Southern Riders (Scars Book 1)

by Robin Edwards

  “So we had a bit of a round-up,” Captain adds, looking over to Cole.

  “Right. We made twelve arrests, but most of the Louisville crew bounced out in hours. There are only a few left in lock-up, so we’ll have to take shifts watching over them,” Cole updates us all, standing as he talks with his hands and for the first time I see some leadership potential in him. Usually he seems a little young and immature for the job, but with his first big case I can see him blossoming.

  “Sounds good,” Earl responds as Jed and I both nod in approval of the plan.

  “But that’s not all,” Captain begins, as everyone shifts to focus on him. “My source is quite sure there will be movement this weekend. I can’t be sure of what yet, but I plan to know by the top of next week, and the second I do, we’re executing a full on raid, with the help of a few friends from our partner squad,” he glances around, looking into each of our eyes.

  “I’m ready for it, Captain!” Cole claps his hands together and Earl smirks like a proud father. I imagine he’s seeing the same potential as me.

  “just be ready, and keep you head on your shoulders,” Captain instructs us before dismissing us for the day.

  We all head out of the office and I shake my head at how quickly that escalated. When I first spoke to Captain McCall before moving out to Danville, he assured me the motorcycle club was nothing but talk. And once I was here, they seemed to be more of a nuisance than anything else, but now it had grown into a real threat to the community.

  “Hey, Jessie, can I talk to you for a minute?” Cole asks discreetly, and I look over my shoulders, unsure of his need for discretion.

  “Yeah, sure. What’s up?” I ask, and he leads me to a back office, closing the door behind him. The hairs on my arms stand up, knowing there’s something going on.

  “I know you had a… Uh, I don’t know how to say this,” he begins and I swallow deeply sure this will lead to some awkward conversation.

  “Just get to it, Cole,” I shake my head.

  “Okay, well Daryl was locked up last night. He’s still in lock up and he’s asked me to get you for him,” he blurts it out.

  “He asked for me?” I shriek, shocked that he’s in trouble but even more appalled that he would seek me out for help.

  “Yeah, I mean, I know you two were close when you first moved here. I bet you kept your distance after learning he’s Caleb’s brother, foreseeing something like this. But, I swear to you, and I’ve known him my whole life, Daryl is a good guy, nothing like his brother. Any trouble he’s ever got into has been because of Caleb, just like last night.

  “He was at the club because of his brother, just hanging out. We were all relaxing, Jed and I had just finished our patrol and were shooting pool with Daryl and Mick, and then this crew walks in. Caleb instantly started yapping off at the mouth, and these boys weren’t playing around. The guy just hauled off and punched Caleb in the face.

  “Daryl was over that table before I could turn to Jed. They’re both a bit rough around the edges, so Daryl can throw down, and if it wasn’t for him, Caleb would be in the hospital right now,” he looks on at me and I just hope I’m not as pale as I feel.

  My stomach is churning as I process everything he’s told me. I’m still stuck on the fact that Daryl asked him to get me, and fighting the urge to explain to him how Daryl isn’t the great guy everyone makes him out to be. Instead, I just nod, and keep my thoughts to myself.

  “So are you gonna go and talk to him?” He asks when I don’t respond.

  “Oh, yeah. Where is he?” I shake my head to clear the thoughts racing through my mind.

  “In the back,” he points to the back of the building.

  “He’s here?!” I shriek louder than I intended.

  “Well, yeah, Hollywood. We don’t have a separate jail,” he smirks, using the nickname everyone uses in the office.

  “Oh, okay,” is all I can manage, unable to find humor in anything as my heart races.

  It’s probably all in my head, but when I walk through the office, I feel like everyone is watching me. In my mind, not only are they watching me, but they know everything. They know how much I cared about Daryl, every date we went on together, and how after he slept with me and left and never called. Insecure is an understatement, so I rush through the office, not looking in any direction in particular as I make my way to the holding cells area.

