Lost in the Dark

by Ann Jensen

  “C’est moi.” That time Tari realized she had spoken in French. She was starting to get a feel for the fuzziness that was probably the cause of her odd speech. She didn’t know that she could control it without effort but it was good to know she might be able to be aware of when it happened.

  “What did you say?”

  “I’m Tari.”

  “Ohh. Hayell. No.” Val muttered under her breath as she pulled out her phone and fiddled with it.

  “I’d like to speak to you alone, please.”

  Tari didn’t like anything about this man, from his tone of voice to his greasy looks. She felt like she knew and disliked him but nothing was coming up when she tried to remember. He was obviously a police officer. Did she have a choice not to talk to him? Focusing on every word she spoke very slowly.

  “Who… are… you? What… is… this… about?”

  “Why are you talking like that?” His lip curled as he spoke.

  Val with her phone to her ear snarled. “Because she just got out of a coma after nearly being beaten to death, you moron. Hey Cheryl, it’s Val. You’re now on speaker.” The sassy southern woman tilted the phone down. “Officer Volker is at Tari’s room for some reason, so I thought it good to have you on the line.”

  Tari didn’t think the man’s face could get more unpleasant but the sneer he leveled at Val managed the job. “If it isn’t one of the criminal’s so-called wife.”

  “Bless your heart officer.” Val had a syrupy smile plastered on her face that anyone could tell was fake.

  “Please be aware, Officer Volker this conversation is being recorded. I’m Cheryl Lightwin, Ms. Johnson’s attorney,” a female voice, Tari didn’t recognize, said through Val’s phone. When had she gotten an attorney? Why did she need an attorney?

  Volker looked like he either wanted to smash the phone or the woman holding it. “Why does Ms. Johnson need an attorney? She’s the supposed victim.”

  Supposed victim? Tari didn’t remember anything but since she had never committed a crime other than jaywalking, she doubted two months could have turned her into a criminal. Plus, she was the one in the hospital.

  “She has the right to an attorney regardless if she is accused of a crime.” Cheryl’s voice sounded bored. “Though I am curious why a State Police detective is asking questions of a victim of a crime that happened inside Denver city limits.”

  “I volunteered to assist the Denver Gang task force. Since I’m familiar with the gang involved.”

  Tari knew of at least three gangs she saw between where she lived and worked. She wondered which one of them he knew. “You… know… who… attacked me?”

  “Oh I am very familiar with the Dark Sons motorcycle gang.”

  His words confused her. She had heard of the Dark Sons MC, anyone who had lived in Denver had. But everything she had heard about them was mostly good. Sure, they were known for wild parties and probably weren’t always on the right side of the law but she had never heard of them being randomly violent. What had she done to get on their bad side?

  “Why would they hurt me?” Tari tried to say but she could tell by the fuzzy feeling in her mind it had come out wrong.

  “What did she just say?” Officer Volker sounded offended.

  “I hope she just said you’re dumber than a gelding mounting a mare for even suggesting the Dark Sons Motorcycle Club had anything to do with attacking her.” Val now looked like she was the one ready to start assaulting someone.

  “You call me dumb? She gets engaged to a Dark Sons thug then is beaten into a coma inside a locked apartment. I’m thinking domestic abuse is more likely than a random attack she supposedly can’t remember.”

  He thought Dragon did this to her? Wait, Dragon was a member of the Dark Sons? Val, Volker and the woman on the phone started yelling at each other but Tari’s head was pounding so hard she couldn’t understand their words. She tried centering herself, breathing deeply, blocking them out.

  There were a lot of things she needed to understand but somehow, she knew Dragon wasn’t the one who had hurt her body. Focusing on her breathing she found peace within the chaos around her and reached for the nurse’s call button and pressed it. The nurse’s face when she entered the room was livid. Tari only guessed what she was hearing because she was still blocking the argument out.

  Gathering her calm, Tari refocused on the room and pointed at the now purple-faced Officer Volker and said clearly, “I want him out.”

  The nurse picked up a phone on the wall and Tari could hear her calling for security. Val was smirking as Cheryl’s voice came clear from the phone.

  “Dragon has already provided proof to the police he was out of the city when the attack occurred. Your slanderous remarks and baiting of a woman only hours after recovering from a coma have been recorded and will be provided to your superiors.”

  Two men wearing hospital security uniforms rushed into the room right as Volker grabbed Val’s phone, and threw it so hard it shattered against the wall. He might have taken a swing at the woman, as well, if one of the security guards hadn’t taken him by the arm.

  Volker seemed to pull himself together, and started to let security escort him from the room, but not before he took a parting shot.

  “Dragon may not be the one who hurt you, but you better remember it has something to do with his gang. I hope you think hard about that, before it is your daughter who gets hurt because you decided to remember the wrong thing.”

  Tari couldn’t help but feel like he was threatening her daughter if she didn’t turn against Dragon. Fury rose up in her as she yelled, “Espero que te quemes en el infierno.” Burning in Hell wasn’t enough of a punishment for someone who threatened her daughter.

  Volker left the room along with the two security guards. Val gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t know what you just said, but by the tone, I agree.” She straightened her clothing and looked Tari over. “Good call on getting the nurse in here.”

