by Wilder, L.
Terrified that he might actually kill the guy, I rushed over and pushed my way through the crowd as I shouted, “Clay! Please stop!”
His body froze as he turned to look at me. I don’t know what terrified me more—the state of the man he’d just beaten half to death or the wild look in Clay’s eyes as he sat there staring at me. His eyes were still locked on mine when T-Bone and Gauge lifted him off the guy. I couldn’t move. I could only stand there and watch as the crowd of men gathered in closer, making it impossible for me to see what was going on. Moments later, Hawk came up next to me, and as he took a hold of my arm, he whispered, “Come on. Let’s get you back inside.”
“What was that all about?”
“Some guy decided to get rough with one of the club hang-arounds.” Hawk looked down at me with concern in his eyes as he replied, “Roughed her up pretty good before she could get away from him.”
Hawk was a handsome man, tall and muscular with short blond hair and striking eyes. I noticed his biker vest was different than Clay’s. Instead of a prospect patch, his sported one that said Sergeant-at-Arms, and a large Ruthless Sinner’s logo was embroidered on the back, letting me know he and Clay weren’t in the same club. “Was he a member of Satan’s Fury?”
“No.” Hawk shook his head. “Just a friend-of-a-friend kind of thing.”
I couldn’t think straight. All I knew was I needed to get the hell out of there. Hoping he would help me out, I looked up at Hawk and said, “I really need to go. Would you mind walking me to my car?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. It’s late and with all that’s gone down—”
“Hawk, please,” I pleaded. “I really just want to go home.”
“Okay, but I’m going to follow you ... just to make sure you get there safe.” When I nodded, he asked, “What about your keys and stuff?”
“I left them in my car.”
“All right then. Let’s do this.”
I was thankful that the crowd was still gathered around the back gate, so no one seemed to notice as Hawk followed me over to my car. Once I was settled inside, he ordered, “Wait for me to pull around, and then I’ll follow you out.”
“Okay.”
I waited as Hawk got on his motorcycle, and once he’d pulled up behind me, I drove out of the parking lot and out onto the highway. My mind was still reeling as I started towards my apartment. I’d never seen a fight, not like that, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I found myself wondering if I’d been wrong about Clay. Maybe he wasn’t the nice guy I’d thought he was. I just didn’t know anymore, and the thought sickened me. I was still struggling to come to terms with things as I pulled up to my apartment. When I got out of my car, Hawk called out to me, “You okay?”
“I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure that out.”
“Can I offer some advice?”
“Sure. I could definitely use some.”
“Club life isn’t for everyone. Take some time ... think about things, and don’t make any rash decisions.” He looked me dead in the eye and said, “You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure out what’s best for you.”
“Thank you, Hawk.” I held my keys in my hand as I added, “And thanks for following me home.”
“No problem.” He gave me a quick nod. “I hope I haven’t seen the last of you.”
Without giving me a chance to respond, he whipped out of the parking lot. Once he’d disappeared into the darkness, I went inside and took a long, hot shower. I was hoping it would help clear my head, but it didn’t. My mind was still running a mile a minute as I crawled into bed. As I lay there, I thought back over everything that had happened while I was at the clubhouse. The was no denying that the fight was bothersome. No, it was more than bothersome. It made me question everything, especially where Clay was concerned. I couldn’t believe that the man who’d been so good to me, who’d just made love to me, could be so brutal, so out of control.
I rolled to my side, and as I closed my eyes, my mind drifted back to the party. While I was disappointed that I didn’t get to spend more time with Clay, I’d really enjoyed being there. Clay was right when he said they acted like they were family. They laughed and carried on like they’d known each other their entire lives, and even though we’d never met, they included me in the fun, making me feel at home with them. It was that thought I held on to as I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up in a foul mood and struggled to get out of bed. It had been ages since I took a day for myself, so I decided to just stay put. I’d made up my mind that other than getting up for coffee and random snacks, I was going to stay in bed and binge-watch Netflix. I was actually pretty excited about it. I had several shows I’d been wanting to catch up on, and I was finally getting my chance. Like a kid playing hooky, I turned on the TV and snuggled up with my favorite blanket. I was just starting to get wrapped up in one of my favorite series when my cell phone started to ring. I glanced down at the screen and groaned after I saw it was my mother. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her or anyone else for that matter. I just wanted a little time to escape into my show and not think about the outside world or the people in it, so I flipped the ringer and tossed my phone on the other side of the bed. I kept it off the entire day, hoping it would be enough to keep the wolves at bay. Unfortunately, it didn’t.
Just as it was starting to get dark, there was a knock at my door. It wasn’t like my mother to show up unannounced, but after not returning her calls, I wouldn’t put it past her. I eased out of bed, and I’d almost made it to the kitchen when another round of knocking ensued, only this time it was more frantic. I rose up on my tiptoes and grumbled curses under my breath when I found my mother standing on my doorstep. I unlocked the deadbolt, then opened the door and fussed, “Mom, what are you doing here?”
