Bender

by M. Stratton

  “What if I don’t want to wait?”

  “Lady, didn’t we just have this conversation? About you trusting me and doing exactly what I say in order to keep you alive.” He waited for her to nod. “Well, this is one of the times you need to listen to me. It will have to wait.”

  “As soon as we get back to your place you’ll tell me?”

  “Yes, as soon as we get back. Now finish eating, I’m starting to get nervous sitting here for too long.” He scanned the room. Something was bothering him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Living his life as long as he had, when he got this feeling, he knew to pay attention. No one seemed to be paying any attention to them.

  With large eyes, Stormy pushed her plate away. “I’m done. We can go now.”

  Bender pulled some bills out of his pocket and threw them down on the table. Standing up he held out his hand for her to take. The feeling was getting stronger and he just wanted to get out. “Do not argue,” he said to her softly.

  Instead of going out the front door, he turned and walked down a short hall and through a door marked ‘employees only.’ He swore he could hear her biting her tongue behind him. On a whim, he looked back at the front door, and saw a couple of Mick’s men walk in. At this point, he didn’t know if someone else in the diner recognized him and called them or if it was just bad luck on their part.

  “Shit. Move it,” he hissed at her. Down another short hallway, they were practically running through the kitchen to get out the backdoor. Bender hoped there weren’t more out there guarding the alley. He ignored all the comments the kitchen staff were throwing at them and tried not to knock anything over, which would bring attention of the guys out front to where they were headed.

  Once at the backdoor, he flung the door open and there on the other side was another one of Mick’s men. Without stopping, Bender punched the man’s surprised face as hard as he could, and then pulled Stormy out into the alley.

  “Try to be as quiet as you can.” His ears strained to hear anything that would give him a hint if there were anyone else. When they got to the edge of the alley, he hugged the side of the building and very carefully looked around the corner. There was his bike, sitting there with no other cars around it, less than fifty feet away. He looked back up the street and knew it was too good to be true. There were too many places to hide. Even if they could make it to the bike, by the time they both got on it, and it started, Mick’s men would be on them with no chance to escape.

  Looking up at the buildings around them, he knew there’d be no easy way to access any of the roofs, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be done. “Are you afraid of heights?”

  “No,” she whispered back.

  “Excellent.” Keeping their backs to the building, he took them as quickly as possible down the street to the next alley, and found what he was looking for. Tipping a garbage can upside down, he motioned her to stand up on it. Once there she knew what to do and reached high to grab the fire escape; pulling herself up, she got to the first landing. Bender knew he only had two options; he didn’t want to leave any clues behind. Climbing up on the can, he grabbed the lowest rung with both hands then carefully, using his feet, clutched the can between them and slowly raised it up until he was able to let go with one hand and grab the can. The whole time he was worried it was going to slip out of his grip, and go crashing to the ground giving their position away.

  He hung there by one arm for a moment gauging the distance to the next rung. Then he slowly started swinging back and forth until he’d built up enough momentum to let go and grab the next rung up. He just needed to do this a few more times until he’d be able to get his feet in the rungs. Trying to ignore the quiet words coming out of Stormy’s mouth, he continued up until finally he was able to use both feet and one arm to climb the rest of the way up.

  As soon as he was safely on the landing, Stormy flew into his arms and squeezed as hard as she could. “Shhhh . . . we’ve got to keep moving.”

  “Don’t you ever do that again.”

  “Do what?”

  “You know!” she hissed. “You scared the crap out of me. What if you fell?”

  “But I didn’t. We need to get on the roof. Come on. Quietly.” He pushed her to start moving up the stairs to the roof.

  “’Quietly,’ he says. This, from the man who almost became one with the pavement below him while a metal trash can rolled around.”

  “Stop. Not even close. I had it all under control.”

  “Yeah, you say that now. You don’t think I didn’t see how hard you were concentrating back there?”

  “And it all worked out; now shut it and keep moving.”

  He laughed to himself when he heard her grumbling under her breath as they climbed. Once they got to the roof, he checked out where the roof access was. He knew it was going to be locked, but he tried the door anyway. Going back to the corner overlooking the diner, he made sure they were behind the large air conditioning unit. Setting the garbage can down, he got comfortable and sat there to wait.

  They didn’t have to wait long until a black SUV pulled up. The two men from the diner walked up to the vehicle and talked to someone in the backseat. From their angle, Bender and Stormy weren’t able to see a face. After a few minutes, the men backed away and the SUV left. Bender made sure he couldn’t be seen from the street, and followed it around the side of the building before another building blocked its path. He took out his phone and made a note of the make and partial license plate he was able to get. He hoped that between the two, they’d have a little more proof to hang on Mick and his crew.

  A loud crash sounded from the other side of the building. Bender ran back over to where he left Stormy, his heart racing. When he rounded the equipment and saw she was okay, the rest of the air in his lungs whooshed out. When she turned to him and pointed, he knew it wasn’t going to be good. Sure enough, when he peeked over the edge, he saw his bike laying on its side being hooked up to the back of a truck. Quickly, he switched to video on his phone and started filming the two men hooking his bike up and then driving away with it bouncing behind them. He was sure at some point it would be found on the edge of the road, not too far from here, completely destroyed.

