Texas (San Francisco Steel, #8)

by KJ Dahlen

  Texas’s eyes widened when he saw her scars as he grabbed her sleeve and pushed it higher.

  The three men at the doorway froze and Slammer gasped at the sight of the old wound. He moved toward the bed and grabbed her arm holding it still so he could see the scar clearly. “When did this happen?”

  Poppy wrenched her arm free of his grasp and turned away. “I don’t remember,” she whispered.

  Slammer grabbed a hold of her face and brought it back around, so he could see her eyes. “When did you get that scar?” he asked her again.

  She looked him in the eyes and said more forcibly, “I. Don’t. Remember. Something bad happened to me a long time ago but I don’t know what it was. I’ve tried and tried but I just can’t remember.”

  Just then, her phone pinged. Poppy pulled away from Slammer’s grasp and looked down at her phone. Then she frowned. “It’s a message from Karen...” Glancing quickly at Texas, she held out the phone so he could read it.

  Texas gazed up at Slammer. “We got company downstairs. Another MC.”

  Slammer looked ready to spill some blood. “Well hell boys, let’s go see what they want.” He turned and led the way down the stairs.

  Texas grabbed Poppy’s hand and led her down the steps.

  As they entered the shop through the back, Poppy stopped in shock. She saw four other bikers, two of them were older men while two of them were younger, but all four stood there with crossed arms and a glare in their eyes.

  But that wasn’t what had her frozen in her tracks. She paled and began to tremble at the sight of their vests. The worn leather looked soft with age. The older one had a patch on his shoulder that sparked a memory somewhere deep in her mind. She had seen that patch before. She frowned as the memory came rushing back.

  Sweat began to bead on her forehead as she stared at it intently. She tried to take a step back but Texas wouldn’t let her go anywhere.

  When Slammer moved forward and greeted them, he held out his hand to one of them. “Caliber, it’s good to see you.”

  The oldest man grasped his hand and grinned. “Nice to see you again Ben. It’s been far too long.”

  Only when Slammer looked back at Poppy did he see her white face. He frowned, then looked back at Caliber and then back again to Poppy. “What’s wrong with you? These men aren’t going to hurt you.”

  Poppy swayed then began falling.

  Texas caught her before she hit the floor, then he swept her into his arms and carried her back upstairs.

  Everyone followed, some were curious and some of them were pissed. Slammer was thinking she was afraid they would hurt her.

  Texas laid her flat on the sofa and waited for her to wake up again. “Wake up Poppy. Nobody here will hurt you.”

  Poppy’s eyes fluttered and she was finally able to open them. The first thing she saw was Texas’s face. He appeared to be worried.

  “Are you okay?” he whispered.

  She nodded. “I think so. I’m sorry I flaked out on you.” She looked beyond his shoulder and found several men staring at her. She sat up and stared at the new men. Raising her hands to her mouth, she studied the vests they wore. “It’s real?” she whispered. Looking over at Texas she whispered, “It’s really real?”

  Texas and Slammer frowned. “What’s really real?”

  Poppy got to her feet and walked slowly over to the older man. She was staring at the patch on his shoulder. She reached out but didn’t quite reach it.

  He stopped her hand from touching the patch and grumbled, “You don’t touch a biker’s cut woman, unless you’re asked to.”

  Poppy took a step back without taking her eyes off the patch. “I’m sorry, I meant no disrespect.” She tore her gaze away from the patch and looked into his eyes. “Who are you? Why do I know this patch?”

  Caliber stared at her eyes for a moment then he looked over at Slammer. Looking back at Poppy he asked, “Have you seen it before?”

  “I think so, a very long time ago.” She slowly nodded.

  “We’re the Sin’s Wrath MC,” he stated. “We’re from over in Oakland.”

