Needle

by Jade Kuzma

  He smirked when he noticed me examining his physique.

  “You know, it’s easy work,” he said. “But it will take awhile. You don’t have to stick around. I’m sure you have better shit to do than wait for your car.”

  “Actually, I don’t,” I said, giggling softly to myself.

  “Nothing? You don’t have anything to do?”

  “No,” I said as I shook my head. “Why? You trying to get rid of me?”

  “Not at all. I figure a girl like you has something going on though.”

  “A girl like me? Tell me, Blake… What exactly is a girl like me?”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. Even though we’d gone all the way, there was still so much about him I had to figure out.

  He put his hands on his slim waist and chuckled softly to himself. His smile was as confident as always.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Not like the other women in Ivory, I suppose. That’s what I meant.”

  “I see.”

  He moved down to his back and went underneath my car to work. The sound of tools was loud but not enough to drown out his questions.

  “So,” he started. “Ivory, born and raised. You been here all your life?”

  “Not all my life. I left when I was 17 to go to school.”

  “School, huh? How’d that work out for you?”

  “Pretty good. Graduated. Got a good job. Traveled the world. A lifetime of experiences in only eight years.”

  “And now you’re back here.”

  “Now I’m back here.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” I said, slightly confused by his curious tone.

  “Why the hell would you want to come back to Ivory?”

  I listened to the sound of him laughing underneath my car and couldn’t help but laugh right along with him.

  “Is Ivory that bad?” I asked. “Eight years and it’s gone to hell, huh?”

  “You were born here. You should know that better than anybody.”

  “I do. Ivory is my home though. Who knows, maybe I’ll go back out there. Everything is all up in the air. It’s my first day back. Nothing is set in stone.”

  “First day back, huh? And were you planning on sleeping with the first guy who hit on you?”

  I couldn’t see him but I knew he was grinning. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at his blunt question.

  “No, I wasn’t planning on it. But my car broke down and the mechanic I met said I had to suck his dick for him to fix it.”

  “The mechanic never said anything about sucking dick. You did that all on your own.”

  He was so candid about our time last night that it took me a few moments to realize what he’d said. I couldn’t respond to him. All I could do was shake my head again and sigh.

  Blake seemed patient as he stayed underneath my car without complaining. I figured the least I could do was keep him company. And I was curious just the same.

  “How about you?” I asked. “You’ve been in Ivory all your life?”

  “It’s a boring existence. Not all of us are smart enough to go to a university and get real jobs.”

  “But you do have a job, don’t you? Are you a mechanic?”

  “No, not a mechanic. A buddy of the club lets us use the garage when we need it though. I like to dabble in my spare time. Any biker who’s worth his salt knows how to take care of his ride.”

  “Then what do you do?”

  “I mostly bartend. I work at our clubhouse. It’s called The Grindhouse. You ever heard of it?”

  “It sounds familiar,” I said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been there though.”

  He pushed his way out from underneath my car and looked up at me. His body was sweating even more and covered in black grease.

  “But you have heard of the Black Reapers, haven’t you?” he asked.

  It was the first time I’d ever seen surprise on his face. He was always so sure of himself. It figured it would take someone not knowing about his club for him to look so incredulous.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head and disappointing him. “Never heard of them.”

  “Damn. Born and raised in Ivory and you don’t know about the Black Reapers.”

  “I know. I should be ashamed of myself—”

  “You should!”

  For a second, I thought he was genuinely offended. But he smiled and chuckled, forcing me to do the same.

  He stood up straight and wiped some of the grease from his hands.

  “I need to take a break,” he said. “You don’t mind, do you, boss?”

  “I’ll let it slide. Just this once.”

  I playfully held up an index finger at him. He smirked before turning out toward the town.

  The two of us watched the cars go by. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. I watched him light one up, holding it on the tip of his lips like he’d done it a million times before.

  “I talk shit but I love this town,” he said. “Maybe there’s something else out there, something better. But there’s nothing like Ivory. I don’t need to travel the world to know that.”

  “You’d be right.”

  He took another puff of his cigarette then turned to me with an eyebrow raised.

  “Seriously, though,” he said. “Why did you come back here?”

  “Seriously?”

  “You can tell me. Or am I too much of a stranger still?”

  “No, you’re right. I can tell you the truth…”

  I looked out into the streets as I thought about my answer. Even though I’d been gone for eight years, I still remembered the view of town like it was yesterday.

  “I worked in an office building that was a hundred times bigger than the tallest building in Ivory,” I started. “I worked my way up the ladder and I made enough money to last me a good amount of time. If I kept going, I would have been a millionaire.”

  “A millionaire, huh? That’s a turn-on.”

  “And here I thought you wanted to fix my car out of the kindness of your heart.”

  We shared another laugh before I continued my story.

  “But I was working there and—”

  “You felt empty. You were working a monotonous office job and thought to yourself ‘Is this really how I’m going to spend the rest of my life?’ Am I right?”

