Texas (San Francisco Steel, #8)

by KJ Dahlen

  Ivy took her by the elbow and led her to the bathroom. She watched as the girl turned the water on with shaky fingers and washed her hands of the dried blood on them. “So what’s your name?” Ivy finally asked her.

  “Poppy.”

  “Just Poppy?” Ivy asked as she titled her head and stared at her.

  “Just Poppy. It works for me.” Poppy shrugged. She glanced quickly at Ivy then away again. “And you are?”

  “I’m Ivy. I’m with the big bossy guy who likes to hit walls. His name is Slammer. He’s the president of this club.”

  “Oh ok.” Poppy shrank into herself a little. “Is he a nice guy?” she whispered.

  Ivy hesitated then nodded. “Yeah, he’s a nice guy but this guy Venom? He’s not and he has all the guys here a little crazy at the moment.” She paused then asked, “Who are you? And why do you seem so familiar to me? I mean just looking at you I feel like I know you. But that isn’t possible is it?”

  “No that isn’t possible. I’ve never been here before,” Poppy admitted. “In fact, I’ve only been in the city for about six months.”

  Ivy looked at her clothing and spotted the logo. “So what is Poppy’s Shoppe?”

  “It’s a candy store just down the road.”

  Her eyes lit up as Ivy asked, “You make your own candy? Awesome.” She paused then asked, “Is it any good?”

  “My customers seem to think so.”

  “I’ll have to check it out then.” Ivy nodded.

  Poppy looked down at her hands then back up to the mirror. “So what’s going on here? Why is the big guy so pissed?”

  “We’re going through something right now and its grating on everyone’s nervous,” Ivy briefly explained.

  “I’m sorry?” Poppy’s tone asked a question more than stated.

  “Well, I think by being shot in front of the gates here that you just became part of the situation, so don’t be too sorry.” Ivy assured her.

  “Yeah well, I’m not so sure the big guy likes that any more than I do.” Poppy shrugged.

  “You don’t know him very well. He’s a stubborn one.” Ivy shook her head. “He’ll get things sorted out. He always does. He is a good man. This is one thing I have learned.”

  Chapter Two

  Shotgun walked down the hall and paused in front of the door of the room they used as church. He hesitated going inside but that had nothing to do with Venom, instead had to do with Slammer himself.

  In the fifteen years, he’d know Slammer he’d never seen him this pissed off before. Shotgun wanted to know what was up with him. He pushed open the door and paused as he studied the other man.

  Slammer sat in his usual place at the long table. He had a bottle of Black Velvet in front of him along with a glass that was half full. He was wearing a broody look on his face as he stared at the glass in front of him.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Shotgun asked him quietly as he closed the door and leaned against it.

  “Thinking,” his Prez told him with a growl. He picked up his glass and repeated, “Thinking and drinking.”

  “What are you thinking about that you got to drink to do it?”

  “Did you ever know my old man?” Slammer asked.

  Shotgun glared at him. “No, I never got to meet the man, why?”

  Slammer snorted. “They called him Boss. Christopher Benjamin Hagen. He was the President of the Sin’s Wraths over in Oakland for a number of years, until he got sloppy over a woman. Her name was Angel. When my mom betrayed him with another man, he threw her out of the club but kept me. I think I was nine when that happened but then I was twelve, he met Angel. He shrugged. “If he had been a regular kind of guy she would have been perfect for him. But Boss Hagen was never a regular kind of guy. He was a biker and proud of it. Angel was a decent girl and her only mistake was that she loved him. What she didn’t love was the club. Oh, don’t get me wrong she would never make him chose between it and her, she just left him in middle of the night. I saw her go. They were celebrating a profitable deal going their way and he was being an ass. He had two women under his arms while kissing and grabbing them, ignoring her completely. Everyone there knew those two women would share his bed that night. Hell, I was only twelve and I knew it. It broke her heart to leave him behind but she couldn’t take that lifestyle anymore. She once told me she could live with the drinking, the women being around, and the drugs. What she couldn’t live with was sharing her man with other women. She just couldn’t do it. And my dad was never a one-woman man, the bastard.” Shaking his head in disgust, he told Shotgun, “It took the old bastard three days to notice she wasn’t there anymore.”

