by R B Hilliard
“I am already having trouble seeing my feet and tying my shoes,” she informed us, “and nobody tells you that you have crazy dreams that wake you up at all hours as well as the….”
“Gas,” Max blurted.
“Max!” she half shouted and hit him on the arm. “I was going to say sex!”
Dillon’s eyes bugged. “Did you just say gas?”
Max nodded.
“It was only that one time and you promised you’d let it go,” Ellie said.
“Babe, one time was all it took for me to be permanently scarred by that shit.”
He looked so serious that I couldn’t help but laugh. “With that lead in, you have to tell us.”
“No!” Ellie protested which, of course, he completely ignored.
She wrinkled her nose at him and he kissed it. Then he proceeded to tell us the story. “The last week we were on the island, Ellison ordered a chicken curry dish with rice, peas and cabbage for dinner. I gotta admit, it was amazing. What was not so neat was thinking that we were going to have to visit the hospital two hours later when Ellison was rolling around in pain.”
“I’m not seeing the humor here,” Joss muttered.
Ellie let out an embarrassed groan and hid her face in Max’s chest. He rubbed his hand lovingly over her back and laughed.
“Right as I was about to call and order an ambulance, Ellison took off across the room, opened the closet door and let one rip. Being a guy, I’ve heard a lot of farts in my time, but this… this set both velocity and decibel records. It was so loud that I contemplated checking her panties for holes.”
Joss and Kurt stared at Max in horror while Dillon and I laughed so hard we cried. The back of Ellie’s neck was beet red, but by the way her shoulders shook, I could tell that she found it as funny as we did.
I have the greatest friends…ever.
Shortly before eleven we decided to call it a night. There were less than five people in the place so Kurt and Dillon said we could close up early. As usual, D walked me out to my car. Right as he was about to open my door my phone rang. Joss.
“Hey Joss, what’s up?” She dove right into baby talk and I put my hand over the phone to mute her for a second. “She’s fine. I got it from here. Go get some sleep,” I whispered.
“Are you sure?” he mouthed. I held up my finger, telling him to wait a second.
“Just because Ellie had uncontrollable flatulence one time doesn’t mean that it’s a forgone conclusion, Joss.” I rolled my eyes at Dillon and mouthed, “Go. I’m good.” I tracked him across the parking lot and watched him get into his car and drive away. “I’m on my way home right now,” I told her. “Pull out the bourbon and I’ll stop off and get some hot chocolate mix. We can pull the heater out by the pool and hang out.” I disconnected, opened my car door and felt something hard press against the back of my head.
“Been waiting for this moment for a long time,” a voice growled in my ear. Lester.
Fear ripped through me as I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the side of the car. It was only a matter of time before Dooley caught up with me. He proved what a coward he was by sending Lester, but I already knew this.
“You put me in the hospital. I owe you one. And really, did you think you could steal from Dooley and get away with it? Stupid bitch, don’t you know? No one steals from Dooley Shane, no-one.”
Being the obsession of a sick and twisted man was exhausting business. I couldn’t help but think that if I hadn’t made things worse by stealing from Dooley, he would have moved on to someone else. Why did I have to open that drawer? Why didn’t I just leave my phone? I loved Gage, but was it enough to keep protecting him? Yes, and if that means that I have to die in order to make sure that Gage and my friends are protected, so be it.
“Give me a reason to pull this trigger. Just one reason and I will,” Lester warned. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. You are gonna take me to Dooley’s car. Then we are gonna drive to my hotel where we are gonna spend the night. First thing tomorrow morning, we are leaving for Texas. Now, Dooley said not to kill you, but he didn’t say I couldn’t hurt you real bad. Maybe, if you behave, I’ll only give you a concussion like you gave me. Now, hand me your keys and your phone and don’t try no sneaky shit or I will gladly blow a hole in that pretty little head of yours.”