  Expecting one huge cell with a crowd of guys huddled around on a couple of benches, I’m surprised to find several individual cells, and Daryl is in the first one. He’s sitting on the bench, his head down as he looks to the ground.

  I can tell from the tousled look, he’s been running his hands through his hair all night, and his knuckles are still bright red from brawling. Damn him for being so sexy, my pelvic muscles actually clench as I watch him through the metal bars.

  “Ahem, Ahem,” I clear my throat, which sparks him to glance up, a smirk flashing across his face as he stares at me without speaking a word for an awkwardly long time.

  “You look different in your uniform. I always wondered what you looked like at work. You still look beautiful, of course, jut different,” he says casually and I really wish it didn’t make my heart skip a beat, but it did. How could he just talk so casually as if nothing ever went wrong? Despite my attraction, his avoidance only irritates me.

  “Why did you ask for me?” I ask harshly, the frustration and hurt apparent in my tone.

  “Don’t do that,” he stands, walking to towards me so we’re only separated by the bars.

  “Do what?” I snap, my face scrunched in confusion.

  “Act like this,” he gestures toward me with his hand before adding, “Like we were nothing.”

  “You can’t be serious, Daryl,” I smirk, feeling like I’m in the twilight zone.

  “I’m as serious as a heart attack,” he scowls.

  “You’re the one that acted like we were nothing, Daryl. So don’t ever say anything like that to me,” my voice cracks as I speak and I take a deep breath, instantly regretting showing him how emotional I am.

  “I know,” he looks down before raising his eyes to meet mine, those gray eyes cloudy with some emotion I can’t read.

  “It’s not what you think,” he adds, and I cock my head to the side, challenging him to explain what it is without speaking a word.

  “Jessie, you know how I feel about you. You know me,” he clenches his jaw as if he’s the one frustrated.

  “I don’t know anything, Daryl. I know you left after… You know. And I haven’t heard from you since,” I look away, tears stinging at the back of my eyes. There is no way I will let him see me cry, and absolutely not at work, so I take a deep breath and force myself to calm down.

  “I know, baby,” he whispers. And just hearing him call me that makes me melt, although I try not to show it.

  For weeks I’ve wondered if he could have just pulled the wool over my eyes and been a completely different person than who he showed me, but I just couldn’t convince myself that was possible. He was right, I did feel like I knew him, and the Daryl I knew would never do what he did. But the fat remained, he did do it. So, if there was some sort of explanation, I knew I needed to hear it, for closure if nothing else.

  “Daryl, what’s going on?” I look up and his eyes are so clear, so vulnerable. I missed looking into those eyes. I’ve never felt like I could read anyone the way I can always tell how he feels from the grayness of his eyes. There’s a closeness between us, and as much as I want to, I can’t deny it.

  “Okay, sit down,” he motions towards the chair behind me, and I pull it to the bars separating us and take a seat. Daryl sits on the bench in his cell and takes a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair before glancing up at me.

  “You know Caleb is my big brother, but you don’t know our story. My dad was a drunk, and childhood was hell. He’d come home and pick fights
with my mom over the smallest things. At first it was like he just wanted a reason to leave, because after every argument he would be gone for a couple days. Eventually I looked forward to his absence, because things got worse as we got older.

  “The arguments turned physical, and he would beat the shit out of my mom. Me and Caleb were too young and small to do anything, but we would try, and that would only make things worse. We didn’t have money for hospitals, so when my dad would hurt mom, it was up to us to nurse her back to health. You can’t be a good nurse with a broken wrist,” he hold his hand up and I notice a scar on his wrist I’d never seen before.

  “Is that what the scars on your chest are from?” I wonder aloud, remembering the circular bruises from our night together.

  “Yeah, and no. That was my dad’s less severe abuse, if you can believe that. Who needs ashtrays when you have two sons?” He holds his hands in the air and chuckles like it’s a joke, but I don’t find it funny at all.

