by Jessie Cooke
“They're a club up in Brooklyn who recently lost their Prez, Vice Prez and a dozen or so of their men. They've got less than fifteen guys left and none of them are interested in taking over. The competition for territory with the street gangs has gotten to be too much for them. Dax was good friends with the Prez and says they have a lot in common with us. I think he's planning on offering to bring them over if they want to come, or patch them in as nomads, maybe. That's the rumor anyways.”
“Wow.” The Skulls were already the biggest club on the east coast in numbers and the wealthiest in dollars. Less of their guys were in prison or jail these days than in the history of the club, and the deaths, according to the statistics Jigsaw had heard went from over a dozen the year Dax first took over down to an average of less than one a year since. That's even counting the ones that died from medical issues and overdoses. They were impressive numbers and even a guy who couldn't remember if he'd never been in a club before or not, knew that.
“Y'all ready to do this?” Sidewinder asked, appearing out of the dark.
“Ready,” BB said. He looked at Jigsaw and said, “We're just pouring a trail. The explosion will happen from up here.”
“Okay, I'll follow your lead,” Jigsaw told him.
“Walk a path directly into that second trailer, leave a trail of gasoline as you go. Make sure you save some to throw up against the side of the trailer and make sure these cans go with us. Even melted they might be able to get a print off them.”
“Got it.” They left Sidewinder standing next to the CAT. Jigsaw assumed he'd already set up his part while he and BB were waiting. He was confident that if Dax trusted him, the guy wouldn't blow them all up...although he seemed just a bit less than stable. Jigsaw was more worried about the fumes coming from the trailers as they got closer, than he was about his back-up. His head began to ache almost as soon as he breathed it in. He wondered if using the shit made your head pound like that. As little as he knew about his past, he was glad to know that at least he wasn't any kind of addict. At least he didn't think so. He hadn't had any cravings, no track marks and no withdrawal symptoms. His body's reaction to the fumes from the trailers was instant as well, and he had to fight through bouts of dizziness and nausea that were only complicated by the fumes from the gas. He was thankful when they finally reached the back of the trailer, but as he splashed the gas he began to have a coughing spasm. BB was in the same boat, but he was closer to the front of the trailer. There was a sudden burst of light, like someone opened a door. Both men were coughing up a lung so neither could talk but Jigsaw motioned at BB to run, right before he did the same.
Jigsaw ran back up toward where the car was parked. His lungs were burning and his legs felt like they had lead in them. He wanted to throw down the gas cans but remembered what BB said, so he clutched onto them as he ran. He was within sight of Sidewinder when he heard the sound of the explosion, and felt the earth move out from under his feet. His last thought as he flew through the air, right before his head slammed into a pile of wooden pallets was, “Where the hell is BB?”
7
Jigsaw felt himself floating in and out of consciousness. He tried to open his eyes, but his head hurt too freaking bad. Every time they started to flutter open, a stab of pain would torture the front lobe of his brain. He heard himself cry out a few times and he heard another voice, but he couldn't process what it was saying. He finally decided to stop fighting it and let his body rest. Then maybe he could remember what happened...and wake up. He quit concentrating on opening his eyes and instead he concentrated on breathing in and out. After several minutes an image began to form in his head. It was the face of a beautiful woman. She had long, blonde hair that hung straight down her back and spilled across her shoulders. Her eyes were a blue-green color and she was smiling at him. “You're okay Jeremiah. You're gonna be just fine.”
“Jeremiah? Is that my name? Why doesn't that sound familiar?”
“You've had a rough year. You'll be okay.”
“Who are you?”
“I'm Delilah,” she said, just as the image of her face began to fade.
“No wait! Don't go! Don't leave me here alone.”
“You're not alone,” she said. “Open your eyes.”