  “I’m sorry,” she said in a soft voice.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “They wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t helped me.”

  “Yeah, they would have.” He held up a hand when she spoke. “No, Stormy, they would have; just me helping you sped things up. Now let’s get out of here.”

  “Is it safe?”

  “As safe as it’s going to be. We’ve got to start moving; I don’t want to be trapped up here if they decide to come back.” What he wasn’t telling her was he was sure they were going to come back. It was just a matter of time. It could be five minutes or twenty, but they would be back, and doing more than just standing around a parking lot talking.

  Stormy’s feet were killing her. Lucky for her, she’d worn sensible shoes to begin with. They’d walked and ran for the past two hours. Zigzagging from one town to another until they finally hit an area where Bender thought they’d be safe enough to make a phone call. After that, a cab had shown up to take them to a branded hotel in the heart of downtown Chicago. She had no idea why they were going in the opposite direction of home, but at that moment, lying in bed staring up at the ceiling, she thought this bed just might be one of the most comfortable she’d ever been in.

  Hearing the water shut off in the other room she gulped. He was in there, naked and wet . . . wet and naked. In almost every single romance novel she’d read over the years, and there had been plenty, there were scenes where the man came out of the shower with nothing on but a towel and walked across the room in front of the woman. She had to admit she was very curious about his body, having been in his arms before so she knew he was rock hard.

  She heard the door open and couldn’t help but turn her head to see what he’d come out in. They’d stopped to p
ick up some fresh clothes on the way here so she knew he had something to change into. Her mouth went dry when he stepped out, not in a towel, but in jeans slung low on his hips and not fastened. As he walked past her bed, she saw water drip from his hair and run down his back and had an urge to lick the trail it left behind on him. Seeing all of the scars, she wanted to know how he got every one of them. She wanted to run her hands over them, wishing she could take away the pain.

  His muscles moved under his skin as he bent down and grabbed a shirt out of the bag. Turning he caught her staring at him, the only reason she knew he caught her was because she had a view of his rock hard abs now and they weren’t moving.

  “Like what you see?”

  When it finally registered he spoke, she tried to figure out what he said. “Ummm . . . Yes?”

  “You have no idea what you’re saying yes to, do you.” He slowly started toward her.

  She felt at a disadvantage lying down. Deciding she needed to be sitting up at least, she scooched back. The closer he got, the faster she moved until she was on her knees with her back against the headboard.

  He leaned down a bit. “Do you want me to repeat what I asked?”

  Silently, she nodded.

  Coming closer to her still, he whispered, “Are you sure?”

  His eyes weren’t really brown; there was a lot of green in them, more than she thought there would be. Her lips felt dry and her tongue darted out to lick them. Because she was staring into his eyes, she saw his pupils dilate and the green become brighter. Before she could stop herself, she reached out and touched the side of his face. His stubble felt rough against her delicate palm but it was his reaction to her, which melted her heart. He closed his eyes and tipped his head into her hand. She wondered how long it had been since he’d been touched in such a gentle way. From the little she knew about him, she didn’t think his life allowed him to let his guard down very often.

  Without thinking, she leaned closer to him wanting to taste him. When she was almost to the point of their lips touching, his eyes flew open, but he didn’t back away. She didn’t think he backed away from anything.

  “We can’t.” The minty smell of toothpaste filled her nose as he spoke.

  She knew what she wanted, and she could bet he wanted the same thing. “Why?”

  “Too many reasons and too much to tell you.”

  “You’re not moving.” She gently flexed her fingers inching them toward his damp hair hanging down. Wanting so badly to grab on with both hands, pull his mouth toward hers, and kiss him until they both forgot what year it was.

  He hissed and quickly pulled away from her. Not understanding what she did, she tried to keep her emotions in check. She watched as his muscles tightened and moved in his back as he walked away from her.

  When he got to the bathroom door, he didn’t turn around but paused. “I’m sorry, Stormy; we can’t. I won’t hurt you that way.” The bathroom door closed with a soft click.

  She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Being rejected wasn’t anything new to her. She wasn’t a virgin, but it had been a long time for her. A very long time. There was something about Bender, which made her want to rely on him, share a part of herself with him.

  The day finally caught up with her; and within a few minutes, she dropped off to sleep, where she dreamed of the two of them fleeing through cold and rainy streets while Nutter chased them.

  He hated what he’d done to Stormy, but there was no way he was going to take advantage of her while she didn’t know the whole truth. She didn’t have a poker face and he could read her thoughts as her face changed with each one. He knew what she wanted and his cock had stood at full attention wanting to give her what she craved.

  After a quiet conversation with Murdoch while he was in the bathroom, he’d come out to her deeply asleep. She didn’t stir when he made sure she was comfortable and covered her up. Brushing her hair back from her face, he was once again struck by her quiet beauty. She always seemed so calm and almost like she wasn’t of this world, or she knew all of its secrets and was just waiting for you to discover them.

