North doubled back and Allis rolled down her window.
“What happened?” he shouted over the storm.
“That fucker rammed us,” Givon said.
North didn’t ask anything more. He made another U-turn. A second later, he raced by as he followed the truck, trying to catch up.
“Ah, fuck,” Givon muttered and threw it back in drive to chase after North. He put through his Bluetooth connection to the station.
“Sheriff’s office,” Sandy greeted.
“It’s me,” Givon barked. “I was just rear ended out on Route Sixty-One. Black Ford, license plate unreadable. North Tabion witnessed it and is in pursuit and I’m in pursuit of both of them, but the visibility is poor.”
“I have George in your area, I’ll call him,” Sandy said and hung up.
“Do you see anything else on the truck?” Givon asked. “Bumper stickers, decals?”
“I’m afraid not.”
He dialed another number, but this time the call didn’t go through.
“North isn’t answering,” he said. Suddenly, he saw a couple of bright lights then everything went dark. “That was gunfire.”
He sped on, searching everywhere, but without streetlights it was just a humongous black void outside the windows.
“You see anything?” he asked Allis.
“No,” she answered with a hint of desperation clouding her voice. “They could’ve pulled over and cut their lights. We might have even passed them.”
A call came through and he hit the connect button.
“It’s George. I’m approaching Route Sixty-One from Main Street.”
“I lost the truck as well as North on the bike,” Givon told George. “I can’t see jack shit out here.”
“I’ll make a sweep,” George replied.
“Thanks,” he said and disconnected. He hit the steering wheel. “Where the fuck is North?”
A single headlight appeared in the dark and steadily headed toward them. Givon slowed then came to a stop. A moment later, North pulled up beside them again.
“He almost sent me into a ditch,” North told them. Water dripped from his helmet and into his mouth. He shivered.
“Did you fire?”
“Yeah, twice when they tried to smack me with the truck bed.”
“You’re freezing,” Allis said. “Go home.”
“Yeah,” Givon seconded. “I have George out looking for them.”
“Follow me,” North ordered. “We go home together.”
“Okay.”
North led the way. Givon kept his eyes peeled, his nerves on full alert.
“Who do you think it was?” Allis asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think it was Daniel?”
“Does Daniel drive a black Ford?”
“No. But lots of the Shoshone where I grew up do.”
“You say that as if you aren’t part Shoshone.”
“I’m not,” she said. “My mother was Crow. She moved here from Montana.”
“Crow? Isn’t there bad blood between the Crow and Shoshone tribes?”
“Yes. I never knew why my mother moved us onto Shoshone land. That’s another reason why the tribe doesn’t accept me.”
He was silent for a long moment. “There’s more to your story than you’ve told us, isn’t there?”
Her lack of answer was answer enough. Givon knew it was time they sat and Allis told them everything.
Chapter Sixteen
When they walked into the house, North was already upstairs in the shower. Allis avoided Givon’s eyes as she went into the kitchen and began to make hot chocolate. He headed upstairs to take off his damp clothes and change into sweats, taking a moment to study his new tattoo. Holy crap, he still couldn’t believe he had one now.
As he came down the stairs, North was lounging on the couch, his hands wrapped around a mug of steaming hot chocolate. Allis sat on the edge of the chair. She glanced up at him with dark, solemn eyes. He flopped down next to North and put his socked feet up on the coffee table.
“All right, Allis. Tell us everything that happened with Daniel Two Feathers,” he ordered.
She sighed. “My mother was Crow. My father was a white man she slept with. I never knew who he was. We moved here from Montana when I was six and the Shoshone kids teased me about my bad Indian blood. My mother left years later. I worked hard and kept my head down but they never let me forget they thought I was scum. When Daniel Two Feathers took an interest in me, I thought, why not? Why not try to fit in? But there was absolutely no passion between us so I turned him down the next time he asked.”
She broke off and rose, pacing. Givon looked quickly at North.
“What happened?” North asked.
“Suddenly, I was branded a slut,” she said. “More than just a pariah. It was like I had a plague or something. I had eggs thrown at my front door. My car was keyed. I had the word whore spray-painted on the hood of my car. There were phone calls all through the night. Threats. Whispers behind my back. I lost my job. Every day it got worse and worse and I put up with it because I had nowhere else to go. Then he killed my cat and I knew it was a threat I could no longer ignore, so I confronted him.”
“How did you cut him?” Givon asked.
“I…I hit his chest with my fists,” she whispered, demonstrating by bringing her arms up, fists curled and striking down. “He backhanded me and I fell onto his desk. He taunted me about how he’d snapped my cat’s neck. He told me he could do the same to me. Then his hands…they…he clamped down on my windpipe. And he was squeezing.”
She looked at them, tears in her eyes.
North walked to her. He pulled her into his arms to hug her. He shot his angry gaze to Givon and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was thinking, because Givon was thinking the same thing. He wanted to rip the motherfucker’s head off.
