“It honestly looks pretty cut and dry to me,” one of the cops was saying.
“Pardon?” I blinked at him.
“Self-defense,” he said easily. “You helped her defend herself.”
“That’s all I was trying to do,” I said. “I swear. I just don’t like seeing anyone get hurt.”
“We get it,” the other cop said. “Will you please send Ms. Greer over here next?”
“That’s it? That’s all the questions you have for me?”
“Unless you have anything else to say,” the first cop said. “Would you mind sticking around, though, in case anything else raises any other questions?”
“I don’t mind at all.” I walked back to the table, took the glass of water Jack offered me. “Haley? They’d like to speak to you.”
I took a drink as she rose noiselessly from her chair, and spluttered.
“Figured you could do with something a little stronger than water,” Jack explained as I made a face.
“I mean, maybe, but vodka?” I shook my head at him, but took another, more careful sip. “Warn a brother, for God’s sake.”
After the police got through talking with all of us, and it became apparent there weren’t going to be any other arrests tonight, we started gradually making plans to get home. I helped Brody and Ace carry Sloan out to Jack’s pickup truck, which he must have driven straight to the bar following his visit to my shop. It was for the best; otherwise, he would’ve either slept it off in the booth at the bar, or gotten a ride home from Haley. And I didn’t think Haley deserved any other ridiculous things in her life right now.
I watched as Jack waved at us and pulled out, the seatbelt the only thing holding Sloan upright, watched as Katie and Ace raced each other out of the alley on their bikes, watched as Brody closed and locked the door to the bar, nodding at me as he went for his motorcycle. Just watched. I felt overly protective of this group of people. They were my family, and I didn’t want anything bad to happen to themespecially not because of me. I’d put them at risk tonight because I couldn’t control my temper. Things could’ve easily gone sidewaysmuch more than they already had and it would’ve been my fault. I could’ve killed the guy without realizing it. That was how angry I’d been. How out of control. The bar could’ve been shut down because of me. Ace and Brody and Haley all would’ve been out of a job. How would it have looked if Katie had been on hand for that kind of action? I didn’t think her supervisors would be so forgiving of something like that.
“Chuck, can I talk to you a second, before you get going?” Haley asked, making me jump as she all but appeared out of thin air at my side. “Sorry, did I scare you?”
“Just didn’t hear you coming,” I said. “Didn’t know you were still here, either. Thought everyone had left. Can I give you a ride home?”
“I don’t need a ride. I drove here.” She jerked her chin toward the alley and I knew that she had her SUV parked there. “Like I do every day.”
“I realize that. I could follow you home, though, if you wanted me to.”
“Why would I want that?”
“In case you didn’t feel well, I’m not sure,” I said, confused, myself. “Are you doing okay?”
“I’m fine, Chuck.”
“Are you sure? Because I saw everything.”
“What do you mean you saw everything?” Haley looked at me, her eyes narrowed to slits in her face.
“I saw that he had you cornered, in the hall,” I said. “I saw that you were angry, and scared. I saw him grab you, saw you try to get away. That’s why I’m asking you if you’re okay. Because it didn’t look like a situation anyone should be okay with.”
She relaxed by a couple of degrees. “I mean, it was scary, sure. All of it. They guy. The situation. You, even. The look on your face…”
She trailed off, and I felt really bad. “I’m sorry for scaring you. That is the exact opposite of what I was aiming to do.”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Haley said, ducking her head almost shyly. It was strange to see her look like that. I was used to the sassy and self-assured Haley, not this timid, unsure woman fidgeting in front of me. “It was, um, really nice what you did for me.”
I had to laugh at that, even though we were in an awkward situation. “Haley, I bashed in a guy’s face for you. I wouldn’t call that nice, if I were you.”
“The gesture is what I’m talking about,” she said. “Or not talking about. I don’t know. What I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t feel like you’re responsible for defending me.”
I sighed. I really, really just wanted to go home. “I’d do it for anyone. It’s just the way I am.”
“Would you do it for Katie?”
“Yeah, if it needed doing.” I didn’t really know where this was going. “Though, and let’s be fair, Katie does carry a gun.”
“I’m more than capable of taking care of myself, Chuck,” Haley said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Even if I don’t carry a gun.”
“I know that.” God, the last thing I wanted to do was offend Haley after everything that had happened.
“Do you?” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Because the last I heard, you were into swooping in and saving damsels in distress. I am definitely not a damsel in distress.”
“The only person in distress here is me,” I said, waving my hands at her. “I am distressed because I’ve obviously offended you, and I really, really didn’t want to.”
Haley’s expression softened a little. “I don’t need anyone to save me, Chuck.”
“I am so very and fully aware of that.” I smiled at her. “Can I buy you a pair or two of brass knuckles, though?”
There was a hint of a smile in her green eyes. At least, that’s what I hoped I saw. “Can they be pink?”
“They can be studded with rhinestones, even, if that’s what you want,” I vowed. “All I care about is your safety, Haley.”
“Is that all you care about?” she asked me.
