by Karen Renee
Jackie pulled open a wide drawer between the two sinks, and placed a small bottle on top. “I left you some leave-in conditioner for when you’re done. My shampoo is on the shelf in there, and here’s a washcloth.”
I nodded, both of them left, and I stripped the remainder of my clothes off and got down to business. I didn’t think I would use both showers. It seemed excessive, but when I realized I was going to need to wash my hair a second time, I decided to live a little. I fired up the second shower head. Nirvana. I was never leaving this shower stall. It was like being at a water park when I was a little kid, except the water was nice and warm. My second wash was more successful, though, judging by the hair in the drain, it seemed like I had lost a quarter of the hair on my head. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too visible.
I was wearing my bra and had just buttoned up my jeans when I heard a knock at the door. Jackie said, “Mallory? Can I come in?”
“Uh…sure,” I said.
She was holding a cell phone to her ear; she held it out to me smiling and said, “Someone is insistent to speak to you.”
I took the phone, and no sooner did I have it to my ear than I heard Cal rumble, “Mallory?”
“Yeah.”
He sighed. “Christ! Are you all right? Someone tried to snatch you?”
I bit back a chuckle. “Well, yeah to both.”
“Well, yeah? That’s what you got for me, and are you fucking smiling?”
I was, but his anger was unexpected. “I was smiling. I just got out of the shower, and that is to say, I just stepped out of a large chunk of heaven on earth. So, you’d be smiling too.”
“You’re naked?”
“No. I’m half-dressed. How about we stay on topic? I’m fine. And even though I’m a full-grown adult, yes, Bush tried to abduct me.”
The line was silent, and even through the phone I sensed the tension coming from Cal. Then he snapped, “Tell me, why is Volt under the impression that nobody knows who tried to take you?”
Oh. Oops. “Well, he didn’t ask me if I knew who tried to take me. He asked if I was hurt. Then he told me I’m going to stay at the compound. I told him that I was getting a hotel room; he then re-informed me that I was staying at the compound. He never asked me who tried to take me.”
I heard Cal inhale sharply, “Give the phone to Volt, now!”
I was wearing my jeans and a grey bra. My hair was wrapped up in a towel. Jackie had left the bathroom, so I scurried through their bedroom out to the kitchen and finally found Volt with Vamp in the living room area. Their eyes came to me, and I held the phone out to Volt. “Cal needs to talk to you, now.” Needless to say, my emphasis on the word now was not nearly as harsh as Cal’s.
I had to pass by Vamp again on my way back to the bathroom, and he gave me a salacious grin. Then his finger shot out and skimmed my belly as I passed by. I turned my head and shot daggers at him with my eyes. As I rounded the couch, he turned back and I heard him softly say, “Nice bra, babe.”
I high-tailed it out of the room back to the bathroom. I unwrapped my hair, threw on my turtleneck and then used Jackie’s Wet-Dry brush to smooth out my locks. I used some of the leave-in conditioner and then tried to scrunch some wave back into my lank hair. It felt thinner to me, but looking in the mirror, it didn’t look thinner. That was a relief. I grabbed my socks and shoes, and went in search of Jackie and Tasha.
I came out to the kitchen to find Vamp and Volt standing at the island. Volt had an eyebrow arched at me, and he looked disappointed.
“Been told you’re a smart chick. I’m starting to doubt it though. It’s one thing you didn’t mention the tail on your way here. You’re not accustomed to our world. You didn't know what that was about. I get that. But an attempt is made to take you forcibly off the street, and a safe street at that, and you know who tried to take you, but you don’t fuckin’ tell anyone?” Volt hissed at me.
“You stalked off to talk to Jim and Tim.”
Volt closed his eyes and his lips pressed together. When he opened his eyes, they shone with impatience. “In the future, rather than tell me you’re gonna get a hotel room when I tell you you’re stayin’ at the fuckin’ compound, you tell me that you knew who fuckin’ tried to take you and ultimately who put you, your BFF, and my old lady at risk!”
He was right. I should’ve led with that. I whispered, “Sorry.”
