He looked her up and down and his face softened. She saw the regret in it, the longing, and wanted more than anything to walk to him and wrap her arms around him, but she didn’t. She stood her ground. If he wanted to say anything to her, she was there, waiting. He ran his hand through his hair and then over his face. She noticed then that he’d shaved and the tears sprang into her eyes. All of this was for her. He frowned and took a step toward her. The sight of her crying, yet again over him was driving him insane. He couldn’t handle it. Phil held him back, and when he tried to shake out of his hold, the older man gripped him tighter. Jager turned to look at him and could see the warning in his eyes.
“It’s fine Phil. I’m fine,” Jager said and reluctantly he let him go. Taking a couple of steps, trying to fix his suit and tie, Jager came to stand next to Tatum.
“You look incredible,” he said, looking into her eyes and swallowing hard.
Tatum mustered a smile. If he was going to be cordial, she could be cordial too. “So do you,” she replied.
She hoped that this was it. The moment he apologized, took her in his arms and ran away with her. Instead, he offered her a weak, sad smile and said, “I’ll uh… see you around,” before walking toward the bar.
Tatum was numb. What just happened? She realized that she’d not taken a breath in a few moments and inhaled sharply, shakily. Finding her feet, she turned and made her way to the bathroom. She knew tears weren’t far off and she didn’t want Phil, who was watching her intently, to see her cry again. Rounding the corner, she watched Ava quietly close the door to Jagers office, and then lock it. Turning to walk away, she saw Tatum and jumped.
“Shit girl, you scared me,” she said before registering the look on her face. “What’s the matter?”
Tatum could only shake her head as she made her way toward the bathroom. She grabbed Ava’s hand on the way and they both walked in. She told her what happened. She managed to keep herself together; holding back the tears. When they returned, Ava did her best to keep Tatum occupied. They did even more shots. They danced with every guy there. By the end of the night, all Tatum could think about was not throwing up. Ava considered her job as friend done, and left pretty early. But more than once during that time Tatum saw Ava giving Jager dirty looks.
He on the other hand did his best to avoid looking in their direction. She was killing him. She looked so good. That dress… It was as if she were sown into it. He messed up, he knew it, but this was the only way. If he gave her an inch, she’d take a mile. He had to be cold. Had to make her see that being with him wasn’t worth it. He wanted more than anything to go over to her, tell her not to leave. To stay. Instead he stayed in the corner with Gary sulking until he couldn’t take it any longer. She was beyond drunk and dancing with some guy that Jager didn’t really know. His hands were all over her and hers on him. When he couldn’t take it anymore he stood and walked into his office. He sat heavily on the chair and pulled open the top drawer, where he remembered he’d put a joint earlier in the week. There was a gun on top of some files that were in there. He picked it up and turned it over in his hand. He didn’t remember putting it there, but then again, the way his week was going, he couldn’t remember much. Laying it back in, he found the joint in the corner, pulled it out and lit it.
When he was done he came back out to discover that Tatum was gone. Phil was driving her to his place to stay the night. Apparently she’d barfed outside and begged him to take her home. He was grateful that she didn’t leave with anyone else. He didn’t see Sugar for the rest of the night, but only felt somewhat bad about punching him. He shouldn’t have been touching her like that. Then again, she shouldn’t have been letting him.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
A few days had passed since the party Phil threw for Tatum; she was becoming very restless waiting for the day when her flight would take her home. The longer she stayed the more eager she was to go. She avoided Jager, but didn’t let their awkwardness keep her from visiting the boys. When he would leave for work each day, she would head over to his house with Connor and Jeannie. She’d pick Matthew up from school and walk him home, only coming in when she was positive Jager wasn’t around, which was most days.
