CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Jim sat on his new ride in a remote dirt canyon off I5, just south of the Washington border, smoking a cigarette and scowling at the dust and dirt already marring his baby. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered.
Boxer chuckled. “She really is a sexy ride, man. Sorry this had to be her first time out.”
Jim shrugged. “I took her for a short spin earlier. I just wish I had a name for her before we both get buried.”
“Rita. The most beautiful woman I ever met was named Rita. She had a talented pair of lips, giant melons, and a waist the size of my wrist. I could wrap one of my hands all the way around that waist, but I couldn’t hold her tits with both.” Boxer shook his head, his eyes misty with distant memory.
Amused, Jim asked, “So you think I should name my bike Rita?”
“Of course! That bike deserves the name of the most beautiful woman in the world.” Boxer was dead serious, and Jim searched his brain, trying to remember Rita. He couldn’t remember either of them ever being interested in a woman without telling the other. But he didn’t remember anyone named Rita.
It didn’t matter. “I can’t,” Jim said. “My grandmother’s name was Rita. I can’t name my ride after a woman who took thirty minutes to shuffle across the living room. It would be an insult.” He patted the bike’s side lovingly. “I was thinking Sheila. It’s nice and feminine but strong, too.”
“I guess Sheila works.” Boxer’s disgruntled reply made Jim laugh out loud, though the humor was short-lived. He could hear the rumble of bikes in the distance, and he wondered if it would be his last laugh. He reached back to touch the gun at his back, and then down to his boot, where he’d hidden a Bowie knife. It was all the security he had, and he considered texting Susan. But that was desperate, and he was out of time anyway—the group of Diablos Blancos had already come around the bend and pulled into the canyon.
Jim swung off the bike, lining up with the others, shoulders squared. They could start out with all the civility in the world, but something was going to break down, and Jim was ready. He tossed the butt of his cigarette into the dirt and watched the cloud of dust fall back to the earth as the group of men came to a stop in front of them.
Rechoncho was the first to dismount, followed by Sauza. The two men looked so much alike it was frightening, but Rechoncho’s face was round with fat, his stomach bulging over his belt, whereas Sauza gave the impression of having just stepped out of the gym. Rechoncho moved slowly to stand just feet in front of Ari, and their eyes locked, each wearing a confident smile.
“Hola, gringo. What have you for me?” Rechoncho grunted.
Jim watched the line of Mexicans, but he cast a quick glance at Ari, catching the scowl on his face as he spoke. “I got shit. You called this meeting. What do you have for me?”
“You offer us ten percent,” Sauza said, his eyes locking on Jim’s. Jim gave a short nod. “My brother feels this is insulting. But we are not greedy, ese. We don’t ask much, you know. Only what the job is worth.”
“I told you we weren’t going to negotiate,” Ari argued.
Jim cleared his throat. “What is it you want, Sauza? What do you think the job is worth?” If he left this up to Ari, none of them were going to make it home, except in body bags.
Rechoncho laughed, a deep, ugly sound. “Hey, jefe, I like your man here. He has some brains. It would be stupid not to listen and make me blow them out.”
Ari stepped forward, his hand at his back, and Jim grabbed his arm. “We’re listening,” he said, as much for Ari’s benefit as for the Diablos.
Sauza nodded. “Fifteen percent. We want $75,000 per run, and we will be satisfied. That’s a bargain. We work with the Santos for deliveries down south, and we pay them twenty percent. Think of it as a peace offering.”
“Fuck that!” Ari exploded, a vein in his temple throbbing visibly in the dim light of sunset. “It’s ten percent or nothing, asshole!”
“Shut up!” Jim hollered, shoving Ari back, the sound of guns being pulled loud behind him. He rounded and faced the line of Diablos, their guns in hand. His men stood in the same position. He drew his and Ari’s, not trusting his leader to hold his temper.
