“Uh-huh,” Charlie grunts. “The only reason the guys tolerate me is because they need me.”
“You don’t exactly help yourself,” I point out. “You never talk to anyone. You just sit in the corner and sulk.”
“I’m not sulking,” Charlie protests. “I just don’t see the need to have to prove myself to people that don’t give two shits about me. I’ve had enough of that already.”
I look at Charlie and I can feel my brow furrow. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Charlie says flatly, as he unlocks the door. “Forget I said anything.”
“If we’re going to spend the night together, so to speak, you can at least tell me what’s eating at you. Maybe I can help. It’s the least I can do for you, since you’re putting me up.”
“Maybe some other time,” Charlie says. After that he doesn’t say much the rest of the evening. He simply reverts to that standoffish personality he wears like a shield. But, I have seen a glimmer of another Charlie, a tough and self-assured Charlie that I like much better.
CHAPTER FOUR
I am just tucking myself into Charlie’s bed, when he knocks lightly on the door. Charlie has loaned me a baggy t-shirt to sleep in; but, I pull the bed linens up to cover me just the same. “Come in,” I say.
Charlie eases the door open. “Sorry. One last stop before bed,” he says walking into his tiny bathroom.
I can’t help but stare. Charlie is a fucking knockout. He’s wearing full length pajama bottom, but no shirt. Without the baggy clothes to hide his physique, I see that he is toned and trimmed. He has a lean muscled look, like swimmers have. I hear the toilet flush and I avert my gaze so he won’t catch me watching him. “Charlie, thanks,” I say, as he walks by.
“You can use my bed anytime,” he says with a grin, before he pulls the door closed. I have a little trouble falling asleep…and not all of it because of Darren Kelley.
***
The next morning Charlie and I join the group for our normal monthly Saturday morning breakfast meeting. This is where we talk about…business. Sometimes, we get paid. Like today. Normally, we ride our bikes to these meeting. Then, we usually take a ride through the country, if the weather permits. Charlie and I arrive in his Subaru rather than two up on his bike or going to get mine. Only Lew’s bike is there, but we go in anyway.
Charlie and I greet Lew, as we slide into the large booth. As we sit, Lew and I shoot the shit while we wait for everyone else to show up. I like Lew, but Charlie reverts to type and becomes sullen and quiet. I don’t understand his change because he wasn’t like that with me on the ride in. Lew and I carry the conversation until the rest of the Dark Riders straggle in.
Once the last person arrives, Danny of course, we get down to club business. Lew slides a thick envelope across the table to each of us. None of us count what’s inside because we know Lew wouldn’t screw us. “We did good this time. The club pocketed a little over $24,000 after expenses. There’s $12,000 in each envelope. So, well done men and lady,” Lew says smiling at me. “Not bad for a couple months work.” We all murmur our thanks, as the envelopes disappear.
“Word is spreading,” Rick says. “I have orders for 24 bikes already. I will get those to you this weekend,” he says looking at me. “At the rate we’re going we’re going to have another container in less than a month. Demand is going up, now that the weather is getting warmer. Do you think you can get forty or fifty bikes in the next thirty days?”
“Let me worry about that,” I say, getting peeved again. I have never failed to deliver, but they ask that question every single time. Getting the damn container is always the problem, but you never hear anyone ask Sean if he can get one of those. “If you can get me a container, I can fill it.” I say, taking my jab at their attitude.
We each get a turn to talk and bring up concerns; but really, these meetings are non-events. We ship anywhere from eight to ten containers of Harleys every year. We’ve been doing so for years. We know what we are doing.
Once business is over we talk about other things. Everyone is looking forward to the ride and getting out of Savannah for a while to enjoy the weather. “I didn’t see your bike out there, Aubrey,” Danny says. “Or yours either, Charlie. Y’all not going on the ride today? The weather is supposed to be nice.”
Before Charlie can answer, I pipe up. I worked out our cover story on the way over. “Charlie and I came together in his car this morning. He asked me to tune up his bike for him before we start riding a bunch.”
Danny frowns, obviously troubled by what I said. “Why didn’t you do that last weekend when it was raining? You know we always go for a club ride after our meetings. It’s important that we do these activities together. It keeps us tight and gives us a reason to see each other than for business. You two never think ahead.”
“I just asked her this week,” Charlie says coming to my defense. “She didn’t know about it until yesterday.”
“I see,” Danny says. “I tell you what, we’ll drop by after we’re done here and you two can get your bikes. One ride isn’t going to hurt anything.”
“I don’t know, Danny,” Charlie says. “It’s running pretty rough since I rode it last. Not sure what’s going on. Besides, Aubrey came in her car so she could bring some tools.”
“Fine,” Danny snaps. “Just do what you want.”
“Stop being such a pisser, Danny,” I say testily. “This is the first ride we’ve missed in how long? I’ll get his bike straightened out and we’ll go next time.”
