Maniac

by Winter Travers

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Not a damn thing to be sorry about. They were great parents while they were alive, but shit happens and they both died in their forties of heart attacks.”

  “Still, has to be hard.”

  “Don’t try to go all Freud or feel sorry for me, darlin’. Next fucking question.”

  “Is there a reason why you say fucking all this time? No matter what you say, you always seem to sneak a fucking in there.”

  A devilish grin spread across my lips. “Sneaking in a good fucking every now and then is never a bad thing.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Not what I meant.”

  I shrugged and turned back around to face the TV. “I’ve answered this before. It’s just a fucking word. Next damn question.” Since she appeared to not like that I said fucking, you can bet your damn ass I was going to use it all the fucking time now. Fuck, fucking, fuck. Ha.

  “Do we really need to keep doing this?”

  “Yes, unless you want me to start asking you questions.” The whole point of this was for Wren to get to know me better so she could trust me, but I was more than okay with learning more about her.

  She sighed loudly, and then I heard her feet hit the hardwood floor. She shuffled across the floor and stood in front of me. “If I agree to watch TV with you for an hour, can we stop these damn questions?”

  “Two hours,” I countered.

  “One movie,” she replied.

  I patted the bed next to me. “You pick the movie, darlin’. I’m game for whatever as long as it means you’ll not lay awake in the bed all night.”

  “This really isn’t fair, because you only have a handful of movies.”

  I shrugged. “There are at least ten below the TV. There has to be one you’ll watch.” I didn’t even know what movies were down there. I hadn’t been to the cabin in over ten years. Hell, I didn’t even know if they were going to be DVDs or video cassettes.

  She stalked over to the cabinet below the TV and crouched in front of it. “Sweet Jesus, I can’t even remember the last time I saw any of these.” She held one up, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the layer of dust that was on the cover. “Weird Science? Breakfast Club? These are all from the eighties.”

  She wasn’t wrong about that. “Don’t you chicks love movies like that?”

  “I much prefer my movies to be from at least this decade or the last decade.” She grabbed one in the back and stood up. “This one is at least from the nineties.”

  I couldn’t catch a glimpse of the case before she took out the video cassette and put it in the ancient VCR. “What’s your pick?”

  She plopped down on the sofa next to me and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re just going to have to wait and see.”

  After I flipped the channel to Aux, I kicked my feet up on the coffee table and prepared myself for whatever chick flick she had just picked out.

  The opening credits rolled, and I silently groaned. "Pretty Woman?"

  She smirked. “You were the one who told me I could pick the movie.”

  “A mistake I won’t make again.” I settled back into the couch at least thankful I had gotten Wren out of the damn bed and sitting next to me. It may not seem like a lot, but it was a pretty damn big deal to me.

  One step at a time, I was going to break down the walls Wren had built around herself.

  *

  Chapter 6

  Wren

  “Wrecker is going to be here in a few minutes.”

  I looked up from the book I was reading and scowled. “He was just here a week ago.”

  “And your point is?” Maniac drawled. He was leaning against the counter in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand. His feet were bare, and his hair was damp from the shower he had taken. His white shirt was stretched taut across his shoulders, and his tattered jeans hugged his hips and fit his rugged and gruff exterior.

  The man was handsome, and after watching him for months, I knew it was effortless.

  Not that I was looking, though.

  While he was handsome on the outside, his gruff and growly personality prompted me to keep my guard up permanently.

  “I don’t understand why he has to come here.”

  “‘Cause he’s got stuff to tell me.”

  I closed my book. “You guys do know you can talk on the phone, right?”

  He took a sip of his coffee. “Some shit shouldn’t be said over the phone, darlin’.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m gonna go for a walk while you two have your manly pow-wow.”

  “A walk?” A chuckle rumbled from his lips. “That is the last thing I thought you would say.”

  I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t know what’s so funny.”

  “Because you would have to actually leave the cabin to go for a walk.”

  “If it means I can get away from you for a couple of minutes, I’d climb Mt. Everest.”

  A sexy smile spread across his lips.

  This was not the time for a sexy smile. Smiling in general from Maniac was rare, but when it was a sexy smile, it should be illegal.

  A knock sounded on the door before I could ask what he was smiling about.

  “Stay where you are, darlin’,” he ordered as he stalked to the door.

  His hand went to the gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans, and he peeked through the peephole.

  Another thing I had grown accustomed to. No matter what or where Maniac was, he always had a gun within arm’s reach. Normally, it was tucked into the back of his jeans.

  When I had been around the Hell Captains, there were always guns around, but I never felt safe because of it. With Maniac, I knew he had it only for protection and would use it only if necessary. I couldn’t count how many times guns would go off at the Hell Captains because they were just being idiots.

  His hand left the butt of the gun, and he unlocked the door. “You weren’t joking when you said five minutes,” he mumbled.

  Wrecked strolled through the door. “Why the fuck would I joke about that?”

  I tucked my legs underneath me and leaned back into the couch, hoping to disappear. While I thought Maniac was rough and gruff, compared to Wrecker, he was a damn pussycat. The only thing Maniac had on Wrecker was his voice was hoarse and gravelly.

