One You Never Leave

by Lexy Timms

  “I don’t want to impose.”

  “Not at all!” Emily patted Matt’s arm and pointed to the recliner. “You come to an Irish woman’s house and you’ll get fed. If you don’t eat, it’s your own damn fault. At least that’s what my mother always said.”

  Matt grinned widely. “I swear if you weren’t taken, I’d take you off the market myself.”

  “Hey, stop flirting with my wife,” complained Luke with a crooked smile.

  “Got to keep the skills up somehow. I’m too buried in the office for much of a social life. You’re too damned lucky, Luke.” Matt winked at Emily and she chuckled.

  The doorbell chimed again.

  “That better be the pizza,” Luke joked. In short order, he brought two boxes to the coffee table. “Sausage and peppers, and a white pizza,” he said, pointing to the boxes.

  “White pizza?” said Matt.

  “It’s yummy,” said Emily. “Lots of garlic and parmesan cheese.”

  Matt shrugged off his charcoal gray suit jacket and laid it across the wide back of the upholstered chair. With a smile, he lifted the cover of one of the boxes. “Well, if it’s from Jimmy’s, it’s got to be good.”

  Luke brought over a couple of beers and handed one to Matt. He handed a lemonade to Emily, and dumped paper plates and napkins on the coffee table. “It’s been a day, so we’re casual tonight.”

  “I didn’t expect dinner, so this is a treat.”

  Luke sank down in the sofa next to Emily and popped the cap off of his beer. He waited till Matt had his pizza. “So that agent had some pretty dire things to say about my case.”

  “They aren’t known,” said Matt, “for their warm and caring personalities. They like to scare people, usually to try to get them say things that will count against the immigrant.”

  Luke scowled. “Funny. I don’t feel like an immigrant.”

  “Your father did you no favors for doing things like he did. That counts against you. But the government is not living up to their old promises, which should work for you.”

  “Will it?” said Emily.

  “I won’t lie to you, Emily. Luke’s case is unusual, and immigration doesn’t like unusual. If the DEA doesn’t step up for Luke, he may have to go to Mexico. There are some nice cities, and I hear Hermisillo is a lot like Tucson.”

  “I have no interest in living in Mexico,” said Luke. “I’d rather go to Canada.”

  “Wouldn’t we all,” said Matt with a chuckle. He tipped back his beer and took a long sip.

  “Well,” said Emily, “I don’t want to go to either place. When I was in California, a few friends and I went to Mexico for spring break. I’m not eager to repeat that experience. And Canada? I would miss my mother and sister and our friends. Luke would miss his brothers in Hades’ Spawn. Moving is not a good solution.”

  “Canada’s not an option without papers either.” Stone nodded his head, but Luke could see the wheels turning in the lawyer’s mind. They might not have any choice about the matter. “You should both try to get passports just in case. Luke, you’ll need to go the Mexican consulate, but Emily you can just go to any U. S. Post Office. It’ll be easier to move around, should Luke get deported, if you have your passports. Luke, you could possibly go to another country if you don’t want to stay in Mexico, and Emily, you’ll be able to follow Luke.”

  Emily sighed, and Luke put his arm around her.

  “Don’t worry, baby. I’m sure it won’t come to that.”

  “But it seems to me,” said Emily, “that Luke’s immigration status here will cause the same problems to get a Mexican passport as it is for him to get a resident visa here in the United States.”

  “Can’t pull anything over on you, Emily. But it doesn’t hurt to try.”

  “Matt, take a look at that for me legally. I agree that getting the passport is a good idea. The last thing I want is being stuck in Mexico close to my uncle. It’s just not healthy.” Or safe. Not for him, or Emily and the baby.

  “Okay, Luke,” agreed Matt. “I can see I’m going to earn that bike.”

  “Bike?” said Emily with suspicion in her voice. “What bike?”

  Luke grimaced. “I thought you didn’t tell your client’s secrets,” accused Luke.

