A LIL' LESS LOST (The Kingsmen Book 2)

by Oakes, Tara

  It was true. Mostly. The money would be going to Vicki, but she had one last thing to do to earn it before she could claim it as hers and set off on her jolly little way.

  Pop cracked a half smile. “Seems like a foolish way to throw away money, on that one. But, who am I to tell a brother how to spend his pay?”

  The mood lightened. We were both being passive to one another, with Pop seemingly aware that something wasn't exactly on the up and up. I picked up the handles and swung the bag.

  “What can I say? I was always a sucker for a damsel in distress.”

  I stopped in front of Pop as I headed out the door. “I'll take care of this shit and meet you later. At the rendezvous point.”

  Pops nodded and clapped his hand down hard on my shoulder. “You be careful with that one, son... she's a slippery little snake. Your momma called it clear as day. Get her outta town.” He looked me straight in the eye, “And you be careful, boy. You hear me? I don't need to be explainin' to your ma or worse, to Lil's, anything about you getting hurt.”

  I understood. That was as close to him admitting he was personally concerned for me as I was ever gonna get from him. We were very similar but yet couldn't be more different from each other, coming from a long line of take no shit kinda men. The lessons this man taught me were woven into my upbringing. You don't worry like a bitch, you don't act like one either.

  I cocked my chin at him, silent acknowledgement of the unspoken undertones floating between us.

  The boys had had enough wits to toss Vicky in the van, Blue waiting at the wheel to follow us. I guess it was better that the two of them got their little fuck out of the way earlier, this way Blue wouldn't get distracted by his passenger. I knew first hand that Vicki was the kind of girl you fucked once just for the experience to know that you'd done it and not missed an opportunity that every other fucking guy in this town had taken her up on. I didn't need to worry about Blue looking for another round on that merry-go-round.

  Tiny, Clink, and Butch were huddled around their bikes shootin' the shit over Tiny's new piece. Butch was on probation. Hell! Butch was always on probation for one thing or another, but I knew he was carrying, too. Getting caught with a concealed illegal firearm was not a concern for him today. I threw the bag of cash over to Tiny to store on his bike. Mine was full. I had Sunny pack some clothes for Lil's in my saddlebags. Between that and my own stash I didn't have the room.

  Once close enough in range of my brothers to talk low, I addressed them as a group.

  “We stay tight. It shouldn't take more than forty minutes or so to get there. We stash the bikes about a quarter mile away.”

  They all nodded, silently agreeing with the orders before saddling up. With Vince not riding with us, I carried the lead as V.P. and the others falling in line. Clink, as the club enforcer was my right-hand man.

  It was a small group compared to when all of the brothers rode out, but out of respect, every single man, woman, and child in this compound lined up to see us off. Ma was right up front next to Pop. I could tell she was worried, her frame rigid and tense. Pops was holding her, offering his woman his strength. She blew me a kiss and leaned back into her ol' man. She was a strong woman, stubborn, fierce, but she and Pop had a dynamic between them. She let him be the man he needed to be, with the club and with her.

  The roaring of the bikes was building, echoing within the walls of the surrounding buildings. I tied a bandana tight around my mouth and lowered my shades, the sun was starting to set and I didn't need them for glare. When we rode out for shit like this, we did it covered. People can't ID a fully-concealed biker... to them we all look the same.

  We rode out, the crowd closing in the space behind us as we left. I glanced back in my mirror. Almost every single person that mattered to me was back there, in that mass of faces watching us or riding alongside me now. The only person missing was my baby, my Lil's. But I was going to go get her.