  She shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry but I’ve never seen you men before, so....” Her hand went to her shoulder and she began rubbing the skin there. She was starting to remember now. She saw this patch before on another man’s chest... on his jacket in fact. The door in her mind that had been closed all these years was opening and images of a day long gone began flashing through her brain. The things she was seeing were rushing through her mind so fast she could barely grasp them before another memory popped in front. The sensations were overwhelming her and she began to crumble.

  Caliber grabbed her to steady her.

  Then Poppy cried out as she grabbed the top of her head and remembered everything.

  Texas moved forward and took her out of Caliber’s arms. He swung her into his arms and went back to the sofa then sat down with her in his lap.

  She began to weep as new memories began crowding into her consciousness.

  The men simply stood there and waited.

  After a long moment, she looked up at Slammer. With tears in her eyes she admitted, “I forget about that day. How could I do that?”

  Slammer knelt in front of her. “What the hell are you talking about? What day? What do you remember now that you couldn’t before?”

  “Ben, let her think a minute will ya?” Caliber demanded. He came over closer and gently raised her shirt sleeve. Then he looked over the old scar on her arm. “You were there that day weren’t you?”

  Poppy tried to hide her face in Texas’s chest, but Slammer wouldn’t let her. He grabbed her chin gently and made her face him. “Are you talking about the day my dad was killed? You were there that day. You saw the face of his killer, didn’t you?”

  “Ben...” Caliber cautioned.

  Slammer turned his head to glare at him. “What? She can finally tell us who murdered my dad. Aren’t you interested in finding justice for him?”

  “Yes, I am.” Caliber sighed heavily. “But he was her father too, and he wasn’t the only one who died that day. So did her mother.”

  Slammer’s eyes widened as he heard the softly spoken words. Then he turned his head to stare at Poppy. “Well fucking hell,” he swore softly.

  “You might have been almost a man that day,” Caliber reminded him. “But she was just a little kid.” He ran his hands over the back of his head. Then he looked at her. “You were there weren’t you?”

  Poppy stared at him.

  “I’m called Caliber. Your dad was my best friend,” he explained.

  Poppy then nodded as she laid her head on Texas’s chest as tears rolled down her cheeks. “My mom told me I was going to meet someone very important to both of us that day. We had been living in a small place here in the city I think. It was just me and her for so long. Then she met somebody. She was so happy. She always told me about my dad but she never told me his name. But I could tell she loved him. She also told me about my brother, only she never told his name either. She said that she hoped I would meet you both one day. Then the day came when she wanted me to meet my dad. She had it all set up. She dressed me up and we drove to this place...I think it was in the hills somewhere and she parked the car at this like turnaround. There was someone there sitting on the biggest bike I’d ever seen.”

  Caliber and Slammer looked at each other, then back at her.

  “I remember being just a little bit scared of him. He was a big man and when I met him, he towered over me, like the tallest tree I’d ever seen. Then I saw him smile. He lifted me up in his arms and suddenly, a shot rang out and we crumbled to the ground. Someone shot us. Mom screamed and another shot rang out and I watched her fall. Then I saw this man. He came over to where my mom was laying and shot her again. Then he came over to where my dad was and shot him again too. The blood. I remember all the blood now. I couldn’t even speak. He dragged me away from the blood spattered bodies then he went over to mom’s car and pus
hed it over the side of the ravine. He pulled me behind him and we got into an old pickup truck and he just drove away.”

  “Where did you go darlin’?” Caliber asked.

  Poppy shook her head. “I’m not sure. When I woke up the next morning, there was an older couple there. They told me they were my grandparents, my mom’s mother and father. They said it was my fault she was dead and that they would raise me.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I hated living with them. But no more than they hated me. They told me every day that they could barely stand to look at me, that they hated the very fact I was allowed to be born.”

  “How could they hate you?” Slammer asked. “They didn’t even know you.”

