“I really shouldn’t. I’m not sure that Preacher guy would welcome me. He still gives me looks like he’d rather squash me under his boot than share the same air.”
Mina knew he wouldn’t. She didn’t know what Tommy had told the man after she’d left, but she did know that their sort didn’t take to people who testified in court or dealt with the law. She had only been fifteen at the time though so maybe that would buy her leniency. Ink had asked her what went on between her and Tommy and she had finally relented in telling him the truth. Ink had been upset to say the least, but mostly because she had insisted on staying at the hospital and giving Tommy the chance to recognize her. Ink was afraid that had put her in danger, but Tommy hadn’t mentioned it and it had all happened more than a year ago. Nothing had happened the last couple of times she had visited and she’d had so much fun the last time. She shivered as she remembered her unexpected meeting with Tommy on the porch.
Mina’s cheeks burned when she remembered the next morning. Spec had brought her pajamas to her with a questioning look on his face, but he didn’t say a word other than to tell her he wouldn’t mention it to Candy. Mina had been grateful to him and so embarrassed at the thought of him reviewing the security tapes.
Mina heard Candy take a deep breath and huff it out.
“Please Mina? Come on! It will be fun! You can dress up and listen, Tommy won’t even be there so don’t worry about that and you can leave when the kids do if you want to and I won’t even fuss. I’m not asking you to stay for the really wild stuff, I doubt Spec will want to anyway.”
There was always a party and always too much noise, beer and way too many half naked women around. Mina had no idea how to handle a life like that, but maybe she could handle a party. Parties were supposed to get a little out of hand.
She looked at herself in the mirror over her dresser and tried to find a reason to say no. She had no plans for Halloween and she really didn’t want to stay home and hand out candy all alone.
“Oh what the hell. If I can get my tire fixed and if you promise Tommy isn’t going to be there and that I won’t have to take my clothes off while dancing on the bar, I guess I could come.” She and Candy had discussed Tommy and they had both agreed that Mina staying away from him was best and that was before the night of hot, angry sex on Candy’s front porch. Now Mina figure her friend would encourage the relationship.
Candy let out a squeal and Mina knew the woman was doing a happy dance.
“This will be so fun! You can stay the weekend with us if you want to, because you really don’t need to be out driving that late and the crazies come out on Halloween. We could do another scary movie night!”
She said the last bit in a creepy voice and Mina rolled her eyes. “The last one ended really well for me.”
Mina laughed. She wanted to tell her friend that it had ended pretty well for her too, but she didn’t, it would only lead to more questions that she didn’t have the answers to.
“I don’t think I will crash on you and Spec.”
“Well, us or Ink and Angel, really it’s too far to drive that late and I really miss seeing you all the time. Your last visit was so fun. I wish you lived here. Hey, wait, what’s wrong with your car?”
Mina smiled. It hadn’t taken Spec long to get tired of Candy living with Mina part of the week while she went to school so he had started driving her back and forth or renting a room for them at night so they didn’t have to sleep apart.
“I miss you too. It’s nothing really, just must have run over something. I can’t drive up there on a spare so if I can get mine patched then I will be there.”
It had seemed strange having a stranger in her home at first, but it was impossible not to love Candy. She just had this big personality and an even bigger heart, with a pinch of outrageous that made her impossible to ignore. She and Mina had become fast friends within the first couple of days.
“Listen Candy, I have to work late that Friday so I could drive up after and probably be there by around nine or ten if that’s ok.”
“Oh that sounds perfect! Then I could force you to help us all set up too!” Candy laughed. “That would give me a chance to introduce you around to some of the boys you haven’t met yet. Oh, and you have to wear a costume! Something sexy too, do you have any ideas?”
“Not really. What are you going as?”
“I’m going to be a candy striper, like from the hospital you know? I had thought sexy librarian, but Spec wants that one to stay at home.”
“Yeah, that should go over well.” Mina could just imagine the look on Spec’s face. There would be fighting if Candy wasn’t careful. “Will the guys dress up too?”
“God no. They are way too macho for that, but the women all want to and the kids too so we are going to have fun even if the men are sticks in the mud. The families will be there until nine and then the kids and some of the old ladies will head home. After that is when the real ghouls come out!” She let out a peal of laughter. “I’m sorry that wasn’t nice, but some of the girls that are hanging around lately are just shanks. There used to be a certain quality to our girls and Mrs. is still trying to keep the real skanks out of sight, but when we have a big party the standards are lowered in favor of fresh pussy so be ready to see some total skanks.”
“I think I will just plan on leaving when the families do. There are things I just don’t think I want to see.” Mina felt her cheeks flush at the thought. She didn’t really know what happened in a biker clubhouse, but she figured there would be a lot of skin shown and way too much sexual energy for her to deal with.
“Amen to that! I have seen more boobs in that room than I have in my own bathroom. It is hard to look at a man and try to have a conversation with him the day after you’ve seen him get a blowjob in the middle of the clubhouse, but hey, I’m nobody’s judge.”
