Blacktop Freedom

by Winter Travers

  “Is Dad making you do this?” she asked.

  I looked over at Dad, who wore a smug look on his face sitting at the kitchen table with Zephyr. “No, though when I told him I was calling you, he didn’t tell me not to.”

  “Of course, he didn’t,” Steph muttered. “He was always bugging me about calling you.”

  “And you didn’t.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I didn’t call Steph to argue, but it was so easy to say something snarky or bitchy.

  “Just like you didn’t,” she shot back.

  This phone call was going to end the same way things always did when I talked to Steph, and I didn’t want that to happen. Not anymore.

  “I’m sorry, Steph. I’m sorry for everything. The things I know I did, and the things I didn’t know I did, but they hurt your feelings.”

  “Is that your shrink degree talking, or you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I little bit of both.”

  She sighed. “I’m sick of fighting. I know this may be surprising to you, but it’s pretty tiring being a bitch all of the time.”

  “My God,” I laughed. “And it’s tiring acting like I need to fix everyone all of the time.” I sighed and glanced at Zephyr. “How about we both stop and just get back to being sisters?” That’s all I wanted.

  “You think it’s going to be that easy?” Steph drawled. “I’ve pretended to hate you for a while now.”

  I closed my eyes and dropped my chin to my chest. “It might be hard, but I think you can stop being a bitch, Steph.”

  “Only if you stop acting like you have to fix everyone.”

  Zephyr’s eyes connected with mine. That was going to be a hard thing for me to do, but Zephyr was helping me. He was showing me I didn’t have to live so close to edge of losing myself to help everyone else.

  “You got a deal, Steph.”

  *

  Chapter Twenty

  He needs me...

  Zephyr

  “Lynn,” I muttered. “Your phone is ringing.”

  She rolled over and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. “Hello?”

  It was two in the morning, and a phone call at this time was never good.

  I sat up and leaned back on my elbows.

  “Justin?” she asked.

  Who in the fuck was Justin, and why was he calling in the middle of the night?

  “I can’t understand you. You have to slow down.” Lynn swung her legs out from under the covers and stood. “Where are you?” She turned on the lights and rummaged around in her dresser drawer.

  Was she getting dressed?

  “Lynn,” I interrupted. “What is going on?”

  She held up her hand to silence me. “Just tell me where you are, and I’ll come to you.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t fucking happening. I rolled out of bed and pulled on my pants. At least, she wasn’t going anywhere without me.

  “Okay, okay,” she said. “Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be right there, okay?” She grabbed a shirt and tried to put it on with one arm. “Just don’t do anything until I get there. Call me back if you need to, but I need to get dressed, yeah?”

  She hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed. When he whirled toward the closet, I caught her by the arm.

  “You wanna tell me what the hell is going on?”

  She waved her hand at me. “Work. That was one of my patients. He needs me.”

  “Lynn, it’s the middle of the fucking night.”

  She ran her fingers through her hair. “I know, but he called me, Zephyr.”

  “What is wrong?” I demanded.

  “It sounds like he’s using again. I told him he could call me whenever, and he did. It sounds like he is having a bad trip.”

  I pulled her a step closer. “Do you really think I’m going to let you leave here and go help a guy who is high off his ass?” She thought she was just going to run out of here like it was no big deal?

  “It’s my job, Zephyr,” she insisted. She tried to twist out of my hold, but I tightened my grip.

  I shook my head. “No, this is not your job. I know I’m not the smartest guy, but I can bet that this is not part of your job. That the other counselors aren’t running to their patients in the middle of the night.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “You don’t know that.”

  “I fucking do. You are not going to handle this guy.” I reached for my phone and pressed three numbers.

  “Who are you calling?” she demanded.

  “The fucking police, which is what you should have done.”

  “You can’t do this, Zephyr. Justin trusts me.”

  I shook my head. “You remember that conversation we’ve had quite a few times where you need to stop thinking you need to fix or save everyone?”

  “This is different,” she insisted.

  I agreed, it was. This time, this person needed more help than Lynn could give him. “What are you going to do if he overdoses? You’re a therapist, Lynn, not a paramedic or doctor. Stop and think for a second.”

  “I’ll call the police on the way over there.”

  I shook my head and hit the send button on the call. “I’m calling the police now, and you can meet the ambulance at the hospital if you feel that you need to see him.” It was a compromise. That was the best she was going to get out of me.

  The call connected to the 9-1-1 dispatcher. I put it on speaker and motioned for Lynn to talk. She had all the information. She growled but replied “hello” and relayed all of the information to the operator while she held her middle finger in my face.

  I ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed. “You are not in charge of fixing people, Lynn. Especially someone who is a stranger to you. Eight to five, you are there for these people. Any time after that, you are off limits.”

  “I have to be there for these people, because no one else will be there for them”

  Fucking hell. This was going to be a constant theme between Lynn and me. “This is the last fucking time this happens. I will take your phone away from you if I have to.”

  She pulled away from me and folded her arms over her chest. “I’d like to see you try that,” she snapped.

  “Get dressed so we can go to the hospital. We can argue about this on the way there.”

  She tapped her foot on the floor. “We’re not arguing.”