I handed over both with shaking hands and watched as he dropped my phone to the ground and crushed it with the heel of his boot. The gun was pointed at my head so kicking him where it counted was probably not the thing to do, but I was seriously tempted.
“Get in the car,” he ordered.
If I run he will shoot me; however, if I can get the gun from him, I will gain the upper hand.
“Don’t do anything stupid. I’d hate to have to tell Dooley that you ran and I had to shoot, but I will.”
Crap!
Hesitantly, I climbed in the driver’s seat and fastened my seat belt.
Lester hopped in beside me and started the car. He pressed the gun to the side of my head. “Now, take me to Dooley’s car.”
Regret washed over me. I’m sorry Benny.
A while back I found myself in a heap of trouble and no one else I could turn to without serious repercussions. So, I called Leroy Benny. Benny was like a father to Max and he and Ellie became close when Max disappeared. Being that Joss and I were Ellie’s best friends, he took us under his fatherly wing. Benny had lost both his wife and son in a tragic accident years ago. He would do anything for us, including hide a stolen vehicle in the barn behind his house.
“You know I would do anything for you, girl, but not if it involves the law.”
“It won’t. I promise, Benny. That’s the last thing that will happen.”
“Then bring it on.”
“Thank you. I owe you big. Oh, and one other thing. You can’t tell anyone, not Max, not Ellie, no one.”
“Girl, what have you gotten yourself into?”
“If you don’t want to help me, tell me now. No hard feelings, I promise. I’ll go elsewhere.”
“Bring it,” he sighed, but I’m expectin’ some answers and soon.”
“Thanks Benny, love you.”
“You too, Piper. You too.”
Lester wasn’t the law. He was just one mean mother-fucker wanting revenge. Maybe I can reason with him. “Come on, Lester. This is crazy and you know it. Dooley knew me for all of two months and became that obsessed? No one sane does that. Why are you doing this for him? You are way better than this.”
He jammed the gun into my temple. “Shut your fucking mouth and drive! Now!” he shouted. If my bladder had been full, I would have peed myself right then and there. Closing my eyes, I started the car and headed for Benny’s.
Welcome to Lester’s crazy train. I am your conductor for the evening. Fasten your seatbelts and hang the fuck on.
Benny owned a beautiful old farmhouse east of Charlotte. It perched on a hill overlooking twenty or so acres of very private land. Over the years, Kurt, Joss, Ellie and I spent many nights hanging out on his wrap around porch. I eased the car into the driveway and prayed that Benny had his security cameras on and would see trouble approaching. All we could see were trees as we headed down the gravel driveway. When the trees opened up my heart sank…a dark house.
No!
Lester glared over at me and ground the gun into the side of my head. “Where the fuck are we?” His voice grated on my nerves. In fact, everything about him grated on my nerves and always had.
An overwhelming urge to thump him really hard on his massive forehead came over me. Instead, I answered, “The car is in the barn behind the house.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go!” he shouted. I pulled around to the garage and parked. “Get out,” he ordered. I did as he said. Lester stalked over to inspect the barn and, after muttering a few choice words, lifted the gun and shot the lock off of the door. In order to get the door open, he had to lower the gun. Here’s my chance. “You run and I’ll
shoot you,” he warned. “Dooley may think you have a golden pussy, but I do not. The only reason I agreed to kidnap you is because he promised me a stake in the business. Killing you may get me in some trouble with Dooley, but it would definitely make my job and life a hell of a lot easier.”
Lester placed his hand on the barn door to open it and Benny, Tut and Twon suddenly appeared out of nowhere. In the blink of an eye they had Lester disarmed and face down on the ground. The tables had been turned and all three men had guns trained on Lester’s gorilla like head. I wanted to jump up and down and cheer.
Benny’s eyes shot to me. “Girl, you have some explaining to do.”
I stepped towards him. “Benny.”
He shook his head. “Nope, there’s no getting out of it this time. You called me and asked for a favor, which I gave. Then you showed up, beat to shit, with a stolen vehicle and gave me no explanation, which I allowed. I told you I expected some answers and now is as good a time as any, I’d say.”
