Out of Darkness

by Laramie Briscoe

“We’re back here,” Denise yelled.

  In an instant two teenagers and two bikers were also in the back room.

  “Hey, baby,” Liam greeted. He leaned down to give Denise a kiss. With a soft touch, he caressed her abdomen before straightening to his full height. “So I was tellin’ Tyler that it would be a good night to cook out with everybody here.”

  “Oh that would be fun,” Meredith smiled.

  The kids seemed to be in agreement as well.

  “Why don’t you two do your homework real quick and take your showers. I can smell you from over here Andrew,” Denise laughed. The young man had football practice every day, and it was obvious in the way he’d bulked up how hard he worked.

  “I know mama, I can smell myself.”

  “Tyler and I will go fire up the grill.”

  Meredith got up from where she sat. “I’ll go make the sides. You just stay right there little mama.”

  Denise pouted. “Can I at least come sit and talk to you?”

  “Sure, but you aren’t lifting a finger.”

  “I gotta talk to you about something,” Tyler said, his voice low as the two of them started grilling hamburgers and hot dogs.

  “Sure, what is it?”

  Tyler had grappled with whether he should tell his friend what was going on or not. It could put them all in a bad situation, but Liam was his oldest friend. He and his father had never seen eye to eye and Tyler knew that the two of them were more like family to each other than any blood relations they ever had.

  “I hate to tell you this,” Tyler sighed, running a hand through his hair.

  It was obvious his friend was struggling. “Whatever it is, man, just spit it out. The two of us have been through some shit. There ain’t nothin’ we can’t tell each other.”

  “But I don’t want to tell you this.”

  “Ty, when have we ever lied to each other?”

  He knew the answer to that. Never. That’s why they were such great friends. That was why they trusted each other so explicitly. In this life, you had to have that one person who would look out for you no matter what the cost. They were that person to each other.

  “I think William ordered the rape on Meredith.”

  Liam’s head visibly kicked back as if he’d been smacked in the face. “Wow. You sure?” His mind went back to the events weeks ago, when William had made Meredith public enemy number one as far as the club was concerned. It wouldn’t be that far of a stretch if he had ordered it, but it still didn’t feel good to think it was the truth.

  “All signs are pointing to yes. Do I want it to be true? Fuck no.”

  Liam knew that Tyler would never make an accusation like that without at least having some information as to why it would be true. Tyler had always been honest and fair, almost to a fault.

  “You know whatever it is, true or not, I’ll stand behind you.”

  That meant the world to Tyler. “I’d understand if you didn’t. That’s your dad.”

  “But you’re the one who’s always been there for me. No matter what. Family is family, and blood don’t make you family.”

  Tyler pulled the other man into a hug. “That means a lot to hear you say that. You know I don’t have loyalty to many and I don’t trust many. I value you and your opinion on anything and everything. Later on tonight, I’d like to talk to you about what I’m thinking. I just don’t want the ladies to be involved. This can’t come back on them.”

  “Agreed, brother, agreed.”

  “How was football practice?” Tyler asked Andrew as they all sat around eating dinner.

  “Hard,” he admitted as he swallowed a bite of hamburger.

  “You’re on the JV team right? That’s pretty good for an eighth grader.”

  Andrew couldn’t keep the happiness off his face at the praise of the other man. “Yeah, they say I’m big enough.”

  “I did the same thing in middle school. I had to drop out of high school in tenth grade, but I was a beast on the football field. You need to start bulking up a little bit. You don’t wanna be a lanky guy like him over here,” Tyler grinned over at Liam.

  “Fuck you, man. Not everybody can look like they came out of Muscle Magazine.”

  Denise whistled. “Hey, language. We’re gonna have to watch that with the new baby.”

  Tyler cleared his throat, a grin on his face. “Anyway, Drew if you feel like it, you can come work out with me sometime. I work out at night, but I can do it in the morning if that would be better for you. You’ve got the height, you need the muscle mass.”

  “That’s what coach said, and I asked Liam if he’d come work out with me, but he said he really doesn’t,” Andrew rolled his eyes.

  “Hey, at least I’m not lyin’ to you. About the only working out I do is workin’ on the cars and riding my bike.”

  “Yet you somehow seem to be blessed with a bangin’ body,” Denise stage whispered.

  “Mooommm,” Mandy groaned.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d love to come work out with you,” Drew effectively ignored everything else at the table.

  “Alright, you wanna go in the morning or at night?”

  “Morning. I have practice every afternoon, and I don’t think I can give it 100% after practice.”

  Tyler smiled at the boy. “That’s a damn good attitude to have. I’ll meet you tomorrow morning at 5 am. If we run late, I’ll take you to school.”

  Meredith watched the exchange, something soft and sweet in her eyes. This man was so much more than she had ever imagined. He had so many facets to his personality. Many that she was sure she hadn’t even witnessed yet. It made her want to witness them. It also caused her mind to wonder. Would this be what he was like when they had a teenage boy to raise?

  Later on, after the kids had gone to bed, they all sat in the living room talking like couples do. When there was a lull in the conversation, Tyler made eye contact with Liam and motioned towards outside.

