by Jayne Blue
“No problem.” Micah winked at me. He was a winker. Except he could never quite manage closing one eye by itself so the gesture kind of reminded me of Jeannie or Samantha on one of those old TV sitcoms.
As soon as I got out of the building, I checked my messages from Mom. Every one of them said something dire like, “It’s your sister. We need you. It’s worse than I thought.” I’d been burned so many times before by my mother’s histrionics, I knew not to drop my whole life and rush right over. But now that my hearings were over, I had a little window of time so I decided to get it over with rather than having her ruin the rest of my evening.
Angel was meeting me at five o’clock. It was purely business. The college had agreed to the club’s terms. It had shocked me a little. But somebody at the foundation understood the people of Green Bluff. The second the word got out that the G.W.M.C had their eyes on the clinic, they expected no further trouble from people like Lee Corley. I couldn’t protect my clients 24/7 from the choices they made or were forced into. But I could at least help them feel safe in my office.
I could already hear the screaming when I pulled into my mother’s driveway. She was living in a rented house on Culver Street. It was one of her nicer addresses and I knew she was on the outs with her current boyfriend who was paying for it. Which meant it was only a matter of time before she either showed up on my doorstep or called to tell me she’d be taking off with someone new for a while. This was the calm before the storm.
It was Bailey doing the screaming. My sister could produce the most high-pitched, ear-splitting wail you ever heard. It came as quite a shock to people who didn’t know she just did this. I took a steadying breath and let myself in the front door.
Bailey stood in the living room, red-faced with tears streaming down. She whirled when I entered. Her blonde hair stuck out in peaks. She’d been tearing at it. My mother stood beside her, holding her arms out like she wanted to hug Bailey. She knew better than to try and touch her when she got like this.
“It’s her fault!” Bailey screamed as I tried to say hello. “She did this. She ruined everything. She always ruins everything!”
I bit my lip to keep from screaming back.
“Bailey, for God’s sake,” my mother said. “Sit down before you fall down. Breathe, baby. You’re going to pass out.”
Miraculously, Bailey listened. She slammed her body down on the couch and crossed her arms in front of herself, glaring at me.
“What’s my fault?” I asked calmly.
“Judd dumped me,” she said. “I know you did it.”
“Excuse me?”
“He’s a prospect. He has to do whatever the members tell him to. And you made Angel tell him to dump me!”
It took me a second to translate the last part of her sentence as her voice went to that dog whistle range again.
“Bailey, I don’t control Judd. Or anyone in that club. If that guy broke up with you, it’s on you and him. Don’t blame me. But don’t expect me to be sad about it either. I’ve told you a thousand times you’ve got to start learning how to take care of yourself. You can’t just …”
“Shut up! Just shut up. You’re such a hypocrite. You think Judd’s no good for me. You don’t even know him. And I know you’ve been seeing Angel. Everyone knows it. You’re such a liar. I can’t be in the same room with you!” Bailey leaped off the couch and ran down the hall, slamming one of the bedroom doors behind her. My ears were still ringing from her screeching.
My mother buried her face with her hands and sank down on the couch where Bailey had just been sitting.
“I don’t know why you called me here,” I said. “You know I can’t talk to her either when she gets like that. She’ll spin herself out in an hour or two and everything will go back to normal. At least she’s here. Not out there somewhere getting into even more trouble.”
“She’s right, you know,” my mother said. She reached for the end table and pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the drawer. Her fingers shook as she lit one.
“I thought you quit,” I said.
She waved the smoke away from her face. “I did.”
“Okay, well, like I said. I’ve got to get back to work. When Bailey cools off, I’ll try talking to her again. She’s missed the late registration window. But my faculty tuition waiver works for winter classes too.”
My mother took another puff. “So, you’re not even going to bother telling me what’s going on?”
“What?”
She leaned back and crossed her legs “Maura, she’s right, isn’t she? Your sister? You’re seeing that biker. The one she says made her boyfriend break up with her.”
“Mom. I’m not getting into this with you. I’m sorry, but it’s really none of your business and it’s none of Bailey’s.”
She raised a brow. “You’re kidding, right? If even half of what she just said is true, sounds to me like you’re the one poking your nose into other people’s business. Baby, you’ve got to let your sister make her own choices. You’re not her mother. I am.”
It took everything in me not to remind her how little she’d acted like it over the years. But that was a bigger fight and one I’d called a ceasefire in years ago.
“Okay. That’s fine. Noted. Do you really need me here then? I took a late lunch to run over here but I really need to get back to the office.” The spiteful side of me wanted to remind her that I was the only of us earning an actual paycheck.
“I guess I didn’t bargain on how pissed off she is at you, honey. Sorry for that. This usually goes the other way. Her screaming at me and you calming her down. I gotta admit. It’s a little refreshing.”
My mother’s delivery was so deadpan, it took half a beat for me to realize she was joking. When I did, I burst out laughing.
“Yeah, I guess I can see that. Just ... ugh ... just keep an eye on her, will you? I’m worried she’s going to use this as an excuse to go off and ... to …”
My mother kept that perfectly drawn brow arched. “You’re afraid she’s going to go off and shack up with the next loser who comes along. Just like her mama.”