Jeannie was there this night. She and Tatum sat in the living room with the boys. Jeannie on the couch, smoking her cigarette and blowing it out the window, while Tatum was on the floor blowing raspberries on Connor’s belly. Matthew would run and jump and try and ‘save’ his brother and Tatum would grab him, throw him down and begin her assault on him as well. The boys were weak from laughter. Tatum didn’t notice when the door opened and Jager walked in with Melanie. He was clearly intoxicated, stumbling over shoes in the porch, his arm around Melanie’s shoulders. The boys cast a single glance at him, deciding that playing with Tatum was more fun than greeting their father. Jager noticed her then and his face fell.
He looked at Melanie and smiled seductively at her. “Go wait in my room. I’ll be there in a minute,” he said and patted her on the ass before she walked past Tatum and the boys, looking smugly at her before walking down the hallway and away from them. Tatum took a deep breath and texted Sugar, asking him for a ride. Thankfully, when he replied, he was only five minutes away. She stood then, peeling Matthew off her back and placing him on the couch. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she said smiling, despite her broken heart. It was the first time she’d been in the same room with Jager since his new found interest in Melanie. She planted a kiss on each of the boy’s heads. Matthew held her arm and looked pleadingly at his father. “Daddy! I want Tate to sleepover. Not Melanie again!”
Jager at least had the audacity to look somewhat embarrassed when he finally made eye contact with her. She couldn’t help it; she shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I can’t stay buddy. Daddy has other plans but I’ll see you tomorrow,” She was furious. How dare he let some random whore into their lives like that?!
The rev of a motorcycle indicated that Sugar was outside. She walked to the porch where Jager was still standing and grabbed her coat off the bench. He turned and looked at her before she opened the door. “Have fun with Sugar,” he said bitterly, but she could see the hurt in his eyes, behind the drunken haze.
Melanie had come to stand in the living room, leaning against the wall to the hallway. She saw his reaction. The jealousy covered her face; it made Tatum beam. She looked back at Jager, “have fun with your whore,” she said and gave herself the satisfaction of turning to see the other girls face drop. Jeannie couldn’t help but smile. She looked at Melanie then and raised her eyebrows as if to say, ‘it’s true.’
Jager opened the door and watched Tatum walk down the path toward Sugar. He smiled when he saw her approach and when Tatum climbed on the back of his bike, her hand slid up his t-shirt and rested underneath, on his bare stomach. Seeing that, the intimacy of it, along with the way he overheard Sugar telling the guys earlier that day that he was planning on fucking Tatum that night had Jager reeling. He was done. He needed her. Enough with the games.
Walking back into his house, he looked at Melanie. “Get out,” was all he said before picking up his kids and walking toward their rooms. Melanie stood stunned in the hallway. Jeannie got up from her seat then, flicking her cigarette out of the window. She raised her eyebrows again at the girl, blowing the last bit of smoke in her face. “Well? You heard the man,” she said and motioned with a flick of her chin towards the door. Melanie walked over, mortified, pulled her boots on and walked out.
While Jager brushed the boy’s teeth, he knew that he couldn’t wait until morning to talk to Tatum. He called out to Jeannie, asked her to stay with the boys. She agreed, hoping his plan was to finally end his avoidance with Tatum; she was the best thing for him.
Getting Matthew and Connor to sleep took a while longer than usual, naturally. It always seemed to be the way when he had something important to do. He liked to be the one to do it however, considering he didn’t get to spend as much time with them duri
ng the day as he wanted too. When they finally did get to sleep and he tried to leave, Jeannie stopped him, “You’ve got a bit of sobering up to do before you get on that bike again.” Jager tried to shrug her off. “Do you want your boys to lose both parents?” she asked and he got it then. He sat down at the kitchen table and texted Sugar and then eventually Tatum. He wasn’t surprised when he got no response. Jeannie brought him a cup of coffee, laying the mug on the table in front of him. She wasn’t sure which was steaming more. The thought of Sugars hands on her. Her hands on him... He was shaking with anger before he gave up on the coffee. He’d walk to the club, in hopes that that was where they went. Jeannie took his keys, just in case.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
On his way, he replayed every scenario in his mind. Tatum and Sugar having sex. Tatum being alone. Sugar being alone. Tatum having gotten on a plane and leaving. He thought of the things he would say to her. Things he’d do if he walked in on them. He felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket but was too distracted to answer it.