“Listen, I don’t want no beef with you, big guy. Piper and me’s gonna take the car and be on our way,” Lester squeaked out. The grammar snob in me wanted to slap him.
“You’re ugly and stupid,” Twon said.
Antwon, or Twon as everybody knew him, was Benny’s brother James’s only son. Twon came to live with Benny when he was in grade school and his dad went to prison. His mom was long gone and Benny was the only other family that he had. He was older than us but not by much. Ellie told me that Twon had hated Max for a long time, but something happened in high school to change that and they had been close ever since. He was dark and muscular with eyes that could see straight through you. He was one scary guy if you didn’t know him. To me, he was just…Twon.
“Did you not just have a gun pointed at our girl’s head while at the same time talkin’ about her private parts?” Tut asked.
Private parts? I swallowed down a laugh that wanted to come out.
Tut was a complete mystery. Supposedly the only person who knew his story was Benny and he wasn’t talking. One night I was over at Max and Ellie’s when Max and Kurt were telling stories about some crazy things they used to do. From what I could gather, Tut showed up on Benny’s doorstep when they were in eighth grade and never left. He was older and, according to Max, was one of the best street fighters he had ever seen. Tut had gorgeous café ole skin, which he covered in tattoos. Even his shaved skull had tattoos on it. I was glad that Tut was on my side.
“I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. Now, come on,” Lester sniveled. “I’ll just take the car and Piper and leave you be. Ain’t that right Piper?” He craned his massive neck up and gave me an evil look.
The injustice of the situation made me want to scream. All I did was love the wrong man and look what it had gotten me? Absofuckinglutely nothing but heartache and trouble.
“It sounded to me like you were pretty damn serious. Tell you what, I’ll have my boys here fix you a nice place to rest for the night and, after Piper tells us what’s going down, we’ll decide what to do with you,” Benny told him.
Lester craned his neck further to the side and his cold eyes landed back on me. “You talk, you die and so do your friends.”
Shit!
As soon as he said this, the air went electric. Benny menacingly placed the barrel of his shotgun against Lester’s head. “Did you just threaten her, boy?”
Tut dropped his knee to the middle of Lester’s back, pulled his arms behind him in some wacky Kung Fu position and leaned his mouth close to Lester’s ear. “If you’re dead, no one will know she talked. Will they?”
Lester blanched. “Dooley will know when I don’t report back in and, trust me, you do not want that. Right, Piper? Tell them.”
“When do you have to report back to Doody?” Twon asked. I almost lost it right there. No this is not funny, but still…it kind of is.
Lester’s mouth thinned and Tut wrenched Lester’s arms making him wince and squeal.
“Answer him before I let him pull both of your arms off,” Benny said.
“By Sunday,” Lester grated out.
Benny turned to me. “Well, looks like we have three days.”
Benny left Twon and Tut to deal with Lester and told me to come with him. I was in deep trouble and, for the life of me, could see no way out. I followed him upstairs to one of his guest rooms. “Can’t keep you safe if you are across town. You’re staying here tonight,” he told me.
“Benny, I appreciate everything, but none of my things are here and I have things to do and…” My voice trailed off when I noticed the look on his face. Anger.
“You have brought this shit to my home, girl. You will stay here. I will call Max and Kurt tomorrow and you will explain. And Piper, I will have it all. Do you understand me? Something happened to you. We all know it and have all worried ourselves sick about it. I get that you have been protecting us, but that is over.”
The backs of my eyes burned and I knew that I was about to lose it. As if sensing my distress he pulled me in and wrapped his arms around me.
“Let us help you,” he gruffly said, and the dam broke. He let me cry most of it out before he pulled back. “Now, there are t-shirts and sweats in the top drawer and fresh towels under the sink in the bathroom. I might even have a new toothbrush or two in one of the drawers. If you need anything, I am downstairs. Tut will stay in the barn and Twon will be right at the other end of the hall. You can ask him for anything you need. Love you girl,” he said and gave me one last squeeze. Then he headed out the door and down the stairs.
