by K. J. Dahlen
“I’m visiting my mom, Dino. I’m not asking you. I’m telling you,” I stated firmly. “If you don’t take me to see her, the next time you come home, I won’t be here. I can get my own place to hide where I can do as I please,” I threatened.
Then suddenly my concerns seemed to make sense to Dino. He took a swig of his beer and strode over to the sofa. “I mean, I guess I could go and check on her. Plus, it’s dark out at least, so nobody will see me. I can’t be alerting anybody as to where she is. But you’re going to stay here. Understand?” he asked, his voice sounding tired.
I sighed and nodded.
“I’ll just shut my eyes for ten minutes and I’ll go, ok?”
“Ok, thanks Dino.” I nodded again and made my way over to the bedroom Jax and I were sharing. Inside, I started to change my clothes. I was going with Dino to mom’s place whether he liked it or not. I pulled on Jax’s cleanest black hoodie over my T shirt and tied my hair into a tight braid at the back of my head, so I would have something to disguise my face and gender. I then tucked the braid down the back of my shirt.
When I emerged ten minutes later, ready to go I was brought up short by the sight of Dino passed out on the sofa, snoring – loudly. I walked over to him – the smell of beer permeated the air around his head. And I was supposed to trust this man to keep my mother safe?
It suddenly occurred to me that even if I did manage to wake him, he’d been drinking. He would realize that he couldn’t drive me and put the trip to my mom’s off till morning; by that time, Jax would be home and would find a way to crush the whole idea.
I had no other choice. If I were going to visit my mother, I had to make a break for it now. I checked the jacket pocket; I knew I had $20 in there and my mother’s address which I’d jotted down after finding it poorly hidden on the sticky notes on Dino’s laptop. I only wished I had a phone, but I still didn’t have a replacement since Jumper smashed mine against the wall when I’d hid in the bathroom trying to keep him from kidnapping me.
Don’t think about that man. Your mother needs you.
Forcing the thoughts of Jumper out of my mind, I crossed the room to the front door, pulled on my sneakers and snuck out. I hoped Dino would sleep for the night, because as soon as he woke up… he’d be onto me right away.
A few minutes later, I stepped out of the building into the parking lot while my stomach kept fluttering with mixed feelings of anxiety and childlike excitement. I half wished I had Jax’s protective arm around me as I left the building for the first time. My eyes were alert for any sign of Jumper or a biker’s motorcycle that wasn’t Dino’s.
By contrast, after seven days of being stuck inside, my skin tingled thankfully with the feeling of the early evening air wafting gently across my pores. It felt great.
The place was vast and full of cars parked up for the night. No unexpected bikes. It appeared I was safe for the time being. I turned my head back to the high rise apartment building. I hadn’t gotten a good look at what had been my prison like home for the past eight or so days. When I did, it gave me a sense of emptiness.
The building stood north of Coronado in a wilderness of old factories, warehouses and parking lots leading to distant premises. I’d seen the sign for a train station no more than twenty minutes down the main road when Jax and Dino had first brought me here. If I could make it to the station, I could get to my mother’s and back – safely ‒ before the night was through. And hopefully, before anyone noticed I was gone.
I tugged at the hood of my sweater so my face was covered as much possible and made my way out of the parking lot, down the pavement beside the main road. I tried to keep my head down, but I glanced up every few seconds, half assuming that Jumper would appear on his motorcycle to gun me down or spring out of one of the many parked cars.
About ten minutes into my walk, I realized that the station was further down the road than I’d estimated and I was feeling increasingly anxious. I focused on taking in my surroundings to distract myself, which hardly helped, seeing as every building in the area was much the same ‒ distressed, derelict, with a deathly air. And yet people lived there, in awful little apartments.
