by K E Osborn
The two policemen laugh. “We’ll take you to the station, but we can’t guarantee you’ll get to your wedding on time.”
“Oh God, I’m so sorry, Matt,” Madeline says.
“Shit! Okay, look, is there something I can do. Can I go to the wedding and then come into the station afterward?” I ask and they both laugh.
Devon reaches down grabbing my arm and pulls me up then he starts ushering me out of the IHOP.
“Let’s go.”
“Look, what if I pay you to make this go away?” I ask and instantly regret saying it.
God damn, that was stupid. What the fuck was I thinking?
He shoves me through the door with the other cop and Madeline following behind me.
“Now you’re bribing an officer of the law as well as solicitation? You’re definitely not making that wedding now, bright spark,” he states leading me to his cruiser and opening the back door.
I can’t believe how monumentally fucked up this all is. This is far, far, worse than Jaci! I thought Madeline, or Maddison, or whatever the fuck her name is, was freaking perfect, and she’s a fucking hooker?
Fuck me!
I have literally the worst luck with women.
“Wrists out,” Officer Devon demands.
“What, why?”
“So I can cuff you.”
“But you said you wouldn’t if I came quietly.”
“Yes, and you did, but now you’re both getting into the back of the cruiser. I can’t have you getting all frisky together, can I?”
“You’re kidding, right?” I blurt out, and he raises a brow at me as if to say ‘does it look like I’m kidding.’ So I simply put out my wrists for him to place the cuffs on without a fight. This is happening, I may as well accept it. He then opens the door for me to slide into the back of the cop car.
Well, it’s official, I can now call myself a fully-fledged rock star. The sensible member of Recoil has finally been arrested. Shit’s going to hit the proverbial fan when this gets out.
I slide in to see Madeline already seated in the car, hands in her lap with the cuffs on like she’s done this quite a few times before. Which according to Officer Devon she has three times this fucking month. So pretty much once a week.
Fucking hell, literally, I’m in fucking hell.
The door shuts next to me, and I glance to Madeline who’s looking into her lap, tears streaming down her face, and I can’t help but feel angry and used. I felt a connection with her, and it was all fake. Did she know who I was all along, and she was using me to further her dancing career? Was this all a game to her?
“What’s your real name?” I ask, and she turns to face me as the car takes off toward the station.
“It’s Madeline. Maddison is the fake name I give to my clients. I was only ever real with you, Matt.”
I scoff and roll my eyes. “Did you know who I was from the start?”
She shakes her head. “No, of course not. I only really realized who Recoil are last night when I Googled you.”
I huff. “So you didn’t come after me for who I am to further your dancing career?”
Tears fall down her face a little faster. “Matt, no. I swear. I was me with you. Maddison is a lie, everything about her is only so I can pay the bills and hopefully have a career in dancing. But Madeline, that’s who I am. I swear everything about me, everything I’ve told you… that’s who I really am, Matt.”
“And you think keeping something… quite this huge, wasn’t going to be a big deal for me?” I ask, and Devon chuckles in the front seat to himself.
She swallows hard and chews on her bottom lip. I used to find it sexy when she did that, now all I see is the scared little girl behind this vixen woman.
“I thought if you got to know me, the real me… once I told you, it might not be such a… big deal.”
I can’t stop the guttural laugh that erupts from my throat as it echoes through the car. Her eyes sparkle with tears, and her mouth turns down as she gives me a forlorn look.
“Did you guys work out this little act, in case you got caught? ‘Cause I’m almost believing you,” Devon calls out from the front with a chuckle.
I throw myself back into the seat and turn away from Madeline, staring out the window for the rest of the car ride to the station.
Chapter Twenty
Madeline apologized profusely on the way to the station before we were separated, and taken away for questioning. I told the officers exactly what I’d told Devon. But his statement about me trying to bribe him didn’t sit well for my case, and I was put into holding until my bail could be granted. I’m in for a long wait, and I’m currently missing my friend and bandmate’s wedding.
