by Vera Quinn
“What?” I lift my eyebrow in question. “Tara and the two are friends. They live in one of our apartments at the complex.” That has my attention. Not only our employee, but at our apartment complex and then the message.
“I see you finally put the pieces together,” Devil says with an edge to his voice. “ Are Oz and Tito doing their magic on it? They’ll find the link if there is one to find.” Our tech guys are good at what they do. “Are we putting the families on lockdown?” I know Devil is worried about Callie and his children. Devil looks like he is trying to think it out.
“Not right now. I am putting extra men on Callie and the children. Felix and Hanna are staying close too. Sarah doesn’t want protection. I’ve told Slick to keep an extra eye on Gertie or bring her to the clubhouse and the same thing with Tara. We’ve got eyes on all our businesses but we can’t be everywhere at one time. The security cameras are being monitored twenty-four seven from today on, but we are going to need to do this in shifts if we can’t find the answers soon,” Devil tells us.
“Do you think Douglas had anything to do with this?” Rome asks. “We have had him under surveillance and there has been nothing going on with THC Hempcan since Durfee was taken out. Just regular business shit. They haven’t even been stirring shit up in Colorado. By everything we have found, they are going legit or close to it.” I doubt that. They have just learned to hide their shit better. I know Devil doesn’t believe it either.
“You don’t believe that any more than we do but until we get more information
there is not much we can do but wait.” Devil is shaking his head yes. “You’re right but we need to be vigilant in security. We just clean ed our club up and we are building a good reputation in our town. We don’t want to fuck that up and we need to keep our family safe and that includes our employees. As many businesses as we have acquired, if we can’t keep our employees then we can’t operate and that limits our income. We have too many positions to fill them all with members of the Feral Steel,” Rome adds to the conversation and he is right.
“We are closing everything up for rest of the day. The bar and strip club will be open tonight but I want escorts for the women when they get off work. I want to make sure they get to their vehicles safe. I want church after lunch tomorrow, late afternoon. We should have an update from our man in the PD by then. Hacksaw, I want you available in case I need you. I’ll get Bo to help train Joy so she can be here at the gym.” Devil hasn’t talked to Joy since she left. I figured the way she hightailed it out of here she would have called Callie. I smile at the thought of the sassy woman.
“I’m not sure she is a good fit for the gym. I was thinking we may need to let her take a place at the clubhouse.” Devil and Rome both stare at me. “Why the hell would you think that? She came to us as a favor to Chief and he said she was looking for legitimate work.” Devil has a scowl on his face while Rome has absolutely no emotion on his face.
“She spread her legs for the BlackPath clubhouse, I just figured she would be more comfortable doing the same here. She has a few more years left in her. I’d tap that ass.” I hear someone come in the door and then the door slam.
“Says the biggest man-whore known to man.” Callie is standing there with Tara beside her and neither look happy. Well shit, not my problem.
“Did you just cuss, Callie? I thought you were a good girl and didn’t do things like that.” Callie’s face goes from unhappy to pissed off in a flash.
“Oh shit,” I hear Devil say under his breath. Rome is smiling. Tara goes to Rome and sits in his lap. Callie comes closer to me but stops at the edge of the desk. “I try to refrain from talking like a biker just because I am married to one and I was raised by one. I have children you know.” Callie never smiles she just stares me down. I scare most grown men but Callie doesn’t find me intimidating at all. “Hacksaw, for your information, even though it is none of your business, Joy has not been spreading anything for anyone for three years. She’s the woman that became a surrogate for my uncle Driller and aunt Laurie. She’s had two children in the last three years.” Callie acts like this is something that should change my mind. Now I just know I would never fuck the woman that had me tied in knots this morning.
“Joy just gave two kids up for someone else to raise. What kind of woman g ives up her own kids?” I don’t even think I could talk to this woman again let alone work with her, after the memories of my childhood flash in my head. I try not to ever let the memories come back but a woman abandoning her children brings it all back. The many foster homes I was placed in - some good, some bad - but I never belonged. It pisses me off thinking about it.