  “She’s your wife. I thought she knew.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing, Emily. We’re just doing a bit of horse trading. I promised the 883 to him when the work was finished.”

  “But you love that bike!” she protested.

  “I love all my bikes, sweetheart, but I love you more. I’ll do anything to stay with you. And I don’t need three bikes anyway. With you in my life, I’m less likely to ride it.”

  Emily bit her lip, her face drawn up in consternation.

  “Really, babe,” said Luke. “Don’t think another thing about it. It’s all good.” It wasn’t like his bike was going to have a bucket seat attached with Emily riding along beside him. It was time to man up.

  Emily blew out a breath. “Okay. We’ll talk about it later. Boys, if you don’t mind, I’m feeling a bit tired. I’m going to lie down a bit.”

  “Sure, Emily. Good to see you.” Matt stood and shook her hand.

  “You okay?” asked Luke, his concern spiking for his wife.

  “Yeah. Like you said, it was a day.” She gave him a little smile. “For some reason I’m all worn out.” She touched his shoulder as she walked around the end of the sofa, and he raised his hand to hers and touched it briefly before she walked away. Emily left the room and clicked the bedroom door shut.

  “You want another beer, Matt?”

  “No, I’m good. Driving, you know? The last thing a judge wants to see is a lawyer in his courtroom with a DUI.”

  Luke got himself another beer, and returned to see Matt staring at his beer bottle with a very serious expression.

  “Something up?” said Luke.

  “Yeah. I got Okie his new trial.”

  “Really? That’s great.” Okie was Doug Black’s club handle and president-in-absentia of the Hades’ Spawn MC club. Luke was supposedly running things until Okie was released.

  “Is it, Luke? Isn’t the last thing you need a known associate who was put in jail for dealing drugs? It’s bad enough that Gibs was arrested for drug possession, and he was your employee.”

  “All that was engineered by Jack Kinney,” spit Luke.

  “Yeah, but there was truth in some of it, wasn’t there? At least with Gibs.”

  Luke looked away, his eyes narrowing. He didn’t like to talk ill of the dead. “He was carrying the heroin,” said Luke quietly. “Gibs should’ve known better.”

  “Whatever the circumstance, that club is poison to you, Luke. I think you have to think over everything and make some decisions here. As your lawyer, I’m advising you to disavow Hades’ Spawn and resign the vice-presidency. Distance yourself before more bullshit goes down with them and spoils your chance for citizenship irreparably.”

  Luke closed his eyes, trying to contain his anger. True, Jack Kinney fucked things up by bringing in the Tucson crew and trying to muscle into the drug trade of the Hombres, one of the largest street gangs in Connecticut. But things were straightened out now. Kinney and his crew were in jail awaiting trial, the old members Kinney scared off came back, and their president was about to return. Now Stone wanted him to give them up after everything he did to get things straight!

  Gibs died. He couldn’t dishonor that or the man by turning his back on his club. “No,” said Luke through clenched teeth.

  “What’s more important to you, Luke? A motorcycle gang, or your wife and child and the life you can have here?”

  “The Spawn is part of my life!”

  Matt shook his head. “Your decision, Luke. But do me a favor and think about it. Think about what’s important.” Matt sighed and stood. “Thanks for dinner,” he said as he put on his suit jacket. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Luke saw Matt out the door while the
words the man spoke rolled in his gut. His head told him the lawyer was right, but his heart argued furiously otherwise. The Spawn were the people who’d kept him together after he returned alone from the navy. Their business helped him to morph from doing a few repairs on the side into a thriving business. His life during riding season revolved around the club events, and he’d even built a clubhouse that did a good business through the riding season. Giving up the Spawn would be giving up a good part of his life.

  But what about Emily and the baby? his head spoke urgently. Do you really want to risk them?

  No. No. A thousand times, no. He’d lost her twice. Luke wasn’t going to lose her again. Luke kicked the door. Even through his work boots, pain shot up through his big toe. “Ouch!”

