by Jamie Begley
Hammer passed it to Jonas. “I told you to wear the fucking Taser!” He drove expertly as he screamed at her.
“Give her time to catch her breath before you start yelling,” Jonas reproved him as he stemmed the blood on her shoulder. “Her throat’s a fucking mess.”
“Is it still there?” Killyama croaked out.
“What?” Jonas asked as he wrapped a bandage around her throat.
“Kane’s cell phone. Is it still in my pocket?”
Jonas helped her pull her pants back on. She was hurting too much to feel embarrassed.
He took out the phone, showing it to her.
“The hospital’s ten minutes away.” Hammer honked at a car going too slow.
“No, drive to our hotel room.” Killyama’s order was given in a hoarse whisper. “I don’t want Shade to know anything went wrong.”
“Fuck that!” Hammer growled. “I’m driving you to the hospital. I can meet Shade.”
“He’ll know when I don’t show.”
“I don’t give a fuck what Shade or Train figure out. I had to watch for years as your father turned you inside out. I’ll be damned if I watch The Last Riders do the same.”
“Please, Jonas.” He was always the one she went to when she had to get Hammer to see reason. “As soon as I give the phone to Shade, I’ll be out of there. If Shade finds out, he’ll call Train. I don’t want him asking any questions.”
Jonas stared at her sympathetically before telling Hammer, “Go to the hotel. Hurry. She’ll disappear if The Last Riders show up.”
“They won’t show, but they will want to know why I helped.”
The good part of being hurt was that Hammer and Jonas stopped arguing when they reached the hotel. It took the two men an hour to get her cleaned up enough to pass Shade’s inspection. She carefully redid her makeup, concealing the lower portion of her jaw that was turning purple.
“Hand me a jacket.” She was afraid to bend over to pick up the leather jacket.
Hammer’s face was grave as he zipped it up, hiding the bandage at her throat. “Little girl, you’re breaking my heart.”
Killyama forced a smile before going to the mirror to apply a cherry shade of lipstick. “You don’t have one.”
“Yes, I do.” Hammer’s pain-filled expression showed she had hit a nerve.
“I was joking. I’m going to be fine. I’m looking forward to the painkillers the doctors are going to hook me up with.”
“Like you’ll take them. You hate to take a Tylenol.”
“That shit is bad for you.”
Minutes later, Killyama let Hammer help her into the SUV.
“Let’s get this show on the road, Jonas. If she groans one more time, she’s going to the hospital.”
Killyama pouted. “Don’t be mean to me. I’m hurt.”
“No, shit. You are your own worst enemy.”
“Not anymore. The Last Riders are.”
When they didn’t contradict her, she wished she were capable of crying.
“I wish it would rain.”
“It rained last night. The skies are supposed to be clear tonight.”
Even the Heavens were frowning down on her. It didn’t matter, anyway. It would take a flood to wash away the damage she had done to herself.
“Rae? You need me to get the nurse?”
Jonas’s concern brought her back to the present.
“I could use some water … and a Tylenol.”
The men fussed over her until she told them to leave and let her sleep.
“We’ll go when you fall asleep,” Hammer promised, settling into a chair by her bed as Jonas stood by the door.
She was about to doze off, but she forced her sleepy eyes open.
“Go to sleep, Rae. No one is getting past us. Have I ever broken a promise to you?”
“No, never.” Letting her eyelids close, she started to drift off to sleep, confident the two men would keep her safe.
They had filled her father’s shoes even before he had died. She used to aggravate them sometimes, talking her father up like a hero, bragging about his military accomplishments. What she could never put into words was that Jonas and Hammer were truly the meaning of the word hero, and she was blessed to have them both. She had learned early on that a father wasn’t a word; it was deeds.
Damn, being hurt brought the sensitive side out of her. She needed to get better so she could show them she could still beat their asses.
“Hammer?”
“Yeah, Rae?”
“When you come back, bring me a pack of gum.”
16
Train was starting his bike when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his jacket pocket.
