Blanche had no answer.
“So as far as we can figure, the only 'mujer' that could do damage the way you did with little more than her bare hands has to be connected with El Salvador. And we here in town are on the lookout for this El Salvador character, because he is rumored to come here to do some damage."
“My last name is Herrera. I am not going to deny I have heard the urban legends about El Salvador. He rides a ghost motorcycle. He stands seven feet tall. He gives money to little children like a Mexican Robin Hood. The legend is you will know El Salvador by the scream, but I have heard of this character. He is said to split the air with a blood curdling sound-effect that makes his opponents freeze with fright."
It was difficult answering questions about herself in such a ridiculous way. She knitted her brow to look confused. She licked her lips to give them gloss and began to twirl her hair. It was obvious to anyone that she was all woman, but she was practiced at looking coy and innocent. It had worked with Jason; it would work with this guy.
"Back to the subject, how is it a tiny woman like you outwit a huge guy like that not once, but twice?"
"I make it no secret I can defend myself. You are in law enforcement. Surely you know you can make a weapon from anything in reach." Blanche tried her tactic of changing the subject somewhat.
"I see. Are you in law enforcement?" he asked sternly.
"No, but I am a petite woman who took advice about learning to defend myself. I have taken some training."
"Well, I'd like to shake the hand of your instructor, because Hawk Melendez is not only a hundred pounds bigger than you, he is psycho. It took Rick, me, and two other men to get him in that cell. But you-" he scratched his head. "The problem is that he will make bail, because, whether we know you're a Norte Mexicali or not, we know he is. He has unlimited access to resources. Hell, he is probably out as we speak. He will come gunning for you. He has as much as said that."
Although he was on to her, his point made her mad. "I didn't know him, Sheriff. I just knew he threatened to rape me and I didn't see anyone stepping up. You tell me how brave you would get." She was mad, but she deliberately used it to throw him off. "Not a single guy was intervening. I don't even know why I'm with-"
She tried to storm off but the sheriff grabbed her. "See that concerns me, too. You and Jason struck up a friendship awful fast. Didn't he ‘rescue’ you on the collapsed bridge by his place? You didn't know where he lived?" his question delivered on steely tones.
"No, I didn't, but this is a real small town I'm finding, so anywhere I landed here, I would have been near his house."
He didn't accept that. "And so why did you come to Gold Creek? ‘Cause I have to tell you, the only new folk we have had lately have been Norte Mexicali. Are you saying that you’re an exception?"
"I see, because I'm Hispanic and my name is Herrera." The sheriff was dead on about his insinuations but she didn’t like them. “Surely you have other people here in Gold Creek with native heritage…Or did you push them out as well?”
“Little lady, I don’t like what you’re getting at. If you want to come straight out and say I am off base and you have no Norte Mexicali connections, I will drop it, but so far, you have thrown everything at me but the truth. Now why is that?”
“Whatever connections I had before I arrived here,” Blanche answered truthfully, “I left behind. If there is something I can do for you and the kind people of Gold Creek, I am at your service. I didn’t realize it until I got here, Sheriff, but I came looking for a place to call home.”
Dana studied her for some time. “Okay. If you mean that. And you can make any choices you want and that includes to tell the truth or not tell the truth, but remember all of those choices, good and bad, have consequences. We may seem like we are a bunch of knuckleheads that are at the mercy of a ruthless gang of cutthroat drug dealers, but we’re not. And just because I am talking to you nice and civil like, I’ll kick your ass same as I would a man if I thought you crossed me. I can speak for Jason, too, when I say that.”
Blanche deadened with anger. “Got the message, Officer. I am going to leave now, unless there was some specific charge you wanted to hold me with?” Dana just stared at her. “Well then, what I am going to do, just so you are in the know, is I am going find out the status of my bike and then I’ll collect my things and move on to the next town. If my bike is ready, can you give me a lift over there? I would rather Jason was not the one to do it.”
He agreed. In fact, he called over to The Motorcycle Place where anyone in town, certainly the Seven Devils, had their bikes fixed and, sure enough, her bike was up and running. Since it was a minor repair, there wasn’t a charge.
“Let’s go,” she said.
The sheriff looked a little ashamed, like he had pushed her into making this choice. “You aren’t going to say goodbye to him?”
Blanche Herrera shoved her two fingers into his surprisingly hard chest and backed him up a step. “You just gave me the ‘watch it, lady’ speech followed up with the ‘we don’t like your kind here’ talk. I know that’s your pal over there. You know and I know that he’ll get over it if I up and leave and you made it clear that you and the whole town has my vote if I go, so why don’t you stop putting any lack of consideration in this situation on me. I am doing what you asked. If anyone isn’t thinking of Jason’s feelings here, maybe it is his concerned friend. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go pick up my bike.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Unfortunately, the only way to the shop was through town on Main Street, so with Blanche riding in the cop car, even if it was in the front seat, it looked funny. Sure enough, everyone at the picnic was watching, including Jason, who ran a few steps trying to stop them. The sheriff’s cellphone started ringing immediately after. It was Jason. She could hear his voice, he was animated, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. She could only figure out his questions by Dana’s responses.
