by Joy Blood
Could it be that fucking easy? Could she be right here in Cental waiting for us to go in and get her? Not fuckin’ likely.
Fourteen
Grace
After Gin and Sage rushed out of the room, the table of women were quiet for a moment, then started talking again about mundane things. Like what they wanted to do next with their hair or when their next trip into Rider’s Wear would be. I couldn’t bring myself to listen. I only thought about what Gin and Sage rushed out of the room for. Did it involve my daughter?
With a quick goodbye and the excuse that I wanted to lay down, I go back up to the room—Gin’s room. His smell engulfs me every time I walk in. I can smell him on the sheets, on the pillow. It’s the only reason I didn’t wash them. Even though, in the back of my mind, I know he probably had a woman in here recently. The pillow on the floor is proof of that. I tossed it after rolling over in the middle of the night and breathing in the scent of another woman.
I pace the length of the room until the door swings open. And there he is, taking over the room with his massive form. His bandana firmly in place again and hair now dry from the shower he must have come from when he walked into the common room earlier. His vest, or cut, in place over his gray t-shirt and his jeans hang even lower on his hips than the ones he wore before. His eyes follow my gaze, and then his hands are tugging up his jeans. “Need my belt.” His gruff words take me a moment to realize what he said. Belt.
“Oh. Yes. Here,” I say, going over to the side of the dresser facing the corner of the room. “I noticed there were a few hooks here, so I hung it up,” I tell him, grabbing a belt and handing it to him.
“No shit? Hooks. Never fucking knew that,” he tells me, taking the belt and looping it through his jeans. He pulls his shirt and cut up just enough for me to see a small smattering of hair that lays in between that perfectly defined V women turn to mush over. I never knew the appeal until now. His throat clears, telling me I’m busted. When I look up at his face, I know I need to change the subject, if there even was one.
“What was the meeting about?”
He’s quiet for a moment, then, “Club business, babe. If it had anything to do with your daughter, I would say,” he tells me, making my heart sink. “You got a picture of her at all? Would be nice to put a face to the person we’re looking for.”
“Yes, I do. It’s...” I look around the room. “My purse must be out in my car,” I tell him, taking my chance to leave the room, but he’s hot on my heels.
My car is right where I left it. I can’t even remember turning the thing off before I went running inside to find Gin. My purse is where I left it too. On the passenger side. Sifting through to find my wallet, I notice my phone is dead and absently wonder if I have a charger. “I have more recent pictures of her on my phone. But here is her three-year picture.”
“Three-year picture?” he asks, taking the offered photo from my hand.
“Yeah. I get one taken around her birthday each year. It’s amazing how much she changes.” He only grunts at my explanation and examines the picture further.
“Don’t see her old man at all in this. She looks like you,” he tells me, making a smile pull at the corners of my mouth.
“Thanks. I can’t wait for you to meet her,” I say before I can stop myself. “She has one heck of a personality,” I try to cover, but I can already see him withdrawing.
“What kind of phone you got? I’m sure someone in there has a charger you can borrow.” He hands the picture back to me, then walks inside, leaving me alone once again, the answer to his question on my lips.
I decide to go in search of a charger, and the first person I go to is Ari, but she isn’t there. It is only when I run into Reek that I find what I’m looking for. “You look like you’re in need of something,” he says with a carefree smile.
“Yeah. I need a phone charger.”
“You ran into the right person. I’m sure I have what you need. Follow me,” he says, rolling toward what I’m guessing is his room. The slight scent of smoke clings to him, but it isn’t tobacco like Gin. No, this is weed.
When he opens the door to his room, the smell hits me even harder. Wow. No wonder he’s so chipper. “Here, hand me the phone and I’ll get it charged for you.” He reaches out from behind his chair, and I absently hand him the phone while taking in the room. It’s dim, with a small glow of light by the bed pushed up against the wall in the far corner.
A wall of computer screens takes up the space, four hanging like TVs, but instead of sports or the hunting channel, what looks like a surveillance feed and video game light up the screens, where the other two are black. I hear a small clunk and see he has placed my phone on a metal looking tray of some kind. Instantly, my phone lights up with the battery sign.
“What is that? Some sort of universal charger or something?”
“Or something.” He shrugs. “I can drop it off when it has a full charge. If that’s okay?” he asks, and I nod, thinking nothing of it.
“Is Ari around? I stopped by her room, but she wasn’t there,” I ask before walking out the door.
“Probably went to work. She and Kimi work at the hospital in Cental. ER nurses,” he explains. “She probably won’t be back until late morning. Unless it gets busy.”
“Okay. Thank you. I’ll just be in Gin’s room.” I give him a quick smile, which he returns before going back to the computer screen with the game. He starts to speak to someone over the headset he places on his head before I walk out and shut the door.
* * *
About an hour later, Reek comes rolling into the room after a quick knock to give me my phone. He also gives me a wall-charger, so I don’t have to keep going to him. After a quick thank you, he rolls back out the door, and I slump onto the bed. I still haven’t seen Gin since he left me outside. I can’t get a handle on him. He has a very tall wall surrounding him and there’s no way of seeing over the top to find out what’s happening on the other side.