“And your happiness, of course.”
“Anything else?”
“You, as a whole.”
Her eyes gleamed. “You care about me?”
Was this a trick question? “I care about everyone.”
Her shoulders slumped, like I’d disappointed her. “I know you do, Chuck. You’re a good friend.” She stood on the tips of her toes and gave me a strangely soft kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, confused as I raised my hand to cover my cheek where her lips had pressed. As far as kisses went, that one wasn’t the first Haley had ever given me. She threw out kisses like they were flowers, or confetti. It was her favorite way to greet people, usually leaving huge blossoms of red lipstick imprints on whatever surface she covered. But this one was gentler than any of the previous ones I’d received, and I wondered what it meant.
“Are you sure I can’t do anything for you?” I hesitated, not fully understanding why I was feeling like I completely missed something. “It’s really not any problem for me if you want someone to escort you home.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know you can.” I just didn’t know why I felt like I was out of control, in this moment. Nothing bad was happening that I could see. Haley had given me a strangely soft kiss, I’d disappointed her in some intangible, mysterious way, and I really wanted to go home and go to bed. It had been a long fucking day.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you around,” she said, still looking at me like I wasn’t doing something right. “Good night, Chuck.”
“Good night, Haley.”
I watched her walk away, then had a sudden idea. “Haley?”
She turned, her face strangely hopeful. “Yeah, Chuck?”
“Would you call me if you needed anything?” I asked her.
Disappointment again. What the hell was I doing wrong? “Yeah, sure. Okay. I’ll call you.”
“It’s like you said earlier,” I reminded her. “That I c
ould call you if I was feeling down. I just wanted to let you know that you could do the same. You know. If you get worried about anything. Or angry. Or something.”
Her look softened into something I couldn’t quite define. “I promise I’ll call you. If I need to.”
I smiled at her. “I’ll see you around.”
“Yes. I have a feeling you will.”
Of course I would. This was Rio Seco. It was a ridiculously small town. She worked at the only bar in it. And right now, I wished the joint was still open. I could do with something else to drink, and the bourbon in my house was calling me.
It struck me, all of a sudden, that maybe Haley didn’t want to go home. Maybe she didn’t want to be alone, especially after everything that happened. It also struck me that I was an idiot, that maybe that was why she was lingering and looking at me with such disappointment. Maybe she wanted me to invite her somewhere else. If not to my place for some bourbon, then maybe to the twenty-four-hour diner for coffee and something greasy to take the edge off of everything.
I turned to call out to her, but the taillights of her SUV were already vanishing around a turn.
Well, that sealed it. I had a date with bourbon and my own stupidity, alone in my home.
I thought about Haley for so long and so hard that it felt like she was there with me, sitting on the sofa in the dark, a bourbon of her own clutched in her hand. Even if she was silent, I found it wasn’t such a bad thing. That the idea of her sitting in companionable quiet with me in the dark was actually kind of nice.
What was this world coming to? I took a long drink of bourbon and pondered that, too.
Chapter 5
Over the next couple of weeks, life went back to resembling something akin to normalcy. None of the guys mentioned the fight at the bar except to make fun of Sloan, who had apparently thrown himself on the dog pile, hitting and kicking the guy I was in the process of beating the shit out of.
“And you never stopped laughing,” Brody said, shaking his head at Sloan. “You were a maniac.”
“I’ve always liked a good bar fight,” Sloan said, lifting his chin in the air, refusing to be shamed. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“It wasn’t a fight. It was a massacre.” Ace was on his break, sitting in the booth with us. “Chuck had everything well in hand, but you apparently wanted to share some of the glory.”
“There was nothing glorious about it,” I reminded them. “Who knows if that guy is okay?”
“Who gives a shit if that guy is okay?” Brody snorted. “He got what he deserved. Sloan was right about that.”
“I’m right about most things,” Sloan agreed, nodding.
“You’re an idiot about most things,” Ace said, not unkindly. “What if Chuck had accidentally hit you because you got in the way of his fist?”
“Then it would’ve been my fault, not his,” Sloan replied, placid. “I mean, come on. When’s the last time we had a good bar brawl in here? Maybe we could make a fight club or something.”
“I don’t think that would be good for us, image-wise,” Brody said. “Pretty sure the police would not be pleased to have to break shit up in here on a nightly basis. Might be hard to get our permits renewed in a timely fashion, and all that, if we started to besmirch Rio Seco’s good name.”
“I’m sorry, Brody,” I said. I’d said it a million times, and a million times, he’d waved my apology off. He did it again, now.
“I’m sorry that guy had to come in here and act like a motherfucker,” he said. “And I’m a little sorry that I wasn’t the one to beat him up.” That seemed to be the general consensus of all the Horizon guys that they were all a little jealous of me for being the one to beat up Haley’s attacker. It was puzzling, to say the least.
