by Debra Kayn
She allowed her daughter to take advantage of Brikken's daycare, but she still hadn't let him watch Nikki by himself or let her daughter hang out at the clubhouse with him. That was a Jessy problem. If it were up to Nikki, she'd spend all her time with him.
"Are you going to be here or at the diner?" she asked.
He still watched over her, and he couldn't see that changing until they got a positive I.D. on Ed's whereabouts and what he was doing. "Cash is going to follow you to town and stay there. I need to get some stuff done in the garage."
She smiled. "Good. We'll go home together then."
He kissed her long and hard. She leaned into him and sighed. The soft mm hm against his lips got him every time.
"If you need me...call." He patted her ass. "I'll walk you out and let Cash know you're leaving."
She slipped her hand into his. He held on tight, ready for her to be done and back by his side. While he understood her desire to hold on to her independence, he'd like nothing more than to have her be around whenever he needed her.
At her car, he leaned through the open window and kissed her goodbye. Tapping the door, he said, "Wait for Cash at the gate."
"I will, honey." She blew him a kiss.
He grinned. She had some silly things she always did. Blowing kisses with her hand were only one. Last week, she'd written a note to him and put it in his pocket. He hadn't found it until later in the day. Damned if he hadn't walked around with a half-chub the rest of the day until she got home.
She drove over to the gate. As Cash escorted her out, Jessy stuck her hand out the open window and gave him the peace sign.
He inhaled deeply, taking the impact of her love. However slow she needed to go until she gave herself over completely to him, he'd wait.
Chapter Twenty
Parking out front of the diner, Jessy stuffed her cell phone in her purse and locked her car door. She waved to Cash and hurried to the diner, moving out of the way when a customer barreled out, shaking his head.
"I'd find another place to eat if I were you." The older man grumbled. "A half hour wait for coffee is ridiculous."
She stopped. "Oh, —"
The man waved her off and stomped into the parking lot. Curious to know why Bee couldn't keep up with the lunch crowd, she went inside the diner and found several customers standing at the end of the counter.
Not taking the time to put her purse away, she walked to the cash register and put her bag on the shelf. "I can help you."
"Help me with what? I've been waiting for my lunch for a half hour." The man pointed behind her. "I'll go cook it myself if it takes much longer."
"Is everyone waiting for their food?" she asked, growing concerned. Nine months ago, the element in the industrial sized oven had gone out, leaving the diner unable to serve customers for almost six hours and caused a familiar scene.
The customers' answers only confirmed her worry. She excused herself and pushed through the kitchen door.
"Bee?" she called, not finding anyone near the grill. "Charlie?"
The muscles in her shoulders tensed. She walked toward the hallway, going to check the storage room. It wasn't like her bosses to leave the cash register unattended.
"Hey, Bee? Are you back here?" She rounded the corner and jolted to a stop at the sight of a man blocking her way.
"About time you arrived," he said.
Instantly recognizing Ed's voice, she looked for any sign that this was the father of her child. He'd shaved his head, wore a full beard, and had a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. Her mouth dried. Bee and Charlie wouldn't let him inside if they'd recognized him.
Her stomach curled in anger, and her jaw locked shut. She pivoted and pushed off the wall, running for the main room of the diner, needing to make it to Cash.
Ed caught her arm, jerking her to a stop, and covering her mouth with his hand. "You're not going anywhere. I want my daughter. She's not at the school. She's not at the apartment. Where the fuck is she?"
She tried to shake her head. Never would she let him around Nikki again.
Bucking against him, she screamed, trying to gain the attention of the customers in the other room but with the radio playing and Ed's hand clamped down on her mouth, she couldn't make loud enough noise.
Tears filled her vision, and her lungs burned. She needed to find Bee and Charlie.
She kicked her foot behind her, trying to connect with his leg. He jerked her around, and she lost her footing. Dragging her up, he pressed his mouth to her ear. "You're going to step in the other room and tell everyone the diner is closed. I want everyone gone."
