by Wren, Khloe
What else could I say? I folded the note and set it beside the bottle before I turned and left the room. I couldn’t stay there, with his body so close yet his spirit so far away. I didn’t stop walking until I was out the front door. Sitting on the bench he had on the porch, I swiped the tears away and pulled my phone out, taking a deep breath as I dialed the police.
The words were like ash in my mouth. Voicing that Ace was dead was like driving another blade through my heart. Making it more real.
Fuck, he was really gone.
Once I finished the call I stared at my phone, wondering who else to call. Ace had no family. He’d been raised in the system. A troublemaker, he’d enlisted when he was told if he didn’t straighten his shit out, he’d end up in jail.
Clipping my phone back onto my belt, I scrubbed my face with my palms and waited for the cops to arrive. It was going to be a long day and I needed to get my fucking head together before I had to start answering questions.
Donna
“C’mon, come out with us! One last time before we all go our separate ways.”
I shook my head at Liz. “You’re not going for another two weeks. Neither are the others.”
Basically, my whole group of friends from nursing school were all heading away from Galveston over the Christmas-New Year break. I was still deciding on what I was going to do. I could stay here and keep working at the local hospital, or I could take the position I’d been offered in Bridgewater and move home.
Problem with that was what would I do when I wasn’t working? If I moved back home, my folks would want to get into my business and my mother would go back to trying to micro-manage my entire life. Keys would be heading back out on tour in a few weeks, so he wouldn’t be there either. I had another week to make my decision and I feared I was going to end up flipping a coin or something to choose, because I just couldn’t make a damn decision. Maybe I’d talk to Keys about it once he got back from Spokane. Find out if he was as serious about me as I was about him. Did he see a future for us? He had come straight to me over seeing his friend last night. That had to mean something, right?
“Yeah, but once that man of yours gets back you’ll be all about him, so I need to make the most of your time before then. C’mon, go get changed and let’s go out. The others are already down there.”
“Fine.”
With another shake of my head I went to my room to put on something else. I’d known all along that I’d end up going out with her. Liz was right that we only had a limited amount of time left to hang out all together and we needed to make the most of it. Also, Liz could be damn pushy when she wanted something. Even if I’d argued another hour about not wanting to go, she’d have eventually gotten me worn down and agreeing. It was just simpler to agree now and have a full evening out with my friends.
Once I was changed and had added a little makeup and my favorite heels, I was ready to go and headed back out to Liz.
“Who’s driving?”
“My car’s behind yours, so we’ll take mine.”
With a nod, I grabbed my handbag and followed her out into the early evening, smiling as I looked forward to a night out with the girls. There were five of us who’d all formed a close bond early on and we’d stuck together throughout college. I was sad that we were all now going our separate ways, but that’s how life was. We’d all finished school about six months back and had stayed working at the local hospital together but now the new year was approaching, the others had all decided to move back closer to family. I once more pushed aside the decision I had to make. Tonight was for fun, not stress and worry.
It was about two hours later that things took a turn away from my planned care-free fun. Leaving the girls on the dance floor, I made my way to the bathroom. Once I was finished, I came out of the stall to find a man leaning against the outside door, blocking my only escape. He was a big guy and he wore a leather vest I knew all too well. Keys had called his a cut, and it meant this man was part of an MC, but it wasn’t the same one Keys was a part of. Nope, this man was wearing Iron Hammers MC patches, including a name patch declaring he was known as Sledge. I didn’t want to know how he’d earned that moniker. Everyone in Galveston knew who the Iron Hammers were, and knew to stay far, far away from all of them. Panic had my mind whirling as I slowly moved over to the sink to wash my hands. What was he doing here? What did he want? I couldn’t recall ever seeing him before, so surely I hadn’t done anything to garner the club’s attention.