And Haley was back to her old self, full of sass and swing and attitude, like nothing had happened at all. She’d never called me, I noticed, but I’d never called her. I didn’t know if it was because my mood was back on an upswing, or because I was too shy to call her even if I actually did need something. I worried, though. I knew what manic energy looked like, and I was afraid she was burning herself out in her eagerness to prove to everyone who’d seen what had happened that night that she was okay. She didn’t have anything to prove. I wanted to tell her that, but I wasn’t sure how, or if the message would be well received.
“Where’s Jack today, you bums?” she asked us, hands on her hips. “You all look weird, assembled here, without your fearless leader.”
“He said something about spending some time at the storage unit,” Ace said, his voice light, even though I knew that meant he was back at it, trying to recover his memories. It made the surprise I had in store for him even sweeter, because whether it helped him with his injured mind or not, it would at least be awesome.
“He’s not going to be cooped up in there all day, is he?” Haley frowned. “He shouldn’t be alone like that.”
“Believe me,” Ace sighed. “I have tried and tried to get an invite, but it is apparently the most exclusive place in Rio Seco.”
“Maybe he needs his privacy,” I suggested. If I was puzzling over clues from a past I couldn’t remember, I probably wouldn’t want an audience for it, either.
“Or maybe we need to lure him over here with pizza,” Ace said. “I’ll make the call.”
It wasn’t until the weekend that I could grab Jack’s attention to get him to come to the shop to see what I had in store for him.
“You’ve been a busy man,” I said, keeping my tone neutral, free of judgment, trying to make an opening for him to talk, if he wanted to.
“We’re all busy,” he said dismissively, getting out of the pickup. I wondered, for a minute, why he took the pickup instead of his bike until I saw the boxes in the bed of the truck. It looked like he was taking a little homework back with him from the storage unit.
“Yeah, well, I’ve been extra busy for you.”
His jaw dropped open as he followed me into the garage. “Chuck, seriously? Seriously? I had no idea you would fix it up this fast. Seriously?”
“That’s your hunk of junk, man,” I confirmed. “It’s been my pet project. I’ve been giving it priority.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” he said. “You really didn’t. But I’m selfish. I’m glad you did. I’m glad to see it like this.”
It was really a gorgeous thing, if I did say so myself. I’d worked hard on restoring it to its previous glory, and from the look on my friend’s face, I hadn’t disappointed him.
“That is really something,” Jack murmured, walking around the gleaming motorcycle, taking it in from all angles. “I kind of can’t believe it’s the same bike.”
“Well, lots of new parts,” I admitted. “But I tried to keep everything as close to the original as possible.”
He ran his hand over the handlebars, testing the grip of the throttle, before resuming his wary circling.
“Seeing it whole again like this,” I said, hesitating, fumbling a little for the right words, “does it, um, ring any bells?”
“I still don’t remember it, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said. “I guess I wished it would give me at least a flash of something, but whatever. Not a big deal.”
He sounded so disappointed all of a sudden, though, that I knew it had been a big deal. I hadn’t meant to build up his expectations for something that wasn’t going to materialize, but I’d wanted him to have his bike back. I wished there was a way to try and unearth just a tiny piece of memory for him, but I wasn’t a magician. I was just a mechanic.
“I think it’s important that you thought this bike was important,” I said. “That has to mean something, doesn’t it, that you took it out of the storage unit to begin with?”
“I don’t know what it means, Chuck.”
“You felt something about the bike, didn’t you?”
Jack’s eyes were hard to read behind the sunglasses. “When I first opened that storage unit, afte
r everything was shipped to me, that bike stood out to me, sure. I don’t know if it was because I actually remembered something about it, or because it was such a nice bike that had fallen into such disrepair.”
“Disrepair’s a pretty nice way to put it,” I said. “That thing was trashed.”
He shrugged. “I thought it was maybe important to me before…you know. That if it was that trashed and I still kept it, maybe there was something there.” Jack laughed, but it lacked humor. The sound might as well have been a cough. “That’s why I decided to start riding motorcycles, why I bought one. Because I thought if I had that thing, motorcycles could be my thing. It’s why I started the MC. Who really knows, though? It could all just be a lie. Maybe this wasn’t even my bike to begin with.”
I loved being a part of Horizon. Some of the timemore often than I would care to admit, in fact I lived for it, looking forward to the minutiae of the meetings and our fundraisers and rides with more zeal than anyone else in the club. To have the founder and president of the club say that he had no real way of knowing why, exactly, he’d formed the club in the first place was a little disconcerting.
“I’m glad you made Horizon,” I told him. “It means a lot to me.”
“It means a lot to me, now, too,” Jack said immediately. “I was just kind of hoping that it’d make me remember the person I was.”
“Who knows?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light. “Maybe it’s more important to look at the person you’ve become, and the person you want to be.”
After a beat, Jack cracked a grin. “The mechanic becomes a philosopher.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t offend me. You just surprised me.”
“I mean, I know I probably shouldn’t talk about things I don’t fully comprehend.”
“Chuck, if that was the truth, none of us would have anything to say.”
We stood there, looking at the motorcycle in front of us like it would roar to life on its own or have something valuable to contribute to the conversation. It didn’t do either, of course.
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