He took another bite. “Pretty good, actually. I been eating in diners along the highway. Pastrami on rye hits the spot. Name’s Cruz.”
“Danni,” she said. They almost shook hands before they both saw their fingers were covered in mustard.
“Here’s to life on the road,” he toasted, and took another drink from his cup.
“You passing through or staying?”
“Can’t say just yet. Got to talk to some dudes and see what the score is. And I got to see if I can get used to the cold. Sunny California is a lot warmer than this place.”
Danni nodded. The guy’s deep tan made sense now. “I know the feeling. I’m from Tennessee. Sixty degrees doesn’t feel too bad right now, but this winter is going to be a big change. How was it, riding a bike from SoCal?”
“How’d you know I was on a bike?” he asked, a little suspiciously.
“Let’s see. Leather jacket, you obviously see a lot of the sun, and your name is Cruz. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to get it.”
A smile broke over his face. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be a dick about it. It’s just that some people don’t trust bikers.”
“I got a lot of experience with them. I came here on the back of my boyfriend’s bike.”
“Boyfriend? Damn, and I thought we were getting to know each other.”
And older man interrupted them, asking if they were done eating and if he could take their table. They cleared their dishes and took them to the bin next to the trash. They stepped outside and Cruz took a cigarette out his pack and lit one up. He offered one to Danni. She accepted and he lit it for her.
“You said you been here a couple of days? You know a good hotel around? One that’s not too expensive.”
“We’re staying in the Sunset Inn. It’s a few blocks over. Not the greatest place we’ve stayed along the way. There’s got to be a better motel. We’re only staying until I find a place.
“Thanks. Listen, it sucks being the new kid in town, and since we’re both the new kids, we should hang out if I stick around.”
He wrote his number on the back of his deli receipt and handed it to her.
“And what if you don’t stick around?”
“Then you have to be the new kid in town by yourself, I guess. I get the feeling I’ll be sticking around anyway. I got a call from my Uncle Larry to come out here, and he wouldn’t call me if he wasn’t serious.” He walked to his bike and climbed on. Just before he started the engine, he called out, “Don’t leave me waiting, beautiful.” Then the bike came to life and Cruz was around the corner and out of sight.
Danni looked at the piece of paper in her hand. She shook her head and tossed the number into the trash. He had been nice and very handsome, but she knew trouble when she saw it.
***
Danni checked out a couple more apartments that day, but still couldn’t find anything she felt good about. Too small, too expensive, too much like a scene from a horror movie. She decided she couldn’t look at places anymore. She would try again tomorrow, but made a couple of notes on the better ones she’d seen that day, in case she just needed to pick something.
The day had become overcast and gloomy. She buttoned her denim jacket up to her neck, but it wasn’t enough. She needed something more appropriate to the region, so she used it as an excuse to explore the town. She returned to a row of shops in the downtown area she’d passed earlier, and set off from the parked hatchback.
Walking to the shop areas from the car, the sky started to spit. It was just a light rain, but it didn’t help Danni’s increasingly bad mood. She didn’t know where the mood was coming from. She just couldn’t shake the feeling that she had made a mistake coming here. She didn’t regret coming here with Mercer—that part she was very confident about—but if she was being honest with herself, she thought coming to Rawlins was going to be a fresh start. She thought moving to a new place would free her from the desperation she’d been feeling in Calumet, but being in a strange town without knowing anyone or how to find anything was getting to her. Especially with the cold rain coming down on her.
She shouldn’t feel so bad about not knowing anyone in town. It’s not like she had a ton of friends back home. Ben was just an easy lay, not much of a friend at all. Jeannie, the other waitress at the bar where Danni had worked, was nice, but she had kids and a mother to take care of, so work was the only time they spent together. Maybe this was her chance to make a few friends. Danni would have to look for a job, but once the MC started bringing into some money, maybe she wouldn’t have to work every second of every day. She could use some of that time for socializing.
Not only that, but folks had a way of treating her in Calumet that wasn’t exactly disrespectful, but wasn’t overly friendly either. Like they pitied her or something, just because her high school boyfriend had died on a motorcycle. Even if she could move on, she knew that town never could.
She was feeling better by the time she browsed in a store for a nice jacket. She found one there that was perfect. A fur-lined leather jacket that looked great on her and she knew Mercer would love. It made her really look like the girlfriend of a biker.
