by Ana Stone
“The procedure seems to have had some unexpected effects. Zeke apparently has not started to recover his memories. At least not consciously. He does seem affected by your relationship with West, and feels betrayed by it, but does not understand why. We believe that it is his subconscious that is directing him to try and take down the MC alone, that his directives have, for whatever reason, not breached the barrier into conscious thought. That makes him a liability. We have to rein him in.”
“And West? I wasn’t told beforehand. Did he undergo the procedure or has he just been leading me around?”
“He did indeed. When you and Zeke were wounded, he immediately set off to be by your side. We delayed his journey as long as possible but he made it to your side and refused to leave. It took a bit of creativity to get him to leave the hospital. I assigned a team to him. They took him out, got him drunk and drugged him.
“He woke, thinking he’d been on a week’s drinking binge and none the wiser.”
“Aside from what you didn’t want him to remember,” Roxy said.
“Exactly.”
“Can’t you just knock Zeke out and do something to initiate the memory recovery?”
“I could but I won’t. I need him to sign the contract. He has to be on board with the plan or he becomes a wild card, an unpredictable factor that could jeopardize everything.”
“Fine,” Roxy agreed. “I’ll try.”
“Try?”
“Okay, I’ll do it. Whatever it takes. I’ll get him on board. But I need you to let West know that I’m awake and this is part of the mission … not personal.”
Maybelle chuckled. “He still strums your strings, doesn’t he?”
Roxy smiled for the first time. “Like you wouldn’t believe.” She immediately sobered. “He cares, Maybelle and so do I. Despite… well all that went down, he’s never betrayed me and he always comes back for me regardless of the danger to himself. Just like I always find Zeke, West always comes for me. I won’t betray him or have him think I’m cutting him out.”
“I know. I will inform him. Just get the job done, Roxy. It’s time to put this thing to bed and move on.”
Roxy nodded. “Have a new phone sent to my house.”
“It will be waiting.”
“Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”
She turned to leave but paused at the door at the sound of Maybelle’s voice. “Don’t fail me, Roxy.”
Roxy looked back over her shoulder. “Trust me, I have more reasons than you to see this through. Just make sure you honor your promise.”
“I always do.”
Roxy nodded and went in search of Zeke. He was in the kitchen with a half empty bottle of Vodka on the table in front of him. “Smart, Zeke, real smart.”
“Meaning?” he asked in an irritable tone.
“Meaning now is no time for your head to be cloudy. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
He stood and she pointed to the folder on the table. “And bring that with you.”
He snatched it up and followed her outside. She didn’t speak as they got in the car and remained silent as she started the car and pulled down the drive.
For the first ten minutes there was silence. Roxy waited for Zeke to initiate conversation. Finally he turned his head and looked at her. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Stress?” She asked in lieu of an answer.
“Seemed more than that. You took one look at my aunt and your eyes rolled back in your head.”
She cut a look at him. “Being involved with you isn’t exactly a walk in the park, Zeke. Not only do I have to worry about one of Reese’s cronies slitting my throat to get back at you, but I have to stay on my toes around my boss who’s in Reese’s pocket while your own childhood buddy, now CIA is trying to bring down the club and is pretty sure I’m more involved than I really am.”
He had the decency to look ashamed. “I’ve been trying to protect you, Roxy. That’s why I’ve been pushing you away.”
“And reeling me back in.” She commented. “Look Zeke, let’s be straight up, okay? You need to get out of the MC. With West gunning for them, and now your aunt their days are numbered. West has the support of the government and your aunt has money and clout. It might not be today or tomorrow, but the MC’s going down and down hard.”
“Not if Maybelle would just go along with my plan. I can bring Reese and his followers down and still protect my family.”
“As can she.” Roxy cut a look at him and saw the stubborn set of his jaw. “Zeke, listen to me. Your aunt just provided you with a get out of jail free card. Sign the damn contract and you, Eli, Rice and all their family – even Six Pack. You’re all protected.”
“And under her thumb.”
“Better than Reese.” She argued. “And trust me, if you don’t take the deal she offered, you’re going to be in West’s sights right along with the rest of the club. And if you know him like you say you do then you know he won’t stop until he brings the club down.”
Zeke angled a bit in his seat to face her. “Seems you know a lot about West.”
“Your point?” She met his eyes.
“Are you sleeping with him?”
This was not a conversation she wanted to have while driving. She saw a side road and made a right turn, drove about a hundred yards then pulled over to the side of the road.
“Well?” Zeke asked.
“Yes.”
“Are you going to continue?”
“I don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow or the next day, Zeke. You and your fucked up club have gotten me into a mess that could get us all killed.”
“I told you that I have a plan—“
“And I told you that Maybelle’s plan is sounder. Safe, legal – well aside from a slight exaggeration on the employment start date – but uncontestable legally and affords not only you but Eli and his family and your friend immunity from prosecution. I can’t see one reason you shouldn’t take the deal. It’s the smart move and you’re a smart man.”
