by London Casey
She had it coming.
She teased me, okay?
She was just drunk…
She wanted it.
There were times when Blaine would show up to court to watch it all unfold. But when cases started to turn and shit went sideways he realized that law and justice was nothing but a mere cloak that covered some deep seeded corruption. And when he pushed back…
“You okay?” Miller asked. “You look ready to cry.”
Blaine grinned. “Just thinking about those kitties, Miller. One had herself pierced down there. Goddamn.”
“Nothing you ain’t seen before.”
“I know. But it still surprises me.”
A prospect came into the room and put two shot glasses down on the table.
“What’s this about?” Blaine asked.
“I know where you have to go now, brother,” Miller said. “You have to step back into that darkness.”
“No,” Blaine said. “I don’t do that. I don’t step back. I just go forward. The problem though? Everything is round. The world is round. The sun goes around. The calendar repeats itself. I go forward, I’m forced to go around.”
“You know, you’re actually pretty smart when you’re not acting like an asshole.”
“Define asshole,” Blaine said.
“Getting caught with five strippers and then fooling around with them in a holding cell.”
“You say asshole… I say opportunity taken advantage of.”
Miller shook his head. “Have a shot and ask me.”
“Ask you what?”
“I can see it burning in your eyes.”
Blaine grinned ear to ear. He threw the shot glass back and flipped it upside down. He folded his hands and leaned in a little even though he and Miller were alone.
“Is she still full?” he asked.
“Ella?”
Blaine nodded.
“Yeah. She’s still full, Blaine. She’s still breastfeeding Beck.”
Blaine ran a hand across his face. “Just let me… just once.”
“You want a taste.”
“Yes.”
Miller leaned in. “No.”
“Goddammit, Miller.”
“You get to ask once a day, that was our deal, right? If you ask again, I’m going to make the other side of your face match what those cops did.”
“Got it,” Blaine said. “Now what the hell do you really want me alone for?”
“Ethan. Give me the scoop.”
“I already did in front of the table, Miller. I need to come clean with my brothers about who I am.”
“Who you were.”
“The badge is like the cut, Miller. You can lose it but it never leaves you.”
Miller put a hand to Blaine’s shoulder. “No. You goddamn listen to me, Blaine. You dirty, fucking, scummy, piece of shit asshole… you tossed that badge when you understood it had no meaning. The cut on your back you wear and will wear until you’re dead because it has meaning. You got that?”
Blaine nodded.
“That’s why I need this delivery figured out.”
Blaine shrugged Miller away and stood up. “I love you, Miller. I love every guy that sits at this table. Including Trev, and I barely know him. But if we’re going to exchange bullets and trust, I have to love, right? I know what you need from me. I’ll do anything for this club. For you. I’ll be the diversion, Miller. Just tell me what to do.”
When Blaine got to the door, Miller whistled for him. He looked back.
“Thank you,” Miller said.
Blaine gave a nod and went to the bar.
“What do you want, Blaine?” a young prospect asked with a smile.
Blaine threw a fist, smacking the guy in the mouth. The guy stumbled back, eyes wide, arms flailing. The guy’s hand then grabbed for a gun. Blaine jumped over the bar at him, rage in his heart.
“You want to shoot me?” Blaine asked.
“Why’d you hit me?”
Blaine grabbed the prospect by the throat and threw him to the floor. The prospect groaned and lifted the gun, pulling the trigger.
***
The bullet zinged right by Blaine and hit the wall. Blaine stepped forward and put the toe of his boot between the prospect’s legs. He wasn’t making a threat here, he stepped and twisted.
As the prospect cried - literally - he dropped the gun.
That’s when Blaine dropped down to one knee and grabbed the gun. He quickly took out the clip and hid it, all before the prospect could see.
“You see, you little bitch, you need to stay strong and tough,” Blaine growled.
“What the hell is going…” Gaige was at the bar and then on top of it. He quickly drew his gun. “Blaine. What the fuck are you doing?”
“Teaching this punk a lesson.”
“Step away,” Gaige ordered.
“Let it go, VP,” Blaine said.
“Don’t make me shoot you,” Gaige warned.
“Over a prospect?”
“What did he do to you?” Gaige asked.
“Nothing,” Blaine said. He widened his eyes and smiled.
“You’re sick,” the prospect said.
“Fucking sick,” Blaine said. He put the gun to the prospect’s head. “So fucking sick.” Blaine pulled the trigger.
The prospect jumped and twisted like a fish flopping on dry land.
“Christ!” Gaige yelled.
Blaine stood up and reached back, grabbing at Gaige. He took Gaige’s gun and tossed it to the floor. By then the rest of the guys had all gotten together in the clubhouse to watch the scene unfold.
“Blaine, brother,” Jace said. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” Blaine said. He dropped the prospect’s gun on the floor. “Everyone needs to take a punch once in a while, right?”
He grabbed a bottle of whiskey from under the bar and jumped over.
“Don’t go too far with that,” Trev said and pointed to a camera in the corner of the bar. “We have company.”
“Who is it?” Gaige asked.
“The new police chief,” Blaine said. “Fuck.”
four.