  Poppy shook her head. “Every day, they would scream and yell at me. Always the same thing. Over and over, they would blame me for something I had no control over. I mean I didn’t ask to be born but suddenly, I was paying the price for being her daughter born out of wedlock. Like it was my fault, they weren’t married and how it was her fault for choosing such a bad man to get hooked up with. They didn’t even know him and they were telling me how he was such a bad guy. Then I remember the hours sitting at the kitchen table reading and doing lessons because they wouldn’t let me go to school. Then all the hours they stood over me teaching me the bible verses. I think I was about twelve when I figured out that no one knew I was living there but them. Every time they got company, I had to go hide.” She shook her head. “No one knew I existed but the two of them. I really was nobody. They made me so unimportant— a nobody...” Her voice faded away.

  “Is that why you told us you were nobody when we wanted to know your name?” Slammer asked.

  Poppy nodded. “They told me every day I was no one, that it was my sin I even existed.”

  “Did they ever beat you?” Texas asked.

  Poppy hung her head but couldn’t find the words to tell them.

  “Do you know the face of the man that’s hunting you?” Caliber asked.

  Poppy shook her head. “That’s the one thing that I can’t remember. His face was hidden under the brim of an old hat he wore. The hat was a dirty grey color. That was how I knew he was looking for me. I saw that dirty old hat and I ran.” She swallowed hard before she continued, “Usually, I get a feeling of being watched just days before I see that hat. That was the reason I was outside your compound the other day. I’ve been getting that same old feeling and I know that bastard is here in the city looking for me again. I wanted maybe to just see you once, get a good look at you if that was all I could have. Now I have to run again. That’s why I had to work today. I need the money to start over somewhere else. I just wanted to see you one more time before I left. And I lacked the courage to walk up to you and say ‘hi, I’m your sister.’ ”

  “Well little girl, you don’t have to run again,” Slammer assured her. “This time, you’re going to face the man wearing that fucking hat. I want to see the face of the man who killed my dad. I want to know the reason why. I need to know what my dad did that was so bad that he had to die for it.”

  Poppy shuddered. “I d-don’t. I don’t ever want to see those eyes again. His eyes that day were over the edge insane. I see them in my dreams... they have been haunting me for my whole life. No. I won’t do it.”

  Chapter Seven

  Twenty minutes later, Slammer and Caliber were standing away from where Poppy and Texas were sitting.

  Caliber was watching her. “She’s Boss’ daughter all right.”

  Slammer nodded. “I know. The first time I saw her, I knew it. I just had no idea Angel was her mother.” Shaking his head he asked, “How was it we didn’t know about her before now?”

  Caliber shrugged. “You might not remember this but back then before Angel left, your dad was really being an ass toward her. I think he loved her but just didn’t know how to tell her. He’d always been a rough man, leading a raw existence. Guns, drugs, booze and the like. He was drinking a lot back then and doing anyone and everyone he could, just to hurt her. I tried to warn him he was overstepping the bounds but he was running scared I think. For the first time in his life, he was in love and it scared hell out of him. A man like him would never think of love in that sense of the word. It took her walking out on him for him to wise up. It’s what finally woke him up.”

  Slammer nodded. “I remember. I might have been a kid but I remember him trying to turn his life around.”

  “It took him four years to find her then almost another year to prove to her that he had changed.”

  Slammer nodded. “Yes, I remember now. He left the compound that day so happy. He told me this was the day that would change both our lives. I had no idea he was going to meet his daughter for the first time or that he would never make it home.”

  “We have to figure out who this bastard is that killed them.” Caliber nodded. “And I think she’s knows who that man is. She may not remember his face yet, but she knows him. That means we can’t let her run this time.”

  “That might be more difficult than you realize. She’s always had to run before.” Slammer sighed.

  “Then put a brother on her twenty four seven. If she feels she’s not alone, maybe she’ll stay and face her past. Your man Texas seems to be good for her,” Caliber noted. “Then we can get justice for your dad and Angel and find the truth about what happened.”

  “I’d like to face her grandparents too.” Slammer growled. “What they put her through is criminal.”