“Let’s say for the sake of argument I take her deal. What then?”
“Then we sit back and let West do his job and destroy the club.”
“And what about us?”
She sighed and leaned her head back against the seat, staring out of the windshield. “I don’t know there even is an us, Zeke. And I’m not walking that path right now. We get through this and when the dust settles we can talk about personal matters.”
“In other words, I sign my life away to Maybelle, watch the MC go down, Reese, my mother and more than half the club go to prison and then maybe you’ll consider telling me whether there’s any hope for us?”
“Yes.” She knew it was not the answer he wanted, but there was no other way. “Sorry, but it’s all I have.”
“I do love you, Roxy.”
“Strange way of showing it, Zeke.”
“Doesn’t make it any less real.”
“Or any more,” she argued. “Look, the truth is, regardless of what you say, I don’t feel it. What I do feel is that you’ve used me, tried to manipulate me and to be completely honest, see me as some kind of trophy in a competition between you and West. I’m no one’s trophy and until I can trust you, we have nothing. So, you want something to lay at my feet that demonstrates that I can trust you? Sign the fucking contact.”
Zeke stared at her for a long time, then turned and snatched the folder from the back seat where he’d tossed it. “Once she makes good on the deal and the MC is arrested I’ll sign. You have my word.”
“If only that was enough.”
“Like you said. It’s all I have. Take it or leave it.”
“Can I use your phone?”
He handed it to her and she almost dialed Maybelle’s number before she caught herself. “What’s your aunt’s number?”
“It’s in the contacts.”
She located it and placed the call. Maybelle answered on the second ring. “He won’t sign until the drugs bust goes down and
the MC is in custody.”
“Very well. Bring it and him to me.”
“Yes, ma’am. Good night.”
She ended the call and handed the phone back to Zeke. “Now what?” He asked.
“Now we go back to your aunt’s and set things in motion.”
Zeke nodded and turned his head to look out of the side window. Roxy started the car and turned around, headed back from where they had come. She was ready to get this thing done and over with.
The MC was really not as big a deal to the agency they worked for as Maybelle made it out to be. Maybelle just had a personal grudge to settle with Reese. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. They would shut down the Mexican Mafia’s gun supply and deal a blow to the cartel with this operation.
Right now, she had to deliver Zeke to Maybelle and hope that soon his memory started to return. Zeke was a liability right now because he didn’t understand his part in things. And the last thing the team needed was Zeke running amok.
Zeke didn’t do so much as look her way on the drive back to Maybelle’s. When she pulled up at the back of the house, she turned off the car but remained seated. He finally looked at her. “You not coming in?”
“In a minute.”
She thought he was going to say more but after a beat he got out of the car and went to the back door. Maybelle opened the door before he had time to knock. When Zeke entered she looked out at Roxy for a moment then closed the door.
Roxy waited for five minutes then got out and went to the door. Raymond answered her knock. “I need a phone.”
He nodded. “Come with me.”
Roxy knew that Raymond was a lot of things, but butler was not one of them. He had been with Maybelle as long as Roxy could remember. An ex-SAS, Special Air Services of the British Army, he was as skilled an operative as she’d ever met, and Maybelle’s personal bodyguard.
He led her upstairs and into a bedroom. Inside the closet was a secret door that led to a room outfitted with a state of the art surveillance system, several weapons lockers and a cabinet of what was jokingly referred to as “the toys”, electronic tools of the trade.
Raymond retrieved a iPhone and handed it to her. “Equipped with all the apps you need. Just enter your name and password and it will activate to your identity.”
“Thanks,” Roxy replied. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to make a call.”
“West?” he asked.
“Yeah. He needs to be briefed.”
“That has already been taken care of.”
“Oh?”
“Right after you left with Zeke.”
She nodded. “Good, but I still need to talk to him. By the way, has he been activated?”
“Not as yet.”
“Why?”
“That is a question for Mother.”
“Yeah, right. Thanks, Raymond.”
“Certainly.”
Roxy didn’t wait to be escorted, but made her way downstairs and outside to her car. Once seated in it she called West.
“Talk to me.” He said the moment he answered.
“I remember.”
There was a long pause. Roxy waited. West would be deciding what was safe to ask. Saying she remembered was not the same as saying she remembered everything, and West would not risk revealing anything he considered risky.
“You remember what?”
“All of it.”
“All?”
“Yes,” she let her voice soften. “At least I think so. Who the hell knows anymore.”
“And?”
“And I’m ready to get this shit done.”
She heard a chuckle. “There’s my girl.”
“Damn Skippy,” she agreed.
“And Zeke?”
“You already know. We’ve got him under control, but he needs to remember. Have you talked to the techs at HQ? Did something go wrong with his activation?”
“They don’t know. The memories should be returning by now. But who can say. It took yours a while to integrate with your conscious mind. You have full recovery?”