  Someone cleared their throat and Tari looked to her left. A man was standing in the doorway, a sleek wall of muscle wrapped in jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black leather vest. He had light brown hair and a wild beard. The most remarkable part of him was his vivid, almost aqua-blue eyes which took in the room with calculation.

  “She said she hopes he rots in Hell. Are you ladies okay?” Tari found the man’s voice almost unnerving because it held no accent. It reminded her of the washed-out tones of a national newscaster. Something that had been trained into him by a vocal coach. She found accents comforting, like a story that told where people were from. Each one unique, explaining pieces of who you were. When they were missing it was like a mystery she wanted to unravel.

  Once, when she had been a teen, a man visited the small Eastern European village where her adoptive parents had been missionaries. He had known almost as many languages as she did but had spoken them all with that odd generic accent. He had hidden out among the people asking questions that were a little too pointed. Later, her parents had told her the man had been a spy, though how her parents would have known was a mystery.

  If this man was a spy or an ex-spy he would probably know multiple languages. Her ridiculous theory made her smile. What other entertainment did she have? She purposefully answered him in Russian testing the waters. “We’re fine. Who are you, handsome?”

  His lips twitched and a slow smile broke over his face replacing the worried scowl.

  “Your languages are getting mixed up again, Sweetie.” Val looked concerned. “We’re fine Max. Officer Volker was trying to make trouble, but he won’t be let back in. Can you call Cheryl and tell her we are okay and let Dozer know I’ll need a new phone?”

  “Sure thing, Val.” He winked at her and looked at Val with a cocky smile. He spoke to Tari in flawless Russian. “Careful who you flirt with, beautiful.” Again, his accent was bland and so generic it made her perk up in fascination. Could she really be right?

  Tari laughed and for the first time in a lon
g time felt the urge to play. She switched to Mandarin wondering how far his language skills extended. “I’m engaged to Dragon you white devil. But if I’m ever back in the market for a mysterious man I will let you know.”

  Max’s roar of laughter surprised both women. He shook his head and turned around. Tari saw the Dark Sons Denver patch on his back and started to put a few more things together. “Dragon’s a lucky man,” Max said as he walked out the door.

  “What did you say to him?”

  Tari focused on English and spoke slowly. It was annoying her brain only seemed to be tripping on English, but she would find a way to compensate. “I called him a white devil.”

  “Must be funnier in Chinese.”

  “It is. So, Dragon’s a member of the Dark Sons.”

  “Yes. And so is my husband. I guess you don’t remember that. You didn’t seem to have a problem with it before. Do you now?”

  Did she? As far as she knew she didn’t have any firsthand knowledge of the motorcycle club. She had heard plenty of rumors and speculation, and plenty of gushing almost fantasy-like stories from her freshmen year roommate. She understood closed societies more than most having been raised by fundamentalist Christians who, when not working as missionaries, lived in segregated compounds. But the outlaw motorcycle clubs seemed to represent the opposite of that lifestyle and maybe that added to the appeal.

  “I don’t think so. Was Officer Volker right? Was I attacked because of my connection to Dragon?”

  “Volker is a dirty cop who got busted down in rank a few months ago when someone paid him to put pressure on the Dark Sons and it blew up in his face.”

  “But could he be right?” Tari didn’t know what she would do if it was true but it was better to know. She was glad Val paused to consider and didn’t immediately offer an empty platitude.

  “I don’t see how. Only a handful of people even knew the two of you had a connection before the attack. Plus, Sharp was the one you called when you were hurt. If you thought Dark Sons were the danger you wouldn’t have done that.”

  “Sharp?” Val’s words made sense, but without her memory could she be sure?

  “Pixie’s old man. You knew he was VP of the Dark Sons.”

  Tari needed time to think. She lived her life trying not to judge others the way her parents had but it was human nature to make generalizations. Personally, she wanted to believe that the MC wasn’t bad, but she had Lali to think about. Did she want her daughter to be raised in a group that stood outside the norm of society? Tari needed to act slowly and see what it meant to be part of the Dark Sons world before she could make any real decisions.

  Chapter 16

  There’s always a wild side to an innocent face

  Dragon wanted nothing more than to get back in and see how Tari was doing but when Max waved at him from the waiting room, he sent his mother and Lali ahead. Max now had the waiting room to himself; the family from earlier was gone.

  “What’s up?” Dragon tried not to let his impatience color his voice but from the smirk on Max’s face he’d failed.

  “Your woman is something else.”

  Dragon felt a surge of jealousy at the mild comment. “She is.” He bit off the possessive words that wanted to follow. “Something I need to know?”

  A light twinkled in Max’s eye but his Brother seemed to sense the tension and didn’t keep pushing. “Officer Volker paid her a visit.”

  Dragon felt the urge to punch something and right at the moment his Brother’s smug face was a tempting target. He had always admired Max but never really connected with him. The Dark Sons’ Road Captain was always a little too laid back for Dragon’s mind. He acted as if the world was nothing but good times and sweet pussy but something in the man’s eyes never quite matched his body language.

  “Why did you let that asshole get near her?”