“She wants it this way. I am just doing what the lady asks,” he said.
“Liar,” she whispered. She didn't just not trust Dana because he lied now to Jason. She also didn’t trust him because there was something else… like he didn't like women.
And then she heard clearly Jason say, “I think I love her, man. Don’t let her go.” Then he asked another question that Blanche guessed was “where are you taking her?”
“We’re going over to the jail for a minute,” Dana lied. Blanche gave him the OK sign to let him know that was a good move. Now she could go pick up her bike and make a clean cut without having to face him.
Only Jason was as smart as the two of them combined and he figured it was a lie. For as soon as they had gotten to pick up the bike and the guy gave her the keys, the sound of Jason’s Harley filled the air. Blanche would never forget the image of him framed by the garage door opening, his longish hair glinting in the sunlight, whipping in the wind, his bare, brown arms so powerful and ripped as he commanded the bike.
He rode into the shop like he owned the place, like he owned the universe. It was checkmate for her. She could not navigate either side of him. He would thwart her passage somehow. Plus, she just didn’t have the heart. Her feelings, although fast, were strong. She just didn’t come across men like him often in her lifetime and she wasn’t so sure she wanted to take a chance on having to find another. He was so hot. So beautiful.
He peeled of his chromed glasses. “Why?” he asked simply.
Blanche took a deep breath. “I’ve caused too much trouble already. I understand Hawk is going to pay me back for my ill treatment of him. I have to go. I can get myself out of trouble and distract it away from you."
Jason chuckled, “Well that might be the first straight answer you’ve given me since you got here. How have you caused trouble?”
“I pissed off the Norte Mexicali, for one. I pissed off Hawk and he was the reason Mrs. Cranston had to fix her house.”
“She’ll be fine,” he said dismissively.
<
br /> Blanche leaned into him. “Have you forgotten she asked me to leave? Were you there when she called me a whore?" As she leaned over, her neckline dropped. He stared down at what lie beneath and returned her gaze with a smoky, hungry look.
“Then you’ll stay with me,” he replied.
“No. I have decided to move on. If after whatever you’re dealing with here in town blows over and you’re still interested in me, I’ll be in touch.”
Jason smiled. “That makes no sense. I would have to be in touch with you…“ he stopped. He got it. She had intentionally said it backwards. “Tell me,” he asked sarcastically, “are you the type who asked for two tens for a five?” Blanche wondered if she ever had, but that was her tactic. She didn’t answer him. “I still have your gun,” he said.
That got Dana’s attention. “Gun?” Blanche rolled her eyes. If he asked for a permit, she was cooked. That gun was not registered. “Did you bring a firearm into Gold Creek?”
Jason smiled, “Why yes she did. Are you going to lock her up?”
“You didn’t see that sign as you were coming in? You have to check your weapons with my office.”
“Oh, come on. You know what’s been going on since I got here,” she protested.
Dana broke out his handcuffs. “Sorry, rules are rules. You do have a license to carry, don’t you? I will have to see that, too.”
Jason interjected. “May I please?” He didn’t wait for an answer and took over the task of restraining Blanche. Dana was kind enough to go into the garage office.
They were alone. Jason got up behind her. She could smell his sweet scent, feel the heat from his body, the electricity of his touch. He was slow and seductive as he closed the metal on her wrists.
“You are enjoying this aren’t you?” she asked.
“Aren’t you?” he snickered. He body covertly grazed hers.
“I can’t stay,” she answered.
“You are going to, Ms. Herrera,” he replied “and in jail where I know you are safe and sound. It is for your own good. Where I can keep an eye on you."
"Jason, what if Hawk is El Salvador? How safe are you going to be with me in your house? No."
“They just released Hawk and his associates. Do you really think I am going to let you go knowing those animals are out there with an axe to grind with you?”
“Well, I guess I would rather be in jail than at your house,” she said. “At least I know I won’t be bringing danger to your house.”
"Ooh, a costume," he teased. She glared. “We are going to take care of these pains in the ass, so Gold Creek’s citizens can back to their peaceful little ways and that goes for its newest citizen, too.” He lightly rimmed her ear with his hot, wet tongue. He held her wrists tight, so she had to stand there and take the pleasure that he gave her.
Immediately she ached to be filled by him. She wanted – no, needed – about a week alone in a honeymoon suite somewhere to get the craziness that he filled her with out of her system.
Jason was just about to get completely carried away with taking sweet advantage of her in her helpless state when Dana’s radio started making noise. A lot of noise. There was a shootout on Main Street involving a couple of Norte Mexicali members.
Dana and the other Seven Devil, the mechanic, came flying out of the office and they grabbed Jason. The two of them jumped in the car and tore out of the garage, leaving Blanche cuffed and bewildered.