  Wrecker’s eyes raked over me, and he nodded. “Wren.”

  I gave a tiny wave and hoped that was all I was going to have to deal with Wrecker.

  “Looking better, babe.”

  “Urgh, thanks?” I wasn’t sure what to say to that. So the last time he had seen me I had looked like shit? I probably had...

  Maniac moved past him and sat down on the couch next to me. I had been sitting in the middle of the couch, and his leg brushed up against my bare skin. I tried my hardest not to jump away from him. He leaned back and laid his arm across the back of the couch.

  “I got word on shit going on with the Hell Captains.” Wrecker grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and straddled it.

  “Oh yeah?” Maniac acted like he wasn't affected by Wrecker’s words, and I struggled not to physically shake with fear at the mention of the men who had used and tormented me for months.

  “They’re still searching for Wren, although they are looking in all of the wrong places. Last I heard, they were headed south to Kentucky.”

  “Kentucky?” Maniac asked.

  My breath caught. Oh, my God.

  “Not sure why they headed that way. I was hoping coming here and talking to Wren would give us a better idea why.”

  Wrecker’s eyes fell on me, and Maniac turned to me.

  I felt all of the blood drain from my face. I didn’t want to talk about Kentucky. That was something I had never talked about with the Hell Captains before, and I had no idea how they had found out about. “Uh, I, uh...” Crap.

  “Darlin’, what the hell does Kentucky have to do with you?” Maniac demanded.

  “Ergh, I don’t know how they woul
d have found out.”

  Wrecker crossed his arms over his chest. “There aren’t any secrets for long when you got an MC on your heels. Spill whatever shit they have on you so we can take care of it.”

  “That’s just where Jezebel and Jake live.”

  “She talks like we should know what the hell she is talking about,” Maniac mumbled. “Maybe you should start with why we should care Kentucky is where Jezebel and Jake live.”

  “Or better yet, who the hell are Jezebel and Jake,” Wrecker added.

  “Jezebel is my friend, and Jake is her little boy. I have no idea why the Hell Captains would care about them.”

  Wrecker shook his head. “Son of a bitch. You gotta be fucking kidding me?”

  I looked at Maniac and shook my head. Why would I joke about Jez and Jake? “Um, not joking.”

  “As if I don’t have enough women and ol’ ladies at the damn clubhouse, now I’ve gotta add a kid to the mix,” Wrecker complained.

  “Was gonna happen anyway when Karmen pops out the kid.” Maniac shrugged.

  Uh, huh? “I don't know what you guys are talking about.”

  “Clue in, sweetheart. The Hell Captains are going after anything that might bring you out of hiding. Since you ain’t got no family, and they know Cora is already tucked safely behind the walls of the clubhouse, they had to find something else. That something else is your friend and her boy.”

  Oh, my God. I grabbed Maniac’s arm. “You can’t let them get to Jezebel or Jake. She loves him more than her next breathe. You can’t let anything happen to him.”

  Maniac patted my hand. “Nothing is going to happen to them, darlin’. Now we know what they’re going after, we can head them off before they get to her and the boy.”

  Wrecker pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I need their full names and address if you’ve got it, sweetheart. Clash and Slayer are on the way down there, but I have a couple of connections who live in Kentucky that can help us grab the girl and boy before the Captains get there.”

  I rattled off Jezebel’s name and address. “But what are they going to do when they find her? Jezebel has never been involved with an MC. You guys are going to scare the hell out of her and Jake.”

  Wrecker pushed some buttons on his phone and put it to his ear. “Would you rather her be scared for a couple of minutes, or be killed by the Hell Captains?” He stalked out the door as he started barking orders into his phone.

  Well, when he put it that way, I guess Jezebel would survive a few bikers knocking on her door better than the Hell Captains.

  Maniac immediately stood and grabbed his coffee cup off the counter. “This is all my fault.” He dumped the remains of his coffee into the sink.

  “How is this your fault?” I asked.

  “I should have asked you if there was anyone in your life the Hell Captains could reach out to. Cora had told us you didn’t have any family, so I figured I didn’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Uh, Cora doesn’t really know about Jez or Jake. Jez is a friend from my childhood I’ve kept in touch with.”

  “Any other friend we need to worry about?”

  I shook my head. “Nope, you’re in luck. Cora and Jezebel are my only friends.” And Jezebel I hadn’t seen in years. We normally kept up with each other over Facebook and the occasional phone call. “I’m not even sure that is her recent address. I haven’t been to see her in more than five years.” Oh, my God. If I was wrong, how were they going to be able to find her?

  “You gave Wrecker her name. That’s all he needs. He’ll have her and her son tucked safely away before the Hell Captains even roll into town.”

  I stood up and paced in front of the couch. “How can you know that?” I ran my fingers through my hair and tried not to freak the hell out. If anything happened to Jez or Jake, it was going to be all my fault.

  “I know it because Wrecker said he has it covered.”

  “Your faith in each other is absolutely horrifying.” How could he be so calm right now?

  Probably because it’s not his friend who is seconds away from being captured by the Hell Captains.

