Blacktop Freedom

by Winter Travers

  “Had him and now he’s fucking disappeared.”

  “Church!’ Quinn bellowed.

  I glanced at the clock on the wall. “You know what this is about? I was going to head over to the strip club to get some stuff done before Lynn got off work.”

  “It’s about the sister and Wrigley.” Core finished his beer and tossed the empty can into the garbage. “Shit is getting more and more twisted to where I can’t figure out which way is up.”

  Oh great. That was the last thing I wanted us to have to deal with right now. What we needed was a bright red neon lit arrow pointing us in the direction of who we needed to shut down. “Let’s just hope we need to put our heads together and we’ll figure this shit out, yeah?”

  We headed to church, and I sat in my usual chair.

  Quinn and Dyno were seated at the head of the table, and they both looked pissed. Yeah, this was not going to be a good meeting.

  The rest of the guys filed in, and Point shut the door behind him.

  “I hate when it looks like someone pissed in your cornflakes,” Point mumbled.

  Quinn laid his hands on the table and sighed. “We’re finding more out about the Devil’s Rebels taking over.”

  “That’s good, right?” Rhino asked.

  Dyno shook his head. “Not really seeing as what we’re finding out is that this isn’t going to be a walk in the park. We’re gonna have to take a whole fucking club out.”

  Sledge laughed. “Uh, we’ve totally done this before. What the hell is the problem?”

  Quinn scrubbed his hands down his face. “The problem we have is we have absolutely no in with them. We don’t know their routine or anyone inside.”

  “Come on,” I drawled. “We can figure that shit out, right? Find out where their club is and then start surveilling.” It wouldn’t be easy, but like what I had been preaching to pretty much everyone lately, life wasn’t meant to be fucking easy.

  “What about this Wrigley guy?” Point asked. “Can’t we use him to get us the in with the Rebels?”

  “Well,” Quinn drawled. “We could have gone that route, but since Core talked to him, we haven’t been able to find him.”

  “You think the Rebels made him disappear?” I asked.

  Quinn rapped his knuckles on the table. “Fuck if I know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. We know when they found out about Joseph possibly ratting, they knocked him out fucking quick.”

  “And if they find out that we found out about Wrigley from Steph, she might be six-feet under pretty fucking quick, too.” I sat back in my chair and sighed. This was exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I wanted to help Lynn by taking some of the stress off of her, and now, I might have added a fucking ton.

  “Nothing is going to happen to Steph,” Quinn reassured me. “We’re just gonna have to keep an eye on her until we get this shit figured out.”

  “You don’t think we’re already spread pretty fucking thin?” Dyno growled. “We need to get the strip club up and running, stomp out the Devil’s Rebels, and now babysit another chick?”

  Brick raised his hand. “I’ll keep any eye on her. She’s not going to know about it, though. Spending half an hour in the van with that chick was enough to last me a lifetime.”

  “So what the hell are you going to do?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry about,” Brick drawled. “I know what the hell I’m doing.”

  “And I’m just supposed to take you at your word when I don’t even know you?” I motioned my arm around the table. “None of us fucking know you, but we’re just supposed to welcome you with open arms.”

  “Zephyr,” Quinn growled. “Knock it the fuck off. I vouch for Brick. If he says he’s going to make sure Steph stays safe, then that is what he is going to do.”

  I slammed my hand on the table. “We need to just find out where these fuckers are, blow them all up. No more of this fucking pussy footing around. Find them, kill them all.”

  I was done with people being killed or kidnapped. This all had to stop. I didn’t know how the hell we were going to do it, but it needed to happen.

  “Why don’t we talk to the Royal Bastards?” Core suggested. “They’re having problems with the Devil’s Rebel, too, right?”

  “You really think the Bastards are going to help us when their president is gone rogue and they have their own shit happening to them?” Dyno asked.