Deciding I need a distraction, I open my now fully charged phone in hopes to distract myself with a mindless game of Candy Crush and see I have several missed text messages. Each one from Roger. My heart speeds up and my hands grow clammy as I place my thumb on the message icon. One more click, and I’m in the conversation. My stomach feels sick as I read each one.
Roger: We need to talk.
Roger: It’s about Tanya.
Roger: You can get her back if you do what I ask.
Roger: Answer me back.
Roger: You are only going to make this harder on yourself and her if you don’t answer me.
Roger: Grace, please.
My thumbs fly across the pop-up keyboard of their own accord, typing out a response.
Grace: Where is she? I want her back.
It takes no time for him to respond.
Roger: You need to do what I say and you can have her.
Grace: What is it? What do you want me to do?
There is a pause in the conversation, and the longer I stare at the three dots waiting for him to answer, the more on edge I become.
Roger: I know you’re with those bikers. All I need for you to do is let some people through the back door of the clubhouse. Let them in. Then you can have her back.
Grace: How do you know where I am?
Roger: I just know. Please do this, Grace. Don’t ask questions. They will be there in three nights. Let them in, and you get her back.
He doesn’t respond after that, and I don’t know what else to say. Why would I need to let people in here? They want to hurt the club. That’s the only reason I can come up with, and I don’t think I can do it. If I do, people will die, but if I don’t, what will happen to my little girl? Will they hurt her?
Part of me wants to think her father would never hurt her, but if he’s involved with bad people, who knows what will happen to her. I can’t help but go back and forth as each scenario plays out in my mind.
My pacing is stopped when the door crack
s open, then in walks Gin. “Hey.”
“Something wrong, babe?” he asks, walking in to strip off his cut. That’s when I notice his t-shirt is damp and he smells like motor oil. The heady scent is enough to stall my thoughts for a moment.
“I...um, no. I’m...good.”
Fifteen
Gin
Something is up, but prying into a woman’s thoughts is a dangerous business, even more so for the ones who aren’t to be touched. Touched. Shit. “Need to take a shower. I’ll be out of your hair in ten,” I tell her as I sift through my dresser of neatly organized clothes to find a fresh change. I take that and go to the bathroom, but before I shut the door behind me, I decide to be a nice guy. “The club is having a barbecue tonight, if you are up for it. Ells will be there. She and your old man were tight. Might want to talk your ear off about the man,” I tell her, shutting the door before she can respond. I take in a deep breath, then get to my task of showering and getting the hell out of the room before I stay too long.
When I get done and dress, I step out of the bathroom to find Grace gone. It relieves me and annoys me at the same time. It's getting late and I can already smell the grill outside going as I walk through the clubhouse.
It’s Friday night—the night we’ve reserved for the club’s family barbecues in the warmer months. When it’s cold, we normally keep the get together inside and the women utilize the kitchen. Right now, though, is the start of spring and one of the warmest nights we’ve had in a while. The sun remains, clinging in the sky enough for the kids to keep playing on the jungle gym swing set thing Rock insisted having put up.
Vin and Ellie are sitting on the table closest to the play area snuggled together like they are trying to keep warm or something. She is placed over his lap with his big gorilla arms wrapped around her. Rock and his old lady, Buggs, are in the same position, only facing the other couple. Vin and Rock are half-brothers, but we weren’t able to get Vin to patch into the Riders. I think the man has had enough killing in his life. That, and he was content living the normal life with his wife.
I remember the first time I saw Ellie. Hot as fuck, not going to lie. I owed a favor to a friend, Finn, Jake’s twin brother.
I was on a mission with my brothers in arms before the Riders when we came under attack. I was the one left behind to die. Would have if Finn hadn’t come along.
So, when he contacted me several years after the fact asking for a favor, I agreed. That favor was to keep Ellie safe from the psychotic fuck who turned our own brothers against us. Avil. Even thinking his name makes me angry. The guy may be dead and gone, but the shit he did while he walked this earth still plagues my mind. Ellie’s too, I’m sure, being that she was his woman at one point. In fact, the little boy running around on the playground was fathered by him. “Gin, how are you?” Ellie hops off Vin’s lap before he has the chance to pull her back and wraps her arms around my neck for a hug.
“Damn it, woman,” Vin grumbles behind her, but she only lets out a chuckle.
“Where is she?” Ellie asks.
“I actually don’t know,” I admit, looking around the area to see if I can find Grace. I see nothing until one of the doors swings open and she walks out as if she knew we were talking about her. “There she is,” I say, more to myself than anything.
“She looks like him,” Ellie whispers, then she’s passing me and walking right to Grace, already on her mission to introduce herself.
“Guess I won’t be getting her back anytime soon,” Vin grumbles as he reaches into a red cooler beside him to grab a beer and hands it to me. I accept it and take a seat on one of the chairs opposite him, Rock, and Buggs.
“Buggs, why don’t you go on over and talk to the women,” Rock says, and I try not to watch as he kisses her and gives her ass a squeeze before setting her on her feet. “Got club shit to discuss.” Being with the Pres and coming from the chapter in Rhino, Montana, she knows the way things work.
