by Jade Kuzma
“Why don’t you ask him yourself? I think he’s planning on calling a meeting pretty soon.”
I looked to the side and saw Garnet leaving his office.
“Speak of the devil,” she said.
I got up from my seat and marched over to Garnet.
“What’s up?” I said with a shrug.
He looked at me for a second. There was a strange look in his eyes. I didn’t think much of it though.
“Call a meeting,” he said.
I gave him a nod. I interrupted the rest of the club’s poker game and we all gathered in the chapel. I shut the door and took a seat right next to Garnet.
“I suppose you wanna know what went down last night,” he said as he looked at me.
I looked around the table and everybody had their eyes on me.
“What went down?” I said.
“Oh, shit, man!” Needle exclaimed. “Can you believe this? The motherfucker doesn’t even remember…”
“Remember…”
I only had to think about it for a second to realize what I’d forgotten.
“Shit. I—”
“It’s all right,” Garnet said. “The deal went off without a hitch. Sully took your place and did just fine.”
“Thanks,” Sully said to me.
“His lady comes back into town and the motherfucker can’t think of anything else,” Needle said. “Lovestruck…”
“Shut the fuck up,” I said. “You act like I planned on Anna getting kidnapped.”
“Take it easy, take it easy,” Garnet said.
He raised his hands up and calmed everybody down before tensions could rise.
“The deal went smooth,” he said. “The Chinese are happy with how quickly it went down. They’ll have another shipment for us. But… We’ve got some bigger problems on our hands.”
Everybody in the room had turned their attention back to the president.
“Anna’s kidnapping was the distraction we needed to get the shipment up north,” he said. “Cops were too busy trying to track her down instead of keeping their eyes on us.”
“Now the problem is dealing with the rest of those motherfuckers who took Anna,” I said.
“Exactly.”
Garnet got up from his seat.
“I spoke with Lin,” he said. “He told me that they call themselves the Corps.”
“The Corps?” Sully said.
“A group of disgruntled vets. They don’t feel they got the compensation they deserve, so they have other means of making ends meet.”
“Like making deals with the Chinese,” I said.
“They’re a dangerous group of guys. Wouldn’t expect anything less from ex-military. The Triads liked working with them because they got the job done. But their prices got too high. That’s when Lin started renegotiating with me.”
“And now they’re out for blood,” Brawn chimed in.
Needle sighed and leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed.
“This is just fucking great,” he said. “Fucking ex-military. The best deal the club has ever had and we have to deal with a bunch of bloodthirsty grunts.”
“There’s no telling what they’re capable of,” Garnet said. “But they’ve got a target on us now that we took their deal with the Chinese.”
Garnet leaned forward and pressed his palms on the table. He eyeballed each and every one of us.
“Until the Corps are dealt with, we’re gonna have to watch our backs,” he said. “Of course, we can just cut the deal off with the Chinese. Anybody interested in doing that?”
Sully. Needle. Brawn. Petey.
Everybody remained silent.
When Garnet looked at me, I swallowed and looked down at the ground.
“Something wrong, Ghost?”
I took a deep breath and shook my head at him.
“No,” I said. “Nothing’s wrong—”
“You wanna back out.”
“I said nothing’s wrong.”
Garnet shifted his eyes up and down, examining me for a second before nodding.
“I’m talking to Lin,” he said. “The Triads aren’t any more fond of the Corps than any of us are. He’s working on a way to deal with them. Until then, lay low. The Chinese will talk to me when the next shipment is ready. Meeting adjourned.”
Garnet snapped his fingers.
The club members got up and started leaving. I remained in my seat until all of them were gone. The door closed and Garnet took a seat back down in front of me.
I didn’t have to say anything. We both knew what I was thinking.
“It’s tough,” he said. “Being in love… Anna was a sweet girl. Shit, there’s no girl quite like the first.”
“Was Michelle your first?”
Garnet scoffed and shook his head.
“She wasn’t my first but I knew she was special,” he said. “I knew she was the one. I knew it right from the start and she’s still with me now.”
“Shit…”
I sighed a deep breath.
“…I’m sorry for letting this shit interfere with club business. No woman, not even Anna, should fuck things up for everybody else. Needle’s right… I sound like some stupid fucking lovestruck teenager…”
“Let me give you some advice. If there’s any reason to fuck up club business, a woman is it. I can’t imagine what it would be like without Michelle. None of this shit would be as sweet without her.”
Garnet got up from his seat.
“Give her some time,” he said. “If she’s an old lady, she won’t be able to fight it. If not, then it was never meant to be. Her heart will eventually decide for her.”
“From the sound of things, it doesn’t sound like we have much time. But I can’t worry about that now. Right now, we gotta deal with the fucking Corps. I have to pay ‘em back for what they did.”