  “Yeah, we are. So we’re gonna argue on the way to the hospital, you’re gonna check on this Justin guy, and then we’re gonna come home to make up.”

  “Is that so?”

  I pulled her into my arms and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Yeah, darlin’. That’s the only way I’m gonna let you keep livin’ on the edge.”

  She wound her arms around my neck and sighed. “Fine. I guess I’m okay with that as long as you’re on that edge with me.”

  “Not going anywhere, darlin’. It’s you and me.”

  ‘Til my last breath, it was Lynn and me.

  *

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Whatever you say...

  Lynn

  “I need to have this baby.”

  Fancy pressed her hand to Kimber’s forehead. “Are you delirious or something?” she asked. “You’re barely four months.”

  Kimber groaned and knocked her hand away. “I either want to puke all of the time or eat everything in sight which then makes me want to puke all of the time.”

  I cringed. “That sounds like vicious cycle.” I would love to have a baby, but not now. I wanted to enjoy my time with Zephyr before we brought a little baby into the world. I was gonna be selfish for a little bit.

  Kimber moaned. “You have no idea. I want to knee Quinn in the nuts for doing this to me.”

  “It’ll all be worth it in the end,” Deedra drawled. “Just think, you’re gonna have a cute little baby that looks like a mix of you and Quinn.”

  “Besides, I bet your next pregnancy will be better,” Petra laughed.

  Kimber waved her hand in the
air. “Oh, hell no, girl. You are not going to put the pregnancy juju on me while I’m still pregnant with this one.”

  “Well, Quinn can’t keep his hands off of you, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you pop up pregnant again.” Fancy sat back and kicked her feet up on the coffee table. “This one will be a boy, and then next one will be a girl.”

  “Quinn and., and Kimberlini,” Queenie laughed.

  “Kimberlini?” I cocked my head to the side. “Please tell me that is not your real name.”

  Kimber rolled her eyes. “No, thank God, it is not. Queenie has decided if I’m having a girl, she should be called Kimberlini.” Kimber pointed at Queenie. “That shit is not happening.”

  “I like Bianca,” Deedra suggested.

  Fancy rubbed her hands together. “Oh, what about Gemma?”

  “No,” Kimber shouted. “You know I hate that name solely based on the fact I hate Gemma from Sons of Anarchy. That name will never happen.” She slid her finger across her neck. “Never.”

  “Well,” I laughed, “I guess we should scratch that one off the list, Fancy.”

  Fancy laughed. “I only said that because I knew she would freak out.” Fancy patted Kimber’s legs. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

  Deedra raised her hand. “Can we do Book Club?”

  “No,” Kimber groaned. “Not until I pop this baby out. It’s not fair that you guys get to have fun, and I have to sip water and act like I’m having fun.”

  I closed my eyes and laid my head back.

  “Hey,” Petra teased. “No falling asleep.”

  I was tired. So tired.

  Last night after I had gotten the phone call from Justin, Zephyr had kept his word and drove me to the hospital. Justin was not happy at all that I had called the police instead of coming myself, but in the end, it needed to happen.

  He didn’t overdose, but he really was having a bad trip that I wouldn’t have been able to help with. Now, Justin was going to be back on the road to recovery, and hopefully, this time it would stick.

  “I was out late working and I really just want to take a nap,” I moaned. Zephyr had told me I could have stayed home and slept, but I had insisted I wanted to come with him to the clubhouse. I now regretted that decision.

  “Girl, how late were you out? You’re a therapist,” Queenie laughed.

  “I’m a therapist who spread herself too thin, and now Zephyr is helping me to thicken up.” I closed my eyes and groaned. “You know what I mean.”

  “That Zephyr seems to really be in with you, huh?” Deedra asked. “You finally accept the fact that he just wants your time?”

  “Well,” I drawled, “he does want my time, but I’m pretty sure he likes my body, too.”

  Kimber and Fancy hooted with laughter.

  “Yes, girl. Welcome to the ol’ lady life,” Kimber crowed.

  “We totally need to get patches or something.” Fancy jumped up from the couch. “We are getting jackets with our names embroidered on them,” she declared.

  “I am game for that, but we should probably run this past Quinn,” Kimber laughed. “I’m all for blazing out our path with Book Club and whatnot, but we should maybe ask the guys.”

  “Ask the guys what?” Quinn growled.

  The guys filed into the common room and spread out between the bar, pool table, and couch. Quinn sat down next to Kimber and leaned over to press a kiss to her stomach. He was rather intimidating, but when he was with Kimber, he was like a different guy. He treated her with love and kindness.

  All of the guys were like that. They were intimidating, but put them with their women, and they acted completely different.

  “You haven’t passed out yet?” Zephyr sat down next to me and put his arm over my shoulders. He pressed a kiss to the side of my head, and I snuggled into his side.

  “I was just about to before you guys came back in.” I smothered a yawn with my hand. “What were you guys doing outside?”

  “Brick came by.”

  My head perked up. “Brick? Did he have anything to say about Steph? If he was here, who was watching Steph?” I was really trying not to worry about Steph, but it was easier said than done.