“I reached out,” she said. “Tried to find something to save me. My hand landed on a letter opener and I just…just slashed. It hit his face.”
“Shh,” North murmured as tears ran down her cheeks.
She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. After a few minutes of crying, he scooped her up in his arms and headed upstairs.
Givon ran a weary hand over his face. Well, the only thing he was certain of now was that Michael Hiller and Daniel Two Feathers hadn’t been working together. It had been just an awful turn of events that she’d ended up in Durango, targeted by a paid kidnapping psycho.
Minutes later, North came back downstairs and sat heavily in the chair. He gave a searching look at Givon.
“She’s asleep,” he muttered. “Tonight was Daniel Two Feathers’ doing.”
“Yep,” Givon replied. “I’ve come to the same conclusion. I got a warning call earlier.”
“From whom?”
“Didn’t say but if I had to put money on it, I’d bet on Monica, his receptionist. I got the feeling she’d be an ally if we ever need it.”
“The man is a fucking bully hiding behind his status as tribal police. We need to go to him and beat the shit out of him.”
“Without proof, I can’t do anything.”
North let out a frustrated growl. “You’re never going to get proof, Giv. Men like him always find a way around the system but we need to set an example to Daniel Fuck Feathers, make him think twice about coming after Allis again.”
Givon folded his arms. “All that’s going to do is land you in prison.”
“God! Sometimes you can be so thick-headed!”
“And sometimes you’re too impetuous! While that’s good for a motorcycle club, it can be reckless and stupid in the real world.”
“Real world? Like my club isn’t real?”
“You hide behind your club!”
“And you hide behind your badge,” North snapped.
The two men abruptly shut up and stared at each other, breathing harshly. Something flickered in North’s eyes. A bit of
uncertainty, maybe—or insecurity. Of all the things they’d argued about over the years, this had never been one of them. Givon knew how much the club meant to North. He understood that it gave a type of stability and structure that they’d never had growing up. Givon had found the same thing wearing a badge. This argument wasn’t who they were.
“I’ve never passed judgment on you,” Givon said. “I know you’ve done illegal things, things I shouldn’t overlook as sheriff. But growing up as we did gave me a new perspective on what’s right and wrong in this life. You should know that.”
“Yeah,” North muttered. “I do. You never told my secret.”
“And I never will. We share that secret, North. I’ll take it to my grave.”
North shook his head. “One day you won’t be able to stay on the fence, Giv. You’ll have to choose.”
“Don’t threaten me, North.”
“It wasn’t a threat,” North said sadly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “It might be selfish of me, but I hope you choose me and Allis.”
He turned and went back upstairs, leaving behind an argument that Givon didn’t know how to resolve.
* * * *
Allis awoke the next morning with panic coursing through her body. Daniel was coming from her. She had to run, had to leave. He’d bring trouble down upon Givon and North, to Destiny, and she knew she wasn’t worth it. Someone would get hurt, and while she didn’t give a shit about Daniel, she would die if something were to happen to her guys.
Her guys. Her men. Hers. And they always would be. She might only have known them a couple of weeks but her heart had fallen immediately. As she sat up, the stitches in her back pulled. First thing’s first, she had to get them removed. Then…then…she didn’t know what to do other than run, but she had no money. She only hoped that they would be willing to lend her some funds until she was established somewhere out of Wyoming and could make enough to pay them back.
Leaving was going to tear her up, but what else could she do?
Rising, she hurried through her morning shower and was downstairs only a half hour later. Givon was at the table, a cup of coffee in front of him as he finished a phone conversation.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll be in later today. Thanks.”
He hung up and glanced at her as she slid into the chair across from him. A soft smile played on his lips.
“Morning,” he said. “How’re you feeling?”
“Um, fine,” she replied.
“I told Charlie I would be in later,” he announced. “I thought you’d like to relax after last night. Nick’s coming home from the hospital, so North had to be with the club today.”
“Actually, I’d like to get my stitches out now,” she said.
“Sure. If you’re hungry—”
“No,” she interrupted. “I’m not. Let’s go now.”
A frown touched between his eyes. She ignored it, rising and moving to the living room. His chair scraped back as he stood and followed her.
“Is everything okay?”
She bit her lip. “I know I have to go.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“He’s not going to stop,” she said. “And he won’t care who stands in his way.”
Givon spun her to face him. He settled his hands on her shoulders. “Look at me.”
She raised her eyes. Tears blurred her vision.
“Do you think North and I would let you go and face this asshole by yourself?”
“I’m not worth it—”
He lightly shook her. “Don’t ever say that again. Why would you say something so foolish?”
“I’ve always known that I’d have to run.”
“Who told you you’re not worth anything? That fucking jerk? The town who bullied you for your whole life?” He pulled her into his arms and tilted her face up. “Don’t you know how special you are to me and North? What we would do for you?”
She shook her head.
“We love you.”