  “You wanna go take a smoke?” Tyler asked.

  “Yeah, let’s go. Ladies, it’s a bit chilly out there. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Once outside, they had a seat on the front porch, each lighting up their respective vice.

  “So tell me what you know so far.”

  “Fuck man, I’m not even sure where to start. There’s so much shit going around in my brain right now.”

  Liam blew out a steady stream of smoke from his mouth. “Just start at the beginning.”

  So he did, explaining to Liam about the envelopes with the pictures and the fact that the person would have to have unprecedented access to the club. “That’s when I automatically thought Layne or Jagger. They are new and we don’t know a whole lot about them, I figured it would be easiest to suspect them. I searched their rooms, but couldn’t find shit. That’s when I thought about William.”

  “Let’s think about this. What would he have to gain by getting back at Meredith?”

  “Motive. She was getting awfully damn close to breaking open all our secrets before she was attacked. I mean we all said that she was like a dog with a bone. All of us avoided her, and let’s be truthful, even we don’t know about the skeletons in this club’s closet from way back when. Your dad is the last remaining of the first five. He can manipulate anything that he wants.”

  “You do have a point there. A damn good one. So what have you done?”

  “I got his phone’s passcode. I took down a few numbers, and I’m going to see if Meredith recognizes them. I have a feeling one of them might be one of her informants for the other clubs from her reporter days. I’m going to try to get into his network and download his old messages too. He may have a sim card somewhere. You never know.”

  “You know this could mean death, right brother?”

  Tyler swallowed hard. “I’ve never feared it before. Why start now?”

  “You’ve got someone who depends on you now.”

  “If I don’t get to the bottom of this, I will never forgive myself.
If I do and it kills me, then I will gladly go as a martyr. I just hope that you’ll take care of her if something does happen to me.”

  That thought caused Liam’s stomach to churn. There was no way he wanted to think of that, but he of all people knew the life they led. “You don’t even have to ask. She’s in good hands if this all goes south. I’ll give my own life for that.”

  That was all Tyler needed to hear. Now he wouldn’t rest until he found out the truth and God help the person that stood in his way.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Do you recognize any of these numbers?”

  Meredith looked at the numbers that Tyler had written down on a piece of paper the next day, trying to remember the numbers she had used in her investigations. She pointed at one. “This one looks vaguely familiar. They were all disposable prepaids, I’m sure. I had them written down in one of my notebooks. It would be in my desk if I remember correctly.”

  They went to the room that housed her stuff. She made a beeline for the desk and reached into the bottom drawer, pulling it out of the wood structure. Reaching inside, she engaged a lever and a false bottom opened, revealing some paper work.

  “That’s pretty hot that your desk drawer has a false bottom,” Tyler grinned. “Means you’re mysterious and dangerous.”

  “If only,” she giggled.

  Going through all the information she had, she pulled out a small black book. “This has all the phone numbers I used. Let’s see.”

  She went through them as he looked over her shoulder. “There,” he pointed. “That one is the same. Who was that to?”

  He watched as she swallowed loudly. “That was my contact for the Vojnik. The one who didn’t show up that night.” Her face became deathly pale, and she ran for the bathroom, throwing up everything she had in her stomach.

  Tyler was torn between following her and trying to decide if he should leave her alone. Wanting to be near her won out, and he ambled into the bathroom, wetting a washcloth for her. He sat next to her on the floor, pressing the coolness to her forehead.

  “You okay?”

  “No,” she whispered, her voice shaky. “I’ve lived here in this clubhouse with that man for months. He’s smiled at me and told me he thought I was better.” Tears came to her eyes, and she angrily pushed them away with violent strokes of her fingertips. “This whole time…he knew.”

  An anger that Tyler had never felt before washed over him in waves. He wasn’t sure how to control this anger. Earlier in life, he would have gone out and found a fight, beating another man until he almost died. At this point, he was ready to admit, he was too old for that.

  “I don’t want to stay in this clubhouse with him anymore,” she declared, holding her arms across her stomach.

  “I don’t either,” he admitted.

  That was the bitch of the whole thing. If he wanted to prove that William was behind this, he would have to stay. He would have to collect evidence and keep his head down. Maybe they would have luck for once and the man who raped her would appear. Now that they knew who ordered it, Tyler knew the guy had to still be around. William demanded loyalty and ease of access. If this man had done this once, William would require him to do something equally heinous again.

  “What do you want to do?” Tyler asked, his voice hoarse. It felt like she was leaving him, and his breath came in great gasps. His hands shook and he felt sick to his stomach.

  “I don’t want to leave you,” she cried.

  “But you feel safer doing that.” He finished for her.

  “Could I go to your house?” she asked, tears streaming down her face.

  Her world was crumbling again. She had thought that she had found a home here, a place to belong. And now it was being taken away from her. Everything that she thought was the truth was just an illusion.

  “No,” Tyler cupped her face in his hands. “None of what you and I have shared has ever been an illusion.”