  ******

  LIL'S

  I don't know what day it is. The sun is setting lower in the sky hinting at early evening. The room is bare, other than a metal-framed bed with some nasty blankets on it and a window with billowing curtains. The breeze feels good, fresh, rejuvenating as I sit on the floor and rest my head on the sill, watching. There's nothing to watch really. We are out in the middle of nowhere, in some old neglected house far from the safety of neighbors. There are bikes parked on the lawn... not many, but at least ten scattered around the property below me. I've always felt safe around bikers, having grown up surrounded by them. But these men had changed my outlook on that. Other than when Tiny had been shot back when I was in high school, I had always had a detached view of the danger that came with every single stich of the patches sewn onto the cuts of men like this. Now, whenever I closed my eyes, whenever I let my mind wander back to Emily and the terror she had on her face, the foreboding of what was coming her way, I feel the true weight of these patches falling down on me.

  I had picked a focal point a while ago and just stared. As long as I could just focus on something hard, I was able to keep those memories at bay. The backyard had an old tree set back in the corner, before the wild grass of abandoned land took over. There was a rickety old swing hanging from one of the main branches, but it looked like it hadn't been used in a decade, easy. I'm sure if one of these fat sons of bitches even tried to sit on it, it would snap. But, at one time it must have been new, giving some small kid a great place to hang out, waiting to be called into the house for supper or just passing time pumping their legs back and forth trying to swing higher and higher to reach the sky.

  That kid was long gone now, that imaginary family moved on with these bikers taking their place. I rubbed my stomach protectively while looking at the swing. At least I wasn't alone locked up here. I had something with me, something secret and special and something to focus on to keep my mind from the terrible places it seemed hell bent on going to. I cannot think of it again, the sound of the gun firing its deadly aim, the pooling darkness on the floor, the metallic tinge of the scent of blood filling the space. I squint my eyes harder, focusing on the swing, commanding my mind to follow.

  The heavy thud of boots outside my door, coupled with the deep vibrations of the old floor boards beneath me alerted me to my visitor before the knock on the door even sounded. The same kid was sent time and time again to check on me. Unless they expected me to jump from a two story window and try to make a run for it through a field of long-forgotten crops, with countless pairs of eyes on me while I made my escape, I don't know why they keep sending him up here. I had thought about making the jump, taking my chances out there. If it were just me, I would have made the leap in a heartbeat. But it wasn't just me anymore. I had something much more important than myself to consider in any half-assed, hair-brained, prison-break plans.

  “You done with your plate?”

  He couldn't be any more than twenty years old. God knows why he picked this club to hitch his wagon to. Slayers and Kingsmen were the only two MC's left in this part of the state. While I didn't know too much about club business, I knew enough to know that Slayers were into some really bad shit. While the Kingsmen had thrived and built up tons of businesses, bringing in legitimate cash, the Slayers hung around and waited for the scraps. Mainly thanks to Jay, the club was able to support its own pretty comfortably. The ranks swelled and the brothers were kept happy. They were earning well, lived in nice homes, led pretty decent lives, and were all extremely close to one another. The main foundation of the club charter never waivered and the brothers never lost sight of the real purpose for the MC... It offered a home, a life to those guys.... not just bragging rights.

  This kid, and I use the term loosely because he's not much younger than me, has no business getting mixed up with assholes like this. I wonder how many people looked at Jay or Tiny and wondered the same thing over the years. He seemed nice enough, bringing me food and water every few hours and checking to see if I needed to use the bathroom.
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br />   “I can't eat anymore right now, thanks.” I had only managed to eat about half of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He looked unsure before picking up the unfinished meal. “Say... what's your name? I'm Lil's...”

  He squinted at me, trying to catch my angle. Who knows what they told this kid about me? I mean, I didn't exactly look like a crazy lunatic bitch, but they must have fed him some kind of bullshit story about me. The kid was on pins and needles every time he stepped foot in here.

  “Chris... they call me Pretty Boy.”

  Good name. Sometimes a road name just didn't seem to fit. In this case though, it was spot on. He had short, blackish hair with some kind of gel in it, making the tips spike up a little. Dark brown eyes settled on me, judging me...

  “Good to meet you, Chris. You seem too nice to be caught up in this shit.” I didn't have anything to lose here, not like I'm gunning for Miss Congeniality or anything.