She was gone that quickly and the sound of her sweet voice was replaced by the harsh sounds of sirens approaching. An ambulance? Police? What had he gotten himself into? He knew he had to open his eyes. He had to see what was going on. Once again he pulled at his heavy eyelids. This time a blurry image took shape in the dark. He could tell there was a person above him but he couldn't see any features. It was just a dark silhouette, but too big to be the beautiful woman that he'd just been talking to in his dreams...was it a dream?
“Man, come on. Wake up! We have to get the fuck out of here!”
“Where?” he muttered. He wasn't sure if that came out, or if he'd asked it in his head until the other man's voice said,
“We have to get back to the club. That's the first place the police will go when they leave here.”
“The club? Oh shit! Marcus is going to be pissed.”
The shadow was beginning to come into view. The man looked familiar. He was obviously a biker, but Jigsaw couldn't remember his name. There was something tugging at his memory about someone else...someone was missing...
“How do you know Marcus?”
Jigsaw opened his mouth, and then he closed it...who is Marcus? He suddenly didn't know. What the fuck was going on? “I don't know.”
The sirens were growing louder and it was loud and hot. It felt like they were inside of an oven and the air stunk and made Jigsaw's lungs burn. “We have to get out of here. Can you get up?”
Jigsaw didn't know if he could or not...but this guy seemed insistent that they needed to get out. He sat up, too quickly and the world began to spin. “Fuck man, don't pass out on me.”
Jigsaw turned his head to the right, toward the heat. There was a ball of fire in the center of a dirt lot. He could see colors in the center of it, but he couldn't make out what the shapes were. His eyes were burning so badly that tears were flowing down his cheeks. “What happened?”
“Come the fuck on, Man! I don't want to leave you here, but I'm not getting fucking arrested tonight.”
Jigsaw could hear the urgency in the man's voice and the sirens were loud. With panic in his chest he fought through the pain and pushed himself up off the ground. His knees almost gave out, but the guy with him held onto him tightly and pulled him along. As soon as the black SUV came into view, Jigsaw suddenly remembered BB...and Sidewinder, and what they had just done.
“BB! Where is BB?”
“He didn't make it back man...”
Jigsaw pulled his arm away and had to grab onto the car to keep from falling on his ass. “No! We're not leaving him here.”
“Man, he's probably dead. Look at that fucking fire. If he was less than twenty feet away, he's melted by now.”
“No! We're not leaving him.” Sidewinder reached behind himself and pulled out his gun. With gritted teeth he said,
“Get in the fucking car.”
“You're going to shoot me? You're going to go back and tell Dax that you left BB to burn and you fucking shot me?”
“I'm getting out of here, alive, and not in fucking prison. If I have to fucking kill you to do it, then I will. I don't want to. You think I want to leave that kid burning up out there? Fuck no! That'll haunt me for fucking ever. But you need to believe me when I tell you that we cannot help him.”
“I'm not leaving him as long as I'm alive, so fucking shoot me, or let me walk away.” Jigsaw turned and headed toward the CAT. He could hear Sidewinder’s curses over the crackle and boom of the fire, but he didn't stop. He was half-way down the dirt hill, sliding on the mud and having to use his arms already to block some of the heat from his face when he felt Sidewinder next to him. “Changed your mind?”
“I'm gonna shoot you both if I have to before I go to jail.
” If the situation hadn't been so dire, Jigsaw would have laughed. But as it were, he felt like his face was melting off and his lungs would probably never be the same. He crouched down and tried to keep as low to the ground as he could. Sidewinder walked about ten feet from him, the same way, crouched and limping like a primate. Jigsaw was about a foot in front of him when he saw motion out of the corner of his eye, and heard Sidewinder curse again, loudly.
“Fuck! I found him.”
Jigsaw rushed over. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and illuminated BB’s face. “Is he breathing?”
