drive. This’ll be fun. I’ve never driven a Prius before.”

  Getting into the passenger side, Alina pulled out her cell phone. “It’s no different than any other care. It just has a slightly smaller environmental footprint.”

  After spending a few minutes on her phone she announced. “He’s just a block over. He’ll get us a table b
efore the lunch rush sets in.”

  On the drive Alina listened to the boys whispering quietly in the back and tried to pay attention to Dianne who spoke as she drove. Unfortunately, her mind kept drifting back to the huge hunk of a man setting in lock up. Just seeing him again had brought her womanly needs clawing to the surface. Even when he was so obviously hating on her, she still wanted him. How did the man affect her so profoundly?

  She was vaguely aware the Dianne was saying something about gassing up. Alina couldn’t stop thinking about Hammer though. She admitted to herself it was partially the empathy of seeing him caged, the knowledge that he was being held unfairly, and the fact that he was angry with her that made her want to appease him. Disgusted by her own unenlightened feelings, she delved deeper. Knowing that he was in custody and she wasn’t even able to touch him or speak freely, made him forbidden fruit. That must be it.

  “Or maybe they could design a car with two gigantic arms that picked up people and dropped them into a large energy generating apparatus made into the back where the trunk normally goes. Then we’d never have to stop for gas. I mean, it’s not like people really need that much trunk space anyway…”

  “Wait, what are you talking about? The boys began laughing as she tried vainly to pick up the tread of the conversation.

  “You were a million miles away, my friend. I was trying to tell you that we need to stop for gas. That is unless this thing takes diesel.”

  “No. It takes regular unleaded. Sorry. I guess, I zoned out for a minute.”

  “Yep. Probably thinking of that sexy biker.”

  She shot her friend a serious look.

  “Sorry, I won’t talk about how sexy Jaden’s dad is when he’s around. Does that make you happy?”

  “Eminently.”

  “I’m sure the boy has hear that before. Hey Jaden, ever hear a woman call your dad sexy?”

  “Only about ten times a day since the day I was born.”

  Dianne laughed. “Told you.”

  Frowning Alina spoke before she thought. “Maybe it’s me who’s offended by people referring to him in such one dimensional terms. Everyone acts like his defining characteristic is being a sexy biker. He’s a lot more than that to me. He’s intelligent, articulate, and when he cares about someone he doesn’t go about it in a half assed way. I’d want him at my back no matter what my problem was, because he’d find a solution or die trying. He’s…”

  Dianne interrupted playfully. “Yea, we get it. You fell hard for the man, so to you he’s not some one-dimensional character that can describe with a catch phrase.”

  Alina smiled ruefully at her friend. “Sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it.”

  Jaden spoke right up. “No. It’s not. I get mad when people talk about him like that too. It’s like he scares she shit out of them, so they have to simple him up in their mind so he’s not so intimidating.”

  “I think the term you’re looking for is depersonalizing. It makes it easier to discount him and what he stands for.”

  Dianne nodded her agreement. “I can see where you two are coming from on that one. I like older men and people are always teasing me about it in a way that makes my choice seem foolish of strange.”

  “I forgot. You have your own sexy biker to worry about.”

  Dianne smiled knowingly. “He’s a hell of a lot more than just a sexy biker to me.”

  “Glad to know we’re on the same page. I think Marlow’s fabulous by the way. He has a caretaking streak a mile wide. It’s a shame he never had kids.”

  Dianne bit her bottom lip, appearing deep in thought. “He’d be a really good father.”

  When they stopped for gas, Alina heard the sound of a throaty motorcycle. It was one she didn’t recognize. Glancing nervously around, she didn’t see anyone. Maybe it was just her imagination.

  As they walked into the restaurant, Brian stood and waved them over. He’d ordered breadsticks and dipping sauces as well as a picture of iced tea.

  Dianne laughed. “I can tell you’re from down south because you just assume everyone loves sweet tea.”

