by Lexy Timms
"Whip, the angle, you couldn't."
"I dragged the work bench away from the wall. I could. I shot the gun into the wall behind him so I have gunpowder on my fingers."
I didn't say anything. I would have to think about this one very hard.
"Just find my baby, Talon."
I sighed. "I did, Whip, she's ok."
The old man sobbed into the phone. "Thank you."
"I might know where Jaze is too."
"Is he ...?"
"I won't know until I get there."
"You're a good man, Talon. I would be honored to have you as a son-in-law."
I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so I hung up the phone.
Twenty minutes later I pulled my bike in the driveway of Whitey's mom's house. The place had been empty for a decade, and it looked it. Weeds and wildflowers grew hand in hand, not stopping at the former boundary of the driveway. The small red house seemed to lean, to warn people away from entering.
When I walked up to the front door though, it had a brand new lock on it, and every window in the place had been boarded up with plywood.
I went around to the back, but there was a new lock on that door also. These locks were industrial strength, not easy to pick. I didn't think I would have to.
I walked out to the old storm shelter twenty-five feet behind the house and pulled open the doors that were set into the ground. I expected cobwebs, bugs, signs of disuse, but no, everything was clean.
I started down the steps, wishing I had a flashlight. At the bottom, I found an entire row of them in the sunlight that managed to filter down and puddle on the ground. I turned one on, not even bothering to hope. It was strong, telling me I was exactly where I should be.
The tiny shelter was empty. The shelves stood bare. I shone my light on the very back wall of the shelter, found the door knob, and pulled it, shining my light down the earthen hall that led to the main house.
What's done is done, sure, but we still have to hope, to try, to make sure.
I walked down the corridor, dust puffing up under my feet. The world was silent, reminding me of sunset after a heavy snowfall.
At the end, I pushed open the door that led into the cellar of the house, wincing at the loud shriek it made.
A light greeted me. Shone in my face, blinding me. "Whitey?" a voice called.
I couldn't speak for a moment. My mouth dried up and the flashlight almost fell from my hand.
Jaze's voice. Weak, unsure, but so unmistakably Jaze.
"No man, it's me."
"Talon." Jaze sounded close to tears. "You found me. I'm not gonna die in this shithole."
"Never," I whispered, not trusting myself to say any more.
I went to him and dropped to one knee to embrace him. He threw one arm around my neck. The other one stayed on the ground. I heard the sound of a shifting chain as he tried to move.
When he let me go I shined my light on the ground next to him. He was shackled to an old tie rod embedded in the concrete of the floor.
"Key?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Whitey might have it on him."
"Whitey!"
"Yeah man, you're never gonna believe what the hell he's doing."
"Try me," I grunted as I fished my knife from my pocket, wondering if I could pick this lock. It looked pretty standard.
I went to work with the lock pick and the pry bar from my knife, as Jaze talked.
The story poured out, pulling my concentration away several times, making the lock picking take forever.
Whitey had told Jaze everything in bits and pieces, every time he came to bring Jaze food and water. Whitey and Jaze's dad had started the MC club with Bulldog and three other guys when they came home from Vietnam. Band-aid, the medic from their unit in Vietnam, had been president, Whip had been Vice, Bulldog was named Sergeant at Arms, and Whitey, Secretary/Treasurer. Whip and Band-aid wanted the club to be an extension of their unit in Vietnam. A place where men could come together after the war and still feel like they fit in. Bulldog had tried to take the club in a different direction, an illegal direction. He had brought in people to make and smuggle drugs, enlisted some members to start being enforcers, strong-arming businesses. Doing everything that gave MCs a bad image, named them as a criminal element.
Church had culminated into nothing but one endless fight after another until Band-aid said he was going to disband the club. It had grown in the few years to include almost fifty members, and to many of them it was the only home they had.
