We all exit church and I straddle my two wheels. I missed this—the ride. The past two days I've dealt with Harley's accidental ass, and her pup. Now it’s time to ride out my anger and regret. Let the road dissolve it. Take it all away. The wind will wash it off my skin like a hot shower.
Jack, Jinx, and I pull into the driveway. Shut off our two wheels and start demolishing the house. This will be fun, being destructive on anything is a stress reliever. I don't care what anyone says, get pissed, and break a plate. See how you feel after that shattering sound hits your ears.
*******************************************
Harley
I wake up to a big crash, then another one. What the hell is going on? Am I being robbed? Shit, Bronx. I get up, walk to the kitchen and see three big—I mean huge—men tearing into the walls of the damn house.
"What the hell are you doing?" I scream. They all turn to look at me. As if they are doing nothing wrong.
"Redecorating." Jack says. Damn it, it's Jack, Ford and someone new.
"What makes you think I wanted to redecorate?" I asked, pissed off. More pissed that they woke me up instead of worried about this damn outdated house that holds bad memories.
"Well, for one Sexy Name, this floral wall paper is so nineteen-fifties." Okay, he has a point, but still. Why does he have to say it in a girly way? I smile at that comment; it was funny. Like he cares if flowers are on the kitchen wall or not. I'm not buying it.
"Better start explaining or... Bronx." I yell his name. Man, I love this damn dog. He's at my side within half a second, staring down the three gorgeous men. What can I say, there are three hot guys demolishing the kitchen. Can't be too mad. I am a woman after all.
"What the fuck is that?" The third unknown hot one asks. I'm smiling. I can't help it. No one knows my dog like I do. It’s a devious grin. Ford just stares me down. Silently challenging me. I grin wider. I can't help it. Not too often do I get to show off Bronx's training.
"Boys, meet Bronx. Bronx, smile for the gentlemen.” I say with a shit eating grin. I get all giddy. I just can’t help myself.
Bronx is showing teeth, growling viciously. Drooling uncontrollably in attack stance, he’s ready for my word. I’ll admit, if I was on the other end, I’d be scared shitless. He is a huge Doberman—fearless.
“Chevy, get your bitch, bro!”
He really called me a bitch? Props to the unknown man; he’s hot, but not bright. I have a hundred and twenty pound dog ready to attack and he insults me. Guys got guts, I’ll give him that.
“Bronx, heel.” I say rolling my eyes. He sits down, looking like he just woke up from a nap. Bored actually.
Ford walks up to Bronx, and Bronx allows the pat on the head. Traitor. Ford looks to me and sighs.
“Me and the Brothers are looking in your walls for anything that your father might have hid in them. No lie babe, now call off the dog before Jinx shits himself. We are on tight time.” He says staring into my eyes. Why does he have to stare at me like that? I can feel all of his emotion in just his eyes. No words needed for the fire I feel. It sends a rush between my legs. I have to adjust my standing to rub off my temporary warmth.
“Hand me that hammer.” I say to Jinx. He looks between me and Ford, then to Jack. Jack just shrugs.
He hands me the hammer and I walk out of the kitchen and through the hall, towards my parent’s room. I hit the wall as hard as I can. I just start smashing and hammering walls; unleashing all of my emotions out. It feels... fantastic.
*******************************************
The guys left about an hour ago and I am still here tearing mom and dad’s house up.
I had done their entire bedroom and living room; the guys done the kitchen and bathroom. They tried to do my room. I told them that I’d take care of it myself.
I know this has to do with Avery. I’m worried that it wasn’t a simple adoption or something has happened to her. Ford isn’t talking. I asked, he said club business or some shit. I thought I was being kept in the loop—I guess not. I don’t know. I just can’t see how this ties into Avery and my parents. I’m trying to be patient, but it’s wearing thin.
As I walk into my room, I have the faint memory of telling Lissa I was pregnant and crying into her arms. I brush my fingers over my bed. They didn’t change a thing in my room. Seems this room is the only place time has stopped.