  “Nothing to tell. She’s just going to work and that’s it. Says she gets a lot of fast food delivered, but that’s about it.”

  Well, I guess that was good. “Who was watching her when he was here?”

  “Core relieved him for a bit. Someone always has eyes on her, darlin’. I promise nothing is going to happen to her.”

  I really hoped he was right. “I trust you, Zephyr. You know it’s hard me to not control everything.”

  He chuckled and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. “I know, darlin’. You’ll just keep me on my toes asking questions all of the time.”

  I pinch his side. “I will not ask questions.”

  He grunted.

  “At least not all of the time.” Only when I needed to. Which, might be more often than he would like, but that was beside the point. “Remember, you just want my time. So, my time might include me asking you questions. Over and over.”

  “And that right there is why I’m gonna stick around. You give me your time and sass, and I’ll give you everything I have.”

  Again, that did not seem like a fair deal, but that was Zephyr’s problem. “Does that everything include my own motorcycle?” I batted my eyelashes and pouted out my lips. I wanted a motorcycle and I was going to get one. As much as I liked driving Zephyr’s bike, my own would be so much better.

  “Jesus,” Zephyr laughed. “We go from you not wanting my help, to now demanding a motorcycle. You move fast, darlin’. But, like I said before, I like it.”

  “Is that a yes?” I purred.

  He pressed a hard kiss to my lips and smiled. “Whatever you say, darlin’. Whatever you say.”

  *

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It’s Detective Kaye...

  Brick

  Watching paint dry was more exciting than watching Lynn’s sister.

  All she did was work, go to the grocery store, and get food delivered. Quinn could have at least put me on a chick who did more than work and eat.

  Fried chicken.

  Pizza.

  Subs.

  Even cake one time.

  This chick wasn’t doing drugs, but she was addicted to eating some goodass food.

  Every time she got food delivered, it made me crave the shit, which then meant I had to have the delivery guy come back with my order.

  I was starting to spend my hour or two long break at the gym trying to work off whatever junk food I had eaten. The one good thing about being in prison that I always had time to work out, because there wasn’t anything else to do.

  It was after nine o’clock and I knew nothing was going to happen tonight. This chick was so much on a schedule that I could call it down to the minute when the lights would go out. I leaned my seat back and rested my head against the headrest.

  Another night of complete boredom was almost in the books. Every day, I hoped it would be the last I would be stuck following Steph, but the days just kept coming. At this point, I would welcome one of the Devil’s Rebels guys to try something just to shake things up.

  Quinn hadn’t heard back from the Royal Bastards yet, so we were basically sitting around with our thumbs up our ass until we heard from them. Core was still trying to find Wrigley again, but that lead had gone dead. Probably literally.

  The Devil’s Rebels had no problem killing people who got in their way, and I’m fairly certain they had gotten wind about Wrigley talking to Core. The next person to go could possibly be Steph if they found out we had gotten Wrigley’s name from her.

  I reached for the energy drink I grabbed during the hour break Core had given me and popped the top. I was going to fucking need it tonight. I had set up sensors on Steph’s doors and windows for when I did fall asleep, but I tried like hell to stay awake for as long as I could. Typical from two until se
ven I slept, and then my alarm clock woke me up. So far the sensors on Steph’s place hadn’t been tripped at all.

  A knock sounded on my window, and I jumped in my seat.

  Jesus Christ. Maybe I was getting a little too comfortable seeing as I didn’t even notice anyone approach the car.

  I rolled down the window and came face to face with my past.

  “Officer Kaye,” I drawled. The last person in this world I would have expected to see knocking on my window was Kaye Crew.

  She leaned in and rested her elbows on the window frame. “It’s Detective Kaye now, Jax.”

  “Congrats.” Kaye was always headed for detective. I wasn’t surprised at all that she had made it.

  “You wanna tell me what you’re up to?” she asked.

  I shrugged and took a sip of my drink. “Not much.”

  “You’ve been up to not much for a few days now,” she retorted.

  She had been watching me. Or at least someone had been. “Not sure how you would know that, detective.”

  A smirk spread across her lips. “I have my ways, Jax. Now, tell me what you are up to,” she demanded.

  I shrugged. “Nothing.” As if I was going to tell her what I was doing and what the club was up to.

  “Is that your final answer?” Her eyes connected with mine. A piercing blue that could burn holes through you. And also could burn with undisguisable passion.

  “To that question? Yes.”

  “Then I’m gonna need you to step out of the car, Jax.”

  I scoffed. “You wanna tell me why?” I was just sitting in my car minding my own business. What I was doing had nothing to do Kaye or the Whitmore police department. No laws broken here.

  “Because you’re under arrest, Jax. Step out of the car and put your hands behind your back.”

  Son. Of. A. Bitch.

  The End

  Coming Soon

  Monk

  Royal Bastards MC, book 3

  April 27th

  Changing Lanes

  Devil’s Knights 2nd Gen, book 4

  About the Author

  Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Winter Travers is a devoted wife, mother, and aunt turned author who was born and raised in Wisconsin. After a brief stint in South Carolina following her heart to chase the man who is now her hubby, they retreated back up North to the changing seasons, and to the place they now call home.