  “They will help us, because in the end, we all get the result we want. The Devil’s Rebels gone and shit goes back to normal.” Core leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. “Separate we can’t seem to get our hands on Menace and his guys.”

  “But together we can squash them like the fucking cockroaches that they are,” Point growled. “They killed Barracuda’s ol’ lady, a kid who was trying to get himself out from under them, and now, they’re probably gunning for Wrigley and Steph.”

  All of this needed to stop. “Call them, Quinn,” I grunted. “We want our town back? Let’s fucking take it.”

  Quinn slowly looked around the table. “You sure this is what you guys want? Once we get the Bastards fully in this, we won’t be able to stop. We push this ball, it’s gonna go careening down taking out anyone who gets in its way.”

  This was the only way.

  “Let’s vote,” Dyno grunted.

  One by one, we all raised our hands in favor of teaming up with the Royal Bastards to once and for all take out the Devil’s Rebels.

  Quinn chuckled and pounded his fist on the table. “All right. Let’s show the Devil’s Rebels what we’re good at. Vengeance.”

  *

  Chapter Fourteen

  Just wow...

  Lynn

  “Dad.”

  Zephyr smothered a laugh with the back of his hand.

  “What?” Dad growled.

  “You cannot be serious right now.” Dad looked like the seventies had thrown up all over him. And in not a good way. “The wig is just...” I didn’t even have a word for that wig. “Did you at least sanitize it before you put it on your head?”

  Dad patted the offensive black, curly wig. “I sprayed it with some Febreze.”

  And this was why I needed to keep an eye on him. “You’re gonna have hives or lice by the end of the night.”

  Zephyr and I had managed to make it over to Dad’s before he left for his seventies party so I could see the train wreck in person.

  “But at least his hair will smell like a springtime breeze,” Zephyr chuckled.

  I pointed a finger at him. “Just you wait. You’re next.”

  Zephyr held up his hands and flopped onto the couch. “Darlin’, I’ll be sitting right here waiting for my tongue lashing.”

  “Oh, God,” I groaned.

  Dad stepped to the door. “I’m gonna get on out of here. Just lock the door behind you after your tongue lashing.” He stepped out but then popped his head back in. “Put a blanket down on the couch, yeah? I used the last of the Febreze on my wig.” He laughed loud and shut the door behind him.

  I ran my fingers through my hair and tried not to scream.

  “Come sit, darlin’.” Zephyr patted the couch next to him. “You look like you had a long day.”

  That was again, an understatement. The past two days had completely kicked my ass. I plopped down a full couch cushion away from him, and then flopped my head into his lap. “I would like to sleep for the next three days.”

  Zephyr chuckled and brushed my hair from my face. “Well, unless you took off of work tomorrow, I can’t help you. But on Saturday and Sunday, I can try my hardest to keep you in bed the whole weekend.”

  I laughed and reached up to trace his smile. “I don’t think there will be much sleeping, though.”

  He shrugged. “You’re not wrong, darlin’.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips. “But I promise you won’t think about work or anything else for a second.”

  That was exactly what I needed. Between work and worrying about Steph, I was com
pletely wiped out. “Maybe we can run away to some deserted island and live there,” I suggested.

  “What’s going on at work that has you stressed out, darlin?”

  I sighed and closed my eyes. “I don’t know. It really isn’t much crazier than it normally is. It just is like everything is happening at once, and I can’t give everything the right attention so it feels like I’m falling behind on everything.”

  “Isn’t there someone at the clinic that can help you? Maybe try to take on some of your workload?” he suggested.

  I opened my eyes. “There are four other counselors but they’re all as swamped as I am. I really just need to suck it up, and right now, I just feel like complaining about it.” I knew I could handle everything at work, it was just going to take more of myself to get it done.

  “Then complain away, darlin’. I’m just here to listen.”

  I didn’t want to talk about it, though. Nothing was going to fix it other than just dealing with it. “How about we get out of here and we go for a ride?” I suggested. “Maybe I could drive?”

