by Ruin, Olivia
He is way too quick for a teenager.
“Let’s say it’s about her and Jed. Do you have any idea what her history is like?”
He picked up a couple stones and skipped them across the road while he considered his words. “I know that they were in love. Like, really in love. The kind you couldn’t fake if you tried. Then something blew up between them and Frank, and she left. She never came back, and I don’t think anyone knew where she went. Jed was hard to be around back then. I was a lot younger, obviously, but I remember that he never really laughed much after that.”
“That sounds rough.” As much as I knew about Jed, which was a huge amount considering my resources and the preparation I had done for the undercover role, there were still things that I didn’t really know about. “So no one knows what happened to her between then and now? We have no idea how she spent her time or what kind of crowd she fell in with?”
“Are you trying to ask if she turned into the type of person who could attack people she used to care about?”
I had asked too many leading questions. I might as well have just told Zach my suspicions. I hoped that he would be discreet about it. “Let’s say I’m asking that.”
“Let’s put it this way,” he said. “I think there’s only one person in this town who could have gotten to that point, and once you have all the facts that should lead you straight to them, shouldn’t it?”
A wise young man, here.
Before I could continue questioning Zach, the sound of several motorcycles roaring down the streets echoed up the road. We looked at each other and by unspoken accord got to our feet just as a few hogs ripped around the corner and screeched to a halt in front of the Roost.
ANOTHER
I hailed the lead man, Luke.
“What’s going on?” There was urgency to their movements. It telegraphed that they weren’t just coming to spend time at the bar.
A grim look settled over the man’s bearded face. ”It’s Nathan. He’s been shot.”
Not him, too.
There had been a sense of inevitability around it. Someone had to be the next target. That it was Nathan wasn’t a surprise considering those who had been in line before. First Frank, then Patrick. Jed, then Tim. It was only a matter of time until the dog of war came barking up Nathan’s tree. There was no telling if I would be next in line or if the fire would just bypass me completely.
“Is he alive?” Zach asked.
Luke nodded. “Barely. He’s in rough shape, but we’ve called an ambulance.”
I cut him off before he continued. “We might as well go into the bar so the others can hear and you don’t have to repeat yourself.”
We walked in, and I tried my hardest not to stare in Jed’s direction as we did so.
Has Kat been with Jed the entire time? If so then maybe she isn’t the killer. But there’s nothing saying that she doesn’t have an accomplice. Or, for that matter, that she isn’t acting as the accomplice for someone else.
Luke restated what happened and after the initial shock and dismay wore down he elaborated further. “Nathan was leaving Tim’s house to ride to the headquarters. A couple of us still at the house heard what sounded like distant gun fire a short while later, so a few of us went to check it out. We found him face down in the gutter, two wounds in his back.” He spat on the ground in disgust. “It looked like he’d been shot in the back as he rode by.”
Anger mutters from the other men laced the room. I couldn’t blame them. I felt like doing some angry muttering myself. There was little hope for anyone on a motorcycle to stand a chance against someone using tactics that dirty.
The hope I had felt when Luke had said that Nathan was alive faded. There would be no chance that the older man had seen who the assailant was if he’d been shot off his bike while riding by.
“That’s it,” Jed said. “Let’s go and see to him. Everyone’s coming, I’m not leaving a single man behind to get picked off like stray sheep.”
There was no argument from anyone present.
We got into or on our assorted vehicles and rode off in a big caravan. It would have been funny if it hadn’t been for such a serious reason. It was the dead of night and there were seven motorcycles and my little car trundling along the town’s streets at a sedate pace. When we got to where the others guarded Nathan, the flashing lights of the ambulance were already there.
Over half the club was out on the random side street, milling around. I hung back a little as Jed and Kat went to go check on Nathan before the paramedics drove off with him to the hospital.
“Hey Trank,” I pulled on the elbow of one of the men who had been at the Devil’s Roost when I had gotten there. “Do you know if Jed and Kat got to the bar together? Did they ride in at the same time?”
I had noticed that each of them now had a motorcycle, but they had left Tim’s on the same one.
“No, Jed got there first. Kat was only there for a few minutes before Luke and them came to tell us about Nathan.”
Fuck. Hoping for an answer to quell my doubts about her, now I had nothing but reason to believe that Kat was the source of the pain and suffering that beset the motorcycle club.
Jed whistled for silence. Accustomed to following his orders, the unruly bikers fell quiet.
“Men, we’re at war with whoever did this. We are going to find them, and we are going to make them pay for what they’ve done in our town.”
A grim roar sprang from the throats of the assembled bikers at the prospect of bringing someone to their version of justice. They didn’t like feeling useless and in danger, and Jed offered them a chance to feel on top again.
“We’re all going to come back to the club headquarters, every single one of us, and then we are going to formulate our plan of attack. This sick son of a bitch is going to pay for messing with the Winged Enemy!”
Another cheer, and then motorcycle after motorcycle began to kick to life. The air filled with revving engines as a dozen bikers got ready to declare their freedom from tyranny.
I got into my car. I had a choice to make.