  “Only thing worth drinking.”

  “Well I need unsweetened tea.”

  Handing her a little plate and breadstick he quipped. “There no such thing as unsweetened tea. Unsweetened tea is just plain tea. It’s not like you take sweet tea and somehow removed the sugar to make unsweetened tea.”

  Catching his point Alina agreed. “In other words, down south you have iced tea and sweet tea.”

  “Oh hell no, sweetheart. They call it sweet tea too. As a matter of fact, you should go on a little road trip sometime. The further south you get the larger the glasses of iced tea become until you are just drinking it out a two liter glass jug.”

  Alina slapped him playfully on the arm. “Now, I know you’re kidding.”

  “Who the hell are you?”

  Jaden’s voice was flat and unemotional. Non sat back in his chair, with wide eyes and his computer wrapped in two arms against his chest. Alina recognized it as his about to freak out stance.

  Quickly, she explained. “Jaden, this is my friend Brian. We work together. Brian takes care of all the computers for the school system in this area. He helped your father and I find you.”

  Suddenly Non’s expression turned interested. Jaden was more hostile than ever. “Why do you call Alina pet names? Are you fucking her?”

  Appalled, Alina gasped. “Jaden! That’s enough.”

  Brian held up a hand. “Let the boy talk.” Gesturing to Jaden, he invited. “Bring it on, little dude. Got something to say? Spit it out.”

  Crossing his arms over his chest he spoke again. “I already did and I don’t like repeating myself.”

  Alina worked to keep the smile off her face. Not because the kid was being so belligerent but because his attitude was vintage Hammer.

  Brain tried not to smile as well. “I’m certainly not interested in Alina that way. I only date men.”

  Jaden frowned. “Makes more sense. You’re one of them. We got one at the clubhouse.”

  Non whispered, “Cam”. Until that moment Alina hadn’t realized that Cam was gay.

  Brian didn’t bat an eye. “Is that his name? I wondered. He’s cute but I only date the good looking stupid ones. I don’t like partners that try to tell me what to do.”

  “Then you should definitely stay away from Cam. He’s good at trying to tell others what to do. Several of the brothers will nail anything moving if it good looking enough, so pay attention when you’re around them.”

  “Thanks for the tip, little Dude. Glad you’re okay. Snatched by gang members must have been hard. I saw that tape they made. You’re a tough little guy.”

  Relaxing a little he took a drink of tea. “Yea it sucked ass. Don’t want to do that again anytime soon.”

  “You got a mouth on you for a kid.”

  “I know. My dad says I should watch it, cause in order to lead you can’t sound emotional and uneducated all the time. Guess I should listen.”

  Non spoke up. “How’d you find him? I looked through everything and didn’t find anything helpful.”

  “Well, this ain’t my first rodeo cowboy. I get asked to perform forensic evaluation of computer hard drives off and on. You know that wild boy they found two years ago? The one who’d been locked in a cage and never went to school?”

  Non nodded, clearly captivated by their conversation.

  “Well he didn’t come from some hick family. He was raised by this millionaire recluse and his wife. I went through his credit cards and bank information. Discovered they had a diaper service. There’s no need for diapers unless there’s a child around. They got a court order and found him and a younger brother locked down in the basement. Always follow the money. People have to pay for things and not many people use cash these days.”

  Non replied thoughtfully. “That makes sense. Did you find anything else interesting?”

  “Funny you should ask. Once I figured out who Migu
el Sandoval was, I dug through his credit card statements, bank information, and tax forms. He’s a cautious man. He has a private security firm doing spot checks on his crew. That tells me that he doesn’t trust them. He’s had both is sperm and his blood frozen. Means he doesn’t want to have to worry about nailing down a real relationships anytime soon but he wants kids at some point in the future. He’s apparently too paranoid to use blood from the local blood bank so he donates his own and has them keep it on hand for him. He pays a modest monthly fee to ensure it can be delivered to any hospital in the city in a timely manner.”