  Zephyr chuckled and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I’m good with going for a ride, but I’m not too sure about me riding bitch behind you.”

  “What is it that you always say to me?” I tapped my finger to my chin and smile. “Whatever I want, right?”

  “So now you’re going to use that against me?” he laughed.

  I nodded and pouted out my bottom lip. “Please?”

  *

  Zephyr

  This sucked and was also amazing at the same time.

  It was neat as hell that Lynn liked to drive, but it sucked big time riding bitch.

  She made the turn toward the clubhouse, and I squeezed her leg. “What the hell are you doing?” I hollered over the whirl of the wind.

  “I thought we could stay the night at the clubhouse tonight,” she called.

  I was fine with that, but I was not fucking fine rolling up to the clubhouse riding bitch on my own motorcycle. “Pull over.”

  Her laugh carried over the wind, and she shook her head. “No.”

  Well, hell. I hoped none of the guys were outside and we could roll in without any of them knowing that Lynn was driving.

  Again, sexy as hell that Lynn knew how to drive a motorcycle, but if she wanted to drive, I was going to have to get her own motorcycle for her.

  She pulled in next to Quinn’s bike and killed the engine. “Yeah, I forgot how much I love to drive,” she laughed.

  I slid off the back of the bike quickly, just in case any of the guys came out.

  “Where are you going?” she giggled. “You didn’t like riding behind me?”

  I flipped her off. “I’m cool with you driving as long as I don’t have to ride bitch. We’re getting you your own bike. Don’t fucking argue with me about it.”

  She shrugged and slid off the bike. “I mean, you don’t have to, but if you’re really hell bent on getting me a bike, I’m not going to say no.”

  “Well, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be.”

  Lynn grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me to her. “Well, sexy, I love to ride, and if you want to buy me a bike, I am not going to say no.”

  “Is that so?” I knocked her hand away and wrapped my fingers around her neck. She gasped and her eyes flared with desire.

  “Why does this turn me on?” she whispered.

  I squeezed my fingers, and a moan fell from her lips. It turned me on, too. Having her surrender to me without a thought. I was in control, but so was she. She was giving me permission to hold her like this. To feel her pulse beneath my fingers.

  She tipped her head back and pressed her body against mine.

  “Because you always are in control, but with me, you don’t have to be.” I pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’m in control, and you know I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

  “Now who is shrinking who?” she whispered. She leaned up and pressed her lips against mine. “Maybe you could come help me at work so I could have a break.”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “You’re the only one I’m interested in figuring out what you’re thinking and feeling.” Lynn was the only one I cared about. The only one I knew who I would turn myself inside out just to see her smile.

  “Well, you’re doing a damn good job. Even if we’ve only been together for a week.”

  I slid my hand to the back of her head and laid my other hand on her waist. She wrapped her arms around my neck and delved her fingers into my hair.

  “Time doesn’t matter, darlin’.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Time does matter most of the time, Zephyr.”

  “Well, it may, but for this—you and me—it doesn’t matter. I knew when I saw you that you were going to change my life. Didn’t know exactly how, but I knew it was going to happen.”

  “And you even met my crazy family,” she laughed, “and you haven’t run for the hills.”

  I pressed a kiss to her lips and pulled back. “Not running, darlin’. Hit me with all of your crazy family drama, and I’ll still be here.”

  She followed me to the front door and sighed. “Let’s just hope there isn’t any more drama and life just slips into a comfortable pace of working and then being with you.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at her. I should tell her about Steph. How we were having to keep an eye on her because we inadvertently put her on the Devil’s Rebels radar. We were fixing it, though, and telling her would only stress her out about something she couldn’t do anything about. “Smooth sailing from here on out, darlin’.”

  If only I wasn’t lying straight to her face.

  *

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lunch and a baby...