“Maybe you will reconsider your answer, jefe,” Rechoncho said. He raised his gun and pointed it at Ari. “My men are fast. They will kill your men after I shoot you and before anyone can kill me for shooting you.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Jim told him. “Your request is reasonable enough to take into consideration. The problem is, we don’t have all our men here to make the decision. We gave you a chance to take our offer back to the group, Sauza. All I want is the same courtesy.”
Sauza gave a nod of acknowledgement. “Go back to your clubhouse, talk to your men, and let us know. You have 72 hours to respond. If you agree, we will meet you back here with your first shipment. If you don’t, things will not go so smoothly for you.” He made a show of putting his gun away, and the others followed suit. Jim nodded to his men to do the same, and he tucked both pistols into his pants and shot Ari a warning look.
Jim waited for all the rival gang to mount their rides and drive out in a line. Digger and Donnie started to climb on their bikes, but Jim waved them off, wanting the sound of those engines out of hearing range before they even considered leaving. He lit a cigarette; smoking should kill plenty of time. He stood there and tried to relax as he pulled out his phone and cursed at the call he’d missed from Susan.
He heard Boxer groan and raised his gaze. “What the hell is your problem?”
“Man, you got through this whole thing and didn’t lose your cool. Now, you’re staring at your phone looking all kinds of pathetic, and I’m guessing you want to talk to your girl.” Boxer shook his head. “What is it about that woman that keeps you so interested?”
“Nothing, Boxer. Let it go.” How could he tell Boxer when he wasn’t sure himself? “My head’s on straight, whether you believe it or not.”
“Whatever.” He leaned in and spoke more quietly. “What the hell was that, anyway? You’re catching hell from Ari as soon as we get home. I hope you know that.”
Jim shrugged. “I can take it. He made a bad call, and he almost got us all killed. If we go to war with these guys, we at least need some sort of advantage. Numbers, bigger weapons, cover. Out here, we’re asking to die. All I did was make a call that kept us alive for another 72 hours.” He glanced around Boxer’s huge frame to see Ari kick at the dirt while he cursed and shouted. “He’s losing it, bro. Can’t you see it?”
“He’s got a death wish or something, that’s for sure.” Boxer punched his shoulder playfully. “You were there yourself not so long ago, I think. But seriously, what are we supposed to do about it? We’ve already voted, and the vote said we were going to the Diamondbacks when the Diablos turned down the offer. We can’t go back and vote again.”
“Yes, we can,” Jim argued. “They didn’t refuse. They negotiated. And if you’d had the balls to vote against Ari, we wouldn’t be considering those skinheads as an alternative. So, we go back and vote on the new deal. It’s not so much different, and I think it’ll pass. Ari’s going to freak out, but it’s what’s best for the club.”
Boxer bared his teeth, and Jim didn’t wait for the impending fight. “Let’s ride!” he called and threw his cigarette aside before climbing on his bike and revving the engine. All he wanted right now was to get home, take a shower, and see if Susan minded a midnight call. He had a feeling her arms – and legs – would be open to welcome him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“That’s it, I’m cancelling cable.” Susan spoke out loud to herself in the empty living room, where she’d been gorging on salty junk food and flipping channels for at least an hour. “Three hundred plus channels, and not a damn thing on. What a waste of two hundred dollars a month.”
She hadn’t been able to sleep, plagued by thoughts of her father dying and Jim crashing out on some remote road where no one would find
him and call for help this time. It didn’t help that she had downed a good two or three sodas and half a pot of coffee. Her body hummed with energy for which she had no outlet.
She heaved herself off the couch in a burst of responsibility and started throwing away empty bags of food, putting away half-empty ones, and tossing cans in the trash. She put her coffee cup in the sink and then thought better of it, grabbing her sponge and cleaner to wash it and the rest of the dishes that had built up in the sink over the last couple of days.