  He stood tall, I could tell he was getting a little defensive. “Yeah, well... things have been hard around here for a while now. Fallen on tough times you know...”

  I nodded. I could tell by the way these guys dressed, their run-down bikes... they didn't exactly have a whole lot of pocket cash.

  “Do you know what they did to my friend?” My once friendly tone turned cold. I hadn't seen his face among the few at the warehouse.

  He shakes his head. “Yeah... Shade gets a little... unhinged sometimes.”

  I bit my lip. UNHINGED?! The guy was completely mental! A maniac! He could see the anger swelling in me.

  “I'm sorry about your friend...” He looked sincere. “We didn't know he was going to take it this far, you know?”

  I turned myself back toward the window, spotting my tree. I exhaled deep. “You should think about getting out now, you know. Before things really start to go to shit.”

  There were very few ways out of it for this kid. He'd taken an oath, pledged his loyalty to these men, his brothers. There was a long silence before Chris spoke again.

  “I'll check on you in an hour, I guess.”

  And he is gone. The sun is setting behind the trees, a deep purple and orange painted the sky. I close my eyes tight. Soon it will be too dark to see my tree, my swing. There would only be emptiness, a void, and the memories would find their way back in again.

  I pray Jay finds me soon.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The coolness of the night was setting in, forcing me to close the window. With the daylight long gone I had no reason to stare out the window... my tree was hidden. I made my way to the bed and pulled the scrappy blankets off, throwing them into a pile on the floor and sat up against the wall on the thin mattress. With my legs hugged into my chest, I dropped my head down to rest on my knees.

  The room was dark, but darkness suited me just fine right now. It would require too much effort on my part to get up and hit the switch. I had never been a fan of the quiet. I was the type of person that always needed the hustle and bustle. Plenty of background noise and lots of distraction suited me just fine.

  I could hear faint signs of life coming from the ground floor. I strained to hear them, inviting them to fill my ears and give me something other than my mind-numbing isolation to pass the time. The knock at the door startled me. I didn't answer. Exactly what was the proper etiquette for answering the door to one's captor, anyway?

  Chris opened the door carefully stepping into the darkness. My eyes had adjusted pretty well by now and I could see the outline of his hand reaching for the light switch.

  “Don't,” I mindlessly called out to him. “I'm fine in the dark... please.”

  His shape didn't move right away. I think he was contemplating my request. It must have sounded absurd to him. But, he didn't turn on the light.

  He cleared his throat. “I brought you some pizza. I wasn't sure what kind you liked so I just brought you plain.”

  I could smell the cheesy slice from across the room.

  “Thanks. I'll try to eat some.” I scooted to the edge of the bed, extending my hand toward him. He closed the space between us and placed the edge of the plate into my fingers.

  “So, sounds like a good time downstairs...”

  I was angry at these assholes for carrying on and having a good time after they had just murdered an innocent young woman. It was as if it had never happened, to them.

  “Yeah, well, this shit's almost over. The guys are relieved and kicking back a little. It's been... tense all around, you know?”

  Tense. I'll give him fucking tense. Let's have him watch as his good friend gets shot in the goddamned head right in front of you simply because they know you, and see if it's tense enough for him. I took a bite of the luke-warm pizza and chewed slowly, not tasting the food in my mouth.

  “Sure...” I managed in between mouthfuls.

  “I really am sorry about your friend. I hope you know that.” This kid didn't quite fit the typical biker mold. I haven't met too many of them that felt remorse. “But Shade worked something out with your club... their gonna make a trade tonight. You'll get to go home.”

  I swallowed my food down hard, and grunted. “Do you really think he's going to let a murder witness just run along home to his own rivals?”

  I seamed to have caught Chris off guard. “We... we took a vote. I promise you that you ARE going home, Lil's.”

  “Did you take a vote on killing Emily? That was her name you know. She had a name and now she's dead. Your club killed her. I hope you all can live with that vote.”

  Chris hung his head and slowly turned back toward the door. “That was never voted on, Lil's, I swear on it. After all this is over my club will deal with that, you can count on it.”