  “No.”

  I gave him an answer so blunt that he widened his eyes in surprise. It was the second time I’d seen him so unsure of himself.

  “No?” he said.

  “I would have been just fine working that job for the rest of my life. What part of good money didn’t you get?”

  “Okay, okay,” he said, putting his hands up. “You understand the value of a dollar. Smart woman.”

  I looked back out into the streets. It wasn’t anything I could explain but it was something I could feel.

  “I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “There’s just something about this town. I wanted to come back. Who knows, I might leave tomorrow.”

  “I hope that’s not the case…”

  He took another nonchalant puff of his cigarette.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. “You going to miss me?”

  “You know how it is for guys in Ivory. Good pussy is hard to come by.”

  “I’m so flattered… asshole.”

  I punched him on the arm and he cackled at me. The way he smiled made his whole face light up.

  “Do you have any plans?” he asked.

  “Plans? I was thinking about opening up a business. A small flower shop. I’ve always wanted to garden. I figure I could do business as a florist and enjoy it at the same time.”

  “That’s… nice. But that’s not what I was talking about?”

  “What?”

  “I meant do you have any plans for later today.”

  “Oh! Right…”

  I could feel the heat in my cheeks from embarrassment. Blake chuckled softly before finishing his cigarette and to
ssing the butt off to the side.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “My schedule is pretty wide open.”

  “Wide open…”

  He moved closer to me as I sat on the stool. He was so close I could smell him. Grease, sweat and a bit of cigarette smoke. It was the raw aroma I never smelled when I worked in an office.

  “…I like the sound of that.”

  He narrowed his gaze at me. That cocky little smirk on his lips. He knew exactly what he was doing.

  “You’re incorrigible,” I said.

  “I don’t know what that word means. Never went to school. But… I think I get what you mean. Thanks for the compliment.”

  “It wasn’t a compliment,” I said, failing at holding back my laughter.

  “You’re so mean,” he said with a smile.

  I looked down at the ground. Staring at him for too long was distracting. I shook my head and gathered my thoughts.

  “Listen,” I said. “I… I like you.”

  “Thanks. I like you, too.”

  “But… things are moving kinda fast. Last time was the first time I…”

  “Oh, shit… You’re not a virgin, are you?”

  “No,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Just hooking up with guys I meet isn’t something I usually do.”

  He nodded in understanding.

  “I get it,” he said. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “I’m sure it isn’t. Not for you, anyway. I bet you’ve stuck your dick in more holes than you can remember.”

  “Um,” he said, a confused look on his face. “Are you making fun of me?”

  “Shit… No, that’s not what I meant.”

  “I’m not offended. You’d be right.”

  Seeing him smile gave me a bit of relief.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, putting my hands up. “It’s just… Things are moving a little fast. I… I don’t want to think this, whatever this is between us, is anything more than what it is.”

  “I don’t know what this is. But we won’t know until we figure it out. I’m up for it, if you are.”

  Blake was charming. A part of me was telling me to just go for it but there was something else. A small part of me telling me to stay away. I suppose it was the rational part of me. After all, Blake was just a guy I met last night. That didn’t mean things were serious, even if I did sleep with him.

  “I don’t have any plans tonight,” I said. “I figure I owe you even more for the repairs. But I think this is moving too fast. And—”

  “You don’t owe me an explanation. If you want to leave it at last night, then so be it.”

  “Thanks…”

  I sighed in relief of not having to explain it to him. He winked at me before moving back down underneath my car.

  I looked out through the open garage. The sound of Blake whistling while he worked filled my ears. I wasn’t doing anything but I felt a peace wash over me that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

  It really was good to be back home.

  Chapter 6

  BLAKE

  “In the chapel. Now.”

  Unscheduled meetings were rare. There were times when Garnet would gather us up when we were already in the clubhouse but not when we were out doing our own thing.

  I slept in late and it was the middle of the afternoon when I got his text.

  When I got to The Grindhouse, everybody was already heading into the chapel. I got inside and took my usual seat next to everybody else. Everybody was silent and focused on Garnet, who was pacing back and forth at the head of the table.

  His jaw was clenched. A hand ran over his chin then slicked his dark hair back over his head. He wasn’t saying anything but from the look in his eyes, I knew something was wrong. Garnet was more collected than anybody I’d ever met. It took a lot to get him unsettled and right now, he was fucking unsettled.

  “It’s Michelle,” he said, his voice shaky. “She’s in the hospital.”

  “What?” Ghost exclaimed. “Is she all right?”

  The vice president of the club jumped up from his seat. Everybody at the table looked at one another, confused. I would have thought Garnet was joking but he was never one to make light of something like this. He took his old lady more serious than anything else.

  “It happened this morning,” Garnet explained. “She was heading out. Business as usual. Nothing special. I didn’t think anything of it. Why would I?