She looked at the price tag and winced. It was expensive, but she bought it anyway. She deserved it, and besides, didn’t she need to look the part?
Wearing the jacket outside she felt better protected from the wind, warmer, and even more capable in that strange city. Danni decided the best way to get a feel for a new place was to experience, it so she purposefully chose places to go that weren’t nearby. She got coffee from a place across town and even found the local library. Just as the sun was setting, the phone rang. It was Mercer.
“How you doing?” he asked.
“Not bad. Better than earlier anyway. What’s up?”
“Can you meet us at the clubhouse? Bring some food?”
“Sure,” she agreed. “Pizza again?”
“How about some burgers? There’s a place on Third Street. Makes good stuff. Just get enough for five people.”
She said she’d be there within the hour and wondered who else was at the clubhouse.
Danni made good time getting the food and getting back to the clubhouse, which was nice because she was very hungry again by the time she parked out front. Walking in the door, she saw obvious improvements since even the day before. There were windows again and the place had a real front door instead of a piece of plywood. She heard voices coming from the main meeting room. She called and Mercer came out. They kissed hello, and Danni felt a lot of the tension leave her body.
“Nice jacket,” Mercer said.
“We can’t afford it, but I didn’t care.”
Mercer gave her a very loving look. “I think we’ll be OK. This club is going to start earning soon. Very soon, thanks to Doc and guys he called in.”
Mercer yelled over his shoulder for others to come out and meet Danni. First through the door was Doc, then a very tall, very round man with a shock of red hair and giant beard to match. He nodded to her, but didn’t say much. Then, to Danni’s surprise, Cruz came through the door.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you knew bikers. I never thought the boyfriend you were talking about was in Black Ice,” said Cruz to Danni.
“You two know each other?” asked Mercer.
“Not really. We just shared a table in a busy restaurant today. She was nice enough to let a starving man have a seat.”
Danni found her voice. “You said you were meeting your uncle named Larry. Didn’t say anything about getting with these guys.”
Doc raised his hand. “Larry Stokes. Guys just call me Doc because I was getting my degree in psychology when I heard the call of the MC.”
“And he’s not really my uncle,” explained Cruz. “Just an honorary uncle, old friends of my dad’s. I got a call a few days ago that Black Ice needed members, and since my dad was in clubs all my life, I had to hear them out.”
Mercer nodded. “Now that we�
�re all caught up, let’s eat.”
There was a brand-new table in the main room, but no chairs yet, so they stood around chomping down hamburgers and onion rings. Everyone but the big man with the red hair, Red as he was known without irony, made small talk about their time on the road getting to Rawlins.
“I damn near got my head blown off in Elko, Nevada,” said Cruz. “I was broke and decided to dine and dash from this little piece of shit diner. It was busy, so I thought I could make like I was going to take a piss and head out the door. Goddamn manager must’ve had his eye on me the whole time because as soon as my hand touched the door, he pulled a fucking shotgun on me.”
The all laughed except Danni. “You go back and pay?” she asked.
“Hell no. When I said I was broke, I mean straight up broke. I had thirty cents in my pocket. I busted ass out the door and made it to my bike before the manager could get out from behind the counter. As I was taking off, he actually shot at me.”
Everyone but Danni laughed again. She wasn’t impressed by the story. She had worked her entire life for what little she had, and didn’t like people who just took whatever they wanted.
“In Twin falls I had to grab a few bills from a cash register, too. That was easier, though. Stupid kid running the till turned his back on the open drawer when I asked for cigarettes. He hadn’t even noticed when he rang me up.”
They finished up their burgers and cleaned up the mess. Doc and Mercer started discussing what needed to be fixed next.
“How about taking me back to the hotel and turning out the lights?” asked Danni.
Mercer said, “I wish I could, but there’s too much to do right now. I’ll be home in a bit.
Doc said, “And we have that meeting tomorrow to prepare for.”
Danni drove back to the hotel alone and watched some TV by herself. She laid on the bed, flipping through the channels, not really seeing anything that was on the screen. She wished Mercer had come home with her. She was lonely and tired and just wanted to curl up with him on the bed instead of being in a lousy hotel room by herself.
***
She fell asleep but woke up with he came through the door.
“Didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.
“It’s OK. Glad you did.”
She looked at the clock, it was five after two in the morning.