It’d been a depressing sight because Orange Avenue, the main street near the station, was really quite a nice looking little place. Even when it was dark out, the street lights flooded light on the abundance of historic buildings and long streets of quaint shops including a large bookstore. The center of town was more prosperous looking and far better maintained, well-kept streets while the roadsides everywhere were full of beautiful trees that sprang with a profusion of thick green leaves that shaded the streets and plaza. A family friendly town. Well, that’s what I took from what I saw anyway. I wouldn’t mind moving here in the future rather than moving back to Jax’s tiny apartment when all of this was over.
At the station, I managed to get a return ticket at 9:42 and catch the night train direct at 9:50. The journey would only take twenty minutes. I settled into a seat near the back of the train that was empty.
Right away, I could see through the window that some rowdy sounding drunks appearing to have come back from a soccer game were parading down the platform.
Please don’t get into this car.
One by one, all fourteen of them piled into my car singing, yelling, arms swaying and feet banging like baboons.
As they stepped onto the train, my eyes were locked on the entrance to my car. I felt sure I would see Jumper stepping on at any moment, aiming the barrel of his gun at my head.
I got up and managed to pass through to the next, relatively empty car ahead of mine as the train pulled away down the tracks. My heart rate calmed once we were off. The scenery drifted past and I could feel my eyelids growing heavy. I hummed to the riff on the radio that played faintly in the background to try to keep myself awake.
Finally, my journey came to a dramatic stop when I was jerked back to reality by the stopping train. I’d hit my head on the window beside me as it pulled up at its destination. I had arrived.
Two yellow taxis sat outside of the station and the cabbie nearest to me lowered his window. He leaned over toward me and raised his eyebrows ‒ his way of asking me ‘Where are you headed?’
I stepped up to the window and leaned down to meet is eyes. “I have an address. But I’ve only got $13.25,” I explained, handing him the address scribbled on a piece of paper.
“You’re in luck, its right around the corner. Jump in.” He handed the paper back to me.
Relieved that I wouldn’t have to try to find the place in the dark on foot, I climbed into the passenger seat and we set off.
In three minutes or less, the driver whipped into a turn that led us into a cul-de-sac.
We stopped next to a white Honda Civic a few doors down from the place my mother was apparently staying in. “There you are,” he said, pointing to a terrace house with a dark green door. It was only just visible since most of the street lights on this street were out for some reason. “Number 62 you said?”
“Yep, that’s the one.” I nodded, shakily. I’m sure my nervousness was practically visible.
“You need me to walk you to the door?” he asked looking a little concerned.
“No, I’m fine. Really! Thanks,” I replied. “I know my mom is inside,” I lied. Why I said that I didn’t know. I’m sure the man would have waited to see if I got in okay if I hadn’t said that, but instead I’d just refused much needed back up.
“Well, if you’re sure,” he said, looking half pleased that he wouldn’t have to waste any of his driving time escorting me to the door.
In any case, I paid the driver and stepped out onto the road ‒ a most impassable and perilous looking place; full of potholes and muddy spots. I could feel my stomach flutter with apprehension as the driver promptly ditched me and I approached the building in the near total darkness.
I opened the metal gate to the front garden of mom’s hideout. As I neared the door, I peered up at the place. From the
outside, the house looked just as I’d expected it to except multiplied by three. Small, very small. Dingy looking. No lights on inside that were visible from the street. And tied garbage bags which sat along the wall by the front door which suggested perhaps mom had been too afraid to carry them the whole five paces ahead to the trashcan.
I couldn’t see a doorbell button by the door in the severe darkness, so I knocked on the front door. I stood on the step, trying to hold the tears, hold in my emotions, as I waited.
No answer.
I stepped up the force and with five sharp, loud knocks that hit the door again. I leaned forward to listen for any sign of movement inside and my heart ramped up its pace.
Clunk.
The lock turned from the inside. My nerves went from on edge to through the roof. I stepped back from the door, my heart pounding – hard.
The door swung open.
Holy mother of god.