  Caliber nodded. “Maybe after we find your dad’s killer, we can hunt them down and teach them a thing or two about raising kids.” He paused and looked over at Slammer. “Are you ready to accept her as a sister?”

  “That’s a very good question. One I’m not sure how to answer,” Slammer admitted. “When I first saw her I wasn’t sure how to feel but the more I’m getting to know her the more I want to know her. Growing up the way I did, I was glad I didn’t have any siblings. Dad wasn’t always the best role model for kids if you know what I mean.” He shrugged.

  “Prez,” Mammoth called out softly. “I think you need to see this.”

  Slammer and Caliber moved to the window over the back door. There across the street, a man stood while looking up at the apartment over the shop. He was wearing a long coat and his face was hidden under a dirty hat crammed low on his head.

  Slammer felt a rage wash over him and he turned to call out to Poppy, “Come here.”

  Poppy got up, walked over to the window, and looked outside. Then she gasped and backed away from the window. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I have to get out of here now! He found me again.”

  Caliber grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to glare at her. “Now listen to me girl, you aren’t going anywhere this time. You stand your ground and face this bastard. You aren’t alone anymore and this will be the last time this bastard threatens you.”

  She glanced over at Slammer then back to Caliber “But I just found my brother. I can’t and won’t bring this kind of trouble to his doorstep. He’s been through enough.”

  “Like I said before, you don’t get to make that decision for me,” Slammer replied. “This ends now.”

  “But you’re important to the people in your club. They count on you. I saw it they all follow you. You have a wonderful woman. I’m nobody. If I leave, he’ll leave. I have no one. I don’t matter.”

  “The hell you don’t.” Slammer growled. “You’re my sister, you matter to me and you mattered to my dad.” Then he moved to stand at the window looking down at the monster of her dreams. “That bastard took him away from both of us. He’s got to pay for that.”

  “How does this usually work sweetheart?” Caliber asked.

  Poppy shook her head.

  “When you leave, I mean?” he added.

  “I don’t know. I’m usually gone as soon as I see him. I have my to go bag already packed, so all I have to do is run at a moment’s notice.” Her shoulders dropped. “I guess I’m not going to be able to do that
huh?”

  “Not this time, girl,” Caliber stated. “This is when it ends for him. MC justice demands it. Your dad was our friend. Neither him or your mom deserved what happened to them.”

  “Did you know my mom?” Poppy asked softly.

  “I did indeed and you know what? She was a good woman,” Caliber told her. “The whole Mc missed her presence after she left. She was that special. We were all saddened by her leaving.”

  Slammer nodded. “I knew her too. And she was a warm, kind person.”

  Poppy looked at them both. “I knew her for such a short time, so I really don’t remember much.” She looked down at her hands. “But I think I remember one thing she used to do. I think when she kissed me good night she always rubbed her nose against mine and she used to call it—”

  “An Eskimo kiss,” Slammer finished her sentence. “My mother left Boss and me when I was nine and he met Angel when I was eleven. I spent a lot of time with her and she tried to do that to me too. Of course, I was a little shit and didn’t want her around, so I told her not to pull that crap with me. I think I hurt her feelings but I was a mad angry kid at the time. It took some effort on her part to get through to me and when she finally did, then she left. I didn’t know why but when she was gone, I really missed her.”

  “So did your dad, although he never would admit it,” Caliber informed them.

  “So what do we do now?” Poppy finally asked as she wrung her hands together.

  “We let him think you are unaware he’s here,” Caliber explained. “We want him to make his move against you then we take him down once and for all.”

  “But you guys will be close right?” She looked around at all of them and her eyes landed on Texas.

  He nodded his head at her. His eye never leaving her.

  “Probably closer than you want us to be,” Slammer assured her. “But yeah we’ll be close, hiding in the shadows waiting for this bastard to make his move.” He stared at her for a moment then added, “But I’ll leave Texas with you, so you won’t be alone.”