“They weren’t her children, Hacksaw. She was a gestational surrogate.” Callie sees the lost look on my face. I know what a surrogate is but the other word has me lost. “Driller’s sperm and Laurie’s egg fertilized and Joy carried it for them. She was an incubator for nine months and then she did it again six months later. It takes someone with a huge heart and a giving nature to do what Joy did. Laurie could get pregnant, but she always miscarried, but she wanted a child so bad. After her last miscarriage she had to have a partial hysterectomy. Joy is my stepmom, Em’s, sister and she was there during the last miscarriage and Laurie and Joy became friends so Joy volunteered. After Adeline was born, Laurie wanted her to have a sibling so Laurie and Driller approached Joy again and she agreed. Now Joy is having problems separating from Adeline and Lucas. She has been through therapy and that is why she relocated. Joy will forever be my family and we help family. Before Joy ever became a surrogate, she had given up being a club girl and had started taking care of the bar and the club girls at the BlackPath MC clubhouse. Anyway, who are we to judge Joy?” What Callie has said cools my temper even if I don’t understand the gist of it all. I may have misjudged Joy. I don’t think before I say the next words.
“Callie, you are the one who has problems with club girls, not me. It seems to me you would want to keep Joy away from Devil with all the trouble you have had with club girls in the past.” I know I have gone too far when Devil glares at me. Devil doesn’t like to think about all the club girls that have caused trouble between him and Callie. Things have settled down since the last incident. Callie isn’t one to miss a beat when it comes to giving my shit back to me.
“Hacksaw, Joy has never been a patch whore. She chose to be a club girl but she has never wanted anyone’s patch on her back. Is that what is bothering you? Did she not fall for your manwhore ways?” Callie is not being bitchy in the way she is saying any of this to me. It’s not her style. She genuinely likes Joy and considers her family. I can respect that. Since Callie has been Devil’s ol’ lady she has earned all the brothers’ respect including mine, so I don’t call her for talking out of turn. Callie knows women, even ol’ ladies, have no place in club business and us giving Joy a job is club business.
“Callie, if I wanted Joy in my bed, up against a wall, or in the middle of this gym in front of everyone, I would take her and she would love every damn second of it but you can’t make an upstanding citizen out of a whore. If Joy belongs in the clubhouse spreading her legs for the brothers then that is where she needs to be. The club does not have time to be training people for jobs that they have no business doing.” Tara takes in a breath and lets it out. Everyone looks at her.
“That is the most judgmental thing I have ever heard. Everyone deserves a fresh start when they want it,” Tara says barely where everyone can hear it. “I agree,” Callie says.
“It’s a good thing neither of you are the brothers who will be voting on shit.” I try to soften it as I say it but there really isn’t a way to achieve it. “You want a vote on who we hire for the gym? We all agreed that once Oz clears the applicant’s background and they have a drug test the one interviewing decides. I would hire Joy for here or the apartments, either one. When I have been around her she has been nothing but nice and she is easy to talk to. She doesn’t dress provocatively and she carries herself like a
capable employee,” Rome challenges me. I look straight at him and give him my opinion.
“Joy may be exactly what she seems to be but it se ems strange to me that she shows up in town for a job and the woman we have teaching classes here at the gym is attacked. Coincidence, maybe. I don’t believe in coincidence until I view it from all angles. Callie said Joy was in counseling and was having troubles adjusting with the separation from the children she had. Joy lives at the apartment complex where Becky lived. I just think it deserves some considering. No stone left unturned to protect our family.” I don’t like unanswered questions. Callie is glaring at me but she hasn’t said anything else.
“Enough!” Devil yells. I know he is trying to diffuse the argument that Callie and I are headed toward. “Hacksaw, bring up your thoughts in church tomorrow. I’m taking my woman home. Shut the gym up and leave a note on the front door that we are closing for a few days due to a death in the family. Bring all the contacts for the members to the clubhouse and we will send out an email to give notice.” The way Callie is glaring at Devil, I know I just dumped a load of shit for him to deal with at home but it is my job to protect our family and that is what I will do no matter who likes it.