The walk to the club wasn’t that far, a little less than half an hour, but tonight it seemed to take forever. The air was chilly and the sky was bright. He could see the stars perfectly and was reminded of the night at the beach, in the water with Tatum. It was both the best and worst night of his life. He mentally kicked himself for it now. He had her. Right there in his arms. They could have avoided all of this if only he realized that being with her was the best part of his days. Being able to call her his, to wake up to her, to kiss and fuck her whenever he wanted to was worth the fear of losing her.
He’d never forget her face tonight when he and Melanie walked in. She was so hurt. It practically shot out of her eyes like laser beams. He never wanted to hurt her. Melanie was a distraction. Something to do while he got over her. A way to take his mind off all things Tate.
His phone vibrated again and then dinged to alert him of a voicemail. The sound of fire trucks and ambulances in the distance seemed fitting with his mood: panicked, excited, and troubled. His heart was beating so hard in his chest that it seemed to him that he was shaking in rhythm to it. When April had died he didn’t feel this nervous. He didn’t feel any of the same ways about Tatum as he did his wife. As far as he was concerned, he loved April. Loved her for all the years she’d tried to change him, set him straight, putting up with his bullshit and drama. He would never in a million years trade what she had given him – the boys – for anything in this world, yet now, feeling the way he felt and knowing what he knew, he wasn’t in love with her. Tatum was the one who taught him what that meant.
As he got nearer to the club he noticed then that the sound of the ambulance and fire trucks was growing louder. Rounding the corner his heart started to beat faster and harder for another reason altogether. There were cop cars, fire trucks, and an ambulance parked in front of the club. He could see a few of his guys standing around, Gary was on his cell phone and at the same time Jagers phone was buzzing.
He hesitated for a moment, assuring himself that he was really seeing what he was seeing before he started to run. Behind the fire truck Phil was pacing, his hands in his hair. Jagers knees grew weak. There was only one thing that could make Phil look like that. He ran past the ambulance and towards his friend. Phil saw him and grabbed him by the shoulders, his eyes wild and flowing with tears. “They can’t find her Jager. They don’t know where she is or who has her!”
Jager looked at him for a moment, not registering what he was saying. He turned toward the ambulance and found Sugar sitting on the bumper, a blood soaked cloth to his head. He walked over to him, in a daze. Sugar looked up.
“I don’t know who it was Jager. I walked in first. The lights were off and you know that’s weird for the club. When I opened the door and stepped in I got hit in the head and then that’s all I remember. When I came to, the place was destroyed and Tatum was gone.” Sugars eyes filled up and he flinched when the paramedic pulled the cloth away to examine his head.
Jager walked away then, past the rest of the guys and toward the building. He rubbed his hands down his face, trying to fight back the anger and worry. In the end, the side of the club took the brunt of it. He yelled as loud as he could. The tears ran down his face as he punched a dozen or so times on the brick wall until his hands were bloody and his knuckles throbbed. Bobo came up behind him in an attempt to comfort him, but Jager shrugged him off and walked back over towards Phil. “What are the cops saying?” he asked with a quivering lip and watery eyes.
Phil’s expression mirrored his. “They don’t know. No one knows anything!” he said frantically.
Jager took a deep breath and pulled Phil in for a hug. “We’ll find her. I have to find her,” he said and let go.
It was as if Phil hadn’t heard a thing. He resumed his pacing, looking up every time a cop came out of the club, as if Tatum might have been over looked and at any moment one of them would yell, ‘We found her!’