But just for a second. She carefully lowered the cuffs behind her back and stepped through them so they were now in front of her. She pulled from her pocket something she carried with her always: a universal handcuff key. Blanche quickly scanned the garage for projectile and sauntered over to the pegboard to load up with arsenal.
It was an oversight on her part. She slid in a clear slick of lubricant and her entire body jerked. She felt something rip, a muscle maybe, but she had to ignore it. It was a freak injury that would probably hurt really badly in the morning. She took a deep breath and continued to arm herself. She didn’t need her gun, but it would be really nice to have it at a time like this. She was an expert knife thrower. Metal rasps made wonderful makeshift ninja stars.
Blanche rode and as she came up on the scene, she saw that, to her horror, it was more than just a few Norte Mexicali against the Seven Devils and the town of Gold Coast. She had her work cut out. It was time to give up her identity.
For a fleeting second, she hesitated, knowing her next move would ostracize her from Jason for good. She pulled the bauble that dangled from her necklace and released a screech that relaxed the standoff. It was the screech that she had just described to Dana. The Norte Mexicali among the crowd knew it to be exactly what it was: a signal that El Salvador had arrived.
The Seven Devils and Gold Creek citizens were bewildered. Especially Jason. In her own shadows, as the sun beat down on her, she could see her wild hair playing in the breeze, the lines of her voluptuous body that were not protected in her usual armor of jeans and leather. She must have looked a little ridiculous, not quite formidable, but she was armed so no matter, she would have the last laugh.
And the last tear. She would take the wounded look on Jason’s face as he put two and two together. The Norte Mexicali thought she was there to bolster their forces and the town feared the same. Hawk raised his hand to do damage to his foe and with the flick of her wrist, she literally disarmed him.
She punctured the suicide side of his wrist with a shop tool, missing the bridge of Hawk’s opponent’s nose by a hair. He dropped to avoid the blood spurting from the wounded man’s body. She hit an artery. His comrades rushed to keep the pressure on to keep him from bleeding out as the huge man sank to the ground.
Blanche spoke proudly. “Sheriff, deputies, make all the arrests that you need to and those who are graciously allowed to leave, leave. And don’t come back.”
As quickly as it began, the threat was over. The bullying Norte Mexicali were subdued. Blanche could feel Jason’s eyes bore down on her. She waited as he made his way towards her. If his look could slap her, it would. He was so angry with her.
“Well Ms. Herrera, or El Salvador, I see you had no problem with the handcuffs. Years of practice, in and out of bed?” he said to punish her. “I would thank you, but then I don’t usually give thanks to the person who has come to town to carry out a hit on me. Tell me, do you fuck all the people you intend to kill or did I somehow rate?"
“Obviously–” she started to say that she wasn’t going to carry that out.
“Obviously?” he cut her off with demand. “Obviously? There is nothing obvious about you except that, from the start, you have been a goddamned liar. I guess I finally got my answer as to how you knew my name. I’d ask you how much you agreed to kill someone like me for. Do you know that Mrs. Cranston’s husband died on the front lawn of the boarding house, before it was a boarding house, and she wouldn’t eat for a week? Her husband was best friends with my older brother and, because of the connection, she let me feed her. She let us split up her house and bring it up to code so she could rent it out to the likes of you. She didn’t like you from before you got here.”
Blanche butted in, “That’s because she is a bigot. She hated me from the start for no reason."
"Well we know she has reason now," he scoffed. "Maybe she is sensitive. Am I a bigot? I guess I am little prejudiced towards total honesty,” he continued in his sarcastic line.
“But you fucked me anyway,” she said bitingly. "Multiple times."
Jason slapped her and recoiled in horror.
Tears streamed down her face.
Jason stepped away and Blanche drove slowly away.
She only got so far when Dana called out to her. “I want your ass in my jail or I will hunt you down!” he shouted.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Blanche was whipped. Beaten. She had no fight left in her. This was not any scenario she would have figured for herself when she decided to take the shortcut across the bridge what seemed now
a million years ago. She could very easily ride out of town. She had no problem traveling off rode or on. Her versatility and her usual cold lack of feeling made her a formidable foe. She had forgotten to leave her heart behind.
As she rode towards the jail, Jason and Dana were behind her. They were tailing her. Dana was in the police car with two hulking Norte Mexicali. Hawk rode off in an ambulance. Blanche waited in the very small lobby of the sheriff’s department for the men to file in.
Jason assumed Dana’s duties and frisked her. “Hold your arms out,” he ordered abruptly.
She lifted, slowly. She was in a good deal of pain. He mistook her slowness for resistance and he lost his temper. He grabbed her and shook her. Blanche cried out and her voice filled the room.
“What happened? Did you get poked by one of your weapons?” Jason asked glibly. He would never believe a single thing about her again except that he could never trust her.
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