Danny’s attitude puts a damper on the whole meeting and we break up soon after. Danny leaves first. He hauls ass out of the parking lot and leaves everyone else behind. I love my brother, but he is worse than a little kid when he doesn’t get his way. I don’t know how his wife puts up with him.
“Thanks for backing me up,” I say to Charlie, as we motor back to his house to get my car.
“No problem. So does this mean I’m getting a free tune-up today?”
“It might, but you’re going to have to bring the bike to my house where my tools are.”
Charlie smiles. “Careful what you offer. I might take you up on it.”
Now that we are away from the DRs again, Charlie has reverted back to the way he was acting last night and this morning. “Charlie, tell me something.”
“What’s that?”
“What’s up with you and the DRs? It’s like you are two completely different people. If they could see what I’m seeing, well, I think things would be different.”
Charlie is silent for a moment, then he begins to speak. “I don’t know why I do that. I want them to like me. I want to belong; but it’s just hard to open up and trust them.”
“I don’t know what you mean. Trust them how?”
“I haven’t told anyone this, so you have to keep this between us, okay?”
I get a cold chill. “Okay, sure.”
“I never knew my dad. I think I’m the result of a one-night stand.” I open my mouth to speak, but Charlie holds up his hand. “Just wait. We never had a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. When I was about eight, Mom put me up for adoption. Do you know how hard it is for an eight year old to get adopted? So, I bounced around from foster home to foster home. No one was ever mean to me; but, well, I just never had a place to call mine you know. Nobody I could trust.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say and I mean it. “That must have been tough.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t fun.”
“How many foster homes were you in?”
I can see Charlie thinking. “Four.”
“Four in ten years doesn’t seem so bad. I’m sure it was tough, but that’s like one every two years or so.”
“More like one every six months.”
“How can that be? You went in at eight and I assume you got out at eighteen, so…?”
Charlie smiles sadly. “I was moved around a lot at first. Not that unusual I guess. But then, I final
ly got settled into a home that I liked and they seemed to like me…”
“What?” I ask when he didn’t seem eager to continue.
“I got into some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“The family had an older daughter. Three, four years older than me. She asked me to help her and… okay, look. Here’s the deal. I liked where I was at and they seemed to like me.
“I’ve always been pretty good with computers and Linda asked for some help, some computer help. She told me that she would have her parents throw me out if I didn’t help her steal some credit card information.
“I didn’t want to do it, but I was afraid of moving again. I had just started making friends, you know? I even reminded her dad, in private of course, it’s a good idea to change passwords every so often. But when she started hinting that I was, uh, taking an interest in her, I started to worry. So, I helped her.
“I got the cards, but we got caught. I took the rap and did a four year stint in juvie. It didn’t help that I had the prosecutor and the judge’s credit card number.” Charlie says with a sad smile.
“You stole people’s credit cards?” I ask in shock.
“It’s not that hard. Not if you know what you are doing. Especially when someone gives you the password. Linda’s dad worked at the bank. She got his password. He probably had it written down somewhere and she found it.”
“And, of course, she denied everything,” I said.
“Of course. So, it’s hard for me sometimes. I’m always afraid that someone is going to pull the rug out from under me again.”
“Charlie, you know we wouldn’t do that to you. We’re a family. We need you,” I say, as Charlie pulls into the parking lot of his apartment.
“Yeah. I could tell at breakfast that Danny just loves me.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you then,” I say.
“Thanks, Aubrey. That mean a lot. Son-of-a-bitch,” Charlie says stopping the car half in and half out of the parking space he is backing into.
“What?”
“Look at the tires on your car.”
“Holy shit!” I snarl as I open my door. Someone had cut all four tires on my car.
Charlie waits until I shut the door. Then, he finishes parking his car before he joins me. “That son-of-a-bitch,” I snarl. “I hope you have your gun on you because if I see that bastard I’m going to kill him.” Charlie reaches into his pocket. I think he is going for his gun, but pulls out his cell phone instead. “Who are you are you calling?”
“Unless you have four spares or some blocks to put the car on, you’re going to need a tow.”
“Good thing I just got paid,” I mutter under my breath.
CHAPTER FIVE
Two hours later, the tow truck arrives and takes my car away. We follow it to the place where I buy my tires. Then, Charlie takes me home while they fix me up. We are walking up the path to my door when Charlie puts a hand on my stomach, indicating I should stop. “Wait here a minute,” Charlie says quietly before walking the last half-dozen steps up to my front door. He doesn’t pull his gun which I know he has on him, but he looks like he wants to.
When he reaches my door, he gives it a gentle push without touching the knob. When the door swings open, I can feel my heart leap into my throat. Charlie holds his hand up for me to wait. Then, he does pull his gun from its hidden holster. Easing the door open, Charlie squeezes inside.