Fighting him, she shook her head. He couldn't force her to do anything. Nikki was safe at the Brikken clubhouse.
"If you don't convince them to leave, I'll kill you," he said.
Only then could she feel the hard point of a pistol jabbed against her side. She froze. Six months ago when she received a call in the middle of the night from Thorn, she came to realize that Ed was never the person she believed him to be.
Ed held on to her and walked to the entrance to the main room. "Don't try anything. I'll have the gun pointed at you. If you try to tell the others what is going on, you'll get the first bullet, and anyone left in the room will get the others."
He let go of her and pushed her toward the door. Unable to think, she caught her balance against the nearest chair and stared into the faced of the remaining four people waiting at the counter.
"I-I'm sorry. The diner is closed. We'll be open tomorrow. If you owe anything, it's on the house." She refused to look behind her, knowing Ed would kill her.
When the last customer left, Ed reached through the door and pulled her into the kitchen. She searched the floor and around the room for any sign of Bee and Charlie. They wouldn't have left the diner. Ed had to have them somewhere.
Ed threw a phone at her. Out of reflex, she caught the cell.
"Call whoever has Nikki and have her brought here." Ed pointed the pistol at her.
"Never." She gritted her teeth, ready to face him if he made one move toward the clubhouse.
Ed's hand shot out. A heavy force knocked her off her feet. Her scream lost in a cry of pain radiating over her face. Warmth spread along her forehead and her cheek. She dragged herself along the floor only able to open one eye.
"I'm not going to tell you again." Swift pressure exploded in her ribs. "Call and get my daughter."
She rolled away from his boot, banging her shoulder against the kitchen cart. Ed lifted the pistol and stuck the barrel in her face. She gritted her teeth, staring up at him, and reached out, feeling along the cart shelf. Her fingers wrapped around a heavy object.
Ed leaned over her. "Do you hear me, bitch. Get. My. Daughter."
Recognizing the cold, hard feel of a cast iron skillet, she heaved herself and her arm forward, swinging the pan toward Ed.
The thunk of the skillet connecting with his skull vibrated up her arm as Ed fell to his knees. His sunglasses flew off his face. The roar that exploded out of him poisoned her soul. Wild eyes poured hatred at her as he crawled toward her.
Scared for her life, she raised herself into a crouch and swung, aiming for his head.
She swung again.
And, again.
Each solid connection filled her with energy. She would never let him get close to Nikki.
Unable to lift the cast iron again, she slipped, landing on her ass on the floor. The skillet fell from her hand. Her heartbeat raced with the adrenaline flooding her system.
She stared at Ed.
His eyes stared straight ahead.
She wiped her hand across her face, feeling the blood coming from her head. The room spun, and she spotted Ed's cell on the floor. Using all her strength, she crawled and reached for the phone when the kitchen door swung open.
Cash came to a stop, looked around, and pulled out his pistol. "Jesus Christ..."
THORN RAN INTO THE diner, pushing his way into the kitchen. Cash stop
ped him. "Whoa...keep your head."
He found Jessy sitting on the floor, staring at nothing. Looking a few feet away, he found a tablecloth spread over a lump in the middle of the kitchen. He jerked his gaze to Cash. Over the phone, his MC brother gave him enough information to know what had happened.
He'd raced to town from the clubhouse. Focused on Jessy and the fact that Cash had assured him she was hurt but okay, he wanted Talbot's head.
Knowing Jessy defended herself and Ed was under the cloth, he wanted to make sure the motherfucker was dead. "Talbot?"
"DOA." Cash raised his brows. "We've got another problem. The owners of the diner are locked in the storage room at the end of the hallway."
He walked around the body and squatted beside Jessy, looking her over. She had a gash on her eyebrow, and her eye was swollen shut.
He unfisted his hands and cupped her jaw, needing to touch her, heal her. She stared at him but wasn't seeing him. Anger pulsated in his chest. He should've been here.
"Come on, Jessy. Look at me," he whispered.