Mercer turned out the lights and got into bed. Without a word his arms were around her. In the dark, they intertwined, with Danni’s head resting on Mercer’s chest. She loved to listen to his heartbeat, and absentmindedly ran his her finger up the long scar going from his stomach to under his arm.
“Did something happen today? Something I should know about?” asked Mercer.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Just that you said you had lunch with Cruz and you don’t seem to like him very much. I thought maybe he said something to you or made a pass at you.”
Danni chuckled. “Of course he made a pass at me. He’s the kind of guy who rides around the country stealing from diners. But no, he didn’t really do anything wrong. Gave me his number, which I threw away, but that was before he knew you and me were together.”
Mercer ran his hand through her hair. “You don’t like him?”
“He’s kind of an asshole, yeah, but I guess I don’t have to like him. If you say he’s good for the club, that’s fine. Doesn’t really have anything to do with me.”
Mercer was quiet and continued to stroke her hair. Danni took a deep breath and let it out, slowly feeling the tension leave her. It had been a hard day in her head, and she was glad to be in bed with Mercer, feeling safe and warm.
“What makes you say he’s an asshole?” asked Mercer.
“Mmm?” muttered Danni, already drifting off to sleep.
“Cruz. Why do you think he’s an asshole?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really know him, it’s just that I’ve worked my whole life for what I had. I ran the bar back home, and before that, I was putting in sixty hours a week waiting tables. I’ve always worked as hard as I could, and I don’t respect people who just take it. The stories he was telling about stealing bothered me. He just screwed that diner owner out of money. And did that kid at the gas station lose his job over the missing money?”
“I never thought of it that way,” mused Mercer. He kissed the top of her head. “This is why I’m really happy you’re here with me. I need you to be my conscience.”
She lifted her head and they kissed.
“I’m always going to be here for you.”
They kissed again. Danni fell asleep, wondering if what Mercer said was true.
Mercer was up early the next morning, unable to sleep. Not from anxiety or fear, but out of excitement. He was back in Rawlins, rebuilding Black Ice into something great again. Not that bastardized version that Tank had created, maybe not even what Henry, the original president, had done. Mercer was going to take Hank’s original idea and build on it. Mercer would take the values and ideals and update everything.
Danni was still asleep, and he wanted to let her sleep as long as she needed, so he kissed her lightly on the head and slipped out the door. He knew it had been a rough trip on her. As much as she said she wanted a fresh start in a new place, Danni had only lived in Calumet, and it was going to take a while before she settled down.
The morning was cold, but the sun was shining as Mercer rode through town. He wanted to get to the clubhouse soon, but there was something he hadn’t had a chance to do since getting back, and that was stopping by Al’s.
Al’s was the best doughnut shop Mercer had ever been to. The selection and quality couldn’t be found anywhere else, and it was always warm inside, with the smell of sugar and fresh coffee.
He walked in, and the bright yellow walls welcomed him as he saddled up to the counter.
“Two chocolate glazed and a plain. And hurry the hell up.”
Al was pouring coffee to another customer and looked over, very annoyed, until he saw it was Mercer. The old man’s face lit up. He came right over and poured a cup for Mercer.
“You are a damn sight to see, sonny.”
“How you doing, Al?”
A smile came across Al’s wrinkled face.
“Can’t complain. When did you get back? I thought you were gone for good after what happened.”
Mercer took a drink of his coffee as Al got the doughnuts from the display case.
“You heard about that?”
“You know all the gossip runs through here anyway. This place is like a line of old ladies spreading news. You back for good?”
“I am. How’re things in town? I heard the police aren’t too friendly to MCs these days.”
Al shook his head. “It’s been rough around here. What the big fella did to your club, it hurt a lot of people. Might seem strange, but we come to rely on the club. Then it changed, and things got bad. Then all you went away, and things got even worse.”
“What do you mean, Al?’
“Some punks, young kids calling themselves the Rattlers, they come into town like they own the damn place. Start making demands, saying we owe them protection money. We tell them we ain’t paying. Next thing we know, the garage over on Third Street, the one Jared Smith owns, handed to him by his daddy, it burns to the ground. Whole damn thing went up. Investigators said it was started on purpose so the insurance company isn’t paying out a goddamn dime. So the rest of us, we start paying.”
Crash (Black Ice MC Novella Book 2) Page 2