A tall, dark, statuesque male figure stood before me. Wide shoulders and so tall, I had to crane my neck to try to see his shadowed face.
“Do you have any idea what time it is?” he asked in a gruff voice.
Chapter Six
Banger
The bar door banged shut behind me when I stumbled outside. I’d had more than enough to drink tonight and was finally on my way home. When I stopped at the corner of the bar and pulled out my dick to take a piss, I looked up and caught sight of the well-known white SUV coming down the street. I curled my lip at the vehicle as it passed my position. I knew that SUV; as did everyone else in this shitty town.
It belonged to a woman everyone loved to hate. Tori freakin DeGrasso. The Viper. She was the true bitch of this place. I knew it and so did everyone else. Oh, everyone stayed clear of her because they all hated her with a passion. She was the one that stood between them and the Mexican cartel.
As the car passed, my eyes narrowed to slits. I saw the man on the bike following the SUV. I growled deep in my throat. This was a Bloods town and the other man wore a Black Devils jacket. “Fuckin hell,” I swore as I put my dick into my pants and went back into the bar. I knew Jumper would want to know about this ASAP.
I stumbled through the crowded bar to the very back where I knew Jumper and his VP were sitting. When I got close, two men moved to stop me, but I didn’t waste any time. “I gotta talk to Jumper, its major important.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so, you old drunk,” one of the men calmly said as he pushed me out of the way.
I stumbled and would have ended up on my ass except for the fact that I grabbed the table behind me.
One of the other men sitting there pushed me back toward the man protecting Jumper and yelled, “Get the fuck off me.”
I righted myself and made eye contact with Jumper. “I got something you need to hear.”
Jumper glared at me for a moment then pushed the woman giving him a lap dance away from him. “What the fuck are you on about old man? It better be worth your life for interrupting my moment.”
I nodded and stepped forward. The man blocking my way didn’t move and I made contact with Jumper again.
Jumper motioned with his hand for the bodyguard to move aside.
I joined the President and VP at the table then nervously reported what I’d just seen, “I was outside taking a piss when I saw the De Grasso woman pass in her white SUV.”
“So what? She lives here; her car is seen all over town.” Jumper was losing interest already in what I had to say. He leaned toward the woman and began pawing at her bare chest.
“But that’s not what I came here to tell you,” I whined. “She was followed by a man wearing a Black Devils’ jacket.”
Jumper stopped cold. His lips had been going to her tits and when he stopped, he turned his head slowly to glare at me. “Are you fuckin telling me the Black Devils followed her to her club?”
I nodded. “That’s exactly what I saw. A guy wearing a Black Devils jacket followed her vehicle all the way to the club.”
Jumper shoved the woman next to him onto the dirty floor and glared at his VP.
His VP got up and walked out of the bar picking up a few men along the way.
Jumper glared at me and growled, “Get the fuck away from me, you lousy piece of shit. You made your report like a good solider should, now clear out. I don’t want to see your ugly face no more tonight.”
I slumped my shoulders and walked away. I thought I’d at least get credit for reporting what I’d seen. Getting to the shadows of the bar, I turned and glared at Jumper. The man had no appreciation of his men.
A few minutes later, the VP returned and went straight back to the table Jumper was sitting at. He leaned close and whispered something to his leader.
Something, he didn’t want to hear apparently. Jumper growled loud enough the whole bar could hear him as he gripped the table, flipping it over, scattering drinks and whatever else was there all over the floor.
The entire bar went silent. You could almost hear a pin drop as all eyes turned to Jumper.
He looked furious. His face was red and his hands were curled into fists. Then he stomped toward the door and threw it open.
Every one of his men followed him to the edge of the street where they could all see the strip club.
Jumper glared at the front of the club. Tori’s white SUV was parked there and beside it was the bike I’d told him about. He knew that bike and he knew the bastard who rode it. It was Jaxson’s bike. The man he missed with the bullet that had his name on it.