  Shotgun lifted a brow. He knew many men like that in his MC life, unfortunately.

  Slammer grabbed his drink and swallowed it. Pouring another, he looked over at Shotgun. “Do you know what my dad did? He let her go. For the next five years, he slept with anyone he wanted and some he didn’t, just to get over her. For the five years she was gone, he didn’t love anyone, not even himself. He began fucking things up for the club too. He was either drunk or getting drunk and fucking up the deals, they had going on. I left that club when I was seventeen. Just afterwards, I heard through some friends that he’d found her again.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t around him so I don’t know what happened but I heard he was back to his old self for almost a year. He quit drinking cold turkey and straightened up his act. The MC was back on track and for that little while, he never left her side.”

  “Then what happened?” Shotgun asked. Up until now, Slammer had never talked about his dad before and he was curious about what happened so long ago.

  Slammer’s fingers gripped the glass in his hand tightly. His scowl deepened and Shotgun noted a rage in the other man’s eyes. “That’s just it. Nobody knows for sure what happened to them. The cops called the club and told them there had been an accident. When the VP and my dad’s best friend Caliber got there to identify the bodies, they were told Dad and Angel had been shot. They had each taken a shotgun blast. They were parked on a wayside and there was a brand new diamond ring found on Angel’s hand. They never found a clue as to who the shooter was, so their case is cold now but murder is murder and there is no timeline for that.”

  Shotgun waited and thought about what he had said for a moment. Then he asked, “What brought all this up, especially now?”

  “A pair of green eyes,” Slammer informed him. “My father’s eyes and mine.”

  “What are you talking about?” Shotgun frowned as he furrowed his brows in confusion.

  “She has my father’s eyes,” Slammer whispered. “How can she have his eyes?”

  “Who has his eyes?” Shotgun shook his head, entirely lost.

  “The woman who claims to be nobody.” Slammer growled and gulped the last of his drink.

  Ivy and Poppy joined the others and everyone had questions.

  Texas sat in the corner and from behind his laptop while he watched her return. When he’d come in earlier to tell Slammer about the Venom being back, he hadn’t seen her clearly. He noted her red and white stripped top and her nametag over her large breasts. Poppy. She was a smallish woman, meaning she was short and compact but she wasn’t a slim woman. Not that he minded. He liked a woman with some meat on her bones but this one was just right for him.

  Her hair was long and blonde but not the usual blonde. She carried the many hues of blonde all swirled together, from white blonde to dark honey blonde. Her hair was caught up in a braid that had been loosened by the passing day and some of her hair was now wet from being bathed from her wound.

  He frowned when he saw the dried blood that hadn’t been washed away. His eyes traveled around the room. Everyone was watching her and he could see that she was uncomfortable about it. Texas then did what he was good at, he began typing on his computer and brought up information on Poppy’s Shoppe. It never hurt to have the information on hand for Slammer. He would ask... he always did.

  Her name was P
oppy Snow. She was twenty four years old and was renting her shop. She made and sold candy. Her shop was online but that was it. She had no personal social media at all. Texas frowned. This was all the information he could find. He began to dig for more information but everywhere he turned, he found nothing.

  He quickly looked up at her and frowned. Who was this woman? Everyone was someone but she claimed to be nobody and it seemed she was right. Who was the real Poppy Snow? More importantly, why couldn’t he find any information about her? It just didn’t set right with him, he could find stuff on criminals even. More than these few scraps. Why would a seemingly normal sweet looking girl have no past?

  Poppy was sitting at a table with a couple of the other women when one of them brought out some cups and a pot of coffee. Setting it down on the table she smiled at Poppy.

  Poppy smiled back.

  “I’m Audrey,” she said, as her smile was genuinely warm.

  “I’m Poppy.”

  “I know.” Audrey nodded. “I’ve always wanted to stop at your place. The smells as you walk past makes a person get a craving for sweets.”

  “You should have stopped in and sampled some of my chocolate.” Poppy smiled shyly.