I’m fucking fuming as I pace the cell that has three other inmates in here with me. An old man that has a shaved head, covered in tattoos and a beard that almost reaches his navel. A man with dreadlocks who looks like he’s ready to stab me with his glare at any second, and a short, skinny guy, that looks barely old enough to be in here. He’s gotta be barely eighteen, but he certainly appears troubled. Like he has voices talking to him in his mind or something, by the way he keeps looking up and to the left. He looks a bit menacing, to be honest.
I continue to pace back and forth up against the bars, trying to figure out how the hell I’m going to get out of here. They mentioned when they frisked me, and took my cell phone and wallet, that I would get one phone call. So I’m just passing the time until I’m able to make that call.
“You that bassist from Recoil?” the dreadlocked cell mate calls out through his death stare, and I turn to him and let out a small sigh.
“Yeah.”
He stands up, his massive stature towers over me. The sheer size of the guy is daunting, he has muscles on muscles, and he’s got to be edging on nearly seven foot. He’s a freaking giant. His veins pop out on his skin so much it’s like little worms running along his flesh.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
I look around the room as the young guy twitches slightly jolting his head to the side, and the old guy yawns like we’re boring him.
“Matt, you?”
“T-Dog…” His lips curl up. “You know what your crew did to Debt Money was pretty disrespectful,” he says, and I slump my body and clench my eyes shut while rubbing my temple.
Trust me to be put into a cell with the rapper Debt Money’s goon, and have to pay for a beef that’s held more between Danger and Ryan than with me.
“Look, T-Dog, I have no beef with Debt Money. I know Recoil and he have history, but we’re cool now.”
He brings his fist up and cracks his knuckles as a scare tactic.
It works.
“You’re not cool. He’s my cousin’s, friend’s, uncle’s, nephew. And you mess with my family, you mess with me. You feel me?”
I screw my face up at how exactly that makes them family, but I’m not willing to argue with a giant. Nodding, I exhale. “I feel you, T-Dog.”
He steps closer as I take a step back. My back hits the bars, and he pushes right up against me. The kid starts giggling as he jumps on the floor and squats but starts hopping like a frog, while laughing like a mad man. And the old guy looks, yawns again, and rolls over facing the wall like he’s not getting involved in any of this. I breathe heavily as I look up at T-Dog and grit my teeth wondering how this day could possibly get any worse.
“You gonna feel all of me right now,” he says lifting his fist up as the kid laughs maniacally.
I bring my hands up in surrender and open my eyes wide. “Wait, wait, wait,” I call out just before his fist connects with my face.
He stops his attack, and the kid moans out in frustration as I breathe out in relief that he actually stopped. “What if I give you something, will you promise not to smack me up?”
He stands back and clicks his tongue to the roof of his mouth. “What could you possibly give me?”
I realize that the guards took my wallet and I’m pretty much
fucked. So I start rummaging over my body for something, anything, and he grabs at my arm stopping my movements.
“This… I want this,” he says pointing to my watch.
It’s a sixteen thousand dollar Rolex. But my bet is T-Dog knows that, and that’s why he’s gunning for it. But fuck, my bones in one piece are worth more than one fucking watch. I can buy another one. It’s not sentimental, it’s just expensive. So he can have the fucking thing.
I pull it off my wrist and go to hand it to him, but hesitate before handing it over. “You can have it if you swear to not hurt me and the other guys in here. Or the other members of my band if I ever see you in public,” I demand.
“Yeah…” He puts his hand out for me to shake, which we do, and then I hand him the watch with the other. He grabs it and then shoves my shoulder, pushing me into the bars with a grunt and he turns strutting off back to the bench.
Calm settles in the cell, and I go back to pacing while the other three sit on there and watch me. I pace for ages and my legs start to feel a little weak. I must have been here for hours. The wedding would be well and truly over by now. The reception almost over even, and Danger and Lunar would be pissed off at me, let alone what Alex is thinking.