  Lynn

  “Hey, Justin.” I pasted a smile on my lips even though I was exhausted from the group meeting earlier. I knew I was here to help, but goddamn, sometimes I wanted to tell these people that they needed to help themselves.

  “Hi, Lynn,” he replied meekly. He sat down in the chair opposite me and fiddled with the zipper on his coat.

  “How have you been the past two weeks?” Please God, let him say that everything was fine. I could tell that he was sober, but sometimes, actually being sober was half the battle.

  Justin shrugged. “I guess okay. I was late to work the other day, and I was afraid I was going to get fired, but I didn’t.”

  I nodded and grabbed a scrap piece of paper. “Why were you late?” Not like I was actually organized and had grabbed Justin’s file.

  His eyes dropped to the floor. “I overslept and I know that’s bad. I woke up when my alarm went off, but then I fell back asleep.”

  I looked up from my paper and set down my pen. “Justin, you know oversleeping isn’t something that only recovering addicts do, right? Millions of people oversleep or are late to something every day. That doesn’t make them bad.”

  “But I shouldn’t be doing things like that. I do that, and then I’m going to do something else bad, and before you know it, I’ll be using again.”

  I hated this part. An addict recovers and they think one bad thing is going to make them relapse. “That’s only going to happen if you let it happen. You recognize that oversleeping was not good, so what are you going to do about it now?”

  “I now set three alarms, and I don’t let myself fall back asleep. I hop out of bed right now,” he explained.

  I splayed my hands out in front of me. “There you go. You solved that problem on your own, Justin.”

  “But what if I miss those three alarms? I’ll be late to work, and then I’ll lose my job which means I won’t have a place to live.”

  “You have to take things one at a time, Justin, and know that you are the one who is in control.”

  I managed to help Justin realize he wasn’t a bad person for being late to work. He also mentioned to me that he was only five minutes late. I worked with a lot of people who were in recovery, and I felt Justin had a firm h
ad on his recovery and now he just needed to trust himself.

  After we talked and made plans to meet again in two weeks, I walked him to the reception area.

  He opened the connecting door, and I was surprised to see Queenie with Deedra holding Gunner.

  Jeanie motioned toward them. “I was just about to call back to you. These two are here to see you.”

  I told Justin I would see him in two weeks and if he needed me, he should call the number on the card I had given him at his last visit. He meekly nodded when it looked like he wanted to say something more, but didn’t.

  “Girl,” Queenie crowed. “We brought you lunch.” She held up a brown paper bag with a huge grease stain on the side.

  My mouth watered at the familiar Tom’s bag. “You two showing up with burgers and a cute baby is exactly what I need right now.” I led them back to my office and grabbed Gunner from Deedra.

  Queenie moved the two chairs in front of my desk off to the side and pulled a blanket out of the diaper bag she had slung over her shoulder. “We’re having a picnic because I want to eat, and Gunner can do tummy time.”

  Whatever worked for them. “As long as there is a burger in that bag with my name on it, I don’t care where we sit.”

  Deedra dropped onto the floor and started pulling food from the bag. “We were at the strip club to see how things were coming and Zephyr mentioned you like Tom’s.”

  “He just mentioned that out of nowhere?” I laughed. I sat down on the floor with my legs tucked under me and held Gunner. I know Queenie had said he need tummy time, but he could do with me holding him for a little bit.

  “Well,” Queenie drawled. “He actually told Dyno he was going to take off to bring you lunch and that did not go over well with Dyno.” Queenie pointed between herself and Deedra. “So Dee and I volunteered to bring you lunch so World War III didn’t break out.”

  I rolled my eyes and smiled at Gunner. “Uncle Zephyr is a bit crazy, isn’t he?” I cooed. Zephyr was always trying to take care of me even when I didn’t need it. If Queenie and Deedra hadn’t brought lunch, I would have just grabbed a sandwich from the place down the street. I didn’t want him pissing off the club by always leaving when they needed him.