She lets go of me and goes over to Ripper and hugs him. As they embrace Ripper stares at me. I smile triumphantly and give him the middle finger. That’s right mother fucker! You messed with the wrong sister! He responds by making a gun with his hand and pointing it at me and pulling the trigger. I could care less. My sister is not going home with him tonight and that the only thing I care about.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Bits and Parts
The next morning I pretend to still be somewhat sick; just to keep up pretenses. I got off easy last night with Ripper, but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be so easy next time; and I’m sure there will be a next time. I’m getting dressed when my phone rings; it’s Adam. Now that the excitements over I’m not so keen on seeing him so I just let it ring. After a few minutes I check and find that he called me back no less than four times and texted me twice. I guess he was worried about me after all.
After Anna leaves for her own home to get ready for work I decide to get up. I just can’t sleep. It’s like I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop or something. Around eleven o’clock someone knocks on my door. I look out through the peephole but I don’t see anyone so I go to the hall closet where my dad’s old hunting rifle sits. It’s not even loaded but I shouldn’t have to do anything but show it and make threats. Just as I decide the person has left there’s another, more urgent knock.
Slowly I unlock the door but keep the chain on. I’m not stupid. I open the door with one hand and stick the barrel of the gun out as I jerk the door open. The heavy wood door flies open, hits the end of the chain and slams shut all before I can even see who is out there. Disgusted, I take the chain off and just open the door with another jerk. As it flies open I thrust the end of the gun’s barrel out and end up jabbing Adam in the forehead.
“Dammit, that hurt!” He swears, rubbing his forehead where he has a circular shaped mark. “You coulda killed me!”
“Oh it’s not loaded,” I reply.
For some reason I decide this is the perfect time and place for a demonstration so I point the gun and pull the trigger. The resulting blast is enough to deafen us both. It’s a good thing Adam has pretty fast reflexes. If he hadn’t of knocked the barrel aside he’d be sporting a hole in the exact center of his chest.
“Kari, you just about shot me! Was that…That was on purpose wasn’t it? Is it because I didn’t rescue you last night from Ripper? If it is I had a real good excuse.”
“No it’s not because of last night but…Wait, what do you mean excuse? Don’t you mean reason? Like, there was a really good reason you couldn’t come by; or was it just some lame excuse like you say?”
“One of those…” He says, clearly confused. “Whichever one’s better.”
“Oh my god, what were you doing that was so important that you couldn’t rescue my little sister from your presidents evil clutches?”
“Sorry but I don’t have the clothes for it. You can’t even look at the menu on the door without a pair of slacks and a dinner jacket. No way could I have actually got in the place and found you.”
“You gotta be kidding me. You couldn’t have forced your way in in order to save me?” I ask. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“Well I could have but I would have looked like a real jerk in the process; an under dressed one at that. Besides, you were in a public place; Zebra’s no less. He wasn’t going to make a scene there.”
“He practically did. He told me he was going to violate my sister with a crucifix.”
“Is she a vampire or something?”
“What? No…of course not.”
“Well it’s a non- issue then.”
“Really?” I look around me until my eyes locate the Virgin Mary statuette siting on the dining room table. I grab it and return to Adam who is watching me with amusement.
“I’m not a vampire either,” he says as I stand in front of him brandishing the Virgin. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”
“Bend over!” I command.
“What?” His smile is beginning to become a frown of uncertainty.
“You said it’s no big deal since my sister’s not a vampire and I’m telling you it won’t be for you either since you’re not an undead demon either. Now I don’t have a crucifix handy but this is close enough so are you gonna turn around, bend over and drop your pants or are things going to get ugly?”
“They’re already frighteningly unpleasant.” He replies staring at the Virgin in my hand. “How much worse can it get?”
I advance on him another half step keeping the religious implement between us.
“What kind of game are you playing at here?” He asks again.
“I just want you to acknowledge that my sister and I were in a dangerous position and you should have come to rescue us and you have to admit that you were wrong not to come and then you have to say you’re sorry. That’s what I want and I’m not kidding.”
He regards the Virgin like it’s got some special powers or something then looks up at me.
“Fine. I should have come to rescue you and I am very sorry I made the mistake of staying home and tossing off instead; happy?”
“Marginally.”
“Great, now can we get some lunch. I skipped breakfast so now I’m starving.”
“Sure, why not.”
I stow my dad’s loaded gun in the closet and get goose bumps all up and down my spine when I remember how close I just came to killing Adam.
“Oh my god!”
I jump two feet in the air. “What?”
I turn around and there’s Adam looking at himself in the mirror.
“Oh my god, I look like a unicorn; and not a mature one either. No I’ve only got a budding horn.”
“You’re kidding me. You’re concerned about a little mar-” I stop myself mid-sentence when I see his forehead again. There’s a purplish, circular swollen mark right in the center of his handsome forehead. It looks exactly like he said. He is developing a tiny horn.
“Now I wish you would have shot me.” He complains.
“That can be rectified.”