  He never allowed himself to want too much. Over the years, he’d either take what he wanted or find some way to destroy it or leave. Whatever it took to keep him whole. He was afraid if he stayed around Stormy, she’d fix all of the broken pieces he didn’t even know were broken to begin with.

  Wanting a way to get everything out of his head for a while and let it simmer in the background, he got his Kindle out and picked one of his favorites to read. Usually when he was reading, he dove right into the story, getting lost right away, but tonight he couldn’t. His mind was too focused on the woman who trusted him enough to keep her safe, even though she didn’t know all of his secrets.

  Stormy woke on her side facing the other bed where she could see Bender sitting¸ the glow from his Kindle lighting up his bare chest. Part of her just wanted to roll over and block him out, the other part wanted to find out more.

  She had to admit, it was cool to wake up with a man, even if he was in the other bed, and see him reading. Knowing they shared a passion was a turn on. Before she could go down that road, she knew she needed to do something to stop herself from becoming depressed about him not wanting her.

  “You never told me why you’re here.”

  He turned toward her, his face in the shadows. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  He stretched his legs out and crossed his ankles. Tipping his head back, he knitted his fingers together behind his head. “The men in the Bender family have never been highly educated, unless you counted what they learned on the streets. We’ve always been tough, abrasive even. There was never any love shown to anyone but themselves. We’re all selfish and we’ll all do whatever it takes to get what we want and damn whoever stands in our way.”

  “Most of us didn’t really care what side of the law we were on; although we did tend to all be on the side where we hid from the cop cars when they were cruising the neighborhood, and what a crappy neighborhood it was. Not as bad as it is today. Even back then, I wouldn’t want you walking down the street alone at night.”

  Stormy wondered if she was reading more into his words than what he meant, or if it was just who he was, wanting to protect others as Mrs. Wilkinson had said when she read his palm earlier.

  “Growing up wasn’t fun. To put it mildly, my dad was a real piece of work. He tried to keep his nose clean, but couldn’t, especially when he was drinking. I did whatever I could to be out of the house when he was around, but I still had to be home. To put it simply, even though I was a kid, he’d hit whatever was in his way.”

  She bit down on her knuckles. She had suspected he’d been abused as a child, but to hear it, to know things like that happen all the time, upset her. It was so unfair and she could do nothing, even when she tried, like for Donnie at her store. She wanted to do so much more for him, to protect him like every child should be.

  “Anyway, I learned what to do and what not to do, and yeah, sometimes I’d intentionally push his buttons. I was a smart ass punk who was on my way to spending some serious prison time or getting myself killed before I hit the age of twenty.”

  Not sure where he went, she wanted him to continue. “What happened?”

  “It was my senior year, so close to graduating, the first for a Bender, and I was in trouble, again. I came home and there was Murdoch sitting on my front porch. I had no idea who the old dude was; but man, did he have me pegged. Knew all about me, said he had a way for me to get out, get away from my old man, and make some money. Now Murdoch, he’s a straight shooter. I knew I’d never be able to get anything past him. Not like I didn’t try, but hey, look where I came from.”

  The light from the Kindle went out and the room fell to darkness except for the small strip of light coming from underneath the door.

  “See, I’d take odd jobs, mostly what you’d call an enforcer, nothing too big or too serious to g
et me into trouble, but enough that people knew not to mess with me. Me, a little punk assed eighteen year old, I had grown men scared of me. I suspect it was because they could tell I had nothing to lose, and that is scary.”

  There was no way she could imagine him doing the things he’d alluded to. It seemed to her as though he was talking about someone else and not himself. But she’d seen his strength and cunning, and how quickly he could think and move on his feet. Some things could never been taught, they were just ingrained.

  “Anyway, Murdoch got me out and my training began. Since I’d been running wild in the neighborhood, I knew what I needed to do in order to have the gangs accept me. Besides, he was old school, throw you in and see what you could do. There were times I was so deep in, I didn’t know where I ended and my undercover job began, especially in those first years. As I grew and learned more, it got easier and easier. Murdoch became the dad I never had. He taught me everything he knew, and if he couldn’t, he’d find someone else who could. I was like a sponge, soaking up all the knowledge anyone would pass on to me. I used it and rose up in the ranks, higher than either of us ever imagined.” He couldn’t hide the pride in his voice of what he’d accomplished.

  “The fish got bigger and bigger. We were taking down whole crime organizations based on the information I gathered. Neighborhoods began to come back; the families came back. People were safe again. I did that. I made it so kids weren’t afraid anymore. We traveled around setting a plan in motion and cleaning up bad neighborhood after bad neighborhood. It felt so good that a Bender actually was doing some good for a change. It fulfilled me.”

  She knew her instincts were right about him. He could be scary and rough around the edges, but underneath it all, he was a protector.

  “But people age, you can only do this for so long, and the years haven’t been good to me. I’ve been in too many fights to count, jumped out of too many windows, and ran down too many bad guys. My body is falling apart faster than I can get it repaired. I need to get out. Coming home, cleaning up where I grew up for those kids? Yeah, it’s my last job.”