“All right, Rocky.” She leans in and gives him a kiss before walking away. We all used to snicker every time she called him Rocky until he started laying out anyone who dared to do so. Since then, no one dared to laugh at the nickname. At first, I didn’t understand why he didn’t just make her quit calling him that, until I saw the way he looked at her when she did. I remember looking at Brit that way. I got it then, and never once laughed about it again.
Before Rock can start talking, Jake comes walking up to us carrying his kid, the same baby Kimi had yesterday at the shop. “You get that shit taken care of?” Rock asks with an arched brow. “Little fucker stinks,” he says, laughing at the VP who responds with a raised middle finger.
“Where’s the little woman?” I ask him.
“Workin’,” he tells me as he takes a bottle from his back pocket and plugs it into the baby. I watch Jake’s lips move to talk to the kid, but don’t hear the words. Watching him makes me remember when my kids were little. Fuck, they’ve got to be teenagers by now. Their mom took off right after I knocked up Brit. Don’t blame the woman, but she took my kids away. I had been trying to get them back until the shit hit the fan with the club, then I decided the farther they were from me, the better. If I just forgot about them, it would make things easier. Make them safer. But it seems that whenever the little rug rats are running around, I can’t seem to take my mind from the past and wonder what they’re like now.
“So, Jake found out some shit,” Rock starts, dragging my attention to the present. “Turns out the realtor is fucking one of the bastards. Put a bug on her phone, courtesy of Jake,” Rock says with a smile. “Got surveillance on her now. Next time they hook up, we’ll see which one it is. Then we can ask the fucker some questions.” Before anyone can respond, a mini Jake with longer hair comes bounding up to the VP.
“Daddy.”
“Yeah?” Jake says, waiting for him to speak.
“I need to pee,” he says, earning a silent chuckle from his dad.
“Use a tree. Just don’t let the girls see.” The kid looks at me with a scrunched up nose, then back to his dad for further instruction. Jake nods, confirming what I said, then the kid runs off to do as told. I let out a laugh.
“Great. He’s going to be marking up trees like a dog. You going to teach him to pee on the tires too?” Vin asks, directing the question at both of us. Jake holds up his finger once again, making the rest of us laugh.
“Better go save that girl from Ellie before she talks her ear off,” Vin tells me, nodding toward where Ellie is talking animatedly about something with Grace while Buggs laughs and adds more to the story. I take a second to look at Grace as she stands there with a smile on her face, drink in her hand. Those tight ass pants and the long t-shirt landing mid-thigh—damn near perfection.
Sixteen
Grace
At first, I don’t know what to think of the woman who comes walking up to me with a big smile plastered on her face. She takes me in her arms like I’m a long lost relative. Then she starts talking. “You must be Grace. I’m Ellie. I knew your dad.” Her genuine smile feels like it lights a spark inside me. Maybe that’s the effect she has on people. I listen as she starts talking about how much Tuck, my biological father, helped her through one of the worst times in her life. “He used to flirt with me to piss me off and make me want to punch him. His tactic, I guess. It worked, though. Every time he said something about my ass, I wanted to deck him. He really was quite the character. I’m so sorry you never got to meet him,” she tells me with a grave smile.
“I’m glad I’m here now. Thank you for the stories.” Another woman who reminds me of Kimi comes up to us carrying three drinks, introduces herself as Buggs, and hands me one. I take a sip and the fruit punch combined with some kind of liquor hits my tongue. “Wow, that’s good,” I exclaim, taking another big sip.
“Take it easy, girl. This stuff might not taste like it, but it will knock you on your ass when you least expect it,” Buggs says. “Just ask lightweight here.” She nods to Ellie.
“Oh, please. I had like half the pitcher that night. Not the one glass you said I did,” she scoffs, taking another sip of the fruity drink.
“You were dancing on the table. Vin about had a heart attack,” Buggs starts telling the story, but Ellie stops her.
“You dared me to get up there,” she complains, thrusting her hand out toward the table. “And I kept my top on. Unlike some people.” She laughs, making Buggs scowl.
“Yeah, Rocky did punch a couple of the guys that night,” Buggs admits.
“Well now, looky what we have here. It should be illegal for the three of you to stand together. Too much beauty in one place could throw the world off balance.” Sage’s smooth voice comes into the conversation. “You two trying to get Gracie here drunk so she can dance on the tables with ya?” he asks, getting an eye roll from Buggs.
“We aren’t trying to get anyone killed tonight. Could you imagine if Gin saw her up on the table?” Ellie says.
“What? Why would Gin care what I do?”
“He hasn’t stopped looking this way since you came out of the clubhouse,” Buggs says, making me look over to where she gestures with a flick of her eyes. Sure enough, Gin is looking this way.
I feel an arm come around my shoulder, and before I can look up to see who it is, I watch Gin rise from his chair and stomp over to where I stand, tossing his beer along the way.
“Hey, G. How’s it going tonight? You know these girls are trying to get Gracie here to dance topless on the picnic table,” Sage says, and I almost choke on my tongue.