“Rocker, will you sit down, you’re making me feel even older,” the old guy says, and I turn to face him as T-Dog and the young guy laugh.
I shrug and walk over to the bench where they’re sitting and finally take a seat with them. I pull my knees up to my chest and rest my head up against the brick wall taking a deep breath.
“Levine?” a cop calls out.
“Yeah,” I say back, staring at the cop who’s not even looking in the cell, his eyes are wandering around like he’s completely bored with his job.
“You can make your one call now.”
Finally!
***
Calling Alex seems like my only option, but as I go to say the next few words, I wonder how she’ll take the news. I wonder if she’ll hate me for this and if she’ll think less of me…
After her usual rhetoric, I get down to the issue at hand.
“Alex, you need to come to the police station and bail me out. I’ve been arrested…”
She’s quiet for a pause and takes a deep breath, snorts, and bursts out laughing. “Oh, good one, Matt, you almost had me there.”
Exhaling I let her laugh it out until she slowly stops and then pauses again. “Wait… Matt, you’re not laughing. What the hell are you playing at? Are you really at the police station?”
“Yeah, Alex, I’m really here. I need your help. I need to be bailed out. Can you get Nate and come down? I need to be bailed out.”
“Fuck! What the hell did you do?” she asks, and there’s nothing but complete seriousness in her tone.
“I didn’t really do anything. It’s more about wrong place, wrong time, type of thing.”
“Cryptic much. Matt, how much trouble are we talking here? Should I just bring Nate or Tillie, too?” she asks.
“Yeah, probably Tillie, too.”
“Shit! Matt, you’re scaring me. Are you hurt?”
I smile that she cares about my safety in all this. “Not physically. Mentally though, I’m a little worse for wear, but I’ll be okay. Can you just get down here?”
“Can you tell me what the hell you’re in for, please?”
I sigh. I didn’t want to have to say it aloud, it sounds so dirty when you say the actual words. “Soliciting a prostitute and bribing a policeman.”
The phone is quiet, and I bang my head against the side of the phone knowing that Alex must be going through a range of emotions right now.
“Umm, okay, well, I’ll get the team together and we’ll be right down. I ahh… don’t really know what to say…”
“It’s not true, Alex. It’s all a misunderstanding.”
I hear her force out a breath like she’s relieved. “Okay, we’ll be there quick smart. We’ll get this sorted, Matt. What happened to Madeline?”
I let out a terse laugh. “She’s the fucking prostitute.”
Alex chokes on thin air. “What? Wow! Okay… didn’t see that coming. We’ll fix this, Matt. I’ll be there soon. Just hang in there, okay?”
It’s so good to hear her voice. She’s like a bright spark in this shit hole of a day. “Alex?”
“Mmm…”
“How was the wedding?”
“It was beautiful... Lunar was stunning and Danger cried like a little bitch.”
I genuinely laugh. That was just what I needed to get me through until my family comes and rescues me. The guard taps his watch and I nod.
“I gotta go, I’ll see you soon?”
“I’m gonna go round everyone up and we’ll be there as soon as possible. Just hold on, okay? We will sort this mess out, Matt.”
“I know, I’ll be here.”
“See you soon, horn dog,” she teases, and I groan.
“Too soon, Alex, too soon.”
She giggles. “I know this hurts now, Matt, but you’ll laugh one day…” she hesitates, “… probably. Okay, going. Bye,” she says and hangs up before I can say anything else.
The guard looks at me and tilts his head back toward the way we came. I roll my eyes and start walking with him.
***
It’s been ages since I called Alex. I have no idea what’s taking so long. It’s got to have been at least three or so hours, and I’m starting to wonder if maybe she isn’t coming at all. T-Dog has been let out. The kid has been taken for a psych evaluation, and I’m here with the older guy, Hank, who’s a patched member of a biker club which I’ve found out from talking to him. He doesn’t affect me much, after hanging out with the Satan’s Savages back in Australia. I’m pretty good with bikers I think, so me and Hank are getting along reasonably at the moment.