Band-aid, Whip, Whitey, Bulldog and James, one of the other founding members, had gotten together alone to try to work things out a final time. Bulldog pulled a gun on Band-aid, and Band-aid pulled one back, then Whip and Whitey pulled theirs too. James and Band-aid had ended up dead, and nobody was entirely sure who shot who.
Bulldog named himself the new president, saying that Whip was too much of a pussy to make the hard decisions that needed to be made. His first decision was the two dead men were to be buried in a shallow grave.
Whip convinced Whitey they had to band together against Bulldog. They wiped their guns, left them with the bodies, and went to the police, making up a story that would lay the finger of guilt only on Bulldog. Bulldog was arrested and would have gone to trial but he ended up escaping during transport to prison.
The guilt and fear and fallout had nearly destroyed the club anyway, but Whip and Whitey had managed to hold it together somehow. Something had changed with Whip though, and he became more violent, heading to jail several times, almost always for assault of some kind.
When he met Rose and they had Jaze, he changed again. Something in him softened, calmed down. He focused on making the club a better place for veteran's to rebuild their lives, and somehow he ended up the model foster parent for teenage boys, but he and Whitey always felt Bulldog's eyes on their back. The last time they'd heard any rumors about him, he was supposed to be in Arizona.
Jaze's voice changed, got harder as he told me the next part of the story.
Bulldog had come back and somehow convinced Whitey to help him destroy Whip. Bulldog wanted his name cleared, his club back, but he also seemed slightly insane and was going about it all in a way that had to backfire on him eventually. His plan was to slowly kill everyone close to Whip, then make the club believe Whip had done it himself. His ultimate goal was that Whip would end up going crazy himself, and maybe commit suicide.
Bulldog had something on Whitey, something so big that Whitey would never tell Jaze what it was, but it made Whitey go pale and sometimes puke when Jaze pressed him. Whatever it was, it was enough to make Whitey help Bulldog with his plans.
The night that we had seen Jaze in the back of the truck, Bulldog had carefully orchestrated that, trying to make Whip think he had shot his own son. Jaze had been wearing a bullet proof vest, so the shots to the chest had just knocked the wind out of him, knocked him down, but the shot to the head had taken off a good chunk of his ear and furrowed a wicked looking scar at the bottom of his hairline.
Whitey had been supposed to make sure Jaze was dead and dump his body, but he hadn't been able to do it. He had tied Jaze up and visited him once a day, pouring out his heart to him.
I got the shackle open and helped Jaze stand up. If I hadn't have gone through the last month, I never would have believed the story. But having gone through it, I believed every word. It was the only thing that made sense.
I helped Jaze to his feet. He was shaky, like a newborn foal. "You haven't stood in a month?"
"No, the shackle wouldn't reach more than an inch off the floor."
I helped Jaze down the hallway. We went slowly, like he was an old man.
"There's one more thing, Talon, and I'm telling you this in confidence. Don't tell Crystal. I don't know how she would take it, with everything else that's gone on." His voice shook.
"Ok."
"Whitey says Whip isn't my dad. Says Whip doesn't even know he's not."
"Who, then?"
"He wouldn't say."
I was silent for a long time.
"You ok?" I asked, as we climbed the stairs into the sunshine.
"Yeah. I'll figure it out."
I nodded. I knew he would.
Chapter 28
Talon
"You're free to go, Mr. Covina."
I stood up and smiled at the female police officer. She'd been nothing but polite to me the entire time I'd been at the station. I looked at the clock. It was ten in the morning. I'd been there for over sixteen hours.
Jaze hadn't been able to keep the strength in his legs to ride out of there on the back of my bike, so I knew we had only one choice. I'd called the cops and they came to get us.
Jaze went to the hospital for observation. I went to the police station for questioning.
They'd left me in the cell long enough that I'd actually gotten some sleep. I was grateful for that.
I'd never said a word. They treated me like a suspect, but they couldn't make me say anything, and in the end, they'd never charged me.
Now I was walking out of here without ever having lied to anyone. I didn't know what would happen in the future, but I'd decide once I heard what had happened to Whip.
