There was another chuckle at that.
“I only ask that you consider it,” Jayce said seriously once the laughter was done. “Big risk, but bigger money. And we won’t have to be on the road nearly as much.”
The room was quiet, but the eye contact was meaningful between them all. Tank was intrigued, but Buck knew he’d make a rational decision. That was just how he was. It was apparent what side Jayce would vote on. Tiny was hard to read, but if Buck knew him at all the cash would sway his favor. Knuckles was already smiling, decided. He liked the way Italians did business, so he was probably nearly pissing himself at the thought.
Too many Coppola films for that bastard.
Fritter was lighting another cigarette, looking at stoic as Tank, but he’d want the money, too.
Buck didn’t know what he wanted. Other than to go watch over Gertie, of course. He nodded his agreement with Jayce’s final statement.
“I’ll sleep on it,” he said, giving a wave with one hand. “Gotta go check on Gertie.”
No one said a word as he left. They’d already agreed that Gertie would only be told that the Italians had found her father. No point in telling her who had turned him in.
Buck let himself back into his dorm, frowning to see the bed was empty, but immediately a toilet flushed in the washroom and he knew where she was. He shut the door and opened the curtains to let some light into the room. He propped the door open for a bit of air, too. When he turned back from the door she was toddling to the bed, the swelling gone from her face but the bruises still making him wince just from the sight of them.
“Where’d you get to?” she asked as he shrugged off his kutte and slung it back onto the chair.
Buck shrugged and approached her where she stood at the foot of the bed. “Club shit, don’t worry, honey.”
She nodded, eyes on his face. He allowed a grin. Other than the whole lying about being a drug mule thing she would have made a great old lady.
“I mean it,” he laughed as her expression remained sceptical. “You got nothing to worry about. Not anymore, okay?”
Eventually she smiled, the tightness around her eyes softening. “Okay,” she said softly, sweetly. “But can we do something? I’m going nuts sitting in this room all day.”
“What do you want to do?”
Gertie’s smile got a bit wider. “Can we go for a ride?”
Chapter Fifty-Five
-FIVE MONTHS AGO-
Gertie absorbed the fist to her stomach by breathing out as it hit. She didn’t know how she knew to do that. She must have seen it on TV at some point. But it worked.
The woman who seemed so intent on killing her didn’t so much as blink though. She grabbed a handful of Gertie’s hair and tried to slam her face into the clubhouse wall. Gertie tightened her neck to avoid that, reaching back for the hand in her hair and digging her nails into its back hard. The woman squeaked, and the tension in her body released as her grip on Gertie’s hair let go.
Gertie pulled the hand away and swung the woman by the arm, ramming her into the very wall that Gertie managed to avoid herself. Her nose gushed blood and she shrieked that Gertie was a “bitch of a whore” and tried to go for Gertie’s eyes with her nails.
Too late. Gertie ducked to avoid the rush and tripped her, sending her to the floor. Once she was there it was easy. Gertie kicked her ribs. Even shoeless the shot to the ribs likely hurt more than the impact on Gertie’s foot did, and the woman screamed. Then Gertie jumped on her back and slammed her face to the floor once more before someone was picking her up.
That’s when the roar of their audience came back to her stream of consciousness. These Gypsy fucks loved a good cat fight, even more so when the women were naked.
Gertie was past the point of worrying about that. Bark had given her speed, and her blood was absolutely humming while maintaining a fuzzy, barely-aware sense of what was going on. It was like a hyper-drunk for her, and she didn’t even worry about who had her in their arms, pushing her into the shadows of the hallway before stopping, shoving her against the wall face-first and palming her breasts roughly, licking the back of her neck.
This was easy to tune out for. It was all flashes of scenes, like a flickering slide show only giving her every third second of a real-time nightmare. None of these guys took very long anyway. A couple hard thrusts and he was done, stepping away from her and leaving her to stumble down the hallway to the washroom to clean up.
As expected, when she left the bathroom Bark was waiting for her with an over-sized T-shirt. She pulled it on and let him lead her to his room.
Three – or was it four? – days of living in the clubhouse and she was already living like a feral animal. Every night they made a sweet butt fight her. The winner got a couple tabs of Sunshine.
Gertie also noticed that none of the Gypsys took the shit themselves. They used it to keep their women under their thumb, and no wonder. These guys were nothing like Buck and his friends. Yes, she’d seen public sex at the Rebels’ clubhouse. But there the women showed up hoping for it. They liked it. They wanted it and seemed to enjoy themselves.
Not the case here. These women seemed to show up just for the street-made Oxy.
Gertie suspected that she might be the president’s favorite for the moment. His name was Thor and Gertie hated his fucking guts. When she’d been shoved into the catfight that night however he’d had a blonde riding him on the couch so she might be out of his realm of notice for the night. That would be a blessing, really.
Thor liked to fuck up the ass. He explained that his old lady didn’t like it, and she was ugly anyway so he got what he really wanted here at the club. Explained it while he did it. At least he used lube. Small kindness. Gertie had never had that done to her before and was pretty fucking sure she’d never be interested in trying it ever again.