“I came to check on you!” A grimace crossed her face as her eyes scanned over my disheveled hair and wrinkled pajamas. As usual, she was looking great in her black, scoop-neck t-shirt and jeans. Her makeup was on and her freshly colored hair was styled perfectly, making me even more aggravated that she’d intruded on my free day. She reached out to touch my forehead as she asked, “Are you sick?”
“No, Mom. I’m fine.”
“Then why didn’t you answer any of my calls?” she shrieked. “I was worried something was wrong.”
“I turned off my ringer.”
Her brows furrowed. “Why did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” I scowled as I dropped my hand to my hip. “Maybe it’s because I didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Why, is something wrong? Did something happen with that guy who helped you with the dog?” She dropped her keys and purse down on the table, letting me know that she wasn’t just checking to see if I was alive. She wanted to know all the juicy details of my night out, but that wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t ready to discuss it, not with her or anyone else. When I didn’t immediately respond, she kept at it. “Was he at that party last night?”
“Mommm, stop!” I dropped my head into my hands and groaned. With my hands still covering my face, I told her, “The party was fine.”
“Then, what’s wrong?”
“Everything ... and nothing.” I looked up at her, and guilt washed over me when I saw the anguished expression on her face. “I just needed a bit of time to figure some things out.”
“What kind of things?”
“Mom ... I need you to stop pushing. I’ll talk to you about it when I’m ready.”
“Fine. I won’t say another word.” That was something I’d heard many times from her and knew it wasn’t true, so I wasn’t surprised when she said, “Just tell me ... Did you wear the black dress?”
“Yes, Mother. I wore the dress.”
“Good.” With a proud smirk on her face, she reached for her purse and keys. “I’ll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing.”
“Thank you.” I gave her a quick hug and walked her to the door. “I’ll giv
e you a call tomorrow.”
“Okay. Enjoy the rest of your night.” As she started towards the door, she called, “Don’t forget to turn your ringer back on.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I closed the door behind her, then went over to the refrigerator to grab something to eat. After I made myself a sandwich, I carried it back into my room and turned my show back on. I was just about to start eating when I spotted my phone at the end of my bed. Curious to see if my mother’s calls were the only ones I’d missed, I reached for it, and my chest tightened the second I saw that I had a message from Clay.
Clay:
We need to talk.
Those four simple words made me want to crawl back under my covers and hide. I knew he was right. We did have things we needed to talk about, but as I stared down at my phone, I couldn’t make myself respond to his message. I don’t know why I was being such a coward. It wasn’t that my feelings had changed for Clay. I still thought he was an amazing guy, and when we made love, it was unbelievable. I’d never felt such passion with any man, and while I wanted to experience that again, I needed to be sure that I was thinking with my brain and not my hormones. I was trying to think of a good response to his text when my phone started to ring with a number I didn’t recognize. Thinking it was probably a telemarketer, I was hesitant to answer, but after several rings, I took a chance and answered.
“Hello?”
“Is this Ms. Dawson?” a young girl asked.
“Yes, it is. May I ask who’s calling?”
With a slight tremble in her voice, the child answered, “It’s Katie ... Katie Coburn.”
“Oh, hi, Katie. How are you?”
“Not good. It’s my dad.” I’d given her my number in case of an emergency, but I was hoping that she wouldn’t have to use it. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. “He’s ... uh ... been drinking ... a lot a-and he’s trying to make me blow in that thing in his car again so he can drive. I don’t want to, Ms. Dawson, but he’s getting really mad.”
There was an awful commotion in the background while she spoke, and I began to panic. As I got out of bed and started to remove my pajamas, I asked her, “What’s that noise?”
“That’s him.” Hearing the terror in her voice gutted me. “I locked myself in the bathroom, and he’s throwing stuff at the door and yelling.”
“Where’s his girlfriend?”
“She’s gone.” Her voice cracked and she started to cry. “They got in a fight, and he kicked her out.”
Hoping to keep her distracted, I asked, “Do you know what they were fighting about?”
“The gas bill or something. They’re always ...” As she explained how the argument began, I pulled up my messages and sent a text to Danny, an officer down at our local precinct who I’d worked with on several different cases, letting him know about the situation. When he asked for the address, I was too rattled to remember offhand, so I rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the Coburn file out of my bag. Once I had the information, I sent it over to him, then sent another message to Mrs. Hawkins, my supervisor, to fill her in on the situation. I’d just completed the message when Katie asked, “Are you still there?”
“Yes, honey. I’m right here.” I didn’t want to scare her even more, so I tried to keep my tone calm and reassuring as I told her, “I’m sending someone over to the house so they can check on you.”
“Wait ... you’re not coming?”
“Yes, but he can get there a lot faster than I can,” I explained, as I pulled my hair up into a messy bun. “I just need you to try and hold tight until he gets there. Okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll try.” Mr. Coburn started screaming Katie’s name along with a long stream of curses as he pounded on the door. “He’s right outside the door. Can you stay on the phone with me until you get here?”
“Of course.” I jerked my shoes on, and as I grabbed my purse and keys, I told her, “I’m leaving my house now. Just keep talking and let me know when the police arrive.”
“Okay.”