“Where are you?” Viper barked out as soon he answered the call.
“In the parking lot, getting ready to pull out. What’s—”
“Stay there. I’ll be out in five.” Viper disconnected the call before Train could ask what was wrong.
He looked over at Viper’s house, seeing the lights were on. Earlier when he had come down the steps, both houses were dark since he had slept longer than he had intended. By midnight, most of the brothers and the women had already turned in for the night. Turning to face the clubhouse, he saw lights had been turned on inside there, too.
“Fuck,” Train swore, impatiently waiting for someone to come out and tell him what was going on.
He was almost ready to get off his bike when Viper finally appeared.
“Shade called and told me that he wants you and Crash to come to Ohio. When I told him that you were already on your way, he said I might want to be there, too.”
“Did he say why?”
“No, I figured we could find out together. We can talk when he gets there.” Viper went to his bike. He was starting it when Crash, Nickel, and Razer came out of the clubhouse to find their bikes.
Train backed his up to pull alongside of Viper’s. “I thought you said Shade only asked for me and Crash?”
“I’d rather have too much backup than not enough.”
The brothers were ready in seconds, Viper taking the lead down the winding road leading into town. Razer and Train rode at the back of the pack.
As they passed the sheriff’s office, Knox’s and Lucky’s bikes’ headlights hit them. They decelerated through the empty street until Knox was riding next to Crash, and Lucky sped ahead to ride with Viper.
Other than for gas, the brothers didn’t stop until they were the on the outskirts of Ohio, where Viper texted Shade, letting him know they would be there in thirty minutes.
“Shade sent the address to a hospital fifteen minutes away,” he informed everyone.
They made it to the rendezvous point ten minutes later, where Shade was sitting casually on his bike with his arms resting on the handlebars. Moon and Rider were waiting with him.
The brothers circled Shade’s bike so they could hear what he had to say.
“What’s up? Something happen to Sasha?” Viper motioned for the men to turn off their bikes.
Train felt Shade’s critical gaze on him before it settled on Viper. “No. Nothing has changed so far, but I expect the charges to be dropped.”
“How’d you manage that?”
“Killyama.”
Train wasn’t the only one who stared at Shade in astonishment. “What did Killyama have to do with getting Sasha’s charges dropped?”
Shade took a cell phone out of his jacket pocket, handing it to Viper. “It’s Kane’s burner phone. She stole it from him. She also found a way for me to get inside his father’s house. The police now know that Kane and his father lied about the jewelry. Arrogant dick left it in a drawer in his office. She also hooked me up with a professor who won’t let it get swept under the rug.”
“A professor?” Train asked, stunned.
Shade’s lips curled up in mirthless smile. “A Professor of Economics. He wants to take down the man keeping him from getting his dream job. Mayor. Not only did she fix Sasha’s problem;
she fixed Moon’s, too.”
“Why would she help?” Train stared at the phone in Viper’s hand.
“You’ll have to ask her that question.”
Train moved to turn the key to start his motorcycle, determined to do just that. He was going to drive to Jamestown and shake her until she answered all of his questions.
“Save the gas. She’s not in Jamestown.” Shade read his mind. “Killyama is still in Ohio. She never left after dropping Sasha off at the police station.”
“How’d she steal Kane’s burner phone?” Train asked as he removed his hand from the key.
“Should have been nicknamed Crazy Bitch. She found out from Kane’s ex-girlfriend that he has a taste for hand jobs. Apparently, she convinced the owner of a masseuse parlor to let her watch. When he was occupied, she stole the phone.”
Train couldn’t sit still for another moment. Getting off his bike, he paced back and forth as he tried to blow off steam. “I’m going to wring her fucking neck.”
“Kane almost saved you the trouble.” Reaching into his pocket, Shade took out his own phone, holding it up. “She was an hour late to give me Kane’s phone. When she arrived, she was wearing a leather jacket zipped up to her throat. It was cold out, but she was also wearing a scarf to her jaw. When I asked why she was wearing it, she made a joke, telling me she was cold-natured.”