“For the most part,” she admitted. “There are still some blanks, but I know enough not to be a liability to the mission.”
“Good. How long will you be there?”
At that moment the phone issued a tone letting her know she had another call. She looked at the caller id. It was Maybelle. “Hold on, mother’s calling.” She waited a beat then switched to Maybelle’s call. “Yes?”
“Zeke will remain here tonight. Raymond will keep an eye on him. I want you to return to Harmony and activate West.”
“How?”
“There’s an app for that,” Maybelle quipped then sobered. “Look for an app titled Wake Up Call. Once you’re in, key in his operative id code. The app will trigger the activation and will then delete itself. I want you with him tonight. He has to be fully functional by morning. I will send you updates and instructions then.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And Roxy?”
“Yes?”
“This situation with you and Zeke? Are you sure it’s over?”
Roxy hesitated. She would never really be over Zeke, but she remembered enough to know that he would never really be hers. Zeke loved her in his own way, but it was not the way she wanted. He would always stray, always succumb to temptation. It’s who he was and she couldn’t change that. Just like he could not change the fact that she loved West. Theirs was equation of emotion that might never find a solution. Loving two men and expecting them to be okay with it was a bit much to ask.
She’d had to make a choice once, and regardless of the pain it caused, she had to stick to it now.
“Yes,” she finally answered. “It’s done.”
“I don’t want this thing between the three of you threatening the team or the mission. If there’s any chance—“
“I can handle it.” Roxy interrupted.
“Very well. I will speak with you in the morning.”
“Yes ma’am. Good night.”
The line went dead and she switched back to West’s call. “I’m on my way to you.”
He didn’t ask questions. “I’ll be waiting.”
She ended the call and started the car. It was time for West to wake up.
Chapter Eighteen
West opened the door and for a moment they just looked at one another. “You going to let me in?” Roxy asked.
His response was to reach out, work his hand behind her neck and pull her to meet his lips. She didn’t resist and returned the kiss with passion that was dominated by emotion. Here was the one man she could be completely herself with, the one man she could trust and the one man she knew loved her unconditionally and without reservation.
“Roxy,” he breathed her name when he kiss ended. “You’re finally back.”
She eased out of his embrace as she steered him backwards into the suite. “Yes, but you’re not.”
The shock her words gave him was clear on his face even before he spoke. “What does that mean?”
She pulled her phone from her pocket, found the activation app and held the phone up for him to see.
“I was—no, no way.”
“Yes.” She argued. “And it has to be undone.”
She started keying in the code as he exploded in anger. “Mother fucker! All this time—“
A split second after she hit the activation key, his face lost all color and his eyes rolled back in his head. Roxy managed to break the bulk of his fall as he went limp. She lowered him to the floor and sat down to cradle him against her.
He was completely still, barely breathing for at least two minutes then his body started to shake like he was caught in a seizure. His mouth opened and his head arched back. Then he yelled. Long and loud, a bellow of pain.
She held onto him as his body went rigid. His eyes winched together tightly, veins bulging in his neck and on his forehead. She didn’t know what to do but hold onto him. It was probably less than a minute but seemed like forev
er before his eyes popped open.
He shoved away from her and pushed himself into a sitting position. “Christ on a fucking crutch,” he gasped. “That shit hurt.”
She reached out and placed her hand on his leg. “And?”
He shook his head. “It’s kind of like having a bunch of movies running fast forward and reverse all at once in your head. A jumble fuck of disconnected images.”
“Yeah, I know. Are you still in pain?”
He reached up with one hand to rub at his temple. “World class headache, but I can manage.”
She was quiet for a few moments then stood and offered her hand. “That’s not going to ease for a while. Best thing you can do is sleep.”
“I don’t think sleep is an option with all this shit hammering at me.” He took her hand. But instead of rising, he pulled her down to him. “How about a diversion?”
“You sure you’re up to that, cowboy?”
West answered with his trademark sexy smile. “Only one way to find out”
Roxy laughed and went into his arms. “Bring it, stud.”
“Oh, I intend to. Repeatedly.”
Roxy knew that his jest was not entirely genuine. He was in pain, and probably had concerns about her meeting with Zeke and what was to come, but West had always lived by a simple creed. In their line of work, you never knew when the end was a breath away, so never pass up a chance to celebrate life. And making love was his favorite act of celebration.
She didn’t have any problem at all with that. They’d deal with his memory recall, the mission and Zeke tomorrow. Right now, it was time to celebrate.
*****
Zeke got up and walked over to the window. Roxy had been gone for several hours. Was she with West? That thought made his stomach clench. If he looked at it without emotion, he could admit that he had no right to be jealous. She was not his. Still, to lose her to West struck his ego a blow.
He and West had been best friends for most of his life, but that didn’t stop them from being competitive. They’d competed with each other for damn near everything, including women.
But Roxy wasn’t just another woman.
That thought surprised him. Why would he even have that opinion of her? He didn’t really know her, despite all the dreams and visions.