"Me?" I repeated.
"Haven't seen your face before. What's your name?" he asked as he finally went to fish out his notebook and pen.
I guess he saw me as an easy target. Nothing about me seemed to scream that I was a hardened criminal like the rest of them, that I knew how to lie to the police. I didn't. But that being said, he wouldn't get anything from me for the sole reason that I didn't know anything. I hadn't even seen the car I had been so frozen.
"Penny Williams," I supplied immediately.
"You from around here?"
"I was born here then I moved to Florida for a while and I just moved back last week."
"Just moved back last week and you already got yourself wrapped up with the likes of them?" he asked in a very tisk-tisk way that had my spine stiffening.
I think in that moment, for the first time in my life, I understood the term gumption.
Okay. So maybe I was a little naive and trusting. But I wasn't stupid. And I wouldn't be talked down to either.
"I'm sorry, are you going to ask me a question regarding the shooting or just be a condescending jerk?"
I heard Duke snort beside me and when my gaze caught Renny's, he was grinning.
Lloyd's eyes flashed for a second. "Alright, tell me about the shooting."
I shrugged at that. "Duke and I had just pulled into the compound. Duke got out of the car before me. Then Renny said to get down. I guess he saw the car; I never did. Then there was the gunshots and, ah," I said, trying to shake the image away as it flashed across my mind. "And then Wolf was shot and... that's it. That's all I know. I really didn't see anything. I was watching Wolf, not the road."
"Convenient, that," he said as if he didn't believe me. "Duke, Renny, I'll need to talk to you two. Separately," he added, giving me a hard look.
Duke reached out and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze, before moving off with Lloyd. "Stay with Renny," he told me quietly before they disappeared.
"Hey," Renny said, drawing my attention. "You okay there, blondie?"
I took a deep breath. "No," I said honestly.
To that, he simply nodded. He didn't press. Which was good because I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to him or anyone else about it anyway.
"They took him right into surgery," Lo said, coming up behind us. "So we won't be hearing anything for a while most likely." Her arm was wrapped around Janie who was silent and tear-free, but everything about her said she was barely holding on. "We're going to go sit down. Penny, want to come with us?"
I was shaking my head before she stopped talking. "Duke said to stay with Renny."
"Right," she said with a nod and led Janie away to a small seating area to the far side of the room.
"You're not gonna go into shock on me, are you?" Renny asked, giving me a small smile.
"Ah, no. I think I'm alright."
"You're not alright by a long shot," he countered. "But you handled yourself well with Lloyd."
"He's an ass," I admitted, making him smile a little distractedly.
"He is that," he agreed.
"How bad was Wolf?" I asked when I trusted my voice not to wobble too much.
His light eyes landed on mine for along minute before he admitted the truth. "Not good, blondie. Really, really not good." He paused for a long minute as my belly twisted painfully. "Cash and Reign are going to be a fucking mess."
"They're close," I assumed.
"Practically brothers and not just in the biker brotherhood kind of way. They grew up together, been through a lot of shit together. I expect to see Reign here in the next hour even though he was at least two days out. Probably jumped a plane to be back for this."
"Renny," Lloyd's voice clipped, agitated, his face tight in annoyance.
Whereas Duke looked almost a little smug.
"You're up," Duke said, passing Renny and they shared a look that didn't seem to have the usual animosity. If anything, I saw a hint of that biker brotherhood Renny had mentioned. "Hey," he said to me, head ducked, eyes intense. His hand rose to my face and I didn't flinch away. I found I needed it.
And that was when Cash flew in. "Surgery," Lo called out, trying to keep her voice calm.
Cash's shoulders slumped as he moved toward us.
"It's not good," Duke offered and there was the stomach twisting thing again.
Cash nodded a little tightly. "Reign and Repo will be here by eight. They left in the middle of a meeting. But they said it was pointless anyway. The Russians laughed off their questions. Said they were looking more into the H trade given how it seems to be sweeping the country, right into the God damn 'burbs."