Rage pounded in him. No one had a right to touch his woman. His family.
He had men on her. Talbot never should've made it within fifty feet of her.
"We need to speed this up, Thorn," said Cash.
Feeling the pressure to get Jessy somewhere safe and away from the diner, he inhaled through his tight chest. He needed to clear the scene.
"Did the owners see what happened?" he asked.
"I don't think so. I can hear them talking and yelling for help, but I haven't let them know Brikken is here." Cash's mouth thinned. "I also have no idea if they have a way to call the police from inside the room."
For the first time, he heard the commotion deeper in the diner out of sight. Thorn caressed Jessy's chin, bringing her gaze up to him. "Hey, there, sweetheart."
Jessy blinked. "Nikki?"
"Safe at the clubhouse with Sydney and Kylie." He looked over at Cash. "Get me a fucking towel for her head."
Jessy moved to get up, and he stopped her. "I need to go get my daughter."
"We'll get her in a bit. She's safe right now and playing with Chee. Are you hurt anywhere besides your head?"
She looked down at her stomach. "It hurts to breathe."
He lifted the edge of her shirt. A bruise already formed on her lower ribs. He gritted his teeth. If Talbot weren't already dead, he'd kill the son of a bitch and make him suffer for touching Jessy.
"I need to get you out of here." His hands shook as he looked to Cash. "Jett's holding the others back until I contact him. I can't have Brikken members riding in here until we have a plan. Nobody can find Jessy here."
Cash went to brace his hand on the counter and stopped. "There were customers here. That's what tipped me off that something was going on inside. At least a half a dozen people. They were pissed because nobody was helping them and the diner was closing."
Thorn focused on Jessy. "Sweetheart, did you see Bee and Charlie when you came to work?"
She grabbed his wrist. "You need to find them."
His chest tightened. Her lack of emotions worried him. She'd seen and done too much and suffered for it. He needed to get her out of here before she went deeper into shock.
"I'm assuming they were already in the storage room and they didn't see her. I need to get her back to the clubhouse. At least there, we'll have time to figure out a better plan and have the members hide her if the police follow." He looked down at Talbot's covered body and the skillet on the floor speckled in blood. "Wipe the prints off wherever there's blood and take the damn tablecloth off Talbot. Leave the owners where they are, and use the back door to leave. I'm sure Jessy's prints are all over the fucking place, but they can't prove anything because she works here."
Cash raised his gaze. "What about cameras?"
"No. I looked when I first started protecting Jessy. There are none." He stood and bent over, slipping his hands under Jessy's armpits. "This is going to hurt, sweetheart, but we need to leave."
"Nikki?" She grunted. "I need—"
"I'm taking you to her." Right after he got someone at Brikken to look at her injuries. He held her weight against him. "Where's your purse?"
He needed the car keys and to get her out the back door where no one would see her.
"I don't know," she whispered.
He lifted his chin at Cash. "Look around for her purse. Her keys will be inside. Then, pull her car around to the back. We've been here too long."
His biggest worry was the cops showing up while they were still here or customers coming into the diner unaware that it was a murder scene.
Within five minutes, he had Jessy in the car and headed toward Brikken. He lifted his hand off the steering wheel as he passed his MC brothers riding in to grab his Harley and bring it back to the club. During the whole ride, Jessy stared out the window.
She never cried. Never moaned. Never gave any indication she was in pain. He reached over and rubbed her thigh, getting no response.
He'd seen many men go into shock after killing someone. For a gentle soul like Jessy who preferred to nurture and care for others, whatever went down at the diner took her somewhere else where her mind let her remain calm. He spotted the Brikken gate ahead. It was probably better that she'd escaped reality while he tried to figure out their next step.
He barely slowed down as he passed the gate. Parking at the door, he got out and rounded the car, helping Jessy inside the clubhouse.
Jett waited for him inside. He lowered his voice and said, "Make sure Sydney keeps Nikki inside the daycare room. Where's Mitch?"