  “Next thing I know Sheriff Sutton is giving me a call and telling me that something happened to her.”

  Garnet’s throat shifted with a swallow, shaking his head before he continued.

  “Somebody hit her car,” he said. “This wasn’t any ordinary crash. This shit was violent. Intentional.”

  “Who was it?” I said. “There’s gotta be some footage on the cameras.”

  “Sutton said there’s no footage.”

  “Shit…”

  “But the motherfucker who hit her was clumsy. His license plate fell off and he didn’t bother to pick it up.”

  “Are you serious? Then we know who it is. Sutton’s gonna arrest this motherfucker, right?”

  “It’s not that simple…”

  Garnet turned back toward us and leaned over the table.

  “They ran the plates,” he said. “They belong to a van that Harris owns.”

  “Harris?” Ghost said. “Jordan Harris?”

  “I fucking knew it,” I said. “You can never trust these fucking Snakes. That asshole is gonna fucking rot.”

  “Hold on,” Garnet said.

  “What’s the problem? Harris owned the van and the van hit Michelle.”

  “Harris owned the van. But he reported it stolen a few hours before it happened. Sutton already questioned him.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “He has no clue what happened.”

  “That’s right. Sutton had no choice but to let him go. There’s no evidence to suggest he did it.”

  “He’s a fucking Snake. That’s evidence enough.”

  “Calm down,” Ghost said, putting his hand up to me. “There’s no need to jump to conclusions.”

  “What other conclusion is there?” I said. “You know the Cobras have never liked us.”

  “Do you think they would stoop low enough to hit someone else’s old lady?”

  “Why not?” I said with a shrug.

  “But why would Harris do it?”

  “Because we just made a truce with them. The Winter Cobras and the Black Reapers were supposed to be at peace with one another. This would be the perfect opportunity to pull some shit like this.”

  “I’m not buying it,” Ghost said. “Not after a truce. And not with federal agents in town. All it does is put a spotlight on us.”

  “Or maybe that’s what Harris was counting on. Maybe he thinks he’s not crazy enough to pull something off like this with so many people watching.”

  “Maybe. You don’t know any more than I do, Needle.”

  Ghost sat back down. I sighed a deep breath of frustration. I was already bothered that Michelle was in the hospital and the man responsible for it was out there. Now I was arguing with one of my brothers as to how to go about this.

  I looked over at the other members to see what they had to say. Sullivan was a new patch, so he didn’t know the Cobras as well as everybody else. Petey was as quiet as always. Brawn was just focused on Garnet, waiting for the president to say whatever was on his mind.

  “You both have a point,” Garnet said. “Maybe Harris thought he could hit back at us knowing that it would be crazy to try something like this with federal agents in town. Or maybe he is innocent. Maybe his van really did get stolen and he has no clue what’s going on. Maybe he’s getting set up.”

  “We have to do something,” I said. “Sheriff’s Department isn’t gonna do shit while Michelle is laid up in the hospital. We have to do it ourselves.”

  “And what are you suggesting?” Ghost said to me. “Do you wanna start a war with the Cobras? Right after we just
made a truce?”

  “If they’re the ones responsible, we wouldn’t be the ones starting it.”

  I looked around the table. Everybody looked unsure about what to do.

  “Needle is right,” Sullivan said, suddenly speaking up.

  We all turned toward the new patch.

  “If the Sheriff’s Department isn’t gonna get to the bottom of this, then we have to do it ourselves,” he continued. “There’s some asshole out there and we’re sitting here trying to figure out what happened.”

  “Right,” I said. “I say we go out there and get some fucking answers.”

  “And what do you suggest?” Ghost said. “You take Brawn and go over to the Bone Pit and start picking fights until someone talks?”

  “Do you got a better idea? Brawn will beat the shit out of every Snake in sight if that’s what it takes. Ain’t that right?”

  I looked over at our enforcer. Brawn was intimidating even when he smiled. I was glad that he was on our side.

  “That’s what we’ll do,” I said. “We head over to The Bone Pit and start questioning people. If we keep doing that, we’ll get the answers we need.”

  “No,” Garnet said.

  The room fell silent again as everybody turned toward the president. Garnet’s eyes were focused on the table in front of us. They were glazed over slightly. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him so emotional.

  “That’s not how we’re gonna do it,” he said.

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked.

  “The Cobras might be Snakes but they’ve got pride. They won’t start talking even if Brawn here squeezes their necks until their heads pop off. If we want answers, we have to hit ‘em where it hurts.”

  Garnet leaned forward, his palms pressing down on the table.

  “Listen closely,” he said. “I got word that Harris has got a sister who’s in town. We scoop that bitch up and hold her for ransom. Harris won’t have any choice but to squeal if he doesn’t want anything to happen to her. If he knows the truth, we’ll get it out of him. If he really did have nothing to do with what happened to Michelle, we drop her back off, no harm done.”