by Chiah Wilder
The first thing Rena noticed when she entered the hotel room were the chocolates on the overstuffed pillows on the bed; each of the truffles were brightly covered in pink, orange, blue, red, and purple shiny wrappers. She placed her overnight bag down on the mahogany dresser and then walked over to the bed. Picking up one of the chocolates, she unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. Rena slowly walked over to the balcony doors and stepped onto the terrace. A light wind had begun to blow, and with it came the fragrant scent of wild roses growing along the gravel roads.
A twinge of guilt wove through her as Animal’s opinionated eyes flashed across her mind. Her son was the last person who should judge her. Over the years, she’d heard plenty of stories, and watched enough documentaries on television to know exactly what went on in that outlaw club of his. Animal had a lot of gall to think she was a slut. Oh, he didn’t say it, but Rena knew he thought that about her, and she hated like hell that her son had found out about the extracurricular activities she’d been engaging in with her husband’s permission.
Rena inhaled the clean mountain air and blew out a long breath. The truth was, she hated hooking up with different men, and she and Jay had agreed upon no more than two dates with the same man. She gripped the railing on the balcony. Rena loved her husband, but he couldn’t satisfy her needs. For the first few years after his injury, they’d tried different things, but the reality was that Jay had lost the feeling for sex. He knew that and it killed him, so he’d proposed that she find pleasure outside their marriage. At first Rena had balked at the suggestion, but after a couple of years of celibacy, her body craved release, so she took the first step. Now, years later, Rena still wished she and Jay could go back to the way they were before the war, but that would never be. At fifty-five years old, she still looked damn good—people thought she looked forty at the most—and she still loved sex.
Rena sighed and pushed away from the iron railing and went back into the room. She’d have to turn the lights way down before Hunter arrived since she’d fudged her age and had sent him a photo of her when she was twenty-five. Animal had only been five years old then, and Rena remembered that she couldn’t wait until he was in school full-time because he was a handful. If she were being completely honest, Rena really wasn’t very good mother material. She’d never wanted children, but Jay had so desperately wanted a family that she decided one kid wouldn’t be too bad, but Rena had been so wrong. She just wasn’t into the whole maternal thing—some women weren’t—and that was just the way it was. When Jada came along ten years after Animal, she’d been devastated. The whole baby-cycle had started up again, and it had been years until she was finally free.
Jay always got along great with both of their kids, but from very early on, she had locked horns with Animal and still did. He was so hardheaded and just didn’t try to understand her. And what did he know about relationships anyway? The man never had a girlfriend who Rena knew about, and she rarely saw him twice with the same women, when she did happen to see him around town.
Rena glanced at the clock on the nightstand and her heart skipped a beat. Hunter would be here soon, and she was pretty sure he’d love the look of the room with the midnight blue velvet headboard and the antique rug spread over dark wood floors. The look and feel of the space was luxurious and elegant, and from their many conversations, Rena gleaned that it was something Hunter would appreciate.
The man intrigued her, hence the reason for the lies. Normally, she’d never rendezvous with a man who seemed interested in a relationship rather than a hookup, but the way Hunter talked, his sophistication and boyish charm had reeled her in enough that she was willing to meet up with him for a romantic night of lovemaking. She hadn’t made love in years, not since Jay had been injured. All of her meetings with men were strictly sex, nothing more. This night with Hunter would be very different, and while they enjoyed each other, Rena could close her eyes and pretend she was with her husband again.
A slight jiggle of the doorknob pulled Rena out of her reflections, and she rushed over and switched off the floor lamp and dimmed the small one on the nightstand. She drew in a ragged breath and waited. She’d left the keycard under the door, barely visible just as Hunter had instructed. He’d been very detailed with what he wanted: she was to find the hotel; it had to be away from town and not a big place; she was to check in alone without any mention of him, and she was to pay for the room with the prepaid Visa card he’d sent her in the mail. When she’d read all his instructions, Rena had laughed and figured he was married, but she didn’t judge him because she didn’t know anything about his home life.
The door swung open and a small rush of air from the hallway curled around her legs.
“Rena, my sweet?” His deep, sexy voice washed over her.
Without turning around, she nodded.
“Why is it so dark in here?” he asked. She heard his footfalls approaching.
“I thought it was more romantic,” she replied.
“Turn around, my sweet … I want to look at your pretty face.”
Rena hesitated. “I wasn’t 100 percent truthful about my age.”
The footsteps stopped.
“How old are you?” The edge in his voice was clear and sharp—like a knife.
“Thirty-nine,” she lied, hoping that in the dim light she could get away with it.
The sound of his shoes on the wooden floor echoed behind her. A shiver rippled through her, but it was from fear, not excitement.
“That isn’t too old, my sweet. You could have told me the truth.”
His words should have sounded reassuring, yet they made her skin crawl. A chill ran up and down her spine and she shuddered. Rena had to get out of there—something was off-kilter with this man. Before she could do anything, Hunter was behind her with both hands on her shoulders, pulling her until her back tucked against his chest. There were no thrills from his touch, instead, she found it repulsive.