  She must have said that out loud, but she didn’t remember it. That was the scariest thing of all. This had thrown her completely off.

  “I care about you, Mer, I’m never gonna let anything happen to you again.”

  She closed her eyes, reveling in his hands on her face. She wanted to believe him. With everything she had, she wanted to believe that he could keep her safe. Never before this had she ever thought he couldn’t. But now she had doubts. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

  “Don’t do this,” he begged her. “I can see you shutting down on me right now. This isn’t changing anything between the two of us. This is just a temporary roadblock. This is nowhere near the end of us.”

  Tears spilled over her eyes again, and her face screwed up in a look of utter despair. “Then why does it feel like it is?”

  “Because you’ve had a shock, baby. I’m not letting you go,” he promised, putting his arms around her. He held her so tightly against him that his muscles shook.

  “Neither one of us knows the future,” she argued.

  “I do, and mine is with you. I understand that you need some time. I get that. I’ll put you up at my house. Give me a few hours to get Travis over there to wire some security for you. William doesn’t know about that house, so you will be safe there. I’m warning you, I’m not giving up on us. Don’t you give up on us.”

  It felt like such a hopeless situation to her. Things had changed on her in the blink of an eye, much like it had the night she’d been raped. It felt like the biggest setback of her life.

  “I think I need to call Doc Jones,” she whispered.

  “If that’s what you need to do, then by all means do it! Do you need me to take you there?”

  She hated this. She hated pulling away from him and seeing the hurt in his eyes, but he was too close. He was too close to the hurt, too close to the danger.

  “No, I can take myself,” she whispered, trying to ignore the pain in his eyes.

  He knew her well enough to know that she’d stubbornly dug her heels in and she wasn’t budging. “Let me at least give you my truck. It’s got a tracking device on it, that way I know where you are if I need to. You haven’t driven your own car in months, who knows if it’s ready to be driven. It’s winter and it could snow. Let me put you in something that I know you’re safe in. At least give me that much.”

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled a key ring out. Handing it to her, he smiled sadly. “I was gonna give this to you tonight anyway. It’s keys to my house and truck. Anything that’s mine is yours, and I wanted you to know that. Go get your stuff together, and then I’ll show you which truck is mine.”

  Grateful for the exit strategy, she ran from the room before she could sob. Life wasn’t fair, and it had never been more unfair than at this exact moment. Haphazardly, she threw articles of clothing into her bag. It didn’t matter if they matched or not, she just wanted out of this clubhouse. On her way back out of the room, she noticed one of Tyler’s hooded sweatshirts sitting on the dresser. Pulling it up to her nose, she realized he must have worn it recently because it smelled like him. Without another thought, she put it into the bag along with everything else.

  “You ready?” he asked as she walked out of his room.

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  He grabbed her hand as they walked out of the clubhouse. They made their way to the garages that housed club members’ cars, and he opened the one that had been deemed his. A very manly black Chevy stood in front of her. Dark window tinting and chromed out, it fit him like a glove.

  He opened the door for her and helped her in before throwing her bag into the passenger seat. Using his large hands, he turned her to face him and stood between her parted thighs.

  “I’m not letting you go, I hope you know that. I understand why you have to go for now, and it’s breaking my heart, but I do understand.”

  She took a shuddering breath. “You’re way more than I deserve, Tyler Blackfoot.”

  “That’s where you’re w
rong. I’m exactly what you deserve, and I’m not letting you forget it. I’ll give you a little bit of time, but be prepared. I’m not leaving you alone. I understand that you need to come to grips with this, but expect me in a few days.” He leaned in, giving her a soft kiss.

  He shut the door before she could say anything else and tapped the window to let her know it was okay to leave.

  Putting the key in the ignition and driving away from the clubhouse was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Meredith, I’m surprised you called me so soon.”

  The next day she was in Doc Jones’ office, breathing deeply and trying to control the emotions that had plagued her all night. “I was too, to be honest with you.”

  “What happened?”

  “You cautioned me about trying to find who did this. You told me that I may not like the answer and that it may bring up other things. I foolishly thought you were just being overly cautious,” Meredith explained, tears already coming to her eyes.

  In the past eighteen hours, she’d tried to stop the emotions. She had tried to stop the crying, but she just couldn’t. She couldn’t deny the depths of the feelings she had for Tyler and how it had broken her heart that she’d left him.

  “I take it you found out something that has been difficult for you to comprehend?”

  “What we talk about here is privileged, right? You don’t discuss this with other people?”

  Doc Jones took her glasses off and sat forward in her seat. “I’m bound by federal patient confidentiality laws Meredith. What we say here will not go beyond these walls. That is one thing I can promise you.”

  She took a deep breath and forged on with the story of what had happened. “We found out that William Walker, the President of Heaven Hill, might have ordered the rape on me.”

  Sitting back and breathing heavily, she reacted. “That’s a hell of a shock.”

  “You’re not kiddin’. I’ve lived with that man since it happened. I’ve been alone with him on numerous occasions. I’m best friends with his would be daughter-in-law. I feel so stupid and betrayed.”