Earlier, Susan had cracked. Her emotions finally got the best of her, and she’d shattered, just like the phone against the wall. But she’d recognized the signs and metaphorically picked herself up and dusted off. She’d tossed her phone, saving the SIM card, and headed to the store to get another one. It had cost a pretty penny, and she really couldn’t afford it, but she needed a phone in case her mother called, or the hospital.
Admit it, you just wanted to make sure you didn’t miss Jim’s call. She tossed the sponge back in the sink and dried her hands. She almost missed the call, not used to the new ringer. And with the television blasting in the background, she had to lunge to grab it by the time she realized someone was calling.
“Hello?” she answered, not even looking at the caller ID.
“Want some company?” Jim’s voice was gruff in her ear.
She blinked in surprise. She’d thought he would be gone for days, the way he’d talked. “Do I even get a ‘hi’ or anything?” she teased.
He laughed. “Hi. Want some company?”
Susan laughed, too. “I don’t think ‘want’ is the right word. Considering I’ve been talking to myself, I think I might need someone else around for a couple of hours or so.”
“I’m on my way.” The line went dead, and Susan jumped up, feeling the need to pick up her room once again. But she stopped as she heard a knock on the door, and she rushed over to throw it open.
She stared at Jim, stunned, and mirrored his smile. “That didn’t take long.”
He shrugged. “I had a gut feeling you’d say yes.” Before she could move or say anything, he took one big step toward her, and his mouth came down to devour her as he rotated so she hit the wall.
The caffeine buzz coupling with instant arousal, she crawled up his body until her legs wrapped around his waist, and she thrust her hips forward to press against the erection that was more than ready to ease her need. She kicked her foot out, and the door slammed closed. She moved her lips down Jim’s neck, nipping and kissing as she went, and Jim growled, “That was a nice trick.”
Susan spoke with her lips against his skin. “Yeah, I’m nothing if not efficient and creative.”
She shut him up with another thrust of her hips, and his hands closed over the backs of her thighs. He carried her to the bedroom and fell with her onto the bed, but she was in no mood to let him take the aggressive position. With a violent shove, she pushed him off her and rolled on top of him, shoving his shirt up under his chin so she could kiss and lick his stomach and chest.
She made fast work of his fly, and when his erection sprung from it, she caught the tip of it in her mouth, running circles around him with her tongue. He moaned. “God, that feels good.”
She chuckled, and the vibration made Jim’s cock twitch. He let out a vile curse and put his hands on the back of her head, pushing her to take more of him in. She slide her lips down his shaft, to his base, and back up, and then she did it again. She kept at it until his fingers twisted in her mess of hair and dragged her back to his mouth, where he devoured her like a starving man.
He rolled Susan onto her back and yanked at her loose house pants, baring her, and his kiss on her cleft made her shiver almost convulsively. He licked and sucked at her until she screamed with her orgasm, and in the midst of her wave of pleasure, Jim mounted her, thrusting deep inside her. She wrapped her ankles around his neck to lift her hips from the bed, and he pounded into her until she thought she might pass out from pure ecstasy.
When he came, it was hard and fast, and his face twisted into an expression of pain. She felt his body jerk inside her and reveled in it, and euphoria settled over her from the mutual release. He collapsed on top of her, and she slowly adjusted her breathing back to a rhythmic, even whisper. Somewhat recovered, she pushed at his shoulder, and Jim rolled to the side. It eased her chest to have his weight off, and she took a deep, satisfying breath. “Well, that was necessary.”
He chuckled beside her, a winded, tired sound. “Yes, it was.”
To Susan’s chagrin, her earlier thoughts began to taunt her again, and she frowned to herself in the dark room. “Where were you earlier?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Jim knew something was going to ruin the moment. He didn’t have a lot of problems with women, but one thing was true of all of them. They couldn’t leave things alone. They wanted answers, so they poked and prodded until they pissed off the bull, and the bull went raging through the china shop, shattering the peace.
“Jim?” she asked again.