After turning off the tap, I looked up into the mirror and gasped. He was now standing right behind me. In moments he had both my wrists gripped tightly in one of his large hands and shoved down against the front edge of the basin. He pressed his body against mine until I was jammed between him and the vanity as his free hand wrapped around the front of my throat.
“You’ve been a naughty girl, Donna. There’s a price for that.”
Oh shit, he knew my name. How did he know who I was?
“Wh-what’d I do?”
How could I have done anything to piss this man off? I’d never even seen him before!
“You fucked the enemy. Brought that Charon fucker into our territory and let him in you. If you want a biker to fuck you, you don’t need to go looking elsewhere. We got plenty of biker dick right here for ya.”
He squeezed my neck tight enough I knew he held my life in his hands right now, but not so tight that I couldn’t still breathe or speak. For now. Tears leaked from my eyes. I didn’t know what to say, what to do, to get myself out of this mess.
“It won’t happen again. If you let me go, I promise to never see him again.”
His laugh was dark and sent a shiver of terror down my spine.
“Oh, sugar, you got that right. You won’t ever see him again, or you’ll pay an even steeper price than the one you’re about to. I’m gonna enjoy teaching you a lesson.”
He rubbed his hard dick against my ass, and I cursed that I’d worn a skirt tonight. Not that pants would have stopped him. More tears left my eyes as his hand left my throat and moved down inside my shirt and bra to roughly grab my breast while he released his grip on my wrists.
“Hands on either side of the sink and don’t fucking move ‘em.” He caught my gaze in the mirror. “You move those hands, I’ll invite my brothers in here to help. And without them guarding the door, I’m sure we’ll get some others in here to help with your lesson too. You get me?”
I nodded. My knees were shaking so bad I had no clue how they were going to continue to hold me up. I grabbed either side of the cold porcelain tightly. Closing my eyes, I prayed, begged, this was a nightmare and I’d wake the fuck up.
He lowered his mouth and bit into my shoulder, hard enough I knew he’d broken skin. I opened my eyes and my gaze locked onto the small flecks of red soaking through my shirt from the wound. I couldn’t seem to look away.
“I’m just gonna have me a small taste now, then you’re gonna call one of your little friends to say you’re not feeling well and caught a taxi home. Then I’m gonna take you home where I can really enjoy your lesson. You want a biker inside you? I’m gonna show you exactly what that means.”
A piece of my soul curled up and died at his words and I knew by morning I’d be nothing but a shell of who I’d been before this night. This man was going to destroy me because I dared to love a man who wore the Charon MC colors.
Chapter Five
Thursday 16 December 1993
Donna
The last five days had been hell. A living nightmare that never seemed to end. Sledge hadn’t been happy with my lesson lasting just the one night. That fucker had come back whenever I was at the house alone. How he knew when that was, I had no idea. I’d looked for strange vehicles or people hanging around the street but hadn’t been able to find anything even remotely suspicious.
I was a mess. I hadn’t been able to sleep, even if I did manage to get some alone time around a bed. I was working nights this week, so Sledge came around d
uring the day while Liz was working day shift. That gave him all day to teach me my lesson. A shudder ran through me so hard, I stumbled as I walked down the hallway toward the staff room for my break. I’d done as Sledge had demanded, sending Keys a short voicemail, breaking things off then ignoring all of his calls and messages. It had gutted me. I’d give anything to hear his voice, feel his arms around me. But if I gave in to that desire, Sledge would take me out to his clubhouse for all his brothers to have a go at. He’d also threatened Liz and my parents’ lives. I was stuck being his little fuck toy and I hated it. Hated myself.
Barely holding myself together, I pushed into the staff room and froze when I saw Liz there. My heart sank because I knew since she wasn’t scheduled to work for another two hours that she was here to corner me.
“Sit down, Donna. We need to talk.”
I shook my head as I made myself a coffee. A strong one. I wished I could stand to drink it black, but I just couldn’t take it without a heap of creamer in it.
“Nothing to say, Liz.”