The club's go-to man for injuries, Mitch could stitch, glue, and supply enough pain pills to lay out the biggest rider.
Jett pulled out a chair. "He's washing up."
He helped Jessy sit and pulled a chair over in front of her for him. Holding her hands, he wanted to take her pain away. She barely breathed, instead preferring to pant. The cut on her forehead no longer bled but it was a mess.
Jessy shifted and grimaced. "Nikki?"
"Sit still," he ordered. "She's safe."
"I need—"
"You need to take care of yourself first." He spotted Mitch hurrying across the room with a duffle. "We're going to get you fixed up and then we'll get our girl."
"Our girl," she repeated.
"Carter, get some water and towels." Mitch leaned over in front of Jessy. "I'll glue the cut...seeing as she's a lady and wouldn't want a scar."
"She's got a big bruise on her ribs," added Thorn.
"Let me take care of her head first." Mitch nudged him out of the way. "Afterward, you know the drill. Take care of her as if she has a concussion—which I'm sure she has."
He brought Jessy's hand up and pressed her fingers against his lips. She sat woodenly, letting Mitch touch her forehead without even flinching.
Jett put his hand on Thorn's back and squatted beside him. "Cash is out of the building and on his way back to the clubhouse. He's filled me in on what went down at the diner. D-Con's bringing your bike back. We have members planted at the end of the road and watching for any activity."
"I need to keep her safe," said Thorn. "I'll run with her if I have to."
Jett leaned in and said, "She's got a kid, bro."
A fact he would never forget. He understood what his brother was saying. A deep part of him always understood his future. He was born into Brikken, taught by Rollo's beliefs, raised by Chief. He'd go down for his family.
"Don't let her get her head wet for a while. If the wound separates, use more glue. Let her sleep, but check on her every few hours. Her ribs are going to hurt like a motherfucker. I'll give you some pills she can take that will take the bite off and let her breathe easier." Mitch gazed at Jessy and stepped back. "Son of a bitch did a good job on her.
Thorn looked at Jessy and knew that he would do anything for her. Handing his pistol to Jett, he said, "Have Sydney bring Nikki out. We're going home."
When the poli
ce came, and they would come because Jessy worked at the diner, he wanted no weapons on him.
Jett cussed under his breath. "Think it through, brother. Murder is a long fucking sentence."
"Self-defense. They can look at Jessy and see that. There are no bullets. I have no gun." He met his brother's gaze, leaving the rest unspoken. "You'd do the same thing."
Jett dipped his chin, acknowledging the truth hanging in the air. Time would stop, and yet the world would go on.
Chapter Twenty One
Nikki's eyes remained closed, her soft breathing filled the pink and purple room. The Barbie doll she slept with laid on her pillow. It'd taken longer for her to fall asleep because the child had no idea it was six-thirty in the evening.
She'd barely left her mom's side since they'd taken her out of the daycare room at Brikken and Nikki spotted the owies on her mommy's face. They explained it away as Jessy had fallen down at the diner carrying plates of dinner but Nikki's concern and worry were evident.
Thorn had needed her asleep early. According to the Brikken members watching the diner, the police activity dispersed an hour ago.
At any time, he expected a knock at the door.
He walked into the living room and stood at the foot of the bed. Jessy slept curled on her side. Even in sleep with the pain medicine softening the traumatic event of the day, her one uninjured brow remained wrinkled.
Changes were coming, and no matter how he prepared to protect Jessy and Nikki, they'd suffer. It wasn't what he wanted for his family. But, it could be a lot worse.
He placed his knee on the mattress, waiting to see if Jessy would stir, and when she continued to sleep, he stretched out beside her. He hurt all over for what would come to both of them.
He'd promised to protect her, and that's what he was going to do. Someday, he hoped Jessy would be able to see and understand the reasons why he'd done the things necessary to save them all.
Gently hooking the strand of hair that'd fallen on her cheek, he swallowed the lump of emotions choking him. Fuck, she was beautiful.
The last thing he wanted was to lose her.