by Angel Steel
Someone coughs, clearing their throat.
Lifting my head up from her neck. “Morning,” I breathe into her ear and sit back in my seat. I grin when I see her clamp her legs together under the table. I glance across the table at Masen. A grin covers his lips as he stares at us.
“What are you all talking about?” I ask, reaching over and grabbing a piece of bacon off of Amelia’s plate.
“Masen was telling me things you all used to get up to on your trips,” Amelia says laughing.
My hand stops mid-air near my mouth. Looking at Masen, he shakes his head slightly, enough that I see him. I throw the piece of bacon in my mouth and begin chewing it. Amelia places her hand on my leg and squeezes. I glance over at her.
“Everything all right?” she asks.
“Yep,” I answer and lean down placing a kiss on her cheek and lay my hand over hers on my leg.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” Rosko asks as he steps over to the table.
“You and Masen are coming into the shop. Plan has changed, need you both in there earlier. Need trackers on every single bike that comes in. Tag all trucks picking up and dropping off and need a list of all the drivers that are in those trucks.”
“Copy that,” Rosko replies.
“Masen, I’ll need you to place cameras around the joint, as many as you can. There are several black spots that we can’t see on the surveillance that Chopper has at the shop. Also need you to hook into the traffic feed as well?”
“Um, don’t you think that’s all a bit much?” Amelia questions beside me.
I turn in my seat and face her. “No. We need to know where the drugs are coming from and who is doing it at the shop. We have a good indication where the drugs are coming from and that is one person you do not want to cross, Amelia. He’s a very dangerous man and will kill anyone in his path and I mean anyone.”
“Okay,” she whispers then lifts a piece of toast to her mouth and bites down.
“Right.” Looking over at the clock on the wall. “We leave in thirty, boys.”
Both Rosko and Masen nod and leave the room to get ready. Shelia shifts over to the table we are sitting at and sits opposite us. “How do you feel, Amelia?” she says with a smile.
Amelia finishes chewing her food and speaks. “All right I guess. My head was a little sore when I woke up, but it’s gone down slightly. My neck’s stiff, but I can deal with it.”
“Keep using the cream on the bruises until they’re gone. You’ll need to change the dressing on your head before you go and another wash of anti-bacterial on your neck,” Shelia says as she looks over Amelia. “What about the drug?”
Amelia lays her hands in her lap. “I don’t feel the drug as much in my system anymore, which is a good thing,” she laughs.
“That’s great to hear. I’ll need to do another lot of blood work to check how much residue is still left in your system, when you’re ready.”
“Okay, can we do the blood work before we leave here? I don’t typically want to wait any longer to get it done?” she says looking between the two of us.
“Sure, I’ll also check over your injuries too,” Shelia grins as she stands from the seat. “I’ll be down the hall when you’re ready.”
“Thank you, Shelia.”
“No worries at all, Amelia. Zane.” She nods her head toward me and turns and leaves the room.
“Come on. We need to get ready for work.” I tell her, standing from my seat and hold my hand out to her.
She smiles up at me, placing her hand in mine and stands. I don’t let go of her hand as we make our way out of the kitchen and down the hall to my room. There was no way I could fight my feelings for this woman. Even if I’m not sticking around after this mission, and there is the possibility of breaking her heart when I leave, I’m going to give her everything I have now, at this moment.
She is mine until it comes to an end between us.
“How much does my dad know about what’s going on?” I ask as Zane pulls his truck into the front carpark of Satonic and shuts the engine down.
“He’ll know everything by this afternoon. As of right now, he knows about Masen and Rosko coming in and about the drugs,” he answers looking at the rear-view mirror.
“Are you telling him about the accident?” I didn’t want my dad worrying any more than he already does.
He takes his eyes from the mirror and looks at me. “He needs to know, Amelia. He might know who owns the SUV or someone that does.”
I nod my head agreeing with him. My dad did know a lot of people.
He reaches for my hand and holds it in his own. “You need to act normal in there, Amelia, like you don’t know anything is going on, or that you know Masen or Rosko.”
“I know, Zane,” I say a little annoyed. I have been doing exactly that since I found out about Zane being undercover. Usually with something like that I would’ve told my dad about, but because of his job, I didn’t.
Zane drops my hand and opens his door and jumps out. Before I even have my belt off, my door opens and Zane stands there hand raised, waiting for me. I shift along the seat and hold onto his extended hand and jump down. He steps back and closes the door behind me and we walk toward the entrance together. I stay a step behind him as we approach the front door. He holds the door open for me and I walk through and smile seeing Lexie at the front counter.
Zane stands to the side as I move over to where she is and wrap my arms around her. “Hey babe.”
“Holy shit! What happened to you?” she asks looking over me.
“Long story, Lex,” I reply leaning against the countertop, with my back to Zane.
Lexie glances over at Zane then back to me, then raises her eyebrow.
Shaking my head. “That there, is a long story too.”
The rumble of a Harley engine hits my ears, well two actually, and I know its Zane’s teammates pulling up. Resting my elbow on top of the glass counter. “Come and get me at lunch and I’ll tell you about it,” I say with a smile.
