TRIGGERED: A Romantic Suspense Bundle (5 Books)

by Evie Nichole

  I was thirsty, and so decided to get myself a glass of milk. Getting up slowly, Josh almost stirred as I moved, before he fell back into a deep sleep. I smiled, and made my way towards the kitchen. I don’t know what made me do it, but something had caught my eye on the way. Josh’s jacket was hanging over the back of a chair where I’d left it, but peeking out through the night, catching an erstwhile ray of light from the street lamp outside a nearby window, I saw it.

  It was something in his pocket. Without thinking, I stepped quietly over to his jacket and put my hand into the pocket, feeling a little ashamed as I did so. There was something inside of me which just had to look. There, in the palm of my hand was Josh’s bike key. It looked fairly innocuous at first, but I wondered what could have been catching what little light there was and shimmered so brightly.

  I looked at the pendant on the keyring, that metal coin shaped emblem which clung onto the leather. I smirked to myself thinking about how much fun I’d had on the bike earlier, and then the fun which occurred after, but it seemed wrong to be handling Josh’s personal property, so I moved to place the key back inside the pocket now that the mystery had all but been solved.

  As I did so, the pendant flipped over in my hand.

  I felt sick, breaking out in a cold sweat at what I saw. Looking over at Josh, I couldn’t reconcile the sweet guy on my couch with the hideous thing before me. I had to sit down for a moment, and just stared down at the pendant. On its back, etched clearly, were the initials RBH with the same emblem of a bay beneath them which I’d seen on Daniel’s key.

  How could Josh be a part of that horrible gang?

  I had to calm down. In truth, I didn’t know for a fact that the Rip Bay Hornets were the ones who’d caused the crash the night Daniel had died, but what I did know, if Charles O’Malley was correct, was that the Rip Bay Hornets were a dangerous group of individuals. Even if it wasn’t they who’d killed my Daniel, they were cut from the same cloth of those who did! Not to be trusted. Not even to be entered into conversation with. And there was me, entering into more than just a conversation with Josh. I’d slept with him!

  My head spun. At first I wasn’t going to wake him, but then I remembered, he’d lied to me about the keyring. He said he didn’t know what RBH meant when I’d shown him Daniel’s key. Why had he lied? What reason did he have to cover it all up?

  Then a terrible sinking feeling, and a question I couldn’t bear the answer to: Was Josh there because of Daniel’s key? Had all of this just been a ruse to get close to it?

  "Josh!" I yelled loudly, tears screaming down my face.

  He woke with a jolt. "What? Are you okay?"

  “No, Josh. I’m not okay." I looked down at the key in my hand, and it was clear that he knew. I threw it at him.

  "Let me explain..." he said, his eyes pleading, but I had to look away from him. I couldn’t bear being under his spell anymore. I felt sick again.

  "I want you out, Josh. Out!"

  I know I yelled louder, but what I said I couldn’t say. The anger was just too much. I threw his clothes at him. He tried to speak to me, tried to persuade me, but I couldn’t listen to him. I couldn’t even look at him. The thought kept running through my head: You’ve slept with someone connected to Daniel’s death.

  Of course, I didn’t know, didn’t think that he was there that night, but he was connected somehow, some way. I started to feel that in my bones.

  I threw him out onto the street and cried my eyes out on my bed. How could I have fallen for all of it?

  Chapter 12

  I stood out there in the darkness, looking up at Maxine’s apartment. It was all a blur. I knew I’d gone too far, but I was quickly developing deep feelings for her and couldn’t resist. She’d looked so beautiful sitting there next to me as we watched one of her favorite films. I had to kiss her, it was an overwhelming urge which I was helpless to fight against, and when I did it was worse… It felt like that’s where I belonged, with Maxine, and nowhere else.

  It had been a while since I’d been with anyone. In fact, what I’d had with Maxine felt different from anything I’d ever experienced before. I’d always been moving from one place to the next, and even if I hooked up with a woman for a few nights, I never wanted anything more. It would come to an end, and I’d move on.