"Didn't get much out of them before the drive-by," Duke said and I stiffened at the term. "But it sounded like the Mexicans were a dead-end too."
"Columbians are up in the air, but they have always been more about the drug trade anyway."
Duke nodded at that and I felt my mind start spinning.
If they were having meetings with Mexican and Columbian bad guys, then they couldn't really be white supremacists, could they? That seemed to go against the whole idea.
Maybe it wasn't all of them.
Maybe, I thought as the idea settled like lead, maybe it was just Duke.
"I had Paine talk to some of his old contacts in Fifth street and they laughed it off too. Besides, they're a pathetic facsimile of the organization they used to be. They all but fell apart."
"So we're nowhere," Duke concluded and Cash nodded, running a hand down the shaved side of his head.
"I'm gonna go see if I can help with Janie. Think you guys can go fetch some coffee?"
"I'll go," I volunteered immediately, happy for a task, some occupation. "You stay with your people," I said to Duke.
"Not going anywhere a-fucking-lone at this point," he said and moved into step with me as Cash walked away.
So then we got coffee.
And we all sipped the bitter awfulness that was hospital vending machine coffee in complete and utter worried silence.
As Cash predicted, Reign and Repo came barreling in twenty minutes after eight. Both men were tense and filled in quickly.
Reign turned to Duke. "Cash and I need to be here. Can you and Renny head back to the compound and keep an eye on the guys? They need to be sharp. Two fucking shootings in the course of a week? Whoever this is is on a mission to take us all out one by one."
"Right," Duke said, nodding and he reached down to take my hand again. "Keep us updated," he added as all three of us filed outside.
I was shuffled into the backseat because it was 'safer' and I felt the bile rise up my throat at the sight of the blood soaking the seats.
"Why the fuck is there no one on the God damn roof?" Duke hissed as we turned in.
"Take away leadership and they're all just a bunch of teenagers," Renny added, both of them clearly annoyed as we all climbed out of the car.
I took a deep breath, trying to get the scent of blood out of my nostrils as I followed them inside.
"Fuck!" Duke yelled.
"Oh Jesus Christ," Renny added.
And I knew.
I knew without seeing because Duke's back was too wide to see past.
I still knew.
The reason there was no one on the roof wasn't because they were slacking off.
The reason was because they were dead.
Renny turned to Duke. "Get her the fuck out of here."
"We need to see if anyone is still..."
That was when I heard a groaning.
Renny ran in, but Duke hesitated, torn.
"I'll get in the car and lock the doors and get down low," I offered.
"Take the keys," he added, pressing them into my hands. "If I am not back out here in ten, get in the front seat and drive back to the hospital and tell them someone got in. Actually, you have my phone still. Call Reign and tell him while you're in the car. If something happens to us, they will keep you safe. Go," he demanded when I hesitated.
And, sensi
ng the urgency, I ran and threw myself into the backseat, bleeping the locks and reaching for the phone.
"What?"
"Reign," I started, voice shaking so hard that my teeth were clattering.
"Calm down, babe, and tell me."
"Um, they were. Ah, you were... invaded. I, um, I didn't see anything. But there were no men outside and when Duke and Renny went inside, they were cursing and I heard some kind of groaning and..."
"Fuck!" he shouted and I flinched away from the sound even though it was only through the phone. "Okay. Alright. Where are you right now? Where are Duke and Renny?"
"Duke made me get back in the car. They went inside I guess to see if anyone was still..." I couldn't bring myself to say 'alive'. "If they don't come out in ten minutes, I'm supposed to come to you."
"Right. That's exactly what you should do. I am sending Repo back but he's going to be a bit because we are going to wait for reinforcements from Hailstorm, okay? You just need to sit tight and try not to freak out."
Yeah, that was a lot easier said than done.
"Okay," I agreed.