I hear the door open behind me, but stay where I am.
Lexie begins to smile. She glances over my shoulder to the door and that smile falls from her lips instantly and her face pales.
“Lex,” I ask as I step forward, “What’s wrong?”
She sways on her legs, eyes still glued behind me. I shoot forward wrapping my arm around her, steadying her. Her whole body is shaking in my grip. “Hey, talk to me, what’s going on?” I ask her.
“Lexie,” someone says in a hoarse voice behind me.
Her body trembles more in my hold. Tears fall from the corner of her eyes as she leans into me staring at who’s just walked into the shop. Someone steps over to the counter, but I don’t take my eyes away from Lexie. I begin rubbing my hand up and down her arm and stop suddenly when she begins to back away from the counter.
“Masen,” she chokes out.
My head spins on my shoulders to where Masen is standing on the opposite side of the counter, his eyes fixed on Lexie.
Zane comes up behind Masen and slaps him on the back. “Time to meet the boss,” he says loudly enough for all of us to hear. Masen steps away from the counter and proceeds to walk away and toward the back of the shop. His eyes stay on Lexie till he disappears down the walkway.
Lexie falls back into my embrace as soon as Masen is gone. Pulling her over to the sofa chair in the room, I help her down and sit beside her, holding her hand. “Talk to me, babe,” I say softly.
She lifts her hand to her face and wipes her cheeks, then looks over to where Masen disappeared moments before. “Why is he here?” she asks quietly.
“I’m guessing he’s here to work out back,” I tell her. “Do you know him?”
“I did, a long time ago,” her voice shakes. “Well, I thought I did.”
I tighten my hand around hers. “What did he do to you?” With how much pain Lexie is in right now, I know something happened between them and it’s not good.
“I fell
in love with him. I told him how I felt and the next morning, he was gone. Vanished into thin air. Not a single trace of him. Just upped and left without a word. He ripped my heart out and destroyed me, completely. I’ve never seen him again, till now,” she sighs wiping at the corner of her eyes. “If it wasn’t for your brother, I wouldn’t be here, Lia. He saved me.”
That fucking asshole!
“Shit, Lexie. Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, pulling her into my side, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.
“I wanted to forget everything about him,” she whimpers into my shoulder. I sit there allowing her to cry. I feel her pain. The worst pain is always from the ones you love. You give them your heart to cherish, but just as easily they can destroy it in a single second.
She lifts her head from my shoulder and leans against the back of the sofa, her eyes closed. I know she doesn’t want to stay around. Fuck! I wouldn’t either if I had seen someone from my past.
“Hey, let me get Torch and he can give you a ride home, sweetie. Dad can watch the front of the shop.”
Opening her eyes, she sits up. “Are you sure your dad won’t mind me leaving this early? I’ve only been here for an hour.”
“Of course not, Lex,” I answer, standing from the sofa.
Lexie follows suit and we both move over to the counter. She leans down and pulls out her bag from under the register and throws the strap over her shoulder. “Don’t worry about getting Torch. I’ll walk home, Lia.”
“Torch won’t mind.”
“I know, Lia. The fresh air will help clear my head.” She steps in front of me and hugs me tight.
“Send me a text when you get home, okay? I’ll come by when I finish my shift and see if you need anything,” I say, letting her go.
“I will, love ya.”
“Love you too, babe.”
She turns around and walks out the front door. I watch as she slowly makes her way along the curb and around the corner and disappears from my sight. Did Masen know that Lexie worked here? Did she know about him? Turning around, I begin to walk toward my dad’s office where I knew all the men were. First I’m giving Masen a piece of my mind. No one hurts my best friend. Then, the awkward chat about what I’d said to Zane last night which he hasn’t mentioned anything about yet.
I let go of Masen as we round the corner and stop. “What was that about?” I question.
Masen rubs the back of his neck. “I didn’t believe it was her when I did the check on everyone that worked here. I needed to see it for myself.”
“How do you know each other?” I ask and start moving toward Chopper’s office.
“A mission gone wrong a long time ago,” Masen mumbles beside me.
I glance over at him. I don’t ask him anything more as I stop and knock on the timber door and open it. I make my way into the office with Masen and Rosko behind me. I hear the door click telling me it’s closed and I step over to Chopper’s desk.
Chopper stands from his chair glancing between the two men behind me. “Masen and Rosko, this is Chopper, owner of Satonic and father to Amelia,” I tell them.
Both of them step forward and offer their hands to Chopper. He shakes both and sits back down. Rosko and Masen step back and stand to the side casually.
I sit down in the black chair in front of the desk. “Do you know anyone that owns a black SUV?” I ask.
Chopper frowns. “I know of several. Why?”
“Someone drove Amelia off the road near Walker’s farm.”
“What?” Chopper shouts and stands from his chair, rocking it back with his motion.
“She’s safe. A little banged up, but safe,” I say. She was only safe because I was with her! She could be dead right now if that wasn’t the case. I quickly push the thought aside and speak again, “I don’t know if they saw I was in the truck with her or not. So it’s hard to pinpoint whether they were after her alone or me.”
Chopper sits back down stiffly. “Did you get a look at who was driving?” he asks and turns in his chair and starts to flick through a book on his desk.
