Treat: Steel Saints MC

by Evelyn Glass

  Tina felt a rush of heat flow over her. “I like your plan. Especially that last part.”

  “Yeah… that’s my favorite part too.”

  ***

  “Marshall. It’s Jack. Call me at this number,” he said before he hung up.

  “He didn’t answer?” Tina asked.

  “He never does if he doesn’t recognize the number. He’ll call me back in a minute.”

  Jack sat on the bed and took a sip from his third and final beer. He and Tina planned on finishing off the beer, but there were still three slices of pizza in the box. “Breakfast,” he said when they realized they couldn’t finish the entire pie. The phone played a happy little ditty and he punched the answer button, then put the phone on speaker.

  “Jack.”

  “Jesus, Jack! Are you okay? Where are you?” Marshall’s excited voice came over the speaker.

  “I’m in Roswell with Tina.”

  “Fuck! I just knew you had been arrested when I saw that the cars had been found! How did you get away?”

  “Blind, stupid ass luck. The cops must not have been sure of their information and asked me to come open the storage units. They had stopped at the clubhouse the day before with a warrant and searched—”

  “What?” Marshall interrupted loudly enough that Jack grinned.

  “They didn’t find anything, of course. So when they went to the storage buildings they must have been uncertain about their information. The managers of the units called and asked me to come open units up.”

  “That fucking Seth…” Marshall growled.

  “We don’t know that,” Jack said.

  “Who else could it be?” Marshall snarled, then became quiet. “You don’t think it was me, do you?”

  “No, Marshall. I don’t think it’s you. But I can’t believe it was Seth either. He’s worked his ass off for the Sons. Why would he do that?”

  “I don’t know. But who else could it be?”

  “I don’t know. It could have been someone in one of the buildings at the clubhouse who put two and two together and took a shot in the dark.”

  “Maybe,” Marshall allowed. “Seems like an awfully big coincidence to me. And how would they know about the storage buildings? Only you, me, and Seth knew about that.”

  “I know. But if it was Seth, why did he send the cops to the clubhouse? He knew there was nothing there.”

  “Fuck… I don’t know,” Marshall moaned. “What can we do to help?”

  “First… have the cops been leaning on anyone?”

  “Not that I know of. Shit, we didn’t even know the cops had a clue until I saw it on the news. Then I couldn’t reach you, and…”

  “Have you talked to the other members?”

  “Yeah. So far as I know it’s been quiet.”

  “Okay. Tina and I are safe for the moment. The ‘39 shit itself on the ride down and is in the shop with burned valves. It’s going to take a couple of days to get that fixed. After that, we’re going to move, but I’ll let you know where we end up, okay?”

  “Why don’t you come back? Hole up with Nic and me. We can put you up and nobody would ever know.”

  “No. Too dangerous. If any of the Sons are connected to me they're going to go down too. I don’t want that on my conscious.”

  Marshall was quiet for a moment. “Okay. I understand.”

  “Marshall, I want you to promise me something. If he cops start closing in, on any of the Sons, I want you to call me.”

  “Why? What will you do?”

  “I’ll turn myself in. Nobody is taking the fall for this but me.”

  “Fuck that!”

  “Marshall! Please! It’s important!”

  “Jack! You’ve got to let that go! It wasn’t your fault!”

  “It doesn’t matter. You have to promise me you’ll call or I’m walking out of this room and going to the nearest police station to turn myself in right now.”

  Tina’s heart turned to ice. Jack had the phone on speaker so she could hear both sides of the conversation. and she knew there was something important Marshall knew that she didn’t. Something that was driving Jack. “Marshall… this is Tina. Promise him. He already wanted to turn himself in once and I talked him out of it. But he’ll do it. Please, just promise him.”

  “Jack! Don’t be stupid!” Marshall snarled.

  When Jack didn’t answer, Tina spoke again. “Marshall, please.”

  “Fuck! Jack, what is wrong with you? Colette wasn’t your fault!” The three of them fell silent, and Tina watched Jack as he stared into the distance—into his memories. “Fine, Goddammit! Fine! I’ll call you. But Jack, you have to let that go! Colette brought that on herself! You had nothing to do with it!”

  “She did it for me,” Jack said quietly.

  “Bullshit! She did it to try to impress you! She did it to feel like some badass biker bitch! She did it for herself, Jack! I’ve been telling you that for years!”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does matter, goddammit!” Marshall raged from the tiny speaker. “We all knew what we were getting into! We stand together or we fall together! Tina! If he starts to do something stupid, you kick him in the nuts so hard he can’t walk, then you call me! I’ll come to wherever you are and I will kick his ass so hard he’ll wake up in a coma!”