  Gah, I was such an idiot for getting involved with that buffoon. Looking back, I couldn’t believe I had fallen for his lame pickup lines and very empty promises. By the time I had figured out I wasn’t more than a warm body, it had been too late for me to run.

  I was constantly watched and never left alone for more than a few minutes to use the bathroom. Just like Maniac was with me, but it was different. Their eyes always watched me warily, waiting for me to make a move.

  While Maniac watched me to keep me safe, the Hell Captains watched me to make sure I didn’t run and spill any of their dirty secrets.

  “Wrecker is my brother, and he knows what the hell he is doing.”

  I shook my head. “We need to go to Kentucky. I need to see for myself Jez and Jake are safe.”

  Maniac clicked his tongue. “Never gonna happen, darlin’. That is exactly what the Hell Captains want you to do.” He grabbed a coffee cup and filled it up. “Drink this, read your book. Don’t worry about it.”

  I rolled my eyes and continued pacing. Not worrying was easier said than done. “You’re insane if you think I can just go back to reading my book and act like nothing is happening.”

  “What’s it gonna take for you to go back to reading?”

  Was he serious? “My friend and her son here, with me.” That was the only thing that was going to keep me from going crazy.

  “You got her phone number?”

  “I do!” I dove for my phone on the bed.

  Maniac cut me off and shook his head. “Hold on there. Let’s wait ‘til Wrecker gets back in here, and then we can find out if it’s cool for you to call her.” He wrapped his arm around my middle and held me back from the bed.

  “No, let me go. You can’t tell me when I can and can’t talk to my friend. That’s not happening again.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing, Wren.”

  “Bullshit,” I mumbled. I struggled against his hold, trying to get to my phone. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of calling her before. I was such a bonehead in shitty situations.

  “Darlin’, just stop. You need to think for a minute. I’m not saying you can never call your friend, I’m just saying hold on two minutes.”

  I looked up at him. “Two minutes may be too late.”

  He shook his head. “It won’t be. Just trust me, Wren. I’m on your side.”

  No one had ever been on my side. Sure, I had Cora and Jezebel, but when bad shit had happened to me, no one had been there to save me. “You get two minutes, motorcycle man, and then I’m calling her.”

  He smirked. “Motorcycle man?”

  It was fitting. Although, I had never seen him drive a motorcycle. Whenever we went to the store, we always took the truck, but his bike was always parked next to the porch. “Yeah.”

  I tried to take a step back from him again, but he tightened his grasp on my waist. “Nothing is going to happen to you or your friend, Wren. I promise.” His low, gravelly voice wrapped around me, and I couldn’t help but lean into him.

  There wasn’t a reason in the world I should believe him. He hadn’t done anything to prove to me he was a good man.

  You’ve stayed in the same house as him for weeks, and he’s never laid a hand on you.

  I looked down at his arm.

  You’re stretching looking for a reason to run from this man, Wren. I hated when my head thought reasonably.

  “Please let me go,” I whispered.

  His arm slackened, and he stepped back. He held his arm around my waist for a second to make sure I didn’t fall over, and then he dropped his arm to his side. “I’m sorry, darlin’.”

  There wasn’t a damn thing he needed to be sorry for. He didn’t do anything wrong. Hell, he was doing everything right, but I couldn’t get over my own shit in my head.

  He’s not a Hell Captains.

  Now that was th
e damn truth.

  “They got her.”

  I whirled around. Wrecker was standing in the doorway shoving his phone in his pocket. “She lived five minutes from one of my guys, and they were with her before I even got off the phone.”

  My anxiety crashed. “Thank God.”

  “What are you going to do with her now?” Maniac asked.

  “Not sure yet. Once the Hell Captains find out she’s not there, they are going to know we got to her first.”

  “You know it’s only a matter of time before they come directly at the Fallen Lords, right?”

  A sick, satisfied smile spread across Wrecker’s bearded face. “We can only hope so.” The thought of the Captains messing with the Lords obviously amused Wrecker.

  Maniac laughed. “So, what are you up to now?”

  “Dealing with The Ultra bullshit. I gotta spend some time setting shit up.” He grabbed the door handle and turned to leave.

  “She good to call Jezebel?” Maniac asked.

  “Probably be a good idea. She’s rather spooked right now. She didn’t believe what was going on until they mentioned Wren.”

  I knew Jezebel wouldn’t know what the heck was going on. I grabbed my phone off the bed and looked up at Wrecker. “Um, thank you for, well, everything.”

  He nodded and pulled the door shut behind him.

  “Call your friend, darlin’,” Maniac called. He moved to the back door.

  “Uh, where are you going?” I asked.

  “Thought I would try to give you some privacy.”

  Privacy. Something I had silently been begging for, and now he was giving it to me, it felt weird. “Oh, uh, thanks.”

  He slipped out the back door, and I looked down at my phone.

  How had Maniac always being around become my new norm?

  The man had finally given me some time, and now I had never felt more alone.

  Damn, my head and heart were so messed up.

  *

  Chapter 7

  Maniac

  “We need to go to the grocery store.”

  “We just went the other day.”