  This was different. With Maxine’s legs wrapped around me, I didn’t want to be anywhere else. Sure, you could say that was down to lust, just getting carried away, but when I lay there next to her after we’d finished I still felt it. I wanted to be with her, be near her...

  Then, the truth had come out... To a degree at least. That damned key. I wished I’d thrown it away. Maybe then I could have seen where things with Maxine would have gone. Maybe then I could have been happy.

  But no, she’d seen the Rip Bay Hornets emblem on the back of my keyring. In the past I was so proud to have that. I knew how secretive the gang was and how rarely they accepted new members. It was like a badge of honor, except you kept it in your pocket, away from prying eyes. That is, unless you had to prove that you were a member of the Hornets to someone else in the gang, then it came in handy.

  I walked over to my bike, smiled at first thinking of how happy Maxine had seemed when we were riding together, then angry that things had ended the way they had. There was no way she could know I was there the night of the crash, but she must have put 2 and 2 together. Daniel dies, being run off the road by a group of bikers in the night in a planned heist, then she finds that RBH keyring amongst his stuff? Man, it was so fucked up. She must have known that the Hornets had something to do with all of this, and now she knew I was one of them she’d never trust me again.

  I hopped onto my bike, dejected, put on my helmet and then started down the street. That was when I saw it. I wasn’t supposed to, no, but I did. How long had it been there? In the alleyway behind, an outline of something. I couldn’t be sure what it was, but I suspected what lay in the shadows.

  It was time to take a little detour to see if I was right. How I hoped that I wasn’t. I headed down to the docks, where the promenade ran along the waterfront. It was a nice long stretch, and it would give me enough time to see if my hunch was correct. The street was pretty empty, the lampposts and lights keeping me company. Looking in my left mirror, I sighed in relief. There was no one following me. What I thought I’d seen in the alleyway was another biker, not one I knew, but... In the distance, at the back end of the street, the shadowy shape of a damned biker appeared and continued to follow me.

  I had to be certain it wasn’t just a coincidence. Negotiating the deserted streets – left, left, right, straight ahead, left – the biker followed my exact path. Fear began to creep through me, in a way I hadn’t felt since my mother lay dying helpless in a hospital bed. The feeling of protection. The feeling of worry. The feeling which only comes with attachment. There was no doubt in my mind that the biker had been sent by Drake, and now he knew where Maxine lived.

  How long had he been following me? Since the museum, maybe. I had a feeling of being watched while I was there; thought it was all the old sculptures and paintings, but it was entirely possible that I’d been shadowed for the entire day.

  The biker would soon get suspicious that I was onto him, so I rode slowly, calmly. Just another nighttime ride before bed. I parked outside my hotel, went inside casually, and as soon as I was there I ran up the stairs to my room. I kept my light off for a moment and looked out of the window to below.

  There he was, the biker who’d followed me. He was sitting on his bike outside, on his cellphone. I could just imagine Drake’s voice on the other line. I had to think this through. Had Drake sent that biker to follow me out of curiosity? Did he want to know if I was lying or not? Or was there something more to it... My thoughts immediately returned to Daniel’s keyring. Could it have been something to do with that? Then I started to panic. How could I have been so stupid? It wasn’t just that night, it had been for days, ever since I left the Hornets t
o go on a ride for a couple of weeks. He hadn’t trusted me. He had me followed. Someone would have been watching when I first met, Maxine. Then the dates... Jesus, he knows I was lying about my dad.

  This changed everything. I couldn’t just leave now, nor could I go back to the Hornets. I had a bad feeling Drake was going to dispose of me back at the den. He couldn’t have someone in his Night Riders who was liable to leave, perhaps even blab to the cops about what we’d been involved in. He was a paranoid son of a bitch, and he was sure to want any weak link in his secretive organization out of the road.

  He was probably as shocked as I was that fate took me in the direction of Maxine, that we’d met that day by the canal. If I’d been on my own, I’d have rode out the city, took my chances. Sure, they’d probably grab me at some point, but maybe I could ride into Canada, settle down somewhere and forget it all ever happened. Maybe, just maybe, I’d slip through their wide net.