And as for Bark, she had no idea why he was taking care of her. Somehow, him bringing her to his room meant that Thor wouldn’t be looking for her later and she could just sleep. He never touched her and always let her sleep in his bed. This was because Thor tossed her out of his room when he was done. Rather than be use a few more times by whoever else got it in their head, Bark would claim her for the night.
She held no illusions he was going to save her, though. After all, he kept her plenty high to deal with the shit these pricks had planned for her day to day. She had no idea what was taking her father so long, but she knew he’d come for her. He had to. He had to be worried.
In Bark’s room he locked the door behind him, tossing his kutte onto the dresser before toeing off his boots. She climbed into bed without a word, sliding into what was becoming her side of the bed. She settled on her side with a sigh, hands under the cool pillow. Her body seemed tight from the fight but she was beyond hurting.
As he settled on the bed next to her, on top of the covers, Bark grumbled, “You okay? You need anything?”
And she knew what he meant. Anything to help bring her down, make her sleep.
“What do you have?” she asked the wall across from her.
“Valium.”
Gertie sat up and held out a hand. He was quick with the bottle, shaking a pill into her hand. She had no idea how these guys got all the shit they had, but damn. She’d seen almost everything since she’d gotten here. Pot, hash, meth, cocaine, Sunshine, you name it.
She swallowed without water and settled back into bed.
There was a slight pause where he didn’t move. Gertie felt herself tighten up, but he turned the light off and she relaxed. For just a moment she thought he might be reconsidering being her safe haven.
“Gertie?” His voice sounded strange in the dark. She couldn’t see that dark, forbidding look he usually had so that tone could mean anything.
“Yeah?” she asked, hands tightening under the pillow.
“I’m sorry about this,” he replied. “This … this isn’t my thing. What they’re doing to you. I didn’t join this club to do that kind of thing.�
�
She swallowed, eyes growing wet. “I know,” she whispered, knowing he could hear it. “I can tell.”
“I’ll try to keep you as safe as I can without getting myself in deep shit.”
“I know. You already are.”
Another long pause and just when she thought he might have fallen asleep he spoke. “Just … keep your eyes and ears open, okay? Don’t stay so fucked up you don’t see any chances to … get out of here.”
Gertie frowned, not sure how to respond, so she didn’t. She just closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let sleep seek her out.
-oOo-
“I’ll take a crew for the pick-up. Make sure it’s loud, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Gertie wasn’t listening, not really. She had her teeth grit, enduring Thor’s sexual preferences and waiting for it to be over. He didn’t care where he did it; he seemed to prefer doing it in the clubhouse on the pool table, like this, while having a conversation for fuck’s sake.
She really hated this fucking guy.
“What about McClune’s bitch?”
Now Gertie was listening. Was this about Trinny? Shit. She wished she hadn’t taken that Sunshine.
“Clark and Twig can take the prospects. I don’t see much of a fight there. Do them quick, get the fuck out.”
“What about the kids?”
That’s when Thor came, loud and obnoxious, making Gertie cringe. She really hoped someone killed this guy in a bloody, nasty way one day. He pulled out and slapped her ass before answering whoever the fuck he was talking to.
“What do I care? Kill ‘em too. Who the fuck cares? Just make sure it’s loud and messy.”
Gertie was pulling up her pants again, pretending she was too out of it to possibly be following what they were saying. It wasn’t hard. She was nearly close to passing out.
“Day after tomorrow then. We lead them out of Markham. No one’s at the house.”
“Got it.”
She was alone in the clubhouse quite suddenly, mind reeling. There was a good chance she didn’t understand a single thing happening; that was just a firing of her mind giving her something else to focus on.
But she didn’t think so. She might have just heard them planning on killing Jayce’s family.
Trinny came to mind, the pretty, spunky little blonde with that cute baby belly. Jayce Junior and Libby, gorgeous and precocious little kids that made her laugh anytime she’d found herself around them. Shit, they really really couldn’t die.
Gertie was in the bathroom by then, door locked behind her. She started the shower, stepping inside once the water was scalding hot; hot enough to turn her skin bright red. That was the only kind of shower she wanted these days. She washed Thor from her body, tears in her eyes only for a moment because in survival mode she tried to keep her energy on important things.
But now she was distracted and focused on something else. They’d taken her phone, and there wasn’t a landline in the clubhouse. And no one would likely talk to her anyway, especially if they knew about her connection with G-Town. Hell, for all she knew they were aware she was here and didn’t care.
That was a self-pitying thought but she couldn’t help it. Yes, she was worried about Buck hating her. But that was also an exhausting topic to focus on, and it did her no good to hate herself for one more thing. So she tried to keep her mind on the here and now.
Like getting dressed. And hiding in Bark’s room in the hopes that no one else would find her tonight.
Chapter Fifty-Six
The throat being cleared behind him was unfamiliar and timid. Buck turned from the outboard motor he’d been tuning up, eyebrow cocked. A tiny blonde woman was standing in the garage door, hands tucked in the back pockets of her jeans, eyes wide and slightly terrified-looking. He set down him wrench and grabbed a rag, wiping his hands trying to remember why she looked so familiar to him. He was approaching her when it struck him.