“What’s wrong with her wearing a scarf?” Viper asked.
Train was thinking the same thing. In the time he had known her, though, she had only worn a jacket when it was freezing outside. A scarf, never. That seemed too feminine for Killyama. He was beginning to get a sick feeling in his stomach.
“The whole time they were there,” Shade continued, “Jonas and Hammer didn’t take their eyes off her. After they left, I looked at the Kane’s cell phone. It had blood on it. So I followed their car.” Shade ran his finger over the screen on his cell phone, pulling up a picture.
Train expected Shade to hand the phone to Viper. Instead, he held it out to him.
He stopped pacing, heading over to Shade’s bike to take the phone, seeing it wasn’t a picture but a video. All the brothers except Rider and Moon got off their bikes to watch it.
The video showed the black Escalade braking at a hospital’s emergency entrance. Hammer jumped out of the back then reached inside, lifting Killyama out. Train barely managed to finish watching as Hammer carried her inside the hospital with Jonas. From her limp body, it was clear she was unconscious.
Giving Shade his phone back, Train climbed back on his bike. “I have to see her.”
“No. She made me promise not to tell you or any of the brothers that she helped. Think about it, brother. Why did she go through so much to help Sasha out? And why go through the trouble to keep us from finding out?”
The brothers stared at each other, all trying to figure out Killyama’s motives.
“I might know,” Knox spoke up in the extended silence. “Diamond has been on my case to talk Sasha into turning herself in when she found out a warrant had been taken out for her in Ohio. I told her there wasn’t anything to be worried about. Then, remember about a month ago, when I received a call from the DA? He wanted me to stake out the clubhouse to see if she was there. Diamond was also called, asking her to convince Sasha to turn herself in, and was asked if she knew where she was. We both lied, saying she was hiding out with family in Wyoming.”
Knox’s thoughtful expression and the account of the increased interest in Sasha’s whereabouts had all the brothers starting to connect the dots.
“Sex Piston,” Train stated, staring at the large hospital.
Killyama was behind one of those windows. She had deliberately put herself at risk to relieve Sex Piston’s fear that her sister would be held culpable for lying to the courts.
“You think Sex Piston told her to do it? Or did she do it on her own?” Train asked the question more to himself than the men.
“On her own,” Knox answered. “I think Diamond confided in her sister that she was worried about losing her license and me losing my job as sheriff. Then Sex Piston bitched about it to Killyama. I can see her throwing herself under the bus to protect them.”
“I can, too,” Viper agreed, looking at the cell phone with the blood she had shed to protect those she loved. “She did nearly get herself killed when she protected Lily and Winter. With Sex Piston, she would try to walk on water to protect that bitch.”
Train’s heart was so heavy he had to sit down on his motorcycle to get his strength back.
“That’s why she waited to call my debt in. She waited so Sex Piston couldn’t be blamed. She didn’t even tell Stud, so it wouldn’t cause a rift between him and Sex Piston.” Viper was taking her sacrifice as hard as Train was.
“And between me and Diamond.” Knox didn’t leave his own guilt out of the conversation. “If anyone found out that Diamond had confided in Sex Piston, she could have lost her law license for breach of privacy.”
Train laughed so hard his head fell back. Staring upward at sky, he saw the sun was beginning to rise. “I am such a dumb fuck,” he castigated himself. “When she came to Rosie’s, she told me that if I broke my rule of not fucking anyone who didn’t belong to The Last Riders, she would give me the go-ahead to fuck the club women. Deep down, I knew she was lying to me. Killyama would never put up with any man who slept with others, even if it was a casual hook-up.”
Train was a man who knew when he was beaten. Instinctively, he had known Killyama wasn’t as laid back about their arrangement as she had pretended, but he had believed it because it achieved his own goal. He had wanted her on his terms: no relationship, no caring, and especially no love. She hadn’t been the only one lying to him. He had been lying to himself.