“No…you’ll only bungle it and I’ll be worse off. I’d rather jump off a bridge or something.”
“Fine, but can we just eat first?”
“Alright,” he says. “But we take my bike.”
“No way, my cars much safer.”
“Do I look gay to you?” He asks.
“No.”
“A lesbian…transgender, bisexual, transsexual, queer queen, ass monkey, butt muncher-”
“Fine, I reply. “I get it. My car is for girls or queers and not homophobes like you. We’ll take your bike.”
“I’m not homophobic.” He says.
“Really…coulda fooled me.”
“I’m not. I’m the farthest thing from it. I like gays. I’m gay friendly. I’m LGTBQRST friendly.”
“I think you got a few too many letters in that last one.” I reply stifling a laugh.
“We’ll take your car.” He says.
“Great.”
“But why couldn’t you have gotten a real one; you know from the 60’s or something?”
“Are you finished?” I reply.
He makes a zipping lips motion with his fingers so we go out to the garage where my car is parked.
“Pink! You didn’t say it was pink!”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Even my reputation can’t stand up to the hit it’ll take if one of my brothers see me in it; or worse a biker from another club.”
“Shut up and get in you big pussy!”
He swallows hard and opens the door. He pulls a baseball cap from his jacket pocket and jams it down on his head followed by a pair of Rey bans. When he gets in he slinks down as far as he can go, then tilts the seat back all the way till he’s just about lying flat.
I get in and start the engine. “You’re pathetic.”
He doesn’t comment. I decide a little humiliation is in ord
er so I swing by his shop. He must have had his eyes closed the whole time because it doesn’t even register until I’m parking in front of the shop.
He jumps in his seat in a panic. “What the hell are we doing here?”
“Thought we could invite a couple of your brothers to lunch.”
“Are you mental? No one would be dumb enough to even get near this thing. Only a complete moron would willingly get in. You’d have t-”
He stops himself mid-sentence when he realizes he’s the complete moron who willingly got in my car a few minutes ago. He tries to slink down even farther but he just cannot get below the window line.
“Oh look, we have company.”
A couple guys dressed in Sons cuts are walking over to us. They don’t look too unfriendly, but they do look purposeful. I roll down my mirror when they get to my car.
“Is there a problem ma’am?”
The older of the two bikers ask. They’re a handsome pair and it makes me wonder if your looks have anything to do with making it into the club. Even Ripper has his qualities. The guy addressing me sports a crew cut and is clean shaven. His buddy is bald with a beard that is confined to the bottom of his chin. He looks like he could be a guitarist for a metal band. I can see the butt of a handgun peeking out from his jacket. I guess since the civil war started the brothers are on high alert.
“No,” I finally reply. “Had a phone call so I pulled over. Don’t need a ticket you know.”
“You weren’t using your phone.” The biker accurately observes.
“Yeah well it fell out.”
He looks around on the ground.
“As I was driving.”
He looks back down the road.
“And a truck smashed it flat.”
“Who’s your shy friend?” He asks.
“He’s not the talkative type.” I reply.
The other biker who was just standing back quietly now moves around to the other side of the car. The guy who has been talking to me suddenly walks to the front of my car. He must have read my mind. Too bad, because right now I’m not really up for running over inquisitive bikers.
“You shouldn’t be bothering him,” I say. I really wish I wouldn’t have done this. It was a stupid thing to do just to bug Adam. What if these two are on Ripper’s side? I could get caught in a shootout…again.
“I think I’ll be making the decisions on who I’m going to bug and who not…I’m going to bug. Just let me-”
It happens so fast I can’t believe it’s happening. The passenger door of my car flies open catching biker guy in the head and knocking him to the ground. As the door is opening Adam is launching himself out and ends up on top of the guy. I hear a loud bang and suddenly the sidewalk is covered in a splash of bright red arterial blood. I open my mouth to scream but nothing seems to come out.
Adam flattens himself out on the pavement and fires two shots underneath my car at the other biker as he runs around to Adam’s side. The man screams and falls to the pavement out of my sight. I hear two more gunshots and then Adam is back in my car screaming at me to drive.
I turn the car on and do the exact wrong move. I go forward and thump! I hit the guy Adam just shot. I panic and put the car in neutral and gun the engine.
“You get your license in a Cracker Jack box or something? Get us out of here, reinforcements are coming!”
I glance to where he is pointing. Four guys have just run out of the building and are sprinting in our direction. This is bad…this is really bad. Adam just murdered two guys because I had to take him here to humiliate him. Their blood is on my hands too.
I finally get the car in reverse and gun the engine. We go in reverse for about thirty feet before I come to a skidding stop and put the car in drive. The group of angry brothers has just reached their fallen comrades. With my heart in my throat I gun the engine and take off in a whirlwind of dust. What a freaking nightmare.
“Next time you feel the need to humiliate me,” Adam yells, “do you think you can maybe count to three before you act? You might have saved yourself a lot of trouble that way. You know they’re going to come looking for you and they’ll find you too. I can’t believe you bought a pink car. You might as well put a neon sign out saying here I am please shoot me!”