“They’ll get what’s coming to ‘em.”
He put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye.
“You with me, brother?” he said.
I nodded without hesitating.
“Let’s go take care of business.”
Chapter 16
ANNA
Five years earlier…
“Cream and sugar?”
I smiled softly and the old man responded the same. He walked over and took a seat down next to me as he handed me the cup.
“Thanks,” I sighed.
It was late in the evening but the sweet coffee was satisfying. The first sip of caffeine was enough for me to blink my eyes open.
I’d gotten so used to seeing Sheriff Sutton that I didn’t think twice about him sitting next to me. I couldn’t remember a time when the old cop wasn’t kind to me.
“Do you get tired?” I asked.
“Tired?”
“Of doing what you do. Arresting people. Dealing with bad guys. Having to console people.”
Sutton thought about it for a second and sighed a deep breath.
“If I could choose, I’d choose not to have to deal with it. I wish I didn’t have to arrest anybody. I wish I didn’t have to deal with bad people. I wish I didn’t have to tell people that their loved ones are in jail or worse.”
He smiled softly at me like he always did.
“But it’s my job,” he said. “It’s something I have to do. If I could choose between doing my job and not doing it… It’s an easy decision to make.”
“I don’t know if I could ever get used to it. Something about this place makes me feel uneasy.”
“There’s no safer place in Ivory than the police station.”
“Maybe. But if you need to be in a safe place, that means you have a problem.”
I held back a yawn and took another sip of coffee.
“That coffee will kick in soon enough,” he said. “I hope you’re not planning on being anywhere in the morning.”
“I’ve got an exam.”
“I see… How is school going for you, Miss Roberts?”
“It’s
going great,” I said with a laugh. “My grades are up. I’m learning a lot. I… I feel like I might be going somewhere with it.”
“You’ll be able to go everywhere with it. There’s no substitute for an education. I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now without it. You keep it up.”
“I plan on it.”
“Any plans on what you’re gonna do once you graduate?”
“Ha! Graduation feels like so far away.”
“It’s not that far away. It feels like it but it’s not. Before you know it, you’ll have graduated and you’ll have the freedom to do whatever you want.”
“Yeah…”
I looked down at the ground and considered everything Sutton said to me. He patted me on the arm and stood up from his seat.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” he said. “I don’t think they’re booking him but you never know. It won’t take much longer. I promise.”
“Thanks, Sheriff.”
He nodded and went on his way.
Even at this hour, the police station was still busy. It was quiet but there were still cops at nearly every desk. There was always something going on in Ivory that had to be dealt with.
I sat by myself. My thoughts were empty as I sipped on my coffee. I didn’t know how much time had gone by when I saw him being escorted by a couple of officers.
Jon always stood out but next to a couple of police uniforms, he was even easier to spot. The leather vest. The tattoos. The beard and the long, shaggy hair.
He walked up to me with a smile. He kissed me and wrapped his arms around me.
“Thanks for coming out,” he said.
“Yeah… Sure…”
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.
“No charges. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
I nodded to him and we left the police station together.
This late at night, the streets were empty. As I drove down the road, I looked out the window, lost in my thoughts.
“You seem awfully quiet tonight,” he said.
“Oh… Sorry…”
“You don’t have to apologize,” he said with a laugh. “It was just an observation.”
“Right…”
It wasn’t long before we got to his apartment. I parked and Jon leaned over to kiss me. Before our kiss could get any deeper, I gently put my hand on his chest.
“What’s wrong?” he said.
“I… We need to talk.”
Jon sank back into his seat and nodded.
“Okay,” he said. “What’s this all about?”
“I…”
I hesitated for a second. I’d been thinking about it for so long and the decision was already made. But now that it came time to say it, I struggled to find the strength to get the words out.
“What is it?” he said.
I looked at him and saw the curiousness in his eyes.
Jon was always so handsome. I couldn’t imagine being with someone better looking than him. Just a glance at him was enough to make my desire for him swirl around in my stomach.
I shook my head and closed my eyes, trying to get rid of the feelings I had for him.
“You can tell me, Anna. You can tell me anything.”
“I know…”
“Tell me.”
“Jon… I’m tired.”
I sighed a deep breath before continuing.
“I’m tired of picking you up from the police station. I’m tired of drunken nights and getting into brawls with other women, having to defend my man. I’m tired of the late nights wondering if you’ll be all right.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know. I just… Sometimes I just wish you were there to take care of me.”
“Anna…”
He reached forward and brushed a hand against my cheek. His touch was almost enough to make me forget about all the shit running through my mind.
“Tonight wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They booked me for questioning but I wasn’t involved. Just some petty squabble between two other clubs.”