“Brother, I could have warned you if I had known she said that. Those bitches don’t even share clothes. If Diamond asks to borrow something from Sex Piston, she tells her no, or that she doesn’t want it anymore.”
Knox rarely talked about the dynamic between Diamond and the bitches. Train thought it was because the antics they got into grated on his more reserved personality. Now he could see that Knox had grown to like his sister-in-law and her friends.
“When Killyama asked Lily to borrow those high-priced heels I bought her, she told Lily she wasn’t getting them back.”
“You like her, don’t you?” Train asked, knowing Shade would rip off anyone’s head who denied Lily what she wanted.
“It’s hard not to like the woman who saves your wife’s life.” Shade didn’t admit nor deny it, which meant he technically admitted it.
“Like is a strong word for how I feel about her, but I can respect why Killyama did what she did,” Viper conceded. He clearly wasn’t going to get over his hurt pride anytime soon.
“I don’t think Sex Piston was the only one she tried to protect.” Train replayed the words that Winter had told him. “Winter tried to tell me that Killyama is in love with me. I blew it off when she told me, but I think she’s right. Getting the charges dropped against Sasha is her way of saying she is sorry.”
“I wouldn’t take it that far. That bitch doesn’t know the meaning of the word. She talked you into inviting her to the clubhouse to make sure Sasha was there. She also used the opportunity to have sex with you again. If that’s not enough, not one of us with wives has been laid since then.”
Yeah, Viper was still pissed. Train tried to think of a way to soothe his ruffled feathers but came up short. Viper didn’t forgive easily, especially where his dick was concerned.
Train could sympathize. He hadn’t had sex since he had been with Killyama. Viper had gone without even longer after the birth of his baby.
The law he had laid down about the members having nothing to do with Killyama had come back to bite him in the ass, and with him making such a big deal about it, it wasn’t going to be easy for him to admit he had been wrong.
“Damn, a devious woman gives me a hard-on.” Moon stood up to adjust his je
ans. “Train, if you don’t make her your woman, I’m going to make her mine.”
Moon said the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Before the other brothers could react, Train swung his fist out with lightning fast reflexes, punching Moon in his gut and knocking him backward onto his bike. It took several minutes before Shade and Knox took pity on him, lifting a struggling Train off him.
“You try to touch her, brother or not, I’ll kill you.” He wiped his bloodied knuckles on the side of his jeans.
None of The Last Riders tried to help Moon to his feet.
Train put his hand on his handlebar. “I’m going to the hospital to find out how Killyama is doing. You all can come with me or stay here. I’m done talking.”
“Train, she doesn’t want you knowing.” Shade moved to stand in front of Train’s bike. “Have you changed your mind about wanting her to become a Last Rider?”
“You know I haven’t.” Train stared challengingly at Viper. He couldn’t make it any plainer to his president that Killyama was going to be a part of his life. If the club couldn’t accept that, they wouldn’t be a part of the future he was determined to have with her.
“You go in that hospital, telling her you forgive her and everything is all hunky-dory, Killyama will chew you up and spit you out.”
Train dropped his hands from the handlebars. Shade’s logic made sense. As badly as he wanted to go to the hospital, it wasn’t the best move.
“Learn from us, brother. Some of us have been right where you are. Build her trust first. Show her what you can give her that the Destructors can’t.”
“Like what?”
The Destructors were not The Last Riders, but the years she had spent with them, building strong relationships, Train couldn’t compete with that, not anytime soon.
“You already know that answer. She’s in love with you.” Shade fixed his steely gaze on him. “Killyama is devious as hell. Use it against her. You’re the best soldier in the club. You fought like a warrior when we were in the field and in the air. I never once worried that you wouldn’t fight your way through to bring us home.” Shade moved away from him, leaving the choice to him on whether they were going to force their way inside her room to see her or stay away for now. “A smart warrior would try to win her hand and win the war. Bring your princess home on her terms when she’s ready. We’ll all be waiting.”