by Naomi West
“I know, Tanner,” she said, trying to keep her voice as steely and whine-free as possible. “The past few weeks, I've been thinking it over. I think I get it. But, I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I'll always worry about you.”
“Well, I don't like it, either,” Tanner said. “I didn't go looking for this shit. It came looking for you and me. Okay?”
She felt like she'd been backed into a corner over this whole thing, like she'd just been some sort of collateral damage. What little control she'd had in her life had been ripped from her hands when Aaron had barged into her apartment. Now, she didn't even have her own apartment. She was, instead, depending on the kindness of her good friend.
But, she knew the only way for her to get agency back in her life, was to stop Aaron. She knew she wasn't strong enough to do that on her own. She could put up with hardships and a shitty family life all day, but her previous trials and tribulations hadn't exactly prepared her for taking down a giant biker who was hell-bent on making her man's life miserable. Only Tanner, and the rest of the Blood Warriors, would be able to help her take care of things and get them squared away.
“I'm going to start calling the guys,” he said, looking down at her, “and get 'em all together. We'll have a meeting, figure out our next move, and go from there.”
She nodded and went to hop down from the table. “Alright. Should I call you later, then?”
“Actually, why don't you stick around?” he suggested with a neutral expression on his face. “This concerns you as much as it does everyone else, now, because of what happened that night. I think you have as much right to be at the meeting as anyone in the club.”
She smiled up at him for the gesture, despite the reason for both the courtesy and the meeting. It was nice to actually be included in a life-altering decision of some sort, even if she wouldn't play an integral part in any of the actions.
“I'll have to clear it with Blade, of course,” Tanner said. “But, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. He knows you've been involved in this from the get-go.”
“He's back?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. His hands are healed up, so he's back to being the president. So, yes to the meeting, then?” he asked, looking deep into her eyes like he was looking for any sign of wavering, or doubt.
She nodded, pushing her own worries and concerns down. “Yeah. Definitely.”
“Good,” he said, gripping her hips for emphasis as he nodded. “Good.”
Chapter Forty
Tanner
Tanner and Star stood at the front of the room, beside Blade. Together. He never would have imagined him and her like this, not in a million years. And especially not under their current circumstances.
“Alright, you boys,” Blade bellowed from the front of the room, “we're calling this shit to order, now. So y'all settle down.”
The previously bustling room, full of whispering conversations and loud horseplay, came to a complete silence. All the men, most of them wearing their patched vests, turned their eyes slowly to the acknowledged leader of the Blood Warriors.
In the crowd was Brendon, who'd finally joined back up as a recruit, and Cam, who had renewed his vigor and dedication to the club. Seeing them both made Tanner's heart swell with pride that they still wanted to be in the MC.
“Now, you boys know that over the last couple months we've been having problems with the Roaming Wolves coming onto our turf and messing with some of our boys.”
The crowd nodded and grumbled in ascent. On this, their hatred of the Roaming Wolves, it was as if the whole group was one, pissed-off person.
“That they went after Tanner's family first,” Blade said, nodding to Brendon in the crowd before he continued on, “then, after the Old Crow, which is ours.”
The assembled bikers mumbled about the cowardice of the Roaming Wolves. Cowardice at them getting the cops involved, at trying to get the boys-in-blue to fight biker battles. It wasn't right, and they all knew it.
“Now, we keep everything clean around here, but they wanted Tanner again on that one. Luckily, nothing came of it. But, then, that same night, they went after his ol' lady -” Blade stopped and turned to Tanner, “- wait. I can call her that, right?”
Tanner put his arm around Star and pulled her into his side, clearly and for all to see. “I don't care, old man.”
Beside him, Star shook her head. “I don't care either.”
Blade nodded, smiling despite the issue they were there to discuss, and turned back to the other men. Tanner noticed that the other guys nodded approvingly when he finally admitted what he and Star had been feeling for a while now, aside from the hiccup that was the last few weeks.
“So, now, we clearly got Star back, and everything's squared away. Now, though, we gotta get back to basics and find this fucker.”
The guys murmured their agreement. They wanted this shit to be over and done with just as much as Tanner and Star did.
Blade turned his attention back to Tanner and Star. “You wanna tell 'em about everything else?”
Tanner nodded and took his arm from around Star. He stepped forward and addressed the club. “Alright, guess I should start with what we know so far. This guy Aaron's an old buddy of mine, from way back when I was a kid. Some of the younger guys, you may recognize him, or you might not. I sure as fuck didn't when he whacked me with a fucking baseball bat. That's for sure.”
The crowd laughed, despite the circumstances.