Heaving a sigh as he rolled to a seated position, he told her, “I had some club business. Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it?” she repeated. Great, she was irritated again. Here it came. “You run off, saying you have obligations, and we miss each other all day. Then you show up at my door, and you screw me like a dying man on his last ride. But you tell me not to worry about it? Dammit, Jim, this club has you by the balls, and they’re yanking you away from the things you take pleasure in.”
That was rich. “Well, the club’s been there for me for a long time, and I’m obligated, just like I said. I can’t help it if other people want to come along and take control of my balls, insisting that I’m making a mistake by being loyal to my family.” He stood, closing his fly and pulling his shirt down. “And they are my family. I don’t have anyone else.”
He heard her smack her hand against the bed behind him. “I just wish we could make this work out in a way that each of us could be there when the other needs it.”
He rounded, glowering at her through the darkness. “I suppose I’m the only one who felt relieved. At least, until you started this little tiff.”
“No, but…” She trailed off, and Jim hoped she didn’t pick the conversation back up. He should have known better. He strode out of the bedroom toward her small kitchenette, looking for a glass and a drink of water, and she trailed behind him, attempting to pull her pants back on as she went. “I needed you earlier, Jim. I don’t want to have to wait for what I need until the damn club says you’re free to leave.”
“Is that how you think it works?” He was sweltering, which only fueled his anger, and he realized he’d never taken his jacket off as he finally found a glass and filled it with water from the tap. He guzzled half of it before he spoke again. “I have the freedom to go where I please, when I please. No one tells me what to do. Not you, and certainly not the Talons. Anything I do with them is my choice.”
“Then tell me why you’re so worked up tonight. Where did you choose to go? What did you have to go that made you so furious you nearly broke both of us in that bedroom?”
He finished the water and thumped the glass on the counter. Glaring at Susan, Jim asked, “Do you really want to know? Because I thought we agreed it was better not to mix business with pleasure. You don’t approve of my line of work, so I wouldn’t think you’d want all the gory details.”
They stared at each other, a game of chicken, and it was Susan who looked away first. “Just tell me if it was dangerous.”
He scoffed. “It depends on what you consider dangerous. I think the way you drive is dangerous.”
“Don’t be snarky, Jim. I’m serious right now.”
That was another thing. Women were serious far too often. “It was a little hairy, but I’m smart enough and experienced enough to know how to handle things like this. You, on the other hand, are wholly unprepared to hear the details of tonight’s little busin
ess meeting.” Watch yourself, she’ll freak out if you even hint at guns or illegal activities.
She dropped onto the couch and crossed her arms, and Jim stood there, leaning on the counter, and wondered if this was going to blow over or if he should get out before she started hurling heavy objects at his head. After a long silence, she spoke in a small voice. “How do I know that, one day, you just won’t come back?”
Jim squeezed his eyes shut. This was not a conversation he wanted to have tonight. It hit too close to home and called up the image of the gun pointed at him a couple of hours ago. “I’ve always come back. And my business isn’t as bad as you probably think. We don’t run drugs, and we don’t sell guns. We haven’t lost a guy to anything but natural causes as long as I’ve been with the club. But I’m guessing you get all your ideas about motorcycle clubs from documentaries on Hell’s Angels and other crocks of shit.”
She didn’t answer, and when Jim came around the counter to see her expression, her cheeks were red with embarrassment. He laughed. “That’s what I thought.”
Susan closed her eyes and shook her head. Jim saw the fight go out of her and he let go of a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes still closed. “I just got some really bad news today, and it’s made me think about how easy it is to lose someone that… ” She didn’t finish, but she gazed up at him and met his eyes. “Someone that you might actually give a shit about.”
Jim could think of about a thousand things he would have imagined coming out of her mouth, but nowhere on that list had those words appeared. “What happened to you today? You almost fainted reading a text, and now you’re talking about mortality and losing people.”
Susan leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “My father’s dying. We don’t get along. I don’t really get along with any of my family, or I would be at the hospital with him right now.”
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