Natasha and Jackie came in and Vamp nodded to them. He walked to Natasha, hooked an arm around her and said, “I hear there are two boys missing their momma. Let’s get you two across the river.”
Sometimes, Vamp could really soften my heart. What was a girl to do with remarks like this at times like these? I supposed the best answer was to ignore these remarks.
I drove us to Natasha’s house, and she asked me to walk her to her door. I did this with the keys to my car tucked into my jeans pocket. Vamp took himself out of my car. I didn’t think much of it at the time because he seemed to be hyper-alert to anything in the air that might threaten us. After Natasha and I had a goodnight hug, which was definitely in order with the night we had, I returned to the car to find Vamp sitting in the driver’s seat.
I stood at the open driver’s door and said, “Nice try, but I’m driving. It didn’t hurt your masculinity to let me drive you across the bridge; it’s not going to hurt you now.”
Vamp flicked his tongue on his lip ring, “Get in the passenger side, Mallory. I’m takin’ you into the compound the back way, and I’m drivin’ so I can be certain we don’t have any kind of tail.”
* * * * *
Vamp pulled my Camry into the back area of the compound. I noticed the clock in my car read ten minutes to eleven. Vamp turned off the engine and put his hand behind my neck. This couldn’t be good, but he certainly had my attention so I looked at him.
“I understand your last trip here was not so good.”
I pressed my lips together and kept quiet.
“I won’t lie to you. Almost eleven o'clock on a Saturday night, the brothers in there are undoubtedly partying down and within the next hour things will get pretty wild. Cal wants me to put you in his room, but I want to give you a choice. You can hang in the common room with me and whoever else is there, or you can go to Cal’s room, but he wanted me to lock you in.”
I tried not to give him a dirty look. After all, Vamp was just the messenger, “Where is Cal? And when will he get here? I don’t really want to be locked in his room like it’s some kind of cell.”
Vamp shrugged, “Cal’s doing club business, can’t tell you anything other than that. Not sure when he’s gonna get here. Cal would prefer to lock you in his room, but I know I don’t like being without my free will. Does this mean you don’t want to be in Cal’s room?”
I wasn’t particularly keen on another run in with Trixie and the large man who called me a yuppie and offered to put me in my place. Yet, I was curious about the other members of the club and this would be a good opportunity to get to know a few of them.
I pulled Vamp’s hand away from my neck, “No. I’ll hang with you and whoever is in the common area. If I can’t hack it, I’ll go to Cal’s room. Will that work?”
Vamp winked at me and we got out the car.
We went in through the back door into the kitchen. The counters were cluttered with burgers, hot dogs, buns, and three packages of store-bought fried chicken. Vamp nabbed a drumstick and I followed him into a large dimly-lit room. To my right there was a long bar running almost the length of the room. A pool table was in the center of the room, and two men wearing Riot MC cuts were playing against two women. On the left side of the room there were some couches and loveseats. I edged toward the seating area, but Vamp grasped my elbow.
“Over here, Mal. Let’s sit at the bar. Wanna beer? Doubt there’s any wine.”
I perched myself on a wobbly barstool. Vamp went behind the bar and pulled out two Michelob Ultra bottles. He set one in front of me and came out from behind the bar and sat next to me. This
kind of surprised me.
Vamp nudged my thigh with his knee. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson.”
“Um. What?”
Vamp swallowed a slug of beer. “Two Leathernecks follow you, you tell the Prez. Pronto.”
“Dude. They went around me at a yellow light.”
Vamp gave me a sideways glance. “Doesn’t mean shit. You shoulda spoke up.”
I was getting tired and more than a little irritated. “So sorry. Three weeks ago I didn’t know MCs existed in Jacksonville. Now, there’s a Leatherneck everywhere I go.”
Vamp’s brilliant blue eyes got big. “Everywhere you go? Mallory, they aren’t a fuckin’ credit card. ‘Everywhere you want to be.’ You shoulda clued in.”