“Sweet Rena,” he whispered. He draped a hand across her upper chest. “You shouldn’t have lied to me.”
She swallowed and licked her dry lips. “I was afraid to tell you the truth because I liked you so much.” Rena was now cursing herself for even agreeing to meet up with Hunter.
“Love—you love me, right?” His arm inched up toward the base of her throat.
“Yeah—I love you. Let’s sit down and talk.”
“I haven’t forgiven you for lying to me. Your lie has spoiled everything.”
Rena stiffened, not daring to move a muscle. “What do you mean?”
“I love a certain type, that’s all. Age is very important. Now my mindset has been altered, and I don’t like that.”
“I’m sorry. I just thought—”
“You thought wrong.” His voice was frost.
“Okay. I’ll just go.”
He pulled his arm away. “You’re not going anywhere, bitch.”
Hunter’s strong hands tightened around her throat, squeezing and pulling her back further into him. Rena tried to scream but only hoarse croaks escaped through her parted lips. Clawing at his hands, she tried to loosen them from around her neck, but he was too strong. Dark spots floated before her eyes, and her lungs felt as though they were going to burst. Hunter squeezed tighter.
Panic set in and she became feral. With waning strength, Rena lifted her leg, bent it at the knee, and pushed it backward with all her might. Hunter cried out and loosened his hold on her for a couple of seconds, but in that brief time span, her arms reached above her and she scratched his face with her long nails. Rena aimed for his eyes, and Hunter let go of her as he tried to grab hold of her hands.
“You fucking bitch!” He screamed.
“You bastard!” she yelled back as she twisted around and saw him for the first time. Before she could even take all of him in, he lunged for her, but Rena’s pointed-toe shoe landed a perfect shot right on the jerk’s balls, and he howled as he doubled over.
Taking the window of opportunity, sh
e dashed for the door, not stopping for anything.
“Get back here, cunt!”
Rena turned the knob and jetted out the door, rushing to the stairwell without even a glance backward. She kicked off her high-heeled shoes and scrambled down the stairs as the sound of her panting bounced off the concrete walls.
As she flung the door open to the lobby, she just stood there, gasping in an attempt to catch her breath while tears trickled down her cheeks. Rena glanced around but there was no sign of Hunter, so she hurried over to the front desk and leaned against it.
“May I help you, ma’am?” the reception clerk asked.
“No, I’m fine,” Rena responded as she slid her phone out of her dress pocket. She tapped in Animal’s phone number.
“What’s up, Mom?”
She hated calling him, but there was no way she wanted the police involved in this. The car keys were in her purse in the room upstairs, and there was no chance in hell Rena was going to go back up to get it. Animal was her only choice.
“I’m in a bit of trouble.”
“Whaddaya mean?”
“I don’t want you to lecture me, okay? The guy I hooked up with just tried to kill me. I made—”
“What the fuck?” Where are you?”
“At a small hotel near Aspen Grove Valley. I’m scared shitless.” Her voice hitched.
“I’ll be there soon. I gotta call Olivia to see if she can come over and stay with Lucy. I’ll have some of the guys get to you now. Text me the name of the hotel, okay?”
“All right. Thanks. Who’s Olivia?”
“Really, Mom? You were almost murdered and you’re asking me that?”
“I was just curious. Who is she?”
“My woman. Gotta go. Don’t leave the lobby.”
Rena stared at the blank screen then looked around the reception area. She doubted Hunter would come after her with people around. Had he intended to kill her regardless of the fib about her age, or did that set him off? She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Now it was beginning to make sense as to why he wanted her to make all the arrangements in her name: he didn’t want to leave a paper trail. “The bastard planned to kill me,” she muttered under her breath. Hunter was probably waiting for her to come out of the hotel so he could finish off the job in the dark of night.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” the fresh-faced young clerk asked again.
“Yes, I’m sure. I’m waiting for someone.” A dry cough seized her, and she struggled to breathe. “Some water,” she managed to croak out.
The clerk rushed over to a table holding paper cups and a large glass container of water and poured her a glass. Rena gulped it down and pressed her hand to her sore throat; there would no doubt be some bruising. She padded over to a wingback chair, and the marble floor felt cool beneath her feet. Maybe when Animal arrived, he’d go to the stairwell and retrieve her shoes. She’d paid more for them than she normally did for a pair of high heels, and Rena hated to lose them.
Sinking down in the chair, Rena stared out the large glass doors into the night. So Animal’s got a woman. That surprised the hell out of her, and she wanted to meet this woman who’d finally reformed him from his carousing ways.
The glass on the sliding door rattled as five motorcycles rode up to the entrance. The loud roar ended all at once, and five men clad in denim and leather strode into the lobby. Rena sprang up from the chair, and a good-looking man with dark hair and the stormiest gray eyes she’d ever seen walked over to her.
“You Animal’s mom?” His voice was gruff like sandpaper.
“Yes,” she said looking at the other four men. The only one she recognized out of the bunch was Bones. He’d been to the house numerous times helping out with Jay. He lifted his chin to her and came over.
“Where’s the fucker?” Bones said.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just ran out of the room.”