  Dragon had never interacted personally with Volker but in the past the officer had been bought and paid for by sex traffickers which was one of many reasons not to trust him around women. He had even tried to get his hands on Pixie so he could give her back to her abuser. There was no way Dragon ever wanted Tari to have to deal with that dirtbag.

  “He must have come in through the back way. I didn’t know he was here till I saw security running down the hall.”

  “Shit.” Dragon paced imagining every way that could have gone wrong. “There is no way we can protect Tari when there are other ways to get to her room and we are stuck in here.”

  “That’s taken care of. I talked to security and the head nurse for the floor. Explained that she is in danger. They’ve agreed to let someone sit right outside the room as long as they stay quiet and don’t disturb anyone.”

  Dragon took a deep breath as he felt the stress he had been feeling the last week ease a bit. “I owe you.”

  “You’re family and she’s yours. She going to be your Old Lady?”

  “Yeah. I let Hawk know last night.”

  Dragon had seen the President a few times over the last week when he stopped by to check on him. Hawk was a scary son of a bitch whom he was proud to call his Brother. The man had promised him anything he would need to sort out shit with his woman and the crap with Dark Zen.

  “She know that yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  Max chuckled and shook his head. “We’re having Church late tonight so you can stay with your woman for a while, but we need a report on everything you found about Dark Zen’s books.”

  Val strode into the waiting room. “Hey boys, I’m taking off but wanted to talk to you for a moment.”

  His Brother Dozer had scored high when he snagged this woman who was the heart and soul of the Dark Sons’ Old Ladies. She was gorgeous with a rocking body that was always shown off to perfection in glittering skin-tight outfits. Dragon might not be attracted to the big red hair and southern rhinestone style the woman rocked but he could appreciate her big heart and generous nature.

  “What did you need?” Max asked.

  “I’m sure Cheryl already sent the tape to Hawk of what Volker said to Tari, but I just can’t shake the idea the man knows something we don’t, about what happened to Tari.”

  “You think he had something to do with it?” Dragon would happily end that man’s existence if he had laid a finger on Tari.

  “The man’s a hyena, not a wolf, so I don’t figure he was there. I would say he knows who it was though. After he smashed my phone, he warned that Tari remembering the wrong thing might be dangerous. Said it might be Lali that got hurt next time.”

  “Hijo de puta!” Threatening a one-year-old was depravity on a level he couldn’t accept. Keeping his daughter safe was too important not to act and soon. Dragon was going to end that man one way or another.

  Chapter 17

  Girl, speak up. You’ll never know unless you ask

  Tari marveled at the Hispanic woman who was making her daughter giggle like she was having the time of her life. Her name was Itzli but she insisted on being called Mama Rios. Dragon’s mother was a small, curvy woman with the same sharp regal features in her face that her son had. How the tiny woman had given birth to the giant of a man was a mystery.

  She was maybe in her early fifties but had an ageless strength about her that Tari admired. As soon as she realized Tari spoke Spanish, she had been regaling her with crazy tales of Dragon and his sister when they were children. It was good she was willing to hold up most of the conversation because Tari was trying to adjust to how big her little girl looked.

  Two months made a lot of difference in her Lali and it was hard to wrap her brain around the fact somewhere in that missing time she had gained so many friends and family.

  “So, when are you and Gabor going to give me more grandbabies to spoil?”

  Tari laughed. “One isn’t enough?”

  “Oh my goodness no. A woman needs many babies around to love. My daughter has two, but I want to fill my house with more grandbabies.”

  “Mama you wi
ll scare her away. Then how many grandchildren will you have?” Dragon leaned down and kissed his mother on the cheek then did the same to their daughter.

  “Papa up!” Lali demanded and Tari had to fight back happy tears as Dragon swung their little girl up and around in a circle causing her to giggle in delight.

  Her man might be a 6’6” tattooed badass but the sight of him swirling their little girl in his arms was something she would always remember. He tickled her tummy and blew raspberries on her cheeks like he played with toddlers every day of his life. He was wearing what she liked to think of as the biker uniform of combat boots, worn jeans, tight black t-shirt and a leather vest. Or was it called a cut? Either way, the faded black leather matched the one Max had been wearing earlier in most ways, but had different patches on the front. She wondered what those differences meant.

  Lali squealed in delight as Dragon gave her a small toss into the air. His eyes were practically glowing with the love he so obviously felt for the little girl making him somehow even more gorgeous. Tari wished she could remember what Dragon’s reaction had been when she told him about Citlali, but she couldn’t even dig up a flicker of memory.

  Seeing Dragon standing there perfect in so many ways, Tari was glad the nurse had come in earlier to remove the worst of the medical equipment and help her clean up. She had even been able to change out of the embarrassing hospital gown into a pair of yoga pants and large Harley shirt that Val had brought in for her. If she was careful not to move or pull any stitches, she could almost pretend the four of them weren’t sitting in a gloomy hospital.

  “How is my queen doing?” Dragon asked in Spanish as he leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. His touch was magic, sending sparks of pleasure with just that small contact. Lali grabbed a piece of Tari’s hair and pulled a little too hard.