The simple words caused a sweet ache to run through her body. Hope took root, bloomed. They love me? Can it be true? Do they love me as much as I love them? She gripped his shirtfront.
“Are you serious?”
“As a fucking heart attack.”
She pulled his head down and kissed him, claiming him. She was voracious for his touch, for his kiss—for him. All she’d ever wanted in life was to find love and now she had not one man but two—two men to love her, keep her safe. Everything was going crazy inside her. Her emotions were tap dancing and singing and all she wanted to do was show Givon how much she loved him.
She put her heart and soul into her kiss, sweeping her tongue into his mouth to show him just how much she wanted him, desired him. And he reciprocated every touch, giving back as the kiss went from warm love to hot fire in an instant.
When she pulled back, they were both panting heavy.
“Damn,” he whispered. “If you keep that up, I’m taking you upstairs.”
“Stitches out first.”
He took her hand and twined their fingers together. “And second?”
“Let’s see where second takes us.”
* * * *
She could feel the stitches as they slid out of her skin and while it didn’t hurt, it did feel weird. The nurse applied some antibiotic ointment and a bandage before letting her know she could sit up.
“The bandage is just for a day or so, until the stitch holes heal,” Doctor Blake said. “You don’t have to worry about pulling your skin apart. I put several subcutaneous stitches in so everything is healed together. The small bumps created by them on the surface should flatten out over the next few weeks.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” she said.
“I see you’ve gotten a tattoo. I like it.” He grinned at her. “How are you feeling? Any pain? Any nausea?”
“I’m good,” she replied. “Givon and North have been treating me well.”
“Okay. You’re blood screening came out normal, as did your gynecological checkup.”
“Would it be possible to have a prescription for birth control? I’m regular, no female problems.” She gave him the name of her old pill.
“Sure.” He wrote the prescription out on his pad. “Anything else?”
“No. That’s it. Thank you.”
“I’d like to see you back in a couple of months, just for a checkup. And you should find a gynecologist since I’m prescribing the pill. Otherwise, you’re good to go.”
As she left the exam room, Givon stood from his chair near the door. He shook Dr. Blake’s hand then they turned to leave. He linked their fingers together.
“Are you hungry, Ms. Evening?”
“Yes.”
“I know a great restaurant that serves a savory steak.”
“Is that all you eat? Meat and potatoes?”
“I am a Wyoming boy.”
“I’d hardly use the word boy,” she said dryly.
“I’m glad you’ve noticed.”
“I’ve noticed a lot of things.”
“About how big and strong I am? How manly?”
“My. That’s almost conceited.”
“Conceit is a fault and I have none.”
“That sounds like something North would say.”
Givon frowned. “Now that you mention it, I think that’s where I got it from.”
She laughed. “By all means, Wyoming boy, let’s get a steak.”
It was mid-afternoon when they arrived at the steakhouse. The hostess guided them to a back corner table where the ambiance was a little calmer than the bar side, which held a bunch of truckers watching a football game.
While Givon ordered his meal, she decided to go with a steak salad. True to his word, the meat was perfectly seared and she ate her whole dish. Givon talked about him and North growing up and the escapades they got into through the years. He asked her about what she wanted to do in life.
Allis blinked. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
/> “Why not?”
“I never really thought about doing anything,” she replied with a shrug. “I didn’t like school and I never had any big ambitions.”
“Surely you’ve dreamed about something growing up.”
“I dreamed about going to Hogwarts,” she said.
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “I take it you never got an owl letter.”
“Nope. So after that dream fell apart, I didn’t have too many more. My mother always chided me about daydreaming. Said a half-Crow wouldn’t amount to much in this world.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“One day I came home from school and she wasn’t there,” she said with a shrug. “She left a letter saying she’d met a trucker and had left. I was in my last year of high school. I got word later she’d died.”
“She left? Left you in the same town that was bullying you?”
“I was eighteen. An adult.”
“Then why did you stay?”
“I did leave. Look what happened to me.”
“Okay. I’ll give you that.”
She absently touched her chest. “The only thing I miss about her is the necklace I lost.”
“Necklace?”
She nodded. “When I turned thirteen, she gave me a crow pendant, to remind me of my real heritage.”
“You never thought about going back to Montana?”
“My mother had run away from home because she’d gotten pregnant from a white man out of wedlock. She came back after I was born, but her family disowned her, disowned me. You asked me what I wanted most in life? I simply want a place to belong.”
Narrowing his eyes, he leaned forward. She was caught in their emerald depths, unable to look away.
“You are somewhere you belong,” he told her. “With me and North. Do you think I’d get a tattoo for just anyone?”
“We haven’t known each other that long. What if you both change your minds?”
“Honey, North and I are both old enough to know what we want,” he answered. “And we want you.”
“So…you meant it? Earlier, when you talked about…love?”
“Yes. How could you doubt it? Listen, why don’t I pay this bill and I’ll take you home so we can talk more.”
True North Page 12