“He’s probably gone by now,” the handsome gray-eyed guy said.
“We need to check.” Bones turned to her. “Do you have the keycard?”
“No. I just took off. I’ll get one at the desk.” Rena walked over to the counter. “I misplaced my key—I need another one, please.”
The young man looked over her shoulder at the group of bikers then turned around and grabbed another card. “Here you go. Are those men sharing the room with you?”
“No.” She took the card and gave it to Bones.
“We’ll be right back.” The biker jerked his chin toward a very muscular man. “Helm will stay with you while we check out your room.” He turned away, and he and three of the men disappeared in the stairwell.
For the next ten minutes, Helm stood watch over her while Rena sat in the chair wishing she were soaking in her deep tub at home. A low rumble came from the distance, and at first, she thought it was thunder until it grew louder, and she recognized Animal’s bike. He stormed into the lobby, then bumped fists with Helm before saying anything to her.
“What the fuck happened?” he asked, concern etched on his face.
“Can we talk privately?” she asked, her eyes darting to Helm.
“Helm, smoke a joint,” he said, and the fit biker swaggered out of the hotel. Animal looked at her. “So?”
“I met this guy online, and we made plans to spend the night together. I lied about my age and when he found out, he just flipped out.”
“You were going to spend the whole night with him?”
“That was the plan, but when I met him, he just gave me the creeps. I then decided I wouldn’t, but I didn’t tell him that.”
“Did you meet him on that Discreet bullshit site?”
“Yeah.” She held up her hand in front of her son’s disapproving face. “I know—stupid. The thing that really freaks me out is that I think he met me with the intention to kill me.”
“He definitely did.”
“Yo, bro,” Bones said as he walked into the lobby.
Animal turned away from her and bumped fists with Bones and the others. “Anything?”
“Nah—the room was spotless and the fucker’s long gone.” Bones handed Rena her shoes. “I found these on the stairs and figured they belonged to you.” He glanced down at her bare feet for a second then looked back at Animal. “Rock, Jax, and I are gonna walk around the property just in case, but my bet’s on the pussy being long gone.”
“You need me to help you?” Animal asked.
“We got it. Stay with your mom,” Rock said.
Rena watched the three of them disappear out the door and she looked at the gray-eyed biker and smiled. “Thanks for helping me out.”
He shook his head. “No worries. Animal’s my brother, and when he needs help, I’m there.”
Rena watched as her son and the man talked in hushed tones, and she felt an understanding of Animal’s lifestyle choice wash over her. Except for Bones, these men didn’t know her or owe her anything, yet they dropped everything in a blink of an eye to make sure she was safe. The strong bond of friendship her son and his brothers had made her a bit envious … and sad. She’d never had such an unconditional friendship like that before.
Animal walked over to her again and tilted his chin at the handsome biker. “Shadow thinks this sounds like that fucker who’s been killing all those young women in the county. I haven’t been following the story, but he’s been reading about it in the papers. Do you know about it?”
An icy chill enveloped her. “It can’t be.” She gasped, swallowing air like a drowning person.
He gripped her shoulder. “You’re safe,” he said in a low voice.
“Have you been reading about it?” Shadow asked.
Clutching the base of her throat, she nodded. “If I hadn’t gotten away, he would’ve killed me. Oh, God.”
“But he didn’t, Mom. You gotta focus on that. What the hell did this fucker look like?”
“I don’t know. I mean, he was standing behind me, but I did turn around when
I was fighting him, but my mind’s a blank.” A small sob escaped her lips.
“It’s okay … it’ll come back. What’s his name?” Animal said.
“Hunter Lewis.”
His eyes widened, then anger crept across his face, dark and deadly.
“What’s wrong? Do you know him?” Rena asked.
“Not yet, but I will … and then I’m gonna fuckin’ kill him.” She could feel the ferocious fury growling through him.
All of a sudden an irrational fear seized her, and she grabbed him and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, and in a tiny splinter of time, they came together as mother and son.
Chapter Twenty-Five
A SHIVER TIPTOED up Olivia’s spine as she stared at the computer screen reading Hunter’s message. Could this Hunter be the same one who’d attacked Animal’s mother the night before? Olivia had been in shock since the night before when Animal had come home and told her about the incident, but surely there was more than one man named Hunter on the site.
She tipped her head back and looked up at the ceiling fan then back down to the screen. The answer was clear: she had to stop talking to Hunter. A part of her wanted to call the police, but Olivia really didn’t know that this man with whom she’d been communicating was, in fact, the serial killer who had every woman in Pinewood Springs on edge. She drew in a breath and shook her head. What if he was the guy? Any tip would be worth pursuing, right?
Olivia picked up her phone and dialed her professor’s number. She’d ask Dr. Davison for advice on this because the last thing she wanted was to ruin a lonely man’s life by having the cops breathing down his back for no reason. The phone went to voicemail and she left a quick message telling him to call her as soon as he could, then she looked back at the screen.
Rose: Hey, Hunter. Sorry for the delay.
Hunter: I thought you were ignoring me, my sweet.
Rose: Just super busy. I gotta get going to work soon.