As much as I loved my job, it was moments like this that made me question if I was strong enough to handle all the suffering that came along with it, especially when the kids were so young and defenseless. As I got in my car and headed towards the Coburn home, I wasn’t thinking about anything except getting Katie to safety. With my mind so preoccupied with her, I didn’t think about Clay or the text he’d sent. I’d soon find out that the same didn’t hold true for him.
Prospect
“You did what?”
“I followed her home,” Hawk answered. “I knew you’d want to know that she made it home safe.”
“Yeah, but it would’ve been nice if I’d had a chance to do that myself.” I’d seen the look on her face after she saw me plowing into that fuck-up. Hell, it’d been burned into my memory, and I hoped I’d be able to explain what had gone down. That didn’t happen. As soon as the dust settled, I set out to find her, but she was already gone. It didn’t help matters that she wasn’t answering my calls or my texts. I shook my head as I continued, “Or at least gotten to talk to her before she hightailed it out of here.”
“Sorry, brother. I tried to get her to stick around, but she was set on leaving.”
“You’ll get your chance to sort things out.” Viper patted me on the back. “She’ll be back.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself.”
“That’s because I am.” He smiled. “I saw the way that girl was looking at you. Just trust me when I say, give her time. She’ll come around.”
I watched as some of the other Sinners started loading up. They stayed longer than they’d planned, but after a long night of partying, it took them some time to recover. Viper looked none the worse for the wear. In fact, it looked like the man had gotten a full night’s rest and was ready to take on the day. I, on the other hand, felt and looked like complete shit. I certainly wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be patient the way I needed to be with Landry. I wanted to set things straight with her sooner rather than later, but decided that I would do what I could to take a step back and give her some time like Viper had suggested. I gave him a nod, then replied, “I don’t exactly like it, but I guess you’re right.”
“I usually am.” A knowing smirk crossed his face as he patted me on the back. “The sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be.”
“Mm-hmm. Whatever you say, boss.”
“We’re about to roll out.” He gave me a sidelong, man-hug, then started towards the others. “Keep in touch!”
“You know I will.”
I watched as Viper walked over to Gus, and after he said his goodbyes, he and the rest of the Sinners hopped on their bikes. They started up their engines, the sounds blaring, and one by one, they pulled out of the gate. Once they were gone, I leaned down and rubbed my hand over Duchess’s head. “How ya doing, girl? You ready for something to eat?”
When she stood up and started wagging her tail, I knew I’d gotten my answer. I strolled towards the clubhouse and she followed right behind me. We were just about to head inside when I heard T-Bone shout, “Yo, ‘Crusher’! Where ya running off to so fast?”
The brothers had yet to come up with a road name for me, so they usually called me “prospect” or simply by name. Crusher wasn’t one I’d heard around the clubhouse before, so I wasn’t sure who he was actually talking to. Curious, I turned around and was surprised to find T-Bone and several of the others behind me. At that moment, I realized he was talking to me. “Crusher?”
“Yeah, Crusher. After the way you crushed that guy’s skull last night, I’d say the name suits ya.” T-Bone turned to the others as he asked, “What about y’all?”
“Crusher ... Yeah, that could work, or ‘Hammer.’” Blaze chuckled as he explained, “’Cause he hammered him pretty good.”
After being called prospect for the past couple of months, I was eager to finally get a road name, but I knew better than to get my hopes up. The guys were always fucking
around, especially with the prospects, so I tried to keep a level head as Shadow looked down at my hands. His eyes were fixed on the various gashes and bruises. “Could call him ‘Knuckles.’”
“Knuckles ... yeah.” Riggs nodded. “The kid definitely knows how to throw a fucking punch.”
“That he does,” Gauge agreed. “After that asshole put his fucking hands on Jasmine like that, I’d say he gave that piece of shit what he deserved.”
“Hell yeah, he did,” Blaze replied. “Had to know he couldn’t get away with that shit, especially not here. I would’ve fucked him up myself, but Bruiser here beat me to it.”
“‘Bruiser.’ I like it.”
T-bone was about to continue but stopped when Gus walked up, parting the group as he looked at me with a serious expression. My hopes of acquiring a road name quickly dashed when he announced, “Prospect, you and I need to have a word.”
“Yes, sir.”
I could tell by his tone that he wasn’t happy with me. I just wasn’t sure what had set him off. The group fell completely silent as they watched Duchess follow Gus and me into the clubhouse. Knowing they were just as clueless as I was made me even more apprehensive as we followed Gus down the hall. When we got to his office door, I ordered Duchess to sit in the hall, then followed him inside. My mind was racing, and it didn’t help matters that Gus was being so fucking quiet. Hell, he didn’t say a word as he walked over to his desk and sat down. He motioned his hand to the chair in front of his desk, so I quickly took the cue and sat down. Still, Gus said nothing. He just sat there, staring at me with those dark eyes.
Even at my size, it was hard not to feel intimidated by him. It wasn’t just his broad, bulked-up chest and thick biceps that were getting to me. It was much more than that. Power and strength radiated off the man, making him a legend among bikers, and the last thing I wanted was to piss him off. I would never purposely do anything to jeopardize my chance of earning a patch, and I prayed that his displeasure was something I could fix.