"Here," Reign went on. "Cash is going to talk to you until Duke and Renny show back up, alright?"
He didn't wait for me to agree.
Cash's voice was strained and false-comforting. "Hey honey. Crazy day. Just sit tight. Everything is going to be okay. We aren't going to let anything happen to you, okay? Any chance you can see what is going on? Or would you rather stay low?"
I would much, much rather stay low.
But that kind of cowardice wasn't going to help anyone.
I crept upward slowly, just letting my forehead and eyes peek out the darkened windows, everything harder to see because of them.
"There's... nothing. I don't see anyone yet."
"No one on the grounds? No light catching outside the fences?"
"No, there's... Duke is coming," I said, my voice equal parts fear and relief.
"Don't hang up. I need to talk to him," Cash said as I bleeped the locks and Duke got into the driver's seat and, without even bothering to look at me, turned the car around and peeled out. He didn't speed though as we got onto the main drag. He kept the car slow and deliberate like he was trying hard to not get pulled over.
"Cash wants to talk to you," I said from my crouched position between the front and back seats.
"Tell him Renny is going to call and fill him in and hang up," he said, tone no-nonsense.
"Renny is going to call to fill you in," I said and ended the call, tucking the phone into my pocket with shaking hands.
"Duke, is everything..."
"No," he cut me off, his jaw so tight that the sound barely got out. "No, it's not. But I am going to get you safe," he offered and I felt myself shiver at the implication there.
"Duke..."
"Not right now, Pen," he said and his tone was so defeated that I clamped my mouth shut and kept it that way until I felt the car park, until I heard Duke's door slam, until the one to my side opened and he pulled me out.
I was pulled around the side of a building, something old and solid like maybe it was a warehouse or office building of some sort. I hadn't gotten a chance to see the front sign. Duke nodded his head at someone standing beside an open basement door, holding a giant piece of metal pipe.
"Appreciate this, Tig," he told the tall, broad man with the deep skin and slight beer belly.
"Gotta protect the innocents," Tig said with a nod as Duke handed him the keys. "No one will find it," Tig added as he handed Duke the pipe. "You'll have everything you need for a short stay."
With that, he walked away and Duke pulled me toward the walk-out doors and halfway down the steps. Then he dropped my hand, turned back, and pulled the doors closed, sliding the pipe into the handles as he reached for the lantern hanging there. He flicked it on and I could see that the doors weren't just normal wooden walk-out basement doors. They were thick and metal and looked like they could withstand a tornado. Or bullets.
"Come on," Duke said, taking my hand again and pulling me down the stairs. He reached onto the wall for a second before a light flicked on and revealed... a fallout shelter?
That was what it seemed like. I didn't know much about them, but this seemed to fit the bill. The walls, already thick concrete basement ones, were lined with metal strips that looked like the walls of storage containers. There were two sets of military-style bunkbeds with extra blankets. And then there was a metal shelving unit to the side that had an endless supply of canned goods, water, medical kits, and assorted lanterns.
"There's a bathroom through there," he said, pointing to where there was a metal door. "But don't get your hopes up too high. It's an old washing basin and a compost toilet. But it will do. We're safe down here. No one but me and Tig knows its here. And Tig only because this is his property. We have an agreement that if the shit ever hits the fan that he gets to come stay here too."
"So, you're like... a prepper?" I heard myself ask, the word clumsy on my tongue.
Duke turned to me and, even though his eyes were haunted, he gave me a small smile. "I like to be prepared for any eventuality. It seems to have paid off. I will get you up to Hailstorm as soon as I'm sure it's safe to drive up there, but I had no where else to bring you tonight."
He moved away from me then, taking a deep breath as he shut off the lantern and put it down on one of the top bunks.
"Duke," I said, needing to know. "Did you lose more men tonight?"
His head ducked; his shoulders sagged; when he spoke, his voice was hollow.