  “You have my word on that,” Tina said firmly.

  “Good! Are we done talking stupid shit, Jack?” Marshall asked.

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “That’s more like it,” Marshall said, calming down.

  “Tina, we’re depending on you.” Nic’s voice came over the phone. “If you don’t call Marshall, I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “Don’t worry,” Tina said as she relaxed. “Marshall will be right behind me for kicking his ass. You want to get in line?”

  Nic trilled out a laugh. “I’m in.”

  “Seriously, Jack. We’re fine,” Marshall said. “The heat is all on you. But don’t be stupid. Listen to Tina. It sounds like she has more brains in her little finger than you do in your entire head.”

  “That’s not saying a lot,” Nic said faintly, which caused even Jack to chuckle.

  “I will… and Marshall?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Who’s Colette?” Tina asked after Jack killed the call.

  “Nobody.”

  “That’s bullshit. She must have been important to you if you are still torn up about it.”

  He looked into her eyes. Tina didn’t look that much like Colette, but she reminded him of her in so many ways. “She was girlfriend of mine about six years ago.”

  “What happened?”

  “She went to prison.”

  Tina’s heart sank. “Why?”

  He took a deep breath. “I was just putting the Sons together. There were a few key people in place. Marshall and Nic, a couple of others. Colette wanted in on the action. But… I loved her and I didn’t want her involved.”

  “So what happened?”

  “She… broke into a car dealership one night. I guess she thought she was going to steal some keys for one of the new cars or something. She didn’t know what the hell she was doing. Her parents were doctors, for Christ’s sake! Her idea of breaking the law was a speeding ticket!”

  “She got caught?”

  “Yeah. The night security guard caught her red handed and the judge threw the book at her.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad. First time offender… she wasn’t armed, was she?”

  “No.”

  “What did she pull, six months in county?”

  “Something like that.”

  Something didn’t make sense. She should have been out in three or four months if she kept her nose clean. So why was Jack beating himself up? “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  “Yeah. She got into a fight in the yard. One of the inmates cut her face pretty badly. She had this big
scar on her face… across her nose and down her cheek. She… couldn’t live with it.”

  Tina’s skin prickled into gooseflesh. “What do you mean she couldn’t live with it?”

  “She was beautiful. She modeled for some of the local stores. And… I guess she couldn’t live with her face cut like that. She…”

  Tina watched as Jack’s face crinkled as his guilt and grief washed over him. She took his hand and held it. “What happened, Jack?” she asked softly.

  “She got one of those prison knives from somewhere and cut her wrists open one night. She bled out before anyone found her.”

  “Jack… I’m so sorry for you. I really am,” she said gently. “But Marshall’s right. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “She did it for me, Tina,” he said, his voice hard. “She did it prove herself to me.”

  “Yes. She probably did do it to try to prove something to you. And maybe herself as well. But that doesn’t make it your fault. Did you send her into that dealership?”

  “No.”

  “Did you ask her to prove she could be a thief? Was that a condition of your love?”

  “No.”

  “You tried to keep her safe and away from your activities?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jack… Listen to Marshall. He’s right. Maybe she did do it to try to prove something to you. But she also did it to prove something to herself. You can’t hold yourself responsible for some else’s actions.”

  “But if…”

  “No buts, Jack! No buts. Listen to me. Listen to Marshall. Colette knew what she was doing.”

  “Her parents…”

  “Did they blame you?”

  “No. But they couldn’t understand why she would break into someplace… and I couldn’t bring myself to tell them it was because of me.”

  “Good. Because it wasn’t because of you. You had nothing to do with it. She made a bad choice… but she made it. Not you.”

  Jack sits quietly for a moment. “Maybe,” he mumbled.

  She rose from her chair, walked around the small table, and sat sideways in his lap before she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. After a moment, his arms circled her waist and they held each other, silent, for a long time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “I’m sorry, Tina. I should have never gotten you involved,” Jack said as he pulled her in close. He kissed her shoulder as they spooned, his knees tucked in comfortably behind hers and her back against his chest.

  She took his hand in her own and squeezed it gently. “I’m glad you did. Even with Johnny Law breathing down our necks, I’m glad I’m here with you.” He didn’t respond, and that worried her. “Jack? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  Liar, she thought as she turned in his arms to face him. “Jack… the Sons will be okay. If the cops haven’t tagged them by now, they’re not going to. You know that, right?”