“Don't look like it. Let's get him to the car and I'll work on him, but not here.” Jigsaw didn't argue. He grabbed BB under his arms and Sidewinder took his feet. The cops and fire trucks had arrived but were on the other side of the fire. The red and blue lights made the fire look like the Northern Lights of Alaska. He wondered how he knew that, but only briefly. By the time they got to the car, he'd forgotten all about that and his only concern was the kid with the fried hair, blistered skin and no chest movement. In the next few minutes he saw a side of Sidewinder that probably saved his life. Had the man let the kid die, Jigsaw would have had to tell Dax that. But now that they had him in the back of the SUV, Jigsaw felt like he was watching an army medic in action in the field. Sidewinder ripped the kid's t-shirt off and started CPR and rescue breathing. It was touch and go for a while, Jigsaw was impressed with Sidewinder but didn't think the kid was going to make it. He pushed out a relieved breath when he heard BB suck in a hard one. As soon as he did Sidewinder said,
“Get in and drive, fast.”
Jigsaw didn't ask any questions. He got in the SUV and started it up. He was on the main road before he said, “To the hospital?”
“No, to the club.” Jigsaw still didn't argue. He figured he could just head to the hospital on his own and Sidewinder couldn't do anything about it. He was trying to remember which exit he would need to get off on when he heard Sidewinder on the phone. “Get a pen,” he was saying. “Okay, you ready? Have Doc there, a bed ready. I want two liters of lactated ringers and tubing. Tell Doc to bring syringes and needles and a blood type kit. We're gonna need a couple of burn kits and maybe an endotracheal tube, and oxygen and tubing. You got all that?” He paused and said, “Our ETA is about ten minutes if this puzzle guy steps it up a little.” Jigsaw had been concerned about getting pulled over, but with BB in mind, he pushed down on the accelerator and brought the needle up to eighty. He could hear Sidewinder talking to BB the whole time, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. He got the feeling he was getting a glimpse of the man that not many people ever got to see, and he was thankful that he'd been with them...even if his first impulse had been to save himself.
At least five guys were waiting outside when they drove up in the SUV. Jigsaw hit the button to open the back and by the time he turned off the ignition and got out, they were already rushing BB in the door. He followed Sidewinder in and they followed the guys into Dax's executive office. Jigsaw was surprised to see that a hospital bed had been pushed into the office and there was medical equipment set up all around it. Doc was there and before they even had BB on the bed, he was giving directions. The men lay the young man on the bed and Doc went to work, hooking up oxygen, having one of the girls that worked as a nurse, taking vital signs and starting an IV. Jigsaw had never seen anything like it...or at least he didn't think he had. It was like being in the center of an emergency room. He completely forgot about the burns on his face that were turning into blisters and the ones on his hands that had hurt so badly as he gripped the steering wheel on the drive over as he watched in fascination.
“Jig? Oh my God! Baby look at you! You're burned!” Kimber was suddenly in his arms and even though it hurt his hands to touch her, he didn't let it stop him He rubbed her back and stroked her hair and hugged her into his chest tightly. She only gave him a minute or two before pulling back and saying, “Becca can you look at Jig?” Becca was a nurse too, but the other girl, Lucille seemed to have what Doc needed for BB under control at that minute. Becca came over and said,
“Oh no! Jigsaw, sit down.” He sat and that was when she noticed Sidewinder as well. The right side of his face was almost one, big, solid blister. “You too!” she said to him, obviously unaware of his name. Sidewinder sat next to Jigsaw. As the women fussed over them, scrubbing the painful burns and then slathering on soothing Silvadene cream, Sidewinder looked at Jigsaw and said,
“Hope you're fucking happy.”
Jigsaw finally managed a grin and said, “I wouldn't say happy...but glad BB is alive. You were pretty fucking awesome out there. You saved his life.”
“That what you gonna tell Dax?”
“Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to tell him.”
“Thanks,” Sidewinder growled.
“Yep,” Jigsaw said. That was the last they said about it and the last that would be said about it except what Jigsaw told Sidewinder. He'd redeemed himself and he saved the kid's life, whether he liked it or not.