"Aside from me, Renny, Cash, Reign, Repo, and I pray to fuck... Wolf, we only have one man left. If he makes it through the night."
"Oh my God," I heard myself say, everything in me recoiling at the idea that the dozen or so other men I had seen milling around the compound were simply... gone. "Duke, I'm so..." I started and stopped myself. Sorry didn't cover it.
I moved toward him, putting my arms around his waist and resting my head against his back, giving the only thing I had to give- a small show of physical comfort. His body stayed stiff for a long minute before I felt him pulling against my hold so he could turn, his arms going around my shoulders and hips and pulling me against his chest hard. I could feel his chin drop down on top of my head and I just... held him.
We stood that way for a long time. Minutes seemed to turn into hours which turned into years. But I not once felt the urge to pull away.
So when his arms loosened and his hands started stroking across my shoulders, into my hair, down my sides, I melted into it. And when his hands started lifting my tee, my arms raised over my head.
There was no thinking, no questioning, no reservations.
I knew that when the desire ebbed and my brain kicked in again, that there would be regret and shame because the situation of Duke's past was still murky and unclear.
But, in that moment, after being in the middle of a drive-by, after watching a man get shot, after hearing his wife lose her mind over it, after being questioned by the police and after finding out that men I had been sharing a residence with were almost all dead... I didn't want to think.
I wanted to feel.
I wanted an affirmation of life.
I read somewhere that people almost always wanted to have sex after traumatic events and after funerals. They needed that feeling of aliveness, of connection, of something other than darkness.
So I wasn't going to overthink it.
I was going to let it happen.
And then deal with the consequences.
Besides, I was a grown woman. Pretty much no grown woman who wasn't 'saving themselves for marriage' ended up with at least one sexual encounter to regret. It was par for the course of being a sexually active adult.
Somehow, I felt okay with having to regret Duke.
My head lifted and his face descended. I expected light, teasing, given how easily his hands were moving over my bare skin, making it goosebump under the attention. But when his
lips found mine, they were firm, demanding, needy.
His hands pushed my hips back slightly as his tongue moved inside to claim mine. Then his fingers slid up my belly and covered my breasts, squeezing hard, almost to the point of pain. His fingers moved and grabbed my hardened nipples, squeezing and twisting before rolling them between his fingers.
I moaned into his mouth.
He growled into mine.
His hand left one of my breasts, trailing back down my belly, making it feel wobbly, as he stopped to push my button through and pull down my zip. Then his hands snagged the material of my jeans and panties and dragged them down. I didn't even hesitate to step out.
He released my lips, leaving them feeling tingly and swollen, reached behind his back and pulled off his shirt.
Did I mention that Duke had the perfect body?
'Cause Duke had the perfect body.
He was a solid kind of strong, all wide shoulders and firm center, his muscles etched deep.
I moved toward him, pressing myself against him, feeling his skin against my bare breasts as I reached up to free his hair from the tie. It fell down on his shoulders and I tucked a bit behind his ear.
"Like my hair," he said, voice husky with desire.
It wasn't a question, but I answered it anyway. "Yeah," I agreed as I moved back to trace my fingers down his body, doing things I had tried to keep myself from doing during our shower. It was hard to believe that had been just that morning; it felt like ages ago. So much had changed.
My fingers slid in the creases between the muscles of his abs, thrilling me as they twitched under my touch. My hands paused for the barest of moments before sliding lower and releasing his button and zip. My hands traced his Adonis belt as I snagged his jeans and boxer briefs.
The material dropped and my hand went automatically to his hard, impressive cock, stroking it once as my sex clenched hard in anticipation.
It had been a while and my body was all-too happy to remind me of that.
"Okay," Duke said, voice rough but also amused as he grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand away.
"What?" I asked, looking up at him.
His lips tipped up, making him look a little wicked. "If I recall correctly, I owe you an orgasm."
Duke (The Henchmen MC Book 5) Page 15