  “What about you?”

  “What about me? I knew what I was getting into. Okay, yeah, I didn’t expect it to end this way, but then you didn’t either. I don’t blame you for what happened. You shouldn’t blame yourself,” she said, and then punctuated her statement with a gentle kiss of his lips.

  “I can’t do this anymore. Once we are clear of this mess, I’m giving it up. I had thought about doing that anyway. I was going to go out with a bang. One last big score to set us all up. Now… win or lose, I’m done.”

  She kissed his lips again. “What will you do?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe set up my own shop and restore hogs. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

  “You need to think about it. It’s not like you to not have a plan.”

  “Yeah. But I’ve never had one go so utterly to shit before.”

  She kissed him again. “We’ll make it, Jack.”

  Jack wondered if she realized she said we. “I hope so.”

  “Come with me to Texas. We can start fresh there. Get your bike fixed and come with me,” she said as she stared into his eyes and placed her hand gently on the side of his face.

  Jack smiled and kissed her this time. “Maybe. But it’s kinda hot and dry in Texas, don’t you think?”

  “As opposed the tropical paradise of New Mexico?” she teased. “Fine, pick someplace else then.”

  “Let’s see about the bike first. That will give us a couple of days to talk about it.”

  He looked into her eyes and he could feel his heart going out to her once more. During the light of day the closeness he felt to her last night had diminished slightly. But now, as he held her in his arms, he could feel that connection strengthen again, stronger than ever. He tugged at her gently and she came willingly as she snuggled in tight and their lips met. He had bedded her the first time because she was sexy as hell. Now… she was more than just sexy. She was special.

  They kissed, slow and gentle, just fleeting touches of their lips. Tina pressed in tight to Jack as her hands roamed his skin but she let him set the pace. He had been subdued all evening after his revelation about Colette. He seemed to crave her closeness and he had held her in his lap until her legs began to tingle from the lack of circulation. His story had touched her even if she didn’t understand the guilt he carried. I wonder of Colette knew how lucky she was to have someone like Jack love her? she mused as they stared into each other’s eyes.

  He slowly stroked her hair as thoughts raced through his mind like an over-revved engine. I should send her away. I should send her away and turn myself in. Tell the police I had duped her into helping. They would take that. A quick admission of guilt by the ringleader and no messy trial. But I can’t send her away. Not yet. Not when there was still a chance, he mused.

  “Talk to me, Jack…”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “You’re a terrible liar.”

  He smiled slightly. “I don’t know what to do. I feel like I should turn myself in but…”

  “I thought this was settled,” she interrupted.

  “... but I don’t want to go to jail either,” he finished.

  “Trust me. You don’t. Why are you even thinking about it?”

  “To protect the rest of the Sons. To protect… you.”

  “Oh, no you don’t! If the cops haven’t picked up the Sons by now they probably aren’t going to. And you know that! So don’t you dare lay this at my feet!”

  “But, Tina…”

  “No!” she snapped. “Where’s your fucking phone? I’m calling Marshall! You need your ass kicked in the worst way. You are not taking the fall just to try to protect me! Do you hear me? You’re not!”

  “I don’t want you to do go back inside.”

  “And I don’t want to go back inside. But I’ll be fucked before I let you throw your life away like that. It’s not happening, Jack! So forget about it!”

  He stared at her a moment. “What if we get caught?”

  “What if we don’t? We’ve done okay so far,” she said more calmly.

  “But things can change.”

  “Yes they can. And when they do, we can talk about this again. But for now there is something else I would much rather be doing than talking about to you about you turning yourself in.”

  “What’s that?” Jack asked with a smile.

  “Well… let’s see. We’ve eaten the pizza, drank the beer, talked to Marshall and watched television. But as I recall, there was one more thing you had planned to do tonight.”

  He chuckled as his mood began to brighten. “Yeah. Seems like I remember something, but I can’t recall what it was.”

  “Should I remind you?”

  “That might help.”

  Tina kissed him gently on the lips as she waited for him to respond. Slowly, the kiss became deeper and more erotic before she slowly pulled back. “Does that ring any bells?”

  “It’s coming back to me.”

  “How about this, then?” she said as she captured his lips with hers again, then began to kiss down his jaw and under his chin a
s she worked her way slowly down his body and covered him in fleeting kisses.

  Each touch of her lips was a fair of pleasure and he breathed deep. As she approached his manhood, he stopped her by pulling her gently away. “No. Not tonight.”