They said their goodbyes and Mina opened her closet. The dental office where she worked encouraged them to dress up for holidays so she had a few costumes, but nothing that would really do for a sexy party so she figured she would make a trip to one of the costume shops or maybe a discount store to see what she could find while she was out trying to get her tire fixed. She could use a new one for work this year anyway with the big shindig her boss was planning, but this party would be wilder than she was used to and she was ready for a little excitement.
She pulled her hair up into a messy knot on her head and left her apartment without taking the time to retouch her makeup. She felt a smile split her face as she pulled into one of the thrift shops on the edge of town. She hadn’t thought of this place until she had seen the skeleton wearing a leather jacket standing by the sign proclaiming costumes for sale. This would be perfect! Maybe she could find something sexy that could be dressed down for the office and not have to buy two costumes after all. She loved vintage costumes and hoped she would be able to find an old dress of some sort that she could dress up. She could be elegant instead of buying a costume in a package from the local discount store.
Mina laughed at herself for being so silly. It had been years since she had put much thought into dressing up, but Halloween had once been her favorite holiday, back when she was small and Tommy had been her world. Mama had made most of her costumes by hand back then, and she had always felt so special when he had told her he liked her costume and when he had walked with her from door to door to collect candy. Those nights had been spent trading candy and talking about friends they had seen and who had the best costumes and which houses they needed to try to visit twice the next year. Those had been some of her favorite nights, spent up in her treehouse trading caramels for red hots. Tommy had always given her all his caramels because she had liked them best and he had loved anything cinnamon.
She braced her hand on the top of her car as the memories threatened to dim her excitement over the upcoming party. The memories always made her want to curl up in a ball and scream. It had only been a few years later that she had found Tommy with Britan
y’s legs wrapped around him in that same tree house. That night her whole world had crumbled to the ground and it had taken her years to put those pieces back together again and now he was threatening to tear her apart again.
“He won’t be there for the party. Candy said he won’t so just stop worrying. You need to have fun and stop it. He’s dangerous now. He will never love you.”
She told herself in a low whisper. He had acted starved for her though. The look in his eyes had been so confused that Mina had wanted to slap him and hug him at the same time, but she couldn’t spend her life mooning over him.
“The sex was so good.”
She looked around to make sure no one had heard her and felt a blush climb up her neck. Sex with Tommy had been raw and primal. It had been nothing like what she had expected when she was fifteen and ready to hand her body to the boy she loved. The sort of coupling they had shared on that front porch would have terrified the girl she had once been, but it made the woman she was now purr like a cat in heat. No other lover had ever made her feel so alive.
Mina wanted to laugh. She’d had four lovers. Her first was a boy who looked like Tommy and had taken her virginity in the backseat of his car the night of graduation. Then he had gone off to college after a couple of weeks and they’d never spoken again. Number two was a boy from technical school who couldn’t have been more different from Tommy, but he was against monogamy. Since Mina was against STD’s she let him go pretty quickly. Three and four were about the same. Both were generic in looks and boring in actions. Both liked sex lying down with the lights out. She’d actually had to fight to stay awake. Then she would take care of herself after they’d finished and went to shower.
Tommy had ruined her. If not before then certainly now. She would never be able to go back to boring sex again. She’d told herself that she had moved on, but she wondered if she ever really had.
Seeing him fighting for his life in a hospital bed had weakened her, but letting him savagely make love to her had made her wall start to crumble. She knew that some of the pieces were too broken to salvage and it would take time to mend the walls around her heart. She had to stay away from him until she was stronger or she would be totally lost. This time she would make sure she was really over him. The past had to be left and she needed to walk away from it and be happy. She deserved to be happy. She had done nothing wrong! There was no reason for her to accept his malice. She had done what any good citizen would have done. She had done the right thing and she had suffered for too long for doing so. No more!
She forced herself to straighten and walk toward the thrift shop. She would let herself wallow in this until the party, but then she would move on with her life. If there were pieces missing then fine, she would find new ways to fill them up. She wouldn’t give Tommy anymore of her heart or her grief. He had shown her what a cad he really was… but then he had taken a bullet in the chest for her too, her inner voice reminded her and he had given her more passion than anyone in her life.
She opened the door of the shop and the smell of old cloths hit her in the face making her sneeze.
“Bless you.” Came a deep voice from beside her and she jumped as her eyes found sparkling green eyes looking back at her.
“Can I help you with something?”
“I’m looking for a costume. Something vintage and hopefully elegantly sexy.”
“Oh I think we have just the thing. Come with me. My name’s Tanner by the way.”
“Hi Tanner. I’m Mina.”
“I think we can find you something that works. What do you have in mind?”
She spent the next hour talking with Tanner as they picked out costumes. She left with the perfect dress and his phone number as well as plans to meet him the next night for dinner. She would banish Tommy from her mind and what better way to do it than moving on? Tanner was nothing like Tommy. He was kind and volunteered at the thrift shop that served the community in his down time. Mina respected that. He had a real job and he didn’t break the law regularly. He was what Mina needed. She bet he knew his way around the bedroom too if those smoldering bedroom eyes said anything about it.