8
“Oh baby, my poor baby.” Kimber cried when Becca debrided his wounds and she could see by the expression on his face how much pain he was in. Once he was all doctored and bandaged up, she made him lean on her tiny little body as they made their way up the stairs to their room and as soon as they were inside she said, “Are you hungry? I'll go down and get you a plate. You shouldn't take those pain meds on an empty stomach...”
“Come here, baby,” he said. “Sit down with me.” She reluctantly sat next to him on the bed and he put his arm around her. She lay her head against his shoulder and said,
“I think we should have taken you to the hospital. What if your lungs were damaged?”
“I'm okay, baby girl. I just need to breathe in some good air for a day or two. You're just worried that fire damaged this gorgeous face of mine, aren't you?”
She started crying again. “You're still gorgeous, but I'd love you no matter what. What would I do without you?”
“Shh, baby...” He pulled her into his chest and ran his hand through her hair as she sobbed into him. “Baby please, I'm okay. It's okay. Shh baby...” He rocked her back and forth and suddenly she pulled away and sat up.
“Oh God, I'm so sorry. Look at me. This is about you and I'm being so selfish. I just couldn't imagine being without you. I was so scared...”
“I know baby. It's okay. You won't ever have to be without me. I'm not going anywhere.”
“You promise?”
He smiled. “I promise baby. As a matter of fact, let's start that togetherness now. I need a shower. Join me?”
“No! You do not need to have sex in your condition!”
He laughed. “I'm not pregnant baby.”
“Stop, you know what I mean. Are you even supposed to get those bandages wet?”
“You can put dry ones on for me as soon as I'm finished, I have to have a shower, baby. I smell like smoke and meth...I'd really rather have help...you know, to wash my back...”
“You are hopeless.”
“No baby, I'm hopeful. Hopeful that you'll come join me.” He kissed her softly, gave her a wink and headed into the bathroom. He looked at her over his shoulder before going through the door. He needed to talk to her about so many things, but tonight he needed to love her. He grinned at her and went into the bathroom. She was shaking her head and smiling at him. He knew she'd join him. She just needed a minute to talk herself into it.
Jigsaw was inside the glass shower letting the hot water run down across his sore, achy muscles when he heard the door slide open. He pushed his hair back off his forehead and looked at her. God, she was so beautiful it made his chest ache. He savored the sight of her pretty eyes, her sweet smile and her beautiful body as his palms itched to touch it.
“You coming in?”
She smiled. “Against my better judgment.”
“I'd never ask you to do anything against your judgment.”
“Mm hmm,” she said, steppi
ng in on the wet tile and pulling the door shut behind her. The shower was small and Jigsaw big, so their bodies touched almost instantly. An electric current shot through his, every time he was this close to her. He wasn't sure if he had believed in fate and soulmates in his previous life...but in this one, he knew he'd been lucky enough to find his.
He reached down and linked his hands in hers and as she looked up at him, the water cascaded over the crown of her head and down her arms, causing the soft, light-blonde hairs there to shimmer in the light. He leaned down and covered her mouth with his lips and pushed hers open with his tongue. Hers came up at once and locked in a sexy dance with his. He loved feeling her chest rise and fall quickly against his body as she tried to keep from suffocating in the kiss. He let go of her hands and put his on the swell of her butt cheeks and let them run up slowly over her smooth, wet, skin to the small of her back. He let his mouth slide down her neck and she tipped it back to give him better access. He locked his mouth onto her shoulder and he kissed and licked and sucked there while letting his hands run up her waist to the outsides of her breasts. His thumbs reached out and ran an erotic circle around her rock-hard nipples. He slowly turned her to the side and pushed her back so that she was against the steamy glass. He held her there with his hands on her hips and brought his mouth down to her breasts, sucking one in hard while using his tongue to keep stimulating the nipple. Kimber was moaning softly and flexing her hips against his now throbbing cock. All pain was forgotten. The burning in his lungs and the sting of the blisters didn't exist at that moment in time. There were no drug dealers, meth labs or raging fires...unless you counted the one in his core that burned only for her.