“But, we've been trying to nail this guy down since he took Star. We know his name, we know his club, but that's about it. He doesn't really have a fixed address, just kinda blows around in the wind. Some people say he's staying out at one of the hotels outside of town, but there was nothing to find there. Others said he was laid up with some club girl, but that didn't pull anything either.”
“Hell, we rolled over a couple Wolves last week,” Tyke added in from the middle of the assembled bikers, “but they didn't know shit. It's like this motherfucker's a ghost or something.”
“He ain't a ghost,” Tanner said, his voice adamant. “He's a coward who's been preparing for this for a long time, that's all. He's got his boltholes set up, his places to go run and hide. Hell, he might even be staying out in the woods for all we know, or sleeping most nights in the Wolves clubhouse. We just don't know because we can't lay eyes on him.”
“So what's the plan, then?” Cam asked from the side of the room.
“Simple,” Tanner said. “We stake everything out, we wait for him, we pounce. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Guy's gotta turn up sometime.”
Tyke and the rest of the guys nodded.
“It ain't gonna be easy,” Tanner said. “But, it's gotta be done, or our name ain't shit on the street. Got it?”
All the guys nodded again. “Yeah,” Tyke said, “we got it.”
“Alright,” Blade said, “we'll start divvying up who goes where, with who. This guy's big, and crazier than a badger on PCP. I want you to stay with your partner while we're looking for him, and work as a team to bring him down. We'll bring this fucker in, and we'll deal with him the way he needs to be dealt with. Got it?”
“Got it,” they all agreed.
Chapter Forty-One
Star
They pulled up at the empty warehouse on the back of Tanner's bike. He killed the engine and they both hopped off the back and down into the dusty parking lot.
“Now, tell me again why this is a good idea?” she asked as she patted the road dust off her outfit.
“Because, it'll keep you out of sight, for starters,” he said as they walked over to the side entrance. “We don't want a reenactment of what happened when you went missing the first time around.”
“So? Just leave me at Patricia's, then,” she said as he pulled out a ring of keys and began to unlock the door. “Wouldn't that just be safer?”
“Well, the second part is,” he said, trying one key after another on the lock, “we're going to bring Aaron here when
we finally get him.” He paused and looked up at her. “And, I want you to have the chance to make your own peace with him.”
“My own peace, huh?” she asked, hands on her hips. “You mean, beat him up or something?”
“If that's what you want,” Tanner replied as he tried another key. “He hurt you as much as he hurt me. More, I'd say. The fucker deserves whatever he gets, in my opinion.”
“I dunno,” she said, as Tanner found the right key and turned the lock, “he hit you with a baseball bat.”
“Yeah, but Blade and Cam were there,” he said as he pulled the door open for them, “so I got left on the apartment floor instead of tied to a tree all night.”
“True,” Star said, her memory flashing back for a moment to that long night she'd spent tied up. A phantom pain of rope burns around her wrists seemed to flutter back and take up her mental space. She shook her head. “But, I don't think I'd even know what to do.”
Tanner led her into the dusty old warehouse and flipped the bright neon lights on overhead. They flickered to life in stages, illuminating the dilapidated contents. The air smelled stale and had an undeniable hint of grease and motor oil. He didn't say anything as they marched deeper into the building, past shelf after shelf of old, rusting mechanical parts.
“I do want to see everything happen, though,” Star admitted, as much to herself as to him. “To really make sure it does, if that makes sense. I just don't think I can be the one to do it.”
“That's alright,” Tanner said. “I mean, it ain't in everyone to do this kind of thing. That's part of the reason you got me.”
Star smirked at his swaggering back. “So, it's for real, then?”
He stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. “What's for real? What do you mean?”
“That I've got you?”
He smiled a little knowing smile as he turned to face her. He didn't say anything, though.
“I saw the way you looked at Blade when he called me your ol' lady,” Star said, advancing on him and wrapping her arms around his waist. She looked up into those deep, ice-blue eyes of his, hoping this was going where she thought it was. If not, she was going to look like one giant fool. “You didn't correct him, either.”
He put his arms around her, completing the embrace. “Well,” he said before glancing away, that smile still playing on his lips, “I didn't want to start anything in front of the guys, you know, especially not with the president. Whole club was there, and all.”
She grinned up at him. Her heart was racing, despite the smile on her face, and she thought she could feel his beating triple time. “Quit messing with me, Tanner Rainier.”
“Messing with you?” he asked, returning her grin. “How am I messing with you?”
“Leading me on,” she said, then ventured further, “dancing around what we both know.”
“What's that? What do we both know?”
“That you care about me more than you say,” she nearly whispered. “That you care about this child of ours.”