“Mom,” I sighed. “Can we not?”
She tapped her ashes in the tray beside her. “It’s okay. If you’d said it, I would deserve it. But if you want to know the truth, it’s you I’m more worried about just at the moment.”
“Me?”
Collette Smith could give side-eye like nobody else. “Yeah. You. Tell me about this guy, Maura. Angel Bishop? Really?”
I shifted from one foot to the other but didn’t know how to answer her. I didn’t want dating advice from my mother. Ever. Is that what this was though? Did I want it to be? I went into this thinking I could get Angel out of my system with a one-night stand. Now I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I wasn’t ready to admit it to my mother, but the real reason I wanted to get back to work was so I could finish early and get ready to see him again.
“I’ve heard of him, you know that, right?” she asked. “You know years ago I dated a Great Wolf. A year or two before Bailey was born. Before I met Nick. His name was Gator. Oh, that boy was fine. Strong. Sexy. Pure alpha male. I could have gotten in serious trouble with that one.”
A year or two before Bailey was born would have put me at four or five years old. I had no memory of this Gator guy.
“He wanted me to run away with him,” she said, her eyes misting over. She’d gone somewhere in her head and the color in her cheeks as she conjured up the memory of Gator almost made me blush. Good God. If he had been anything like Angel …
“I don’t remember,” I said. There was another question in there. If she had run away with this guy, would she have dragged me along or dumped me off with Mrs. Kennedy, our neighbor? She’d done that more than once but didn’t think I remembered that either.
“I was tempted. Not going to lie. But that was a long time ago. Before the new leadership. Blackie Murphy was still in charge. Now that one was something else. Had the blac
kest eyes you could ever imagine. And when he trained them on you ... oh God. He could melt right through you. And Blackie took what ... and who ... he wanted. Didn’t matter who you belonged to.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Mom, are you telling me your precious Gator let you be passed around? God. Don’t tell me. I don’t think I want to know.”
“I told you,” she said. “It was a long time ago. I wanted different things out of my life back then. And it ended badly. Like I said, things have changed with the club. Gator ... he ... baby, he was murdered. That was back in the days the Wolves were warring with the Devil’s Hawks. Gator got caught in the crossfire. Broke my heart.”
“Jesus. Mom. I’m sorry.” A vision flashed through my head of Angel and the cruel scar he bore on his back. His own gunshot wound. Things were different now. He kept telling me that. And yet …
“Just be careful,” my mom said, coming back into the present. “That’s all I’m saying. I just don’t want you or your sister to get hurt the way I did.”
She reached into the bottom drawer of the end table where she kept her smokes. There, she had two cigar boxes with old pictures in them. She rifled through one and pulled out a single photograph. Smiling, she handed it to me.
It had yellowed a bit with age, but there was my mother, looking not too different than she did today. She had on cut-off jean shorts and a red bikini top. She sat on the back of a massive Harley. The guy behind her was gruff, with dark hair and a long beard. He towered over my mother and looked down at her with the most sinful expression. I could just make out the patch on his cut. Gator. Road Captain. She took the photo from me and put it back in the box.
“It’s the only one I’ve got of him,” she said. “Blackie gave it to me at the funeral. That’s the last I ever saw of him. He died too, maybe a year or so after that. Then Sly Cullinan took over. He’s a good man, I think.”
“Angel says so too,” I answered, not wanting to reveal even that much.
My mother smiled. “Like I said, just be careful, baby. But ... it’s okay to follow your heart once in a while.”
My answer died in my throat. I flat out didn’t know what to say. So I said the thing I always did. “I’ve got to get to work, Mom. Take care of yourself.”
Follow my heart. I never had that particular luxury and didn’t now. Come hell or high water, I would make my sister enroll in college after the holidays. With me on staff at Harrington, she could go for half price. No excuses. No distractions. For either of us.
I made a quick stop at the courthouse to get Tonya Corley’s orders. The filing clerk told me one of the deputies had just filed a proof of service as well. Lee had the paperwork too. The restraining order and custody orders were fully enforceable now. It gave me some measure of relief as I crossed the street back to my office.
That relief spread to a twinge of excitement as I heard the unmistakable sound of Angel’s engine as he turned down Second Street. I meant to follow him in my car, but the thought of riding on the back of his Harley thrilled me. I went to put my messenger bag in the back seat of my little Honda. Josh had dropped it off for me good as new two days ago.
As I reached for the door handle, I saw my pancaked tires. All four had been slashed. Not quite believing what I was seeing, I walked around the car. Carved into the passenger side door with a key or maybe a pocket knife were the words, “Die Bitch!”
“Maura.” Angel pulled up behind me, his voice hard and flat. “Climb on. I’m getting you the fuck out of here. Now!”
Chapter Fifteen
Angel
I drove so fast, we were at the clubhouse in less than ten minutes. Maura was breathless, white-faced when I helped her off the bike and took her in through the back. With the mood I was in, I practically hauled her up to my room, caveman style. I would have mowed down anyone, anything that tried to get to her in those moments after I saw the death threat scratched into her car.