“I don’t understand,” Dr. Ashland said.
“You’re not supposed to understand,” Jessa said. “I just need to leave for a little while.”
“Someone threatened you, Jessa. Someone broke into the office and killed one of our patient’s animals. And now you have to leave? Jessa, if you’re hiding something…”
“Look, I’m really sorry to do this. I was honestly just thinking about leaving. And not even saying a word to you. I’m at least trying to be honest.”
Dr. Ashland stood with her hands in her pockets. She had an angelic face, perfect features and looked twenty years younger than she was. But she had a full head of gray hair. Perfect and beautiful gray hair at that. Her eyes were a rich blue color that always begged for honesty.
“I wish I could tell you more,” Jessa said.
Dr. Ashland reached for the door and engaged the lock. “So give it to me.”
“You can talk to Terri,” Jessa said.
“I did that. She said you looked terrified. That something had gotten to you.”
“And I told her it was simply my reaction to seeing a cat with a missing head.”
“And before you looked into the box?”
“We have security cameras,” Jessa said. “Look at those.”
“They mysteriously malfunctioned for an entire hour, Jessa.”
Jessa paused and considered what she was up against here. “You don’t think I did something wrong, do you?”
“The only thing I feel you’re doing wrong is what’s happening right now. You holding back on me.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Then try me.”
Jessa swallowed hard. “He was here. He got out of prison and came right to me. To finish what he started.”
“And who is he?” Dr. Ashland asked.
&nbs
p; “The he who took everything from me. My best friend. Her daughter. My dream of becoming a doctor. Everything collapsed…”
Her stomach started to flip. She looked left, right, seeking a trashcan. She lunged to her left, falling to her knees. Jessa got sick right there in front of the woman who helped her through the darkest time of her life without really knowing why it was so dark. All Dr. Ashland knew was that Jessa’s best friend and her daughter were murdered and she discovered the bodies. She didn’t know anything that happened before it or what it all meant now.
Or what she had to do next…
“Oh, Jesus,” Dr. Ashland said. She crouched and rubbed my back. “You’re afraid for your life.”
“Bingo,” Jessa said with her head dangling in a trashcan.
“Here,” she offered her a tissue.
She wiped her mouth and she was then handing Jessa a piece of mint gum. She took the gum and stood back up.
“You need to talk to the police,” she said. “Get yourself some help or advice. If anything, contact a lawyer. I can set up a meeting with my lawyer. She’s an old friend. We’ll talk over wine. Tonight. My place. Sleep there.”
“No,” Jessa said. “It doesn’t work that way. The police… Jesus, I can’t believe I’m going through this again.”
“Going through what?”
“It was all a mess back then. The whole thing. There were so many pieces purposely lost. Okay? There’s only one person I can talk to about this.”
“Okay… is that why you’re leaving?”
“Sort of.”
“Then why do you seem so uneasy still?”
“Because this person is as dangerous as the man who was here.”
And that was the scariest part of it all.
***
Jessa was finally home, but she didn’t feel safe. She knew how powerful he was. He, being Vin, the man who lived with one foot in the path of justice and the other in the path of crime. He was the guy that could make charges disappear or make charges appear and stick. He had been serving time in prison and it wasn’t for the crime he committed by murdering Jessa’s friend, Meghan, and Meghan’s daughter. That was terrifying in itself. The fact that Vin got off on murder.
He had been serving time for a corruption charge. The best part of it was that he went into prison almost voluntarily while the legal system worked its magic to ensure the safety of Vin and the good will nature of his name. It was horrible to think about and even worse to see in action.
Promising to keep herself off the internet and researching Vin’s name was useless. She had learned from Blaine a long time ago that if she was going to face an enemy it was smart to know everything possible about that enemy.
The problem with Vin was that he had too many people in his corner. Men with badges. Men with nothing but the urge to kill. Men who were addicted and willing to do anything for the next high.
She sat in her bedroom with the door locked. She didn’t have a gun - she had no idea how to actually fire a gun either - but she had a knife from the kitchen. And a needle loaded with some heavy sedatives. If by some chance Vin tried to attack, she’d be prepared.
For how long, Jessa?
That was the question she had been asking herself over and over. Like a song stuck on repeat, she kept asking how long she was willing to do this. Sure, one night of fear, she could survive that. She could wrap up tight in blankets and let the storm pass. But this wasn’t a summer thunderstorm that would lead to blue skies and a cool breeze. This was a fucking hurricane. A category five, headed right to her.
Bad enough she was taking a leave from her job, now she was going to sit in bed with a knife and a needle and wait?
Jessa grabbed her cell. She had a piece of a paper tucked away in her nightstand drawer with a phone number on it. It was the last thing Blaine ever gave to her. As he stood at the edge of the cemetery wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. His hair had been messy and when he took his sunglasses off, Jessa saw the pain. The betrayal. The hurt. The guilt. The anger. She had never understood Blaine and really never liked him. He was an asshole, a fighter, a loud mouth, and way too touchy for his own good. He loved Meghan fiercely though, that was for sure. Even when they had some serious problems, he stayed true. There had been a few times when Jessa and Blaine had been alone…
Rolling her eyes, Jessa told herself not to do that. Not to even attempt to go back to something like that. Temptation was a fantasy best left right there. As a fantasy. Fun to think about but never to go after. Especially with Blaine. And now that he decided to give up the good guy side and go straight into the arms a motorcycle club, Jessa couldn’t imagine what happened to him since. But right now, he was perhaps her only hope.