  “So I’ve heard.” Audrey chuckled. “The comments as your customers come out are always one hundred percent good.” She looked at the other women. “Her shop is at the edge of the shopping center just down the road from here.”

  “I find that very interesting,” came a voice from the hallway.

  Slammer and Shotgun joined them.

  Shotgun came over to stand behind his woman, River and Slammer came to stand behind Ivy.

  Everyone else got up and went to the other tables in the club.

  Texas sat off to one side.

  “What do you find interesting?” Poppy finally asked.

  Slammer looked over at Texas and nodded.

  Texas cleared his throat and began to speak, “Name’s Poppy Snow, age, twenty four, business Poppy’s Shoppe. She sells chocolates and other candy. She’s been here in town about six months and rents her shop.”

  Slammer frowned and stared at the other man. “Is that all?”

  Texas nodded. “No other social media, personal or business.”

  Slammer turned his head to glare at Poppy. “So who is Poppy Snow?”

  Poppy looked back at him. “I’m just a woman who makes candy.”

  “What are you hiding from, Poppy Snow?” He growled.

  “I’m just me, nobody special.” She tried to tell him. “I don’t have a family so I’m on my own, just trying to make a living.”

  Just then, before he could ask any more questions the silence was shattered by the sound of shots being fired.

  Poppy dropped down and crawled under the table while everyone else ran for cover.

  The lights went dim as the men rushed for their weapons and ran for the windows.

  They heard men screaming as more shots were fired.

  Texas cued up the cameras outside and saw what happened. He looked up at Slammer. “They took out three and one man is down but still alive.”

  Tension grew as time passed and then they heard heavy footsteps running down the steps from the roof.

  “And the fifth man?” Slammer asked.

  “Gone,” Texas informed him.

  When Mammoth and Carson burst into the room, Mammoth was smiling. “We got that motherfucker.”

  “We need him alive.” Slammer snarled.

  “Well, he’s alive for now. For how long is anyone’s guess but he’s still alive at the moment,” Carson told them.

  “Let’s go find out for sure.” Shotgun suggested.

  Each of them grabbed a weapon and went out the front door. Mammoth went with them to show them where Venom had gone down but a couple of the brothers along with Carson and Grinder stayed behind to protect the women.

  Chapter Three

  Poppy shivered in the aftermath of the shooting and stayed under the table. Her arms were wrapped around her tightly drawn up legs. She was sweating in pain and trying hard not to whimper.

  Then someone joined her under the table. It was Ivy. She didn’t say anything just sat there for a moment.

  Then another body joined them. Audrey.

  Finally, a third woman joined their group. “Hi I’m Zoe.”

  Poppy nodded and began to relax.

  “I’m sorry,” Poppy whispered. “The sound of a gun scares me really bad. I don’t know why but it does.”

  “Well, gunfire usually means someone is dead and that’s enough to scare anyone,” Zoe assured her. “I lived on the streets for a while and it always scared me too.”

  Ivy watched as Poppy began rubbing her upper arm during the exchange. Her eyes were glazing over, as she appeared to be lost in a painful memory. Ivy reached out and put her hand over Poppy’s. Her skin had been rubbed raw over the area where she had a very old scar.

  Ivy looked carefully at the scar and it appeared to be a series of very small wounds, almost like the peppering of a buckshot wound. She looked up at the other woman and asked, “How did you get this?”

  Poppy shook her head and tried to move away but the girls wouldn’t allow her to move. Finally, Poppy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and told them, “I don’t know how I got it. It’s been there for a long time now. Ever since I can remember anyway, it’s always been there.”

  “Come on, let’s get out from underneath this table,” Ivy suggested. “I hope the guys will come back with good news. Hopefully Venom won’t bother us no more.”

  “Who is this Venom person?” Poppy asked. She brushed the dirt for her butt and straightened her clothing.

  “He’s a snake in the grass and a royal pain in the ass,” another one of the women told her.

  Poppy stared at her.

  The woman chuckled. “Oh, I’m River by the way.”

  Zoe took up the explanation, “Venom and his son came here looking for treasure buried over a hundred years ago by a pirate who lived here.”