  The truth was, I couldn’t do any of that. Not now. Maxine was the priority. I had to be sure that she was safe. Tomorrow, I would find out if Drake was just testing my loyalty, or whether he now had intentions of doing something to Maxine. You never could tell with that twisted bastard. Perhaps he’d be too scared that I’d confessed our sins to her. Yeah, I knew Drake well enough. No loose ends. If he thought she knew something that could land Drake in jail, he’d kill her, no doubt.

  Maxine was now the priority. It was the least I owed her. If I made it out of this mess alive, well, that was just a bonus.

  Chapter 13

  Josh wouldn’t leave my mind. I tried to push him to the periphery, but he wouldn’t stay there. If I had been thankful to have had someone else to think about other than poor Daniel over the last few days, I was now angry. Bitter was perhaps a better word. Josh was one of them as far as I was concerned, and I wouldn’t have anything to do with him from now on.

  I’d opened myself up to him, and now my hopes had been dashed – no happiness for Maxine, not yet.

  When the phone rang I was so glad to hear a different voice.

  “Hello, Maxine. Do you have a few minutes to talk?” It was Charles O’Malley, and being around a harmless academic who would never try anything on with me, or take advantage, was exactly what I needed.

  “Chuck! I’m so glad it’s you!” I couldn’t hide my tears, I broke down.

  “Oh dear, Maxine. Are you okay?” Charles asked, sounding concerned.

  “Yes,” I pulled myself together. “It’s been a hard night, and it’s connected to the Hornets.”

  “My God, they haven’t hurt you have they?”

  “No.” One of them certainly had, Maxine.

  “Is there anything I can do? I’m actually in the area, which is why I phoned…”

  “That would be lovely, Charles. Can you come to my apartment?”

  It wasn’t long until he was there. Sports jacket with leather patches on the arms, a bow tie, a bland sweater and all.

  He came in holding a notebook in his hand and a briefcase under his arm. I liked Charles… Chuck. He reminded of someone from a bygone era, an academic who maintained the demeanor of a real gentleman no matter what.

  I poured us a couple of cups of coffee and got straight to business.

  “You sounded so upset on the phone, are you okay?” asked Charles.

  “Yes, I’ll be fine. Did you find out any more about the Hornets, and Daniel’s key?” I asked.

  “I’ve found out more than I could ever have hoped.” Charles’ eyes lit up like a detective on a trail. “I made some enquiries and… Well… The story really is quite remarkable. Almost unheard of in the history of American biker gangs.”

  “What is it?” I had banished Josh to the back of my mind momentarily, realizing that the mystery was the one thing which kept my mind clear.

  Charles enthusiastically opened his notebook and began reading his findings. “At first I hit a wall. As I’ve said to you before, Maxine, the Rip Bay Hornets are extremely secretive, that’s partly why they are used for various nefarious means. However, I was able to contact a man called Harry Minder. He’s in his 70s, but was a bit of a biking legend back in the day on the east coast, and he has been a wonderful source of information when writing my books. If anyone knew anything about the Hornets, it would be him…. And…”

  “And…” I was now on the edge of my seat.

  “It turns out, old Harry actually rode with some of the Hornets’ founding gang members. He laid the entire history out for me, and it’s fascinating. The story goes back at least thirty years. There was an older biker gang called the High Tide Goblins. They were pretty well known, and quite substantial in size with a couple of thousand gang members in their ranks.” Charles pushed his glasses back up his nose as they slid slightly when he was animated in discussion. “The leader of the gang, a man called Sanchez, commanded great respect, not just from the riders in the High Tide Goblins, but across all of the major bike gangs in the country. Old Harry was a close friend of his. Anyway, one night Sanchez disappeared suddenly. No one knew where he’d gone, and his gang was in a panic about it. They had no leader. When it became apparent that Sanchez wasn’t coming back, there was suspicion among the gang members that one of their own had killed Sanchez in order to grab control for themselves.

  “Many suspected a young but ambitious rider called Drake. As lines were drawn in the sand, it was civil war. Many of the gang were brutally murdered until no one trusted each other. Drake eventually then drew a core of riders who were loyal to him and formed them into a new gang called the Rip Bay Hornets. They wiped out most of the competition, before disappearing, becoming the shadowy organization they are today.” Charles sat back and took a big slug of coffee.