I brush off the memory and lift the hammer. I chose the wall between my desk and book shelf. I remove the hanging photo of me and my parents. I swing with all my power. But it didn’t go through. I swing again; the drywall only crumbles slightly. I lift and swing one last time. A chunk of wall falls to the floor and behind it, I can’t believe my eyes.
A safe. An actual safe in my wall, inside of my bedroom. How long has that been there? Ford was right to search the house more closely. A damn safe in my wall. Where I slept. Maybe they put it in after I left. They had to have. Now that I take a step back, and stare at the metal peering through my plum colored wall, I can see a slight color difference in the paint.
I slowly walk up to it, brushing against it with my fingers. There is a code, of course. It wouldn’t be very safe if it didn’t require a code, right. I kneel down on my good knee and think of what it could be...
I try my parent’s birthdays—nothing. I try my birthday—nothing. I try my parents wedding date—nothing. I sit for a good hour and try every date I can think of—grandparents and classic years, still nothing. I have one last idea. What could it hurt? I try Avery’s birthday. 1-27-1997. Finally, it opens. Oh my God! They used her birthday, the date they ripped my heart out, to lock up what?
Looking inside, I find a few documents for the house, bonds, titles and such. I start to think I hit a dead end when I see it—a stack of photos. Old photos. I start searching through them. It’s my father; he was young. Maybe early twenties. He’s on a motorcycle. A…Harley. He has a vest on. Not an ordinary vest though, it looks like Ford’s. A cut. I squint, barely able to make out the words “Jackals MC”. No…I gasp. My father…a biker… in a club.
Another photo was of my mother and father together, their backs turned. My father has a huge jackal tattoo on his back. “Jackals MC.” How come I’ve never seen this? When I think about his tattoo, I don’t ever remember seeing it. Every beach trip or pool party, he always kept his shirt on. I never paid attention. He said he wasn’t a water person. But here is the real truth. He was running from a haunted past.
Sound familiar?
Shut up. Damn inner voice, always butting in.
My parents were always private. Now I see why. Their marriage certificate says she was sixteen when she married my father and he was twenty-six. Wow. Was he a child molester? Is that why I couldn’t keep Avery? What if I did keep her and he touched her? I would have never known. He didn’t ever hurt me. No, I don’t believe he would have hurt her. My mother was so young when she married my father, was that his concern? Me being tied down by a child as she was. Is that why he had such high hopes for me and school? Is that why my mother was so cold-hearted? She had to take care of me instead of follow her own dreams. Did she ever really love me?
Just stop it, Harley. You’ve been asking that all your life.
Dismissing that as soon as it comes to my head, I find another piece of paper. A birth certificate and a contract for Avery.
Her birth records!
I drop them as my tears stain the paper. I look through clouded and blurry eyes as I dial Ford’s number.
*******************************************
Ford
Church held no new news, besides Tech and the background check on Freeman, AKA Rufus—Jackals’ president and his marriage to Alice for forty years, who died about four years ago. They have one son, Richard, AKA Poodle, the VP. Of course, we already knew all this. Except their real names. But no daughter came up anywhere in their history. No doctor appointments, school—nothing. Tech says there is nothing he can do if there isn’t anything
on record of Avery. So we have hit a dead end. To say that I’m pissed would be an understatement. How can my daughter just be gone? No trace. Poof. I want to hit someone, hit them so hard they stop breathing. I want to drink until I black out and forget about all of this.
Sitting at the bar with Jack, he tells me how worried Melissa is for Harley. He’s kept her in the loop somewhat. Not too much since she is a reporter. She digs, she’s nosy. It’s her job. Can’t have this blow up in our faces. But I also don’t need her stressing out Harley either. Jack tells her just enough to keep her satisfied with the situation. I understand her love and support for Harley, I do. I’m here now; I can take over from here.
“Now what, Brother?” Jack asks after taking another shot of whiskey. I would think it was his kid that has vanished and not mine. As I’ve said, a brother’s pain, is all the brothers pain. I down my beer.
“I don’t know Brother, I just don’t know. Let’s grab Rufus and make him talk.”