Jager couldn’t believe his timing. Was God punishing him for all the shitty things he’d done in his life? He knew he deserved them, but Tatum didn’t, did she? Deep down he knew that their lives were anything but pure, or good. It wasn’t a typical life they led, but it was their life. There were no options. If there was a God, he had to understand that. He started walking, no destination in mind, just needing to get away from all of this. He needed to do something. Needed to find her, but there was nothing. No clues, nothing to go on.
For the first time in his life he prayed. He prayed for Tatum to be ok. He prayed that he would find her. He was about to pray that the people who did this would die horrible, terrible deaths at his hands, but then stopped himself, promising God that if they found her, he’d give it all up. He’d move to the country with her and his kids, if she’d still have him… if she was still alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
He found himself on the beach sometime later. He didn’t so much as sit on the sand as his legs just gave out. He felt numb pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket with shaking fingers. He lit one and stared out at the ocean. He saw him and Tatum in the water, her memory his only comfort. Fresh tears filled his eyes and spilled over. He lowered his head into his hands and cried, his cigarette burning all the way through.
Suddenly it dawned on him then, that this must be retaliation from Norman’s crew. He knew that people like Norman didn’t keep phone numbers for long. He knew that trying to track down Norman would be next to impossible unless he wanted to be tracked down. He took his cell phone out anyways. It alerted him that there were six missed calls, two voice messages, all from his guys telling him about Tatum.
The number he had for Norman was still in his contacts and he scrolled over it, knowing it would be a waste of time, but not knowing what else to do. Guys like he and Norman didn’t keep the same phone number for long, for legal reasons. He clicked on it and pressed send anyways. The phone rang and Jagers heart lodged in his throat. On the second ring, Norman picked up.
“I was expecting to hear from you a lot sooner Mr. Ryan. I guess what Tatum here tells me is true. You don’t care for her.”
Jagers lips pulled back and he felt animalistic. “If you hurt her so help me God I will kill you and your entire family…” he spat out, rising to his feet.
“Now now son. Don’t be hasty. She’s fine, a bit bruised up, but otherwise fine. She will continue to be fine so long as we get what we want. She’s not cooperating with us at the moment however, perhaps you can talk some sense into her. We wouldn’t want to scar up that pretty face, make her lose any digits…”
Jager had started to run back toward the club. He knew that if he kept these guys on the phone long enough, the cops might be able to track them. He heard a shifting over the phone, and then Tatums muffled groans of protest. At first he thought that they were hurting her, but then he realized that she just simply didn’t want to talk to him. She’d been kidnapped and beaten, and from what he understood, he was her only salvation, yet she was stil
l being stubborn and holding a grudge against him.
The sound of flesh slapping flesh had his heart racing. A second after that Tatum’s voice came over the phone. “Jager…” she said. Her voice hoarse from screaming.
“Tate, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Tell me where you are. Please tell me you’re ok?”
She inhaled deeply. “They want the clubs, the girls, and the clients. They know about Bill and Phil. They think talking to you will convince me to give it up, but we both know that the minute I sign it over, they’ll kill me anyway” more muffling and then she was gone and Norman was back. “I can assure her safety Jager. So long as she cooperates. The longer this takes however… my guarantees become void.” He hung up then. Jager was only a block away from the club. He cursed and nearly threw his phone down but knew that it was his only connection to them.
Phil was still pacing the parking lot. Jager grabbed him and dragged him away from the cops, beside the club. He fought Jager first, not wanting to miss anything that the cops uncovered, but then his eyes focused on Jager and he knew that his Authority knew something. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head, “What? What do you know boy?!”
“It’s Norman. He has Tate. They want her to sign over the clubs and business, but she won’t do it.”
“How do you know? Is she ok? Where is she…?” Phil began to grow frantic again. Jager grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to look into his eyes.
“We’re going to find her Phil. I don’t care what it takes. We need to keep our heads right now. Ok? Can you do that?” he said intently, looking into Phil’s eyes.
Altering Authority Page 10