This was that blonde friend of Gertie’s, the one he’d seen in the hall after she’d broken the nose of that asshole. And she’d been at Gertie’s office, too. But he had no idea what her name was.
“Hey,” he said when it became obvious she wasn’t going to be the one to talk to him. “What can I help you with?”
Her eyes stayed on his and she still looked freaked out. The longer she stared at him the more she was making him uncomfortable. Before he could ask if she was having a stroke she finally blurted out, “What happened to your face?”
Buck touched his cheekbone, remembering that he was sporting a couple black eyes, bruised nose and swollen lip. “I fell down in the shower. What do you want?”
She swallowed, still intimidated, but she asked anyway. ‘Where’s Gertie?”
Buck frowned and tried to ignore the way his stomach sunk at the sound of that name. He’d spent every minute the past week thinking about her, and it was rotting his gut that she’d kept anything from him, never mind something that important. So he tried to sound gruff as he gave his answer. “I don’t know.”
She hadn’t expected that, but she tilted her chin up anyway. “She got fired from her job a week ago. She’s not answering her phone. And … the other day I went by her place but she didn’t come to the door. The radio or TV or something was on, I could hear it. But no one was there.”
A little niggling sensation crawled up the back of his neck, but he had a duty to the club now, not someone who’d been lying to him for months. “And?”
She was clearly perplexed by his lack of interest. “And I want to know where she is, if she’s okay.”
Buck stared at her long enough to make her uncomfortable. “Are you asking if I did something to her?”
The blonde’s mouth dropped open and she shook her head. “No. No, of course not.” But she took a step away from him anyway.
“Good, because I didn’t. We’re not seeing each other anymore. And I don’t know why she’s not answering the phone. Or the door.” He sounded angry, but he really wanted her gone.
The blonde swallowed and stood her ground now. “What if she’s hurt? What if she can’t get to the door?”
Buck set his jaw and glared down at the rag in his hands. Gertie’s friend had to know about her problems, her drinking. That was why she was here. She didn’t want to go into Gertie’s place alone and find a dead body.
So by association, now Buck had the same fucking worry.
“Shit,” he mumbled, not sure how to play this. Seeing Gertie was forbidden now. But a civilian, standing here asking about a missing friend, well. If something had happened to her and he seemed to not give a shit guess who would be suspect one? The ex-boyfriend was always interviewed first on TV shows.
“Shit,” he repeated as shoes scuffed on concrete at the back of the work bay.
“Everything all right, Buck?”
Buck looked over his shoulder to Mickey, nodding. “Yeah,” he called back casually, turning to the blonde. He reached for his phone. “Listen, give me your number, alright? I got a key to her place. I’ll head over there after work, see what I can find out. If there’s anything to tell, I call you and tell you. Alright?”
She nodded and cautiously rattled off her phone number. He could tell it was her mobile. He nodded, stowing the phone away. “Thanks. And what was your name again?”
That surprised her, like she expected Gertie to have told it to him or something. “Maggie,” she replied before turning and walking to the sidewalk. She must have parked around the corner.
“Who was that?” Mickey asked, somewhat bemused. All humor left his face when he took in Buck’s expression. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Buck shook his head, squinting out at the street. “She hasn’t heard from Gertie in a week. And I haven’t had my phone either.”
Mickey frowned. “Maybe call her family?”
Buck snorted at that. “Her father’s on the run from the mob, remember? And her brothers …” he shook his head. “They don’t give a shit. They�
��ll assume she’s on a bender.”
“Maybe she is.”
Buck nodded. “Maybe. Her friend said she didn’t come to the door when she stopped by her condo.”
Mickey fell silent then echoed Buck’s thoughts. “Shit.” Mickey bit his lip, the wheels turning. “G-Town would have said something if they wanted to ransom her for something, right? Like that Thebaine, for instance?”
Buck shrugged. “Or they want her father and his bounty. Which means they’ll be trying to reach him, not us.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly.”
After a pause Mickey clapped his shoulder. “I’ll call Spaz on the quiet, get him to check your old burner. I don’t think he’s scrubbed it yet.”
Buck nodded. That would make the request less of a disobeying of orders. “Thanks man.”
Mickey left his bay, and Buck approached the outboard motor on his table but he completely lost track of where he was in the process. Now he was scared. Still angry, but worried.
Until you know otherwise, she’s fine, he told himself and parked his ass on the stool. He was distracted but something to concentrate on was a good thing, until he heard Mickey at the doorway to the office.
“Shit. Buck?”
He looked up, dropping his wrench with a loud clang. “What?’
Mickey’s face looked distraught. “We gotta get to the club. A few messages were sent from Gertie’s cell.”
“From Gertie?”
Mickey shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“What is it? You’re freaking me out, man.”
“We gotta get over there. Spaz is taking it to Jayce. I’ll drive you in a cage, man.”
His blood ran cold as Mickey ducked back into the office. His brain completely stalled, wondering how bad it was that Mickey was nearly a wreck himself.
He abandoned the project, shut the garage door and locked it as Mickey was pulling up to the curb with the company tow truck. He climbed into the cab next to his brother and Mickey pulled away in a squeal of rubber.
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