Now to see my girl.
***
Crystal
I shifted in my seat, my ass hurting from sitting in the hard plastic for so many hours. The hospital had discharged me late the night before and I'd gone to see my brother first, bawling like a baby at his busted ear and wasted body. He was so thin it hurt me to look at him. Talon had gotten a message to me through a police officer we all went to high school with. He was ok. Jaze was in the hospital. Black van guy was dead.
When the nurse had said Jaze needed to sleep I had borrowed a car and come to the police station. I sat in the waiting room all night, sneaking cat naps every few hours. Talon and my dad were both in the back, and apparently my dad had shot the guy who had first lured me with a recording, then stuffed me in the trunk of the car. Somehow, Talon had found Jaze. My dad was going to be kept for at least another day, I'd been told, but Talon would be free to go soon. I didn't know who had found me, but I'd had a dream it had been Talon. In the dream I'd told him I loved him.
Fluttery wings beat in my chest at the thought. If it had happened, what had Talon thought of it? Was he still mad at me?
The door opened on the other side of the waiting room. A police officer held it open for Talon. He walked through, looking impossibly handsome and strong. My hero. My soldier. My biker.
Our eyes met across the room but he didn't react. He didn't smile or frown. He just stared, drinking me in. I stood and held my breath.
He walked slowly towards me, but when he was only halfway to me, he broke into a run, then pushed me against the wall with his body. Heat flooded through me as his hand came up to my hair and tugged gently, positioning my face directly beneath his. "Thank God you're ok, Crystal. I would have died if I lost you."
Hot need filled me, but something else was more important. "If you ... lost me?"
His mouth crushed down on mine. I responded eagerly, thrilled with his attention, with his words, with the love I felt radiating off of him.
Love?
I pulled away, panting hard, my whole body tensed and my mind on high alert, unable to look directly at him. "Talon, am I ... am I yours to lose?"
He groaned into my mouth and kissed me again. "You're mine. You've always been mine. You saved yourself for me, didn't you?"
Hot blood rushed to my cheeks and tingles sprinted up and down my spine, making me shudder with pleasure. "I did," I admitted, lifting my eyes to meet his, forcing myself to keep them there.
His lips found mine again, teasing, asking, taking, demanding. He stopped to breathe, then tangled his hand farther into my hair, pulling my head back slowly. His hazel eyes took mine and wouldn't let them go.
"I love you," he said simply, searching my face for a response.
My body exploded in a mass of tingles, like every cell in it cried out YES at the same time.
"You love me? Really?"
"I've always loved you, Crystal, since the day I moved into your father's house. You were the smart girl. The girl who had it all together. The first person in the family who was going to make something of herself. Be someone people looked up to. And you were crushingly beautiful to me. I couldn't even look at you." He shook his head. "You were fourteen. And my best friend's sister. I squashed it all from day one because you were too young. When you were older I didn't want to betray your brother or your father."
I remembered those days. He never did look me. I tried to catch his eye constantly, but he stayed far away from me.
His eyes searched my face and I saw a vulnerability there I'd never known existed.
"But Talon, what about when you moved out? When I moved out? I flirted with you enough times. At least I tried to."
A sad smile crossed his face. "You're gonna be a doctor, Gidge. It doesn't matter that I love you. It's enough for me to know you're alive and happy. That's what I really want for you. Not to be stuck with a loser like me. Someone who has no clue what he wants. Someone with a bum fucking leg and no fucking future."
I reached out and grabbed his face in my hands, unable to even think, hardly able to form words, but they came out finally. "Don't do that Talon. Don't you call me Gidget right now. That's how you push me away. That's how you keep us apart. I'm Crystal. Don't you ever call yourself a loser again! You are amazing and strong and sexy and hot and smart. You've had major trauma and it doesn't matter if you want to take a few years to just hang out, do nothing but be part of the MC. They're my family too, and none of them are losers, especially not you." My hands crept back to his ears and I pulled on them, making sure I still had his attention. "I love you too."