  I sighed slowly. I believed him. I know he didn't vote on it, make the call, or pull the trigger.

  “I'm sorry about Emily.”

  He closed the door behind him, leaving me in the dark to finish my dinner. I wasn't a huge fan of pizza. But, it was nutrition and at this point I needed to make sure I was eating. I hadn't had a fruit or vegetable since I had been taken (and, my prenatal vitamins were right where I left them, in the bathroom at Jay's house.) I would need to make up for this past couple of days when I get home. We would need to make some healthy changes. WE. Jay and I together. God, I needed him right now. This should be the happiest time of our lives and we should be spending it together. The few days leading up to when I took the test I had run over all scenarios in my head. I had planned out so many little ways that I would break the news to Jay if the test was positive. I knew he'd be happy... he had always made it pretty clear that he wanted kids. He had been an only child and was always envious of those who had siblings. He had Tiny, of course. But it wasn't exactly the same. I never got to tell Jay about the baby, share that moment with him. It was one more thing that Shade took from me.

  ******

  THEN

  “Lil's and Jay, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

  I ran around the couch trying to catch on to the four-year-old scurrying away from me.

  “AVA!” I called, nearly out of breath. This little girl was quick! She had managed to sneak out of her room and downstairs to the den where she walked in on Jay and me making out. Thank God for small miracles and she hadn't come down any later, or she would have seen a hell of a lot more than just kissing.

  Jay was laughing his ass off watching me try to track Ava down. She had disappeared somewhere through the kitchen. All that was left of her was her singing voice echoing through the house. She was repeating the verse over and over again. I turned to Jay with a scowl on my lipstick-smudged face.

  “A little help here might be nice! I mean, this is your fault, you know.” I scolded him. Ava was tucked away in bed when Jay had stopped by. If she hadn't heard the noises we were making she would never have come down here. Hell, she'd probably be asleep by now.

  I was babysitting for Trojan and Sarah tonight. They had some anniversary party to go to for her sister. Ava was usually a pret
ty easy assignment. But, I had been stupid enough to leave her unattended for like, two seconds, and she managed to get into Sarah's hidden candy stash. The pre-schooler was riding one hell of a sugar high tonight and was in rare form.

  “First comes love, then comes marriage...” The tiny voice was now becoming louder. She was close. My eyebrows shot up and I snapped my fingers at Jay, pointing over to the side door near the pantry. We could double team her and cut her off before she could make it back to the kitchen. Jay quickly caught on to my plan and headed toward the singing nursery rhyme.

  “Then comes the baby in the baby carriage! Ahh! Uncle JAAAY!” Jay made it to her and scooped her up just as I made my way around the corner. He playfully threw her over his shoulder and began tickling her.

  Her laughter was contagious and I found myself joining in. Jay was beaming up at the little girl in his arms. “You see what happens to sneaky little girls that climb out of bed? The tickle monster comes after them!”

  “Ahhhh! No... no uncle JAAAAY!” Her squeals were pitchy and full of giddy hysterics. “Not the tickle monster!”

  I followed Jay as he carried Ava upstairs, and back toward her fairy princess themed bedroom. Her laughter had settled slightly as he walked over to her canopy bed and set her down. I stood in the doorway and watched as my big badass biker melted into putty for this little girl. He pulled the blanket back up over her and tucked the sides in tight.

  “Snug as a bug in a rug.” She laughed as he recited the bedtime rhyme while smoothing the blanket around her. “Auntie Lil's must not have tucked you in tight enough before,” he looked over his shoulder to me and winked.

  I squinted my eyes in mock anger at him. He knew damn well I would have gotten her to sleep perfectly fine without his interruption.

  “Now, Ava...” the little girl hung on every word Jay spoke, “if you stay in bed and go to sleep, I know for a fact that Auntie Lil's will give you twenty dollars.” The little girl's eyes widened. She looked over at me to confirm the deal.