  “Anyways, Caleb being the oldest, I think he felt like he was responsible for mom, and especially for me. You think my little bruises are something, he’s tattooed his whole body to hide the scars. He would dive on top of me or mom whenever dad took off after us. He couldn’t beat my dad, but he could take the beatings for us, and so he did. I really don’t think he ever forgave himself for not being able to defend us, although he would try until he just couldn’t take anymore.

  “He enrolled in the military the day he turned eighteen, and left the next week. My grandparents took me and my mom in, and my dad ended up moving. I heard he went to Louisville, but I’ve never bothered to figure out. When Caleb finally came back about four years later, he was a totally different person. He was covered in tattoos, his hair was cut, and he just had this chip on his shoulder like he had something to prove.

  “He’d always had a rebellious nature, and never respected authority, but now everything was just worse. He was actually mad that my dad was gone. I thought he’d be happy, but he wanted to avenge us, and he even went looking for him. I know he’s fucked up, believe me, I do, but I also know why.

  “After that night at your place, I barely slept thinking about how special you are to me. I watched you sleep until the sun came up,” he glances up at me, and I swallow hard, trying to fight the redness I’m sure is creeping up my cheeks.

  “Don’t look away from me, Jessie,” he urges as I turn from his intense gaze, but I can’t bear to face him, not with the emotions rushing through me.

  “Then why did you desert me like I meant nothing to you?” I whisper the words because it hurts to even speak them. Facing him, it’s now his turn to crumble beneath me glare.

  “Jessie, it wasn’t like that, I swear. I left to go and get you breakfast, I wanted it to be special,” he begins, and I’m actually imagining him out shopping for me.

  “I went to the bakery, I got muffins and everything. Then I went to the grocery store and got you sunflowers. I was heading back and ran into Caleb. He made me promise to end it with you because of some war shit that still doesn’t make sense to me.

  “Jessie, you know how I feel about you. I may not have expressed everything in words, but I know you know. You have to believe I never meant to hurt you.

  “Honestly, I just couldn’t bear to break up, so I just avoided it altogether.” He grinds his teeth once he’s finished.

  “Break up with me?” I repeat his words with confusion on my tongue.

  “Baby, you know you’re my girl,” he says softly and I feel my insides melt as I grow giddy like a teenager.

  “So what does all that mean?” I ask, still feeling a bit unsettled.

  “It means I’m sorry,” he reaches through the bars and places his hand over mine.

  Looking into his eyes, I know right then and there that I forgive him. There’s no way I wouldn’t. I believe everything he’s said, and question how we can possibly overcome something so serious, but know I want to try.

  “Just give me a little time, Jessie. I’ll figure it out, but I can’t be without you,” he explains as my heart races.

  “And until then?” I ask with skepticism.

  “You spend every night with me.” He answers flatly, like he’s been waiting for me to ask that question.

  “Hayes!” A loud voice calls from the end of the hallway, and I snatch my hand from his just as Earl heads down the hall.

  “Oh, hey Hollywood,” he says once he sees me.

  “Whatever,” I smirk, their nickname still growing on me.

  “You’ve been all set for hours. What are you still doing here?” Earl asks Daryl while unlocking the cell.

  “I had to handle something,” he answers casually before strolling out of the cell, winking at me as he passes Earl, so only I can see.

  “Well, get on out of here. And stay away from your knucklehead brother,” he calls out to his back. Daryl throws his hands in the air like he knows how much of a fuck up Caleb is before heading out of the door.

  “He really is a good kid. Don’t cut him off over this nonsense. It’s just that damn Caleb, and you can’t blame a man for being loyal to his brother,” Earl says with a shrug.

  While I’m sure he has no idea, what he just said means a lot about how I can move forward with Daryl. From the beginning I knew I didn’t want to judge him for being Caleb’s brother, and in some ways I guess that extended to how he went about ending our relationship. While I didn’t agree with his execution, I guess I couldn’t be too mad at his reasoning.