“Not gonna happen, Prez will have our asses. Can’t blow what we’ve been working on for over a year, on a gut feeling. We need proof. Sorry Brother, I’ll follow you into hell to get my niece back, don’t doubt me. But, we can’t sacrifice the extermination on gut. You know that, have another beer, get some pussy. We’ll figure it out.”
Jack slaps my back and goes to the pool table to Jinx. I swear that is all Jinx does is play pool. Every time I find him he is playing pool.
After all that Jack said, I can only think of two things. One, he called Avery his niece, already accepting her as family. That pulled on my manly heart strings a hell of a lot, just reminding me why I joined this brotherhood in the first place: Family.
He is right; I can’t take the payback from Eli or Prez for their fathers or our lost brothers, on a hunch no less. The lost brothers deserve their revenge. Eli deserves it for his father, as does Prez.
My phone rings.
“Speak.”
“Ford...” Harley’s muffled voice barely comes through understandable. She’s crying. Shit. I don’t need a reason why she is crying. I will murder who is causing this suffering for her. I just need to know her location.
“Where are you baby? Talk to me.” I say to her.
“The house.” Is all she says. I know she is talking about her parent’s house.
“On my way, baby. Calm down. I’ll be there in a few.” With that I hang up.
Grabbing Colt and Jinx, we head to Prez to tell him I’m out for the day and taking two brothers with me. “Prez, I’m out. Taking Colt and Jinx with me. I’ll update in twenty.”
“Go Brother, you got twenty to connect with me.” I slam the door, not purposely, just in a hurry to get to my girl. My girl? Damn feelings. If he doesn’t understand, well fuck him. I respect him all to hell and back. But in my head, yea, fuck him if he doesn’t understand.
*******************************************
We pull up to the house and I scramble off my bike and run into the house. “Harley!”
She doesn’t answer, fuck, why isn’t she answering?
“Harley! Damn it! Answer me, baby girl.” I hear something coming from her room, Colt starts to head up first. I stop him to remind him there is a guard dog.
I switch places with Colt, with my brothers right behind me, step for step. I walk in. She is lying on the floor, crying. She is having a panic attack. I don’t hesitate lifting her in my arms, placing her on her bed and covering her up. I try to lean up, but she won’t let go of my cut. So I oblige and sit and hold her. Running my hand in her hair, she smells so good. Like flowers after a summer rain. My cock jerks. How come this dick head always got to make moves at the wrong times?
“Calm down, I’m here baby. It’s okay.” I whisper to her, trying to soothing her.
After ten minutes of her calming her breathing and drying her eyes, she looks up at me. Her eyes are all puffy and red from crying. I keep my hold and tighten as she looks in my eyes.
“What happened baby girl?” I ask quietly.
She sits up a little and points to the wall. I follow the way she is pointing and see a hole in the wall, even better. A safe. She might not think so since it brought on a panic attack. But this…is big. Not a dead end at all. I need to look into that safe. It could be my only way of finding Avery. I go to sit up and she tightens her grip on my cut. Okay then, a few more minutes. But if my damn hard-on makes her uncomfortable, then I can’t help it. She wouldn’t let go. I tried to move.
“Colt, see what the fuck is in that safe. Jinx, find Bronx and bring him in here. Now.” I order the guys around. Colt ranks higher than me, but this is out of his jurisdiction.
“Chevy, why do I have to find the dog with a toothy grin?” Jinx bitches. I don’t have time for this pussy ass shit.
“Get the fucking dog now, or I’ll cut you a new smile. Now!” I guess he sees I mean business since he turns and leaves the room. No more bitching. Thank fuck. I’m not in the damn mood. I’ve barely slept in the last three days. I’m hungry. I’m pissed. I’m horny at all the wrong damn times. Colt walks toward me, bringing me back to reality.
“Brother, I got to take this to Prez, now. Bring her if you have too. Hell, the dog too. I don’t care. We need to call church A-fucking-SAP.” he tells me as he walks out. What the fuck? Do I not deserve to know what the fuck is going on with my own god damn child? Clearly I can’t leave her here in this broken state. I’m not taking her to Melissa that’s for damn sure. I want to be her saving grace, damn it. I need to know she’ll be okay. I can’t focus on whatever the fuck is going on if she is somewhere else. I need her close, so she is coming to the club. I’ll put her in my room.