I was set to retort when a pair of long, skinny arms wound around Vamp from the back. A brunette with natural spiral curls and striking green eyes gave me a sly grin and whispered in Vamp’s ear. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, but a small smirk formed on his lips. She moved her arms, and began to move to Vamp’s front. She hiked a leg up to get on Vamp’s lap, but he shoved her leg down and held her to his side. She was tall, probably five-foot-ten and wearing Daisy Dukes. Her top was a peach camisole with a built-in bra, though she seriously needed a real bra under it. The fabric was so flimsy I could see the shading of her areolas beneath the cami. Her makeup was heavy, as in, almost caked on her face. It was a shame, because I felt certain she’d be a genuine knockout if she used a lighter hand with the cosmetics. Though, I wasn’t really in a position to criticize, since I hardly ever wore any makeup.
Her voice was husky when she asked, “Are you sure, baby? I saw you two talking. Looked like she’s sassy, and it’s been a while since we played. I’m sure we’d make it good for her.”
Vamp tried to set her a little further away, but she ran a hand up his thigh and sidled up to him again. Vamp sighed, “No, Starla, this is Mallory. Cal would have a shit-fit if we played with her.”
Starla leaned toward me. “You know, Vamp’s pierced. It will rock your world. Big. Time. His tongue’s pierced too, so if you’re shy you can sit on his face and it will get you ready for his cock.”
I was glad the lighting was dim. I wasn’t sure if I was blushing or not, but I could only imagine how uncomfortable I must have looked. Even Vamp was looking a little harried, but I figured that was just him trying not to grimace or something. I was trying not to fidget when the front door opened and Cal walked in. He scanned the room, saw Vamp and came over.
“Starla, you and your friend get lost.”
Starla gave Cal a small pout. “What friend? Mallory and I only just met, but I was making friendly overtures to her.”
Cal looked more closely at me. “Fuck. Why aren’t you in my room, like I asked?”
“Hello to you, too? How are you? I’m fine, considering I was nearly abducted, thanks.”
Cal growled, “Woman. This is not the time.”
Vamp piped up, “Can I leave you two to your bickering? Starla was right. It’s been a while since we played, and I’m gonna find a third, maybe a fourth.”
Cal turned to him, but I couldn’t read his look because his back was to me. I heard him grumble, “We’ll talk in the morning.”
Then he yanked me off the stool, and we went to his room.
Chapter 17
We got to Cal’s room, he threw the bolt, and then he wrapped his arms around me tight. It was the be all and end all of bear-hugs. I thought he was going to crack one of my ribs, when just as suddenly, he let me go. He held me at arm’s length and scanned me from head to toe. I could see relief wash over his face, but it was quickly replaced by aggravation.
“Please don’t start,” I said. I’d heard it from Volt and then Vamp. I really didn’t want to get a third degree or whatever from Cal. Someone trying to yank me off the street is pretty damn bad, but hearing about it over and over again was making me feel like a real idiot.
Cal gave me an incredulous look. “Don’t start? Fuck, Mallory. You could be tied up somewhere right fuckin’ now and we’d know fuck all about it. What the hell. Volt tells me there were two ’Necks who followed you to Mandarin. You gotta be more aware. You should have told Volt, and you fuckin’ damn sure should’ve told me. This is bullshit. What do the Leathernecks want with you?”
My eyes got huge. “Hell if I know. Seems like after I met you, they’ve been showing up fairly regular. You sure this doesn’t have something to do with you?”
“They got a beef with me, they take it up with me. That’s how our world works. There’s something else at work here, Mal. When’s the first time you ever saw the Leathernecks?”
I shook my head, but tried to think about it. Then I said, “The morning at Grumpy’s when I gave Gwen the money.”
Cal sat down and started taking off his boots. He let out a breath. “Gwen say anything about the Leathernecks?”
My eyebrows drew together. “No. If anything, she was really worried about whether I knew any members of any motorcycle group.”
Cal rubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m thinkin’ I know the answer to this question, but I’m gonna ask it anyway. Did you ask your mother-in-law to see her credit card statements?”
I gave a derisive laugh. “Actually, I asked her for that just this afternoon when she called asking for more money.”
Cal stood up. An angry vibe was rolling off of him and he asked tersely, “She asked for more money?”
I took a deep breath. “She apparently took some of it to the poker room to try to turn it into more.”