I have been sitting out here on my little patio enjoying my coffee. It is still dark outside and this is my favorite part of the day. The quiet helps me get my thoughts straight for the day. I thought I would be starting a new job today but Callie texted me last night and let me know that the gym is closed for a few days but Tara is going to contact me later today about some work here at the apartment complex. I don’t care where I work just so I have money coming in to pay my bills and something to occupy my mind. The last couple of days I have had to fight myself from calling Laurie or Driller just to check on how things are going with Adeline and Lucas. I have been close to giving in to temptation but I am determined. The fight is an on-going battle. I can do this. I am determined. I just wish I wasn’t so lonely. My mind goes back to my run-in with Hacksaw yesterday and my blood still boils from it. The man is beyond infuriating. He has the self-confidence and stubbornness of an alpha biker. I think all bikers have that arrogance about them. Some just hide it better, and I can’t believe I used to find it sexy. I know Devil and Chief are nice enough men but piss them off and the alpha part of them shows itself. Hacksaw is just his own special type of asshole. I could have strangled him with my bare hands. I knew Hacksaw was nothing but trouble as soon as I laid eyes on him. I don’t know why we haven’t met before. The Feral Steel came to Texas many times while I was at the BlackPath MC clubhouse. I guess I just never had the misfortune of being in the same room as the asshole. My first thoughts yesterday were just to forget the offer of a job from Callie and Devil, but I would not give Hacksaw the satisfaction of knowing he had stopped me from doing exactly what I came here to do, start over. Hacksaw made it very clear that the only thing he thought I was good for was spreading my legs. I will not be revisiting that part of my past and I will not let a man who probably has stuck his dick in hundreds of women make me feel insecure about exactly who I am now.
I do have to admit that Hacksaw is one sexy ass biker. He personifies sex on a stick. I could see myself getting lost in all the heat Hacksaw puts out. Hacksaw is tall, probably close to six-foot five or maybe a little taller. His chest is broad and there is something about a broad chest that makes me weak in the knees. I noticed the hint of hair sticking out of his t-shirt around the collar, not that I was looking that close, but it was there. Who wouldn’t see it? Some women prefer a slick chest or just barely-there hair but a hairy chest for me to rub my face on is a weakness that I have never been able to resist. Then, his muscles on his arms have muscles. He must work out hours a day to get his arms and his long muscular legs that big. Damn, his jeans looked like they were poured on him. The jeans he had on looked special fit. The waist hung down low and a little loose but not enough to hang, snug around the ass, and what an ass he has, and then the clinging on the legs. Damn, why does he have to be so infuriating, because that kills it all. I slap myself upside the head. What the hell am I doing? I do not need to get lost in any man, let alone a damn biker. I need to concentrate on me. I just need to buy me a new vibrator with a lot of batteries. Yep, that goes on top of my to do list. I walk back into the apartment and go straight to my refrigerator and add batteries and a question mark beside it. No need to advertise if someone happens to see my grocery list. I laugh at that thought. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have cared or even thought about something so trivial. Times are a changing. I am brought out of my thoughts by a tapping on my front door. I look at the clock on the wall and it isn’t even six o’clock yet. Who would be knocking at my door? Then my mind goes to a bad thought. Maybe Callie came to give me some bad news about something from home. I rush to the door and jerk it open without even looking to see who it is. I know it is stupid but my mind can’t think of anything good this early in the morning but nothing could have prepared me for what is waiting on the other side of the door. The woman looks destroyed.
“Can I come in for just a few minutes?” Lisa, one of my neighbors , is standing there and it looks like she has been crying for hours. Her hair is a mess and the clothes she has on are rumpled like she has slept in them. I have never seen Lisa look this way. Lisa and Becky live in one of the apartments in my complex. Our complex is a total of eight buildings and each building has four apartments in it. I live in the front building and there are only three apartments and the office located in it. Tara and Rome live in one of the apartments and then an older lady, Mrs. Billings, lives in the other one. I lucked out because each apartment building shares a laundry room. We have less people to share it with and Tara explained we hardly ever have a wait. Becky and Lisa live in a building at the back of the complex. I don’t see them every day but I run into them occasionally. They are the cutest couple and I thought Lisa had been working out of the country for the next few days. Lisa is a photographer for a magazine with its offices in Oklahoma and she loves her work. Becky works at the gym and I thought maybe with one of my neighbors and new friends working there, it would make my transition easier. It’s true, I don’t know the two ladies very well, but we have always had pleasant conversations and Becky and I have shared coffee more than once. She and I are both early risers and we both have a love of strong black coffee to wake us up. Becky explained to me that coffee is her one guilty pleasure. She doesn’t like putting caffeine in her body or anything unhealthy. Our balconies are small, barely big enough for a couple of chairs and a small grill but we have both enjoyed our coffee there. Maybe they just had a misunderstanding and Lisa needs some space and someone objective to talk to.