“Harley, baby, we got to go. Come on.” I help her up and she’s weak. I can feel it as she leans on me to walk.
“Bronx, I need Bronx. Where is Bronx?” Shit. Where is Jinx? I take her to her jeep and buckle her in, she is still crying. At least her breathing is normal now.
“I’ll get the dog. Don’t move.”
I go into the house and find Jinx cornered by the damn dog. I don’t have time for this shit. Fuck. “Bronx, Come.” I say in a tone less than nice.
He comes and I walk to the jeep and help him in. “I want my dog.” She says again. She must be having a panic attack again. I take her out and set her in the back seat with him. She lies down. The damn giant maneuvers around her and lies next to her. A careful dance I would call it. He didn’t even step on her clothes. She instantly throws her face on his shoulder and her arm wraps around him. He places his head on her neck, like a shield—protecting her from all things.
I hate that fucking dog. I want to be that for her, my anger growing more with each passing second. I see Jinx out of the corner of my eye. “Church, NOW.”
I climb in the jeep and drive to the club.
*******************************************
Jack is waiting out front. I called him on the way. He’s the only one that knows Harley. She won’t feel so scared with someone familiar. I carry her to my room and the mutt follows. Fucker.
I lay her on my bed, she whispers in a daze.
“I let her down. She was my baby; I was supposed to protect her...” She is out of it—full blown breakdown now. Only thing from reality hitting her is the dog. She keeps repeating his name and how she let Avery down. I give her a sleeping pill and wait for her to fall asleep. She cuddles up to the mutt like she did in the jeep. Lucky dog. I got a slight taste of her affection when I placed her on her bed and she wouldn’t let go. As soon as I laid her in the back, I felt cold without her touch. My mind is made up, I’ll kill the dog. I want her warmth, her love. I’m not a good sharer. I’m a heartless, soulless bastard. But who the fuck asked you?
Walking to church, I feel the tension in the air as soon as I open the door. Sitting down, I was the last one in the room. I had to take care of my girl first. Yea, I’m getting used to saying that. My girl, mine. It’s settled. She is staying here. Fuck her job, she don’t need to work to
be my girl. Fuck Washington, too many miles between us. She is staying if I have to tie her to my bike. That’s hot as fuck. Makes my cock jump.
It’s the middle of church, dickhead. Knock that shit off.
The gavel slams down, and I’m thankful, pulling me from my own head. It’s a fucking mess up there.
“Chevy, I’m glad Colt brought this straight to me. I don’t need you going on a killing spree, not yet anyways.” Prez says staring right at me. What the fuck? Spree? Shit, it is that bad! I’d truly be blind by rage to kill. I’m one of the level headed ones, believe the shit or not.
“Gonna tell me why I would do such a horrible thing, Prez?” I ask with a smirk. Can’t help it. I’m a smart ass even when the situation doesn’t call for it. Sue me.
“Nah, I thought I’d tell you to go adopt a fucking kitten and name it killer. Train it to scratch motherfuckers’ eyes out.” Before I could even speak, Jack chimes in.
“Nope, Prez, you got that all wrong. Sexy Name has a Hell Hound of her own that’s all bite and no play.” They all stare at him wide-eyed. He’s not joking, but now is not the time. They can all gush over the fucking mutt before I kill him later. Back to business.
“Alright, what is going on?” I ask, getting the conversation back on track. The anticipation is killing me.
“Brace, Brother. Rufus does have Avery. Seems, the papers Colt brought back to me is a contract for a baby. Turns out, your girls daddy made another deal to keep breathing. They found out your girl was knocked up, young, with no baby daddy. Perfect for their situation. Mr. & Mrs. Freeman seemed to not be able to have children. Yes, they have a son. His. Not hers. Damn club groupies. So it seems that they wanted a princess for their prince. Raise her to be the queen of the Jackals one day, reign alongside fuck face Poodle.”
Delayed Love Page 7