  Chapter Fifteen

  DARYL

  “So, everybody crowd around,” Caleb says loudly. We’ve all gathered at Jane Town, which has become the stomping grounds for the Marauders as of lately.

  I don’t even know why he insists on having me here, especially after what went down last night. It’s been less then fifteen hours since I was released and he’s already back at the scene of the crime.

  “It’s time we take this to the next level,” he announces to a lot of head nods and grins from the boys.

  “What does that mean?” Asks one of the fellas and Caleb grins like he wanted to answer.

  “We’ve been doing this basic shit for too long. We need to branch out. And when I talk about stepping it up I’m not talking about more of the same. Fuck this weed peddling ya’ll are doing. We need to get our hands on the big shit, moving some ammo and powder through the town.” He explains.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Greg yells, looking around, and everyone in the room is nodding along but me.

  Glancing over my shoulder I look at the door to make sure no one walks in. These idiots are talking about a criminal enterprise in a public bar, one that police frequent at that.

  I really do love my brother, but he’s a class A idiot, and there’s no way I’m being involved in anything of this magnitude. As the group begins conferring together, I make my way from the table, heading to the door. Caleb is on me before I can make my way out.

  “Daryl!” He calls after me and I slowly turn around, annoyed by his very presence.

  “What, Caleb?” I snap.

  “Whoa! You still mad about last night? You know those punks started it with me,” he raises his hands as if he’s innocent.

  “No, Caleb. This has nothing to do with last night. I haven’t even had any time to be mad at you for that, because in true Caleb form, you’ve gone and done something even more fucked up to overshadow that.” I glare at him, gritting my teeth to stop from punching him.

  “What’d I do?” He asks with shock on his face. The nerve of him.

  “Are you serious? Were you at your little meeting that you insisted I come to? Where you just announced in a public bar that you want to run guns.” I remind him in a shocked whisper.

  “Daryl, this is business!” He raises his voice and I know I need to leave or I’m going to make a scene.

  “You shouldn’t have even had me here,
” I shake my head, moving to leave, but he grabs my arm again.

  “You might not be a Marauder, Daryl, but you are my brother.” He says sternly as if I need any reminder.

  “Oh, believe me, I don’t need any reminders of that fact,” I try to tug my arm, but he tightens his grip.

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” He sneers.

  “Get the fuck off my arm, Caleb,” I warn him and he instantly releases me.

  Charging through the door I hear him call behind me.

  “I’ll call you tonight, baby bro. I’m gonna need you. Please pick up,” he voice is desperate and needy.

  This is his regular M.O., he does some crazy shit and makes me feel guilty for not agreeing with him, then he shames me into standing by him just because my brother. If that doesn’t work, he gets all needy and pretends he’s learned his lesson, but he never has, and the more I think about it, the less I believe he ever will.

  Riding always clears my mind, so I hop on my bike and hit the open road, hoping to clear my head. The past few weeks have been nothing but stress, and then last night was a complete fuck up. I cannot believe I got arrested, but in the end I did get to see Jessie. Well, of course I’ve seen her in these weeks, but we haven’t spoken.

  I’ve spent countless hours driving down her street, thinking of how I could ever fix what I’ve broken between us, but I never did find the courage to stop by and apologize. Her schedule is engrained in my brain and I made it a point to watch her on her patrol with Earl. She’s so beautiful and carefree, it’s a treat to watch her from afar when she’s much different than she is with me.

  She likes me, I can tell by the way she acts, always blushing and giggling. It’s cute, and she tries to hide it, but I can always tell how I affect her. I guess I’m more reserved than even I gave myself credit for, because never in a million years could I have imagined she could think I left because I didn’t care about her.

  I don’t really know what I expected her to think, but I always envisioned her maybe thinking I was too over the moon about her, even though I know that’s a bit unreasonable. The way I spent time with her, and the connection we had, and that incredible sex, I just thought I made it clear she was special. To see her teary eyed because she thought I threw her away after all that we shared really tore me up inside.