I threw on a T-shirt, brushed my teeth and crawled into bed. That’s when I remembered, Joss! I was supposed to be at home drinking hot chocolate and lounging by the pool with her. Stupid Lester had destroyed my phone. I quickly scurried out of bed, ran down the hall and knocked on Twon’s door. The door swung open and I almost swallowed my tongue. A shirtless Twon was something to see.
He folded his arms over his delicious looking pecs and frowned. “What?”
I quickly explained my Joss dilemma and he handed me his phone. I shot her a text and told her that I was okay and would explain everything later. Much, much later if I had anything to say about it.
I thanked him and headed back to bed. I spent the rest of the night staring up at the ceiling wondering how I was going to get myself out of this one.
Chapter Six
That first night I spent with Gage was magical. He was a great guy with a super personality who knew how to have a good time both in and out of the bedroom. Yet, it felt like more than that to me. It was as if we had connected on a much deeper level, or at least that’s what I thought. When I woke up and he was gone, I was disappointed. When he didn’t leave a note and hadn’t returned by the time Reyn picked me up, I grew concerned. When he didn’t call later that day or the next morning to explain, I felt hurt and angry. I had zero tolerance for game playing. Life was too short. I once dated a guy who liked to play games. My friends saw what I couldn’t. He told me nothing but lies and promised me things that were never delivered. I was young and dumb and let him string me along for a year of my life…a year I would never get back. That was on me. This is not. It was a hard lesson learned and I vowed that I would never put up with that again. And I won’t. So, even though my experience with Gage was out of this world, it was over.
By late Monday afternoon I was going stir crazy and needed a distraction. I threw on black running shorts and a pink and black striped jog bra, laced up my running shoes and snagged my iPod and headphones on the way out the door. Four miles in, Zac Brown was singing about feeling uncaged when I heard the distinct sound of Harley pipes behind me. I glanced back over my shoulder and nearly tripped over my feet.
Gage.
Before he could run me over, I jumped to the sidewalk and jerked the buds from my ears. Instead of pulling in behind me, he pulled directly in front of me and shut the bike down. Unlike Zac, I was definitely feeling caged…trapped in a great big Gage cage.
&nb
sp; He eyed me up and down before asking, “Do you always run half naked?”
Even though I was panting, I managed to dish him a good dose of snarky sarcasm. “Glad to see you in one piece, Cowboy.”
He threw me a panty dropping smile and my heart skipped a beat. “Awww, Princess, don’t be mad,” he sweetly said. I warily watched as he hopped off his bike, removed his helmet and took a step in my direction.
I held up a hand to stop his advance. “I’m not mad. I was worried, but I’m not even that anymore. If anything, I’m thankful.”
Skepticism flashed across his face. “Why’s that?”
I shrugged. “Because now that I know what you’re all about, I can honestly say I’m not interested.” I placed the buds back in my ears and started to resume my run. I made it three steps when I felt an arm curve around my waist and a chest in my face.
“Let me go you Neanderthal asshat.” I said into his chest.
Instead of obeying, he snagged my ponytail and jerked my head back to where I was forced to look him in the face. “Did you really just call me an asshat?” he asked. His lips twitched and I could tell he was trying not to laugh.
“A Neanderthal asshat,” I corrected. “Now let go.”
“No can do, Princess. At least, not until you hear me out.”
I tried to pull away, but he just tightened his hold. “What’s there to hear? We slept together. You left without saying goodbye or even leaving a note. End of story.”
“I left you dead to the world in my bed after one of the best nights of my life. Trust me, baby, leaving was the last thing I wanted to do.”
I could tell by his tone that he meant every word. I stood there with my face in his chest and tried not to think about how yummy he smelled or how good his arms felt wrapped around me. It was hard… very, very hard. “Why did you leave then?”