Do I go to the headquarters and raise a big stink, and try to get everyone to turn on Kat? That might backfire. I had been around for a few weeks longer than her, but she had history with the gang and I was still an outsider. Judging from Jed’s reaction I doubt that it would be so easy to convince them that she was most likely the killer. Logic paled in comparison to the importance of human interactions when most people made decisions.
Uneasy with my choice, I let myself trail off behind the others, and then turned off. I drove back to my apartment, aware that I could be making a huge mistake.
I need to finally report what’s going on here. I’ll do that in the morning and then I’ll request backup. Arnold’s going to tear me a new asshole when he finds out that I’ve been silent through all this crap, but better late than never.
I checked the time as I fell into bed. Two thirty AM. It felt later, with all that had happened that day. My hand felt like a lump of coal, a painful, throbbing mess. I’d have to get it looked at in the morning as well.
My thoughts ran in circles as I drifted off to sleep.
ASSASSIN
A soft click penetrated my dreams. I lay there with my eyes closed, and felt even wearier than when I first hit head to pillow. It seemed like only a second ago.
I raised my head to look at the clock. Four. Why the hell am I awake?
A slight noise out in the front room caught my attention.
Is that Jed? Did he come to find me when I didn’t show up at the headquarters?
I felt touched before the thought had time to get picked apart by my analytical mind, busily working away even as my conscious thoughts crawled at a snail’s pace.
Jed had never snuck into my apartment before. It wasn’t his style. And he especially wouldn’t try to make as little noise as possible once he was inside. My hackles raised as my thoughts grew cleaner and clearer.
Guided by insti
nct, I slid out of the bed on the side further from the bedroom door. I winced as the bed sheets rasped across my skin in what felt like an avalanche of sound to my ears. I lay flat on the floor, breathing as quietly and shallow as possible in order to not make any noise.
Light filtered in through the blinds from the street outside, but I hoped it wasn’t enough for the intruder to really see what they were doing. I could sense a presence in the doorway and tensed, although I didn’t dare move a muscle.
Pew. Pew. Pew.
A silenced gun. I hadn’t heard one of those for a while. I crawled down to the corner of the bed and peered around, head close to the floor. Booted feet stood there, peering over the bed. I gathered my legs under myself and when the attacker went to flip the covers back I shouted and sprang forward.
“Ahh!” I hoped the noise and sudden flurry would take the assassin by surprise.
I flailed with my arms as I lunged forward, and I lucked out when my broken right hand made contact with the gun and knocked it loose.
“Fuck!” I screamed. I had forgotten how bad my hand was, but hurting it worse now was better than getting shot. I engaged in a furious battle with the attacker, struggling to find purchase as I scrabbled at their eyes.
A hard shove sent me backwards, and instead of reaching down to try and find their gun, the shadowy figure jumped backwards and ran out the bedroom door.
By the time I got to my feet and followed, the front door of the apartment had banged open against the wall and the figure was a blur in the darkness as it ran out of the light.
I stood in the hallway for a moment before I slammed the door shut.
“Holy shit.” If I hadn’t woken up at precisely the right moment, I would be dead.
I felt numb as the adrenaline left my body. Frozen with indecision, I didn’t know what to do. It was as though I had never trained as an agent.
“Jed.” I needed to call Jed.
I wished I had gotten a look at the attacker. Or at least heard their voice. I wasn’t any better off than I was before. I couldn’t even tell for sure if it had been a man or a woman.
I found my phone. Jed’s number was on speed dial.
It rang three times before he answered.
“Leslie?”
“Jed. The attacker was just here.”
“What! Are you OK?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just shaken up. They tried to shoot me, but I heard them in time. Can you come here?”
“I’m already on my way over. Don’t move, and don’t let anyone in until I get there, OK?”
“Don’t worry about that. I don’t even think I can move.” I meant it as a joke, but it fell flat, mostly because it was true. I had never come that close to dying, even in the attack on the Devil’s Roost by the Mexican cartel a few weeks back.
I sat in the darkness on my couch, waiting. Thoughts refused to process in my mind. They whirred around like caged birds, wanting to fly, but my mind held on to them and wouldn’t let them go.
AT LAST
I heard bikes out on the street. Lots of them. A minute later Jed knocked on the door.
“Leslie? It’s me, Jed. Let me in now.”
I managed to haul myself to my feet with effort. He entered the room and took me into his arms. I cried out as he brushed against my swollen right hand.
“What’s wrong? Are you hit?” He held me at arm’s length and looked me up and down.
“No, no. That’s not it. I broke my hand earlier tonight, I meant to tell you about it but I kind of forgot.”
“Broke your hand? How?” He shook his head and pulled me close again, careful not to bump into the injured appendage. “Never mind, you can tell me later. I’m glad you’re ok.”
The front door still stood wide open. Without letting me go Jed spoke over my head to whoever was outside.
“Ok, you guys set up a watch. I want three guys at the front door, and everyone else starts the patrolling as we planned. This asshole is obviously out there tonight, and we need to find him. I’ll stay here and the next shift will relieve you guys in the morning. Clear?”
There were a few acknowledgments, and then the door closed.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” Jed’s voice was softer, more tender. I looked up into his eyes, the wan streetlights lighting his face with a gentle glow. The hard lines of his cheekbones were smoother, and he looked vulnerable. “I couldn’t stand to lose you.”