  “Luke,” called Emily, “everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I just stubbed my toe.”

  “But you’re wearing your work boots.”

  “Yeah, about that. I’m going to take them off now, so you’d better stuff cotton up your nose. You know, so you don’t suffer the effects of my stinky feet.”

  “Come here, you silly man,” she said with a laugh.

  “I thought you were sleeping.”

  “Nope. Just resting. There’s a difference between resting and sleeping.”

  “Uh-huh,” said Luke as he entered the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his left foot across his knee to get at the laces of his work boots.

  “Why did you promise to give Matt one of your bikes?”

  Luke shrugged. “Lawyers aren’t cheap, Emily. I’d rather part with the bike than the money.”

  “Luke, is there something you’re not telling me about our finances?”

  “Me? You’re the accountant. You have access to everything.” At that, Luke felt a pang of guilt. He hadn’t told her about the money his father had taken and hidden from the Icherra drug cartel. Twelve point five million dollars would go a long way to easing their money troubles. But the last thing he wanted to do was take that money and use it. Luke always felt a sense of pride that he hadn’t fallen back on that dirty money, but made his own. No. That money would be for emergencies.

  His phone on the nightstand rang and Emily reached over and answered.

  “Okay, thanks for letting us know.” She clicked off the call. “You might not want to pull that boot off. That was the security company. The store’s alarm went off.”

  Luke groaned. “Probably another coyote sniffing around the fire pit where we roasted that pig last summer.”

  “The police are there now and they didn’t see anything.”

  “Well, that’s what the alarm is for—to scare off the man or beast that’s trespassing. But I’m not looking forward to another face to face with Westfield’s finest.”

  “You’ve got to turn off the alarm, so you can’t avoid it.”

  He finished retying his laces and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. No man or beast is going to keep me from my beautiful Emily for long.”

  Luke’s truck moved through the chilly November night. It didn’t take him too long to make it to the shop. In fact, his heat had barely kicked on before he reached the parking lot. He squinted against the flashing lights of the police car parked at the shop’s entrance.

  “Hello, officers,” he said as he walked to the door. He didn’t recognize either one of the cops.

  “You the owner?” asked one.

  “Yes. Luke Wade.”

  “This is second alarm this month. One more and we’re going to have to charge you for coming out.”

  “Well, I’ll try to avoid having coyotes wander over my property.”

  “No reports of coyotes tonight,” said the other office, a baby-faced man who looked like he wasn’t two seconds out of the academy.

  “When you get that alarm off, we’ll walk the property with you,” said the other.

  Luke flipped up the hinged cover and punched in the code, and the alarm fell silent.

  “Check the front,” the older officer said to his partner, and they both pulled their flashlights off their thick uniform belts. “Mr. Wade, please come along with me to see if anything is out of place. What’s in the back?”

  “The entrance to the garage for the bikes we store, and our clubhouse.”

  “Clubhouse?”

  “Yes, for the Hades’ Spawn.”

  “Hmph,” said the officer, whose tag said Rawlings. “Any reason anyone is there now?”

  “No. Closed up for the winter. The last time I used it was last month for my wedding reception. I’ll reopen it in the spring.”

  “Wedding, eh? Well, let’s check it. Maybe a homeless person thought it was a good place to bunk.”

  That was possible. Luke had put in some mini-apartments, looking to rent them, but that plan didn’t work out; not since a deadly shootout had taken place there.

  The floodlight for the back switched on as the motion sensor caught Luke moving in to the back parking lot. He checked in the windows of the garage as the officer swung his flashlight in; everything seemed fine. He walked to the front door of the clubhouse, and it was secure. “There’s a door in the back,” Luke said.

  “Any floodlight there?”

  “No.”

  “Then walk behind me.”

  Rawlings walked swiftly toward the back of the clubhouse; the gravel at the side of the building crunched under his feet. Luke didn’t move as fast and soon lost sight of him in the nighttime gloom.