She dialed the number and shut her eyes.
It rang and then disconnected.
“Shit,” she whispered.
She tried calling the same number for an hour straight, all resulting in the same thing. It would ring eight times and then just disconnect. Somewhere inside herself, Jessa knew not to be completely surprised. It was Blaine, after all. He was tied into the MC. So they probably used the cheap phones that couldn’t be traced.
Jessa swung her legs off the bed and stood up. She walked to the window and looked out. There was still plenty of daylight left in the day. And hell, even if it was night, then what? She’d just go to sleep and pretend like nothing was happening?
What if Vin was just messing around? What if Vin was going to go after Blaine?
The images started to pop into Jessa’s mind again. Walking through the doorway and seeing the hands first. On the floor. Blood on the floor. Meghan’s hand just an inch from her daughter’s.
Jessa saw it when she shut her eyes and she saw it play out when she opened her eyes. There was no escaping it. There was only running.
There was only one choice left.
Jessa grabbed a bag, her purse, and her keys.
She was going to pay a visit to Back Down Devil MC.
five.
“Want to stick a finger up my ass?” Blaine asked.
The cop swung a back hand, sending Blaine stumbling to the hood of the police cruiser.
“Hey!” Miller yelled. “That’s not how we do this.”
Ethan stepped forward and took his sunglasses off. “This is not how we do this? Who the fuck is we? You’re Miller, right?”
“Go fuck yourself,” Miller said.
Ethan reached and flicked at the President’s patch. “What’s wrong, Prez? You don’t like this?”
Blaine grabbed at Ethan. He knew the risk and he paid the price. Ethan threw an elbow and hit Blaine in the gut.
“It’s okay!” Blaine yelled. “He’s never had any strength.”
The last thing Blaine wanted was for Miller - or anyone in the MC - to lose their cool and pull out a gun. Ethan was waiting for something to go wrong here.
“You’re attacking an innocent man,” Miller said.
Ethan chuckled. “The words innocent and Blaine have never been used in the same sentence.”
“You’ve got nothing on him right now,” Miller said. “He was clean last night.”
“Some of the girls weren’t,” Ethan said. “Makes me wonder what other side deals you’ve made around this town that point back to you.”
“Get the fuck out of this lot,” Gaige said. “Unless you have a reason or a warrant.”
Blaine got between Miller, Gaige, and Ethan. “Look at me, Ethan. You want my ass, right?”
“I want it all,” Ethan said. “I want this place shut down.”
“Then where will all the great people of Frelen take their junk?”
“I can’t argue that. This place is full of junk. Look at yourself, Blaine.”
“I’m looking at you, Ethan. The bigger the badge the smaller the cock, right?”
Ethan wound up and Blaine caught his fist and pushed. As Ethan stumbled back, two of his officers pulled out guns.
The scene got ever hotter. Blaine didn
’t stand down either. He walked right to the weapons drawn, no fear in his eyes or heart. Some told Blaine he was brave. Others said it was stupidity. Blaine liked to live in some blurry area between the two.
“We’re done here!” Ethan yelled.
“Listen to what the President said,” Blaine warned. He stood chest to chest with Ethan. “Unless you have a reason, stay the hell away from us. You want to break our balls because you’re the new law? Try it.”
“This isn’t going to work like before,” Ethan said. He put his sunglasses on and walked to his SUV. “I’m not Jerry. I’m not going to end up dead. Suicide? Come on, guys. You think I’m stupid?”
“What does that mean?” Blaine asked.
“You know exactly what that means. Just know I’m not going to be on your payroll. I’m not going to do you favors. I’m not going to look away. You fuck up, I’m there to take you down. There’s a reason I got this call.”
“This town is going to eat you alive, Ethan,” Blaine said.
“Don’t forget where you came from,” Ethan said. He chuckled. “Couldn’t cut it on the street so you went to the dogs.”
Ethan got into his SUV. He started to back up and Blaine hurried to find a rock. He knew he could bust the windshield with one throw.
“Brother, hold up on that,” Gaige said and grabbed his wrist. “Let them leave. We have a bigger issue.”
“What?” Blaine asked.
“Eight Under,” Nate yelled as he hurried to his motorcycle.
“What happened?” Blaine asked.
“Come on,” Gaige said. “We have to go visit some old friends.”
“What the fuck happened?” Blaine yelled.
“They want us to be on Ethan’s radar,” Miller said. He started his motorcycle and everyone followed suit.
Blaine hurried to his ride and made sure to stay up next to Miller. If there was going to be bloodshed, the President needed to be fully protected at all costs. If anything, Miller should have been in the middle of the pack or in the back. But Miller would always refuse that.