I slammed and locked the door behind me. Maura was still holding my helmet under her arm. “Angel,” she gasped. I took the helmet from her and threw it against the wall. She jumped a little. I went to her, putting my arms around her. I needed to touch her. I needed to taste her. I needed to convince myself she was real. She was safe. She wouldn’t shift like some mirage, and I’d find myself holding her covered in blood ... just like Emily.
“Are you okay?” I said, finally finding my voice. I smoothed Maura’s hair away from her face. Her lips parted. Her pupils were wide with fear. Me. She was afraid of me. I forced myself to let her go, balling my fists at my side.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Angel, we have to call the cops. I need to see if anyone saw anything. Beverly …”
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. The guys were just downstairs, but I didn’t ... I couldn’t leave Maura’s side. I turned away from her, taking a few seconds to get Switch on the phone and fill him in on what happened. He took the call, but I could tell he was thrown at why I didn’t just come downstairs and talk face to face. Switch agreed to send a couple of the probies down to the clinic and touch base with our contacts in the sheriff’s department. They’d make a report and I knew I could get them to take Maura’s statement later. For now, I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight.
“I don’t care what your bosses say. I don’t even think I care what the club says. We are sitting on that clinic. 24/7. If I have to do it myself, pro bono, that’s what I’m doing.”
Her face softened. She came to me. “Angel, it’s okay. I’m okay. Calm down.”
“Calm down? You think this is somebody playing some joke on you? A prank?”
“No! No. I don’t think that.”
“I’ll kill him.” I started to pace. “If that Corley fucker even thinks he’s …”
“Angel!” Maura came to me. She put a light hand on my arm, stopping me mid-step. “We don’t know it’s Corley. I mean, maybe. He got served with court orders today. But I was also in court on four other cases. Two to limit visitation. One to finalize a divorce. My clients don’t come to me when things are going well in their lives, Angel.”
“All the more reason for you to have protection all the time, Maura. This isn’t up for debate. I told you, pro bono if I have to.”
She moved away from me. Her eyes darted around the room. Thanks to Mo, the place was pretty clean, but there wasn’t much to it. Just the bed, a couple of chairs. Dressers. The bathroom off to the side. The bed was made. Maura ran her hands over the checkered blanket and stopped in front of the picture I had framed on the wall. It was of Switch and me when we were just a couple of skinny teenagers. It was the day he learned how to ride. There was another framed picture on the dresser. She picked it up and smiled.
“Your mom?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I answered. “It’s the only one I have. My pops took it.”
“She’s pregnant,” Maura said. “Is that you under there?”
“Yeah. That was back in Chicago. I think I told you. My pops was a patched member of that charter.”
Maura nodded and put the frame back on the dresser. “You look like her a little.”
“She always said I was the spitting image of my father. I think that made things harder for her after he died, though she’d never let on.”
Maura turned to me. She’d crossed her arms in front of her. “Your father. He was murdered.”
I dropped my chin. “It’s complicated,” I said.
“And the club took you in?”
“She sent me out here because I was getting hard to handle. So Sly ... he put me to work. Helped straighten me out.”
Slowly, Maura sank down to the bed. “And you live here. All the time?”
“Yeah,” I said. I walked across the room and stood in front of her. She looked up, craning her neck to meet my eyes. “I’ve been looking for a place of my own. I can afford it. It’s not that. It’s just ... it’s simpler here.”
“And you don’t want complicated.”
She was doing
a damn good job of changing the subject. “Maura. I meant what I said. It’s not safe for you at the clinic unless you’ve got me or one of my guys watching. Are you going to fight me on that?”
She cocked her head a little to the side. “Fight you? Angel, I asked to meet with you today because the college has given us the go ahead. They’ve accepted your proposal. We’re in business.”
“Business,” I said. “Well, that’s good then.”
I got closer, leaning over her. I slid my hand to the back of Maura’s neck, lacing my fingers in her hair. Her lips parted, as if on instinct. I got closer. Her hot breath brushed my cheek. She was panting. Anticipating.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” I said.
“Well, we’ve got a contract …”
“Maura,” I said, the command in my voice making her gasp. “Fuck the contract. I meant what I said.”
Her cheeks flushed. I could feel her rapid pulse beneath my fingers. My eyes traveled down. From this angle, I could see the tops of her breasts as they spilled out of her white lace bra.
“Angel,” she whispered. “I can’t.”
“You already have. You gonna tell me you meant that as a one-time thing?”
Her brow furrowed. She had such an expressive face, I felt like I could read everything she was thinking. She was scared. She was trying to keep her distance. At the same time, I felt her pulse quicken and her skin heat where I touched her. She wanted me. She had a little hitch to her breath that made her quiver.
“Yes,” she gasped.
I slid my other hand around her waist. “Well, I didn’t.”
“Angel. I can’t. I’m not ... you’re …”
I closed the gap between us and touched my lips to hers. It was just the feather of a kiss but it made her whole body shudder. She moaned and curved toward me. I pulled away.
She caught her breath. Her whole posture changed and she practically jumped off the bed. Her mouth started going a mile a minute.
“I like you. I mean, I really like you. More than I should. But this isn’t me. This isn’t what I planned for.”