“What the fuck is the Black Devil’s doing here?” he wondered out loud.
“Yeah, and what the fuck are they doing with her when she won’t even give us the time of day?” Pyro, the Bloods’ Vice President, added.
Jumper looked over at the other man. “I don’t know but I plan to find out. If the cartel is going to work with an MC, it’s going to be ours not the fucking Black Devils.” He growled. “I want you to watch that club and let me know when that bastard leaves then I want someone to follow him. Something is going on here and I want to know what it is.”
The VP nodded and pointed to a couple of men that weren’t too drunk yet. Giving the orders, he moved to the shadows to keep an eye on the strip club.
Chapter Seven
Jaxson
Fucking Tijuana.
We’d pulled into a turn buried in the midst of the ribbon of lights and exotic music that flooded the main street. I hadn’t realized one of those establishments belonged to Viper – or to whoever this woman really was. I’d been mildly alarmed when I’d followed the SUV into a parking lot in the center of town, rather than several miles down a dirt road like most criminal home bases were. But I’d been more preoccupied with keeping an eye out for Jumper on the journey. Thankfully, I hadn’t seen any of the Bloods’ motorcycles around.
I parked my bike and knew something was wrong the moment I found three missed calls from Dino on my phone. Cell in hand; I dismounted my bike at the back of Viper’s compound. The tip of my thumb hovered over the return call option on my phone’s display.
Half an hour won’t make any difference. I reassured myself.
I made a plan that I would leave this place in half an hours’ time, call Dino back, then sort out whatever mess had occurred from there. I’d promised Bruno I would support him with this job, and I’d risked my life by coming here tonight ‒ I’d ridden through Tijuana when Jumper wanted my blood. I wasn’t about to waste the chance I’d just taken on my life for the sake of a thirty minute head start on whatever I was needed for. I turned off my phone and pushed it into my jean’s pocket.
One door from the white SUV opened and my head jerked up. Bruno stepped out and I strode across the parking lot toward him. “So where is this place?” I asked, as I felt for my gun in its holster just to be sure I had it ‒ since I was about to step into the Viper’s’ den of thugs, and still not knowing where Jumper was hiding.
Viper emerged from the SUV a second later and looked over to us, sti
ll hidden behind her sunglasses. “Follow me in and meet the family.” She dropped her voice low and led the way toward a large, oak door just ahead of us. “Come this way, it’s more private.”
I hesitated. Why the hell should we trust this woman? Especially, in the Bloods’ town.
“Give Viper and her club a shot,” Bruno muttered in my ear before he set off behind her – making it clear that I didn’t really have a choice unless I was about to abandon him. Rock music boomed from the inside as Viper opened the door. Bruno and the bitch went inside. The door swung closed to an ajar position behind them, leaving a tiny amount of light seeping through the gap.
As I neared the place, my face tightened and my eyes grew cold. I could just about make out the sign above the back entrance door, which read: ‘Little Sally’s Strip Club. Staff Access Only.’
Holy Shit. Are you kidding me? The Viper’s home base was a stripper’s bar? I’d never expected this.
Reluctantly, I reached out and pulled opened the door to a blast of a bad eighties rock music. A cover band was playing ahead of me on a tiny stage. I stepped inside, looking for Bruno and the bitch. I wandered around the place, keeping alert for anything suspicious. Where the fuck had that snake taken Bruno? For all I knew, Jumper and Viper were in business together. Yet, here we were.
The room was filled with ten to twelve colorfully dressed… dancers. Most of them were silently warming up, doing their makeup, or texting on their phones, but they all noticed me and started adjusting their clothes when I entered the place. The strippers ‒ all no older than 25 – wore variations of the same type of costume…a G-string and a bra or bikini top. All the costumes were a luminous color as though they were competing desperately with each other for the sparse male attention available. The establishment was practically devoid of customers. I gave a nod to the two men that were in the place; both looked about sixty and were blind drunk.