“I know what that fucker is doing to you. It started that night we went out last weekend didn’t it? You weren’t feeling ill, he threatened you and forced you to make that call, didn’t he?”
I nearly dropped my mug of coffee. Hot liquid sloshed over my hand, but I barely felt the sting as Liz’s words tripped through my head. Fear for my friend froze me as Liz cursed and rushed toward me. I was like a doll in her hands as she shifted me over to the sink. The shock of the cold water had me waking up a little.
“Liz, you can’t let anyone know you know. He’ll come after you too. I couldn’t bear that—” My voice cut off with a sob, but my eyes stayed dry. I had no more tears to give.
She looked up from my hand and directly into my gaze. “You think I can stand the thought of what he’s been doing to you for the past week? I want to gut that pig for daring to touch you. What’s he threatening you with?”
“If I have any contact with Keys at all he’ll take me to the clubhouse for all his brothers to help him teach me my lessons. He’s also threatened my folks. And you.”
I went dizzy for a moment as his deep voice echoed around my mind, voicing his threats.
Liz turned off the water and patted my hand dry with some paper towels.
“Thank fuck you use so much creamer. Looks like you just scalded yourself. Go sit down and I’ll make you a fresh cup.”
Too tired to argue, I went over and sat at the table, resting my head on my folded arms and closing my eyes for a minute while I waited.
The smell of coffee woke me from my impromptu nap. I jerked up and looked at the clock on the wall. I’d slept for half an hour.
“Dammit.”
“You’re good, babe. Chris cleared you for a longer break. We’ve all noticed how you’ve been suffering this past week. Drink your coffee, then let’s get an escape plan for you sorted out.”
My mind was fuzzy with sleep, so I didn’t say a word as I drank my coffee. Once I had some caffeine flowing through my system, I looked back to Liz.
“What can I do? He knows where we live, and somehow, he knows whenever I’m there alone. It’s not like I can pack up my car and leave town. He’s already warned me against doing that. It seems he likes his new fuck toy.”
I heard the sneer in my voice but didn’t have the capacity left to care. The hopelessness of the situation had drained all my remaining energy. As I’d predicted that first night, Sledge had destroyed me, leaving an empty shell. A shell I was beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t just shatter so I’d fade to nothing. I’d rather be dead than Sledge’s long-term fuck toy. He was brutally rough… didn’t care about leaving me bruised and injured. And he never bothered with protection. Heaven knows what diseases I was now carrying. I couldn’t even contemplate the thought of pregnancy. I refused to believe my body would betray me like that, or to even think of carrying that bastard’s child.
Liz tapped her fingers on the table. “You’re not working Saturday, are you?”
“Sunday is my last night shift.”
“Okay, well, I finish up tomorrow, so I’ll make sure I’m glued to your side when you’re not working. If you’re never alone, he won’t come. That also gives us a few days to get your stuff packed up along with mine. When the truck comes Wednesday morning, I’ll load your stuff along with mine. I’ll just take a little detour via Bridgewater on my way to Denver. That gets your stuff out. Now to work out how to get you and your car out. Would he let you go to visit your folks? If he has eyes on you, he’ll see your car is empty of your stuff, and think you’re just off for a short trip. Maybe take an overnight bag with you. If he stops you, you can say you’re just spending a night at your folks. It is nearly Christmas. He can’t think it’s suspicious you want to see your folks, right? Especially if you leave earlier than me.”
I shrugged. “I have no way of contacting him to tell him. I guess I can only try.”
A small flame of hope sparked within me at Liz’s idea. I’d been dreading what would happen after she left next week. I’d suspected Sledge would move in once he knew I was living alone. I really didn’t want that to happen.
“What about work? If I just leave without giving notice, they’re likely to contact Bridgewater Hospital to tell them to not hire me.”