“It’s not just tonight. It’s everything. Tonight, it’s two other clubs. Tomorrow, it might be your club. You’re so loyal to Declan. You’re so loyal to the patch.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “I understand.”
“You do?”
“I haven’t been there for you as much as I could be. With you focusing on school, I’ve taken the time to focus on myself, too. I’ve got a lot of work at the shop. Everybody in Ivory needs work on their ride. Plus with the work at the clubhouse, business is good.”
“I’m not worried about that. I know you can take care of yourself.”
“I can take care of you, too.”
I shook my head because I knew that wasn’t the case.
“You can’t,” I said. “You can’t balance me and the club at the same time. We’re two different things.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you have an obligation to the club. The Black Reapers are your life. That’s the decision you made. That’s your decision. And that’s fine. I just don’t think there’s room in your life for someone like me.”
“Anna—”
“I’m leaving.”
“What?”
He squinted his eyes at me in disbelief.
“What are you talking about?”
“Living on my own without my parents around,” I said. “My grades are good enough. I could finish school somewhere else. My parents would agree with me if they were still here. It’d help me focus if I finished school away from Ivory.”
I stared at Jon, waiting for him to react.
He started to laugh softly with a grin forming on his face.
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “I get it. Who put you up to this? This is a joke, right?”
“It’s not a joke, Jon. I’m leaving in a couple of weeks.”
The smile left his face. The hurt in his eyes was clear. It made it hard for me to look at him.
“When were you planning on telling me?” he asked.
My throat suddenly dry, I swallowed hard.
“I’m telling you now,” I said.
“You know I care about you, Anna—”
“Jon, don’t make this harder for me than it has to be.”
My emotions were beginning to get the best of me. I swallowed to try and hold everything back but tears leaked down the corners of both my eyes.
He looked away from me, staring out the window of the passenger seat.
“I love you,” I said.
He didn’t respond.
“Jon, did you hear me?”
He exhaled a deep breath before turning back to me. I stared into his eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking. I knew Jon better than anybody but at this point, he was capable of anything.
“Jon?”
His jaw clenched, he nodded softly at me.
“I remember what Garnet’s old lady said to me once,” he said. “It’s not easy being with a Reaper. Some women just weren’t cut out for it.”
“It’s not about being with you or not being with you—”
“You’re leaving Ivory. You’re leaving me. How is it not?”
“…I need to get away. This is just something that I have to do.”
The tension in his face slowly started to go away. The glossy stare in his eyes made it seem like everything was finally getting through to him.
“Are you coming back?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t predict the future. Nobody can.”
He finally looked at me and smiled. Despite his rugged exterior, there was a good man inside of his heart. I knew there was. That was the man I fell in love with. That was the man who made it so hard for me to make this decision.
Jon reached forward and brushed the tear away from my cheek.
“We had fun, didn’t
we?” he said.
I smiled and nodded.
“Too much fun,” I said.
“If there’s anything you ever need, you come back,” he said. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
I bit my lip and laughed softly.
“You’re a good man, Jon,” I said. “You’ll get over me. I know you will.”
“No… I won’t…”
He leaned forward and kissed me softly on the forehead. I stared at him and failed at holding my emotions back.
“Goodbye, Anna.”
“Goodbye… Jon…”
He pulled his hand away and left my car quickly. I coughed and cleared my throat then started my engine. I didn’t look in the rearview mirror. I didn’t wait and watch him go into his apartment. I just drove off down the street.
I couldn’t think about him any longer. My life in Ivory was over.
Chapter 17
ANNA
A few days had gone by since the incident with the Corps. I was fortunate that I had the work at the shelter to distract me from everything. Even though Jon was always lingering in my thoughts, I always had something in front of me to keep me busy. There was an endless amount of people at the shelter who needed assistance just making ends meet.
Jackie had spent a night at the hospital. Despite being older, she was a strong-willed woman. She was one of the few people that sported the bruise on her cheek proudly. If anything, the residents at the shelter respected her more because of it.
It was lunchtime at the shelter. The residents helped themselves to the trays of food that had been prepared by the kitchen staff. The dining hall was big enough to house almost 50 people but it always seemed smaller than it was.
I was making my way around the hall when the friendly old man I’d gotten used to walked up to me.
“Hello, Miss Roberts,” Ryan said. “Mind finding me a seat.”
“Not at all, Mister Ryan.”
I smiled and held his tray for him. The older man put his arm around mine and I led him to an open table.
“Humor me for a bit,” he said.
“Of course. I’ve got plenty of time for you.”
“Hearing that from a pretty young lady like you… It’s music to my ears.”
I giggled as I took a seat in front of the man. I watched as he started digging into his food.
“How are you doing?” I asked.