“No. No plates. Both occupants’ faces were covered, made it hard to identify them,” I tell him.
Chopper looks up from the book to me. “I’ll ring around and find out who it belongs to. If it’s someone I know I’ll deal with them personally,” he growls the last part.
I nod my head. Little did he know I will be doing the same exact thing when I found out too. “Do you know a Carlos Rowe?” I know he does the moment his body stills before me.
His eyes drill into my own. “What does he have to do with this?” he grunts.
“We have confirmation that Carlos Rowe put a hit on Amelia. If he knocked her off, you would then sell your shop to him as you wouldn’t be able to function after the loss of your daughter. Which will give him exactly what he wants,” I say, resting my elbows on my knees and leaning forward.
“Fuck! Of course, it would be him behind this. Why didn’t I see this coming?” he hisses and sits back in the chair.
“He’ll try anything to get his own way, including killing someone,” I say and stand from the chair.
“He will die first before he harms Amelia again or my family.”
The feeling is mutual.
I need to move this along so I can get back out there to Amelia. “Masen has gone over the books and has narrowed it down to two trucks that come into the shop. When those trucks come in, Rosko is going to bug them both and see where they go. Once we find which one it is, then it’s only a matter of finding out who’s hiding the drugs in the bikes.”
“I thought you said it was Max?” Chopper says raising his eyebrow at me.
“He was,” I answer and sit back in my chair. “Since he has stopped, someone else is doing it.”
“Jesus Christ. I’ll be fuckin’ glad when this shit is over,” Chopper says roughly.
I don’t reply as the door to the office opens hastily and Amelia strides into the office. She scans the room until her eyes land on Masen, slamming the door behind her, she walks swiftly toward him. Masen straightens his posture as she approaches and stops in front of him. I’m out of my chair the moment she stops in front of him, but not quick enough. Her hand comes up quickly and connects to the side of his face, the slap echoing through the room. His head doesn’t move as he glares down at Amelia. I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her back and pushing her behind me. He steps forward in her direction, as Chopper rounds the desk.
“How could you do that to her?” Amelia shouts from behind me, fighting my hold on her.
“Masen,” I growl deep in my throat, warning him.
He stops his movements but continues staring at her.
I turn around and face Amelia, her eyes still trained on Masen. Gripping her chin lightly, I raise her chin up till her eyes are on my own. “Amelia, there’s more important things going on right now that we need to deal with. Once it’s all sorted, then and only then can you drill Masen about whatever you want.”
She looks at Masen one more time, then back to me and nods. “Good.” Letting her chin go, I turn back around, holding onto her slightly. I glance between Rosko, Masen, and Chopper. “Time to get to work,” I tell them. I slide my hand down her arm and grip her hand in mine.
Rosko nods and walks over to the door opens it and walks out. Masen doesn’t say anything as he makes his way over to Chopper’s desk and stands there waiting.
“I’ll be out back when you’re done in here,” I tell Masen. I get a nod in return.
I look over to Chopper, his eyes on his daughter, as he really gets a good look at her. I can see the anger in his eyes as they shift over her injuries. My grip tightens in hers. There shouldn’t be any marks on her skin, not even a scratch, but I allowed it to happen.
Amelia’s thumb rubs over my wrist and I loosen my grip and turn on my feet and move over to the door. Nothing is said as we exit the room and walk down the hall in silence. She walks behind me, still holding my hand as I make m
y way to the booth. I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight, not for a single moment. Wherever she went, I would be right there with her. I’m not allowing anything else to happen to her while on my watch. Whether she likes it or not, I’m not going anywhere unless she’s with me.
The last two weeks have been hectic. Having Zane’s teammates popping out around every corner keeping a close eye on everyone was pissing me off. Everywhere I looked, one of them was there. I understood that they needed to be in the office, workshop, out back and the front area, but the booth, there’s no reason for them to be there. All bikes were checked before they were pushed into the enclosed room. Several times Masen stood in while I painted several bikes, it was creepy having him watch my every move. Then the thing that really pissed me off was once the bikes were ready to go back out to the loading dock, Masen checked over them once more. He watched every single move I made in the room. There was no reason I could see to check the bike over again.
I’d had enough of Masen being in my booth and constantly in the same place as me at every chance. Once I told my father, who then told Zane, he ordered him to the back room and not to be in the booth again. I stayed clear of him after that, there’s something about him that I can’t quite put my finger on. The way he stares, without saying a word, it’s kind of freaky.
One thing I am happy about is that the majority of the drug has now left my system, only leaving a few traces behind. But with what Shelia has told me it should be completely gone within the month. I still get small spurts of the drug now and again, when my adrenaline kicks in or emotions, lust and anger. But I fight it and most of the time I win against it.
Then there’s Lexie. Masen is making it hard for her to work. Every time she’s alone, Masen is right there within seconds trying to talk to her, but she wants nothing of it. It came down to Torch being out the front of the shop with her so she could have some peace. It was either that or she quit, so one of the guys now works out front with her. Dad didn’t want to lose her, so he agreed to send someone out there to be with her was a good idea.