Liz gave me a grin. “You’re grasping at straws, babe. I had a chat with Jenny earlier, she’s worried about you too. I’ll explain what’s going on and I’m sure she’ll be fine with you leaving without giving much notice. We all want you safe and well, Donna.”
Sitting up, I lifted my hand to rub a fist over my heart that was now aching. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Liz. I think, you just saved my life.”
Her eyes flared like she knew exactly what I was hinting at before she leaned over and took my hand in hers, giving it a squeeze.
“I won’t go until I’ve made sure you’re safely away from him. I can’t leave knowing you’re in danger. Did you want to call your folks, or would you like me to?”
“He told me he has my cell and the house phone wired. I’m not sure if that’s even possible, but I’m not willing to risk it. Could you call them? But not yet. If you call now, they’ll come down to get me and then Sledge will bring the whole club in.” I paused to swallow past the lump in my throat. “I don’t want to think about how that would end.”
It wasn’t just Sledge overhearing my call I was worried about. After all, I could have rung from a public phone just as easily as Liz was going to, but I wasn’t ready to tell my folks about what had been going on. Especially not over the phone. And I didn’t want them to rush in to help me only to get gunned down by Sledge and his damn club, which is what he’d threatened to do. Among the other things that he planned to do to me if I tried to escape him.
“Okay, babe. I’ll call them in a couple of days. Let them know you’ll be driving up late Tuesday and I’ll be bringing your stuff Wednesday.”
I nodded, struggling to speak over the hope that was flaring within me.
“Thank you.”
I wrote out my folks’ number for Liz as I spoke, then rose from the table, rinsing out my mug before I headed back to finish out my shift. I walked down the hall with a renewed bounce in my step. Now that we had a plan to get me away from Sledge, I was energized in a way that had nothing to do with the coffee I’d just drank and everything to do with hope.
Saturday 18 December 1993
Keys
With a heavy heart, I disembarked the plane in Houston and went to get my bike out of long-term parking. After packing my stuff into the saddle bags and donning my helmet, I straddled my sled. With a sigh I looked up at the sky, taking in the clear blue expanse above me. Now that Ace was buried deep in the ground, he’d never see the sunlight again. Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to allow them to fall. I’d shed more tears in this past week than was healthy for any man. I was through with that shit. With allowing my emotions to break through to the surface.
&nbs
p; An image of Donna’s smiling face flashed across my mind and the pain in my chest had me leaning forward over my tank. Fuck. Her rejection still hurt like a bullet to the heart. I had no clue what had happened. When I’d left her to head up north, she’d been her usual, loving self. Then the morning after I’d found Ace’s body, I had a voicemail from her on my phone telling me it was over, to never reach out to her again. That was a load of bullshit I hadn’t been willing to take without a fight, so I’d tried to call her, leaving messages when she didn’t answer. But she’d ignored all my attempts at contact.
With a mental shake of my head, I dropped all the thoughts running through my head and moved to start my bike. Feeling my Harley come to life beneath me had me instantly feeling lighter. The hour-long ride to Bridgewater was thankfully uneventful. The wind in my face during the trip had helped clear out some of the stress from this past week, but not all of it. Rolling into the clubhouse yard, I lined my bike up with the others As I paused to take in the front of the building, one thought filled my mind—home. This was home.
I loved my parents, but my club brothers were also my family. My folks did their best to understand how losing Ace had affected me, but they didn’t get it like my Charon brothers did. The majority of the club were veterans or active service military. They got how hard Ace’s death was hitting me, and they’d give me the space — and alcohol — I needed to grieve.
Dismounting my Harley, I made fast work of getting my gear out of my saddle bags and tucking my helmet away. Then I was striding toward the front door, wanting to be inside with my brothers. The prospect on the door gave me a head tilt and opened the door for me.
“Welcome home, Keys.”
“Thanks.”
Once inside, I stopped and took a deep breath of the air filled with the smells of the MC. It was mainly just a mix of leather, motor oil and coffee. But I’d missed it like hell.