  “It is fascinating, Chuck, but how does it help me with Daniel’s keyring?”

  “There’s more… Old Harry never had much to do with the Rip Bay Hornets, he splintered off with a less dangerous gang of bikers, but he had a few run-ins with the Rip Bay Hornets’ leader, Drake, throughout the years. He said he’s not a man to be trifled with. More than that, since the inception of the Rip Bay Hornets, he’s been searching for something…”

  “What?” I asked, but my heart started thumping at the possibilities.

  “No one knows, certainly old Harry doesn’t. All he knows is that Drake has a group close to him within the Rip Bay Hornets, selected from the best riders. They call themselves Drake’s Night Riders. They carry out all of the gang’s most important missions. They’ve been searching the country for something for decades. Maxine… I’m worried that the key you have in your possession has something to do with that, because if it does then they’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on it.”

  “But why would Daniel have it?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure entirely, I can’t even be certain if it is connected, but everything you told me about the night Daniel died, doesn’t it seem like a possibility that those were Drake’s Night Riders? I mean, the fact that Daniel kept a key with their insignia on it, doesn’t it seem likely that he was a member, or was involved in something dodgy with them? ” Charles waited for an answer.

  I didn’t want to answer it. Of course I’d thought about it, about what it meant Daniel… And Josh were caught up in. “Oh, Charles, this is a mess…”

  “Why do I get the feeling that something else has happened?”

  “Because it has, everything is ruined… I met a guy, he seemed really nice. First time I’ve wanted to be with someone since Daniel died.”

  “Maxine, at some point you will have to move on, it’s a good thing. What’s the problem, then?”

  “Charles, he had the same keyring, the same pendant. It said RBH on the back… He’s a biker…”

  Charles stood up, panicked. Rubbing his forehead he looked deep in thought. “This is a pickle, Maxine… Did he ask anything about Daniel’s key?”

  “No… But he knows I have it…”

  “What!” Charles looked even more anxious than before. �
��What did he say about it?”

  “Nothing. He did say he thought the letters were the name of a gang, but other than that he said he didn’t know anything about it…” My mind raced again. “Do you think that’s why he tried to get to know me?”

  “He must have been! Listen… Maxine… Is there anywhere safe you can go?”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Charles. I’ve built a life here, and it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. There’s no way in hell that I’m abandoning that.”

  Charles sat back down, and then spoke more quietly than before, yet somehow more sternly. “Maxine, these men are thugs of the highest order. They’ve been involved in who knows how many murders and deaths. They won’t care about you. Josh was most probably a scout. Sent to find out if you had that key. Knowing that, they’ll be back, and in force.”

  “But it’s been days since I showed Josh the key , and they haven’t come,” I said, still confused by the entire revelation.

  “That is strange… But we can’t take the risk. I sincerely advise that you go somewhere safe.”

  “Can’t we call the police?” I asked, hopeful.

  “No. What would you tell them? That you have a keyring which you think is connected to an accident three years ago where you lost your fiance. Not only that, but men are coming to take that keyring by force, perhaps even kill you?” Charles adjusted his glasses. “Most of what we have is speculation, Maxine. They’d never buy it. Even if they did put a police officer outside for a night, the Hornets would just wait until they were gone. You need to be out of here.”

  “Well… I’m not leaving…” I said it, but I was feeling more uncertain by the minute.

  Charles sat down next to me and took off his glasses. It was weird seeing him without them on. They were like two pinpoints, but there was a sincerity in them. “Maxine, let’s look at what we know for a fact. Three years ago you and Daniel were run off the road by a group of bikers. Daniel died. You then find that Daniel hid a key – he didn’t store it somewhere, he hid it, meaning it was not meant to be found by you or anyone else than himself. We know that key is from a violent biker gang because of the insignia. We also know that Josh comes into your life randomly. It looks like an accident, but it turns out he’s in that very same gang. We also know that the Rip Bay Hornets have been searching for something for some time. Something obviously lost, or hidden…”