“Sure, come in hon. Is everything alright?” Lisa walks in and I see the tears are still running down her face. “No, nothing is ever going to be okay again. Becky was killed in o ur apartment the night before last.” I knew the cops had been around the apartments yesterday, but I thought maybe there was a break-in or something. How anything could happen in these apartments is beyond me, they are owned by the Feral Steel club. Who the hell would mess with them? Tara hadn’t been around and the office was closed so I had no one to ask.
“Can I call someone for you or get you some coffee? What can I do to help?” I know I am rattling but I am shocked. I take a breath to collect myself. I step up to Lisa and pull her into a hug and then I step back to look at her. “Come sit down. Can I get you anything?” We make our way to the sofa and I sit down. Lisa sits beside me and rubs her eyes dry but the tears are still coming. I don’t know what to do in this kind of situation. I’m not the touchy-feely type of woman. That has always been Em’s department. I am the one who goes in like a bull in a china store so to say I am uncomfortable is an understatement but I can’t imagine the pain that Lisa is going through. I want to ask her a bunch of questions but I am not sure that Lisa can take them right now.
“I don’t drink coffee, that was Becky’s thing.” Lisa starts crying harder. She is on the v
erge of hysteria. I am so out of my element here. I do the only thing I know to do. I go in the kitchen and get a bottle of water from the refrigerator and go to the cabinet and pick my phone up and send Tara a text so maybe she’ll know what to do. Tara is only across the hall but I don’t know if she’ll be awake yet. I walk back into the living room and sit beside Lisa. I loosen the lid on the water and hand it to her.
“Hon, drink some of this.” She does as I tell her , “I don’t want to pry because I can’t even begin to understand the hell you are going through so just tell me what you can or don’t say anything and we’ll just sit here together. Whatever you need. I didn’t know anything had happened. I noticed cops around yesterday but I just thought it was a break-in or something.” I watch Lisa as she looks like she is thinking to herself. When she speaks I can barely hear her voice and it sounds raw like she had been crying for hours, of course she has.
“The police department contacted my office. I was Becky’s in case of emergency contact and my office contacted me on site. My boss had me on a flight within two hours.” Lisa stops for a minute and then she puts her face in her hands and cries louder. I move over next to her and pull her close to me and hug her and she breaks my heart when she starts talking. “How can I call it home? Becky was my home.” Lisa looks at me. “Do you know that Becky and I were each other’s first love? I knew for a long time that I was not attracted to boys but Becky just thought she was going through an awkward time. We were in high school and had been friendly for years but we were never close. Then our freshman year of high school we had the same Biology class. We hated it but we became lab partners. I knew Becky was special to me from the get go. I just had an attraction to her. I had already come out to my parents the summer before. My dad is a doctor and my mom a nurse and they handled the news very well but no one else knew my secret. It was new to me when I realized it so I wasn’t sharing and the attraction I had for Becky was new to me. Becky and I became best friends. We shared almost everything. I had to listen to her talk about the cute guys in school. My Becky loved to talk.” Lisa stops but then goes on. I just listen and I hope it helps her to relive some good memories. “The whole first year of high school I fought my attraction to Becky. I didn’t want to lose my friend. When we started tenth grade we had a lot of classes together. We were best friends and when she was asked out by the captain of the basketball team and she accepted I tried not to let it bother me. I was there to support my best friend. Becky wanted me to find a guy so we could double date and of course I came up with every excuse and tried not to hurt her feelings. I wouldn’t date a guy and give them the idea I was interested when I most certainly wasn’t. After Becky’s first date she went on many dates. She was a social person and she still tried to get me to date. She even got some guys to ask me out. I finally broke down and confided in my friend that I wasn’t attracted to guys and I was hoping Becky would still be my friend anyway. Becky never even thought about it. She hugged me and asked me why I hadn’t just told her so she wouldn’t have been harping about guys to me. From that day forward there was nothing we didn’t share. The summer between tenth and eleventh grade everything changed for us.” I see the smile on Lisa’s face. I know she is lost in her memories and for now that is alright. “We snuck out and went to a bonfire. We were some of the youngest ones there and there was alcohol. We both got more than a little tipsy and snuck back into my room. Becky wanted me to explain what it felt like to be kissed by a girl. I kissed her and it took my breath away. The second time, she kissed me.” Lisa quits talking. I see her fingers are touching her lips like she is feeling the kiss. I don’t know if this is good or not. I speak to her softly.