He pulled my face up towards his and kissed me. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but a reassurance. That we were both safe, and we were together.
Jed reached out to lock the door, and then he picked me up and carried me in his arms through the apartment to the bedroom. He placed me gently on the bed. There were a few feathers that had escaped and scattered across the bed when the bullets hit the pillow, but I threw it on the ground and brushed them aside.
I was only in a long shirt, practically naked. I hadn’t even noticed my state of dress until that moment.
Despite the scare and the near death experience, Jed’s presence started to work its magic on me. The leftover adrenaline contributed to the surging hormones I felt within my body.
He deliberately removed his shirt and threw it to the side. His chiseled abs caught shadows even in the pale light, rocky mountains that were so much fun to look at and play with.
His jeans dropped to the floor a second later. The boxer briefs underneath followed.
Finally, he was naked in my bedroom again. That it took this much to get us to this point was a sad and sorry tale, but I couldn’t regret his presence before me. I let the image of his perfection implant itself on my eyes as I tried to burn it there. I wanted to be able to recall the sight of him no matter how far apart we were.
He came onto the bed. Neither of us said a word as he helped me out of the shirt, special care taken to avoid snagging my wounded paw on the fabric. His body stretched out alongside mine, and it felt so right. Our naked skin was pressed against each other, burning for each other as his mouth captured mine.
It didn’t take long before he crawled on top of me, his body’s movements sleek like a panther. I hungrily pulled him against me, wanting him to cover me with his body and make me his.
His skin felt amazing to my questing fingertips as I ran my hands cross his back. After a few moves too aggressive with my broken right hand I growled in frustration and flung it up near my head.
Jed lifted his mouth from mine. “Don’t worry, Leslie. I’m going to take care of you tonight, just lay back and relax.”
Those magic words signaled the start of his masterful seduction of my willing body. His hot mouth mapped a sensual path down the side of my neck and onto my heaving breasts. I gasped as he wasted no time in capturing a nipple between his lips, bathing the tip with his tongue and giving a couple of gentle squeezes between his teeth. The fire between my thighs grew fiercer as his hands skilfully played groped and squeezed my tits.
After a few minutes I grew restless. It felt amazing, but I wanted more, needed more. It had been weeks since I’d felt him between my legs in any fashion, and that had to end as soon as possible.
My left hand played with his hair and then firmly pressed him down, towards the place that I wanted his mouth next. He obliged, the flexible tongue leading the way as he tasted my ribs and stomach before coming to the juncture of my thighs.
“Yes, Jed. I need this so badly.” I tried not to wonder if he had given Kat this exact same treatment at any point over the last couple of nights. It was better not to know.
His breath felt hot and damp against me as he hovered over top of my ready womanhood. He teased me with slight licks to either side, making me squirm and driving my desire through the roof.
“Please, Jed, I need you so badly. Please lick me!”
His hands reached down and cupped my ass. The thumbs came up and spread me wide open, the stretch in my skin giving me some pleasure but only just enough to drive me wild with lust.
“Fuck Jed! Just fuc
king do it! Please, baby!”
When he still hesitated, breathing my scent in and driving me insane, I took control.
My hand buried itself in his hair and grabbed hold. I thrust my hips up as I pulled his head into me, and finally I felt the sweet sensation of his lips and tongue on me.
“Oh fuck, yes!” As though a switch was flicked, he went from passively waiting to aggressively and enthusiastically eating me out. His tongue stroked long and deep through the folds of my pussy, lapping up the plentiful juices of my arousal. He groaned, deep and primal, as he tasted my flesh.
Jed had a certain way of licking me that was unlike any other man that I had experienced before. He was so powerful, such an alpha male, and yet I could tell that he didn’t feel as though the task were beneath him. Instead, he reveled in the reactions that he produced in my body, as though he were a master musician and I was the instrument that let the world know of his skill.
I was letting the world know of it at that moment. Briefly I remembered that there were members of the motorcycle club standing watch outside the front door, but the next second the thought was knocked away by what Jed was achieving in between my legs and I went right back to screaming my agreement.
His hands coaxed extra feelings out of my nerves as they alternatively clutched my ass or ran up and fondled my breasts. I could have sworn that there were at least four of them with how he made me feel. It could have been the big gap since the last time we had slept together, but it was even better than I remembered it.
I guess it’s true what they say about the sex after almost dying. Because this is fucking intense.
His tongue maintained a steady pressure and pace against my pussy, and it produced results. I clutched at his hair, the bed sheet, my own tits, anything within reach as I tried to contain all of the shocks that jolted through my nervous system. I must have looked like an epileptic mid-seizure, but I was past the point of caring.
“Jed, I’m going to come! Don’t stop doing that!”
Just as the towering tsunami of my orgasm was about to crash over me, Jed ratcheted everything up a notch by slipping a finger deep inside of my spasming pussy. With how tight I was from a lack of sex and the stimulation I had been on the receiving end of, the invading digit felt as though it filled me completely, and when he stroked against my inner wall, I went nuts.