I hardly breathe until Charlie steps out a few minutes later, the gun once again out of sight. “The place is empty. It looks alright to me, but you need to come see what’s missing.”
I carefully look the house over, but can’t find anything out of place. “They broke in, but didn’t steal anything?” I ask, talking to myself.
“I don’t think this is a burglary. I think it’s a warning.”
“Darren,” I breathe.
“Yeah,” Charlie says. “Get a bag and a few things. You need to come stay with me.”
“Charlie, I can’t do that!”
“You’re going to stay here? Tonight? With a broken lock on your house and someone stalking you?”
When he puts it like that, I reconsider. “Wait here a minute,” I say, hurrying into my bedroom.
Once I’m packed, I throw my bag into Charlie’s car. We make a stop at Home Depot and order a new door and arrange to have it installed. We also pick up a hasp and a padlock. We quickly screw it into the door and frame to provide some security for the house until the door can be replaced.
***
I spend the next three days at Charlie’s apartment and I’m a wreck. Charlie tries to calm me, but I’m jumping at shadows, except when I’m with him. Just the way he comports himself makes me feel safe and secure. At night, the fact that he is sleeping in the living room with his weapon near at hand allows me to sleep.
Wednesday my door is finally replaced. I can move back into my own house. The problem is that I find that I don’t want to leave the security of Charlie’s company. I wrestle with the problem all day at work. I finally decide that I can’t stay there alone. Not the first night anyway.
“Charlie,” I say when he picks up the phone. “My door is fixed, but can you stay with me just this one night?” I ask sheepishly.
“Why don’t you just stay at my place?”
“Because I need to get used to sleeping at my own place again. But, I’m just nervous this first night, that’s all. I haven’t seen Darren in the last couple of days, but I can feel him watching me.”
Charlie is silent for a moment. “Okay. I’ll see you there about six. I’ll bring your stuff.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Charlie.”
“See you in a couple of hours,” he says before hanging up the phone.
CHAPTER SIX
True to his word, Charlie pulls into my drive just minutes before six. I had arrived about twenty minutes before and realized there is a problem. Charlie’s apartment is on the second floor. I feel safe in his bedroom alone because the windows are high off the ground. My house is a small single story with low windows.
I’m still stewing over the problem as we eat dinner. “How’re you doing?” Charlie asks. Before I can answer the doorbell chimes. “Expecting anyone?” he asks motioning me to keep my seat as he rises to answer the door.
“No one,” I say shaking my head, my blood running cold.
I stay out of sight of the door, but I can hear Charlie and Darren talking. “What do you want, Darren?” Charlie asks coldly.
“I saw that there had been some trouble. Such a nice neighborhood, too. Thought I would stop by and see if I could help.”
“Funny you would notice something like that from just riding by,” Charlie says.
“Yeah. I have good eyes.”
“Then you should be able to see the door is fixed and you can be on your way.”
“Yeah. Okay. I get the message. You think you can protect her. I guess we’ll see. What she needs is to come with me. Let the Knives protect her. Then stuff like this might not happen again.”
“Maybe,” Charlie allows. “It’s always chicken-shit guys that do stuff like this. Cutting tires. Breaking into houses. They always seem to do it when nobody is around. I wonder why that is?” Charlie pauses for a moment. “I think it is because they’re just pussies,” he says, his voice laced with contempt.
“You better watch your tongue, Charles.” Darren says. “One day your mouth is going to write a check your ass can’t cash. Tell Aubrey I’ll see her around.”
I hear the door slam and Charlie appears from around the corner. “Shit! Charlie, what are we going to do?” I ask. I have never been as scared as I am at this moment.
“We’re going back to my place. Get your things. I guess all the Knives were out there. Eight or ten of them at anyway. At least at my place they have to come through the door.”
I throw several things into my bag again without regard to color or style. I just want to get the hell out of here.
When Charlie opens the front door, I can see at least six guys leaning against their bikes at the curb in front of my house. “Fuck,” I breathe.
Charlie closes the door. “I’m afraid the shit is about to get deep. I’m going out first. Shut the door behind me. Leave your bag. When I pull up in front of the door, you run like hell and get the car. Got it?”
I nod, mute with fear. I used to think of myself as one ass-kicking-biker-bitch, but I’m quaking in my boots now. Charlie opens the door and I close it behind him. When I hear his car start with a growl, I put my hand on the knob. I hear his car wail up through the power band, so I throw the door open. Charlie is just skidding to a stop in the grass in front of my house, opening the car door as he does. I jump into the car and even before I’m in good, he’s dumping the clutch. The four wheels of his car spin up my grass, as he does. I’m still trying to get buckled when we bail over the curb and into the road. We clip a bike on the way past.
Trust in Me: A Biker Erotic Romance (Dark Riders MC) Page 2