“Levine,” the guard calls out, and I turn facing the bars.
“Yeah?”
“You’re free to go.”
I turn to Hank raising my brows. “Well, I hope it all works out for you, brother.” I turn and shake Hank’s hand.
“You too, Matt, you’re a good kid. Ever need a biker formation to ride with you, give us a holler. You hear me?”
“Yeah, thanks, man. Appreciate that,” I say slapping my hand with his and stand up. I glance to the guard, and he still appears bored. The gate opens slowly and I step off with him through the long hall, this time without the cuffs, and back out toward the front of the station.
I wonder who’ll be there when I walk out, and as I make my way through, I see Nate, Ria, Ryan, Tillie, and Oliver, all still in their formal attire from the wedding. I dart my head further to see Alex talking to a policeman, she’s wearing a yellow summer dress, which is not her usual style. It makes her look more innocent and sweet, even with the aqua hair. But, her hair is curled and framing her face perfectly. Her makeup is flawless, and I stand still, just staring at her. She looks… fucking beautiful. I’m amazed at how Alex can dress up in rocker chic, and then dress sweet and innocent like this and pull off both looks so perfectly. It’s like I’m seeing her in a whole new light. Shaking my head slightly as the guard pushes my back forcing me to move forward, I clear my throat, and everyone looks up.
“Here he is… the king of all idiots. I thought I wore that crown, but dude, you’re giving me a run for my money,” Ryan mocks. I roll my eyes, and Alex looks at me chewing on her bottom lip.
“Shut up, Ry. Matt are you okay?” Tillie asks, and I nod with a deep drawn out sigh.
“Yeah, just wanna go home and wallow in a vat of ice cream.”
“You sure you don’t wanna go hire a hooker and have some fun?” Ryan chuckles.
Tillie scoffs at him, smacking him upside the head, as he moves to my side and bumps my shoulder.
“So, I know I had a run-in with a prostitute, she helped me into a cab when I was drunk, but finding one online, Matt? Yeah, that takes it to new heights…” Ryan states.
“It wasn’t like that,” I
defend.
Alex steps up to me and wraps her arm in mine defensively. “He knows, he’s just teasing like the asshole he is…” She looks up at me. “But really, are you okay?” Her eyes sparkle with intensity.
I nod, grabbing her hand wrapped in mine. “I am now,” I say and lean my temple to hers.
She cuddles into my side, as Tillie signs some paperwork and Oliver shakes his head at me.
“I swear you guys never do anything by halves, do you?” He grabs a plastic bag from a policeman, and I notice it contains my cell phone and wallet.
“Gotta keep life interesting for you, right?” I ask, and he huffs and rolls his eyes.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here before they change their minds,” Oliver says.
I furrow my brows. Change their minds. What does that mean?
We walk outside toward the waiting car. They were smart enough to bring a limo so we can all fit inside and that’s when I notice Scott and Dwayne in the front.
“Hey guys, I just wanna thank you all for coming,” I say, and everyone nods as Ryan chuckles.
Tillie glares at Ryan.
“That’s what she said,” Ryan calls out and Tillie groans. “Oh c’mon, I had to.”
“I’m so sorry, Matt. My fiancé is a douche,” Tillie defends, and I chuckle as Alex slides in next to me.
“No, it’s fine. I can see the funny side, I just had absolutely no idea. Speaking of no idea, what’s happening? Do I have to go to court, or what?” I ask, and Tillie shakes her head.
“No, thanks to quick thinking from Alex, I persuaded the sergeant to drop all charges.”
My eyes bulge out of my head and I gasp. “What? How?”
Oliver opens the plastic bag and throws me my cell and wallet as Tillie smiles and Alex cuddles into my side further. “We told them to check your cell because on there would be the proof that you were talking to Madeline… Maddison… whatever her name is, and you had absolutely no idea that she was a prostitute. That you were taking her out on a date, and you weren’t hiring her for her services.”
I scoff. “Why didn’t I think of that? But wait, what about the bribery thing?”