I decide to let him run out of steam before I start my own freak out. It’s really counterproductive when both people in the relationship are freaking at the same time. Finally he shuts up. My turn.
“You just killed to guys! Two brothers I might add. Did you have to kill them in front of me? Oh no,” I say when he starts to talk. “You don’t get to talk. It’s my turn to freak. I just wanted to have a laugh. Couldn’t you have told me your co-workers wanted you dead? That’s kind of an important piece of information to leave out. Is it going to be like this every time we’re together? You shooting people… me running over people? I should have known better. The other day you nearly blew my head off and today I just about returned the favor. What am I going to do now? Maybe I should take this as a bad omen and crawl back into bed. You’ve been kicked out of your own club apparently so what are you going to do besides haunting me and making my life miserable?”
“I’d like to think,” Adam replies, “that my coming around wouldn’t be taken as a haunting and life miserable making event. But I get it. Things have been a little weird lately.”
“A little weird? You just shot two people and that only rates weird in your book? That kind of thing’s life changing in my book.”
I fall silent as I drive. I really don’t have a clear plan as to what to do or where to go. I’m not sure I want to go back to my house just in case someone’s following me.
“Are you okay Kari?” Adam finally asks.
“I’m fine.” The words are out of my mouth before I can even think about it. I’m really not fine. I just saw two people gunned down by the man who is…I don’t know what he is to me actually.
“Kari pull over. You’re not okay, I can see it on your face and you’re beginning to shake.”
He’s right. My body seems to be having a reaction now. My hands are trembling, my heart is pounding and I’m on the verge of hyperventilating. I need to get back in control of myself here. He puts his hand on my arm and it makes me literally come up out of me seat. Yeah, I better stop before I cause an accident. I ease way up on the gas and pull over to the side of the road. Fortunately I have been winding around so I doubt any of Ripper’s guys are going to just run into us right here.
The second my car comes to a full stop I cut the engine and burry my head in my hands. Is this what my life is going to be like now? Full of violence and running for my life? Why would I even consider trading my normal life for this? The presence of his hand tenderly stroking my arm is reason why. I look up at Adam. He is watching me intently, but with a surprisingly tender expression in his eyes. How can a man so easily snuff the life out of two human beings one second, and then look so normal the next? The longer I look into his eyes the more captivating they are. I’m beginning to feel like I’m falling…falling into his soul and I’m no longer afraid.
He opens his mouth to say something but I press my index finger to his lips effectively silencing him. I don’t want him talking and breaking the spell. When I remove my finger I realize I’m leaning into him and he is to me. Suddenly our lips meet and there’s electricity in the air. Determined to get the most out of it, I close my eyes and do my best to just tune out the rest of world; it’s not hard to do. His lips are surprisingly soft, and his kiss is insistent, bordering on urgent. I’ve never been one to pay much attention to smell; or the way a person smells unless just smells like a elephant or something, but Adam… He’s got this leather and some indescribable feral smell that just drives me nuts. If that men’s deodorant company Axe could bottle this stuff….oh man.
Suddenly our tongues collide and I’ve completely forgotten about his manly smell. He’s caressing my cheek and neck and it makes my skin come alive. I don’t think I hav
e ever been so physically drawn to another man before. Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that Adam doesn’t seem to be just a biker; he’s the whole package. At least I think he is. When his hand drops to my legs I can’t help but part them slightly; it’s an automatic response. My heart pounds against my ribs as his hand slides beneath the hem of my skirt. Makes me wonder… is anybody watching us and… I hope I’m not wearing my ‘granny’ panties. The potential for embarrassment could be huge. Oh crap, I think I left my laundry in the wash. Now they’re going to smell funny when I get them out to dry. And what am I doing thinking about my laundry at a time like this?
“Are you alright?” Adam asks me. “You’re eyes suddenly got this far away look in them…”
“You were watching my eyes?”
“See you did go somewhere just now.”
“Was it that obvious?”
“Yeah… they kinda glazed over. But it’s cool. “What were you thinking about anyway?”
Without even thinking I blurt out: “granny panties.” Then I catch myself and look away.
“Wow…has anyone ever told you you’re honest to a fault?”
“No…and I get how you’d think that.” I begin. “It’s just that…Never mind. Do I really have to explain?”
“Please don’t.” He replies.
Abruptly his phone rings, totally killing the mood. He gives me an apologetic look then answers his phone.
“What?” He says.
“What are you talking about?” He barks into the receiver.
This does not sound good. All at once his whole body stiffens, and his other fist clenches and unclenches. Whatever news he’s getting is bad. Good thing he’s not in the position to shoot the messenger because he looks like he’d like to do just that.
“You’re dead.” He breathes into the phone. “You’re fucking dead.”
The look on his face sends chills, not the good kind, running up and down my spine. He listens for another minute then hands me his phone.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” I ask.
Edge of Ashes (Sons of Ash Motorcycle Club) Page 11