  Poppy shook her head. “And was the treasure even real?”

  “Oh yeah, the treasure was very real.” Ivy nodded. “But the treasure wasn’t his to find.”

  “It isn’t ours to keep either,” River added. “We already gave part of the treasure away to the rightful owner.”

  Poppy wondered who but didn’t dare ask.

  Just then, the front door was thrown open and the men came back in dragging an older man along with them.

  The older man was dirty and unkempt and he looked to be more than a little on the crazy side. “Take your fucking fifthly hands off me!” He snarled. “I need medical attention, you fuckers.”

  Slammer whirled on him and grabbed her dirty shirt. “Shut your fucking mouth, you pissant. This is our compound, not yours. This is our home, not yours.”

  “You don’t have any right to this place, you murderer,” the old man shouted back. “You killed my son!”

  “Only because he tried to kill us first, you old bastard.” Shotgun growled.

  Slammer motioned his head to a couple of men. “Put him in a cell while I call the Triad. Tommy will be happy to hear we finally got the fucker.”

  Venom began struggling with the brothers to get free. “What are you going to call him for?”

  Slammer walked over to where Venom stood and grabbed his shirt again. “Tommy insisted we keep you alive if we found you first. Something about his holy man needing justice or some shit. I think he plans to do to you what you did to his holy man.”

  Venom’s eyes widened. “Fuck that. He ain’t cutting my head off!”

  Slammer smiled. “Oh, I think that’s exactly what he wants to do. You know, an eye for an eye right and all that.”

  Venom began fighting hard to get away but Slammer’s men held him as they dragged his ass down the hall to the basement stairway.

  Slammer turned around and viewed the small gathering of women standing at one of the tables. His eyes were drawn to Iv
y but he moved his gaze to view Poppy. He couldn’t help it. She looked so familiar to him, yet he knew they had never met before. “If there are no more attacks tonight, you can go home in the morning. But for now, you’ll bunk down here,” he told her in no uncertain terms.

  “But I can’t stay,” she objected. “I get up at three a.m. and begin making candy. I open the shop at eight.”

  “You can’t leave until I say so, so get used to it. It’s only one night, surely your life is worth one fucking night.” Without giving her any time to answer, he turned and stomped down the hall leaving his men and their women in shock with his attitude.

  Poppy just stared at his retreating back. Tears were rolling slowly down her cheeks at the harshness of his voice. She knew that tone, she heard it every day she was growing up. She learned then to ignore the hurt it brought and thought she’d gotten away from it when she left home six years ago.

  But there it was again. Only difference was she didn’t have to stick around this time. This time, she could disappear whenever she wanted. And she would be gone as soon as they weren’t looking.

  Ten minutes later, Poppy found her way to the kitchen where the girls were preparing supper. The mood in the kitchen was happy and she just sat there watching everything unfold.

  Ivy was laughing at something River said when she caught sight of Poppy. “Oh Poppy, I hope you don’t mind spending the night here. Slammer just wants us all to be safe.”

  Poppy shrugged. “If the danger is gone, I should be safe enough to go home.”

  Ivy shrugged. “He just wants to be sure. That’s all. Can’t you stay for one night?”

  Poppy shook her head. “I just want to go home. I’m nothing here and no one knows me, so why can’t I just go home?”

  “Because I said so but if you need more of a reason than that, I can give you one.” Slammer growled from behind her.

  Poppy twirled around and gasped as she looked at the angry man behind her.

  “You took a bullet today. We don’t know why or who shot you.” He crossed his large arms over his wide chest as he explained, “Venom may have more men out there that we don’t know about. If he even thinks you have a connection to this club, you could be putting not only your life at risk but everyone who lives here at risk as well.” He narrowed his eyes. “Right now, we have Venom and his men will do anything and everything to get him free. And don’t think it’s their loyalty motivating them, its not. It’s the greed, getting as cut of this gold they’re chasing. For that alone, they will help him escape. We don’t know how many men he has left out there. But you can bet your life they won’t stop. You are staying put tonight. Or maybe longer, depending on how long it takes me to get the answers I need.”