His sad smile reappeared. "Doctors don't love bikers, G—Crystal."
"Doctors do whatever the fuck they want, Talon. This isn't the 1950s and Gidget was never real life. You're a biker, and I'm nowhere near being a doctor yet, but I still love you."
His sad smile stayed put, like he didn't believe me.
"Talon, I've loved you since I was fourteen too. This is real what we have. Nothing else matters." I leaned forward, pushing up on my tiptoes, grabbing his bottom lip in my teeth and pulling it out, my gaze locked on his the entire time. His beard tickled my nose but I ignored it. I let go so I could speak. "I don't know what will happen in the future, but I'll tell you two things. One, this can work. My father and brother will be nothing but thrilled for us, I know it. Two, being a doctor with a sexy, badass man to call my own will only be good for me."
Talon licked his lips. "I've done shit, Crystal. Shit I'm not proud of. I'm not a good person."
"Bullshit," I whispered, pressing into him. "You're a good person. We'll work through it, get past it, all of it."
His lips dropped to mine and he crushed them in a kiss that rocked me to my core. A kiss that promised everything good in life, every ounce of love, caring, pleasure, and appreciation he had to give.
He pulled away and tugged on my hand. "Come on."
"Where we going?" I smiled, hoping I knew the answer.
"My place."
"Cool." We pushed out the door into the sunshine.
"Shit, my bike's out at Whitey's mom's place."
"I have a car."
I steered him to the car and in a few minutes we were on our way. We didn't speak. There didn't seem to be anything more to say, for now.
I parked the car in front of Talon's house and he pulled me up the walk. "My brothers are at school."
"What does that mean?"
"It means we finish what we started two nights ago."
"Really? Mr. Tough Biker, how do you know I want to?"
Talon unlocked his door then pulled me inside. He pressed me up against the wall and growled at me, making me laugh.
"You don't?" he asked, nuzzling my neck.
I sighed as pl
easure zinged through me. "I do, but I have to tell you something first."
He pulled back, concern in his eyes.
"Talon, I, well, I'm a virgin."
He smiled and I almost fainted at the handsomeness of it.
"Really?" he leaned in and kissed my neck again. "You sure you've never been pushed up against a wall and pounded?"
My breath came faster in my throat and my entire body began to throb in time with my heart. The things he could do to me just with his words! His hands roamed up and down my arms, around my back, up my neck to my hair, lifting it, pulling on it, then back down to my breasts, palming them, seeking out my nipples.
"Oh that, well, that doesn't count," I forced out.
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't know it was important to tell that guy I was a virgin. And I'm really sorry that I didn't. I was afraid if you knew you wouldn't do it."
His lips and hands stilled on my body for a moment. He pulled his head back to look at me.
"I didn't mean to get upset, Crys, it just caught me by surprise. I was a little rough with you, but if I'd known, I wouldn't have been."
"Why not?" I asked. It didn't make sense to me.
"Because a girl's first time should be special."
I cupped my hand behind Talon's head and kissed him. "It was special. I'll never forget it. It was amazing."
He shook his head. "Nah, Gidge, I was too rough."
I kissed my way up his jaw line and whispered into his ear. "I fucking loved it. All of it, every filthy word that came out of your mouth, your hands on my head, your cock in the back of my throat, the way you fucked me until I screamed and then made me touch myself until I came."
Talon tensed as if reliving it all, then shrugged away from my hand so he could look me in the eyes, a wicked smile on his face that spilled the promise of rough sex all over me.
"Ah, Gidge, if that's the way you like it, we're going to have some fun." His hands dropped and he stepped back, shrugging out of his cut and throwing it on the back of a chair. He stripped right there in the entryway, all the way down to his bare feet. His muscles caught my eye, begging for me to dip my tongue in every single crevice. His cock stood straight out, fat and ready for me.