Cal’s head tipped up marginally. “Now, we’re gettin’ somewhere.”
“We are?”
It was Cal’s turn for a derisive laugh. “Mallory, my gut told me that break-in had nothin’ to do with teenagers and gang initiations. Seriously, if it were teenagers, why wouldn’t they have trashed your guest room and your kid’s room? I was a teenage boy once, and I got up to my fair share of bullshit. If I had broken into your house, I would have left nothing untouched. Hell, an angry teenager’s gonna take at least something from your house or they’d piss on it or slash something in it. You had none of that. Your place was ransacked like someone was lookin’ for somethin’ in particular. The cop asked you who knew about your special stash of cash, and the only person who did was your mother-in-law, who just happens to have money problems. Only she didn’t know her own son had changed his hidey-hole.”
I tilted my head and said, “That sounds a little too pat. I mean come on. She was after my ass about the total dollar amount of the settlement, and a piddly three hundred dollars in cash ain’t gonna do shit for thousands of dollars worth of credit card debt.”
Cal sat down while lifting one shoulder and lowered it in a half-shrug. “You’re right, but if she’s been hitting the poker room, then she might have thought she could turn three Benjamins into six or maybe even a grand. Of course, you’re assuming that she actually has credit card debt. What’d she say about showing you the statements?”
I sighed. “She gave me some bullshit about how Greg would never have treated her that way and wouldn’t have asked for the statements, but by the end of our conversation she had agreed to show them to me, in order to possibly get more from me.”
I watched as Cal sat on his bed and closed his eyes while taking a very deep breath. His broad chest was pretty enticing right then and there, if only he weren’t ready to wring my neck. He opened his eyes, and then said, “You ain’t givin’ her anymore.”
“Um,” I started, but Cal stood up and stalked to me.
“No. Not up for discussion. I told you Thursday, you made a fuckin’ mistake givin’ her money. Now, I’m certain about that. You got Razor’s number in your phone?”
Talk about subject changes, good grief.
I gave Cal a look. “Um. No. I don’t. Men who put their numbers on napkins don’t make it into my cell phone.” No matter how cute they might be or how yummy they smell, but I would never tell Cal something
like that.
Cal’s lips tipped up a touch. “Good to know. Maybe Razor’s losing his edge. Gimme your phone. I want you to call him from your cell, and you’re gonna ask him why Bush tried to snatch you. You are sure that it was Bush, right?”
I handed Cal my phone, and then said “He gave me the same disgusting look he gave me at pool hall. I couldn’t forget it, and I have tried. Why should I call Razor? He’s one of them. What makes you think he’s gonna give me the truth?”
Cal almost smirked at me. “I don’t know that he will, but I also don’t know that he won’t. As I recall, he said he wanted to keep any unpleasantness from you. You need to call him on that. In a kind of flirty way, but don’t go overboard. I can’t handle that shit, and I’m gonna be right here when you call.”
I rolled my eyes at Cal. He cast a stern look at me. “Do that again, and you’ll pay.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Give me the phone. Let’s get this done.”
I sat on the bed with the phone to my ear. Razor’s phone rang three times before he answered with a gruff, “Talk to me.”
I was thrown by the lack of phone manners, but managed to croak out, “Razor? It’s Mallory.”
There was a lengthy pause. “Mallory? The good girl who lost the napkin with my digits, Mallory?”
“Yeah. That Mallory.”
“What can I do you for, Mallory?”
I looked at Cal who was leaning against the wall directly in front of me, and said, “You told me to call about any unpleasantness.”
“I did. Something unpleasant going on for you, Fireball? I can’t imagine with your attitude that you couldn’t handle it.”
I gave a silent snort. “Hard to handle it when one of your brothers tries to pull me into a panel van against my will.”
The next pause from Razor was lengthier. I heard noises build and then fall away, and then I heard what sounded like a door closing. “One of my brothers? What are you talking about?”
I took a deep breath. “Well, Bush and someone else rolled up on San Jose Boulevard and Bush grabbed me by the hair to try and get me into the van with him and whoever was driving.”