He touched her cheek again, just like he had back at the clubhouse. His smile faded away, and his face grew serious.
She couldn't tell if that was a good sign, or not. Her heart beat even faster with her nervousness.
“You know,” he began, “when I approached you about having my baby, I never thought we'd be here. Not like this. Not ever.”
“Go on.”
He touched her hair. “I wasn't looking for a relationship,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft and introspective. “Neither of us were, I don't think. But, I didn't imagine I'd ever feel this way about someone. I didn't know this is what love was like, you know? I worry about you, want to look after you, want to protect you from everything.”
“Love?” she whispered.
He nodded. “But, there's the club, too. You know how it is, babe. If you're with me, you gotta accept them the same as you accept me.”
She nodded, understanding what he meant. “They've had my back more than my own family, that's for sure.”
“So you get it, then?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” she said. “So, love, huh?” she repeated, smiling a little this time.
“Yeah,” he whispered back, his lips moving closer to hers. “I love you, Star Bentley.”
“I love you, too, Tanner Rainier.”
He didn't kiss her, she didn't kiss him. It was a perfect, serendipity; two lips met like they were made for each other, made for that moment.
No open mouths, no biting. None of it. Just a long, soft, welcoming. A kiss where they melted, forgot about their worries and the dark deeds that needed to be done. The warehouse disappeared around them, fading into the background, as they focused on their singular togetherness.
To Star, the moment felt like it lasted ages, even if the kiss had only lasted a few seconds. They broke apart, panting for breath. But, now, as she looked up into his eyes, she realized she had what she'd been looking for when she accepted her end of the agreement: a purpose, a reason to wake up in the morning. And, she knew he'd found his, too.
Tanner held her tight, like he'd never willingly let go again. “I have to get going, now. The guys are probably waiting for me already.”
She nodded, even if she felt like it was too soon to release him from her arms, glancing away. She didn't want him to go, but he needed to. This had to be finished, and only he could do it.
He touched her chin and drew her face up to his. “I love you,” he said again, almost as if he was testing how the words felt in his mouth.
She bit her lip and smiled. “I love you, too. Now, get going before the guys think you chickened out on them.”
“Think they'd believe that?” he asked, giving her a little smile.
“Doubtful,” she said. “Now, go.”
He let go of her. With obvious reluctance, he headed off through the warehouse, his receding footfalls echoing hollowly with each step.
Star watched him go, drifting through the neon twilight of the unused building, motes of dust swirling like sand devils in the desert as he passed through. She sighed, hoping he'd be back soon. She was ready for all of this to be over, for all of these awful events to be just another bad memory.
He went outside and started his bike, the engine rumbling and shaking the outer walls like a mini-tremor. The waiting game had officially begun. Now, all she had to do was find a place to sit.
She turned and headed deeper into the warehouse. On the eastern side she found a small, unlocked office and went inside. She turned on the light to reveal an ancient computer with a big, boxy monitor, and a decrepit rolling chair stuck beneath an old desk. She pulled out the chair and coughed as she began to pat the cushion free of dust.
She really wished she'd brought a book, or something. But, unfortunately, waiting around for her stalker -abductor to be brought into an abandoned warehouse hadn't exactly been on the day's agenda.
So, she took a seat. The rolling office chair protested loudly as she crossed her legs, and began the time-honored waiting game.
A while passed. Star had been daydreaming about her baby, but was stirred awake by a noise from somewhere in the warehouse.
Her breath caught in her throat. She pulled her phone out and checked the time. Only an hour or so had gone by. But, no calls or messages from Tanner, or any of the other guys. She put her phone away and gripped the seat with both hands.
Tanner hadn't mentioned anyone coming by to stay with her.
She didn't like this. Not one bit. She eased herself up from the chair, producing another creaking moan from the piece of office furniture. She hissed a curse as she crept over to the open office door.
“Star?” a woman's voice called from near the front entrance of the warehouse. “You here, girl?”
She recognized that voice! It was Tanner's mom.
“Back here, Tova,” Star called back as she started to make her way to the sound of her voice.
Finally, the two women met in the m
iddle. Tova looked better than she had the last time that Star had seen her. It was like the presence of her youngest son at home had rejuvenated her. Her hair was pulled back in a long, gray ponytail, and her eyes were bright and alert. Feisty even. This woman meant business.
Star smiled cautiously when she saw her. “What are you doing here? Tanner didn't mention you coming.”
Tova laughed as she picked her way around a pile of junk and came closer. “Think I tell my boys everything I'm doing? Tanner didn't pick up his stubbornness from just his old man.”