“Wait on that part Mina.”
She told herself as she drove to the tire shop down the street.
“Don’t be a slut just to wipe Tommy’s memories away.”
She wanted to and didn’t with equal intensity. She wanted to wipe away the feeling he had stirred within her just as much as she wanted to treasure them.
She shook it all off as she pulled into the parking lot and climbed out. She greeted the greasy man who came out to meet her and opened her trunk for him to retrieve her tire.
“Who did you piss off?”
Mina looked up surprised.
“That’s not a nail puncture lady. What happened?”
“I don’t know. It was flat when I came out to go to work the other morning. One of my neighbors changed it for me.”
The man stroked his chin, leaving a smear of grease across his chin.
“I think we need to call out a deputy to make a report on this ma’am. This wasn’t accidental.”
Mina felt the blood drain from her face. “What?”
The man, whose shirt said his name was Jimmy, looked at her with sympathy.
“Look. I have a daughter about your age. I’m not trying to scare you, but somebody did this on purpose.” He said while looking at the tire more closely. “I’d bet my truck on it. If you’d done this while driving, you’d remember, because you’d have been stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow.”
Mina shivered. Who would do this to her tire? Tommy came to mind, but Mina dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. This was too petty for him. If he wanted to hurt her he would hurt her, not her tire. Maybe it was just a prank.
“Punks maybe. This close to Halloween…”
Jimmy looked at her like he was trying to read her mind, but nodded. “Still need to make a report on it and keep your eyes open.”
Mina nodded and followed Jimmy when he led her into the waiting room. He placed a call to the local police department and nodded as he went back to work. Mina waited.
The officer came and took pictures and filled out a report on what had happened to her tire. He advised her to be careful and try to stay in well-lit areas after dark and to call him if she felt threatened.
She ended up driving away on a used tire with a headache threatening behind her eyes and the card of the police officer tucked into her pocket. Her day had definitely turned upside down in just a few hours.
Five
Tommy cursed a blue streak when a message came in on his phone. It was a picture sent from Hannah and it was of his Willa and some fucking cop. She looked pale and scared and it pissed Tommy off. What the hell was going on?
“Leave her alone Hannah.” He typed as he gripped his phone hard enough to hear it crack.
Another picture came through and this time Willa was with some dude. The guy was smiling down at Willa as he helped her into a silver Jeep. Tommy wanted to rip the guy’s esophagus out through his nose. What the hell was she doing with this guy? It had only been a couple of weeks since he had seen her and it was a memorable visit. He had marked her, claimed her and now she was with a guy? Oh hell no and what’s worse? Crazy psycho bitch was apparently following Willa now.
“Yeah, so leave her the fuck alone.” He sent back in hopes that if nothing else, at least he could keep Willa safe. That shot of her with the cop unsettled him more than he wanted to admit and brought back too many memories.
“I know you still want her, but I will make you want me again instead. I know how to be what you want.”
“Leave her the fuck alone or I will put your crazy ass in the ground. Fuck with me all you want, but leave her alone. That’s not part of this fucking game. Leave her alone.”
There was no reply which made Tommy more nervous. He picked up his phone and dialed Candy’s number. He knew she was friends with Willa.
�
��Hello?”
“Candy? It’s Tommy. Have you heard from Willa?”
“Who?”
Her voice sounded unsure. “Mina.”
“Yeah. I’ve talked to her a couple of times this week. Why?”
Now there was a spark of fire in her tone that made Tommy roll his eyes. “Just a feeling. Wanted to make sure she was alright.”
Candy snorted. “Yeah, she’s fine. Say, slashed any tires lately?”
“What? I’ve been on the road. What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Oh please. Her tire was slashed and you can’t tell me you are calling just to check on her. You are calling to see how bad you freaked her out. She’s fine. Has a new guy she’s seeing and he seems to be watching her ass just fine. Leave her alone. That is a bullshit move.”
Tommy wanted to strangle Hannah and Candy both. “I haven’t been anywhere around her. I’ve been on the road across the fucking country. That’s a pussy move anyway. This new guy had better take care of her or I’ll cut his fucking balls off and feed them to him.”
Candy was quiet for a second or two. “What is it with the two of you?”
“History, but I don’t want her hurt. This is fucking driving me crazy. Just check on her because I can’t.”
“She’ll be fine Tommy. Does she know you care this much about her?”
“She knows.”
“Alright. Well she made a police report about the tire so if it was you watch your ass.”
“It wasn’t and Willa always runs to the cops so I’m not real shocked.”
“That’s what normal people do Tommy. So, you don’t care about the new guy?”
She sounded truly curious. “I care, but he’s better than her being alone right now.”
He hung up before she could say anything else to make him feel like a pussy.
“Co faire you look like dat?” Gator asked
“Quit that Cajun shit Gator, I know you can talk like a normal person.” Tommy ran his hands through his hair.
Tommy Rich: Defendes MC Series Book 7 (Defenders MC Series) Page 4