  “Stop! Police!” Luke heard. He doubled his steps and almost collided with the police officer.

  “Sorry, Mr. Wade. Whoever it was got away before I could chase him. But it looks like the lock’s broken here.”

  Luke inspected the lock and shook his head. Sometimes the things people did amazed him. “You mean the guy heard the alarm and stuck around anyway? Isn’t that weird?”

  “Yeah, it is. But since you did have a trespasser, this call won’t count against you for a false alarm. You might want to think about getting a guard dog to patrol the area.”

  “Thanks for the idea,” said Luke. But he seriously doubted he was going to get a dog to hang around the shop.

  “Do you have something to board up this door?” said the officer

  That wasn’t going to help Luke much, as the building and the door were metal. He went inside the clubhouse, pushed as many tables and chairs from the bar area as he could against the door to hold it shut, and exited by the front door. By the time he was done, the police were gone. A creepy feeling of someone watching washed through him when he climbed into his truck to go home. He shook it off and blamed it on the events of the night.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Emily's Encounter

  The next day, Luke sat at the desk across from Emily, on the phone with Matt Stone. He mentioned nothing to Emily about the night before except to say that the alarm had been a false one. He had no intention of worrying his wife or putting any unneeded stress on her. It had just been a one-off, so there was no need to worry. “Thanks, Matt. That’s great news.” His voice didn’t sound cheerful and he could see Emily’s eyebrows press together as he hung up the phone.

  “What did he say?” Emily played with a paperclip on the corner of the papers she was holding.

  “That we can get the Mexican passport application online, and send it to the Mexican consulate with the application fee.”

  Emily nodded. “Okay, I’ll get it off the Internet and print it. Here,” she said, holding up the result of her morning’s work. “Sign this.”

  Luke looked over the form his wife handed him. “What is it?”

  “It’s a request to the DMV to send you a copy of the change of title for the bike you sold all those years ago. We need that to get so we can get the taxes taken off your tax bill.”

  “Really? We have to go through all that?”

  “Yes. And some other paperwork, too, that I still need to dig up. I suppose you don’t have a copy of the receipt for the p
lates you turned in or the bill of sale?”

  “I don’t remember if I turned in the plates, and I just took cash for the bike. I was busy getting inducted into the navy.”

  Emily suppressed a sigh. The young Luke she remembered wasn’t that responsible – apparently with his paperwork or his possessions – and it was causing problems now. “Okay, we’ll deal with one item of proof at a time.”

  He grinned and winked at her. “It was a nice bike, though; a 1977 sportster Ironhead. I bought it after my other bike got trashed. That’s when I fell in love with sportsters. Boy, could that bike move.”

  “Uh-huh,” said Emily. “Well, you have three other bikes we’re paying taxes on, baby, which are coming up next January. I’d like this one off our list.” She patted her belly. “And add this little sportster to your list.”

  He kissed her cheek indulgently. “My little accountant.”

  “Who loves you very much.” She bent down and picked up the sales from the week. “I’m going to take this cash to the bank.”

  “You want me to go with you?”

  “Nah, it’s not that much. I’m just going to the drive-up window. After that I’ll go home and put my feet up.”

  Luke winced when she said “It’s not that much” and mentally kicked himself. Emily didn’t mean it as offensive. He looked down at her feet, which were beginning to swell from sitting for a long stretch, and grimaced. He knew as well as she did that the swelling feet were not a good sign. “When are you going to see the doctor again?”

  “In a couple weeks.”

  Luke helped her with her coat, and wrapped her scarf around her neck. “I want you to call and make an appointment sooner. Your blood pressure should be checked.”

  “Such a mother hen,” she laughed.

  “Better a mother hen than…,” he stopped, not willing to voice his thoughts. The doctor told both of them about the dangers of pre-eclampsia, a condition where the mother’s blood pressure soars dangerously high, leaving the mother at risk of stroke or worse.